16 Sixteen - Never give up, never give in

The boys in the same row moved their legs out of her way to let her back to her seat. Most gave her words of encouragement or pats on the arm or back. Stacey had qualms about whether she should be allowed to feel touched by their actions or not. The friendliness and comradeship she felt so far from these people despite them all being competitors was far beyond what she would expect from people clawing for fame and to reach the pinnacle of the entertainment industry.

"Don't fall asleep anymore, please," Ken whispered to Stacey after she had sat back down.

"Yeah," said Stacey and hid her red flushed face in her hands. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Yeah, well, you should be," Flail gave her a gentle nudge and smile. "We were feeling embarrassed for you."

"Thanks, guys," Stacey nudged Flail back, and fist bumped Endo and Ken.

"What Telea said is right," Beryl said to all the trainees in the auditorium. "You should all be hungry and eager to work hard to achieve your goals. You won't get anywhere by giving up early or by letting what other people say get to you too easily. Stand firm by your beliefs. Now is the time to build your support networks and build friendships that will last you a lifetime. You may not all stay in the industry, but you can all support one another to help each other through the tough times of this journey you are all taking. Yes, you are competitors and rivals as long as you stay in this industry, but you are also friends and comrades in the same race and battle. Good sportsmanship and professionalism is what will get you far. You'll need to build a tough mentality but still be aware enough to know when to lend your neighbours a hand. Look around yourselves," Beryl swept a hand across the stage. "These fellow trainees are not your enemies but fellow teammates. Encourage one another and build each other up. Help to sharpen and hone each other. And never give up. Alright, Stacey?"

Stacey sat up very straight at the mention of her name and nodded.

Why bring the spotlight back to her again? Really. Why? She didn't want to be a feature story. She didn't need the attention or scrutiny or people might see past her very thin and shaky layer of lies. She wasn't a great actor. Nor was she a great liar. If people kept looking at her, they might just see how she wasn't meant to be here at all in the first place.

"Are you still going to give up?" Beryl asked her.

Stacey wasn't sure if she could blush any harder under all the attention. Hopefully the foundation she was wearing would hide some of the colour. Except, she remembered that they had only put a very thin layer of foundation on her. So it was very likely that everyone could see just how ashamed she was feeling.

Stacey shook her head. She didn't quite trust her voice at the moment. It might squeak or squawk like an injured goose and then everyone would laugh at her.

"Say it out loud for everyone to hear," Beryl beamed.

Yep. Just as she'd feared. Beryl, this mentor, was purposely picking on her to make her a spectacle and help her embarrass herself further.

"I'm not," Stacey heard herself squawk and wish she could just sink through the floor. Clearing her throat, a few times, she finally managed to say in a passable voice, "I'm not giving up."

Thankfully not to many of the teenagers had laughed at the unpleasant sound of her tight voice.

"Good," Beryl swept the beam of her smile across the room. "Why don't we say it altogether? Never give up. Never give in."

The room shouted it back at her.

"Never give up! Never give in!."

Stacey pretended to shout the slogan with everyone else. With so many people making noise, nobody would notice her lack of sound, right?

"How are you feeling now, Stacey?" Beryl directed the attention back to Stacey again.

Why, woman? Why can't you give me a break?

Stacey wanted to hide but couldn't. The boy in front of her had shuffled slightly to the side so that there was a clear view of her. Flail held her hand in support on one side and Ken did the same on the other. They may have been teenagers and at this age, Stacey remembered that most teenage girls and boys didn't want to touch each other in case of germs - that was unless they were planning to become boyfriends and girlfriends. However, in this case, things were different. Endo reached over to put a hand on her shoulder and then all the other boys around her reached out to put a hand of support on her as if to give her the courage to keep going and speak.

It was kind of awkward. Very unexpected. Extremely nerve wracking. Would people please stop touching her?

Could they not peer pressure her like this? Were they even giving her any choice like this? There was only one answer she could give. Why were the expected answers often the ones she felt most reluctant to give? For better or worse, whether she wanted to back out or not, Stacey only had one way forward.

She would have commit to seeing this three month program through.

"How are you feeling, Stacey?" Beryl repeated the question again, opening her arms. "It's ok. You can be honest. We're all friends here."

"Warm, supported and uh," Stacey looked around at all the people around her who were also cheering her on, "kinda hungry. When's dinner?"

Who said she had to answer exactly what they were expecting?

The entire auditorium burst out in laughter and multiple hands slapped Stacey on the back. It took some time for them all to calm down again.