8 Regret 7 (That Smile)

Reign's POV

Then, the program starts..

A lot of people are in the venue. Just a few words from the hosts and the crowd grows wild. We can clearly hear it from the backstage. After the introduction, the first band is now called on stage. Their genre is more on songs that are mostly forgotten nowadays, and they are reviving it.

Their first song is "Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears. Their 2 female vocalists are killing it. The crowd is going wild again, singing until the end of the song.

Now, they're on their second song which is "Another Day" by Whigfield. They are making it livelier with their instrumentalists who are surely professionals. They've got a lot of wonderful styles that our band has not tried to use yet.

Listening to their instrumental part, almost everybody in the backstage are impressed with an O-shaped mouth carved on their faces.

Then, the last song is "Emotions" by Mariah Carey. The vocalists are nailing, hitting the high notes.

After performing, they are back on the backstage and we can vouch they really did their best with the sweats they have on their body. Everyone in the backstage are congratulating them for their fantastic performance.

That was just the first contender. I am feeling nervous again. Who won't be? This is our band's first competition, and we are competing with known bands in the city. Most of them are already used to competitions, and had joined Battle of the Bands twice and/or thrice already.

I am watching the other vocalists as they stress theirselves again, practicing their lines in their most minimized voice. The second band is already on stage, preparing to perform. If the others are nervous, how much more us? Again, this is our first time.

"Reign?" Kyle is calling me out, but I feel like I'm not hearing him that I am not responding.

The second band is now introduced and ready to play their first song. In less than 30 minutes, we're up next.

"Reign.." Kyle is now beside me since he noticed I was not paying attention when he first called me. "Are you okay?" he asks.

I look at his eyes. It's evident there that he's nervous too, but he's trying hard to keep it himself. He's also worried about me.

"Hooh!" I exhaled. "I'm nervous", I reply.

"I think we all are. But let's try our best not to show it. It might affect our performance", he encourages.

The second band is now playing their first song "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. They have a lot of fans too since they are a regular contender in this competition. I heard this is their 3rd time joining here. But they haven't been a champion, so they are still qualified to join.

"I'm not nervous", Neil suddenly speaks out. Everyone of us looks at him. He lifts his head to look at us, and stands up to add his words,"Just be yourself. Remember how people who listened to us came to love us. We are ourselves when we perform. They can see our souls."

I look at him intently. He's telling the truth. He's not nervous. And when he said that, somehow, I feel at ease. He's right. We just have to be ourselves. And being ourselves means giving our all without entertaining insecurities and other forms of negativities that will hinder us to give our best.

We'll be natural but our best version later.

After the second band, a dance entertainment number is inserted as how it is arranged in the program flow. Then some sponsors are announced.

We are now preparing to go on stage since we are the next to perform. Kyle is unhooking the chain from his jeans and passing it to Neil.

"You have to look the best since you're the vocalist", he's saying that while passing the chain to Neil.

Neil is a bit hesitant to accept it, so Kyle hooks it instead to Neil's jeans.

"You're the one who will have the most attention among us", Kyle says. Neil is still not agreeing, so Kyle adds, "The audience can't see it on me since I have the keyboard in front."

Neil can't stop himself but smirk, and they both laugh.

Neil then turns to me. It's as if he has something to tell me. At the same time, the staffs are telling us to prepare ourselves on stage. So, we just go straight on stage after staring at each other.

The lights on stage are still dim since the hosts are still making an intro about our band. My heart is beating fast. I feel the panic again. Without the bright lights on us, we can see the crowd from here, wondering who we are.

Our instrumentalists, Jack, James, Owen, and Kyle are now in their respective positions. While Neil and I also are positioning ourselves in the very front of the stage.

"Reign", I hear Neil calling me.

So I turn to look at him. I can clearly see him since we are just half a meter away from each other.

"The first time I saw you on stage, the first time I heard you singing, I wished then to perform with you on stage someday", he says with his eyes glued on mine.

My heart was already beating crazily earlier, but now that he is saying those words, it goes wild like how the crowd in our regular gig in the MINI Mini Bar used to welcome us. So wild that I, the owner can't control it.

"I have been performing with you for years now. But today's more than I have expected", he's adding more and more emotions to my heart.

"Democratic Band!" I hear the hosts finally introducing us by our band's name, the signal for us to start performing.

The crowd is not so familiar to our band, so only a few is cheering us. The instruments are now being played, but Neil and my eyes are still glued to each other.

"Don't disappoint me", his last words to me before turning to sing the first lines, and closing his eyes to internalize while already singing.

I am left dumbfounded. Not just because of what he confessed, but also because of the smile he gave me just seconds ago after saying all those words.

That was his most sincere and genuine smile he has given me. That smile that makes me forget the hatred he has for me. That smile that eases all the pain I have in my heart since I knew I should not love him. That smile that encourages me now to perform with my best.