MAGE CHRONICLES: THE BEGINNING

37. Filter

So, the Bright assholes were behind this.

"Weird of them to interfere against me...Don't you think? ... I mean, what would a 'plain' girl like me possibly bring to the table to guarantee sabotage?"

"I... I..." he stammers looking like he'd rather be anywhere but in front of me.

"Don't be shy, speak your mind, I'm not sensitive." I coax.

A scoff sounds and I turn to find Ryder there holding up his phone.

The murmur in the crowd grows as they get impatient; waiting for me to get to the stage.

I look in the general direction of the princes accusingly, only to find smug expressions sitting on each of the pretty faces.

Beats me why they would try to sabotage me and in turn their kingdom's event. I had made it pretty clear that I didn't care to win.

"If she has no talent throw her out!" A yell from the crowd jolts me from my quizzical sojourn.

"Yeah, she's wasting our time." Someone else yells in support. This feeds the crowd and the jeers increase.

"No one carried your asses in here and they sure as hell didn't glue said asses to your seats, get up and leave," I grumble getting irritated.

More yells and boos filter through drowning my mutters and the MC's pleas for calm and the poor man turns to us for help. I shrug at him looking back at the princes just in time to see them signal something to the DJ and the man sits back in his booth.

"Oh, silly me, here it is, I must have overlooked it earlier," he says sheepishly.

So that's what's happening, I muse, they were determined to set me up for failure so as to embarrass me. I may not want to be the freaking queen but I sure as hell had talent, and I was going to show them.

Determined, I walk onto the stage going through the routine in my head, I'd never performed it in full, since I was still working on it but it would have to do. No one called me talentless.

"Rock their world Mahi!" Comes from behind me and I smile before I remember I was supposed to be mad at Ryder.

The crowd has now simmered down with just a few people trying to start booing chants, but they are quickly cut off when the first notes of Filter by Park Jimin comes through the huge speakers in the auditorium.

Dead silence breaks out, or maybe I'd just shut them out focusing entirely on the beats seeping through the stage floor and the notes in the air.

When Jimin's voice filters through and I'm well within my zone. I then proceed to dance my ass off, literally. This routine had been part of the one they had shut down back home, for being too uncultured, I had no idea how they had arrived at such a conclusion.

I had combined hip-hop, contemporary and dancehall moves, combined with the already amazing masterpiece, the choreography had blended perfectly, at least according to mama. I had thought so too, until I got turned down. Imagine my surprise when Angeline comes in the next week with the perfect routine in mind and half the moves are from my 'uncultured' one, and of course, she got praised for the unique and diverse approach.

The ire fuels me, and I channel everything I was feeling into the dance. I feel the sweat dripping down my back and my face with a few strands of my hair stuck to my face. Sorry, Eis, your hairdo was a goner.

As the song winds up, I finally open my eyes and slowly lower myself to my knees back arched and lean back on my feet reaching up to yank my hair free eyes on the king just as the speakers go silent.

Panting and fighting to catch my breath, I keep my eyes on the king until he looks away. Smirk forming, I turn to the princes and a deeply feminine part of me is awed and flattered by the expressions on their faces while the dancer in me gloats.

As if they were waiting for a signal, the crowd erupts with some even chanting my name and a flicker of doubt filters through me, what had I just done?

I stand and walk back to my seat whilst using the end of my shirt to wipe my face.

"Whore!" comes from one of the girls as I sit.

I scoff at the taunt as Eislyn blurts out, "Shut up! That was so freaking hot Mahina! If I was into chicks, I would totally jump your bones."

Her enthusiastic reaction gets cut off when someone else jumps in with the same excitement.

"Scratch that, after that performance, I think I'm into chicks. Maybe I underestimated you."

You and everyone else honey.

We both turn to stare at my neighbour, ′the pied piper' as I had resorted to calling her in my head.

"Oh, my fates you should see your faces!" She laughs before continuing, "What? I'm female enough to give praise where it's due. I felt like I was watching something I shouldn't and it made it all the more attractive."

"What is happening right now," I murmur floored by her comment.

"Cool ploy with the delayed entrance too, got everyone worked up, I should have thought of that" She answers ignoring my question.

"I didn't do that." I hasten to correct.

"Uh-huh."

She didn't believe me; I turn to Eislyn for support but she stares right through me.

"No seriously," I try to explain but she had already turned back to the front.

"Don't bother, it doesn't matter anyway," Eis finally answers.

"But I don't need her thinking that I'm actively trying to win, I don't need more enemies." I whine.

"You call that not trying?" the girl in question asks still not bothering to turning back to us.

"That was sorely a fuck you to the bastards who screamed I had no talent; my pride was hurt," I answer truthfully.

"Right," She drawls her words drowned in sarcasm.

Oh, she was starting to piss me off.

"I've never heard that version before, where did you get it?" Eislyn asks distracting me.

"I made a remix for the choreography before it was turned down, it's posted somewhere online.

"SoundCloud?

"Probably, Ryder did it."