⭐️A Jar of Stars⭐️

Chapter 1: Suprise!

Ring ring. Ring ring. RING RING!

What is that awful sound? I stretched out my arm to grab my phone on the nightstand to see text messages from my friends in our group chat. The messages read 'Happy birthday!' or 'Wish you the best on this great day,' you know, the usual stuff you get sent on your birthday.

Which reminds me, I'm Takase Shinju, a student in class 2B of Yumenosaki Private Academy. Yumenosaki is a school for performing arts, but there's also a regular course that includes the normal stuff for high schoolers. That's what I'm in. The school has a regular course, vocal course, music course, theatre course, the newly installed producer course, and the most popular, the idol course.

I'm not really into these idol shenanigans as much as my friends are. It's honestly just a bunch of pretty boys getting their chance to shine while others are left in the dust.

Off-topic, but I bet 5 dollars my mom's going to call me down in 3, 2, 1. "Shinju! Come on! You're going to be late for school!" There's the cue. "Coming!"

I brushed my orange hair and styled it into twin braids. Then, I changed into my uniform which consists of a blue blazer over my beige cardigan and a white collared shirt with a blue tie, symbolizing that I'm a second year. It also included a black and gray, plaid skirt, and knee high, black socks.

As I grabbed my backpack and phone, I saw another text coming from one of my friends, Emiko. 'Come to school quickly! I have a surprise for you.'

I heard my mom's voice coming from downstairs once again. "Shinju, if you don't want your food to go cold then I suggest you come downstairs!"

Once I slid down the railing and passed the picture of my deceased older sister, a piece of toast popped out from the toaster. My mom caught it on a plate and handed it to me. "Thanks, mom!" I kissed her on the cheek, got the toast and my backpack, put on my tennis shoes, and ran out of the door with the toast in my mouth.

The school isn't that far away, so it's fine if I walk. It only takes around 10 minutes. Now that I think about the text from earlier, I wonder what the surprise is.

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Taking the last bite of my bread, I looked around the entrance for my friends. As I approached the gate, I heard this noise that was even worse than my alarm clock.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The fangirls are at it again. "It's Trickstar! Wait, fine's with them too?" "Did Eichi just look at me?!" "I think I'm going to faint." "Sign this for me please!!" "Trickstar, good luck at the SS!!"

Oh my gosh, what a horrid noise! My ears are bleeding. Better get to class before my ears start to run off. I ran past the group of fangirls and straight to my locker.

Sighing, I took out what I needed, put it in my backpack, and started walking to the courtyard. There was still half an hour before classes started, so I had some time to blow off some steam.

Then, I felt something on my back. "Surprise!" One of my friends surprised me by jumping on me. It was my most energetic friend, Fujihara Sakura.

She's in class 1B in the regular course with my other friends and I. Sakura has long, light pink hair with a small braid on the side and bright blue eyes that show her positivity and enthusiasm.

Sakura fixed her tie and reached for her backpack. "Happy birthday!" She pulled a small gift out of her bag and gave it to me.

"Thanks, Sakura." I opened the gift and found a handmade bracelet inside. The bracelet is made of silver and has a swirl design with small butterflies intertwined in it.

I gasped. "Did you make it?" I asked. "Yep! My dad helped me make the butterflies though. Those were pretty hard. I remembered you mentioned that you like butterflies, so I added them. Hope you like-"

Tears started forming in my eyes. Sakura started to wave her arms around in panic. "Wha? I'm sorry! Did I do something wrong!? If you don't like the gift you can just-" She was cut off by a hug coming from me. "-tell me?" Sakura finished her sentence with confusion written across her face.

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's beautiful. Thank you, Sakura. I'm going to wear it for a long time," I told her with reassurance in my voice as I wiped the tears from my eyes. I slid on the bracelet before we both heard a pair of footsteps coming closer.

"Sakura! Did you make Shinju cry again because you scared her?" A girl with silver hair in a low ponytail, pink eyes, and glasses walked up to us with another girl with violet hair styled in high pigtails and gray eyes. They were my other 2 best friends.

The girl with silver hair is Nakashima Emiko of class 3A. She always tries to act professional around others, but has fun when it's just the 4 of us.

"No! Juju just cried out of appreciation. Those were tears of joy!" Sakura pouted.

A squeak can be heard from the violet-haired girl. "Sakura, please don't yell," she said with a soft voice. That's Akimura Kyo of class 1A. Kyo's a relatively shy girl and doesn't like to interact with people a lot unless the topic catches her fancy.

"Anyway, here's my gift," said Kyo as she handed me a paper bag, not making eye contact. I opened the bag and saw a few of my favorite pastries inside. "I know it's not much, but I made them myself," Kyo said shyly. Kyo's family budget is just below average, so she has a part-time job at a bakery to help pay for school expenses.

I put my hand on her shoulder as I spoke. "Kyo, thanks for the gift. I can tell you poured your heart out in this. That makes it even better knowing that you made it with love."

Okay, that just sounded like that one really cheesy anime scene. Why did I say that?

The violet-haired girl sniffed a little. "I'm glad you like it, Shinju nee-san." Phew, she didn't find that weird. Nodding at her, I heard Emiko clear her throat.

I turned to her, wondering what she wanted. "Shinju, I'll give you a hint on my gift," she said. "Okay," I replied.

Emiko had her signature smile on, meaning she has something up her sleeve. I was kind of getting nervous. "Do you remember Trickstar winning the DDD and gaining the right to represent the school in the SS?" I nodded saying, "You 3 always tell me about what's going on in the idol part of the school. Naturally, I would know."

The silver-haired then told me, "Well, the nationwide SS competition is today and we got tickets a few months ago to see it." I blinked. Did she seriously bring up the DDD and the SS out of nowhere? What is Emiko planning? "Well, have fun. I'm going to class."

I turned to walk away when Sakura grabbed my arm. "Shinju, Emiko got us all tickets, which includes you too. Plus, classes are dismissed today because the school needs a lot of volunteers for the setup. Also, we gotta root for our school!"

It took me a good 5 seconds to fully process what she said. When I realized it, a shout escaped my lips. "WHAT?!?!" I need to get away right now.

To my unfortunate luck, the girls noticed my escape plan and grabbed me by my arms and legs. "Shinju, you are going to see the SS with us whether you like it or not! Trickstar needs our support–the school needs our support!" Kyo struggled to speak while trying to drag me with the others. "They only need you guys! Hey! Listen to me!"

In a flash, we got in a taxi and drove to the location of the SS. "I hate you guys," I said dryly to them as we got out.

Sakura smirked. "We know, but admit it. You want to see it." Not going to lie, I am a bit curious. What are idols and what makes them so admirable?