All Strings Attached

Chapter Nine: Entangled threads

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Jairus' perspective

Yung hallway sa labas ng auditorium ay maihahalintulad ko ngsyon sa ‘tunnel of doom.’ OA ba? Siguro nga, pero ‘yun talaga ang nararamdaman ko ngayon.

Naka-upo ako sa malamig na monoblock, nanginginig pa rin ‘yung mga binti ko at basang-basa ang palad ko kahit na nilagyan ko na ito ng dala dala kong baby powder sa bulsa ng hoodie ko.

Paulit-ulit akong tumitingin sa repleksyon ko sa metal na water dispenser—inayos ko ang aking buhok, tinutuwid ang kwelyo, isinigurado ko ring maayos ang laylayan ng jacket ko—para namang may mababago ‘pag inayos ko lahat ‘yon…

Parang mas makakahinga ako ng maluwag kung di rin sana kabado tong mga kasama ko dito no?

“Ang lagkit na ng kamay mo, para kang nagmasa ng tinapay nan.” Steve muttered beside me, chewing some mint candies like it was the only thing keeping him alive. “Pasmado ka ba?”

“Di naman halata, ‘no?” I shot back with a smirk, crossing one leg over the other to stop the jittering. Truth is—I was panicking inside, but I couldn’t let that show.

I should never let them see me shaken. Kabado na nga sila, tas dadagdagan ko pa ng pagka kabado ko?

Rule number one, “Fake it till you make it,” I whispered under my breath.

Maraming beses na akong nailigtas ng kasabihang ‘yon—sa mga talumpati, contest, interview, at kahit ‘yung mga pagkakataong nilalandi ko ‘yung mga taong alam kong sobrang layo ng level sa’kin para makahingi ng pabor. At ngayong araw? It was the only thing standing between me and a public meltdown.

Ang group namin anf pang 13 at huling magpeperform. Teka, 13? Tapos friday pa ngayon diba? Malas bang numero ang 13? Lucky number man o hindi, hindi ko na talaga alam. Ang alam ko lang ay, yari kami kay Jean kapag hindi pa namin naayos yung bridge part ng Love Goes.

I almost cried from stress because of his new revisions yesterday, napaka biglaan. yung tipong, patapos na tapos binago ulit.

“Kaya natin ’to,” Jean said quietly now, checking his guitar strings. His face was calm—too calm. Stoic and focused, naka leader mode na siya. “Let's pray and do a huddle before we step into the stage and nail our performance”

June was holding his lucky necklace, sabi niya na kapag hinahawakan niya ito eh nakakapagpa kalma daw ito ng kanyang nerves. I told him it looked like something from a K-drama and he didn’t even deny it.

And Kian? That dude was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking like a bodyguard from a mafia movie. But I caught him practicing his breathing, counting quietly in fours.

We were all nervous.

But I was the only one loud about it—by pretending I wasn’t.

When our group name was called, everything went quiet in my head.

Just white noise.

Jean walked up the steps first, forcing a grin like he was born to be onstage. He really is ‘in the zone’. We were all on the stage, the spotlight hit us and I heard a few whispers from the crowd.

Damn right, make it look easy—Mga tao lang yan na makikinig, hindi dapat kabahan.

Jean started plugging his guitar in with silent precision while Steve sauntered across the stage like it was his bedroom. June clutched the mic stand like a lifeline, and Kian was just standing in the microphone stand, eyes scanning the crowd like he was memorizing exits in case he needed to disappear.

Then the lights dimmed.

Jean strummed the intro, and we followed by singing our designated verses.