LightWeight

Step Three

No one said anything. It was completely silent in the studio to the point were someone dropped a pen and I heard it roll on the carpeted floor and bump into the table.

"I promise!" It was Matty’s goofiness that finally broke the the silence.

"Well, Ciara, I think you have a competition all right." DJ Jazzy J commented.

I sat in the chair of my dressing room spinning in circles. My stomach was a jumbled mess of butterflies. The nerves in the pit of my stomach seemed to increase with the excited yells of teenage girls from in front. It didn't help knowing I would be first on stage either. My lyrics ran on and on in my head until I ended up standing up and doing the routine in mini-motions. Everything had to be right. There was no time to mess up. Not on the first show- not ever.

A rapid knock on my door pulled me from my thoughts. Standing there was Prince in a black and white striped uniform, adjusting his microphone. "Time for prayer." He stated simply before turning to leave out of the door.

I got out of the chair and stood in the mirror for a second. My hot pink top was a short shirt that fitted to my body and stopped above my belly button. My black cargo pants fitted at the thigh and were a little loose on the leg part. The right side pants leg had a silver-studded cross decoration. My shoes were a pair of white, gray and pink NIKE Airs, it would have originally been wedges but I didn't practice enough in those so...yeah. My hair was curled, the top covered in a white snapback with pink specks that said in black letters "Keep Calm and Carry On". My accessories were an assortment of bracelets, one saying 'Love' in silver and teddy bear earrings.

I made my way to the circle and saw everyone else was already there. I stood in-between CJ and Bree as we held hands, bowed our head, closed our eyes, and Pastor Sean began to pray.

"Dear Lord we thank you for this day given to us and we bless you for allowing us to perform here today. Without you we would not be here today. Lord we ask you to give us a great show and bless all the hearts of every fan is this building. In Jesus name we pray,Amen."

"Amen." We all said, releasing hands and giving each other our respective space.

"Lyric." Leslie said, coming next to me. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." I replied, taking multiple deep breathes. "I think so. I hope so. I pray so."

"Well, you’re on in five, so get ready." She walked away.

I laughed, shaking my head. I didn't expect any other response from Leslie. She always has a nonchalant ponytail to her peaceful demeanor. I walked in a circle, lightly repeating my lyrics to myself.

"Lyric!" A deep voice called me from behind.

I turned to see CJ. "Hey." I said, fiddling with my fingers.

"Nervous?" A smile played on his lips.

"Yeah. Aren't you?"

"Always. But they don't really hit until right before we go on stage."

"Two minutes, Lyric." A smooth voice based in my ears.

"I hate these things." I commented placing my finger on my ear. "But you have three other people on stage with you. It's just me, myself, and I here." Kind of like it’s been all my life.

"True." He pulled a gold string out of his pocket. "Here, take this with you."  I looked in his hand and it was a golden mini teddy bear figure with silver rhinestones embedding it and black ones to make out the facial features. "I wore it all the time when I got nervous."