Paige had been staring at her phone on her office table.
Still wondering if everything is just a prank.
Still torn.
But as her phone keeps showing notifications, second by second.
She knew it's getting serious.
Mind blown that one simple piano cover already earned her an estimated 213,313 social media likes and shares on all platforms, overnight!
Paige accidentally opens the latest headlines and finally confirmed it.
She's everywhere.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and even on YouTube.
And she knows that all this sudden popularity is not purely because of her own talent.
It had something to do with the boyband behind the song she loves.
Paige feels nothing but nervous.
Everything good comes with a price. And for this one, her personal life is the sacrifice:
"NEWEST SHOWBT SERIES, 'LOVE BREAK', ANNOUNCES TV SHOW PILOT COMING NEXT WEEK, FINALLY CASTS ONE RANDOM FAN OUT OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND ENTRIES"
"DAKOTA DAVID, AKA PIANO PAIGE ON TIKTOK, THE WILD CARD CONTESTANT FOR SB19 SERIES, 'LOVE BREAK', #1 TRENDING ON TWITTER"
"A WEDDING PIANIST'S JOURNEY TO STARDOM, DAKOTA PAIGE DAVID CATCHES CURIOSITY FROM SB19 FANS AROUND THE WORLD"
She had to slap herself a few times just to make sure she isn't in some kind of dream.
Everyone at work looks at Paige like she's a totally different person now.
So many expectations from judging eyes.
Paige is still scared to know more about what the internet must be saying about her.
Social media had always been mean.
"Mumsh, nakita mo na ba mga comments sayo sa latest Facebook post ng SB19?" (Girl, have you seen all the comments about you on SB19's latest Facebook post?) One of Paige's closest workmates, Leia, runs up to her like there's a fire drill.
"Mumsh... bakit ba nagkakaganito buhay ko" (Girl... why is my life like this?) Paige complains to the air, wishing there could be another way out of this mess than to be on live television.
"Mumsh, tignan mo oh. Ang gago nito." (Girl, check this bitch out) Leia shows her phone on Paige's face "SBfangalz19 on Twitter posted: 'Bakit sya pa napili? Maputi lang di naman maganda. Good luck nalang kung manalo'. Ano mumsh, sapakin ko na ba 'to?" (SBfangalz19 Twitter post: 'Why her? She has good skin but she's not that pretty. I doubt she'll ever win'. Girl, do you want me to slap this twat right now?)
Paige rests her face on her palms, groaning.
Entertaining haters is the least of Paige's worries.
It's Kent that she's always thought about.
Leia looks at Paige pitifully.
"Alam mo, mumsh? Ang hina kasi ng loob mo, noh?" (You know what, mumsh? You're a scaredy cat) Leia rests her head on Paige's shoulder.
Leia sympathizes with her "Hoy, ang daming fans na-iinggit sayo ngayon kasi New York 'yon, besh. Malay mo, magka 1 million pesos ka din." (Hey, the fans are just jealous because you're going to New York. And they won't. Who knows, this might even get you 1 million pesos!)
"Tingin mo, mumsh. Ano iisipin sakin ni Kent pag tinuloy ko 'to?" (Girl, what do you think Kent will feel if I went with this?) Paige searches Leia's eyes for answers.
Leia just laughs "Baliw to! Kung alam mong mahal ka ni Kent, di mo kailangan ma-stress kung ano magiging tingin nya sayo. Aba, yung nararamdaman mo naman isipin mo this time." (You're cray cray! If you know that Kent loves you, you will not worry about what he thinks about you. Duh, put yourself first for once.)
Paige gives Leia's advice a thought.
Now she's scared of two things: not only to be exposed on TV but also to be judged by her boyfriend who will be seeing her on TV.
But deep down, Paige knew that making a name for herself has always been a dreamy idea.
She just wishes she won't lose the love of her life in the process.
"Beh. Kailangan mo maayos relationship nyo ni Kent diba? Eto na yung answered prayer mo. Go to New York." (Babe. You need to fix your relationship with Kent, right? This is your answered prayer. Go to New York)
And with a final hug, Leia gives Paige some space to think.
With new found courage, Paige opens the e-mail:
"Ms. Dakota Paige David,
Welcome to 'LOVE BREAK'!
Out of 500,000 entries of SB19 fans on the internet, yours have stood out!
After a careful deliberation of entries with the hashtag SB19,
you have ended the search.
Below are the mechanics of the show:
1. There will be a total of 19 single ladies living in one luxury apartment, accommodation shouldered by ShowBT.
2. The filming will start tomorrow upon the arrival of the contestants.
3. The rules of the show will be announced on the first night of the game.
4. Every week, four girls will be eliminated via eviction votes from the SB19 boys, Justin, Ken, Pablo, Stell and Josh.
5. The winner will receive 1 million pesos, a yacht part hosted by SB19, all expenses paid.
Best wishes,
1Z Entertainment Philippines
♡━━━♡━━━♡━━━♡━━━♡━━━♡━━━♡━━━━♡
Paige couldn't believe she's now boarding a flight to New York.
She had to leave Milo under the temporary care of the closest thing she ever considered a friend which is Leia.
In the airport, Paige is now surrounded by eighteen other girls who look just about her age.
Some of the conversations that Paige overheard was:
"Oh my god, girl, so sino bet mo maging boyfriend sa kanila?" (Oh my god, girl, so who do you want to end up with among all the boys?)
"Definitely, si Kenny ko!" (Definitely, my Kenny!)
"Stop, girl. He's mine!"
"Fine. Si babe, Cullen, nalang." (Fine. I'll take my babe, Cullen)
"Pwede bang both Justin and Pablo?" (Can I dibs on both Justin and Pablo?)
"Basta, guys. Hands off kay Stell ha?" (Whatever, guys. Just hands off of Stell)
All the other girls are giggling and dragging their big suitcases around.
Paige notices that the other eighteen ladies are all very pretty. They're all even dressed up from head to toe.
These other girls look like they have been pulled out of a pageant.
Some of the other contenders look familiar too.
Paige swore that a lot of these girls could've been models. Or public figures. Or social media influencers.
She sees them holding out SB19 merchandise and banners with excitement all over their faces.
Immediately, Paige knew she's out of place.
In fact, while every girl is wearing sexy outfits, Paige is the only one wearing dad jeans and an oversized hoodie that matches her Jordans.
Paige has observed that these girls look like they have known SB19 for a long time.
Paige, on the other hand, doesn't even know what those boys look like.
All she knows is what they sound like and that's about it.
It's the music that Paige ever adored about them.
After the roll call was conducted by the production team, Paige puts on her headphones after verifying her attendance.
Paige pretends to ignore the way the other girls look at her.
She plays the song "Die Trying" by Michl and drifts into her own world since she doesn't know how to fit in with the others.
Then in just an hour, everyone's already seated on the longest 16 hour flight of their lives.
"Hi!" Paige's seat mate starts a conversation.
Paige had to close the book she's reading and pull down her headphones so she can hear the girl better.
"Diba ikaw si wild card girl?" (You're the wild card girl, right?)
Paige doesn't even know what the wild card is but she just nods, offering a hand shake "Yeah, um, Paige."
The girl laughs, taking Paige's hand, "Erin. So ikaw yung napili from the internet pala. Kami kasi we went through face-to-face auditions so..." (Erin. So you're the one chosen from the internet, huh? The rest of us here went through face-to-face auditions, so...)
So....? Paige keeps herself from asking.
"Anyway, so how familiar are you with the boys?" Erin continues, flipping her hair.
"Actually, hindi ko po talaga sila kilala. I only listen to their songs... I don't really know them any deeper than that." (Actually, I don't know much about them. I only listen to their songs but... I don't really know them any deeper than that) Paige turns her attention to the dark clouds outside her window.
"Good. Kasi... heads up ko lang, beware of Felip. Trust me," (Good. Because... just a heads up, beware of Felip. Trust me) Erin goes on and on, "I heard lowkey nag date sila ng friend ko for, like, seven months? And she told me na super babaero daw." (I heard he lowkey dated my friend for, like, seven months? And she told me that he's a cheater)
Paige finds it weird how a girl she just met would trust her with such information right away.
So Paige reassures Erin, "No, uh... I have a boy friend, Erin. In New York. That's why I'm here."
"Really?" Erin is suddenly looking at her with intrigued eyes "Pero di ka ba madi-disqualify dahil don? I mean, diba indicated sa list na 'single ladies' daw ang contestants?" (But isn't that a grounds for disqualification? I mean, is it not indicated in the list that all the girls are 'single' ladies?)
Paige suddenly becomes unsettled and had to lie until they reach their destination "Uh, ex na pala. We broke up. Sad nga eh."
"That's okay! I'm sure we'll all find love naman sa show na 'to." Erin gives her a wink "Basta, don't forget my advice."
"M-hm" Paige forces a smile.
It's gonna be a long flight.