Chapter 3: First Performance
Narrator: [Your Name], actually... I’ve had some great experience on the stage.
Narrator: When designing costumes for Yoyo, I did a little bit of a cameo appearance.
Narrator: I was clumsy. Nevertheless, a great memory it was.
Narrator: Yoyo’s college hosted a music festival in her sophomore year.
Narrator: She formed a band right upon entering the college and bought a set of drums. Can you imagine that?
Choose either “Even Yoyo has moments like this, Nikki?” or “Yoyo always has her own opinions.”
You: That’s a big surprise.
Narrator: It’s cool to be a rebel sometimes, right?
You: Yoyo is an independent soul.
Narrator: Yes. She’s always after her passion, including having a band. That never changed.
Narrator: She prepared a song for the music festival, rehearsing and revising day and night.
Narrator: One day, she dragged me into her room.
Yoyo: Hey, design some stage costumes for us!
Yoyo: What do you say? Time to prove yourself!
Narrator: With her hand on my shoulder and a burning gaze meeting my eyes, I just couldn’t say no to that passion.
Narrator: The next day, Yoyo took me to a rehearsal. She looked small behind that full set of drums.
Narrator: But everything changed when she started playing.
Narrator: A storm of beats, it was. Her powerful style was the backbone of the entire band.
Narrator: Yoyo shared an approving glance with other band members, smiling.
Narrator: I never knew Yoyo could be so cool before, although now she’s somewhat ashamed of having a band.
Narrator: I was motivated by the rehearsal. I must have Yoyo and the band appear in the most appropriate fashion, with my own design.
Narrator: So I became an observer of their rehearsal sessions, to analyze their motions, positions, and ambient lighting.
Narrator: I had a front row seat, so close to the energetic action on the stage. Sometimes I even sing along, totally unaware.
Yoyo: Come up here and sing!
Narrator: I was refusing out of habit, but Yoyo came to the edge of the stage and crouched down.
Yoyo: Didn’t Mom take you to fashion photography and TV drama production sites back then? Why are you afraid of being onstage now?
Nikki: That’s not the same...
Narrator: Have you ever felt your own voice be unfamiliar, like, out of control, when it passes through speakers?
Choose either “That’s how I feel” or “It’s good to get the hang of it.”
You: Yes. The song ends up not quite like what I imagined.
Narrator: Exactly. I’m afraid the voice of not-quite-me might cause me to freeze onstage.
You: Because you’re too nervous. Try a few more times and you’ll get it.
Narrator: Maybe if I have the opportunity to practice.
Nikki: Facing a camera and actually being on the stage, they’re different!
Nikki: Because! I belong in an audience seat.
Narrator: Yoyo slightly tapped my head and shook hers in exasperation.
Narrator: Then she returned to the center of the stage. Watching her go, I was somehow feeling a little bit down.
Narrator: The costume design was a breeze. Yoyo found someone to help speed up the process.
Nikki: Hey, Yoyo, you got the number wrong. We have one set extra.
Yoyo: The extra clothes are for you, during the music festival.
Nikki: Huh? But I’m not going on the stage.
Yoyo: We’re in this together.
Narrator: Yoyo forced the outfit upon me, and left with the rest of the band, leaving me there on my own. I was clutching the costume.
Narrator: The venue was packed on the day of the festival. The passionate crowd was getting excited.
Narrator: All those hands, waving light sticks, made a glowing sea, girting the isle of radiance that is the stage.
Narrator: A spectrum of young souls.
Narrator: I was thrilled to see the costume of my own design shining in the spotlight. It was a visual representation of the music.
Narrator: The stage is a place of power, where my design shone in a special light.
Narrator: Yoyo’s band prepared two songs for the event. In between, she pointed at me without warning, and announced...
Yoyo: This is Nikki, our costume designer.
Narrator: All those gazes focused on me, almost instantly.
Narrator: I was dumbstruck, looking at Yoyo for help.
Narrator: That’s when she extended her hand and invited me to the stage.
Narrator: Thundering applause, from a galaxy of light sticks. My heart felt a surge of power and urged me toward the stage.
Narrator: Yoyo held my hand tight, and pulled me up there.
Narrator: As if breaking through an invisible barrier, I popped up in a whole new world and lost myself.
Narrator: Yoyo passed over the mic. I took it and realized the audience had been eerily silent.
Narrator: I could hear every sound, from my own heartbeat to my amplified voice booming over the venue.
Nikki: Hi, everyone. I’m Nikki, the costume designer.
