Chapter 7 Cursing At Zeno

The audience cheered once again. When Tony left the dance floor, someone else took his place, a male dancer who was also in costume. Hana was originally standing next to the DJ and every time Tony was not in the middle of the ring hosting, he would also stay near the DJ while watching the performance or reviewing his cue cards. But at that time, she saw Tony angrily muttering to himself. "Is she that stupid? How can she make it so obvious that she knew about the contest beforehand?” Tony was half screaming and half muttering. Both she and the DJ were able to understand what he was saying through the noise. It turned out she was right. Audrey knew about this competition beforehand. If she was able to detect that, there's no way others won't be able to. People were not that stupid. Audrey danced to a very sensual salsa number. In the middle of the dance floor, she gloated as she imagined herself as the winner that night. Because of the lights placed at the edges of the ring, the dancers on top cannot see the audience. Audrey was not able to see the change in the audience who were suspicious of her performance. The loud salsa music also drowned their murmurs. Audrey continued dancing since she was not able to spot anything wrong amongst the crowd. Zeno and the judges, on the other hand, could hear the ruckus created by the audience. "Is it just me or does that girl look prepared for this contest?” "Isn't this supposed to be impromptu?” "If this part is going to be staged, the organizers shouldn't have told us about this being spontaneous.” "That's right. Are they trying to make a fool out of us?” Zeno tsked in annoyance. Ah… I should've ditched her long ago. Zeno signaled to the judges. They immediately understood what he meant. Audrey ended her dance with a very striking pose. The audience gave her a lukewarm applause. Audrey was still heaving when her performance ended. She was so out of breath for giving her best in dancing and all she could hear was her heartbeat. She didn't notice that the audience did not cheer loudly. She continued bowing and waving her hand around, acting like she already won. "Wow! That was an amazing performance! Thank you, Ms. Audrey. Now, let's move on to our last contestant. Come up the stage please.” Taking a deep breath, Hana approached the ring. She met Audrey and her dance partner. "See that? It's not too late for you to back out now. I've seen your lame dance a while ago. It would save you the embarrassment if you give up on this competition now…” She ignored Audrey and continued walking into the ring. "Ah, here she is, our last contestant. What's your name?” "Hana.” "Another non-conversationalist among the contestants. They like to make my job difficult.” The crowd laughed at Tony. "Unlike Amy, you look like you don't speak that much because you look shy. Is it okay for you to dance in front of the crowd?” Tony noted that Hana had her jacket hood and mask on. "Someone told me that I'm not allowed to ditch this competition because it's the pilot episode, as if that's any of my business.” Tony and the crowd laughed. "Still, I don't want to appear like the worst loser. So…” "Exactly, this place is the best at bringing out the fight in anyone. Just look at this. Even a shy person does not want to go home a loser! Well, light up the dance floor, Hana.” Tony bowed and motioned with his hands. "Everyone, Hana!” People clapped but because of Audrey, they were not as warm in welcoming Hana. Audrey noticed this and snickered at the side. See? You should've backed out earlier when I told you to. 'Dance with Me' by Code Red started playing through the speakers. Hana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She released the air through her mouth and chanted 'I am alone in my room' in her head over and over again. She immersed herself in the music and tried to forget the people around her. To be honest, Hana doesn't know how to judge her performance. All she knew was that the upbeat music of her favorite idol group was good at hyping people up and she thought that it would be best to make people enjoy her performance by making them feel like dancing with her. She danced simple shuffling, tutting, and krumping moves. She also added some popping here and there. People who have two left feet can even follow her simple and repetitive dance steps that look fun to watch. Zeno, who was watching at the side was about to light his cigarette but when he noticed Hana dance in a fun way, he stopped in his tracks and looked at her intently. He looked at her face and noticed that she closed her eyes. Audrey noticed the way Zeno looked at that bitch dancing on stage. Is she Zeno's new flavor? What does he like about that ugly bitch? I'm prettier than her! Audrey was seething in anger at the side. She has to do something real quick or Zeno will be taken away from her! Hana's performance was about to reach the chorus, she decided to forget her fears for a moment and open her eyes. She also wanted to check if she was still facing the right way. The audiences were watching all around the boxing ring but it's better to face the judges while performing since they're only seated in one area. The moment Hana opened her eyes, she saw the people gently moving their hands along above the glaring lights. When the song started building up towards the chorus, it was part of Hana's choreography to spread her arms towards the audience as if to invite them to dance as the singer uttered the lyrics: 'Why don't you dance with me?' in its chorus before the song turned into a dance break where Hana just jumped around like a crazy woman. What she didn't expect was for people to jump with her right after those lyrics were uttered in the song! The heads of the people below which were hidden behind the blinding stage lights, suddenly popped up high enough for Hana to see them jumping up and down with her. She felt good to see that the people also enjoyed dancing with her. It was like she was not competing at that moment, but was having her concert instead. The crowd even screamed along, their voice louder than the speakers. This might be someone else's party And others might pour drinks on me But who gives a fuck? As long as the wind is blowing And me looking good in my bling I'm gonna jump up and down crazily So, why don't you dance with me?’ The crowd forgot their dissatisfaction with Audrey and partied with Hana. It would be a waste for only one person to dance to this song. The performance ended up with the people screaming 'encore'. Two minutes was too short for the party. "Bravo! Bravo!” Tony climbed back up the stage while clapping. "Was that premeditated? Who would have thought people would dance along like that? Even I was prompted to jump on that side, too!” Sweat was evident on the back of Tony's shirt. "Thank you very much for gracing us with that entertaining performance, Hana. Please wait with the others at that side, please.” Tony pointed her to where she was waiting before she performed. She went down the stage to wait for the results. "Did you enjoy the new competition we have?” The hoots and hollers of the crowd were deafening! "Then, this segment will surely be fixed in the next UDB. And of course, the prize goes along with it!” The people liked this even better. Tony shuffled his cue cards and isolated one of them. "Here in my hands, is the result of the group competition. Tucked between the cue card is…” Tony slowly pulled out the bundle of fifty thousand dollars. "… the winner's prize, is fifty thousand bucks!” He then fanned it in front of his face while smelling the scent of freshly made cash. "Ohh… I hope you can all smell this wonderful scent of new money with me. Unfortunately, I can only share this experience with the winners. Let's see…” Tony opened the cue card. When he saw the name of the winning group written inside, he exaggeratedly reacted as if he was so surprised about the result. "The winner for tonight's group competition is…” The overused drumroll music reverberated throughout that enclosed platform. "Group number… two! Congratulations!” People cheered up loudly. Everyone was satisfied with the results. Even their contenders clapped hands and nodded their heads in acknowledgment of the judges' decision. The dancers from the second group were overwhelmed with joy. They all turned into a sobbing mess when they walked to the stage to get their reward and take a commemorative photo. People who usually joined competitions like these needed money. They competed like their lives were on the line because everybody wanted the cash prize. Despite the people's need for cash, their pride never allowed them to rig the competition or act like a sore loser by saying that the decisions of the judges were wrong. The organizers always made sure that the judges they hired were trustworthy for the judges' decision is absolute. After all the drama, the group finally went down the stage. Consolation prizes were given to the other two groups, also in the form of money but way lesser than the winner's. Those in the audience who wagered for number 2 to win were able to fork profits and they were basking in their newfound fortune. Those who lost were still complaining about their misfortune when one of the staff handed another cue card from below the ring. Tony crouched down to retrieve it. "And now, I have the result of the individual competition here in my hands, along with the cash prize.” The drumroll was played through the speakers once again. While Tony was trying to increase the crowd's anticipation, Hana, on the other hand, was at the side, dreading to go home. She was even cursing at Zeno in her head for organizing such an event. "The first winner in the individual category is contestant number… three, Hana!” It was now obvious that Hana won because she was the crowd's favorite. They all cheered loudly and the chorus of 'Dance with Me' was played. They jumped along to the music while waiting for her to climb up the ring. It took a while for people to notice that no one was coming up the stage. Hana was MIA!