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“If I quit,” I continue at last, “I’ll have to admit to my mom that she was right after all these years. And that’ll never happen.”

“Right about what?”

“That fat girls like me can’t dance. That fat girls like me can’t be up here onstage killing it like everyone else. You just saw me up here. YouknowI’m good. You said it yourself. So, please, just give me a chance. I can do way better than I did today. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

A quirk appears in the corner of Park Tae-Suk’s lips. It’s almost a grin. “Is that so?”

I nod, because I’ve already said everything I could think of saying. My brain and heart feel empty now, as if I’ve poured out my entire soul.

From beside him, Bora shakes her head. The two whisper to each other for what seems like an eternity. Park Tae-Suk frowns, and my heart sinks. I brace myself, expecting the worst as he finally turns to face me.

“You better prove your mother wrong, Miss Shin,” says Park Tae-Suk. “Because you just made it intoYou’re My Shining Star.”

He slams his hand down on the button in front of him, and for a moment, all I can see are bright lights.

Chapter Four

ON MY WAY OUT, I SPOT LANA, WHO’S STILL ATthe front of the vocals line.

“You wereah-mazing,” she says, drawing out the last word. “Everyone in line was cheering for you. No one could take their eyes off the TV screens! And that speech you gave at the end? A masterpiece. Did you rehearse that ahead of time? Because, man, if they don’t use that as one of the highlight features for the audition episodes, they really don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Nah,” I say. “It all just came tumbling out. And honestly, that seems unlikely. Let’s be real. There’s probably going to be a fifteen-minute feature just on Henry Cho.”

Lana snorts. “True. You should have seen what happened after you left. Everyone insisted that Henry cut to the front of the line. It was either that or they were acting like they were best friends with him and saying they ‘saved a spot for him’ or something. Thankfully, Henry just opted to go wait in theauditorium, but it was still one of the most pathetic things I’ve ever seen.”

“Ugh. Meanwhile I stood in line at seven a.m. just to get my spot.”

“Yeah, and thank God you got in! Tiffany and I had to wait in line outside for a long time too, but luckily we could switch off when one of us needed to go to the bathroom.”

Just when I process that Tiffany must be the name of her blue-haired friend, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. I check the caller ID.Mom.

“I have to go,” I say. “Good luck with your audition and hopefully I’ll see you at practice!”

“See you,” she says with a smack of her gum. “And yeah, hopefully. Hey, want to exchange numbers? I’ll text you if I make it in, I guess, since the show isn’t airing until October.”

“Sure.”

I hand her my phone, feeling reassured that if Lana makes it in, I’ll at the very least have one friend in this competition. Even though I know friendships are usually short-lived in cutthroat competitions likeYou’re My Shining Star, it still makes me feel a bit better that I won’t be going into all of this alone.

Plus, she’s really pretty in a way that makes my bi heart squeeze a little. If I were allowed to date girls, and if my parents knew I wasn’t straight, I’d totally date her.

A hand with black-painted nails reaches out and plucks my phone from Lana’s grasp. I follow the hand up to see the girlwith the blue bob—Tiffany, my brain reminds me.

“What’s this?” she says. “Lana, you’re not cheating on me, are you?”

Her voice sounds like she’s joking, but her eyes are wary as they flicker toward me.

“Of course not, sweetie.” Lana gives the girl a light peck on the cheek. “Tiffany, this is Skye. Skye, this is Tiffany, my girlfriend.”

Tiffany gives me a self-satisfied smirk as she slings her arm around Lana’s shoulders. I know it’s meant to make me jealous, but all I can think right now is:Oh my God, they’re queer like me!

I’m grinning really widely, and I can tell from Tiffany’s confused face that this isn’t the reaction she was expecting. But I can’t help it. I’m just that happy. The LGBTQ Students Association at our school has plenty of queer girls, but none of them are Asian except me. Although I know queer Asian girls existsomewhere, I was beginning to lose hope of the possibility that I’d ever find them.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” I say, trying my best to not sound like a creep. I finally manage to control my face so I’m no longer giving them a weird grin, so there’s that, at least.

Tiffany crosses her arms.

“Okay, what’s up?” she says. “Why are you acting like this?”