Make Me/Maia - Week Three

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## Carter's Week Three

Week Two ended with him going lower in the ranks, which upset him very much. However, he didn't let his parents get to him this time. He didn't answer their calls. He didn't need any negativity. He just needs to do better. Instead of wallowing in his failure, Carter held his head up and was ready to face week three.

A new week meant a new group, so Carter just has to adjust this time. It was getting easier as the weeks pass by and he was slowly opening up to the other contestants. Carter was getting more comfortable with them, seeing as he had worked with most of them. The songs they were assigned to were pretty easy, Eclipse's *Lucifer* and Echo's *Ahh Oop*. He was more familiar with Echo, mostly because of Kai's friendship with said group. His tactic was still the same, solo private practices to improve his own performance and familiarising himself with his groupmates. He and Rose worked closely together, seeing as they were labelmates and were consistent groupmates throughout the past two weeks. *Lucifer* and *Ahh Oop* dominated his playlist for this week.

Group practices were getting easier as he learned to adjust and adapt to working with other people. It's a slow process for him, yes, but he thinks he's doing better. He's still the wallflower but he gives his best, trying to shine whenever the spotlight would be on him. Long nights would lead to him drilling his cues and positions and parts and during daytime he'd try and apply everything he had learnt in theory. With the thoughts of his parents drifting farther and farther away, Carter was becoming more reassured with himself. He could finally comfortably do the thing he loved to do the most; dancing. Who cares what his parents would say?

However, despite his familiarity with the songs, he did encounter some more bumps on the road. He was more on vocals and dance, and being assigned a rapper's parts made it rather difficult for him. Maybe that was what dragged him down the past few weeks, he was doing his assigned rap parts wrong. He could just slap himself for overlooking this problem. But he had to admit, he was too worried and drowning in his thoughts about what his parents would say that he didn't analyse *why* he was doing poorly. Now that he had a clue on what it was, he worked on improving his performance in that sphere. Carter swallowed down his discomfort in facing other people and approached someone he knew wouldn't be weirded out if he asked for any tips; Sapphire Mae. He had noticed how eager the other girl was in helping other people and so he went to her first.

It was difficult, learning to rap, but Sapphire was patient and actually was pretty fun to hang out with. Carter had compiled her advice in his small notebook and worked on improving on the places where he needed to improve. He was really thankful for Sapphire's eagerness to help and in turn, he decided to help her on the parts she was having difficulty with in the choreography. They helped each other improve, encouraged each other, and just generally started to build a friendship. Soon he roped Rose into his and Sapphire's practice sessions and the three helped each other improve.

During practice with his actual group, Carter was becoming more comfortable with his newfound skill in rapping, though he knows he has a long way to go. He took note of his cues and positions and parts, especially the areas where he was having difficulty in. In the midst of everything, Carter noticed how much he's changed since he first entered Make Me and he's proud of it. Maybe trying to debut in a group wouldn't be so bad after all.

When the day for the real performances came, Carter was jittery all around. This was the first time he was going to perform with the thought of his parents being so far back in his mind. Sapphire surprised him with the good luck hug, but what made him even more surprised was how the good luck hug seemed to calm him down a bit. He was thankful of Sapphire for that. Onstage, he was anxious to show to the audience the skill he worked hard on. He poured out his best when his parts came, hoping that he did well and exceeded expectations.

The performance ended before he knew it, and so he began to feel the real anxiety and nervousness seep in as they awaited the results. Carter prayed to every divine deity he knew to give him another chance at raising up the ranks and tried his best to keep calm and collected. Hopefully all his hard work paid off this time.

## Sapphire's Week Three

Moving down two spots bothered her. What did she do wrong in the last task? Nevertheless, she promised to herself that she'd do better this time. Negativity would only drag her down, so she should face the next task with her head high. Once the songs were assigned and they were regrouped once again, Sapphire got ready.

Their songs were Boys' Generation's *Beautiful* and Black Swan's *Automatic*. Both songs were familiar to her but only in audio only. The choreo videos for Boys' Generation's *Beautiful* was scarce, the only one she has seen was the one from the fancam, so she relied on group practices. Unlike the other weeks, she was the one looking for help and not the other way around. Help came in the form of the wallflower Prism trainee, Carter. He approached her to ask for her help in improving his rapping skills. Sapphire ended up tutoring Carter and was very patient with him, knowing the difficulties of learning a new skill. She loved having him as a student, he was patient, hardworking, and is very gracious when it comes to constructive criticism.

In return, Carter helped her with the choreography of both *Beautiful* and *Automatic*. Sapphire noted that he's a skilled dancer and wonders why he opted to focus more on vocals, but she knew it wasn't her place to ask.

Sapphire could see her improvement in her group's practice performances, but there are still a few areas she has to sharpen up. Nonetheless, she never forgot to have fun and enjoy the practices and push the pressuring thoughts behind her mind. She concentrated in her cues and parts, trying her best to make sure her mistakes are smoothened out. She'd do extra practice after hours, concentrating on the areas where she seemed iffy and rusty. Carter joined her sometimes, bringing along with him a labelmate whom he introduced as Rose. Together they'd exchange performance tips and help each other improve on the areas they were having difficulties with.

Time flew and soon, it was the day of their next official performance. She gave both Carter and Rose good luck hugs and tried her best to keep herself calm and collected. Even though this was the third time she's performed in Make Me, Sapphire still gets the jitters. Their performance are going to be judged again and Sapphire was excited and anxious to know if she truly did improve in the judge's and crowd's eyes.

During their performance, Sapphire was able to get most of her cues and parts with a few minor mistakes that she tried her best to make up for. She wanted to show everyone that she has improved and will continue to improve, that she wanted her place back as Top 2. Sapphire performed from the bottom of her heart, never forgetting to smile even though her muscles ached from the constant practices. Adrenaline rush was one of the few things that kept her going the entire time. The pain in her muscles was nothing compared to the sense of accomplishment that she felt wash over her after the performance. After all, as her mother always said, *no pain, no gain*.