EE Chapter 16

# Chapter Sixteen - "Mail Call"

    "Yeah! We know you're in there! Don't make me knock down the door!"

    "Come ooon!"

    I pounded on our friend's door. We *know* she's home. There's music playing, which wouldn't be the case if the room was empty. Yume also walked home from school with her, so we know she isn't still out. Plus she's singing along with the music, which is a surefire sign that she's behind this door. We both pounded on it some more until finally, after what felt like ages, she answered.

    "Bonjour! What's all the excitement about, madames?"

    ***"You've gotta go check your mail!"*** My roommate and I both yelled in unison before our friend had even closed her mouth. She stood momentarily shocked by our sonic assault before asking,

    "And why is that?"

    "Because you may have really important mail!" Yume shouted, too fast for even me to match.

    "Really, really important mail. So let's go!"

    "Non. I've lived here for nearly a year, and not one time have I gotten important mail. There's probably nothing there." Anette paused, then added quickly, "Except fan mail. Much, much fan mail. Bags full. Sometimes I cannot even pull it all the way up the stairs. It's simply too much of a hassle to deal with."

    "Well if there's that much we can help you. I bet I could carry three bags all on my own, and Akira can probably carry five!"

    "Six, at least! Three in each hand. And you can handle at least one, so no excuses. There's no way you have more than ten bags of fan mail."

    "You doubt moi? Soon you shall see. Once we are *Les Trois Belles* you'll see just how much mail a successful idol gets from her fans. Dozens of satchels. Baker's dozens, even."

    "Yeah but we may not have to-” A loud, muffled mess of words flowed around my hand out of Yume's mouth as I quickly muzzled her before she could ruin the surprise.

    What is the surprise? Only the best thing to have happened ever in the history of always! Today once we both got home from school my roommate Yume and I took a walk up to the main office on the sixth floor to check our mail. We never really have anything - we've only just passed our exams and haven't even debuted yet - but climbing the stairs is good exercise, and it's kind of fun since Yume won't usually come with me on runs anymore, ya know? Today though we did have something! A little colorful envelope drawn all over with markers. We thought maybe it was from one of the girls in our training class congratulating us, but it was better. It read, in hand drawn characters, "Congratulations on passing your exams! Come try out for Interlunium! Friday 5pm in the practice rooms." Both of them said the exact same thing. Can you imagine it? The hottest, most popular, most successful idol group I MY ME has had in years, and they want my roommate and I to both try out to join them?!

    So naturally the first thing we did was run as fast as we could to make our best friend check her mail too. We're fresh out of training and they're already interested in us, so a successful idol like Anette *must* be even higher on their list! Our plan from the day we all met has been to form our own idol group, just the three of us. With Yume and I bringing our dance skills and Anette's unmatched flair of pure cuteness there won't be a hotter trio of idols to be found anywhere in the city. Maybe the country! But if all three of us audition together then there's no way we don't all make it into Interlunium, and then we'll have all of that *plus* seven more amazing girls!

    Up on the fourth floor, I could tell that Yume was ready to burst from holding it in, especially since Anette grumbled her way up the stairs slowly to get here. We practically pushed her all the way to the main office so she could check her mailbox in the giant wall of postal lockers. Anette scowled at Yume as she giggled, probably wondering if this was some kind of payback for one of her practical jokes. She turned the key and peered into her locker, drawing out a single envelope just as ours had contained.

    "You got it!" Yume shouted, loud enough that she immediately looked sheepish from making such a large noise on such a professional floor.

    "What did I get?" Anette eyed us with suspicion.

    "Open it! You'll see!" I was already clutching my own letter in my pocket, ready to reveal it to her as soon as she'd read it. Anette did exactly that, opening the plain white envelope carefully. She unfolded the letter and read it slowly, the color draining from her face as her eyes scanned lower and lower.

    ***"Surprise!"*** We both yelled in unison, waving our own letters in the air. Anette fell back against the wall across from the mailboxes and slowly slid down it until she was sitting in a heap on the gray carpeting. "Anette? What's wrong?"

    "Non non non non non…"

    "Anette?! Isn't it good news?" Yume leaned in to our friend, who looked like she was in shock. She held out the letter which Yume took, scanned, and handed wordlessly over to me.

    "...unfortunately… unprofitable… unwilling to produce… at this time…"

    It wasn't an invitation from Interlunium at all. It was from Mr. Kumasawa, Anette's producer, letting her know that he was no longer willing to manage her and that she only had until the end of next week to find a producer willing to take her on as a client before…

    "No way! He can't do that!" I shouted, not particularly caring what floor we're on.

    "He's an idiot if he doesn't want to manage you! We definitely won't be working with him, that's for sure!" Yume was still louder though.

    Suddenly, Anette started laughing. "You guys really got me! The way you lured me up here because you were so sure I had mail, it must be a joke. C'est magnifique."

    Yume and I exchanged worried glances.

    "Anette… I'm really really really super sorry. We didn't know about that. We thought you'd have a letter like ours…" I held up my invitation, now slightly crumpled in the excitement. "Yume got one too. We thought for sure that this is what would be waiting for you…"

    "I'm so sorry, Anette!" Yume sank to the floor next to our friend, who had stopped her laughter as the gravity of the situation set in, giving her an awkwardly positioned hug. "We'll find a producer to work with all three of us!”

    "Yeah! We can't possibly be idols without you! That's been our plan this entire time. It wouldn't be worth doing if it wasn't all three of us!"

    Anette somewhat sneakily grabbed the sheet of paper from Yume. Her eyes grew wide from reading it.

    "Akira, you got the same invitation?"

    "Ah, yeah…" I took a seat on the other side of Anette, ready to initiate emergency hugs if needed. "But probably only because we just passed our exams. For all we know they went to all of the new girls…"

    "But it doesn't matter! We're not going to audition! Not without you. We're *Les Trois Belles,* right? I'm pretty sure that only works if there are three of us!"

    "Yume's right! Being in Interlunium would be great, but not without both of my best friends. No Anette, no dice! That's what I say."

    Our friend looked at Yume, then up at me. I could tell how touched she was, even though I know she would do the exact same thing for either of us if it came to it. Then the yelling started.

    "I can't believe you'd do something so… so… You need to audition! It's your dream!"

    "But Anette, we-"

    "Not Anette! Anette is so happy to have two friends who are so wonderful, but now Chizuru is mad that you would throw away a once in a lifetime opportunity! How am I supposed to feel knowing that you could have been a part of something so amazing but gave up just to spare my feelings? It's every lunula's dream! You need to try out and you need to do your absolute best, otherwise I'll never forgive myself! If you're really my friends you'll both do everything you can to make the most of this opportunity. I promise I'll always be there to cheer you on, even if I'm no longer…" She trailed off, unable to say the words.

    "If you feel that strongly, then we'll both give it our all. Right, Akira?"

    "Right. But you have to help us prepare, and you can't give up either. Just because one stupid producer can't see how amazing you are doesn't mean that none of the others will, and we probably don't have a real chance anyway. There will probably be dozens of girls auditioning! So you need to keep practicing with us so we can all find a producer together if we're not chosen. Otherwise, no deal."

    Anette - well, at the moment I guess it was Chizuru - closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering me.

    "Okay. But we're going to work harder than ever! No slacking off. And no snacks until after the audition! Even if it's the last thing I do as an idol, I'm going to make sure my friends put on a show so amazing that they'll have to make you members. No excuses!"

    "Right! Let's get started right away!" I grabbed my friend's hand and stood up, pulling her along with me. Yume did the same, and all three of us headed toward the stairs to the practice rooms.

    "We're going to need new songs. And new choreography! For three!" Yume exclaimed as she opened the stairwell door.

    "Of course! We need to showcase both of your dancing skills. I hope you're ready to rehearse until your feet break!" Our friend stomped on a stair for effect.

    "Yeah! And you're gonna come with us, right? Even if it's our audition, we want you there too so they can see how we perform in a group. I bet none of the other girls will think of doing that. Plus that way we'll be ready to show off for any producers who we talk to! Awah! We forgot about costumes! You're gonna have to help us make matching costumes too!"

    "Yes! The best costumes! We're going to look cuter than Eimi Inagawa herself by the time we're ready!"

    "Yeah!" Yume shouted enthusiastically. "We're going to need Anette back real soon though, please. Chizuru is kind of intense..."

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