The director and the cameraman both laughed. This girl was stupidly adorable. They had never met someone with a personality like this before.
“Your name…” The cameraman mouthed, trying to remind Thea.
“Sorry… Future Natalie… I mean ballerina. No, sorry, I mean Thea Todd,” Thea felt dizzy, “Sorry… just too excited.”
She couldn’t believe an invitation to a TV show had just fallen randomly on her head right after she had just got rejected during another audition.
It felt surreal.
“Okay, Thea, we will see you on the show,” The director announced.
Thea was still in a daze when the director’s assistant came to talk to her, giving her all the information she needed for The Top Girlband.
The interview went viral immediately. And the hashtags of #FutureNataliePortman, #FutureBallerina,
#ThatConfidentGirl and #DailyDoseOfConfidence were trending on Twitter.
The interview even stirred discussions about the appearance anxiety of females and women’s rights.
Thea’s followers on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter exploded on an unbelievable scale overnight. Thea felt both thrilled and scared as she received so much attention online. She’d never been this popular in her life before.
“Geez, I need my daily dose of confidence every day to achieve my dreams.” Thea thought to herself.
Suddenly several discussions popped up online, and even comments were getting more aggressive. It said:
“This society judges women too much. I appreciate the fact that she brought up this issue during the interview.”
“Lol. Future Natalie Portman. I like her.”
“What was the show’s name again? They’re gonna make a girl band?”
“I don’t know what they’re gonna make, but Thea Todd is my girl.”
“Yep. I will definitely vote for her. At least she has a personality.”
The clips of Thea talking about Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson were everywhere on Youtube.
A couple of days later, Thea found in desperation that she had become a meme. And Natalie Portman even posted Thea’s meme on her Instagram.
Thea Todd soon became the most expected candidate in the show before the show even started.
****
The heat from the internet was overwhelming, Thea felt she was under pressure but she also knew this was a great chance. So she used the opportunity to interact with her followers on social media accounts.
And soon, the call from the TV show came in, informing Thea about the second round of the competition.
The Top Girlband was a star-making TV show aimed at selecting competent members for the next top girl band in the country. Thea was pretty confident since she was pretty good at singing.
There were only two weeks before the next competition on television. Apart from running her social media accounts, Thea spent most of her time preparing her performance for the show.
Two weeks passed quickly. Thea went to the studio where they shot the show. She found in desperation that Paris Dunn was a member of the judges.
Thea’s mouth dropped open when she saw Paris Dunn from the side of the stage.
Paris Dunn seemed to notice Thea’s gaze. She turned her face a fraction and engaged her eyes with Thea’s, letting out a vicious smile when she ensured the cameras weren’t directed at her.
She had seen Thea’s face on the internet for two weeks, which drove her nuts.
For Paris, Thea Todd was just a loser. She didn’t expect her to get public attention on such a large scale.
Fame and popularity were the lifelines for people in showbiz. She would never allow anyone to steal her popularity, especially Thea Todd.
Thea shuddered as she noticed the deep resentment in Paris’s eyes.
She didn’t know what Paris’s plan was, but she knew Paris would definitely give her a hard time when it was her turn to go on the stage.
Thea wore a white mini-skirt today. Her long hair was pulled into a messy bun. When she came up on stage, the crowd started to cheer loudly, making the judges turn to look.
Most of them didn’t know Thea had got a lot of popularity online due to the interview. She became “the confident girl” overnight. People followed her social media and commented on her TikTok, saying she was straightforward and down to earth.
Paris hated it so much. But she still needed to act like she didn’t feel jealous as she was the one sitting in the judges’ seats.
“Thea Todd, we can see you have a lot of fans already. What are you gonna bring to us today?” Paris’s red lips curled into an immaculate smile.
Thea held the microphone and stood in the middle of the huge stage, but she didn’t flinch before the camera, “I’m gonna sing a song by Sia. The song is….”
“Wait…” Paris cut her off, “You’re gonna sing a song today? It’s a bit boring, isn’t it?”
Thea’s eyes widened, “But this is a competition about selecting girl band members. If I don’t sing in a girl band, what should I do? Jumping hoops?”
“Honey,” Paris leaned forward, so her cleavage showed before the camera, “The girl band we’re gonna build in the future is very different. You could say it’s world-class. If you want to get in, you need more than singing skills. Dancing skills are also a MUST. Why don’t you dance for us a bit, sweetie?”
There were other competitors on the stage before Thea. They all chose to sing, but Paris Dunn didn’t ask them to dance.
Thea knew Paris was just trying to give her shit right now.
The second round was streaming on YouTube at this moment. The live chat was sliding upward like crazy.
“Why did Paris ask Thea to dance? She didn’t ask other people to do that.”
“Who knows? It’s so unfair.”
“I think it’s disrespectful. Everyone has the right to decide their own audition piece.”
“Paris Dunn is such a bitch.”
“Hey, shut up, all of you. Paris is the best, okay? She’s the most successful actor.”
“That’s the point. She’s an actor. She doesn’t even know how to dance or sing. I don’t even know why they invited her to become the judge.”
“No one would know this crappy show if the Queen didn’t show up. They’re piggybacking on her popularity. So STFU.”
Thea looked at Paris, her voice carrying loud and clear through the mic, “I agree, Paris. For the successful stage performance of a girl band, dancing skills are quite important. But as you said, this show is all about “building” a girl band. It’s about finding suitable people and training them into stars. Suppose I was perfect and knew how to dance and sing from the beginning. I wouldn’t have needed to take this chance to improve myself. I would have become a solo artist.”