The Future of Sulani | 9

San Myshuno. Even seen at a distance from the window of an airplane, the view is indescribable. Noelani, Nani, and Malia have never seen anything like it - the skyscrapers, the billboards, the highways. It's a long cry from Sulani's modest bungalows, expansive beaches, and haphazard dirt paths. Despite the island's recent strides toward modernization, San Myshuno still seems like a city from an impossibly far-off future in comparison.

Amongst it all, the friends feel like impossibly tiny fish in an even more impossibly massive fishbowl. They stand within the dense cluster of buildings and intersecting streets and sidewalks, suddenly less confident in their memory of the maps they pored over before leaving. Luckily, modern technology's got their backs. They enter their destinations into the navigation apps on their phones before parting ways: Noelani to the Fashion District to meet Theo and Nani and Malia to Myshuno Meadows to spend the day exploring parks and museums before they all re-converge for dinner.

Noelani takes the metro into the Fashion District, and it's an experience they won't forget any time soon. The train zooms along high-speed tracks suspended above the ground at a rate that feels a million times faster than any mode of transportation they've used before. A motor vehicle is still a rare sight in Sulani - most people on the island travel by foot, bicycle, or boat - and the plane ride had been so smooth that it hardly felt like they were moving at all beyond the initial take-off. But the metro rattles and buzzes and hums with exertion, and it's all Noelani can do to grip the edges of their plastic seat and hold on tight.

When they're finally back on solid ground, their legs are still a little shaky. Theo is already waiting outside the sleek, contemporary apartment building for which he'd texted Noelani the address earlier. He greets them with an enthusiastic grin. "How's the city treating you so far?"

Noelani takes note of their unusually rapid heartbeat. "Jury's still out," they reply.

He laughs heartily. "It certainly takes some getting used to. But I'm sure you'll feel like a native in no time!"

Theo is buzzed into the building with the press of a single button, and Noelani follows him into the elevator, where they ride all the way to the top floor. They enter an apartment that's been transformed into a small studio, its decor just as modern and sophisticated as the outside of the building. "I hope you're ready for your big close-up," Theo says as they wait on the sofa.

Noelani bites their lip nervously. "I've never done a professional photo shoot before. What if I look like an idiot?"

"Don't worry. Cara's legit." He nods toward the other room, where Noelani can hear someone clacking away on a keyboard. "All you've got to do is be yourself and she'll turn it into magic. Just try to have fun with it."

A few minutes later, a cool, effortlessly trendy young woman glides in to greet them. "Cara Liang," she introduces herself, "freelance photographer at your service. You must be Noelani. I love your hair! That color's really going to pop on film!"

"Hi," Noelani responds, trying to mask the anxiety in their voice. "Thanks. It's nice to meet you."

But Cara notices right away. "You don't have to be nervous," she says reassuringly. "I shoot a lot of stuff for Theo, and it always turns out great. Besides, I can already tell you have an actual sense of style, which will make things so much easier. Half the struggle sometimes is landing on a compelling persona, but it seems like you're already there!"

Noelani isn't used to being showered with so many compliments, especially regarding their appearance. They spent so many of their teen years feeling confused and awkward in their own body that it's still sometimes hard for them to take others' comments at face value instead of falling into a pit of self-hatred and doubt. They follow Cara and Theo into the other room, which is all decked out in bright lights and draped with plain white backdrops. "Let's get this party started," they joke, immediately falling into an exaggerated hands-on-hips pose.

"Oh, yeah. You're a natural," Cara deadpans.

Noelani changes into one of the outfits they settled on with Theo before the trip, a simple black jumpsuit. Cara is already poised at her camera, ready to shoot, but Theo insists on giving Noelani one final pep talk. "After all, what else are managers for?" he laughs, going in for a last-minute hug.

Cara groans at Theo's excessively lengthy departure. "If you want me to get a picture of the two of you together, at least let me take a proper one," she says, peering through the viewfinder at Theo mid-hug and Noelani mid-sentence, a decidedly unflattering pose.

Theo happily obliges, letting Cara snap a quick shot of him with his newest protege before he leaves the two of them alone, heading off to take care of some business with his other clients.

Cara takes one last opportunity to position Noelani exactly where she wants them before stepping back behind the camera. "It's already so much more peaceful in here," she says, sighing contentedly. "Theo's a good man, but he does not know how to gracefully hand over the reins. We're lucky he didn't insist on directing the whole shoot himself!"

The shutter goes off for five or ten minutes straight, and Noelani does their best to ignore the half dozen lights blazing down on them and pose in a way that is somehow the perfect balance of relatable yet unapproachable, above it all yet down to earth. It turns out it takes far more effort to come across as effortless than they would have assumed.

Cara checks in after the first round of photos, and Noelani shrugs. "I don't know. It just doesn't quite feel like me. There's no fun or edginess. I want people to look at these photos and instantly have an idea of what they might be in for. I brought a couple of my performance outfits, too. Maybe we can try those?"

Noelani changes, and Cara's eyes instantly light up. "This is much better!" she exclaims, scrambling back behind the camera. "Let me adjust the background color, too. We need something way more youthful and energetic!"

It's amazing how much more comfortable and confident Noelani feels in their own clothes. Cara was right: they already have their own unique look and personality. Why try to dilute that or tone it down? After all, they want people to love them for who they really are, not some painstakingly-curated version of them with all the sharp corners smoothed out.

At the end of the session, they pore over the photos together on Cara's tablet. "Oh my God," Noelani gasps. "I can hardly believe it's me." They almost look, dare they say, like an actual superstar. "Can you send me copies of these? My parents will die when they see them."

"By the way," Cara says before Noelani heads to the bathroom to change back into their street clothes, "I'm really excited to see you perform. I've listened to the stuff you have up online, and it's so cool. Theo has already promised to put me on the guest list."

Shit. Noelani had been so absorbed by thoughts of the photo shoot that they nearly forgot about the club Theo booked them to play a few nights from now. Their anxiety threatens to bubble back up at the reminder, but they swallow it down before it can ruin the rest of their evening. That's a worry for another time.

Across the city, in Myshuno Meadows, the sun begins to set, creating even more remarkable views as it dances across countless window panes. It's comforting to know that there are natural wonders here, too, just as liable to take your breath away as the man-made ones. This is the same sun that sets on Sulani, as impossibly distant as home may seem.

Malia and Nani wander lackadaisically through the museum, only partly taking in the displayed statues and art (even the multi-story bronze astronaut fails to leave much of an impression). What they're really hoping is that the seemingly endless stairways will eventually lead them to the roof, where they can get an unobstructed view of the sunset over the city skyline.

When they finally make it to the top, they aren't disappointed. They stand in admiring silence, burning this moment into their mind's eye forever. It's hard to beat a Sulani sunset, but this one's no slouch either.

They're so awestruck, they nearly lose track of the time. Then Malia manages to pull herself away long enough to check her phone. "We'd better get a move on," she says. "Noelani's probably already waiting down in the park."

At the sight of Nani, Noelani immediately makes a running leap into her arms. Nani grunts beneath the unexpected weight but tightly squeezes Noelani back.

"Geez, get a room," Malia mutters. "Oh, wait, you have one... and unfortunately you're sharing it with me."

Noelani doesn't even seem to hear her. "I'm so happy to see you guys!" they exclaim, a little out of breath. "I had to ride the metro twice, and I felt like I was going to die both times! But I survived!"

On the way back to the hotel, they flip through the photos Cara's already emailed to them on their phone, regaling Nani and Malia with all the details of their photo shoot, which, of course, was a breeze in comparison to their harrowing public transit experience.

Malia made advance reservations online for one of the swankiest restaurants in the city. They can hardly believe their luck when the maître d' escorts them to their table. "How on earth did we score this view?" Nani exclaims.

As it turns out, San Myshuno is breathtaking from all angles and at all times of day. They'd thought they had everything in Sulani, but it isn't until now, upon finally seeing the world beyond, that they've started contemplating everything they might be missing.

"Just imagine," Malia tells Noelani. "When you're famous, you'll be able to snag tables like this by simply blinking instead of being forced to book months in advance like the rest of us lowly plebeians."

Noelani laughs and leans back in their chair, luxuriating for a moment in the concept of celebrity. "That sounds like something I could get used to," they say. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. No one in this city knows me yet. They might not even like me once they get to know me."

"I highly doubt that," Nani says as their meal arrives. She lifts her glass of red wine in an impromptu toast. "To Noelani, worldwide musical superstar in the making."

"To Noelani!" Malia echoes.

Noelani rolls their eyes but takes a drink anyway.

After dinner, Noelani pulls Nani aside for a flirty selfie. "Maybe you'll be able to sell this to a tabloid for a couple thousand bucks someday," they joke. Nani, wine-drunk, giggles and pulls Noelani in closer. In that one brief moment, the city suddenly feels like the most intimate place in the world.