"Please, be our guest," Everyone sang on stage, Ashlyn in the center, twirling around, ending in a pose once the last note was played; I cheered from the sidelines, clapping my hands together. Everyone had been doing fantastic, the show was halfway over, and unlike our show last semester, there have been no cast changes, sound issues, or basketball malfunctions...

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a 15-minute intermission," I spoke into the mic nearby once the cheering had died down, "our concession stands are open... and if you do not buy at least 20$ worth of concessions, you do not support art...." I tease, no one laughs, though, "thank you."

I place the mic down before making my way out of the backstage area and into the hallway.

Although the intermission is considered a break, I still had so much to do; I had to make sure everyone who was in the next scene was prepared, grab the snow for something there, and so much more.

"Rory," I paused as Ashlyn called my name, a slight panic in her voice, "can you help me for a minute? I need your opinion on something."

"Of course," I nodded, nodding for her to follow me into the wardrobe room.

"I'm thinking of adding some riffs to the song," She rambles, her breathing growing unsteady, "Like... I wonder why I didn't see him there before." She sings the line, adding a ton of riffs to the final line; it sounded pretty, anything Ashlyn sings sounds good, but I didn't get the reason for it. "Like that."

"Okay," I nodded, "why?"

Ashlyn's shoulders slumped slightly, "Because Lily did it last night, and it was gently glorious."

I sighed, reaching forward to grab her hands, which had begun to shake a little, "Ash, listen to me; you are the best Belle I have ever seen." I inform her confidently, "Sure, Lily was good; but she doesn't even begin to touch the talent you have; I could tell from the audience how much effort Lily was putting into her performance; it didn't feel genuine. But you, you embody Belle in so many ways, you make it look effortless."

Ashlyn let out a breath, a smile making its way onto her face, "Really?" She asks; I nod, smiling back at her, "thank you." She pulls me in for a hug; I can tell she's still a little nervous, though, due to how uncontrolled her breathing is, "you're the best honorary cousin a girl could ask for."

I laugh at that, "So are you."

"Speaking of cousins...." She drags off, once we've pulled apart; I immediately stiffen up; no one had been able to tell that things were weird between EJ and myself; we'd been so busy getting the show ready, but of course, EJ would tell his cousin about what's been going on, he tells her everything. "I've been meaning to ask you about EJ; he told me you're not speaking anymore."

"Uh, it's complicated," I shrug, moving to sit on the piano bench; Ashlyn hums in response, motioning for me to explain, "if I tell you, can you promise me you won't say anything?" I ask her, "please."

"Of course," She nods, taking the spot beside me, "what's going on?"

"Ash, I really like your cousin," I start with, letting out a breath, "like a lot; like when he isn't around, all I can think about is him, and I thought maybe he felt the same; but when I went to the boys the other day, I heard him talking, Carlos asked how he felt about me, and his response was, "We're buddies, but she's Aurora...." I drag off, looking down at my hands, "he doesn't feel the same, and that's okay; but I don't want to be hurt by him again, so I told him I want things to go back to the way they were."

"Aurora," She mumbles my name sadly, causing me to look over at her, "Look, I don't want you to get hurt again either, but I think you should talk to EJ."

I'm not surprised by her response, "and say what? I started ignoring you because I've fallen head over heels for you?" I ask, chuckling at how crazy that sounds, "trust me; it's better this way."

Ashlyn opened her mouth to respond, but my timer on my phone went off, signaling to me that we were back on in five, and I needed to get backstage for stage manager duties. "Listen, I've gotta go," I squeeze her hand, "don't worry about me okay, I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself; you just go out there and continue being the best Belle that the state of Utah has ever seen."

I smiled at her one last time before exiting the room; just one hour left, and then I can go home and put the entire EJ thing behind me...

♡♥︎♡

I guess no opening night can go perfectly for us; it's kind of a tradition at this point. After my conversation with Ashlyn, everything looked as if it were going perfect, that was until it came to the big Beast transformation scene... Ricky's harness had vanished entirely; we'd all searched everywhere, eventually giving up and using our old transformation idea.

It hadn't been as extravagant as the other idea, but it was passable, and the audience didn't seem to mind; now, we were all spread around the wardrobe room, wiping off makeup and talking about what just happened.

This had always been my favorite part of opening nights, the excitement and rush of completing the show, everyone hugging and cheering each other on, "Okay, but next semester, we need to be in a scene together." Gina declared, taking her fake eyelashes off.

I nodded in agreement, I was only on stage for that one scene, but now that I've done it, I can't wait for the next musical we do, "Oh one-hundred percent."

Gina laughed as she rummaged through her bag, sighing when she couldn't find what she was looking for, "I left my jacket in the bomb shelter; I'll grab it once I'm done."

"I can get it for you," I offer; I'd already wiped my show makeup off and changed back into regular clothes a while ago, "the pink one?"

Gina nodded, smiling at me, "you're the best, Ro."

I shot her a smile before exiting the wardrobe room we were all crowded in, making my way to our usual rehearsal space. I was there within minutes, searching the room for the jacket; you'd think I'd have an easy time finding the bright-colored jacket, but it seemed like it wasn't even in here.

I flinch as the door slams shut behind me, turning around to see what had caused it; standing by the door is EJ, but it seems like he was just as shocked as I am; behind him, peeking through the glass pane on the door are Gina and Ashlyn... you've got to be kidding me.

What can I say... I love a good cliffhanger🙈