Victor turns and goes still. “Oh,yes,” he says, striding toward us slowly. “Even better than my vision.”
He saysvisionlike it’s a religious experience rather than a simple mental image he had when designing these. He comes up behind me and turns me toward him with a hand on each shoulder. His mouth draws into a huge smile. “You. Look. Fabulous.”
I glance away, uncomfortable with the praise. But I’m not immune to it. Iwantto look good. I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb on stage.
Paul walks in and claps a few times in quick succession. “Fifteen minutes and counting. You should be warming up.”
Welp, that’s that. This is what I’m wearing.
We head to the warmup room, all of us doing our usual practices on the way—things that would make us sound like crazy people in any other setting.
With every minute that ticks by, my heart beat skips to a pace that would trigger acode bluein a hospital. It’s a modern miracle I haven’t hiccupped yet. I also haven’t seen Austin, and we’re five minutes from going on.
“Mi mi mi mi mi,” Rose sings beside me as we wait in the wings of the stage. A section of the crowd is barely visible from where I’m standing. In that area, at least, not a seat is empty.
Kelly grabs a water bottle, unscrews the cap, and takes a little sip while I fiddle with the sequins within reach of my shaking fingertips.
“Boo!” Austin grabs me around the shoulders, making me jump and Kelly spill her water.
“Austin!” Kelly cries out as brushes water off her dress.
“Sorry,” he says. “Just trying to help Mia.”
“By giving her a heart attack?” Rose asks.
“By getting rid of the hiccups,” he says like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“Hiccups?” Rose asks.
But Austin doesn’t respond. His eyes are on me—on my dress, specifically. I suppress the urge to smooth it over my body while heat creeps into my cheeks. It shouldn’t matter to me whether Austin approves of how I look in this. But it does.
It so does.
His gaze returns to my face, and there’s no mistaking the admiration there. “Wow.”
Body blazing, I glance at Kelly and Rose, whose eyebrows raise as they stare at Austin.
“I get the hiccups when I get nervous.” The words tumble out of my mouth, desperate to draw their attention to anything other than Austin’s reaction, even as there’s a little victory dance going on in my heart.
Why my body thinks it’s a victory to get the approval of a womanizer like him, I’ll never know.
“Did it work?” he asks.
“I haven’t had them yet,” I say. “This dress doesn’t allow much space for them.”Or they got chased away forever yesterday when your arms were around me.
Never sayingthatto him.
“Everyone ready?” Paul asks, appearing out of nowhere.
Everyone nods, and I do too, even though it’s not true and probably never will be. I haven’t been this scared since I postedmy first singing video. Maybe that should be a lesson to me. I was so nervous, and for no reason. It got a hundred views instead of going viral like I hadn’t been willing to admit to myself I was hoping for.
Tonight will probably be the same. An anti-climax.
Before I know it, we’re shuffled onstage amidst deafening cheers. For Austin. They’re all for Austin.
I can’t help being a bit jealous as he flashes his stupid, sexy smile and waves to the thousands of people who paid money to see him.
It’s hard to see much with the audience in darkness and the stage lights shining on us, but I spot posterboard throughout the crowd. The one nearest saysMarry Me, Austin! I’ll have your babies!
