As she came even with me to wait her turn, I squeezed her hand. “Break a leg,” I whispered. “Or not.”
She rolled her eyes at the me then stepped out on to the stage.
Anne was behind Star in line, also in a stunning dress whose designer I didn’t know. In an effort to extend an olive branch, suggesting there were no hard feelings on my part, at least, I spoke.
“Nice dress.”
“Fuck off,” she replied then stepped out behind the curtain prematurely before Star had even made her way across the stage.
“Bitch,” I muttered.
Then I heard it, an audible gasp coming from the stage. Followed by an uproar from the audience.
Pulling the curtain back, I looked out and squeaked with my own horror.
Anne was taking a few steps back, her hands covering her mouth, wearing a sheepish expression.
Meanwhile my sister. MY SISTER. Was on stage covering her naked breasts with her hands. The audience had leapt to their collective feet to do what teenage audiences did when confronted with naked breasts: started taking videos with their phone.
I immediately ran out to get her, standing as a shield between her and the audience, while she frantically tried to pull up the dress. When it didn’t cooperate, she just wrapped her arms around her chest.
Fitz, who followed immediately behind me, turned Star so that her back was to the audience then he removed his tuxedo jacket and pulled it around her. It was so large she was completely covered by the material.
He turned to the audience and with every ounce of arrogance and self-possession he had in his body, said, “You can stop filming now. The show is over.”
Not surprising, that had most of the audience re-taking their seats.
Together, we escorted Star off the stage; she immediately collapsed into my arms where she promptly began to sob.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” I said, holding her tightly and patting her on the back.
“I just flashed the entire high school,” she wailed on a hiccup. “It’s not okay.”
“But your breasts are so pretty,” I said, lamely. “Think of how much more jealous everyone will be of you now.”
She glared at me and I winced.
“Star! Star, what happened?”
Chas, who had finished his modeling for the night, had been backstage shooting the shit with some of his friends. Someone must have told him the commotion on stage was about Star.
I let my sister go only long enough for her to fall into Chas’s arms so she could sob on his shoulder and he could do the back patting. Meanwhile Fitz, with this hand wrapped firmly around Anne’s upper arm, was escorting her off the stage forcibly.
“It was an accident,” she hissed at him. “Let me go.”
He let her go but looked down at her with disgust. “Youaccidentallywalked out on stage prior to your turn.”
“I got nervous,” she said, lifting her chin up. “It happens.”
“What did you do?” Chas barked.
“She stepped on my dress and it pulled the whole thing down,” Star cried. “I literally just flashed everyone. And now there is video and it’s going to go viral. Shit!”
Sure enough, I could hear phone notifications going off all around us.
Heath, who was still hanging out backstage, pulled his phone out of his back pocket and smiled. “Yep.”
“This isn’t funny, Heath” I barked at him.
