Anna tugged at the baseball cap on her head. Tonight, she was going to watch Eden’s performance from the audience for the first time. Well, she’d get to watch the first hour or so from her seat before she ducked backstage to get ready for their duet.
She would wait until the houselights went out and then sneak into the empty seat waiting for her, hoping she could go unnoticed for long enough to enjoy Eden’s performance. It was also a welcome chance to spend more time with her family. To help conceal her identity, she’d had Kyrie buy her one of the hats from Eden’s merchandise stand.
When the time came, she left her dressing room to meet Kyrie, who was waiting to show her to her seat. She knew the moment the houselights dropped because the crowd went wild, screaming for Eden. Anna could relate.
As she made her way into the audience, excitement spread through her system. She’d been attending concerts in this arena since she was a little girl. In fact, she’d seen Eden for the first time here when she was ten. And now, here she was, touring with Eden, performing in her hometown arena.
It was anothermoment.
She kept her head down as she walked, not that it mattered. No one was looking at her. All eyes were on the stage, where a musical sequence had begun. Anna had about thirty seconds to find her seat before Eden stepped onstage.
Her family was seated in the section directly to the left of the stage, close enough that Anna had been able to easily spot them during heropening set. Seeing the pride and joy on their faces was a memory she’d carry with her forever. She was so lucky to have them.
Briefly, she thought of Eden’s parents. Had it been hard for her today, being around Anna’s family when her own was so stifling and unsupportive? Anna hoped not. Eden had certainly looked happy all afternoon, but Anna knew by now that Eden was exceptionally good at hiding her true emotions when she felt like she needed to put on a performance for someone.
Ahead, Anna spotted her parents and John, and she slid into the empty seat between John and her mom without drawing any undue attention to herself. “Hi,” she said, wrapping an arm around John.
He grinned, leaning in so she could hear him over the music. “You were so great tonight. It freaked me out a little bit, to be honest. You look like a star, not my little sister.”
“Can’t I be both?” she asked playfully, nudging him with her elbow.
“Oh yeah, and also—” His voice was drowned out by the roar of the crowd.
Eden appeared through a trapdoor in the middle of the stage, wearing a pink miniskirt and matching top, looking like the kind of superstar Anna hoped to be someday. Eden began to sing, moving with her dancers in a way that made it seem like she was doing a lot more dancing than she actually was. Anna hadn’t really noticed how much Eden let the dancers accentuate her moves until she’d watched her in rehearsals.
It was so well choreographed. Flawless but nottoopolished. Eden added her own flair, making eye contact with the crowd when she got to the edge of the stage, smiling and waving to her fans. She was a pro. And her voice had the hairs on Anna’s arms standing on end all over again.
Eden made her way to the left side of the stage, standing about ten feet in front of Anna and her family, and she was brimming with energy, like someone had turned her inner spotlight back on since Anna first met her before the Grammys. She wasradiant.
She caught Anna’s eye and winked. Anna grinned, dancing and singing Eden’s words back to her like the fangirl she was. The look Eden gave her made Anna want to melt into a happy puddle. Eden was looking at her like Anna had made her day, like she loved seeing Anna in the audience as much as Anna loved being here.
Anna pressed a hand against her heart, which was about to pound out of her chest. God, she was in over her head when it came to this woman. Eden moved back to the center of the stage, staring into the depths of the arena as she sang, showing the audience exactly what they wanted to see.
Anna had glimpsed Eden without her professional mask in place, though: moments when she let her guard down around Anna, when she felt comfortable to just be herself. Those were the moments Anna treasured most.
Eden’s real smiles—the genuine ones, like the one Anna had just received from the stage—felt like a gift, like something private given only to Anna.
She danced around in her row, thrilled for this chance to enjoy the show from the audience. She and her mom hooked elbows and swayed to the music together, and when she looked past Bev, her dad was on his feet, grooving to the beat too.
About thirty minutes into the show, Eden reappeared onstage in a billowing blue skirt. She stood at the microphone stand to sing “Alone.” As Eden sang the lyrics, Anna’s heart ached. Eden might wear a mask when she spoke, but she showed her heart when she sang. The raw emotion in her voice made Anna’s eyes well with tears.
After “Alone,” Eden segued into one of her more upbeat songs, moving her hips to the beat as that blue skirt swirled around her feet. One of the dancers unclipped her skirt and whisked it away, drawing screams from the crowd as her blue mini shorts were revealed. Anna realized belatedly that she’d screamed, too, drawing a look from her mother. Oops.
At the end of the song, the dancers clipped Eden onto a line that had descended from the rigging above the stage, connecting to the harness sewn into her costume. Then she rose into the air, spinning like a tornado in the move Anna had watched her struggle with so much during rehearsals. Tonight, she was flawless, twirling effortlessly through the air before she returned to the stage to deliver the last line of the song.
Now it was Anna who felt dizzy, her mind—and her heart—whirling with the power of her feelings for Eden.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Anna:
Plans today?
Eden:
The usual. Tea. Movie. Want to join me?
Anna:
