Page 60 of Stars Collide


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They kept walking. The group of fans was still following them, and while Anna was trying not to be obvious about checking over her shoulder, she was pretty sure there were more of them now. The woman in front was definitely filming them on her phone. She wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it now.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Eden muttered.

“We’re fine,” Anna said, increasingly annoyed that she couldn’t just turn around and greet her fans. “Taylor will be here any minute.”

Eden didn’t respond. They walked for a few moments in strained silence, and then all hell broke loose. With a shriek, several people ran toward them from the path ahead. Eden froze, and when Anna glanced at her, she wore her stage smile, but it was tense at the edges. The group from behind caught up to them, and everyone was talking at once, cell phones held overhead.

“Oh my God!” someone screamed.

“Eden! Eden, over here!”

“Anna! I love you so much, can I—”

Anna didn’t hear the rest because someone grabbed her arm, spinning her sideways.

“Say hi, Anna.” The woman who’d been filming them held her phone in Anna’s face. “You’re live on Instagram!”

“Hi, everyone,” Anna said cheerfully. She waved for the camera and then turned to look for Eden, who was several feet away, completely surrounded by fans. They were all waving phones in her face and vying for her attention.

“Can I have a selfie?” someone asked.

“Sure,” Anna agreed, leaning in to pose for a quick photo.

“You were my role model when I came out,” the girl, who didn’t look more than sixteen, told Anna. “I can’t believe I’m meeting you right now. This is so wild!”

Anna gave her a hug, touched by the girl’s words. Moments like this were the reason she’d always been so open about her sexuality. She’dbeen lucky to have a supportive family behind her every step of the way, but not everyone had that, so if she could make it even a tiny bit easier for her queer fans, she was honored to do so. “Thank you. That means a lot.”

More phones were shoved in Anna’s face, along with various photos and other items people wanted her to sign. Someone grabbed the back of her shirt, and she felt a tug on her ponytail. That wasn’t cool. She’d almost lost sight of Eden now, and seriously, where had all these people come from?

Anna posed for selfies and signed shirts, photos, and cell phone cases, trying to work her way closer to Eden, but Eden kept drifting past her reach. No matter how hard Anna tried, Eden kept getting farther away.

Anna’s stomach clenched uncomfortably. She was crushed by fans on all sides now. People were touching her and jostling her and yelling in her face. This was out of control, even a little bit scary. With a sinking feeling, she realized Eden had been right all along.

“You two were so cute together walking through the park,” someone said. “Do you always go sightseeing together before a show?”

“Um, not that often, but I’d never been to Chicago before.” Anna managed not to flinch when someone stomped on her foot.

“Is it true that you’re dating?” someone asked.

“Yeah! We need answers about Edanna!” someone else shouted.

“My private life is private for a reason,” Anna told them. “But I’m not dating anyone at the moment, sorry to disappoint.”

“Oh, come on ...”

“Tell us the truth, Anna!”

The shouting intensified, and she really couldn’t breathe with so many bodies pressed against her.Where is Eden?Anna couldn’t see her. Panic clawed at her throat. As she desperately scanned the crowd for Eden, she felt like a naive asshole for not taking Eden’s concerns seriously.

Shouting Eden’s name felt like a bad idea. For whatever reason, she didn’t think she should let the crowd know she was afraid. She needed to play it cool until Taylor got here. What was taking her so long, anyway?

“Anna! Oh my God, Anna ...,” someone screeched in her ear, and she was pulled in for another photo.

When she looked around, all she could see were arms and cell phones. Several people had mentioned a live stream, which might explain why the number of fans seemed to keep multiplying exponentially.

“All right, everyone. I’m going to need you all to take three big steps back.” Taylor’s voice boomed above the din, and Anna exhaled in relief.

The crush of bodies around her lessened slightly, but Taylor didn’t come to her rescue. She headed in the other direction, hopefully to find Eden and get her the hell out of here. Anna kept smiling and posing for photos, wondering in desperation if Taylor was going to leave her here. Anna wasn’t her responsibility, after all.