Noah’s gaze shone. Slowly, his hand lifted off her chest. He swept her hair over her shoulder, away from her face. Then he nodded toward the stage. He let her go.
As she turned to face the lights, AJ’s terror began to recrystallize like frost.
In ten seconds, she would walk out and all anyone would think was “No.”
It’s a terrible thing to stand in the wings, haunted by the specter of your younger self.
Onstage, Toni was staring at AJ with a fascinated expression, but beyond her, AJ could see Dave’s encouraging smile. Shuddering, AJ stepped out from the shadows.
The heat of the spotlights hit her face, followed a nanosecond later by the roar of the crowd. What came next was such an intense wave of love, it drove the sound out of the room.
As AJ looked out into the sea of blue, she collided with an alternate reality.
She had been in a show. A real one.
All those commenters on the boards…they weren’t just usernames.
They werereal peoplewho had watched the show and loved it. Who had made it their own. Who had drawn strength from it, who had writtenfan fictionabout it. Just as AJ once had.
“We love you, Ana!” Even without her glasses, AJ could see Otto’s bald head in the front row, Oona right beside him. They waved, holding up a poster that readI’m Breaking Space and Time.
As AJ looked out at their faces, she felt something unlock inside her.She remembered what it was to love a stupid television show so much it became your world.
In this room,Into the Bluehad been real, and these people, the Blue Coats, had all gathered to collectively steal an extra moment inside that universe.
A universe AJ had helped create.
Her hand found its way to her heart as the tremendous honor of it hit her. She smiled out at the crowd and bowed to them, and the sound of their applause was so thunderous she had to laugh.
As AJ took her seat, she glanced into the wings and saw Noah standing poised on the edge between darkness and light.
Yes, she knew what it was to suspend your entire reality for just a little more time.
She nodded to him.Thank you.Noah returned her nod as the moderator calledRho, shadow.
They stayed the full afternoon for another signing. When AJ boarded the red-eye home from Miami, she had made forty-one thousand dollars.
San Diego Comic-Con
July 13, 2012
Inspired by AJ’s fundraising quest,Mike had arranged to join her for Comic-Con. Frankly, the rates he could command as a Dungeon Master put AJ’s appearance fees to shame.
They flew out together on Thursday afternoon. Later that night, he sat AJ down for “the talk.”
“Age, the people who go to the panels at Comic-Con stay all day,” he warned her. “I’m sure there will be some Blue Coats, but…I wouldn’t expect, you know, a lot.”
Clearly, Mike wasn’t familiar with the likes of Oona and Otto. AJ awakened the next morning to a photo collage on the Blue Coats site of fans camping out to get seats.
Indeed, AJ arrived in the greenroom to find a tan, svelte Em Tyner regaling the rest of the cast with tales of his visit to that very fan line the previous evening.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Em said, shaking his head. “Not even forHaunted High.”
In the far corner of the room, Noah whispered in AJ’s ear, “A real man of the people.”
AJ soaked in his scent, keeping her eyes on Em. “You’re one to talk,Byron.”
Noah made a disgruntled noise at the back of his throat. Standing beside him now, it was impossible not to relive the way he’d held her backstage in Miami. But on the whole, AJ had taken the most recent Noah hangover in stride. She’d barely thought of him over the past month.
