“You too. You’ll need to give me your autograph before school lets out so I can say I knew you way back when.”
“Right.” I chuckle, dipping my chin. “I can sign your clavicle or something. You can turn it into a tattoo.”
He smirks. “Watch me.”
My cheeks heat as I look back out at the stage.
Moments later, we are enmeshed in a barbed-wire dance. Lex stalks around the stage, watching us move, prowling, his eyes alight with strobes and tragic things. Jameson spins me violently as I slacken in his arms like a broken doll before wrenching myself free. He grabs my wrist, another spin, a frantic dip, and I twirl away from him, stumbling and in ruins, the strobes punishing us with bloodred firelight and making me sweat.
Lex’s solo fades into a haunting coda, and I move toward him with both grace and defiance. He pulls up from his knees, reaching for me, waiting, as I gravitate toward him, because it’s in the script, because I’m compelled to, because both elements are fusing as one.
When I’m in his arms, he peers down at me, pushing the hair off my face and gazing into my eyes like I’m something to be cherished. He bends, our faces colliding, and then another tiny kiss is pressed to my lips before the song fades out and the audience erupts.
Lex leans in closer, dipping his lips to the shell of my ear. “Don’t fall this time.”
When he lets me go, I find my footing and keep my balance.
I refuse to fall.
I refuse to…fall.
But I feel the turmoil in every step, in every song, as we move into the follow-up scenes. Emotion, conflict. I’m not sure what’s real and what’s for show as my heart races in time with my seesawing thoughts.
Jameson pulls me away, flaunting his power.
Lex tugs me back, claiming my heart. He takes me in his arms, and I feel like I’m his, and then he lets me go like I never will be.
I know this is acting, I know this is fake, but Lex is a master at his craft, andit’s weaving reality and fiction into knots while we traipse across the stage in front of a live audience.
“Come What May” is next, and my insides unfurl with equal parts excitement and terror. This scene is so intimate, the song romantic and absolute. Velvet drapes and elaborate props create a decadent backdrop, the lighting bouncing between warm golds and reds to amethyst and blue.
Lex and I come together at the center of the stage as music spills from the speakers. He takes my hands in his and begins the first verse, releasing enchanted lyrics into his microphone, telling me how he never knew he could feel like this. I smile wide, following up his verse with mine, our eyes glued, his glimmering like diamonds against the pale-blue lights. He smiles back, our hands clasping together before I lean into him, resting my head atop his shoulder.
The chorus sounds.
Our harmonies collide.
I will love you.
Until my dying day.
I pull away from him, gliding across the stage, my arms lifting with words and notes. Lex reaches for me, spinning me back into his arms. The music rises, dramatic and immersive, and my chest is so heavy, so stretched with feelings.
Storm clouds gather.
Stars collide.
His hand trembles gently as he cradles my cheek, and I nuzzle into his touch. I wonder why it trembles: caffeine, insomnia, adrenaline, me. Our voices meld as one, growing louder, stronger, as my eyes lift back to his.
Suddenly, he’s not smiling anymore.
The tender moment takes on new life, new form, and I feel it churning and brewing, taking me over as the final chords ring out.
It all revolves around you.
I sing from my soul, and he sings from his. This is how it’s done; this is what magic is. Staring into someone’s eyes as you pull artistry from every achy chamber of your heart is an out-of-body experience I can’t begin to explain.
And when the last note pitches and our voices fade into the orchestra, westep closer to each other, out of breath, our bodies brimming with a telltale high. I brace for the second and final kiss, for the quick peck, the half-hearted brush of his lips on mine. Lex trails his index finger over my hairline, down my temple, my cheek, all the way to the edge of my jaw. Goose bumps scatter across my skin, my chest heaving, pulse ricocheting.
