A Little Time to Get to You

act one

"Oh my god Nini I love you but please sit still while I finish this up." Kourtney mumbles, her hand stilling against my cheek as she waits for me to stop moving my face so that she can continue my eye makeup.

"I'm sorry girl I'm just so nervous." I stupidly explain, half irritated with myself. Kourtney nods and the eye pencil begins to move again. "You're gonna be amazing Nins, you've done this a million times." She says, and I resist the urge to squint at her. "Never as a lead Kourt." I remind her. Her lips pull into a thin line. "Yeah and it's always been everyone else's loss. But now you've got that part that you've always been crazy capable of."

I sigh and continue to rub my palms over the fabric of my skirt. Her words calm me a bit. I've known that I could always handle a lead, I just never had the chance.

But now, 45 minutes before the curtain opens and our musical begins, I'm holding the script of a lead character.

I finally got my chance.

Before I can say anything in response, a heavy pair of hands drop down onto my shoulders and I glance up into the mirror, automatically smiling when my eyes meet my boyfriend's. "Hey you" he smiles, already looking exquisite in just a simple white shirt and jeans, his makeup already done and his hair in place. "Hi" I grin, biting down on my lip.

"Don't even think about touching her face when I'm done Bowen." Kourtney mumbles and I laugh, resisting the urge to shake my head. "Wouldn't dream of if." Ricky says, rolling his eyes and smiling before moving his hands gently over my shoulders.

He leans down, his mouth near my ear. "How are you?" He asks, massaging my shoulders as he waits for my answer. "Nervous as hell. But I'm okay." I tell him. He nods and I meet his eyes in the mirror again. "What about you babe?" I ask and I watch as he stands up fully, his thumbs still moving over the skin at the back of my neck.

"Good. Nervous, but good." He says simply and I see Kourtney's eyes flick up to him. "You're gonna be great too Bowen."

She clears her throat and snaps the cap back onto the eye pencil she was using. "And you're all done queen." She tells me, before standing up straight and calling for any one who needed a last minute makeup check.

"She's not wrong babe, you're going to be incredible." I urge, getting up from my chair and snaking my arms up and around his neck. Ricky pulls me into a hug and I stand on my tippy toes so that my freshly-painted face doesn't touch his white shirt. My chin rests on his shoulder and I squeeze him against me tightly. "And if something happens, just look to me okay? We're gonna do this together." I tell him quietly, my words coming out against his skin.

I feel him nod and he presses his hand into my upper back, his way of bringing me closer when we were already at our closest.

"What about you?" He asks me gently. I pull away and tilt my head. "What about me?" I ask and he shrugs. "What if something happens with you? You know you can uh, you can look to me if you need me okay?" He coughs, like he's worried I'd find the offer completely insane. "Okay" I say softly, wrapping him back in my arms. "I think I'll have to take you up on that. I'm so nervous." I tell him, closing my eyes as I feel his hand rubbing up and down my back. "Well I've got you." He mumbles and I wrap my arms tighter around his neck. "Sounds good to me."

***

Act one goes off without a hitch. Our scenes are changing smoothly, no one's forgotten any lines, and our very full audience seemed to be loving the show.

I felt as nothing could go wrong until Kourtney pulls me aside during one of my scene breaks. "What is it?" I whisper, trying to stay quiet in order to hear my cues and keep from disrupting the show. "I've been trying to talk to you since the show started. There's a woman out there, front row, she's got a clipboard and if my eyes aren't deceiving me girl, her lanyard and her very official clipboard say USC." She whispers quickly, prompting the air to get stuck in my lungs.

"That's where you and Ricky want to go, right? You two applied there as your first-choice school." She says matter-of-factly. I nod mutely and swallow hard, peaking my head out from behind the curtain to see the audience. Sure enough, a woman is jotting down notes as one of Ricky's solos begins.

"A USC admissions faculty member? Why? What? How?" I ask and Kourtney shakes her head. "I have no clue. I was handing out programs and that's how I got a good look at her. But if she's here scouting out two of her applicants, someone must've called and put in a word. They don't just show up at high schools to watch potential students perform." Kourtney whispers out and I nod, my heart beat picking up considerably at the information.

"So then who called?" I ask and Kourtney shakes her head, shrugging. "I don't know, but I think that's beyond the point. You and Ricky have a college scout out there." She says and I struggle to take a deep breath.

"I have to... I have to go and like breathe or have a heart attack or something." I mutter, my hand shaking as I place my hand on her arm. "You're an angel, thanks so much for telling me." I say before turning to run further backstage and collect myself. "Wait Nini!" Kourtney whisper yells, but I don't turn back.

Someone who could determine my entire future was out there, taking notes on me and my boyfriend and I was completely not okay.

But what I didn't know was that Ricky was out there, not okay as well.

Intermission couldn't come soon enough.