An Angel's Love

Performance

**Two weeks later**

For the past few weeks, I have been spending time with whoever was not in a classroom. I alternated from Zach to Grace to Michael.

Today, however, was Friday. On Fridays, they all had theater together. I vaguely remember seeing them the last time I had gone to class with Michael. Vaguely because I was more focused on Michael, but I remember seeing them clap after our performance.

"So what do you say, Elera? Another performance with you and Michael tonight?" Zach asked. He had been trying to convince me to perform with Michael the entire week, and he was not taking no for an answer.

"What about your class? Do you not have anything important to be doing during class?" I asked them.

Grace shook her head. "It's Friday. We get to practice anything we think we could work on. Whether that be acting, singing or dancing. It's up to everyone."

"It's practically a free period, except you need to stay in the theater." Michael added.

I felt a nudge on my arm. I turned and saw it was Zach. "So, Ele, will you do it?"

I thought about it, and came up with a compromise. "I'll do it," I said. I saw their faces light up but before they could speak, I finished. "If, you guys perform with us."

I saw Zach tense up and Grace's face turn a light shade of pink. Michael gave me a warning glare, but I ignored it.

"Why us?" Grace questioned.

I saw Michael give me one last chance, and this time I took it. "It is only fair, that if we do, you do as well." I did not say it was because they both had feelings for each other, for then I would have ruined it all. They both deserved to know on their own terms, however long that might take. They deserved that much.

"Sounds fair," Grace said whilst nodding her head. "This means we have to go all out."

I saw a playful smirk appear on each of their faces. We reached the door and I dared to ask. "What do you mean 'we have to go all out?'"

Michael opened the door and we all walked inside. "You'll see."

~~~~

They really were not messing around when they had said we would be going all out on this performance.

I was sitting in one of the dressing rooms whilst Grace was picking our costumes. She returned with two costumes in an arm.

The one she handed me was a cute navy blue dress with an ivory colored bow. She held a pale blue dress with black detailing, also very beautiful, for herself. We changed into our costumes and had one last look at ourselves in the full length mirror.

I looked at myself and smiled in satisfaction. Grace had done my hair, a style that fit the swing dance era perfectly. I had gone for a pinup eyeliner look and had added a smidge of eyeshadow.

"Thanks for doing this, Grace," I turned so she could see my genuine smile. "You really had no reason to make me look this great."

She smiled and shook her head. "Oh sure I did," she said, as a wide smirk grew on her face. "You need to look nice for your soon to be boyfriend."

I looked at her in utter confusion, until it hit me. Neither Michael nor I had told her or Zach we were officially together yet. Well, that explains a lot.

I smiled at her, but before I had the chance to speak, we heard a knock on the door.

"Are you guys ready yet?" I heard Zach ask politely.

"We'll meet you guys there in a sec!" Grace called back.

We heard their footsteps leave our room and indeed headed out soon. I turned and saw Grace was nervous.

"You're not nervous about the performance, are you?" I asked, suddenly feeling guilty. It was, after all my fault she was doing this.

Relief took over, as I saw her shake her head and laugh slightly. She took a deep breath and let it out, shaking her head again. "I just.. I get nervous just thinking about Zach. I don't know how I'll be dancing with him. Especially if it turns into what happened with you and Michael last time, looking into each other's eyes, with everyone watching. I don't want to do something I'll regret."

I smiled and held her hand. I gave it a reassuring squeeze, until her eyes finally met mine. "You can never regret something like that, especially when it's with someone you have strong feelings for."

I saw a blush creep its way on her face. "Is it that obvious I like him?"

I laughed lightly at the concerned look on her face. "You have nothing to worry about, it is very apparent the feelings are mutual. "

A smile grew on her lips, and I saw the nerves slowly fade away. "Do you really think so?"

I nodded. "I believe so. Honestly, I think everyone sees this but you two."

We both laughed and took a deep breath.

"Are you ready?" She asked me. I nodded my head.

"Let's do this."

I watched as Grace nodded to someone from behind, and slowly, the curtains disappeared.

Show time.

~~~~

I glanced over at the male voice who had just called my name, Michael. I smiled and we both started walking towards each other, closing the distance separating us.

As we inched closer, I felt it again. That feeling in my stomach, my heart racing. How does he do this to me? Do I have this much of an affect on him, too? I was pulled away from my thoughts as I heard Michael laugh.

"Are you really that concentrated on not messing up the dance?" He asked, oblivious to the fact he was the reason for my disconnection.

Yet, still I felt a smile tug on my lips. "No," I said, with a slight shake of my head. "I have other things on my mind. Of greater importance. "

"Like what?" He asked, with a questioning yet playful look on his face.

"Nosy much?" I asked in a teasing tone.

He lifted his hands up in surrender. "Fine, don't tell me. I won't tell you what was on my mind either, if you want to play that way."

Curiosity registered inside me, but still, I did not give in. "Fine. I was uninterested anyway."

We danced a while longer until we both grew tired. We went to sit at some of the seats in the auditorium, isolated from everyone else.

"So Elera," he began, but then paused, as if trying to find the right words. "Do you remember when we first moved in with Zach, and I told you it would only be temporary?"

I nodded my head and waited for him to continue.

"Well, I found a place. A small apartment, two bedrooms. I thought maybe, if you wanted, we could go live there. You know, just the two of us."

I thought about it, and agreed. "I would love that. When would we have to move?"

He thought about it for a second, then responded "First I have to buy the apartment, but soon after, I suppose. No one's living there currently, so we wouldn't have to wait for someone to move out."

I smiled at him. "I cannot wait. How cute will it be living together?" I said excitedly. And while I saw excitement in his face too, I saw something else. As if he were remembering something, but he tried to hide it.

"Yeah, it'll be great." He said. It was meant to sound happy, but his words were laced with sourness. Maybe this was not a good choice, after all.