Always There

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen

Songs for this chapter:
• Rewrite The Stars - James Arthur & Anne-Marie

Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen:

Lexi's POV

"Can you help me for a moment? One of my ringlets came out of place and I can't pin it back properly," I ask my own reflection in the dressing room mirror.

I technically have my own dressing room at the theatre, but the opening night nerves have stolen my ability to be alone right now. Instead, I'm getting ready with Emma, who plays Meg, and Clarice, who plays Madame Giry, in their dressing room to help ease my nerves.

Emma pops up behind me with only one eye's makeup complete and plucks the spare bobby pin out of my hand. She reaches for my wig and secures the loose curl in place with a smile. "There you go. Your makeup looks great, by the way."

I beam at her over my shoulder. "Thank you. So does yours. Well, the half of it that's completed does, at least."

Emma giggles and plops down into the chair in front of the mirror beside me. "I always finish getting ready at the last moment. It's a horrible habit of mine. Please don't be like me."

I laugh and stand up from my seat to examine myself in the full length mirror attached to the back of the dressing room door. I'm wearing my first costume of the show, the red and green Hannibal costume, and my wig falls in lush ringlet curls the same length of my natural hair all the way down my back.

I smile at my reflection and twirl around once so that my skirt flares around me.

The sight only makes my smile grow.

Emma pops up behind me and places both hands on my shoulders. She's wearing the exact same costume as I am, and the only difference is the colour of our wigs: hers is a light blonde and mine is a shade of brown just a little bit darker than my natural hair colour.

"You're going to be amazing. I just know it," she whispers to me softly.

I turn around and pull her into a fierce hug, careful not to crush either of our costumes. She laughs and throws her arms around me just as the dressing room door opens from behind us.

A sharp lip trill reaches my ears and I glance over my shoulder to find Clarice standing in the doorway. She glances at Emma and I, still embracing each other, and smiles before walking past us and sitting down on the small sofa tucked against the back wall of the room.

"Lexi, dear, you're still wearing that necklace of yours," she tells me gently.

One of my hands flies to my neck and I take a step away from Emma and towards the vanity. "Shoot. I kept forgetting to take it off during the dress rehearsals too. I'm so used to wearing it that I forget it's there sometimes."

I unclasp the necklace from around my neck and ball it up into my fist so that I can store it safely in my own dressing room before I have to go onstage.

"Was it a gift from someone?" Emma questions. "I noticed that you have other jewelry with the same flower on it."

I squeeze my eyes shut and let out a sigh.

Only two people in the cast know about my relationship with Bryce. Malcolm knows because he knew about Bryce from when we ran into him during that high school field trip all those years ago, and James knows because he lives with Malcolm and I and therefore has to put up with me watching Bryce's interviews on the television in our living room all day.

I suppose now that number is going to rise.

I gently set the necklace down on the vanity table.