Moving Up In The World Tonight

Chapter Two

The backstage was packed. There were many more people wanting to meet the band than Echo had expected and it was slightly overwhelming. Leon had been right - Echo was nervous.

The number of people excited to meet Echo was also overwhelming. He didn't like it, but at the same time, it felt nice to be admired by such a large scale of the public.

"Can I please have your autograph?" a woman asked, holding out a piece of paper with Echo's picture on it. It occurred to him that it served as a poster, as they hadn't had any posters printed yet that were accessible to the public.

"Sure," he said, taking the paper. "Of course."

Signing his name, Echo sighed as more and more people came up to him, some having guitars they wanted to be signed. Eventually, it got easier for him, but he was still on high alert. After all, anyone could've been there for the wrong reason, right?

On the other side of the room, a male pushed his way through the crowd, a glass hugged closely to his chest. The glass had a star shape to it, and it appeared to be a perfume bottle. It smelled sweetly like birthday cake. It was fairly small, though, like a necklace pendant. It had a string attached to the neck of it.

"Excuse me," he mumbled every once in a while. After a while, he realized he'd possibly circled the whole room, but there was one person he couldn't find.

Eventually, he approached Jelly and Kendell, who were together signing things. When Kendell's eyes made contact with the guy's, the male felt his body freeze, but he knew he had to speak. He couldn't, though. He'd never been this close to anyone remotely famous before.

Kendell looked down at the sticker on the guy's chest. It read, 'Hi, I'm Eli.'

"Can I help you?" Kendell asked, casting a warm smile. "You've got something you'd like for me to sign?"

"Um, I'm actually looking for someone," Eli said in a quiet voice, looking down at the floor. Jelly looked over, confusion on her face until she spotted Eli.

"Who're you looking for?" she asked. "You lost a kid or something?"

"Oh, no," Eli said. "I'm looking for Echo. I've been a fan for a year or so and it's been my dream to meet him. As a matter of fact, I've never been able to afford show tickets - much less V.I.P. tickets, so this is kind of exciting for me."

Jelly and Kendell looked at each other and a grin formed on Kendell's face.

Seems like Echo's got a superfan, he thought before chuckling. The laugh confused Eli for a moment but Kendell pointed in the direction of a crowd of people surrounding a booth.

"You'll find your hero over there," Kendell said, leaning back in his chair and taking a wooden sign from a child who wanted him to sign in big cursive letters, which he did.

Eli thanked Jelly and Kendell, following where Kendell had pointed. He could slightly see the tips of Echo's blue hair, and with every step, his heart sped up. He was getting so nervous he could barely breathe properly.

Soon, he could see Echo clearly. Echo seemed busy signing papers and such, one woman even trying to have him sign her child (who was 7 years old, mind you).

As Eli got closer, he made eye contact with Echo and it felt special for a second until Echo looked away to sign something else. That's when Eli realized he couldn't do it. He'd paid his last $355 for this and he couldn't muster up the courage to face Echo. Why? He was a nervous wreck when his feelings spiked and every ounce of excitement had built up, and it was overwhelming for him.

Eli backed up a bit, bumping into some people, who obviously scoffed at him. The commotion caused Echo to look up and he and Eli made eye contact for the second time.