After warm up I pull Blair aside. "Hey, sorry, I have no idea what to say to him right now, especially with an audience. Can you...um...?"
"Distract him?" She says sympathetically. "Yup. Count to ten then follow me--and go fast."
"Thanks," I say gratefully.
Blair turns and goes down the stairs, not quite running but still going quickly. I count to ten as she told me to, then take a deep breath and run down as quietly as I can. Just as I suspected, the guys are congregated in the greenroom. Blair is joking with Tyler, his back to me. I make eye contact with her brief second, mouth "thank you," and then I turn and slip into the dressing room.
I sit down in front of my mirror and start redoing my makeup. After a minute Blair joins me. "Thank you," I breathe quietly, trying not to draw attention to us. "I know we have to talk but I just couldn't do it with everybody there. That's something that should NOT have an audience."
She smiles. "No problem." Then, after a pause, "he was your first, right?" I look sideways at her. Her eyes glint mischievously at me. "Yes," I say and leave it at that.
I finish my makeup, then pull my hairpiece over my bun and pin it in place. "I'm going to get ready early," I tell Blair. "I'll see you upstairs." She seems to catch the meaning behind my words, the implication that I'm going to try to talk to Tyler before everyone comes up to the stage. "Okay," she says.
I pull my sweatpants off and step into my petticoat, an itchy white underskirt which fills out the skirt of my dress. After tying it around my waist I step into my heels, then remove my dress from its hanger. I carefully pull it over my head, making sure it doesn't touch my face which is covered in makeup. "Nicole," I say to one of the girls sitting near me. "Will you help me, please?" She nods and fastens me up the back. I can feel my heartbeat quickening. Taking deep breaths I put on my jewelry, a beaded necklace and large earrings. I glance in the mirror, double checking that I have everything, then look over at my dressing table to make sure everything's ready for my quick change later.
"Ok," I tell myself. "It's time. Stop delaying." I turn and walk out of the dressing room. The guys, thankfully, are already dressed in their tuxedos. I stand very quietly in the corner for a minute until I catch Tyler's attention. I don't say anything, just do my best to communicate through my eyes. He nods once, as if he understands, so I turn and walk up the steps to the wings. I only have to wait in that dark area next to the stage for a minute before he comes up. He walks straight for me, and once again his mouth is on mine. This kiss is much shorter because of the fact that both of us are wearing stage makeup, which includes a lip stain. We pull apart laughing, and I touch my lips to make sure some of the color still remains. "I guess that'll have to wait," I say. He snickers, but this time it's not like before. He's laughing with me, not at me. "I guess so," he answers, smiling. "Well," I say. "Well," he repeats. I roll my eyes. "WELL, shall we practice waltzing?" He nods and pulls me into a ballroom frame. We start waltzing but it quickly turns into more of a slow dance position. I'm resting my head on his shoulder when suddenly I hear Blair's voice. "They're coming," she says. Tyler starts. "You can stay like this if you want but I get the impression you want them to find out another way." I've already stepped back. I look at Tyler. He raises his eyebrows, leaving it up to me. "Yeah, let's wait. We have to tell them, but not this way." I smile. "See you in a bit." "See you," he answers. I grab Blair's arm and we walk towards the tree, pretending like we're just talking as we always do. He stands right where I left him and starts looking at the books on the backdrop. When everybody arrives upstairs a few moments later, no one seems to notice when Tyler and I catch each other's eye then look away quickly. We will tell then. Just not now.
