A Rising Star

Chapter 31 - The Kiss

Lizzie pulled out of the hug and smiled at me. 

"It's okay. She won't bother you now." Her face lit up. "Ooh! Go try on your new costume!!"

I dried my tears with my fingertips and nodded, not saying a word but extracting a smile that came from the part of me that was happy I could get a bigger role. 

I took the rolled-up skirt and tee from her and pivoted to face the dressing rooms. Lizzie patted me on the back as I made my way back up to the dressing rooms. 

"Thirty to places," Robert warned us. 

"Thank you, thirty," we chorused in reply. 

Wait. I had only a half of an hour??

I ran. 

*~*~*

The costume fit perfectly. I handed my Young Eponine costume to Lizzie, who handed it, in turn, to a girl named Desiree who was apparently my understudy. Lizzie rushed me to the piano, where Jacob and I worked on Castle on a Cloud until I got it perfect. 

"Five to places." Robert said, then winked at me. "Oh, and, break a leg, Hailey!"

"Thank you, five," we replied, and I smiled at him through my singing.

I continued to practice until we were called to places. I was unspeakably nervous. I had learned to relax as young Eponine, since the audience, as Carter had predicted, always loved it. But now? I was a completely different character with very little time to prepare. What if I messed up the lyrics or my voice cracked? What if? What if? What if??

With the understudy Valjean, we worked on the blocking for the Waltz of Treachery and other scenes with him in it. I had watched Natalee perform these steps from the wings, of course, but watching and doing are two completely different things. 

Before I was ready and before I knew what was happening, I was walking on stage in the dark with a bucket, ready to become Young Cosette. 

Breathe, Hailey, breathe!

*~*~*

Perfect. 

That's the only word capable of describing what happened on the stage. 

I couldn't think straight during half of the song, but luckily I could naturally react to Madame's yelling and demanding.

My heart skipped a beat when I remembered I could make myself cry. 

Natalee hadn't done that.

I looked down, just like at the audition, and kept my eyes open widely. They burned. They stung. They begged for me to blink. I didn't.

"There are some little girls who know how to behave, and they know what to wear, and I'm saying 'Thank Heaven' for that!"

Blink.

"Still there Cosette?"

Look up. 

I felt the tear falling out of my eye, which was still watering in pain. 

"Your tears will do you no good! I told you fetch some water from the well in the wood!"

I added inflection, to make it sound like I was crying, too. 

"P-please do not send me out alone! N-not in the d-darkness on my-y-"

"That's enough of that!"

It was done. 

And it was done well. 

*~*~*

Curtain call was when I really felt exuberant. I grabbed hands with the Thénardiers and took a bow, willing myself not to cry. I had done it. 

To think that less than a year ago, I had simply seen an article in a newspaper. I had been told what I couldn't do and did it anyway. Look how far I'd come. 

After the cast bow, I sprinted off the stage. I found Carter and gave him a huge hug. He lifted me off the ground. 

"You were amazing!!" he cried. "So much better than Natalee was!"

I was too happy to be humble. "I know!!"

I locked eyes with him. Desire to hug him again washed over me, but he had other ideas. 

His lips made contact with mine. I was surprised at first, but kissed him back a split-second later. 

It ended sooner than I would've liked. The only thing I managed to say was, "Why?"

"Why what?" Carter chuckled.

"Why... why do you like me when no one else does?"

Carter hesitated. I could see him trying to choose his words carefully, or just altogether trying to think of what to say. 

After a few moments, he spoke up. "Can you keep a secret?"

I smiled a little. "Anything for you."

"Okay. Here's why,"

And he told me his story. 

A/N

Do you ship it?!?!

If not then wait for Carter's story in the next chapter ;DD

Acting_is_mylife