play the game | l.h [on hold]

08. it's showtime

IT'S SHOWTIME

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Blake's knee rapidly bounced up and down as she sat in the passenger's seat of Myles' car. All morning she had successfully convinced herself that she wasn't nervous, but as soon as he began the short drive to their destination, she felt the stress begin to eat away at her. She noticed Myles glance over due to her agitated movements, but thankfully he bit his tongue and kept quiet.

Both of their equipment was piled up in the backseat, Myles obviously bringing a lot more than she was. The only items in the vehicle that belonged to her were her excessively large camera bag and a camera stand that she was convinced wouldn't be used.

They drove with the radio playing quietly as background noise before Myles pulled into the lot of the venue. After parking the car near the backstage entrance, he reached into the center console and pulled out two red lanyards with backstage passes attached to them. "You should wear this at all times, just in case you get lost or they don't let you in," Myles told her.

"Bold of you to assume I'll get lost."

Myles simply sighed and opened his car door, leaving Blake with a small smirk as she did the same. He pulled out his abundance of unnecessary equipment while she carefully slung the strap of her camera bag over her shoulder. "Soundcheck starts at five thirty, so we have a few minutes to spare," he spoke as they walked toward the entrance.

Security scanned their backstage passes and let them inside with no issues. "Do you know where to go?" Blake asked as she watched his eyes roam the hallway where they stood.

"To be frank? No."

Blake let out an exaggerated sigh and pointed a finger in front of them. "Well, I'm sure if we follow the handy-dandy signs that say 'stage' we'll get there in one piece," she said with a wide, sarcastic grin.

Myles rolled his eyes and Blake laughed as she began to walk behind him while he followed the arrows toward the stage. They walked into one wrong room, but they soon found the area where security and photographers stand.

"Alright," Myles started. "I'm gonna head to the side stage area and get some pictures during soundcheck. I want you to stay down here and do the same."

Blake nodded, unzipping the pocket and pulling her camera out. "Any certain photos that Melanie wants?"

Myles shrugged nonchalantly. "Preferably not blurry ones."

"Thank you, Myles."

"Any time, Sawyer."

They soon parted ways as Myles left to find his way to the side of the stage. Blake kneeled down to her camera bag that was now on the floor and meticulously changed the lens on her camera to fit the concert setting. She adjusted the shutter speed before taking several test shots to ensure that the exposure was correct.

Once she was finished setting everything up, she glanced around the stage and the overwhelmingly large venue. She spotted Myles standing on the right side of the stage and she gave him a wave and a cheeky grin, to which he shook his head and continued setting up.

She soon found herself sitting on the ground and leaning against the stage, scrolling through her phone. Natalia had texted her telling her good luck, as well as save some photos of the hot band members for me. Blake rolled her eyes before responding, telling her that she'll make a separate folder, just for her.

Just as she opened Twitter, she received a snapchat message from Luke. A crooked grin promptly took over her face as she pressed the notification to open it.