Our Secret (being edited)

▪️Chapter 18▪️

The dimly-lit concert hall was full and blasting with life as Erilian, Lucas, Cole, Andrea, and Jason tried to make their way through the enormous crowd. The feeling of excitement could be felt through the entire hall from friends and families as well as couples waiting eagerly for the performance they had been promised.

The five navigated their way towards the hallways where the preparation rooms were when they were suddenly stopped by the security guards. However, with a single glance at the girl in front, they let them through after checking if they were all together.

Erilian was about to knock on a door with the name that read 'Elena Matthews' in elegant swirls when a hand stopped her. She looked up to see a man in his early thirties with dark hair and eyes. "Cliff?"

The man smiled letting her go. "Hey girl, it's nice to see you came," he greeted offering her a quick hug.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." she grinned before asking, "What's wrong?"

"Sadly, I can't let you in there," he apologized with a sad shake of his head while the others looked at him in confusion.

"Why not?" whined Jason as his shoulders fell.

Cliff raised a brow at him. "And who might you be?" he asked noticing the others as well.

"Oh right, sorry," said Erilian as she introduced everyone. "Cliff, this is Jason, Andrea, Cole, and Lucas." she motioned to each one of them. "Guys meet Cliff Jeffrey, El's manager."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said as they either smiled or nodded at him. "I'm glad our Elena has found a decent group of friends. I'm grateful and I am sorry I can't let you see her right now."

"And why is that?" asked Lucas annoyed.

"See for yourself," said Cliff opening the door slightly making sure not to cause any noise.

Everyone crowded around the crack of the door to see what was inside. The room had a dark theme with Elena standing in the middle, pacing back and forth in front of her mirror biting her thumbnail. She would occasionally do some dance moves before returning to the nail-biting.

"Ah, I see," acknowledged Erilian in understanding while she backed away from the door silently. The others following her lead as Cliff closed the door.

"What? What is it?" asked Andera.

"She's nervous."

"Obviously," said Jason in a duh tone with an eye roll before Andrea smacked him up the head. "Aw." he winced as he rubbed his head.

"We should go," said Erilian.

"Shouldn't we comfort her?" asked Lucas glancing between the door and her.

"No. A lot of people would usually appreciate encouragement at times like these, but not El. It's best to leave her alone when she's like this. Trust me."

"Well then," said Cole rubbing his hands. "Let's get going. I wanna try and find a good spot."

"Actually," interrupted Cliff as he searched his pockets before he handed them a pass card each. "Here, they're for the VIP section. Better view and all."

Jason and Cole were the first to snatched their passes. "Thanks!" grinned Cole

"No worries, Eli wanted me to give them to you when you got here. Anyways, I need to go check up on other things before the concert. Now you kids have fun and stay out of trouble," he advised, his gaze lingering on Erilian for a second longer.

"Why are you looking at me?" she asked innocently while he raised a brow at her. "Alright, fine," she sighed before turning away the others following behind her.