Straight-Faced

carpet

I was going to be very pissed if any of my appendages fell off before the end of the night. As if she could read my mind, Anna Lee gripped my hand even tighter.

The red carpet was loud and bright, just like I had expected. I just hadn't remembered there ever being this many people with this many cameras.

"You just have to pose for a few pictures," I murmured under the noise so that only Anna Lee could hear. "Then, you can pretend that they don't exist. Look at me. Pretend you're in love with me or something."

Anna Lee nodded. She was probably too nervous to respond out loud, if her sweaty hand and iron grip were anything to go by.

It had been awhile since I had walked on a red carpet with a date by my side. The last time had been a year and a half ago, when I had accompanied Tiff to some music awards show. Tiff had acted so cocky and confident, and I remembered being in awe of how she was able to strut with such purpose. To this day, I still tried to model that.

Anna Lee was the complete opposite. She was a shyer person, and with her humble nature, she had to consciously force herself to walk with her head up. I found myself almost having to drag her across the carpet, which was just as painful as it sounds, and her awkwardness made my job of posing with her more difficult. She refused to let go of my hand, so there wasn't much that we could do anyway. She probably wasn't even aware that she was cutting off my circulation, but if it made her feel better, I guess my hand could suffer.

The crowd was made up of reporters who carried cameras bigger than their heads and fans who didn't understand that it was rude to scream at people. A few security guards stood around to make sure that nothing got too out of hand. No matter how many times I went through this, it was still crazy to me that some people had only shown up tonight in hopes of getting a glimpse of me.

When people started chanting for us to kiss, I felt Anna Lee tense up even more. I didn't blame her; I hated being in this situation too. I gave her the first cue anyway. She responded with her smile. We went through our rehearsed routine, and I tried to kiss her gently to help her relax.

Even I had to admit that the screams got unbearable after that. Anna pulled on my hand, and I got the message. She wanted to get away from this. Again, I didn't blame her.

I led us into the theater and up to the seats that I had requested for us. We sat down, and she rested her head on my shoulder. I kind of wished that my boyfriend was the one here with me, but if I was going to fake-date anyone, I was grateful that I got stuck with Anna Lee.

She started to relax, but she kept holding my hand. At least it didn't feel like it was going to fall off anymore. I felt proud of her for surviving her first red carpet, and I was glad that I was able to help her through it.

Those feelings faded pretty quickly. My composure wavered a little when I remembered that there were now pictures of me kissing this girl, and I realized that my boyfriend would see them.