You Light Up the Sky Like Lightning

Chapter Forty Three

Chapter Forty-Three

The smile on my face quickly faded. 

Both Pattie and I turned to my left- and her right- to find Scooter there with his arms crossed, glaring at me.  

Suddenly I got really scared. What if he sends me home again?

"What are you doing here?" he asked me in a hard tone. 

I opened my mouth, but Carin came out from who-knows-where and said, "Scooter, we need to talk. Now!" Her voice was stern and serious, and it was actually a really scary tone. Plus, she was yelling, which probably scared him more than me because Carin was talking to him. Carin never yelled. 

The look on Scooter's face was . . . interesting, to say the least. He looked confused and shocked at the same time. 

He gave me one more look before following his wife- which he didn't look too happy about. 

I glanced at Pattie. She had a blank look on her face, but quickly brushed it off. 

"You ready for this?" she asked, motioning to the stage. 

I noticed that Justin had ended the song he was singing, and most of the dancers had come off stage. Everything was black except for a few dim lights where we were. 

"Aayyy!" Nick screamed when he saw me. He ran over and gave me a hug, as did the other dancers. 

"Where you been girl?" Marvin asked as he hugged me. "We missed you!"

I laughed. Justin's dancers were something else.

"I missed you guys, too," I said. 

"So why are you back?" Michael asked. I furrowed my eyebrows jokingly as Jake punched him. "Ouch! I mean, not that it's a bad thing, I was just wondering!"

"She's going to surprise Justin," Pattie cut in with a smile. 

I smiled again. 

"Let me guess," Antonio said, holding up his pointed finger like a know-it-all. "You're going out when he sings 'Stuck in the Moment,' aren't you?"

I nodded. 

"Well then, we'll see you when you get off," Jake said. "You better get going, girl!"

I cocked my head to the side. 

All five of them pointed towards the stage, and I watched a single spotlight come back on. It was just Justin in the middle of the stage. 

I watched him. He lifted up his microphone to his mouth and said half-heartedly to the crowd, "Okay, guys. I normally don't sing this song in concert, but I'm going to now. Is that okay?"

The crowd screamed, and I smiled again. 

He lifted the microphone to his mouth and started singing. "With you . . . With you . . . I wish we had another time . . . I wish we had another place . . . Now Romeo and Juliette, bet they never felt the way we felt . . . "

I smiled.

I turned around to ask when I should go out onto the stage, but Pattie, Nick, Antonio, Jack, Michael, and Marvin had all disappeared. 

“Okay, that’s cool,” I mumbled to myself. The losers ditched me. 

I figured that I’d just go out there whenever I felt was a good time. 

I started to get nervous the more I thought about it.  What if he doesn't know it is me because he can't see from the lights?  What should I do?  How was he going to react?