A Shot in the Shadows

The First of the Many

It's chilly outside, and for a split second after Annie steps through the stagedoor, she wants to double back and grab her spare jacket from her dressing room. The crowd, on the other hand, has become considerably louder in the few seconds following Annie's exit from the theater, and Annie doesn't think they'll take her immediately going at back in all too well.

Quickly taking in the people on their side of the barricade, Annie sees Leah and Addie chatting animatedly with a group of young women. Cameron's already in danger of being engulfed by his fan club, and the Ward couple is busy watching over the young kids as a group of teenagers fawn over them.

Annie feels a small poke in her back, and turns to see Hayley, clutching her blue Sharpie. "I'm supposed to stick with you, remember?" Hayley reminds Annie, grinning up at the older girl.

"So you are," Annie replies, smiling back and taking Annie's hand. She's about to lead the two of them to the closest fan when Annie hears someone calling her name. Looking around, she soon spots Lindsay, one of her best friends. Making sure she still has a firm grip on Hayley's hand, Annie quickly makes her way over to her friend.

"Hey," Annie says, smiling as she gives Lindsay a tight, one-armed hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you saw the show yesterday."

"Oh, I did," Lindsay reassures her. "But it's Wednesday night, and I had nothing better to do, so I figured I may as well come see my favorite upcomng actress in her show again!"

"Stop that," Annie snorts, rolling her eyes. Ever since they were kids, Lindsay would always refer to Annie as her 'favorite upcoming actress', and the joke was now wearing thin after nearly a decade of use.

"And who's this little angel?" Lindsay asks, bending her knees to try and bring herself closer to Hayley's eye level.

Lindsay's always been incredibly good with children: Hayley immdiately blushes and smiles bashfully. "I'm Hayley," she says quietly.

"Well, Hayley, you performned brilliantly tonight, and last night too," Lindsay says. "I can't wait to see you on that stage again."

"Thank you," Hayley says, flushing even more.

Lindsay straightens up. "Annie, I'm going to head over there and see if I can bother Cameron," she says. "You two have new fans to go talk to. I'll see you again, Hayley. It was very nice to finall meet you."

"Bye, Linds," Annie calls, watching Lindsay duck away from the railing and start in the direction of Cameron's fan club. The two girls who had been standing next to Lindsay immediately scoot over.

"Annabell, right?' the first one says, offering up her program. "I love this show so much! It's so true, you know? And y'all are crazy talented."

"Thanks," Annie says, signing the program under the letter 'a' in the title. She passes the program to Hayley and takes the second program.

"Is the show going to Broadway?" the second girl asks. "I know it only started yesterday, but I feel like it's such a good story, and it has a great score, and I know it will make it."

"You'd have to ask someone else about it," Annie answers honestly. "The writers and Mr. Harding, our director, have briefly mentioned it to us, but I don't think anything's set in concrete yet."

Annie exchanges a few more words with the two girls before starting to chat with the people next to them, leaving Hayley talking to the two girls but keeping her in sight and earshot. They continue this way down the line of people, the fans always addressing Annie first before complimenting Hayley. All goes reasonably well: Annie only has to rescue Hayley from one overbearing old lady. No one else has gotten too pushy with Hayley, though Annie's still keeping a close eye on the younger girl.