A Shot in the Shadows

The First of the Many

"This is so cool!" Riley whispers as she passes by behind Annie.

"I know!" Annie hisses back.

"There's just so many people," Hayley whispers to Annie. "It's different than being on a stage. And they're all talking at once. It's kinda scaring me."

"You'll be going home soon," Annie replies quietly. "There's not many people left here. We're almost done."

Annie stands behind Hayley with her hands on the smaller girl's shoulders as she talks to one of the fans, while Annie herself is surreptitiously trying to see how everyone else is faring. Almost all of the young kids have gone home: Annie only sees Hayley, Aaron and Sawyer. Paige and Zac are talking to someone Annie recognises as a teacher from the high school, and Flynn is leaning against the wall of the theater with his phone in his hand as he snickers at Cameron and the remains of his fan club. Leah and a few of the adults are still floating around, mostly chatting to one another, and Lara-

Annie had started rehearsals with a strange feeling that something was off with Lara. They'd eaten lunch together and gone to theater classes together for years, and it had taken that long for Annie to realize just how aloof Lara held herself from her 'friends'. She'd almost forgotten all about it over the month and a half of rehearsing, but the feeling had come trickling back when Lara had started missing rehearsal. Annie loved Lara, really she did, and if there was something she could do to help her, she would do it in a heartbeat. But Annie had no clue what the problem was, and Lara seemed to be faring okay. So Annie had decided to leave the big issue alone for a while.

Right now, Lara was looking a little overwhelmed. She was signing a poster and trying to talk to a party of people, all of whom looked like seniors or college students on a night out, and all of whom looked to be trying to talk to Lara simultaniously.

"Hey, what's the name of the person who played the counsellor today?"

Annie floats back to the conversation in front of her, unconsciously saying "Claire, she's standing over there," while her eyes remain fixed on Lara. She doesn't notice her hands tightening around Hayley's shoulder until Hayley flinches and Annie immediately loosens her grip, feeling a twinge of guilt.

"Sorry, Hayley," Annie murmurs, looking away from Lara to glance around her. Paige and Zac are only a few feet away, and Annie feels safe with leaving Hayley alone for a moment to go rescue Lara. "Listen, Hayley, I'm going..."

Addie's crept up behind Lara, slinging an arm around the younger girl's shoulders. Lara immediately tenses up before relaxing, but it's clear that Lara isn't as uncomfortable as she was moments before.

"What was that, Annie?" Hayley asks.

"Oh, it was nothing," Annie reassures her, smiling.

It's getting late, it's a school night, and finally most of the fans are gone. Annie sees Hayley back into the care of her mom and regroups with the other three girls. Flynn stops mocking Cameron and they go their seperate ways. Cameron drops the girls off at Riley's house, and the four barely make it up to Riley's room before collapsing on the furniture, the long day finally catching up to them.

"I call dibs on the shower," Paige mumbles, prying herself off Riley's favorite beanbag.

"Forget about the shower," Riley groans in response. "Sure, I've just spent two hours under hot stage lights and I've been running around town, and I'm sweaty and gross and I probably smell, but here's my bed, and the shower will still be there in the morning."

"Ew," Lara says, shifting so that she's under the pile of blankets in the corner of the bedroom. "That's disgusting, Riley, it really is."

"Oh, shut up, Lara, I'm only speaking the truth."