Capturing the Star's Heart

The Ins and Outs Behind the Scenes

I smiled as I pulled Alyssa along. I could hear her quietly giggling to herself as we snuck through the backstage corridors. We had to make it to the main stage, so it would be like I met Alyssa there like I normally would when meeting with friends during rehearsals. We didn't want anyone to suspect anything, nor would I want to get in trouble for sneaking someone backstage. Plus, all of my crew members don't know Alyssa like they do Adam and Dex, so they would probably all think that I snuck a fan in or that I had a secret girlfriend. I can't tell you how many times that assumption has been made. So here we are, finally making it into the auditorium. I carefully climbed onto the stage and helped Alyssa up behind me. Once we were fully on the stage, I turned to her with a mischievous grin.

"That went a lot easier than I thought."

She laughed once more, "I honestly don't know how we pulled that off without being spotted."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Guess I've become an expert of sneaking around after all these years."

I gave an embarrassed chuckle before flipping my tone into a cheerful one and changing the subject, "Anyway! Welcome to the main stage! You've obviously been up here before, and you've seen me perform, so I doubt this really needs an introduction."

Even though she had already seen the stage a few days earlier, her eyes scanned the structure before she turned around to face the seats. "The whole place looks so much bigger up here than out there."

I nodded in agreement, moving to stand right beside her, "Yeah, it does, but most of the time I have bright spotlights in my face, so it's kinda hard to see past the first few rows."

Her head moved to look at me, "Really?"

"Yep, the lights help the people and crew see me better, but it ironically blocks my view of them."

"At least you know they're cheering you on!"

I gave her a small smirk, "Yeah, at least they're there. Now, if you don't mind, I have more things I want to show you!"

I grabbed her hand once more and began pulling her behind the stage curtains to the back. Once we were backstage with all of the other people, I let go of her and motioned for her to follow. We walked through the hallways while I pointed out what various crew members were working on. I showed her that some were working on setting up the stage, some were helping to test the instrument, some were carrying wire and cords for the lights, some were rolling carts of equipment to their proper place, and some were helping to prepare for an upcoming soundcheck.

"Wow! It's all so busy!"

I gave a quiet laugh at the excitement in her eyes. It was adorable to see her light up like this. "Yeah, it's always like this before a show. The crew always works so hard to make sure everything to smoothly. I really couldn't do any of this without them."

Alyssa's smile grew as she took in my words, "That's so sweet! They must love working with you!"

"I hope so. I try my best to make things easier for them, like showing up on time when I'm needed and helping whenever and wherever I can."

She turned her head to me and, if I'm not mistaken, a look of admiration passed over her face before she looked forward again, still walking steadily.

Finally, we made it to the destination that I really wanted her to see, the wardrobe department. We weaved around the hair and make-up crew while dodging clothes racks full of outfits for the next couple of shows. When we made it to the center of the madness, I glanced around until I spotted Mrs. Flora pinning a piece of cloth to a mannequin.

"Mrs. Flora!" I called, half expecting to brush me off since whenever she gets in work mode she becomes laser-focused. Though, to my surprise, she turned around and beamed in my direction.