The Obscure Downsides of Fame (New Edition)

25 || this will pass

"It's okay," I said. "What's your name?" I asked her. Something inside me wanted to stop the fake smile and the sweet voice. I wanted people to see how fucking miserable I felt, but that wouldn't be fair. They paid to meet me, so the least I could do was give them a nice experience.

"May," she said.

Twenty seconds left.

"Nice to meet you, May."

She smiled and stood next to me awkwardly, posing for the picture. She flinched at the first flash and looked around like her.

"Are you missing someone?" I asked, but I honestly didn't really care. I just knew that talking to them would give them a better experience, so why not, right? I'd already ruined half of it for them anyway.

"My friend. We got separated," she explained, and then tears started falling. And then she took a shaky breath. She tried to talk again, but her words were swallowed up by another shaky breath, and another one, and another one. It took me a while to realize she was hyperventilating, her eyes stuck on the floor.

"Hey, it'll be okay. What's your friend's name?"

She didn't reply at first. I pulled her to a corner and turned us around so her back was facing the line.

"I'm gonna need you to stay calm, alright? Take one deep breath in." I did it for her so she could follow along, almost in the same way I did when Nolan and I first met. "Hold it for a few seconds," I told her. And when it was time, I finally breathed the air out. We repeated it for a few more seconds before I looked over her shoulder and noticed a few people getting agitated.

"What's your friend's name?" I asked her, fully focusing on her again.

"Malcolm," she said, looking down at her shoes.

I looked around to see if anyone was free to take her backstage, but no one seemed to make a move. I tried to get their attention, but everyone was either standing there like a statue or busy doing something else.

"Oakley, it's taking too long!" one of the coordinators said from the other side of the room. Right. The thirty seconds were up.

"I need a few minutes!" I yelled back. "Hey, don't cry." I handed her a water bottle and walked her backstage as security literally stood there, watching. The smile immediately fell off my face as I was out of sight of the horde of fans waiting in line.

As I was walking towards the green room, I bumped into Holly. She frowned at me before she noticed the girl standing next to me. This must've been the first time I'd been in contact with people, apart from the meet and greets. Outside of those, I hadn't really spoken to anyone in over a week.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"This is May. She lost her friend in the crowd and I think she's a bit stressed out," I said.

"So are you, Oakley. You seem a bit pale." Holly put a hand on my forehead, but I swatted it away.

"I don't have time for this, Holly. Just take her to the green room, okay? I'll see if her friend comes along."

Holly looked at me with lines between her eyebrows, and I knew she was just about to ask if I was okay. The only people who knew I hadn't actually been sick the past week were the people on the bus with me and Mason.

"Yeah, of course," she said, deciding not to press on it for now.

I watched as Holly walked the girl to the green room, reminding myself that I really didn't want to go back to those meet and greets. But I had to.

Out of habit, I fished my phone out of my pocket. Twenty-six missed calls over the span of a week. It seemed excessive, but it was nothing new. Most of the calls were from my sister, and then a few from my parents and Genevieve. Two of them even from Nolan.