Glowing Eyes || Adopted by Josh Dun

glowing eyes

one year later

Dael stood in front of me, adjusting my makeup with little touches of powder and eyebrow pencil that I was too disoriented to take much note of.

"How many people are out there? Did you see when you came in?" I asked breathlessly as she powdered my face.

"The whole event is filled," she laughed a little. "You already knew this, Lynn. Stop panicking."

"But what if they hate me?" I asked her with wide eyes. "I know how to write, not speak."

"Look up," she said quickly as she put mascara on my eyelashes. "Lynn, they came here to see you. I promise, they won't hate you. And I've heard you speak, you're amazing. Don't stress."

"That's like telling me not to breathe," I laughed, then sighed a little.

Dael collapsed onto the armchair behind her with a smile, "Voila! You look beautiful."

"Thank you," I smiled. "You do, too." I meant it. Dael had naturally smooth, dark skin and her hair was effortlessly done in a beautiful updo. She was wearing a sleek black dress and heels. All together, she looked like a model.

"Aw, thank you," she smiled.

Someone knocked on the door before softly opening it. It was the event manager. "Hey, uh, just stopping in to say you have five minutes until time."

"Okay, thank you," I smiled, but as soon as he shut the door I turned to Dael with a worried expression, "Oh god, I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Dael smiled softly, getting up and hugging me quickly. "You'll do great. Love you girly."

"Love you too," I smiled softly as she walked out, and I was left alone.

I took a deep breath and stood up, looking at myself in the mirror. My long brown hair was softly curled, and my eyeliner was perfect (thanks to Dael). I was wearing the same dress I did for the Grammys, which Jenna enthusiastically recommended because 'readers might recognize it'.

I brushed down my dress, a nervous habit I gained over the years, and gave myself a quick nod before walking out of the dressing room. I took a right and ended up side stage, where a curtain separated me from the stage and the crowd. The crowd. I could hear people talking and laughing, all combining into a huge roar. It nearly paralyzed me. But then my eyes fell on the backdrop to the stage and my heart fluttered. It was the cover of my book. The book that I wrote. It covered a huge wall bigger than I could imagine. I was breathless.

"Lynn, uh, hello?" the stage manager snapped me out of my daze.

"Oh, yes? Sorry," I laughed sheepishly.

"They're about to call you out," he told me curtly before I heard the man with a microphone on stage say my name into a microphone. That was my cue. No going back now.

I walked out onto the stage, and the crowd erupted with applause. I couldn't help but laugh in childlike wonder as I stood center stage, covering my mouth in awe, in front of a microphone and what looked like thousands of people.

"I hope everyone's had a good night so far," I smiled and laughed a little. The crowd laughed back. I sighed lightly, my eyes scanning people at tables and standing aimlessly around the room. "Wow... there are a lot of you," I said without realizing. The crowd laughed friendlily.

I took a breath and went into my speech. "I'd, first off, like to thank all of you. I never in a million years dreamed that I'd actually be fulfilling this... fantasy in my head that I would have written a book and gotten it published. Let alone gotten so much support for it as to win awards and become a New York Times best seller, it just... I still don't think I believe it," I laughed a little. "This little story about what happened to my life when I met who I joke was my 'last and greatest hope', even though it's not really a joke, is something written very much in the moment. I've gotten a lot of comments from writers and critics saying fancy things like how it's 'telling of the human psyche' or something" - I laughed a little with the crowd - "but for all intensive purposes, this is just an auto biography. And an auto biography is, of course, telling of the human psyche because it's about an actual life and the thoughts and intricacies of it and all of the weird in-betweens."