TAYLOR
DAY OF SHOW
Today is the day. The day we have been working towards for 2 months now. Today is the day.
"Let's go alreadyyyyy." Christina groans.
"It's only 1." I say laughing.
"Let's go anyway, I am too excited to sit around this damn hotel room to wait any longer." Christina says.
"I agree, I am about to leave." Jasmine says.
"Okay, okay fine." I say and grab my dance bag.
We grab a taxi and head to the venue. Upon our arrival, we notice all of the girls already lined up for the show that doesn't start until 7:30.
"Damn." I say as it all becomes a reality.
I walk to the dancer's lounge room, start stretching and put my headphones separating myself from the chaos going on outside of the lounge. As I sit on the floor stretching my right leg, I feel a finger tap my shoulder. I turn to find Justin with a goofy smile on his face. His long blonde hair dangled over his eyes as I remove a headphone to hear what he has to say.
"Yes?" I ask.
"Why are you alone?" He asks.
"I like being alone" I say simply.
"Well I am going to intrude on your alone-ness." He says and sits beside me stretching as well
I roll my eyes and crack a smile. "Okay."
"Are you excited?" He asks.
"Nervous." I say.
"For what? You are going to do great!" He says smiling.
"I hope so." I say, continuing to stretch my leg.
"Are you nervous?" I ask.
"A little." He says messing with his long hair.
"You shouldn't be, you are going to kill it." I say and smile.
"Thanks." He smiles back. "I have been meaning to ask you, have you talked to Zack recently?"
"Yeah a few weeks ago I told him that I made it on the tour and that I won championships but not since. He was supposed to be home for Christmas but he couldn't make it."
"Really? Thats too bad, maybe he will be able to make it to one of the shows though. I would love to see him again, I miss him." Justin says.
"Me and you both." I say sadly. "I miss him a lot."
"I know, you too were always so close." Justin says.
Zack joined the army over a year ago now, and I haven't seen him for almost an entire year. I miss him more than anything, and despite the occasional skype call, it feels like forever since I have last talked to him. It just isn't the same through a computer screen.
"Yeah.." I say, my voice trailing off.
"All dancers to the stage for rehearsal, all dancers to the stage." A voice on the over speaker says.
"Thats you!" Justin says.
"Thats me." I say and jump up.
"Go kill it." He says and I smile and nod before walking out.
We run through the show without any mistakes or errors and at the end we all hug each other proud. The tour hasn't even started and we are already closer than ever. Around 4, I meet with Florido who does everyone's hair and, Jessica who does my make up. My hair is up in a braided bun and my makeup is done by the time I leave the room. I slide on my outfit for the first song and go through the moves to kill time.
The time ticked faster than I had hoped. I nervously sit in a room with all the other dancers who are all freaking out. I am freaking out with them but my mind is also wandering. I find myself thinking about Justin too much. It took me so long to get over him but every time I look into his chocolate brown eyes something inside me is stimulated. A feeling of relief. A feeling of home. I knew he felt it too. But now I am forced to play off my feelings like I always have. I find myself making excuses and finding reasons for why I shouldn't do this but the reasons why I should always tend to be much stronger.
"Time for prayer and getting ready for the show." A woman who went by Tori, alerts us.
"LET'S DO THIS!" Cj jumps up suddenly excited
"WE ARE GONNA KILL THIS!" Jonathan joined him.
All the boys suddenly start screaming and jumping as they exited the lounge.
"Stupid." Christina says following them out shaking her head.
We all laugh, following behind and walking towards the main area backstage. We get our in-ear's hooked up and then huddle into a large circle. Justin begins the prayer and talks about family and thanks god for our opportunity as well as the people who showed up today. He asks for safety for all of the fans and performers, and for a great show. When he finishes, he lifts his head looks directly at me and then at the rest of the group before throwing his hand in the middle. We all follow his lead, bounding up and down shouting "DUCKS DUCKS DUCKS DUCKS, QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK ZOOOOOOOOM"
Justin then goes around, hugging everyone and wishing them good luck. When he gets to me he squeezes me and whispers "Don't be nervous, you are going to do amazing."
"You too." I say softly, returning the smile when he pulls away.
"LETS GOOOOO!" Justin turns from me shouting with the guys.
I follow Mona to the toaster, before wishing both her and Devan good luck. I crouch on my toaster, saying a mini prayer myself and taking one last deep breath in. I notice the screaming is much louder than I had expected, as I listen to the clip playing on the screen.
tap tap tap
I turn around to Justin who is standing in his box, happily. He gives me a thumbs up and I return it before turning back around. Justin begins rising up from beneath the stage and Mark My Words explodes from the speakers. As he begins to rise, so do I and so does the screaming. Mark My Words begins playing in my in-ear and almost completely drowns out all of the noise. It sent a sense of relief and I know, we are going to do just fine. I go through my dance moves effortlessly, suddenly very comfortable. These people weren't here to see me, anyway. I am not dancing for judges, I am here because I love it. So, I showed it as I danced.
At the end of the song, I slowly come down from the toaster and run back stage for an outfit change for been you. I walk past Justin, he congratulates me, and I smile wishing him good luck for the next couple of songs.
"See you up there." He says and winks.
He looks absolutely adorable. His hair is pulled back in a little man bun and he wears ripped skinny jeans with a white tee. The white tee is layered with an unbuttoned flannel which is layered by a long grey cardigan looking thing.
Justin goes through, Where Are U Now as well as a few other songs before I go back on stage.
I dress for been you in black high waisted shorts and a cropped tee. I only dance for a small portion of the song, and after that I come back down, change quick and go back on for company. During the show, I notice everything is fast moving backstage. The stage manager is running around frantically making sure everyone is where they need to be. The energy at its climax, keeping everything buzzing.
My part starts playing for Been you so, I climb the stairs to the stage and run past Justin so he can chase me. He follows, singing into the mic "missin your lovin, haunts me all night, the ghosts are alive." I put my hand out for him to take, as rehearsed, and he takes it. He winks at me before spinning around and pulling me into him. The pulling part was not rehearsed. He sings, with his hands on my stomach and his hot breath on my neck. After a few seconds, he pulls away walking onto the part of the stage that would then left him up. As he is rising, I walk off the stage and go to change for company.
(example, not at seattle show & not taylor, this is Devan)
The outfit is similar, same shorts just a different top. The trampoline drops as I run on stage, following Christina. We climb the stairs and then get to our places. On the front of the trampoline, Justin stands in between Mona and I, with Christina to my left. We dance, running through the moves swiftly. Justin does the same thing he did during Been You, pulling me closer to him or doing things unexpectedly. But, I certainly did not mind. Gratefully, he gave the other girls attention as well so it wasn't obvious we have some sort of connection.
As the night goes on, I start to become more and more excited for No pressure so I can be in his arms and close to him for a few seconds.
Hold tight comes on next, and I perform perfectly with no attention from Justin. But, after Hold tight, No pressure comes booming from the speakers. I dress into my jumpsuit and come running on the stage excitedly just as Big Sean begins rapping. I appear just behind Justin and then run past him so he is now following me. I turn, smile at him and then turn back to the audience swiftly until we make it to front and center stage. We go through the moves, and then he takes my hand, spins me around so I am facing him. We look at each other and I smirk, as we go through the moves. He is sweaty and tired, but still absolutely stunning. With every fleeting touch, I yearn for him to keep his hand where it is but know that's an unrealistic request. Before I know it, I am running off the stage and away from him, again.
(Not Seattle show, but where Aubree is really dancing is actually where Taylor would be dancing, so you get the idea.)
I dance with David beautifully during Life is Worth Living and then wait impatiently for Purpose, when it will only be Justin and I on that stage. Not only that I would be able to hear him sing purpose, and see him but because it is my favorite song to dance to and I nail all of the hard moves ever time.
I am able to just hear his voice through my in-ear as I dance gracefully across the stage. Justin sits on the catwalk, singing to his fans. I know how personal this song is to him. The show ends with Sorry and we all get together at the end in a big huddle, proud of the success.