Page 49 of Tell No Lies

I reached over and turned down my music as I glared at him. “You scared me to death!”

“I yelled your name a dozen times before I came in here. Are you almost ready? We need to leave soon.”

“Give me two seconds.”

“Is your bag packed?”

Blotting my lipstick with a tissue, I looked myself over one last time. As much as I despised wearing stage makeup, I knew it was a necessity. I turned back to him and nodded. “I got everything together last night.”

“Do you have the emergency stuff in here?”

“What are you talking about? Like Mace or something?”

“No. You’ve been walking around for the past two days mumbling about extra tights and reminding yourself about an emergency bag.”

Chuckling to myself, I followed him out of my room. “I didn’t realize I was thinking aloud. Yeah, I have everything I could possibly need, and then some. I’m all set.”

“Good. Then let’s get going.”

He seemed unusually tense on the drive to the convention center by Disneyland. I turned up the music to get myself pumped up, since he was ignoring me. Usually when we drove together, he asked me about school and my friends, but today he was solely focused on the traffic.

When we parked and got out of the car, he grabbed my bag without me even asking. Before I could ask him what was wrong, I was grabbed from behind.

“You look so great!” My body relaxed when I recognized Mckayla’s voice. She released me and spun me to face her. “You hardly ever wear makeup. This is quite the transformation.”

“I know what I look like, okay? We have to wear red lipstick, smoky eyes, and lashes so the judges can see our facial expressions.”

“It might not be an everyday look, but I like it. You look pretty.” She winked and slipped her arm through mine, leading me to the entrance doors.

When we walked in, applause and cheers broke out. I staggered back in shock at the group in front of me. Brandon stood with his arm around Liv, and Carter stood next to them. Before I could process what that meant, I was being lifted off the ground.

“Hey, beautiful!”

I smiled down at Mike, completely overwhelmed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going paintballing!”

He set me back down but kept his arms around me. “You really believed I was going to miss your first competition? What kind of boyfriend would that make me? I just wanted to surprise you.”

Guilt spread through me. I actually had believed he was ditching out on me. “I’m definitely surprised! How did you get everyone to come?”

Behind him, several guys from the football team were there, as well as Talia, Alexis, and their boyfriends. How did they all plan on this without me finding out?

I spotted Cassie standing with Caleb and couldn’t help but grin at how happy they looked. Having all my friends here gave me a great feeling, but it made me anxious. I was performing my solo for the first time in front of a crowd, and everyone I knew would be watching me.

No pressure.

There was an announcement overhead asking people to take their seats. I turned back to Mike and tried to shoo him away.

“Break a leg, Aubrey. We’ll be cheering for you!” He gave me a quick kiss before joining the group walking into the main auditorium.

Cassie and I made our way to the room assigned to our team. The hallways were packed with other dancers in various costumes and team sweats. Our team was packed into a smaller room, which was full of racks that housed our costumes. We waved to the girls and checked in with the coaches before stretching.

“Did you know people were coming?” she asked. I could tell she was feeling the pressure too.

“No, Mike told me he had plans with the guys and wasn’t going to make it. I’ve been mad at him for days because he wanted to surprise me.”

“Stupid boy. At least he has good intentions.” Cassie was in a lyrical dance with a small group that was performing first. She shimmied into a sparkly white leotard with a sheer overlay that gave her an ethereal look.

A woman wearing a headset knocked on the open door and shouted curtain call.