Annie took a deep breath and started playing the song on her phone. Never had she ever lost her train of thought. Staring and singing at Bristol was unnerving, but she trusted herself and sang softly.

“Play the part right up to the chorus again,” Bristol said. She sang the entire chorus with Annie and faded out when Annie went into the next verse. It was perfect.

“Wow. That was incredible,” Annie said when they were done. Her mouth felt dry. Bristol had the most beautiful brown eyes, and sitting so close without any distractions made Annie’s pulse quicken. Her hair was loose and hung in gentle waves down her back.

“I like your song a lot. Actually, I like your whole EP a lot,” Bristol said. She looked out the window when the limo stopped. “How are we here already? That was the fastest trip.”

“Wow, okay. So, do we need to practice it again?”

Bristol nodded. “We can practice at the venue. We’ll head over in about an hour. That gives you enough time to freshen up.”

“Thank you, Bristol. The song change is a great idea.” Annie slid out of the car but kept the door open. “Are you coming?”

Bristol leaned back into the limo. “No. I use a different entrance. I’ll see you later.”

Annie waved and quickly shut the door to keep others from seeing Bristol. She was still reeling from being alone and having a heartfelt conversation with her. The more she got to know Bristol, the more she felt a little sorry for her. How awful it would be to never know if somebody wanted to be close to you because of you or because of your success.

Annie followed the instructions Vaughn had sent to register in her hotel room and access her eKey. She got on the elevator with two teenagers who were visibly excited. They whispered before one spoke up nervously.

“Um…hi. Are you touring with Bristol Baines?”

“Yes. I’m Annie Foster. I’ll be opening for her tonight. Are you going to the concert?”

They nodded in unison. “My dad got us tickets. He works at Top Shelf Records.”

“That’s pretty cool. You probably get to see a lot of fun concerts then.”

The bubbly brunette who couldn’t have been more than fourteen shrugged. “My dad is one of the marketing managers, so we don’t always get tickets to the concerts we want, but we did to this one. We’re so excited we even made posters.” They unrolled two large yellow posters with red letters that read, “We love you, Bristol!” The pink glitter was a lot but gave it a touch of innocent adolescence. Annie smiled at the glitter that had drifted to the elevator floor that was sure to turn up in several hotel rooms as people shuffled in and out of the elevator before the cleaning staff could contain it.