𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕕𝕒𝕝𝕖

22

The night of the Variety Show came too quickly. And the few days of practicing with Archie finally paid off, but that's not why Arabella said yes to helping him.

One thing that never really Ara's mind, though, was Eric. She wanted badly to be reunited with him, she wanted to be with him more now. It was true that distance makes the heart grow fonder because everytime she had a glance of him, she just wanted more.

And to make matters worse, he was there... in the crowd, waiting for her to perform with Archie.

Once of the first performances was by Josie and The Pussycats an it was amazing, like always. And Arabella did know when exactly it happened, but she saw Veronica performing with the girls.

Shrugging it off, she waited patiently for her and her best friend to go on stage.

The girl watched from backstage when Archie walked up and stood next to her, admiring the girl's performance as well.

"You okay?" Ara asked Arch.

His hands seemed clammy from how much he was wiping them on his pants, but he just looked down at Arabella smiled. "Yeah," he said, "you?"

"Absolutely fine," she said nonchalantly.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "How do you do it?"

"Do what, Archibald?"

"Stay calm when you know you're about to perform in front of a bunch of people who probably hate you?"

"Well... one: no one hates you, two:  everyone hates me, three: it's because I'm not going out there with you."

Archie looked at Arabella, completely fear struck while The Pussycats walked behind the curtain after finishing their performance. Valerie and Veronica wished the two good luck with a pat on the shoulder and a smile.

"What do you mean I'm going on alone?! We even matched what we're wearing!"

Arabella shrugged and said reassuringly, "Arch, I'm not going to be there on stage with you every time you perform. And when you become a famous singer and songwriter, you can't always sing a duet or in a group. Your voice will be heard solo and what's a better time than now? Your first performance ever has got to be alone or else it just won't be right."

Archie sighed, knowing that his best friend was right. But the boy nearly choked when he heard Kevin call his name over the microphone.

"I can give you something to make you perform better though," Ara grinned. She stood on her tippy toes and pecked Archie on the cheek. "Now go get'em, Weasley.'

Archie's smile was thankful as well as nervous. Ara had faith in him, though.

While the ginger performed with a smile on his face, the young Queen took pictures of the boy and promised herself that she would send them to everyone.

"I thought you were going on, too," a voice from  behind Arabella said, startling her a bit. She relaxed when she found out who it was.

"Eric, what are you doing back here? This is performers and staff only,"  Arabella said with concern, but she knew well that no one cared enough about him being there... except for maybe Kevin.

"Then why are you back here?" he asked cockily with a goofy grin. His dirty blonde hair curled softly over his forehead, giving him a relaxed look. He seemed put together with his partially unbuttoned shirt, and jeans that fit him perfectly.

Prince Charming held a small bouquet of dark red roses that he was prepared to give Arabella.

The girl smiled, no matter how much she didn't want to. "Because," she began to answer his question, "I have special access to everything and anything I want... considering I am the Queen."