I hum to myself as I distress my braided hair, happy to have finally taken off my heavy stage makeup.
"And yet, another successful show here at Beauty and the Beast! The stage door will be open in ten minutes everyone!" The stage manager announces to the cast.
I grab my beanie and fasten it on my head, pulling the sleeves of my warm, gray sweater over my hands.
I throw my small backpack on and grab my phone, tucking it on my pocket. I wave goodbye to our stage manager as I head towards the stage door.
"Rose!"
I stop in my tracks as I hear my name being called, turning towards the green room. Leila, who plays Babette, is standing there with a room full of guys, and one girl, who are all smiling.
"Hi!" I grin, stepping in.
"Rose, these are the guys of Newsies. It's going on tour and they just started rehearsals in New York." Leila tells me. "Guys, this is Rosalina. She's obviously Belle in the show."
"The show was so good!" The only girl exclaims. "Your voice is like actual silk."
A smile creeps onto my face. "Oh my gosh, thank you so much."
"And this totally isn't weird but I just have to tell you that you're like, the most gorgeous person I've ever seen in my life. I'm Stephanie, by the way."
"Stephanie, you're so sweet. Thank you." I blush, biting my lip.
We're shot into conversation about Wicked- somehow- and I'm sitting on the couch with a Newsie.
I'm talking with a redhead named Sky, when another boy comes and joins us. "Oh, Rosalina, this is Ben." Sky says, gesturing to his friend.
"Hi Ben." I grin, as Sky leaves unexpectedly, having now just me and Ben.
But oh my god, I can't seem to remember how to breathe when I lay eyes on Ben. His blue eyes are captivating, and his smile shines.
"I just wanna let you know that you were absolutely amazing." Ben says as he slides onto the couch beside me.
"Thank you." I blush, unable to even think straight at the moment. "S-So you liked the show?"
"Of course I did! I've always loved Beauty and the Beast. This production is spectacular, and everyone is so talented." Ben compliments, which just makes my heart beat faster.
"That means a lot to me!"
Somehow the topic of ballet gets tossed into our conversation, and we go off on a tangent. I learn that- similar to me- Ben has been dancing since he was a little kid. Well, obviously he must be good if he's in Newsies! I don't dance in Beauty and the Beast, which sucks, but Ben said he'd love to see me dance one day.
He's so easy to talk to. I'm, for some reason, so drawn to him. We're both eighteen and doing musical theatre for a living, and he's actually pretty funny.
Ben's POV
Jesus Christ.
From the second that girl walked into the room, I couldn't take my eyes off of her.
She's got long brown hair that she put in two braids with a beanie, and her green eyes are so bright. Her laugh is angelic and her smile is absolutely gorgeous.
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(I know she has brown eyes but get it over it, Rosalina has green eyes😂)
Rosalina is so easy to talk to. We spend close to a half hour talking in the green room and there's never a dull moment.
"I actually have to go stage door now." Rosalina pouts, but keeps smiling.
"Um, maybe you could give me your number and we can get to the studio one day?" I suggest, but why would she ever say yes?
"Yeah, sure!" Rosalina grins, reaching into her pocket for her phone.
I do the same, and she reads off her number for me. "Great, thanks. I'll text you."
Rosalina stands and grabs her bag. She shouts a goodbye to everyone, and Josh and Sky rush over to sit with me.
"Dude, you were flirting."
"And she was flirting back."
I roll my eyes. "Neither of us were flirting. We were just having a conversation."
"Yeah, but it was a conversation with lots of heart eyes, giggling, and fond gazes." Sky dramatically exclaims.
"You two are making a big deal out of nothing. We had one conversation. I just met the girl. Don't worry about it."
