golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter three

they walked the few blocks to the theatre and went in through the stage door. ben knocked on the boys' dressing room. "is everyone decent?"

a resounding yes came back to him, so he opened the door. sky looked past him, his eyes landing on eliana. "el! what's up?"

"hey!" she smiled and waved.

"guys, this is eliana." he introduced her to the boys. "this is sky, josh, demarius, nick, jeff, chaz, nico, and jordan."

"wait, you're the girl from the gym today!" nico said. she nodded, laughing.

"you're an amazing tumbler." josh said.

"she's a world champion." ben wiggled his eyebrows.

"woah, and she agreed to go out with you?" jordan teased.

"funny." ben rolled his eyes and checked his watch again. "alright, i'll walk you out to the lobby, el."

"break legs, guys!" she waved to them.

ben walked her to the lobby, where the doors had just opened, and people streamed in.

"so, once the show's done, go to the stage door. i'll come get you there."

"uh, where is that?" eliana giggled. ben pointed over her shoulder.

"just go out those doors, and to the right."

she turned to look, then nodded. "okay."

"i guess i'll see you after." he said, and handed her the ticket.

"i can't wait." she smiled. "have a good show."

"i hope you like it." he grinned. "see ya, el."

she waved, and ben jogged off, back to where they had come from. he went back into the dressing room and quickly changed into his costume, then stretched out.

"she's really pretty, ben." nico said.

"i know, right?" ben smiled. "gorgeous."

     out in the audience, eliana scrolled through instagram, and the lights started to go down. she shut off her phone. her seat in the sixth row had a perfect view of the stage.

after the opening number, she watched as a familiar figure walked up to the middle tower. ben's voice, now with a heavy new york accent, rang out through the theatre, making eliana giggle quietly. sky came onto stage after him, yawning and stretching. "i was havin' the most beautiful dream. my lips are still tinglin'."

ben's eyes searched the crowd for a second before locking with eliana's. "ooh, a pretty girl?"

sky smacked him in the chest and shook his head. "a leg of lamb."

the music kicked up, and the stage filled with all of the boys that eliana met earlier. they were all amazing dancers, but she found her eyes glued to ben the entire time. he had a prop, a cigar that hung out of his mouth as he danced. his lips seemed to be frozen in a permanent smirk, and when he caught eliana's eye at the end of seize the day, she blushed.

     five minutes before act two began, ben put on his tap shoes, grinning like an idiot.

"why are you so smiley?" dan deluca, the guy who played jack, asked.

"i'm just having a really good show." ben replied.

"and his girlfriend's in the audience." josh added. dan raised his eyebrows. "aww, benny! who is it?"

ben shook his head as he tightened his shoelaces. "not my girlfriend. we just hung out before the show today."

dan reached forward and ruffled ben's hair. "very cute. i'm sure she's loving your moves."