“Photograph”
 

After finishing a show all I could think about was how much I wanted to get a shower. I was sticky with sweat after all of the dance numbers that I went through throughout the run of the show.
 
I stood in the narrow hallway that led out to the stage door exit, duffle bag over my shoulder, waiting for my boyfriend and star of the show, Mike Chang to finish changing. Mike had a lot more stage makeup to wash off than I did. At last, though, Mike joined me, followed by Annabelle Hutch, the female lead and a woman who’d quickly become one of my best friends.
 
“Sorry you had to wait so long, Tate,” Mike said with an accusing glare at Annabelle. “Someone had to reapply their makeup twice.”
 
“I wanted to make sure I look good before facing the crowd outside,” she said, raising her chin. “It’s what my adoring public expects.”
 
“Let’s just get out of here,” Mike said without rolling his eyes too much.
 
Going out the stage door exit meant that you got bombarded with cameras and requests to sign playbills. If you exited with the leads, then what should have been a thirty second departure turned into thirty minutes. Finally, though, we got through the crowd and made our way to the subway, just barely making it in before the one we wanted left the platform.
 
“Perfect timing So glad I can sit down.” Annabelle relaxed as much as one could pon uncomfortable New York subway seats. I sat next to her, Mike taking the seat next to me, entwining our fingers together.
 
The rocking of the subway was enough to lull my tired mind into a state of near-sleep that I was unfortunately jarred from when a voice said, “Excuse me?” I blinked, surprised, and saw a tall girl standing there. She had a playbill for The Long Road in her hands and looked completely nervous.
 
“You’re part of the cast, right?” The girl brandished her playbill.
 
“You want an autograph?” Mike asked kindly.
 
“Actually, we were hoping we could get a picture.”
 
“Sure,” Mike said obligingly, standing up. The rapid transformation to a look of confusion on his face when the girl shoved her cell phone into his hand was enough to make me giggle. “Huh?”
 
The girl plopped down in his seat and leaned in close to me. “Say cheese!”
 
“Cheese,” I said, smiling quickly, though I had no idea what was going on. Had I just been photographed over Annabelle and Mike?
 
Mike handed the phone back and the girl examined the picture. “It looks great! Thanks so much!” She turned to me again. “You’re an incredible dancer. My friends are going to be so psyched!”
 
She thanked us again and scurried off to the other end of the car.
 
I sat there, blinking. “That was…weird.”
 
Annabelle nodded. “Yeah, it was. Did she not see me sitting here?”
 
Mike just smiled and squeezed my hand.