Chapter 268: Penny
I don’t even know where my body ends and the air begins.
The second the curtain fell, I could feel the warmth of the lights still polting in my veins. My chest rises and falls like I’ve just run a marathon or maybe like I just touched something holy
Because that’s what it felt like out there.
Holy.
I’ve dreamt about this moment since I was a little girl, barely able to lace up my first pair of pink satin slippers. I’ve seen this stage in my sleep, painted it with a thousand imagined spotlights in the backs of my notebooks, rehearsed for it through injuries and exhaustion and doubt.
But no part of my wildest fantasies came close to how it really felt.
The silence before the music.
The weightless lift of Luc’s hand.
The heat of the lights.
The way the audience disappeared the second I started to move.
I was in it. Buried in the sound, in the story, in the rhythm that lived in my bones like it had always been waiting. And I danced like I was telling the world everything I’d never found the words for.
And when the curtain came down and I heard that explosion of applause–something in me cracked wide open.
I’m still shaking.
Backstage is a blur of faces and voices and congratulations, all of it moving too fast to catch. Someone is handing me a bottle of water, someone else is telling me there’s a reporter from the Tribune waiting. I feel Luc’s hand brush mine in passing, steady and proud, and Mila throws her arms around me in the hallway with a shriek loud enough to make everyone flinch.
“You were a damn celestial event,” she whispers in my ear. “Like watching the northern lights and
crying at the same time.“/
I laugh, but I’m crying a little, too.
The makeup team is tugging at my bobby pins while I try to catch my breath. My pointe shoes are off – finally
finally — and my feet are screaming, but I don’t even care. Every sore muscle, every bruise,
every drop of sweat was worth it. I’d do it all again. Twice.
Chapter 268 Penny
The interview is short. I barely remember what I say something about discipline and teamwork
1 and gratitude. I thank Madame Loretto, Luc, the academy, my family, everyone, I hope I said it right. I hope they saw the fire behind my eyes when I talked about it.
Because it’s still burning.
I finally slip out of costume, changing into a soft, oversized sweater and leggings. Mila’s next to me, humming some song she’s had stuck in her head since act two, Vie’te both radiating heat, still flushed and glowing from the show. My hair is half falling out of the bun, and I don’t even care.
There’s still glitter on my collarbone.
I step outside and the night air hits me like a lullaby,
And then I see them.
A whole crowd, waiting just outside the doors of the theatre. Right in the front–my parents. My mom with tears in her eyes and my dad grinning like his heart might actually burst. Behind them, Asher’s parents, looking like they want to adopt me on the spot. Max and Piper holding up an absolutely ridiculous sign that says PENNY 4 QUEEN in glitter paint. Anna bouncing on her toes. Boomer clapping slowly with a proud little smirk. Rooster saluting me like I’ve just returned from
war.
And then-
Asher.
He’s at the front of them all, hands in the pockets of his dark suit, tie a little crooked like he got impatient putting it on. His hair’s wind–tousled, and the second he sees me, he steps forward. O
His smile could light up the whole street.
I practically run the last few steps and he catches me like he’s done it a thousand times before because he has. Because I always fall toward him.
“You were…” His voice catches for a second as his hands come up to cradle my face. “You were
something out of another world, princess.”
My breath stutters. “You mean it?”
“I don’t know how to lie to you?” he says softly. Then he kisses my forehead and pulls me in against his chest, holding me like he never wants to let go.
Everyone else piles in after that. My mom wraps her arms around me and doesn’t stop crying. My dad pulls me into a bear hug and says, “You did it, kiddo. You really did it.” Piper is sobbing, Max is pretending not to cry while wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Mila keeps screaming little pieces of
Chapter 268 Penny
praise between hugs and 1–love–yous, Boomer lifts me for a second and spins me like a here returning home.
I can’t stop smiling.
I’ve never felt more seen.
More loved.
More me.
Madame Loretto emerges from the shadows a moment later, clipboard still in hand like she’s incapable of existing without it. Her eyes meet mine, and for the briefest second, she actually smiles – that tight, subtle little upturn of her lips that only ever comes out when someone’s exceeded her highest expectations.
“Well done, Miss Vales,” she says. “You’ve given me chills. Not many can do that.”
I actually beam. “Thank you.”
“No,” she says, a little more softly. “Thank you.”
And then she disappears again, probably to scold someone about sweeping the stage properly.
—
I take one more look around at my people, my team, the people who showed up for me and held me up and believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself – and something inside me settles.
I did it.
I really, really did it.
The dream didn’t just happen it broke through.
And now it’s real.
And maybe even better than I ever imagined.
Falling for my boyfriend’s Navy brother
