Escaping Grace

The show was a blast.
The crowd was loud and screaming by the time we finished, and as we scurried off stage, I felt beyond confident. I loved being on stage and performing, it was probably one of the only things I was good at.
"Nice job, guys!" CC said as we stepped backstage, Vale giving him a grin. "I've never seen them so pumped!"
"We're good at getting the crowd riled up," I grinned, and Ashley caught my eye. He winked, and I winked back.
"Yeah, you guys did great, " Jinxx looked almost surprised. "I don't know if we can top that stage performance. "
"You dominated that crowd," Ashley said, stepping over to me. Even in heels I was so much shorter than him and everyone else.
"It's one of my skills," I told him, still slightly breathless. That had been so amazing. He grinned at me, amd then tugged on the hem of my shirt. "You should wear these more often, you look good."
I blushed. He glanced over, and then hastily took a step back. I followed his gaze to see Andy glaring at him. "Two minutes, and we're on," he said, and I glanced him over.
He wore a torn and paint splattered denim vest and my favorite pair of jeans on him as of now. He had a black streak of paint under his eye, and his lip ring gleamed in the lights. He arched his brows as he caught me looking and I hastily averted my gaze.
"Good luck you guys," I said, the stagehand motioning them on. CC gave Vale a quick peck and then headed on stage, the crowd going wild as they started for their instruments.
"Hey," Andy said quickly, stopping just before he emerged from the curtain, "meet me after the show, okay?"
Before I could answer he went on the stage, a roar echoing at his entrance. What have I got myself into with this? I bit my lip.
I shook my head and walked after the rest of the guys, taking a bottle of water gratefully from one of the stage people. i was dying of thirst.
"That was amazing!" Vale squealed as I stepped up to where she stood. "There was so many people! And they liked us!"
"Of course, we're awesome," Nate grinned, edging from foot to foot. We were all still adrenaline fueled, though I could already feel it starting to wear off the longer I stood.
"I was so nervous, we've never been to a venue so large," I admitted.
"I'm just glad we didn't fuck up," Clarke answered. "But we did great! I don't think we've ever done so well."
Vale rolled her eyes. "We always do amazing, Clarke, what's wrong with you?"
I pressed my water against my skin, I was burning up and backstage was as warm as Florida right now. "Let's get somewhere cool," I suggested, and we ambled back towards the dressing room, everyone still excited and tired at the same time.
We could have stayed and watched Andy and co. Perform, but we ready knew they were good, we'd been to one of their shows. Of course hopefully he wouldn't hurt himself in this one.
We stepped into our mercifully conditioned dressingroom. I plopped back into my chair, fanning myself with the venue brochure.
"I'll be back," Nate said, disappearing back out the door.
"Where's he going?" Vale asked, kicking one of her bags out of the way.
"Landscaping probably," Clarke snorted, checking his phone. "What else?"
I don't know how that term caught on with us, I couldn't even remember when we'd started using it. But whenever Nate went off looking for a girl, he called it "viewing the landscape for options."
His landscaping was in definite need of improvement.

Notes