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surprisingly large as this one.
    “This way,” the young, baby-faced boy instructed, using his hands to signal us.
    He guided us down the hall, and through a large set of double doors, leading into the auditorium. And I gasped at the size of the auditorium that we had just walked in.
    I knew it had to be big, based on the size of the theater, but I definitely wasn’t expecting something quite as large as it was.
    The ceilings were high, and there were VIP boxes on other floors, and I could tell that it also must have been used as an opera house.
    I looked around, my mouth agape in awe, hardly paying attention to the young man that was leading us towards the front row. “Ma’am?” he called, and I noticed that I was in front of our group, and that he was clearly talking to me. I blinked, focusing on him as he pointed down to the center of the front row. “Center stage. They say ‘Reserved’ on them.” He smiled and pointed to the empty seats, empty seats right next to a group of people I didn’t recognize, surrounded by one person I did recognize.
    Polly’s older brother, Cameron.
    “Hey Cam!” I called, waving like a teenage girl at a school retreat. He smirked and nodded at me, acknowledging my presence, but I could also tell that he didn’t necessarily want to make it a social visit.
    He never was the social type.
    Not like Polly.
    In fact, they were polar opposites.
    “See, Zoe,” Abigail said sweetly, as she moved passed me to claim the seat I was headed for as her own. “We made it on time.”
    I smiled down at her, wondering why she wanted to sit in the seat that I was aiming for. “You’ll want to sit next to your boyfriend; and I wanted to still sit next to you.” She smiled up at me, her eyes pleading with me not to get angry, or say otherwise.
    But looking at the girl made me wonder how anyone could possibly ever say no to her. She was the epitome of cute and sweet. I’d be hard pressed to say that it’d be difficult for me to ever say no to her.
    “Abi…” Jim said, moving passed me to catch up to his daughter. “You’re going to sit next to Daddy.”
    Jim moved to take Abigail’s seat and swiftly moved her small body next to him so that she sat one more seat towards the aisle. “You can still sit next to Zoe, but she’s not going to watch you. Daddy is,” Jim whispered sweetly, and just like that, for the second time, the seat I was going for was claimed by Abigail.
    I laughed, letting the girl settle in before I took a seat right next to her. The play was going to be great, I thought, as Derek’s warmth enveloped me from the other side. On one side I had a cute little girl, on the other I had the man I loved, and in front of me was going to be my very best friend in the world performing her little heart out for the entire arena to see.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Almost as soon as we were settled, the lights of the large arena-esque theater began to dim. The small chatter that filled the room quickly died down. I gripped the Playbill tightly with my sweaty palms. I was nervous. Nervous for her.
    I couldn’t dare flip through the pages; I couldn’t look at her name. I felt the butterflies fluttering in the pit of my stomach enough without doing anymore to remind me of the fact that she was in a leading role.
    I felt a large lump in my throat, a lump so large that I couldn’t even swallow it.
    But almost as if on cue, Derek’s hand found mine. He gripped my balled up fists firmly and pulled it open. The Playbill dropped to the floor, and I felt my hand relax within his almost instantly. He was good at making me forget.
    “She’s going to do great,” he whispered, and as soon as he did a piano began playing softly. All of a sudden, a sound of a whirling wind came across, and I couldn’t help but wonder how they had mimicked it. Were they using a fan? What were they using? Nothing sounded motorized… it just sounded like a heavy wind.
    And all of a sudden, chills ran over my flesh and