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“How’d we do?” Howie asked as he ran back toward the changing room where Anael was waiting. She beamed a smile of congratulations. The boys flushed from the compliment represented just on her delicate face. The boys always did great on stage. She hadn’t found a single thing wrong. She was proud that she had the opportunity to see such a great performance. She enjoyed how interactive the boys were with their fans. They always expressed their love and adoration for every single person that got them this far in life.

“Howie, you guys were absolutely fantastic!” Anael squealed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed as he gave her a gentle squeeze back. She cared nothing about how sweaty each boy was. She gave each other one a tight squeeze, expressing her thanks. The boys appreciated her sweet gestured. “I couldn’t have asked for a better show.”

“I found some flaws,” Nick commented.

“What, Nick?” Kevin asked.

“AJ zoned too much,” Nick sulked as he wiped his face with a hand towel. His shoulders sagged forward. Anael frowned. One boy always found something wrong with the concert. It seemed like they would constantly watch each taping of the show to find something that was wrong. Sometimes they were far too hard on each other. Anael wished they could see how truly magnificent they were as a team.

“Nick, he’s always like that,” Kevin explained.

Anael frowned with a tight nod. She knew what the boys were talking about. It didn’t take long to notice the drastic change in AJ’s persona. She could see the distance in his eyes. He was always zoned during each performance. Too many depressing thoughts clogged his mind as he sang. Anael had tried to clear his mind with some good intentions, but it only seemed to space him even more. He was so lonely, and Anael was lost at what to do.

“It was still a good show,” Anael encouraged.

“You’re always saying that,” Brian joked, kissing her cheek.

“You heighten our egos far too much,” Kevin concluded as Nick ran into the bathroom to shower. They usually spent a good two hours in the changing room before adjourning to the hotel. This is where Anael had her most intimate conversations with each boy. Kevin had talked to her about the death of his father. Howie had mentioned the death of his sister. Nick talked about the various feuds with his too interactive mother. Brian talked about his love of God and his near death experience. AJ said nothing, which was most depressing.

“Nick beat you, guys,” Anael laughed as Brian pulled her down onto the couch. She eagerly awaited the soft velvet of the cushions. Howie and Kevin plopped down on her other side. She had been working too hard, or so they said. Anael felt too pressured, but not from the earthly job, but from the heavenly one. She had gotten nothing accomplished for the Lord, and it frightened her. She had nightmares of the Lord sending her to Satan, because she couldn’t save his lost angel. She wanted to scream and shout, but stopped herself with remembrance of who she was pretending to be.

“Nick always wants the first shower,” Brian declared with a roll of his eyes. He laughed as patted her back.

“He has a fear about other people’s germs in the shower or something,” Howie told her with a smirk.

“He’s obviously a complicated creature,” Anael agreed. All the boys laughed at the irony of her comment. Anael shrugged her shoulders and glanced over at Brian. His light blue eyes purged into her soul, and for the millisecond moment “ Anael feared him. He couldn’t possibly know her true identity, God made sure of those details that would prevent her discovery. She offered a shy smile as he tilted his head in wonder. “What are you thinking, Brian?”

“Thinking about you,” he told her.

“Excuse me?”

“I was thinking about you,” he repeated.

“What?”

“We tell you everything about us. You know Howie irons his pajamas. You know that I bite my nails. You know Kevin takes long baths and sings show-tunes during those intimate baths. You know Nick’s fear of the boogieman eating his toes during the night. Yet, we know nothing about you, Grace-Anne. We’ve obviously all told you our stories, why can’t you tell us yours?” he asked.

“My story?” Anael asked, feeling ill.

“We know that you’re from North Carolina, and you’re extremely southern, but what else has happened to you? What were you like as a child? What quirks make you interesting? What else do you stand for?” Howie asked. She could see the curiousness sparking in the three men’s eyes. They had been pondering her identity for far too long. She knew she was in trouble. Each seemed determined to figure out who she was.

“I stand for me,” she whispered, not really knowing how to explain. She couldn’t go into detail about her life, because she had none. She died when she was one day away from turning eighteen. She had barely even entered her freshman year of college. She was trying to study to be a physician, but she was stopped before she had the chance. High school was barely enough to realize who she was. Anael only thought of herself as nothing but a reflection of the light of God, but they wouldn’t understand.

“What are you?” Kevin asked.

“You’re confusing me,” Anael stated with a nervous laugh.

“What did you study in college?” Brian asked.

“Music, I majored in music,” she lied quickly.

“How did you get to managing tours?” Howie decided to ask next.

“Well, I was always interested in music and I was fairly good with business. My father was in the music business for a long time and he hooked me up with a local band. He promised me if I did well, I would go somewhere in life. I trusted my father. So, I started to manage them through simple tours, and they ended up headlining for another band. That band saw potential, and I shuffled from band to band.”

“All of that from just majoring in music?” Howie asked with an amazed smile.

“Yes.”

“That’s fantastic!” Brian whistled.

“Where’s AJ?” Anael asked quickly, trying to shift the chattering. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep up her charade. She could tell she might get herself into further trouble if the boys asked more questions. She wondered if God would scold her for lying. She bit down on her tongue as the boys narrowed their eyes at her, concentrating on her question.

“I saw him talking to a fan at the side of the stage,” Kevin remembered.

“A fan?” Anael asked.

“She was pretty cute,” Nick commented as he came through the back door, rubbing his spiky locks with a drenched towel.

“Of course you would say that,” Brian drawled with a roll of his eyes.

“A fan?” Anael repeated.

“A fantastic fan!” AJ’s voice echoed through the room. Anael glanced up to see AJ ushering in a young teenage girl into the room. Kevin, Brian, and Howie immediately stood up to shake hands with the youngster. Nick dove into the picture, causing the girl to smile faintly. Anael stood up, but found her knees shaking with worry.

The child looked so familiar to her. The silky texture of the honey blonde curls rippling through the child’s chin length hair reminded Anael of her own hair. The child had a peaches-and-cream complexion, which was fairly similar to the skin-tone of Anael’s family. The child seemed older and wiser than most. The knowledge of the world settled in the child’s light sapphire eyes. She was taller than most children, and her soft sapphire eyes caused a commotion within the boys. She was the exact reflection of a younger Anael.

Anael would have turned away if it weren’t for the small joke Brian made. There was a twinkling sound that erupted from the young girl’s lips. The blush tickled the child’s cheeks. The laugh was what made Anael gasp in recognition. It was surprisingly a distant memory for Anael’s scattered memory. Anael yearned to hear that laugh every day of her mortal life. That was the laugh that Anael tried her hardest to hear when she was in her silly stages of her life. That was her little sister’s laugh.