Ashlyn cringed, not expecting such a loud sound. She covered her ears even after the clattering stopped and all that could be heard was the tinkling of glass crystals rolling along the ground. The entire circus seemed to freeze, staring at the stage in horror.

A large crystal chandelier, hanging from the top of the circus tent, fell into the middle of the stage, covering Jasmine.

Ashlyn recovered from her initial shock and moved towards the primaballerina. The woman was lying on her back, covered in shards of glass, but when terrified Ashlyn knelt down next to her it turned out the only injuries were a few scratches and shock. She exhaled sharply.

"Are you okay?" Ashlyn asked as several more people ran to Jasmine. She reached out to help her up, but Jasmine pushed her hand away.

"Do I look like I'm okay?!" she squealed, twisting her face. "I'm not okay, ughhhh! I almost died! It was an attempted murder, right?! I've had enough of this, I'm getting out of here!" She got up from the ground and ran furiously to the backstage.

Several people rushed after her.

"Drama Queen", Ashlyn whispered to herself. Always the same. Taylor came in a moment to sit next to her friend and sighed - they didn't have to say anything.

"Everybody calm down", the ringmaster raised his hands in a reassuring gesture. "I'll talk to her, take a small break. Boys, organize the cleaning of the stage, please."

The ringmaster, Maverick, was the circus director in the same time. When Ashlyn first met him, she got scared because he usually wore vampire makeup. But he turned out to be a nice person - although really mysterious - probably like most of the troupe members. It took her a long time to get used to the oddity of the circus.

Ten minutes passed and Maverick finally finished talking to Jasmine and came back - but with nothing. Or worse, with bad news.

"She said she wasn't going to dance tomorrow", he announced. "I wouldn't worry too much but she was really mad and I think she might be serious. I'm not gonna waste our time to argue with her, so we should think about plan B, considering we don't have much time left. Everyone, come closer. I have two ideas and I'd like to listen to your opinions."

The performers approached the director, exchanging worried glances.

"The first idea", Maverick continued "is to remove Jasmine's performance, what will shorten the entire show by seven minutes. The second idea is to change Jasmine to someone else - we have five other contortionist after all - but it means the show won't be that successfull and it will be a challenge to change the choreography so quickly. And the third idea is to beg Jasmine to perform, what is the best sollution, but she is already furious and I'm afraid she may get a hump again."

Tyler, Taylor's brother and one of athletes famous for lifting large tree trunks, frowned.

"She is usually pissed off before her show and she always perform perfectly. I don't believe it's different now."

"It is", his colleague Matthew replied. "Didn't you see her face?"

"I saw it, dumbass. Do you want to get rid of her performance?"

"Calm down", Maverick put his hand on Tyler's shoulder to nip the fight in the bud.

"He's right, we can't remove her performance", one of he contortionist said. "It's our performance too. We trained for a long time!"

"Besides it's Ashlyn's first show, she can't miss it!" Taylor added and Ashlyn blushed.

She felt glances on herself. Taylor didn't have to say that aloud!

"Let's convince Jasmine to perform", a knife eater repeated.

"I think we should choose someone else for now", one of gymnasts said. "She'll eventually come back. Its better to have a plan B."

"It's stupid", Tyler snorted. "No one is as good as Jasmine."

"I think there is", someone interjected and everyone turned to look at a tall, dark-haired man. A man who looked straight at Ashlyn. "What's your name?"

"Ashlyn", she stuttered, wondering who was that person. It was the first time she saw him, but something about his appearance was familiar.

"Hello, Barron", Maverick nodded at him, then looked around. "Everyone, you might not have met Barron Fitzroy yet. He arrived to our circus today and since he's one of the greatest actors in this city, he will perform in tomorrow's show!"

People started to greet him, but Ashlyn froze.

Barron Fitzroy. Did she mishear?

Bary?

Yes, it was him. Her friend from the orphanage, six years older from the last time she saw him and so much different with a moustache and his hair cut shortly, but it was him.

"Ashlyn", he said with a smile. "I think you should try to dance instead of Jasmine. I saw you're really good at it."

Everyone was staring at her and Ashlyn felt herself getting hot. How could she withdrew now and dissapoint him? But how could she stand the whispers of all those people looking at her with furrowed eyebrows? She felt shocked and embarrassed in the same time, what was a very bad mix. She wasn't as good as Jasmine, that was sure. She will be ashamed in front of everyone. Her heart was pounding as fast as the thoughts in her head.

"I'm not sure", someone said and Ashlyn was too afraid to check who was that. Several people agreed with him.

"She's good but be honest, Jasmine is perfect."

"Have you even glance at her?" Ashlyn heard a familiar voice behind her and turned around. Her sight met the eyes with intense red irises glowing in the shadow, painted in the shape of black crosses running down his cheeks. "I'm sure she'll dance better than you think if she wants to."

Aiden send her a smile that made her heart speed up. Was it a true?

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Ashlyn", Maverick told her. "However you could give a try. I know you actually dance really good."

She glanced at him, bitting her lip. She barely heard him complimenting anyone - she knew she should feel special. It was so much pressure, but... What if that was her chance?

She took a deep breath, looking around.

"I... I will do it."