The last note faded slowly from the stadium, ringing through the air until it was drowned out by the screams of thousands of fan girls, and more than a few fan boys to match.

Sarah stood, breathless, at the very edge of the platform, clenching her microphone in one hand and its stand in the other. She basked in the sounds of the crowd, in their adoration. Being on stage was like nothing else in the entire world. Nothing could measure up to it, at least not in Sarah's experience, no matter how many times people had tried to convince her otherwise. Hearing all those people screaming for her as the lights slowly faded away, leaving her in darkness... every time she got on stage, she realized how much she had missed that sensation, and here it was again.

Until next time, she thought to herself as the lights finally went out. The crowd was chanting her name and begging for an encore, but she knew better. She knew that it was always better to keep them wanting more. Her music teacher, Mr. Jones, had taught her that.

She stood alone in the darkness, waiting for one of the aides to come out to her. Her record label always insisting on that. They couldn't risk having the goods damaged, of course, so when it was hard to see someone came out to retrieve her. Sarah didn't mind. From here, she could watch all her fans file out, heading toward the exit to the stadium so they could get back to their cars and their normal, boring lives. The wait wasn't so bad compared to the monotony of the suburbs that they had at the end of the night.

After a few minutes, though, an aide showed up to take her by the arm. "Where to, Miss Morris?" he asked.