The Last Ticket

The magazines slammed into the bin with a thud. Just like that, years of obsession were gone in seconds. I shrieked as my sister Kareena grabbed a magazine from a bin and skimmed through it. Her thick, black hair was straight, and her eyebrows were scrunched. She wore a loose, light pink cardigan that covered her white shirt and part of her long blue skirt.

“Hey, I already threw it away!” I said.

All the pages had cutouts that I used for scrapbooking.

Now what? Is she going to scold me again?

“What’s the point of all these magazines if you don’t even read them? Don’t tell me you just bought them for the free gift. Hmm,” said Kareena.

She threw it back into the bin and rolled up her sleeves. Soon, she stomped to the kitchen, and I could hear the sound of running water.

With trembling fingers, I picked it up, tracing the image of The Rockstar Brigade. Alan, the lead guitarist, had neon seafoam-green hair and a crooked smile. All the members held a bar of chocolate in different flavours. Isaac, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, winked. On the other hand, Akash, the long-haired man, did a finger heart. Sunglass-wearing Neo gestured at the chocolate, and Jackson had a peace sign while smiling brightly.

The cover had a caption, “Chocolate for the Soul.”

They look so happy. Will I ever be like them?

“Arisa!” yelled Kareena.

I quickly threw it back in the rubbish after I saw her glaring from across the kitchen door.

I’m so tired of this. It happens every single day. Mother, is this how you wanted us to end up? I’ll study harder so that I can live on my own.

“Just look at your dark circles! Go to bed, Arisa.”

“Okay.”

Normally, I wouldn’t listen to that, but I just wanted to escape. I trudged into my room, where parts of the walls had peeled away with white dust. Kareena didn’t know that the posters that were once there were rolled and tucked into a corner under my bed.

I sighed as I walked toward my bed. The bedsheets were pink, and the desk was now glistening under the light. My wardrobe no longer had drawers of photocard binders. I had sold almost all of them, except one of the whole group. It was autographed; how could I have gotten rid of it? Okay, it wasn’t autographed by Alan, but rather by Isaac. I would admit that Isaac’s blonde hair with blue ends, which were the same shade as his eyes, made him look ravishing. However, he had no expression on his face during concerts and interviews.

It’s time to leave it all behind me.

Taking off my glasses, I sighed, sank into the sheets, and was about to doze off. However, my phone began ringing.

Who’s calling me at this late hour?!

“Hello?” I answered.

“Arisa, what’s wrong? You haven’t answered any texts in nearly a day,” said Polly.

“Oh, it’s nothing. What’s up?”

“I know you said you’re not interested, but I have an extra ticket to see The Rockstar Brigade on the 22nd. Rebeca even has a fan meet pass! I don’t want to sell the ticket… Okay, maybe I do. It would be a hell of a lot of money. But we’d be glad if you joined us!” said Polly.

I don’t want to say no… It’s The Rockstar Brigade for God’s sake!

“Polly, I’m sorry I ever said no! Please, can I go?” I said.

“Awesome! But Arisa, what about the exam on the 23rd?” asked Polly.

“Oh. Well…”

That’s right. It’s the whole reason why I said no in the first place.

I still had 2 days to prepare. Clicking my tongue, I stared at the ceiling and zoned out. My vision blurred.

“You know what, Polly? I’ll make it to the concert! I can study extra hard beforehand if I have to,” I said.

“Really? That’s awesome! I’ll be waiting for you.”

“I can’t believe it! It’s my first ever live concert and it’s The Rockstar Brigade!” I exclaimed.

I punched my fist in the air.

Polly giggled, said goodbye, and cut me off.

There were butterflies in my stomach, and my heartbeat accelerated.

So excited!

I took out my books and began reading the chapter about memory and thinking at once. My phone beeped to notify me that Polly emailed me the electronic ticket. I began grinning from ear to ear.

Adjusting my glasses, I began sketching the band logo on the edge of my lined notebook. However, as soon as I took my spectacles off, I ended up nestling on my pillow and falling into deep slumber. Whenever I thought of The Rockstar Brigade, I rolled back and forth in my bed several times.

It was around 9:30 AM when I woke up on a weekend morning.

“Eek! I should have been studying,” I whispered to myself, yawning.

After getting ready, I took my books to the table with bowls, milk, a box of cereal, and cutlery.

“Morning,” I said.

“Morning, Arisa. You must help me clean up after this,” said Kareena.

“I will. I always do,” I said.

I took a mouthful of cereal while reading the last theory. After that, I would download some practice exercises in order to speed up the process.

Kareena sat down and began to read the newspaper.

As soon as I shut my book, I saw from a corner of my eye that the concert was advertised on one of the pages. Gulping, my right hand shook.

What excuse should I give Kareena while leaving for the concert? I really don’t want to lie.

“Kareena, there’s an event on the 22nd,” I said.

“Event? What sort of event?” she asked.

“A fundraiser,” I said.

At least it’s not a complete lie. The concert is indeed a fundraiser.

I swallowed hard and looked at the floor.

“That’s excellent! Glad you’re finally listening to me. You can write about charity work on your CV,” said Kareena.

“Alright.”

My throat was parched.

The next few hours, I popped my headphones on and revised my mistakes on the practice exercises.

The music made me nod my head along with the music. When it was time for Alan’s guitar solo, I began to hum Isaac’s vocal part.

“Arisa, turn that music down. I can hear it through your headphones,” said Kareena.

I slid one of the headphone speakers down to listen to her.

“Oh, sorry. I’ll just turn it on the loudspeaker,” I said.

Hehe, she’ll never agree to that!

“Oh, goodness, no. Just keep it on, then.”

I smiled and continued studying.

The rock music played.

“They are all locked indoors

Thunder, fire, and rain

Who will you choose to save?”

After four hours, my head began to hurt from all that loud music. I placed my headphones on the table.

I should figure out what to wear! Hmm, it has to be bold or colourful so that the band notices me. Ah, it’s going to be so much fun!

Alas, as soon as I opened my wardrobe, all I had were t-shirts, tops, and miniskirts in soft, pastel shades. Even all the pairs of jeans were light-washed.

I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb. Wait, that might be a good thing! Hehe.

I laid out a plain, baby pink top and a denim tennis skirt. With that, I paired them with one of my many beaded necklaces that I got on sale.

That should be enough.

I spent the whole day studying.

After I changed into pajamas, I placed my glasses on the bedside table. Of course, I kept tossing and turning in my sleep.

Will any of them look my way? I wonder which tracks they’ll play. I really hope they’ll play something from their ‘Heroes’ album! That’s my favourite. Ah, I had to sell the CD of that…

I got up and began scrolling on my phone. There was a news video that suddenly popped up, which was posted a few hours ago.

“We are here outside of Sky Lark Shopping Mall’s ticket counter. They are the last counter that isn’t sold out for The Rockstar Brigade Annual Fundraiser. As you can see, this queue extends to the ground floor. The counter, however, is on the 2nd floor. Fans of the viral band have been waiting for hours,” said a woman with a microphone.

There were men in black band t-shirts, some of whom had long hair. A lot of the women and young girls crossed their arms.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank you, Polly, from the bottom of my heart. It nearly looks like a war out there.

Just as I thought that, a new video scrolled into my view.

“This clip of two fans of ‘The Rockstar Brigade’ has gone viral as they fought head on for the last remaining ticket.”

The clip showed two girls pushing and slapping each other.

Oh my God, this is pure entertainment. Fight! Fight!

“However, a young man seized this opportunity and bought the last ticket while the two fought for quite some time before realizing the truth.”

I tried not to laugh, but my lips curved into a smile, and I let out a soft giggle.