Snarling, Kris raised an eyebrow at me with utter displeasure. Her beautiful features were pinched and she seemed ready to throttle me.

Paris and Kris decided that I should meet them at Kris's place since Paris was living with her till her stay in America. It was mostly a unanimous decision, apart from a few arguments which were mostly from my side. 

Kris stood beside me, making me seem like a goblin in front of a barbie. She was wearing a black tank top tucked inside the denim hot pants that were ripped at the hem paired with white converse. Her fiery red hair was tied up in a high ponytail while her face was adorned with a dark red lipstick, mascara and a slight click of blush.

"I hope you remember that we are going to a concert," Kris grumbled with a scowl marring her features.

I pursed my lips in annoyance and glanced at her through the dressing mirror. "Thanks, captain obvious."

"No, don't thank me because you're not even remotely close to looking like you're attending a concert. The way you're dressed up, it's more like you're attending a funeral." She sighed in agitation. 

I pouted with a small frown and glanced at myself in the mirror again. "I take offense to that plus… I tried my best," I muttered. I was clad in a worn-out plain, grey t-shirt and simple black pants. "Okay, maybe I… didn't."

"You look so out of it. Are you okay? Like you totally seem so uninterested right now. C'mon, cheer up, you old lady." 

'I am uninterested because I seriously don't want to go.' There were a lot of thoughts swirling through my mind. It was two weeks ago I had asked Kris about Jenna in hopes of finding something just to crash them. That one thought was enough to clog my mind to the point where I just wanted to either paint or sleep it off. 

"Kris is right, lol," Paris said while chewing a gum and leaning against the bedroom door. I turned my head to look at her who was sporting a sexy look as well.

She was donned in a full-sleeved, olive green crop top and black high waist leather skirt along with black ankle-length boots. Her make-up was dark and her short hair that reached just above her shoulders was left open. Kris and Paris both looked ready to rock the concert whereas, I admittedly looked like an old granny.

"Lemme check-up ya wardrobe, girl, lol," she said, stalking towards Kris's closet and rummaging through her clothes.

"Imma gonna help you too," Kris said in a sing-song voice. I rolled my eyes and dragged my feet towards her bed and slumped on it.

"Well, good luck to you, guys. Some peaceful rest for me then." I felt like I was speaking to myself because they didn't even pay any heed to my words. 

Their heads were literally stuck inside the closet while tossing some clothes over their shoulders every now and then. I was getting so annoyed at them because half the time, they landed directly on my head.

After about 15 minutes of wreaking havoc inside the room, they practically forced me to wear whatever was tossed my way. Episodes of my purposely complaining and whining later, I finally obliged to wear their decent choice of clothing.

Quickly changing into them in the bathroom, I exited it. I approached my friends with an ungraceful twirl. I was now wearing a white body-fitting crop top that reached just above my navel underneath a light blue pinafore held up by thin straps, a few inches above my knees. Kris tied up my hair in a messy high bun, leaving a few tendrils to frame my face.

"Let's just go now. It's already 7.30," I grunted, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Kris just chuckled and winked at me while Paris, well she popped her gum in agreement.

-----------------

"Okay, what is he doing here?" Kris asked, pointing at Luke. My best bet was that something must have happened between these two for Kris to get so agitated by his presence. "And who are you?" This time pointing at Dave.

We were all currently standing outside our town's Stadium, called the Balino Stadium. It's really huge and can actually fit almost the entirety of Greenlake's people. However, I was one hundred percent sure that it would still be very crowded since people from outside our town had rented a place here just to attend this concert. That mere thought was enough to give me chills even though we were booked for the VIP section.

I was about to say something but Paris beat me to it. "How would we know, don't you think, Aria? Lol."

"Well I had two spare tickets and I didn't want to waste them, you know, so I… um, invited Luke and Dave. He is Dave by the way," I said, scratching my head and introducing them to Dave. 

Kris gave me an incredulous look and Paris just stood there chewing her second gum. "Interesting, lol."

On my way to my gallery, I'd stumbled across Dave a few days back when he was busy strolling with Woof. I'd stopped to talk to him and that's when I remembered about the extra ticket. I had asked him if he could join us for the concert and he was more than happy. I was relieved that he'd instantly agreed because that ticket was weighing in my bag a lot and I needed to hand it over to someone.

Dave stood beside me, clasping his hands together in the front and turned his body from side to side with a shy smile. 

Kris eyed him with a frown and raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and looked around us, ignoring her reprimanding stares. But it did me no good because damn, the entire place was packed. 

"Hey, Kris. You look really pretty." Luke grinned and I resisted the urge to laugh at her because she was thrown off guard by his compliment.

"What about us, lol?" Paris asked Luke, gesturing towards her and I. 

Luke didn't seem to hear this because his smitten face was still glued on Kris, who was feeling uneasy by his stare. Their conversation had started off with some formal exchanges but before I knew it, it got to the bickering part. I couldn't even tell how that happened.

"Hey, guys, let's just head inside, okay? Because I don't intend to attend the concert after it's over," I interjected before they started throwing punches at each other which was not going to happen by the way.

We took our places in the VIP section and I half-heartedly returned Kris's and Paris's excited behavior. To be honest, I didn't want to attend this concert from the very start but knowing Kris, she wouldn't let go of the opportunity and waste these tickets. On a second thought, neither would I. I took a deep breath because I was literally sandwiched between Kris and Paris.

After all the technical stuff was done, just minutes before the hall was entirely cramped, the crowd turned wild. 

An announcement about Mars's arrival was given and soon a figure turned up on the stage. When I said, the crowd had turned wild before, it was nothing compared to this. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs. I could hear a lot of them sobbing as well. When I looked at Kris, I could see her wailing as well. 'Of course,' I thought. 

Paris was muttering or more like screaming things like, "Hey, daddy, lol", "You are so hoooootttt, loooollllll", "Can you be my boyfriend, looolllll." 

I had to cover my ears at her quirky statements but I was thankful that no one could hear her over the squealing and screeching screams because her words were so embarrassing. 

'I know Mars is young but what if he doesn't match Paris's expectations and regrets asking him to be her boyfriend?'

I must admit that I was clapping and jumping too unlike my previous somber attitude. I was happy to say that I was witnessing a live celebrity. "This is amazinggggggg," I said something of my own too.

I looked at Mars who had his entire face hidden behind a mask. Only his eyes could be seen through it. What was weirder though that they seemed too... identical but I shook off the thought, thinking I must have come across the pictures of his eyes on the internet.

He looked really handsome in the dark wash jeans, a checkered shirt under a black t-shirt with his blonde hair whisking in all the directions. 

My breath hitched because for a second, just a second, I could have sworn that he looked at me but I sidestepped it as an hallucination. 'Or maybe Atlas must have told him about me but the problem is how can he know that Aria is me? I mean how can he know my face without seeing it? Pfft, of course his eyes were sweeping around. It's not a biggie.'

"Hello, guys," Mars spoke and the crowd went into a pin drop silence just to listen to his beautiful voice. "How are y'all doing?" He asked and yet again looking in... our direction?

"OMG, he looked at us!!"

"I knew that he is going to accept my proposal, lol!!"

And before I could think more about it, the crowd went berserk and people were pushing around each other to move their bodies. The excitement was palpable in the air. Soon the lights went off and the neon bands given to us at the entry were glowing along with the light sticks.