"THE CODE!" I YELLED as I sat up on the bed.

Scarlett looked at me from the couch and paused what she was doing- lacing her boots.

"What code?" She inquired.

I rubbed my temples, "I can't... remember..."

I stopped talking and stared around my apartment, gradually coming to my senses. The sky was a little dark and the sun wasn't out yet.

"It was probably a dream," Scarlett said, "There's no code here."

I exhaled and nodded. Yeah, it was a dream.

I could hear the pattering sound of rushing water coming in from the bathroom, just as Nathan's song oozed from my little speaker.

"What are you doing here?" I softly asked, "And who's in the bathroom?"

"You don't remember anything from last night?" Scarlett widened her eyes.

I groaned and fell back on the bed. I had wished so hard for all that happened the previous night to also be a dream but it wasn't. Thomas had truly broken up with me.

"I'm sorry for reminding you about that," she said.

I raised my right arm in the air as I lay down, tracing my fingers over my peeled skin. I thinned my lips. Here I was with damaged skin, yet there was something else that damaged me even more.

"Are you okay?" Scarlett asked, still looking at me.

"No," I replied and dropped my arm, "No, I'm not."

"There's some left-over spaghetti if you want."

"I'm not hungry."

"But you didn't eat last night and you missed your medication."

"I'll be fine," I said, rolling over to place my face on the pillow.

I heard the bathroom door open and I raised my head to stare at Annabelle as she stepped out of the shower with a towel around her chest.

"Our sleeping beauty's up?" She smiled at me.

Her skin looked so nice.

"My skin's peeling," I said.

"I know. We applied some ointment on you, since you already dozed off before we could bathe you in icy water, " Annabelle said.

"Oh."

"That lady was sick to dunk hot stuff on you. She should be in jail right now!" Scarlett yelled.

"I have other things to worry about than that," I said, "Will you two help me talk to Thomas?"

The two ladies looked at themselves, then back at me.

"No," they said in unison.

I sat up on the bed, "Please, I beg you."

"I already said no, Wendy. Leave him alone," Annabelle said at once.

I couldn't. If I let go of him, there would be no use winning anymore. It felt so surreal living without him, I had been with him for so long that I had forgotten how to trail through life by myself. I needed him.

I groaned.

"I heated the spaghetti already," Scarlett mentioned.

"And we need to see you eat it all before we leave," Annabelle added, "You can't start passing out again."

"Where are you girls going?" I asked.

"To set up the last few things for the wedding tomorrow," Scarlett said as she got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Give me a sec," I motioned to stand up," I'll come with."

"Don't you have that concert?" Annabelle asked, making me pause in my movements, "You said it was today, remember?"

I rubbed my temples, "Ugh!"

Annabelle pulled me out of the bed, "Let's eat."

"No!" I grumbled, pulling myself back.

"Wendy, stop this! Do you want to die?" Annabelle yelled at me.

No. I didn't hate myself that much yet.

Annabelle dragged me over to the couch and I took a seat, watching as Scarlett dished my food. The hot steam from the white ceramic plate hit my face, reminding me of the excruciating pain I felt in the cafe the day before.

"Say ahh!" Scarlett said as she raised a fork full of spaghetti to my lips.

"I can feed-"

She shoved the food into my mouth and I quietly ate.

"When's the concert starting?" Annabelle inquired as she watched Samantha feed me.

I wiped my mouth, "Doors open at six-thirty."

"This is 7:30 PM," Scarlett said, pointing at the clock.

"Wait, I thought we were at dawn!" I yelled.

"You wish," Annabelle said, walking over to my wardrobe, "We went on campus to attend lectures and came back to check up on you, only to meet you still asleep."

'I slept for almost a whole day?"

"If you weren't breathing, we'd have thought you were dead," Scarlett laughed.

I smiled.

"I took notes for you," she added, feeding me the last strands of pasta on the plate.

She handed me a glass of water, "Where's your medication?"

I got up from the couch, "I'll get it."

Annabelle pulled out a violet top from my wardrobe, "We ended up having no dress for you to wear to the wedding."

I pressed the drugs out into my palm.

"I don't even think she should go anymore. Seeing the couple might be quite upsetting," Scarlett said.

Annabelle laughed, "Scar, you saying something like that is already upsetting."

Dunking the drugs into my system with some water, I shivered from the bitter taste.

"I didn't know," Scarlett said, laughing also, "I was just trying to explain."

I changed out of Adrian's hoodie and picked up my towel, walking into the bathroom which smelled of roses. I turned on the shower and let the cold water hit my skin as I just stood without doing anything. I stared at my peeking skin again and sighed before grabbing my rose-scented body wash. Maybe they were right, I should just let him leave. He'd come back to talk to me someday.

I squirted some liquid body wash on my palm and rubbed it all over my skin as it began to foam. Those foamy bubbles were washed away by the water from the shower just as they formed.

Without any warning, I broke into tears. No one would notice anyway, since I was standing under running water. I could cry for as long as I wished.

Soon enough, I stepped out of the bathroom and met Anna fully dressed.

"So, you both knew you were staying over at my place?" I asked, noticing that they weren't wearing my clothes.

"Yeah, we came by to help you choose the dress you'd wear to the wedding. Of course, that would have taken all night," Scarlett said.

"I placed your clothes for the concert on the bed," Annabelle added as they headed for the door, "You should hurry and head to the concert venue before they take all the good spots."

"Wait!" I yelled, "Can't you drive me there? I'll be quick."

She stared at her phone's screen, "I'm giving you five minutes to dress up."

"Five?" I yelled.

"One..." She counted.

I dashed for my dresser table, grabbing my hair dryer. Scarlett took the dryer from my hand as I tried to apply some moisturiser at the same time.

"I'm not an expert with curly hair, so I hope you like whatever I do," she said.

"...Ten..." Annabelle continued, staring at her phone.

"As long as it's dry," I said.

I applied my make-up, covering my birthmark and freckles with concealer as usual while Scarlett styled my hair into a puffy afro. I hurriedly wore the outfit Annabelle had set out for me and adjusted my hair. Wanting to check how I looked, I turned to stare into the long-length mirror.

I shouldn't have done that.

The creature was there, looking haggard and all. I could fish out its widely opened pores even after it had dabbed layers of makeup on. It stared back at me with a numb expression.

"YOU LOOK SO PLAIN."

I thinned my lips as I heard it say those crushing words to me. To make things worse for me, it wasn't wrong. The creature, the monster, wasn't wrong. All of a sudden, I didn't feel like going to the concert anymore. The enthusiasm of seeing my favourite artiste had faded away.

If he ever saw me, this was what he would see. Everyone who had come across me before, this was what they had seen. My greasy face, my pores, the little pimples that rested on my cheeks, my asymmetrical face.

"WHY WOULDN'T THOMAS BREAK UP WITH YOU SO EASILY? HE SAW ALL THESE TOO. IF YOU WERE PRETTY, HE WOULDN'T HAVE LET YOU GO. HE WAS PROBABLY SICK OF HOW HIDEOUS-"

"Five minutes," Annabelle said, unknown to her that she just interrupted the creature in the mirror.

"Violet makes your skin pop," she added.

Scarlett smiled as she stared at me, "Yeah. It's like you're glowing."

I felt a little tingle in my chest that burst and slowly began to make me feel alive. Was that what the world referred to as happiness?

I smiled, picking up my purse, "I'm ready!"

I guess I'll go to the concert.

Nathan Eiser looked ever so radiant in his black shirt. After squinting my eyes through my glasses, I finally picked up what I was searching for- the silver rings that designed his veiny hands. His jet-black hair shone through the spotlight and his eyes, they were as green as ever.

It was my first time seeing him this up close, even as I was on the fifth row. How could anyone be that good-looking and still damn talented? He must have been God's favourite.

The audience was already heated up, since I arrived just after the other artists had performed and Nathan Eiser was stepping on stage for the final act.

"Hello, Los Angeles," he spoke into his in-ear monitor, drawing me away from my thoughts.

Oh. My. Goodness! I could just pass away here happily. He was so gorgeous! I could swear I felt my heart beat faster. Or was it slower? I didn't know. All I knew at that moment was that Nathan Eiser was fucking breathtaking.

"Are you ready to have some fun tonight?" He asked the audience.

They roared in response, almost deafening the earth. I turned to my right and saw that the space reserved for my second ticket had been gulped up by this guy who was probably in his early thirties. I should have just given the ticket to Anna.

Compelled to turn back to the stage as the dazzling lights dimmed, the intro of Nathan Eiser's first-ever love song started to ooze from the speakers. I felt so proud, remembering once again that Nathan had grown so big with me as his fan from day one. I immediately sang along with Nathan and the crowd as tears threatened to fall out of my eyes. Only if Thomas and I were still together, this love song would have been my message to him. Alas, he didn't even show up for the dang concert anyway.

My very own Thomas, the one I fell in love with the moment we met across our windows, the guy I struggled to love myself for, had left me.

My voice cracked and the lump in my throat forced me to stop singing. Stop, Wendy. Please don't cry, not here.

I dabbed the beads of sweat forming on my forehead with my handkerchief, using the opportunity to wipe my tears also. Thomas and I would get back together, no doubt. It was just a little misunderstanding, Thomas would be back to hear my side of the story.

Right?

The smell of beer pricked my nose and I rubbed the base of my nose with my index finger. If it wasn't for this stupid medication, I'd have sneaked in a can also.

As the first song ended and the audience cheered, Nathan deftly loosened the two upper buttons of his shirt. I gasped and slapped my palm on my mouth as I saw a peek at his chest. I suddenly had this strange urge to run up the stage and kidnap him, so I'd have him all to myself.

Was I a crazy fan? No, maybe it was just because I was seeing him up close for the first time.

He dabbed away his face sweat with a white towel offered by one of his team and turned back to the audience with a lowered gaze. White rays from one of the par lights passed through his eyes for a split second and illuminated his emerald irides.

"I might need someone to join me here for this song. What do you say?" He asked, scanning through the crowd.

The audience started to go frenzy. A few crazy ladies began to push their way forward, almost causing a stampede. I know I wasn't crazy but it wouldn't hurt to move forward also.

I traced his gaze and noticed that he was only searching for a partner among the first three rows, then I motioned to shove my way between the two ladies before me. I needed to get to the third row at least, and I was in the fifth.

I still stared at Nathan Eiser and was just about to squeeze myself between the ladies in the third row when his gaze suddenly fell on me. I paused, transfixed by his stare.

He never took his eyes off of me but just slowly blinked. My heart pounded even harder as I realised that with every second passing by, he was staring at me.

Me.

"Could you join me up on the stage?" He inquired, still looking at me with a little smile on his face.

Well, I often fumbled in front of crowds and I was so awkward around people I didn't know so well. My makeup would probably have some patchy spots to be corrected with some powder at the moment and I might not match up to him if I stood beside him.

But I'll do it.

I nodded.

"I need the pretty lady in purple," he said to one of his guards amidst the cheers of the audience.

My legs almost melted to liquid as I watched the guards step down from the stage to get me.

I smiled. This was it! I was finally going to meet my Nathan Eiser!

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Tip: Nathan Eiser is English-Korean, born in the United Kingdom and raised in America.