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It was just another day of school.
Since it was too cold to ride his bike in early February, Franky rode the bus to Eden that morning. Plus, riding the school bus had its advantages, sleeping for example.
He had stayed up late studying, so he didn’t feel rested at all. He had to study extra hard; he still was three Stellas short from being an imperial scholar and he needed to be one to get a scholarship at a good university. Franky wanted to become a doctor one day.
His head was against the window as he dozed off. The driver had the radio on while he listened to the morning news—more commercials than actual news, if you asked Franky.
But then, he heard something interesting on the radio. Something that woke him up and made him feel very excited.
His favorite band was coming to Berlint.
When he got to school, he practically jumped off the bus while it was still moving. He had to find Loid.
Franky ran into him right at the entrance of the building and his friend looked as starstruck as he did.
“Did you hear?” Loid asked and him and his friend nodded.
Probably Loid also heard it on the way to school.
“EVE!!! EVE is coming!!” Franky yelled and people around him turned their heads to look at both of them.
Eve was a Japanese band—their favorite band.
They had discovered it at a record store that stocked music from around the world and ever since they heard their record, they both agree it was the best band in the world.
“We need to get tickets!” Franky declared.
“You’re right. Let’s go right now,” Loid started walking towards the exit.
“WAIT! We can’t leave school,” Franky reminded him. “Last time we did we both got Tonitrus and were grounded for a month.”
It had been something really stupid that happened last year. They thought it would be fun to have a day outside, but they got caught.
“Damn it,” Loid knew his friend was right. “We’ll get them as soon as school is done for the day.”
Classes dragged on. Both young men were so nervous the tickets would sold out and it took all their will power not to run away to go get the tickets.
When the final bell rang, they stormed out and took a train to downtown Berlint, where that nightclub that was hosting the band was located. Luckily, Loid had enough money to buy both tickets.
“Two tickets for Eve!” he requested triumphantly.
“Of course. You’re the first ones,” the employee of the club told them and both boys beamed with pride. “Can I see some ID?”
Franky and Loid looked at each other.
“Huh?” they said at the same time. “ID?”
“Yeah, this is a nightclub,” the employee informed them looking at their school uniform. “We don’t allow minors in.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
They had no choice but to turn around and leave without the prized tickets.
“Shit. What are we going to do now?” Franky sounded defeated. “Eve is never coming back here. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
They were sitting on the sidewalk feeling sorry for themselves.
“Wait a second. What day is it?” Loid lifted his head and looked at his watch.
“Thursday. Why?”
“Sylvia is home today. She doesn’t have any classes on Thursdays,” he replied. “We need to get to a payphone and call her.”
They ran to the nearest payphone, but before Loid could call her, they needed to think this through.
“She’s not going to come all the way here to buy our tickets,” Franky warned him.
“You’re right,” Loid said. “She’s a pompous college student who thinks she’s too important.”
They both laughed.
“I have an idea,” Loid smirked before dialing the phone.
Franky waited nervously for Sylvia to answer.
“Hello?”
Bingo.
“Hello? Sylvia?” Loid pretended to be anguished. “You need to come get me. I’m in trouble!”
She could be a pompous college student, but she would never refuse to help her little brother.
“Oh my God, Loid! Are you hurt? Are you okay?” she sounded extremely worried.
Shit. Loid didn’t think what to tell her.
“Yes, I’m okay but…” Loid looked at Franky who made a weird signal with his hand, and he somehow was able to decipher it. “I’m drunk.”
Franky busted out laughing.
“Franky is with me. He’s drunk too,” Loid continued, trying not to laugh. “We don’t know what to do. I’m feeling very dizzy…”
“Gosh, I can’t believe this!” now Sylvia sounded mad. “Tell me where you are and stay put. I’m coming to get you.”
Loid told her their location and hung up the phone. Then, they just waited anxiously for Sylvia to arrive.
In less than 20 minutes she was there already.
“See, I told you she would come,” Loid told his friend as his sister parked her car. “She’s overage and will get the tickets for us.”
The minute Sylvia saw them, she realized neither of them was drunk. Here nostrils were flaring and Franky could almost see fire in her eyes. Franky thought she looked hot.
“I almost ran over an old lady!” she yelled at them. “Why the fuck did you make me come all the way here!”
When they explained the real reason, she was even angrier.
“You dumbasses! Don’t you see? Even if I get you the tickets, they won’t let you in!”
Franky and Loid looked at each other.
The concert was in two weeks and by then they would still be 16.
“Leave it to us,” Franky said full of confidence. “If you get us the tickets, we’ll find the way.”
In the end, Sylvia agreed to buy the tickets, but she was convinced they were throwing money down the toilet.
It wasn’t hard to find out what was Franky’s strategy—fake IDs.
Back in the day, when she was a teenager, she had done the same to get into places she wasn’t allowed because she was a minor. Now her weird brother and his friend were about to do that too. Good luck.
For the next couple of weeks, Franky worked earnestly to produce two perfect fake IDs.
On the day of the concert, the plan was for Franky to spend the night at Loid’s house and sneak out to go to see the band.
Lucky for them, sneaking out would be easier than they thought. Sylvia was out with some friends (and she didn’t care what they did) and his dad was having dinner with some business associates.
“Would you like to come with me, boys?” Loid’s dad asked them before leaving. “I’m having dinner at a nice place and then going to an event. You might like it.”
“No, thank you, dad,” Loid responded quickly. “We already have plans. We’re going to practice our songs.”
Loid was in one of the spare rooms, holding a guitar, while Franky was behind the drums.
“Very well,” his dad told them before leaving. “But I think you’d have more fun if you came with me.”
No way. Loid knew what kind of old fashion events (and music) his dad liked. Barf.
As soon as they heard the car leaving, they ran to Loid’s room to get changed. They desperately needed to look older than 16.
Loid put on an Eve t-shirt and a plaid shirt over it, then he messed his hair up. Hopefully this grouchy appearance made him look like a college student. Franky took a long time in the bathroom and when he came out, Loid was flabbergasted…
He was wearing a blue suit with bow tie included.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WEARING?!” Loid yelled at him.
“You said we had to look older!” Franky defended.
“Yes, we need to look older to go to a club, not to church!” he yelled some more. “Take that off. I’ll lend you one of my hoodies.”
Neither of them knew how to drive yet, so they walked to the nearest train station to take a train downtown.
On their way there, they were nervous but optimistic. Franky’s fake IDs were impeccable. The names were a bit iffy: Roland Spoofy and Carlton Donner, but other than that, they looked like the real deal.
It was already dark when they got there. There were a lot of people waiting in line to get in. Franky and Loid went to the end of the line and anxiously awaited their turn.
Not all these people were Eve fans. In fact, none of these people seemed to be fans, they were just there because it was Saturday night, and this was a popular club. They also looked way older than them—30s and older.
That could be a problem because the young men were standing out among the crowd. Franky was sweating and Loid wasn’t doing much better.
When the doors of the nightclub opened, the line started moving really fast and the young men began to panic. Soon it was their turn.
“Tickets,” the bouncer requested.
Loid nervously took the tickets out of his pocket. The bouncer didn’t even look at them, he just broke them in half, but then, he looked at them…
“IDs” he requested dryly.
Both boys were blushing furiously, still, Franky took out his ID and managed to smile. Loid was speechless.
“Here it is,” Franky said. “Yes, we are adults.”
It was probably the dumbest thing he could have said.
The bouncer didn’t even look at the obviously fake IDs. Those two looked like kids from a mile away.
“Get the hell outta here,” he told them with a thick Westalis accent.
“Yes, sir,” Franky and Loid turned around and got out of the way.
The line kept moving and people went inside the club. Still, there were a bunch of people left hoping to get in, but the place was already full.
Franky and Loid were sitting on the sidewalk near the door, feeling like total losers.
“Shit. Now what?” Loid asked frustrated.
“I dunno…”
Just then a miracle happened: Loid’s dad appeared with some of his business friends. They couldn’t believe their good luck. This was the stupid event his dad was talking about. His dad was about to get in, they just had to call him, and he would help them in for sure.
Both boys jumped to their feet, ready to run towards Mr. Forger…
“Franky, wait!!!” Loid stopped his best friend, just as he was about to shout for his dad. “We can’t do that. We’re not supposed to be here.”
It was a cruel reminder, but it was true. They had sneaked out and were at a place not suitable for minors. If his dad saw them there, he wouldn’t help them get inside the club, he would probably drive them home and ground Loid (and probably tell everything to Franky’s parents too).
“Fuck,” Franky jeered as Mr. Forger entered the club and disappeared.
They sat on the sidewalk again feeling defeated. What a fucking waste of time and money.
Who knows how long they stayed there feeling like idiots, but suddenly, Franky got on his feet once more—his eyes full of determination.
“Let’s try to sneak in,” that was his idea.
Loid nodded firmly and followed his friend behind the establishment. In their eyes, they weren’t doing anything wrong—they had bought their tickets and they weren’t planning on drinking, all they wanted to do was see their favorite band.
When they got to the back, the door was locked, of course, but there was a tall window. Maybe they could find a way to reach it and sneak in.
Loid looked around and found several trashcans that could help them get there. They started moving them towards the wall, but when they tried to climb, they realized it wouldn’t be enough. There wasn’t anything else they could use.
Now they were really defeated.
“Forget it. Let’s just go ho…”
Loid stopped at mid-sentence.
Suddenly, his fine ear picked up a sound.
This wasn’t the vocalist of their favorite band, but a different voice—the sweetest, most beautiful singing he had ever heard.
A woman’s voice.
Loid’s breathing changed, he blushed as if he had a fever, and his eyes started shining like never before.
“Are you okay?” Franky was worried to see his reaction, he could barely hear anything.
It took him a while to answer; he didn’t want to stop listening to that marvelous sound.
“I…I don’t know,” he whispered with a shaky voice.
That woman was just the opening act for Eve, so after a couple of songs (and plenty of applause) she stopped to let the main attraction play.
“I need to see who that is!”
Loid somehow managed to climb the brick wall as if he was a wild cat and reach the window.
Franky was shocked by the whole thing. His friend was popular with the girls at school, but he never showed interest in any of them. He’d seen him reject dozens of girls. At some point Franky even thought that maybe Loid wasn’t into women, but here he was, doing the impossible for a girl he hadn’t even seen. He really was a weirdo, like Sylvia said.
Loid got in and Franky heard him crash on the other side. A minute later the back door opened. Now both of them were in and right on time to see their band.
Franky thought they were just going to stay hidden so nobody would kick them out, but his friend had other plans.
“I have to find her,” he announced.
“Are you crazy?” Franky told him. “Your dad is here and if one of the bouncer sees us, we’re done!”
“I know! But I have to do it. I have to try,” he said smiling like a maniac. “That voice…that sound…I just know…”
Franky rolled his eyes.
“Fuck. I’ll come with you,” he told him. “You’re going to look like a total stalker.”
They needed to find out the backstage and the place where the artists got ready. That woman was probably there.
They were so close when the owner of the establishment saw them.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he told them.
Loid and Franky didn’t answer, they simply ran to the opposite direction.
Yet…when Loid took once last glimpse, he was able to see the woman’s long black hair. He had no evidence and maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but he was sure that was her.
A few steps later, they ran into a bouncer and he kicked them out.
Franky expected to see his friend feeling defeated or depressed that he couldn’t meet that woman, but Loid was actually laughing.
“Okay, you’re crazy,” Franky told him but then started laughing too.
It had been a fun adventure.
Luckily, they weren’t caught by his parents that night.
About a month later, while his dad drove him to school, Loid’s father would tell his son about a promising girl who had signed a contract with his company. Loid wouldn't find out until much later that his dad had actually discovered her at that nightclub during that concert.
Her name was Yor Briar.