Chapter 4 Concert Tickets
"You did WHAT?" I roared, snatching the laptop and scrolling frantically for my profile. The second it loaded, my soul left my body when I read the bio Alecia had written. "I like stiff drinks and even stiffer dicks... Ally, this is disturbing."
"Well, you got plenty of hits, didn't you?" Alecia shrugged, completely unbothered.
"Please don't tell me you wrote inappropriate things about me too," Larna groaned, grabbing the laptop from my hands. One glance at her profile picture and she screamed. "JESUS CHRIST!"
"You two have been wearing out the Lord's name lately," Alecia snorted.
"This isn't funny," I snapped.
My profile pic wasn't even the worst—yeah, it was me in that pink top showing way too much boobs, but at least it looked intentional. Larna's, though was an absolute nightmare. It was the unflattering photo from her bachelorette party, the one with the crooked tiara, the red dress riding up showing way too much thong, and her legs wrapped around that male strpper's head like she was a human pretzel.
"You uploaded THAT?" Larna shrieked. "The picture you swore you deleted?"
I cringed when I peeked at the screen again and saw the sock covering the stripper's Mandingo. I swear, Rough Rider, yep that was his name, had a big...you know what.
Alecia quickly folded her lips, avoiding eye contact. To distract herself, she began to leisurely rip open the mystery envelope I got earlier.
"I can't believe you," Larna said, still arguing with Alecia's back.
"It's okay, Lala, calm down," I tried to soothe her, still trying to navigate the site's aggressive pop-ups so I could delete those profiles before we got any more hits.
"FUCK ME UP THE ASS AND LET MY TOES CURL!" Alecia suddenly screamed, making both Larna and me jump a foot in the air.
"What the hell are you raving about now?" I hissed, turning to glare at her.
"These!" she held up four shiny, golden tickets.
"Willy Wonka?" Larna asked, eyes wide with confusion.
"No, idiot! These are Creatures of the Night concert tickets! And not just any tickets—VVIP tickets," she squealed. "Shel, it looks like you didn't get ran over for nothing."
"Get outta here!" Larna's entire face lit up, her anger instantly forgotten. Of course it did. Those two worshipped that band. Me? I couldn't name a single member unless "Guy Who Screams Loudest" counted.
"You know what this means?" Alecia grinned maniacally. "We can finally go to the concert, and I can do the trade for ten thousand dollars!"
I grabbed the envelope from her. "Or," I said, pulling up Google on the laptop. "We can sell the tickets and get... OMG! One of these is selling for eight grand online. If we sell all four at, say, five grand a piece, we could make twenty grand easily."
Alecia gasped like I'd slapped her hopes and dreams away.
"No. No, no, no. Shelby, listen to me. I need to talk you off this fucking ledge. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Meeting the band? Seeing them live? Do you know what that WOULD MEAN TO ME?"
"It would mean you'll cry and maybe faint," I deadpanned.
Alecia clutched her chest. "Lala, help me. Please. Tell her. Tell her this is destiny."
Larna hesitated, chewing her lip. "It... would be amazing to meet them," she admitted. "Like... actually amazing."
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'm sorry. I really am. But having food and a roof over our heads is a little more important than meeting grown men in leather pants, eyeliner, and chipped black nail polish."
Alecia made a sound like a dying ferret.
I ignored it.
I took the tickets, snapped photos, and posted an ad online.
"There," I said quietly. "If we sell these, we can easily navigate another six months."
Both girls stared at me like I'd committed sacrilege.
"I'm really sorry," I whispered again, then headed to my room before Alecia could physically tackle me with her heartbreak.
It was Friday, two days after that damn limo mauled me at five miles per hour, and somehow I still felt like I'd been tossed down a flight of stairs. At first, I didn't feel a thing, but the next morning I woke up my neck and shoulders hurt. The doctor down at the free clinic said it was just whiplash and I'd be fine any day now.
The apartment was unusually quiet, which could only mean one thing...Alecia still wasn't speaking to me. When Alecia was silent, it was like living in a haunted house.
I stood in the kitchen, warming milk over the stove like some sad Victorian orphan. We'd been living off coupons for days, and yesterday I'd managed to stretch twenty dollars at the dollar store like it was a survival mission on a reality TV show.
Larna walked in, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Good morning," she said softly. "Any cereal?"
"Yeah, in the cupboard."
I watched her pour the cereal first, then the milk, which I found odd, since I was a milk first kinda girl.
She shoveled a spoonful in her mouth and said, "Ally's still not talking to you."
"No," I whispered. "She's not. And it's killing me. I mean really killing me, Lala." I pressed a hand to my chest. "I finally found a buyer for the tickets. I'm supposed to meet him tonight. I was hoping you both could come. He wants to meet at the Fang Bang club."
Larna blinked slowly. "That doesn't sound shady at all."
"I KNOW," I said, practically laughing at my own misery. "Which is why I need... someone. Anyone. Preferably two someones who won't let me get stuffed into a trunk."
Just then, Alecia strutted out of her room, her hair wild, robe trailing behind her, the aura of a woman betrayed. "Hey, Lala," she said sweetly, then immediately switched to death glare mode at me.
"Hey cous," Larna said. "Don't you see anyone else in the room?"
Alecia dramatically pretended to scan the tiny kitchen. "Nope. Looks like it's just us two."
"Come on, Ally, don't be like that," I pleaded. "I'm sorry. But I had to sell those tickets."
"No. You don't." She snapped toward me so fast I flinched. "You said you had to sell them, does that mean..."
"Yes," I whispered. "The money already hit my PayPal. I just... need to drop the tickets off after work."
"HOW COULD YOU?" she screamed, voice shaking, before storming back to her room.
The door slammed, echoing.
And for a moment, I just stood there, staring at the empty hallway, feeling like the villain for trying to keep us afloat.
"It's okay," Larna murmured, stepping closer. "She'll get over it."
But deep down... deep, deep down...
I wasn't sure she would.