"I swear, Rose, they were right here!" I pointed to the top drawer of my desk, which was currently poured out on my bed. A haphazardous mess of papers, pencils, CD's and candy wrappers lay on the black comforter, matching perfectly with the disaster around me. I shuffled through the pile for the hundredth time in the last hour, determined to find the two V.I.P Passes I had spent the last seven months saving up for. I did not watch the Garner twins twice a week to lose the Passes in my bedroom! I thought, irked at myself for misplacing the precious tickets.

 

"Relax, Ryn." My best friend, Rose, said, her long, dark blond hair swinging behind her, "Did you check under your bed?" She pointed to the somehow unscathed area between my box spring and my floor. So I got down on my hands and knees, sweeping my hand in the space, and sighing when I stood back up, empty-handed.

 

"It's not there." I said sorrowfully, collapsing on my bed. "I'll never see them again. Seven months of hard work, gone!"

 

Rose sighed, shaking her head at my dramatic attitude. "It's not 'gone', Ryn." She said comfortingly, sitting next to me and running her long fingers through my hair, while I was currently burying my head in my pillow.

 

"How do you know that?" I asked, my voice muffled and slightly distorted by fabric and stuffing. I waited for a minute, expecting a quick answer, but was caught off guard when Rose grabbed my shoulders firmly and sat me upright.

 

She pointed her finger in my face and said, more like commanded, "You listen here, toots. You're going to find those tickets, get dressed, and go to that concert with me! Understood?" She stood back up and crossed her arms determinedly, leaving me blinking on the bed.

 

Then, as if electricity had jolted me upright, I stood at attention, saluting my best friend, "Sir, yes, sir!" I yelled, marching off to the dark abyss I call a closet. My mind was already thinking of anywhere I might have overlooked. It was also playing Barney parodies...I hate you, you hate me. We're a dysfunctional family. With a great big smack and a punch from me to you, won't you sa-ay 'Eff you too!

 

Rose just stood where she was, shaking her head at my silliness. "When will that girl learn?" She muttered, reaching into the pockets of her red shorts and pulling out...

 

In case you're trying to figure out who the heck I am, why the heck I'm freaking out over two pieces of paper, and what the heck Rose has in her pocket. I'm going to tell you right now.

 

My name is Aeryn Elizabeth Houston. I'm a vertically challenged, blond and baby blue-eyed, college student who currently lives with her aunt. Who is my aunt, you ask? That would be Rose. She's also a college student, but she's a vertically gifted brunet with blue-green eyes and has a steady, well-paying job. Something I lack as of now.

 

Just to clarify, Rose isn't some middle-aged woman who partied all her youth away and is going back to school in a last ditch effort to make something of herself. She's actually fifteen months younger than me. Confused? Let's just say that divorce can do some weird things.

 

Now, the reason I'm freaking out about a couple pieces of paper is because I'm a huge K-Pop addict and I've been saving up for months to be able to go to a special concert at the Staples center in California. It was over a thousand dollars to get this vacation. Why? Well, V.I.P Passes are not cheap, first-class air tickets are also not cheap and we're in collage. You think we're going to go to one concert and just fly back as soon as it's over? No, we're staying the whole week. The concert is on a Thursday and we're leaving on the Sunday before so we have time to do tourist-y things!

 

Anyway, enough about our travel plans. Basically, I lost the tickets, made a mad (and messy) search for the tickets, and now Rose has found the tickets. Got it? Good. Read on!

 

...The tickets. "Ryn." She sing-songed, holding the passes up in front of her and shaking them. I popped my head out of my closet, pulling a pair of tights off my head as I did so.

 

"What is it..." I trailed off, having caught sight of the objects on her hand. With a squeal that probably could have woken the dead, I raced out of the closet and tackled Rose, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!" I screamed, hugging the life out of my wonderful friend.

 

Pushing me off of her, she said something that might have been "You're welcome" or "No problem", but I wasn't really listening. We're going to Cali!  I mentally cried, hugging the passes to my bosom tightly, seriously considering not putting them down until we were in our seats in the stadium. But my banshee impersonation was quickly cut short when Rose's voice cut through my less-than-calm thoughts.

 

"Aeryn, you better clean this up before we leave." She pointed to my room that looked like Hulk had been training in it. I grinned sheepishly at her, putting the tickets on my desk and meekly beginning to pick clothes off the floor.

 

In what seemed like one lightening fast movement, Rose grabbed the passes off my desk and put them back in her pocket, "I'm holding these for safe keeping." She said, patting her shorts and walking out of my room. Pointing to the music note clock on my wall, she said, "We only have ten hours before our flight and we'll need at least one hour to get through security." Without another word she left the room, her long hair swishing behind her as her lithe frame disappeared.

 

I sighed, remembering our red-eye flight. It was the only one I could get that wasn't packed. What was I supposed to do? Take a later one in the luggage department? Looking at my surroundings, I cringed, noticing for the second time what a mess I'd made of it. Maybe I should've just given them to her in the first place. I thought, ruefully piling more clothes in my arms and putting them back in my laundry hamper. Leaving them in one of my pockets was kind of a long shot anyway. I admitted, throwing away a few chocolate wrappers and turning to remake my bed.

 

Thirty minutes later, I'd managed to clean up everything except a few books. I was stacking my favorite titles on the bookshelf when Rose appeared in my doorway again, "Hey, you want something to eat?" She asked, looking at me expectantly. Before I could answer, her gaze travelled from me to my now spotless room. Her round eyes grew big as she scanned the room for any sign of trash or misplaced item, "Wow, Ryn," She said, stepping in and walking around, "I don't think your room's been this clean since we moved in." I giggled at her words. It’s true, I wasn't a clean freak like her.

 

"What were you saying about eating?" I asked, setting the books on the shelf and walking over to her. Next to music and Kpop, eating was one of my favorite hobbies. Standing in front of my black vanity, Rose looked at me as my words registered,

 

"Oh, yeah!" She cried, putting her hands together and leaning towards me, "Have you eaten anything yet?" She asked, her tone suggesting that if I hadn't, she was about to make me.

 

"No..." I trailed off as a delicious scent wafted past my slightly up turned nose. "Is that..." I sniffed the air a few times, trying to name the familiar smell. My eyes grew wide and I grinned as a picture of carrot cake flashed through my mind, "Did you make your carrot cake?" I asked, clutching myself in anticipation.

 

Hey, give me a break. Rose's carrot cake is amazing. I don't know how she does it, but it's always moist and soft and never too sweet. It's incredible! If I ever meet you, you should ask me to take you to her house so you can have some. You'll never want anything else. If you don't like carrot cake, she has this red velvet cake she makes that it absolutely divine! You haven't tasted delicious until you've had her red velvet cake. She makes it all from scratch and....I'm really getting off track here. Bottom line, her cakes are amazing.

 

Rose nodded, smiling at my enthusiastic response, "Yep, and enchilada's with extra cheese and..." Here she paused, apparently wanting my complete attention, "I made my bean dip too!" She clapped her hands once and backed up, preparing for my over dramatic reaction.

 

As predicted, I pumped my fists in the air and ran out of the room, waiting only a moment at the door for Rose to catch up with me. As soon as we reached the kitchen, I sat down at our four seat-er table. It wasn't fancy, but it was nice. A gift from her parents actually. The plates and cutlery on it had come from my parents as a graduation gift.

 

Rose had already set everything on the table, the carrot cake making a lovely centerpiece. To the left and almost on the edge of the table, a bucket full of ice sat with two of the pretty wine glasses we'd found at an obscure thrift store. Also in the bucket was a bottle of champagne, full to the brim but had obviously already been opened. I raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking why she'd let her no alcohol rule slip.

 

"It's just ginger ale." She said with a laugh, dishing out enchiladas and bean dip, "Besides, I thought it was only fitting to have a toast before we go on our first vacation together without our families." I nodded, not really paying attention, but still understanding and appreciating my aunt's sentimentality. Besides, ginger ale was yummy!

 

As soon as she'd taken a bite of her food, I dug into mine. I smiled giddily as the smooth and spicy taste of queso cheese and Mexican chicken glided over my waiting taste buds. I reached for the glass of milk in front of me (Rose is a stickler for having a glass of milk every day) and took a gulp. A second later, I asked Rose, "When will we have to leave for the airport?"

 

She also took a quick drink before answering, "Probably about two-thirty. The airport is a half hour away and we'll need an hour to get through the terminal." She rolled her eyes as she said the last part and I giggled. Rose wasn't fond of airport security, especially the pat downs. I had to admit, I wouldn't mind those disappearing either. Why is it that the ones who did the pat downs were the most unattractive people on the planet?

 

I shivered, remembering the last time I'd been at the airport and the guy doing the pat downs had seemed to think that I was hiding explosives in my or something.

 

I finished my food quickly and Rose, apparently wanting to get to dessert too, was done soon after me. She cut two slices of the scrumptious cake and set one in front of me. I waited patiently (not) as she popped the cork on the champagne bottle and poured the ginger ale. Grabbing a glass, she held it on the air and said with a grin, "To us!" before taking a delicate sip of her bubbly beverage.

 

I my glass upwards once and downed it in one gulp before quickly taking a bite of the moist cake.

 

Rose had a look of distaste at my actions, but I simply smiled. I had carrot cake in my mouth, enchiladas in my stomach, and two V.I.P Passes to a Kpop concert. How could things get any better?

 

Leave it to me to test fate and jinx us all...