chapter two; 

                 jewels

» She couldn't take her eyes away from the point.  Paige could feel that the missing jewel held some significance, though she was at a loss as to what it was.  Scarleth's had come the same way, though after scanning the crowd they seemed to be the only ones with this dilemma.  It hadn't seemed like a big deal at the time, it was just a coincidence.  But now that the strange disappearance had captivated Paige, it seemed to be so much more.  Her right hand unconsciously went to the necklace hanging loosely from her neck as it always did when she was thinking hard.  The incomplete homework was laid in a neat pile awaiting Paige's attention, but she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the light stick.  As the memories from the concert rushed through her head, she willingly gave herself over to the world of the past.

Going into the Prudential Center, Gdragon had been her ultimate bias.  She would've risked her life just for the chance to meet him face to face.  But something had changed while she was in there.  Another member had stolen her attention, and it had been virtually impossible for her to take her eyes from him.  The slightly bulging muscles, the adorable face, the way he interacted with the crowd; it all drew Paige in.  Before she realized it, Gdragon was a thing of the past.  Daesung had wedged his way into her heart, pushing all other biases out of her mind.  When asked who her ultimate bias was, Paige no longer hesitated.  The answer was automatic.  Daesung was the only name she could think of. 

Since that night, Daesung had lingered in her thoughts both when she was awake and when she was asleep.  School work had never been significant in Paige's mind, but now it wasn't even a concern.  Sometimes, for hours on end, she would simply sit staring at the light stick and daydreaming.  But a single reoccurring theme dominated all of her dreams: awake or otherwise.  'What would my life be like if I knew Daesung.'

Paige was abruptly shaken from her thoughts as Fantastic Baby was blared from some unknown location.  Confused at first, she looked around the room for the source, eventually spotting her phone laying on her purple sheets.  She slowly stood from her desk chair and walked to the bed, unable to recall exactly what she had been thinking before she was interrupted.

The call had been from Scarleth.  That was typical, but Paige didn't have anything to complain about.  Talking to Scarleth was one of the few activities she could actually enjoy while she was stuck in the town boredom was invented in.  She pressed the redial button and it began to ring.

"Too lazy to get up and get the phone on the first call?" Scarleth greeted.  That was her way of saying hello and Paige had heard similar lines often enough. Still, she couldn't contain a little giggle.  It was always better talking to someone with a sense of humor than the serious people found at Northwest.

"Yup, what did you want?" Paige couldn't let Scarleth be the only sarcastically rude one.

"What do I want?" Scarleth seemed somewhat surprised, but it was pure acting: a skill that Scarleth could use a bit of work on.  Though she was a top-notch singer and an above average rapper, she didn't have the full idol package.  "The real question is, what do you want?"

"I just woke up from a beautiful daydream, I'm not in the mood for games. Could you just flat out say it por favor?"

"Oh so now your trying to speak Spanish?" Scarleth was hispanic, and though she never got upset when others would use Spanish, she sometimes liked to poke fun at Paige's lack of knowledge in that area. "Well then, solo'' queri'a decirte que voy a estar viajando a Corea este verano y me preguntaba si quieres venir conmigo." Paige let out a sigh.  She always got herself into these situations.  She hadn't even taken Spanish in high school and she had no idea what was just said.  And she knew it was important too.  Scarleth emphasized important things in a special way that broadcasted to the world it was not simply idol chatter.

"Alright, I give in.  Could you please just tell me what you said?"  Pleading was always the best way to get something out of Scarleth.

"Sure thing eonnie."  Cuteness overload. Scarleth could switch moods very quickly.  "I'm going to Korea this summer so I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"Haha, very funny eonnie," Scarleth usually wasn't the one to play pranks like this, but Paige wasn't about to be pulled in.  She was after all the queen of pranks and bad jokes.

"I'm not kidding!!!  I won a trip to Korea because my paper for Korean 101 was the best in the class and I get to take one person along with me.  I mean, if you don't want to go I'm sure I could find someone else to take..." Scarleth teased.  Paige didn't know what to say.  Her dreams of going to Korea took over and pushed the doubt from her mind, leaving her speechless with the thought of being able to fly half way around the world to her dream country with her best friend.  "Eonnie, did you die?" Scarleth asked nonchalantly.  "Cause I don't think I can take a bodybag on the plane with me."

"Well will they let you take a crazy screaming fangirl on the plane with you?"

"They'd better! Cause in four days they're gonna have two of 'em"

"Wait... did you say four days?"

"I guess you're not deaf after all!!!  I'll see ya here soon!!!" And with that, Paige was left in the practically silent landscape of Wyoming.

 AUTHOR'S NOTES

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