Where I Was Before You

4. Mr. Fahrenheit

I make an animated sigh as I close the door to my car after finally finishing my shift. I said goodbye to Katie when I was inside, and for some reason, I invited her over tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I was actually scared that I would go mad if I didn't consciously make an effort to socialize every couple of days. I wasn't exactly looking forward to it, as much as I loved Katie, the thought of anyone coming over to my house and having to entertain them while trying to prevent them from judging my lifestyle didn't make me jump up in excitement for whatever reason. Still, I was happy when she said yes.

I felt something sharp stabbing into my side and lifted my butt off the seat to reach over and see what it was. I pulled a white envelope with the name 'Mace', messily scribbled across the front, now slightly crumbled from being sat on, out of my pant pocket. I must have put it in my pocket when I was looking for my shirt, and forgotten to take it out. I studied my sister's childlike writing on the front of it and giggled to myself. At least I was better at handwriting than she was. I found myself fiddling with the envelope corners and thinking.. what if I opened it now? That was what Kelsey wanted anyway. And she wouldn't find out unless I told her, I could just text her on my birthday saying thank you with half-hearted gratitude, she wouldn't know the difference, everything I said sounded half-hearted to her. And so the pros outweighed the cons. I used my untamed nails that seriously needed a trip to the salon to tear at the corners of the envelope. It wasn't bulky so it couldn't be a gift card. Not that I expected the queen of gifts to settle for a gift card anyway unless it was from my all-time favorite store and worth over $150.

I finally tore through it, slipped my hand inside and pulled out 2 folded pieces of paper and a card. I opened the card and, not so to my surprise, an explosion of confetti escaped from it. At least it's not glitter again, that stuff is so hard to clean up.

Dearest Mandy, (oh my lord, she actually used my real name)

Happy birthday to the most kind and sweet sister I have! That's not hard though, considering you're my only sister. But you still deserve a trophy for it!

I know you have a tough time making friends, so I thought you could invite someone who's just as enthusiastic as you are about it! (Alright, so they're tickets to something?.. intriguing.)

You don't know how mad I am that I'm missing your birthday, but I assumed this would make it up to you. Love you, Macy,

XOXOXO Kelsey (AKA. The second best sister in the world)

I put the card down and started making mental notes to myself of what I would text her on my birthday. 'you shouldn't have!' 'you really spoil me!' 'i don't know what I wou-'. My mind went dead silent when I unfolded the first piece of paper that came in the envelope. The first thing I saw was a header that reads:

Queen + Adam Lambert Tour 2018

My heart seriously skipped a beat, and I can't say I've ever experienced that before, but that night I certainly did. My hands and feet went numb, and I could feel something bubble in the pit of my stomach that exploded into excitement. Well, I guess the cats out of the bag. Aha, get it? Cats out of the bag? Cause Freddie loved cats? That was way creepier than it needed to be, but yes, my weird, mildly unhealthy obsession was over the Incredible band, Queen. Particularly, their beautiful frontman Freddie Mercury. Just saying his name sent shivers down my spine, he was, and always would be, the nonsensical love of my life.

I rushed to read the rest of the ticket information.

Date: 21 February 2018

Location: Qudos Bank Arena

"Oh my god, this can't be happening," I said out loud. No way my sister was this generous. The tickets must have been so expensive, I thought it was all sold out! Bless you Kelsey you beautiful thoughtful person you! I squealed with excitement, I picked up the second piece of paper and unfolded it. She bought me two tickets to see my favorite band in the entire world, then decides to leave the country so she can't go with me? What a f***ing Kelsey move. The question I have to ask myself now was, who the hell was I going to take with me? At this point, I had entirely forgotten that I was still in my work carpark. So I quickly drove off, trying to get home as quickly as possible, so I could watch clips from the shows and fangirl some more. God this is going to be so incredible! I'll actually get to see Roger and Brain in person. I better f***ing find someone to bring.