"Aren't you going to the concert with your friends? You should start preparing. It's not good to have them wait."
"Oh, Nana, I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to go to the concert. I promise this will be the first and the last." She wrapped her arms loosely around her Nana's shoulders then bumped her head gently with hers.
Nana chuckled how old grandma's do – indulgently and sweet. It sent ripples after ripples of calmatives to Red.
"My sweet child!" She chuckled some more. "Come on, get yourself ready. Your friends will be here soon!" She tapped her arm urgently as she strutted into her room and out again, "Aren't you going?"
"I am. I am, Nana! You look more excited than me. Would you like to go with us? Haha."
"Me? Oh, gracious Lord! I am already too old for that! I reckon the place will be too loud for my poor ears."
"Nana~" She approached her again and hugged her by the waist. "You're not too old yet. Remember when you went with Duru and me to the amusement park two years ago? You said the same thing back then, that you were too old for the rides, right?"
"Hmm, I remember." She chuckled some more at the fond memory.
"But we convinced you to enjoy some rides and you enjoyed it, right?"
"Hahaha! You, child! Yes, yes! I enjoyed that one with the wheel. The ride was slow so I'm okay with it."
"See? You can still enjoy what we enjoy, Nana!" She shifted into a back-hug. She loved hugging her Nana because her Nana was soft all over like puffy bread. She smelled nice too, like peppermint.
Nana clutched her arms around her belly and tapped it lovingly with her own shriveled hands. "Seems like you enjoy my company more. Are you backing out from going to the concert?"
"Uhm, no, Nana! Are you taking back your approval?" She distanced herself slightly from being comfortably clingy to her Nana. She was so relaxed that she almost forgot about her appointment.
But no. Just this once, she decided to experience what kids her age were experiencing. She wanted to go just for the experience. She didn't even know who the performers were.
At least with Maureen and Duru, she could be at ease being surrounded by people. She knew they would probably stare at her.
Reluctantly, she separated herself from Nana and prepped for the concert.
However, when Maureen and Duru fetched her, Maureen was speechlessly aghast. "What are you wearing? Where do you think we are going? To a retreat? Go change."
Red chose to wear plain jeans and a long-sleeved shirt layered with a black windbreaker on top, and paired with plain sneakers. Basically, she was going for an all-covered-up look. Her hair was just tied messily on a low ponytail behind her back. Probably, she's planning to wear the hood of her windbreaker up for the whole duration of the concert.
"I know this will happen so I already brought extra clothes. Andrew, can you get it in your car? I left it there. On the backseat. In a brown paper bag."
"Gotcha." The lad answered back and went off outside to accomplish his special errand. It didn't take him too long to return.
"Thanks, Andrew." Maureen shoved the clothes to Red. "Go change. Then call me when you're done. I'll fix your make-up."
"Make-up?!"
"Yep. Yep. Now, don't be such a kill-joy. We're meeting my favorite band SKS so I want us to be presentable. Both of us. It's shooting for the stars but you wouldn't know if we can get to take a photo with them." She clasped her hands together and lifted her head towards the sky. "Oh, how I wish!"
"Oh, okay! Okay!" Red flicked her wrist dismissively and went to change clothes. "So much for friendship, huh?" She smiled at Maureen before disappearing into her room.
While they were waiting, Nana served them some refreshments. Maureen took the opportunity to thank Nana for allowing Red to go with them.
"I really want her to go with me this time, Nana! Of course, I always enjoy telling her my escapades with my fangirling, but this time, I want her to experience it herself. Don't worry, I'm not influencing her to become a fangirl herself, hehehe!" She waved her arms in front of her defensively. She did not want to break Nana's trust in her.
"I'm sure she's not even interested to become one. Hahaha!" Andrew deadpanned.
Nana laughed with Andrew because she, too, had the same assessment.
"I couldn't recall inviting you over though, Andrew." Maureen massaged her chin thoughtfully.
"Red invited me!" He blurted out defensively. "I'm here to drive you to the venue. I have a purpose, see? Not like I'm interested in the concert itself."
Andrew reached the legal age for driving a few months earlier. He's already had his eighteenth birthday. For that reason, he volunteered himself to go with the girls, which put Nana more at ease. It was partly the reason she agreed.
"So are you going to just drop us off or you're planning to stay and wait inside your car? Are you going to pick us up after the event too? I didn't know you do such errands. For Red. Hmm?" Her eyes turned into slits, and her mouth into a jeering smirk.
Andrew glanced at Nana first and took a considerable amount of time to answer.
Nana must have sensed his agitation so she rose up from the couch, "Andrew and Meredith are close friends. One cannot last long without the other. Think of them as a package deal."
Andrew nodded and shrugged. He lifted his eyebrows as he gawked at Maureen and beamed, "Thank you, Nana."
"Yep, I'll wait in the car until you, guys, are done. Not interested in the concert. And I don't have a ticket. How can I enter?"
"Well, I happen to have a spare ticket." She smugly crossed her arms on her chest. "I happen to be the president of the Official SKS fans club. I have access to those. One of our members could not attend due to personal reasons so... The ticker is yours. Consider yourself lucky."
"Well, what can I do? When the opportunity presents itself, I must take it." He offered a fist bump to Maureen which she gladly reciprocated.
"I'm done changing. How do I look?"