"Come on granny, did your old bones prevent you from walking properly? Should I bring a wheelchair for you? Come on, hurry up! We don't want to spend hours standing in line just to get into the park!" Derrel said as he opened the car door and ran straight towards the ticketing booth.
"#@%* YOU DERREL! I'M ONLY #@%*ing 21!" Ella shouted back as she slowly got out of the car with Matthew's help.
"Thanks, Matthew, but you know that you don't need to open the door for me. We're here today to help you release some tension and get you ready for your concert tomorrow, just relax and enjoy yourself today! You don't have to wait for me and you can just run along with Derrel if you want to, I will catch up to you guys sooner or later because the queue is at least 30 minutes long anyways."
"I'll pass on that, I don't think I will have any energy left if I tried to keep up with him," Matthew said as he shrugged his shoulders.
'And walking together with you is the most enjoyable thing I can do today.' Matthew said to himself while looking at the smiling Ella.
"Oi! Can you continue your staring contest inside? I've got the tickets, let's line up first!" Derrel shouted from the back of a long line heading into the amusement park.
—-------
"Did you see his face earlier, Matthew? He begged all known gods for mercy after the rollercoaster looped for the third time! Ha!" Ella said while pointing and laughing at the pale-faced Derrel.
"You…who would've known that roller coaster is scary!? I've seen kids screaming with joy while riding them on the internet, I thought that it was a fun ride! It turns out that those kids were psychos! Maniacs! Who the heck found the feeling of wanting to vomit their hearts out exciting!" Derrel replied, trying to defend himself.
"But aren't you afraid of all the rides? Maybe we should go to an aquarium or somewhere more peaceful with no adrenaline involved the next time we go out together?" Matthew genuinely asked Derrel.
"What do you mean!? I'm scared of nothing except-"
"Everything!" Ella said, cutting Derrel off.
"In the Ferris wheel, you held onto your seat so hard that your hands turned white and you don't even dare to look elsewhere other than your own feet!"
"But that's-'
"After riding the carousel you spent 5 minutes sitting on a bench saying your head was spinning!"
"Don't be too harsh on him Ella, it's his first time going to an amusement park and he is currently driving the car, we don't want to get into an accident because of a cranky driver right?"
"Okayy~!"
"No, I'm not cranky!!"
—-------
"Thanks for taking me home guys, see you at the concert tomorrow!" Ella said while waving to the guys from the front of her house.
"Goodbye rude old hag!" Derrel half-shouted while stepping hard on the gas pedal.
Even with his window halfway up and the fact that it is in the middle of the night, both Matthew and Derrel could faintly hear Ella's voice from quite a distance away shouting something inaudible. But from the tone of her voice, they could vaguely guess that it contains at least one or two curse words.
"That girl is as scary as ever!" Derrel said while shaking his head.
"Well… Not really…" Matthew suddenly said.
"That's because she's nice to you!" Derrel quickly retorted.
"Isn't it because you're always teasing her that you two always fought?"
"Ah, it's not important who started it! What's actually important is, when will you do it?"
"Do what?"
"What else? When will you ask Ella out? She will be stolen by someone else if you keep on delaying it you know!?"
"I… I think I will do it tomorrow."
"At the concert?"
"Yes… I will tell her from the stage right before I sing her favorite song."
"That's good then, I was afraid that you'll be delaying it again by saying excuses like it's not time yet or you don't want it to be ordinary. It's already been years that I've been asking you the same question, glad that the answer is different this time."
"Confessing at my first concert is anything but ordinary and it should be the perfect occasion right?"
"Yep, you're right on that one. I wish you the best man. Both for the concert and Ella. Although the latter didn't need any luck since even I can see that you two are already unofficially official."
"Thank you…I hope so…"
—-------
"You're still up?"
"Come on Matthew, if I'm not, I won't be answering your call," Ella said over the phone.
"So, what's wrong Matthew? Can't sleep before the big day?"
"Umm… Yeah, I'm kinda nervous…"
"Why are you nervous? Isn't it pretty much the same as singing in front of me and Derrel with an addition of a few more people? You've done that countless times before!"
"Well no, but actually it is still a no."
"Come on! Why don't you do a little practice session right now? I will be your audience. And I'm also one of your first loyal fans, a little bit of a special performance for me is acceptable right?"
"Alright, the usual song then?"
"Yes please!"
Matthew then grabbed his guitar, placed his phone on his desk, and started singing while playing the guitar.
"
…
…
Cause, you're my sun and you're my moon
…
…
I wanted to tell you soon that
Each and every day I fall deeper for you
…
…
…
No matter what you do
I'll always be there for you
I love you
"
*clap* *clap* *clap*
Matthew could hear Ella clapping from his phone right after he finished singing.
"That's my favorite song from the whole album! Compliment to the singer and songwriter for making that song."
"The artist wrote the song himself! I happen to know him quite well you know? I will tell him that you're a huge fan and maybe you'll be lucky enough to have dinner with him in his free time." Matthew said in a teasing tone.
"Oh really? Please do so. It's such an honor to be noticed by my favorite artist."
"And also please tell him that although I love his whole album, there's this one song that just somehow resonates with me. It was as if the artist knew exactly what I've been feeling all this time and he had said it out loud in my place. I wonder what's on his mind and who is he thinking about when he wrote that song."
Matthew's brain went short-circuited and almost stopped working properly after processing what Ella had just said to him. But fortunately, he succeeded in regaining his composure and said,
"It's supposed to be a secret, but the artist told me that there's a special session at his concert tomorrow where he will be telling us about the meaning behind some of his most popular songs. Considering that your favorite song is also one of the most popular songs in his album, there's a very high chance that he will give you the answers to your question earlier. So make sure that you come to his concert tomorrow."
"Wow, that's exclusive news indeed. Well then, should we sleep? We don't want to be late for his concert tomorrow after all."
"You're right. Goodnight Ella"
"Goodnight Matthew"
—-------
"The sky sure is gloomy today, I hope it won't start raining anytime soon," Derrel said while looking at the sky above the concert venue.
"Heck, it's an outdoor venue, why are the gods messing with you right now? Even though I had prayed to at least six of them last night so that your concert will go well today," he added.
"Maybe that's because they don't like you praying to the gods of different religions at once…?" Matthew said
"I'm just increasing my chances!"
"Don't worry Matthew, I will keep on watching even if it rains," Ella said while smiling and giving Matthew a thumbs up.
"Thanks, Ella"
"Hey, I will also stay you know!" Derrel said in a loud voice.
"Yes Derrel, also thank you."
A staff member then called out to Matthew from the dressing trailer,
"Matthew, 30 minutes left before the concert starts. Please go back inside to do the last finishing touches."
"Coming!" He said.
"Alright Matthew, good luck! See you on stage!"
"Hey, I wanted to say that first!"
"Thank you, I will certainly do my best. See you on stage!" He said while he started walking towards the staff member.
Just before he went in, he saw Derrel giving him a nod while looking at Ella. Knowing what that look and nod means, Matthew nodded back at Derrel while giving him a thumbs up.
—-------
"It's raining outside, are you sure you don't want to delay the starting time?"
"Yes, this is my first concert and I won't let the people down."
"Alright then, 5 more minutes before you go up the stage."
Matthew took deep breaths before closing his eyes.
'With this, I will show my parents that my efforts weren't wasted.'
'And I and Ella will finally…'
"Matthew, it's time!"
Matthew got up from his chair and started walking onto the stage.
'Let's do it Matthew, everything will be just fine!' Matthew thought right before getting on top of the stage.
—------
"Big brother!"
"Big brother Matthew!"
"Wake up! Quickly!"
Matthew heard the first kobold kid's voice one more time this morning.
'Ah, I actually wanted to know how that ends. I at least wanted to see that I did it even if it's only in my dreams…'
"Big brother Matthew! Please! Wake up! Quick!"
"Yes, yes, wait a minute, let me just do my-"
"Please hurry up brother! There's a human right outside the village!"