1 .1 - Andie's Wish

Andie Lopez

"I wish to be with the love of my life!" I whispered to the coin on my hand and kissed it before eventually tossing it towards the wishing well. It created a faint ringing sound and then it slowly sank towards the very bottom where the other coins waited for it's descent.

I stared in utter silence and thought to myself, when will this stupid thing work?

I have been wishing the very same wish on this very same wishing well ever since I discovered its existence. And while I don't necessarily believe in wishing wells and wishing stars and wish bones and yet there's still a small part of me that's been keeping the hope burning alive. It's just a simple wish by a simple girl like me. It's not like I'm stealing stuff that aren't mine or dealing illegal psychedelic mushrooms or smuggling endemic animals to this city. The thought of me losing nothing and giving no harm to anyone keeps me coming back every single night just to toss one single coin and wish the same wish I wished the night before that.

I let out a heavy sigh and quietly fished my already tangled earphones from the pocket of my backpack. I know I'm always fixing the wire before putting it inside the pocket but every time I take it out, it's always tangled like it rose to life and coiled itself into this mess. I had to struggle to untangle it for quite a while and when I finally got it undone, I immediately plugged it on my phone and started playing Party Girl by my all-time favorite boyband Sunset Flava.

The upbeat opening of the song turned me on instantly as I began to march my way home. This has been my regular routine ever since I started going to College. I go to school in the morning, go to my part time job in the late afternoon and then I go drop a coin to the wishing well before eventually going home.

As the music of the pop song about party girls played, I was already thinking about Sunset Flava once again. A day doesn't go by that I'm not thinking about this boyband that I love so much. Sunset Flava has been my favorite boyband for over two years now and every day, I keep on falling in love. They have become my life and if you would ask me about the love of my life, his name's Draik Redford, the one and only leader of the band.

Draik Redford captured my heart the instant that I saw their first ever video on MeTube and since then, I've made a promise to myself that I'm going to become his wife and may someday bear his spawn. It may be ambitious and delusional of me to make a promise like that to myself but miracles do happen every now and then. I'm still holding on to that thought that I'm going to be that woman and I'm going to keep manifesting that until the day that it comes true.

Draik is—by any standards—a very good-looking young man gifted with a cosmic smile, fine cheek bones and a healthy silky hair. He's such a debonair with an impeccable sense of style. Good-looks aside, he's a man with multiple talents. He's an incredible vocalist, a really good dancer and he has had a few acting gigs here and there. Now that's a complete package for a nineteen-year-old man. A big fish in the water and a total catch.

Sunset Flava is on a steady rise towards stardom. Back then, they only have a few viewers on MeTube and they were posting song covers and dance covers. It was the first time that I discovered them and while I haven't seen them in person yet, I know I am their biggest fan and will always be their biggest. They have come a long way since their debut and I have never thought I'd become their biggest fan and I am claiming all the rights to be their biggest fan. I guess almost everyone calls themselves that just because they've been obsessed but I know deep inside my heart that I'm not just a huge fan but rather their biggest fan. I know every single song that they have released ever since they were signed to their label. I've seen every single live performance they had on the internet. I know their exact birthdays, their zodiac signs, their favorite midnight snacks, their real names and basically everything about them. You ask it and I most probably know it.

The only problem that I have as their biggest fan is that I haven't been to any of their live performances. I know that's kind of embarrassing of me to claim the rights as their only biggest fan and then I haven't seen them not even once in the last two years that I've been following them. The irony of it is tantalizing but the reality behind that is I'm not blessed with a lot of money to buy me some tickets and all the stuff that comes with that. My parents are only earning minimum wage and the money they earn all goes to the bills and groceries and all of the essentials. Things are beyond my control and while I'm still okay with watching Sunset Flava on my phone screen, I don't want that to become permanent. I want the live Sunset Flava experience. I'm hungry for it.

Meeting Sunset Flava is hella expensive for me. I'm working part-time to be able to pay for my room and buy the things that I need. It's quite hard to put the things that I need over the things that I want and that's perhaps another reason why I'm relying on this wish even if I don't fully believe in them. I feel like it's the only way that I'm going to meet the love of my life.

"Andie!!!" My roommate and best friend Janea Alba squealed the moment I showed up to our apartment unit. I was already tired from walking a long distance and I was taken aback when I heard her high-pitched squeal. She jumped out of the couch gritting with excitement. "Girl, you won't believe it."

"What? You and Arlan finally got back together?"

"No, that will never happen but this is even better."

"Okay?!" I gave her a very confused look because I honestly have no idea on what is she talking about.

"You have to guess." She was jumping like this is going to be the best news of my life when I know for a fact that this is just a hyped-up set up for a lousy story.

"Uhm, let me think for a bit." Pretending to be thinking in depth, I paused. "You met someone who's tall, dark and handsome and has a really big package?"

"No." Janea asserted. "I know I'm a whore but this is not about me."

"Janea, just tell me what this is. I'm really tired from work and I just want to watch a story of Draik on Instaglam."

"That's right! It's about Sunset Lava." She trailed and I don't know if she's not mindful about that or if she said that wrong on purpose.

"It's Sunset Flava." I corrected her.

"Yeah that."

"What about them? Have you finally decided to become a fan?" I uttered just to tease her since she's trying to make me guess for this when she could've easily told me moments ago.

Even though Janea's my best friend for several years, we still haven't shared the same obsession with Sunset Flava and that's because one, she likes rappers more than boybands and two, she likes interacting with people more than watching them online.

"Here, open this. This is for you." She handed me a white envelope and I thought she's going to give me money but when I opened it, I saw my dream flashed right before my eyes.

"No way!" My heart skipped a beat and it's that kind of beat where I'm unable to breathe for a while. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" I was screaming when I realized what's inside the envelope. It wasn't money at all but it was a ticket to the upcoming concert of Sunset Flava.

"I got you a ticket to their concert!" Janea screamed and I immediately pulled her towards me. I hugged her as I tight as I could.

"Is this for real?" My heart is really jumping out of joy and excitement and I'm still trying to process this moment. I'm only dreaming of going to this concert for a long while and now I have a ticket. I can finally see them in person.

"I got you that ticket so you can finally shut up about it." Janea mouthed and her tone was buttered with her natural sarcasm.

"Hell yeah!"

"Seriously though, I know you've been working hard just to pay for the things that you need and you've been a really good friend to me ever since high school. You're still annoying for talking about Sunset Flava all the time but this is the least thing that I could do for you." Janea explained and my heart was just about to melt when listening to her sentiments. "You really deserve this."

"Thank you so much, Janea. It's not VVIP but I'm still thankful that you got me this ticket. I can finally see Sunset Flava live!"