Wishing Away

Chapter One

RHIANNA WINCED AS SHE WAS DISTURBED FROM HER DEEP SLUMBER. She was having the same nightmare once again—reminded by the past that she desperately wanted to run away from. And yet the images still whirred in Rhianna's head—vividly as though it was happening at this present moment. The reassurance that it all happened in the past was not enough to prevent her from shivering. Not from the cold but from fear. It was the dread of not being able to do anything even though she was within reach.

Osanaikoro ni mune tokimekase

(When I was a child, my heart would beat fast.)

Miteta sono eiyuu wa

(The hero I saw)

She realized that her earphones were still repeating the same song nonstop since last night. Taking a slight peek at the batteries, she grimaced at the red 3% sign.

Maboroshi jannai sou me wo akete

(It wasn't an illusion, so open your eyes)

Itsumo soba ni iru kara

(Always beside you)

Shinjita hito ga HIIROO sa

(That person you believed in was a hero)

Gritting her teeth in annoyance at the lyrics of the song, she threw her iPhone in a fit of rage, not caring where it flew off to. She heard the sound of the back cover being opened, the batteries being spewed out from the encasing of its sturdy compartment. To her relief, the song was abruptly cut off. Hero by The Sketchbook—it was a song that stirred up an amalgam of memories inside Rhianna's heart.

Rhianna saw herself again as the blissful kid who believed in something as surreal as heroes—wishing that they would come and save the day. But in that dreadful accident one winter's day, no matter how much she cried and yelled until her voice got lost in a fit of sniffing and coughing and her throat getting hoarse, no one came out. There was no savior. There are no heroes.

Jumping out of bed to carry on the monotonous routine in the evening of getting up, eating her dinner and then sleep once again, her other phone rang.

Her ringtone, a high-pitched voice yelled out a couple of times. "Calling. Calling. Calling."

Rhianna looked at the name on the screen, knowing it was her haughty manager, Mr. Sidney Logan.

She picked up the call. "Hello, Mr. Logan? What is it?"

Rhianna's manager Sidney Logan is an eccentric man in his late thirties. He sounded professional in his serious, low tone of voice when transacting business deals and nailing contracts with clients. But when someone gets to know him better, realization dawns that he has a considerable amount of queer hobbies he chose to keep hidden in his stash of secrets. One that Rhianna knows of is his strange inclination to a corn rowed hairstyle which is why he chose to alter his cute, fluffy side-swept hair into this bizarre style. On normal days, when he was away from work, he wore mismatching t-shirts, weird patterned shorts and unpaired socks. His shoes, which were perhaps the most jaw-dropping detail about him seemed all too surreal that she couldn't just dare put it into words.

To cover up for his "uniqueness" as to not discourage his clients from engaging in business with him, he restores his proper business attire. Wearing a wig that was style as to what his hair looked like before he changed it pretty much covered up his "hidden obsession" for the deviations from the norm.

"Where are you?" Mr. Logan tone is impatient yet trying very hard to sound nice. The way Rhianna perceives it, he was clearly thumping his right foot as he glances on his watch in a wish to hurry on with this conversation. "The concert begins in two hours and we still have to get you ready."

Rhianna kept her voice steady, trying not to betray her hidden amusement for the man's undeniable display of annoyance. "I'm on my way, Mr. Logan, I promise. Meet me on the train station on 2657 Stencil Candice Road."

"The place we first met?"

"Yes sir. That place when you first begged me to be your new talent."

On the other side of the line, Rhianna could hear his irritation amplify by seven movements to the right of the decimal point. She tried hard to stifle a laugh because her sadism was kicking in again. Even though Mr. Logan was the manager, Rhianna was like the boss. After all, it was him who needed her anyways. If Rhianna would leave, Mr. Logan would be penniless. It was a good enough offer because she can do things her way.

"Just tell me where you live. In that way, I could fetch you and it would be much easier for you to travel."

"No need. I would rather keep my identity hidden from everyone. In that way it would be convenient for me to separate private life and being famous."

Mr. Logan wanted to protest. "But, but. . ." he stammered between the words, "Why do you want to keep it a secret from your staff? We will never divulge your real identity to the public anyways. That is the use of your stage name—"

Before he could rant on any more, Rhianna waved him off. "The mysteriousness is intriguing, isn't it?"

She hangs up the phone and sighed. The real venue for the concert was just two streets across her house. The train station, on the other hand, was one bus ride away. But Rhianna knows without a doubt that the train station was the essential setting for her drama and deception to unfurl. People go in and out of the station, thus it was impossible to trace her real identity. She goes to the length of such measures all to carry out her plan of concealing who she really was.

Gathering all her things that she needed to wipe out the telltale signs of her identity as Rhianna Lee, she stuffs them all in a bag which she stealthily carried out the house.

"It starts tonight."

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi guys! (I don't really know if anyone is reading this stuff) No really, it's my first time making an author's note so I really don't know what to say. Anywho, the song is in Japanese. Anyone watches Sket Dance? Waaaah >_< for fangirls out there, please do let me know XD So, I guess I'll not be taking any more of your time, don't forget to watch the video, okay? Bossun's face covered is snot is really hilarious xD]