One Hundred and Sixty Characters

in which they attend a concert (together, but he doesn't know)

march 5, 2015 / 6:19 pm 

Her eyes scour the long line of awaiting fans. For an unknown reason, many of them are abnormally long-legged, so with her relatively short height (okay, she's really 5'5), she has a difficult time picking out a certain face. It's even more difficult because she does not have an engrained photograph in her memory to follow. She looks for him with only the knowledge of what she thinks she knows about him. 

He has dark brown hair. Glasses. Fair skin. Long arms. Soft fingers. Converse. Or Nikes. Maybe he's carrying a bag. Probably not, though. Do boys carry bags unless it's for school? 

An hour passes and she has yet to find him. The line ahead of her begins to shift forward, in the direction of the ticketbooth where two men are taking previously bought tickets and stamping hands with a large 'X.' Luckily for her, she catches sight of Marcus, her mother's colleague, and rushes up to talk to him. 

"Mark!"

He turns his head away from the girl whom he has just stamped. She squeals happily and shuffles away, chasing after her friends into the concert hall. He smiles, big, when he sees Elizabeth walking up to him. 

"Your mum said you weren't coming tonight," he comments, taking the hand of another excited fan. He quickly stamps an 'X' and says, "have fun!" He then turns his attention fully to her, awaiting a reply while hollering at another person to take over his job for a minute. "What's happening?"

"Mark, I need you to text me when you see a boy with dark brown hair, glasses, and Converse walk through here, okay? It's important." 

Marcus' eyes shimmer with laughter. "Beth, that's insane. Do you have any idea how many boys I've let through here today?" 

"Please," she begs, her eyes are wide and pleading. He's never seen her like this before. It makes him want to chuckle. But he refrains himself for her sake. "It's really important that I find him."

He throws up his hands, nodding vigorously. "Okay, okay. I'll do what I can. Who is this guy, anyway?" 

"A friend. Whom I've never met, but I'm hoping tonight will change that." 

"Where did you meet him?" 

"Through text." 

"Wait." Marcus stops short, his shoulders falling. "Is this the same guy you asked your mum to give VIP tickets to?" 

"Yeah. Wait. Shit, I am so stupid!" she exclaims, shaking her head wildly and making a point to slap her forehead. "When did the VIP people go in? He's probably with them. Damn it, Elizabeth. You are so dim." 

This time, he cannot not control his laughter. "About an hour ago. They should just be heading into the auditorium now, I think." 

"Thank you, Mark," she says whilst rummaging around in her bag for her phone. "I know this is awful of me to do, but you need to let me in, okay? Please? I'll have mum transfer my ticket." 

"Beth..." 

"Please," she begs. She seems to be doing a lot of that today. "I won't ask anything of you ever again." 

He raises a brow, humoured by her empty promise. Whenever she can't ask her mother, Mark is the one she asks, and in both their memories, she's been asking him for things since she was a teenager. 

"Alright, go." He nods and she begins to leave. "But, Beth..." 

"Yeah?" 

"Be careful." 

She smirks, "aren't I always?" 

.x.

Inside the auditorium, her eyes scan the small pit of excited faces in the general admissions area. This is the smallest venue the band's going to play at, so she's fortunate she doesn't have to do as much searching. Though, five hundred people is still a lot.