Digital Strings Attached

Chapter 1

It had been weeks after her best friend broke the news to her about the upcoming concert. Georgia still couldn't believe she missed NSYNC's No Strings Attached tour announcement on MTV. Like, how? She was always watching the top charts waiting for their "Bye, Bye, Bye" to be played.  Though it was leaked on AOL before, she was waiting for the final announcement.

Hmmm, maybe it's because I was preoccupied with all these graduation things, she thought, and the college applications you have to send, she talked to herself as she lay on her bed full of pillows and stuffed toys, reminding her of what needs to be done first so that her parents would let her go to the concert with Jovie and the latter's elder brother, Frank. Her parents will allow her to go under some conditions and that includes: no absences, not even tardy until the final week of class (she's always late on first period) and college applications must be sent before graduation. So easy. Yeah, especially the tardiness! 

She walked across her room and turned on her computer, decided to finally finish the essay for her History class and to edit her applications that were still on draft. She raised and stretched her arms, took a deep breath, and cheered herself, "Let's finish this today, Georgieee!"  Halfway through her essay, she heard their phone rang downstairs, "ringgg, ringgg, ringgg."

"Georgie, get the phone!" her mom from the other room yelled. "I'm on my ess--", she wanted to reason out but stopped mid-sentence. She must be super cool, nice, and extra obedient these days if she wants to get her hands on those concert tickets.  "OH, of course!" she mumbled under her breath while running down the stairs. 

"Hell--" she was gasping for air due to running as she picked up the receiver of the telephone that was hanging on their wall but was immediately interrupted by the voice on the other line. "Georgie!"

"Jovie?!" Georgia exclaimed. "Why are you calling from here and not on my cellular phone? You know I had to run down here just to get this phone call while I'm doing my essay, which is one of my mom's conditions for me to get a ticket" and let out a sigh of exasperation. 

"I'm sorry, I ran out of minutes, so need to call from the phone", Jovie answered.

"Huh? Who you've been calling?" most of the time, Georgia is clueless as to what's keeping Jovie busy. They are childhood best friends, but Jovie still surprises her with her actions at times. 

"I've been calling radio stations and MTV to request their song, you freak" Jovie replied with a peal of laughter. She found it cute that her best friend, who despises boys will go the extra mile just for the five guys. They were both giggling when Jovie said, "So here's the thing, tickets will go out on sale next week, first week of May and it is thought to be sold out in minutes. Also, we need to secure plane tickets to New York by June and then hotel accommodation after. You think we can make that?"

"We will", Georgia responded firmly, making sure that her words would be marked. Although, she really wasn't sure how. What with the airfare tickets and hotel accommodation being pricey enough, concert tickets is fairly costly as well. And for them, as high school students, it is ceiling-high. "Right,"  Jovie replied, sounding unsure of her best friend's affirmation. If they will rely solely on their parent's money, it wouldn't be so much of a problem, but they both wanted to chip in for some of the costings.

By dinner, she was able to print her essay and secure it in her expanded folder so she wouldn't forget to bring it tomorrow, Monday morning. "How's your application going?" her father asked while picking up a pork chop from the serving plate. They were all seated at their dining table, except for her youngest brother who was already done and now playing in the living room. She was seated next to her Mother and across her two younger sisters; one toying her food and the other savoring it.