Pens and Idols

Chapter 1: A Matter of Luck

February 7, Tuesday, 7:00 AM...

Roderick wakes up to the sound of his alarm clock. He turns it off by tapping on it really hard like he doesn't even want to get up from bed. "7:00 already?" he thought while still sleepy. He has no choice but to get up since he needs to go to school. His grades aren't that bad, though. He could still pass this semester with average marks. First thing that he does in the morning-- besides violentlytapping his alarm clock-- is to check his Facebook account for updates on his favorite idol group, Sparkle. He is constantly looking at their page for any new songs, albums, related merchandise, and public events. "Hm... It seems like they got nothing new on their page," he uttered while browsing. Suddenly, he saw that they were going to have a fan-meet! He got really excited since the event is one bus ride away from his school and it just so happens that it is going to be this coming Saturday. While he was viewing the post, he was interrupted by a call from his friend, Kian, who is also a fan of Sparkle. Roderick hesitated a bit to answer but ultimately decided to do so, "What the heck do you want, Kian?" "DUDE," answered Kian excited, "SPARKLE WILL HAVE A FAN-MEET THIS SATURDAY! ARE YOU GOING? ARE YOU GOING?" Irritated by Kian's tone, Roderick replied calmly, "Yes. I'll be going there." He then hung-up on Kian and continued looking at Sparkle's fan page.

Scrolling at Sparkle's fan page, he decided to look at the pictures of their members. His eyes caught the attention of one their members. She had long, light-brown hair, wears glasses, and hazelnut eyes. He kept on looking at her and started knowing her name. Good thing, though, the caption had her name on it. Her name is Keilee and is the second youngest member of the group. He thought to himself, "Oh wow. Keilee looks absolutely gorgeous. I wonder if she has her own page?" To his luck, a hyperlink to her own personal Facebook page is on the caption as well. And from there, he started looking at her pictures. He's definitely amazed at Keilee's beauty. So much so that he wants to meet her in person and thought that he'll draw her some time soon.

Roughly 30 minutes has passed and when Roderick realized what time it was already he logged out of Facebook, prepped-up his things to go to school, took a shower, and headed down for breakfast after. His little sister, Sarah, was eating breakfastalready. It seems like it's going to be coffee, toasted bread with bacon and eggs on the sides for Roderick this morning. His coffee isn't too strong, though. He likes it a bit sweet and creamy. Roughly two (2) lumps of sugar would be enough.

Sitting down and eating breakfast, Roderick's phone rang again. This time it's Andrew who's calling him. He picked his phone and answered, "What do want, Andrew? I'm eating right now. If you're going to ask if I'm going to go to Sparkle's fan-meet, I am." "Oh," a surprised Andrew said, "Okay then. See you on Saturday." Roderick ended the call and continued eating. "I never knew you were a fan of Sparkle," said his sister. "
"Ah. I guess I never really showed it. But yeah, I am a fan of their music," replied Roderick happily.
"Since when?"
"Hm... Since I entered college, I guess."
"I see. You're such a loser," with a smug smile on her face.
"Why you little...!"

Before Roderick could even get his hands on Sarah, it was short-lived because his mom stepped-in and said, "Roderick, stop what you're doing and prep-up for school already. Your class starts at 9:30 AM, right? It's 8:04 AM already. Just saying..." Realizing the time, he rushed outside while still biting bread; classic anime cliche, "Oh no! Damn it. I'm going to be late because of this. Later, mom!" "Take care, son."

Roderick is sprinting with all his might to get to the bus stop and make sure he makes it in time for class. Travel time from his home to school takes roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour. But in this situation, he might actually be late since he left home at around 8:10 AM and the bus arrives at 8:30. It will take him at least a 15-minute walk to make it to the bus stop. Unfortunately for him, he tripped, fell real hard on the pavement, and crashed at a trash can face first. Dazed, he stood up and fast-limped his way to the bus stop. To add more bad luck, the bus arrived way too early. The bus usually stays up to 15 seconds to pick up passengers. And by how slow he is limping and considering the fact that he is 142 meters away, he won't make it in time. But a ray of hope suddenly appears! His fat friend, Andrew, carried him towards the bus and said, "Don't worry, fam. I got you." A sudden spark from his eyes appeared and he started crying manly tears, "Thank you, man. I won't be late for school!" By the miracle that is Andrew, they boarded the bus headed towards school.