Be My Love Song

Chap 3. Gift buying

"Hey Cress! I have a question." Cinder asked the short girl as she took off her headphones.

"Yeah? What's up?" She said switching tabs from whatever homework or video or whatever else she was doing.

"Do you know how to order..? Not order...um.." Cinder tried to think of the word while Cress messed around on her laptop. "Oh! Buy! How do you buy a ticket online?" The mechanic asked.

"Oh yeah definitely! What do you need?" Cress asked.

"That band Iko likes. The rampion."

Cress looked over at the mechanic with skepticism. "They might be sold out. I can look though."

The coding student moved her skilled fingers along the keyboard, pulling up a website. She typed in 'the rampion' and selected their location. After a few more clicks she hummed.

"You are in luck! Extreme luck..." she added quietly. "There are exactly 6 VIP tickets left. It says that the VIP package includes backstage passes after the show to meet the members, front row seats, paid for parking, a signed copy of their album on vinyl, a bunch of merch  and early entry! That's pretty nice!"

Cinder let out a little sigh. Iko would love it. Now for the price.

"How much for one ticket?"

Cress sucked in a little breath. " 32 bucks per ticket. So about 192 for all of us? Plus tax so hike it up to 200."

Cinder let out a little sigh of relief. She had saved around 500 dollars for this. They'd have enough money for a hotel, gas and food.

"Okay. That's fine. Place the order or whatever."

Cinder clicked around, asking Cinder for her card.

"Boom. Done. The tickets will go to your email. We can physically print them out but they'll be harder to keep track of."

"No, let's print them. I want to have something physical to give to her."

"Done and done. I'll be at the school later today. I'll print them then!"

"Thank you Cress."

Cress hummed in acknowledgement.

"You want to watch a movie with me?"

Cinder shrugged. "Sure, why not."

The brown haired girl made herself comfortable on the couch with Cress as she turned on the princess and the frog.

~
Winter sighed as she looked at the two different hoodies. One was a black and gray marble pattern and the other was cropped and pastel pink with the words "princess" on the shoulder.

"I don't know which one she'll like..."

Scarlet groaned. "If you don't pick up both and go I swear I will take you home right now."

Winter dismissed the threat and continued looking at the hoodies. Scarlet and Winter teamed up for Iko's present. They went to all her favorite stores and picked out a few items along with gift cards in case she didn't like the clothes. After this store all they had to do was pick up her shoes. So far they had 4 hoodies, three shirts, two pairs of jeans, three pairs of leggings, a few pairs of earrings and some socks, along with gift cards to various stores. And of course the Air Forces.

The two friends finally left the store and walked to the Nike store. They had already ordered the shoes and they were waiting for the girls when they got to the counter.

Once they got to Winter's car, a black SUV that was paid for by her step mom, they sorted and folded the clothes to fit into the enormous blue gift bag they got. The shoe box just got a bow placed on top. The two quickly signed their birthday cards and placed them in separate envelopes, putting them in the bag.

"We did it!" Winter said in triumph. Scarlet nodded. "I'm starving. You in the mood for sandwiches? We have meat at the house and we can get sub bread from the bakery."

"Sounds like a plan!" Winter said as she put the car into drive.

~

"Is this what you're looking for?"

The sales lady helped up a rose gold stethoscope with black rubber.

Cress gasped. "It's so pretty! She'll love it!" The sales lady smiled and walked Cress to the counter to check her out. Cress had just finished class and printed off the tickets for the concert. Now she was at the store to get a present for Iko. She placed the stethoscope on the counter with care.

"This is a gift right?" The lady asked. Cress nodded. "It's for my friend! She's a nurse, a really good one! Well I think she'll be." The lady hummed and rang her up. 189 dollars. It wasn't bad and Cress didn't mind paying for it.

The lady boxed it up with a gift receipt in the box and a little ribbon on the black box. Cress thanked her and left. She secured the box in her backpack and zipped it up. She unlocked her bike from the rack and put on her purple helmet. She hopped on the bike and began to pedal her way home. The breeze felt nice of her face and the exercise was always welcome.

~
Iko cracked her back in a satisfying stretch before turning on her car and putting on her seat belt. She drove out of the school parking lot, quite haphazardly (she wasn't the best driver in the world). She hummed along to her playlist, breaking out into full concert mode when a favorite came on. A few of the rampion's songs came on so she just had to perform. She parked the car and got out, stretching again in the spring sunlight.

She walked into the accessory store and smiled at the employees. She walked to the back and found what she was looking for. A pink sash with the white letters that said birthday girl and a tiara. She let this be her little gift to herself. She paid and left the store, once more blasting her playlist.

She drove home and grabbed her purse, along with her bag. She parked next to Cinder's car. She pulled her braids from the ponytail they were in and let out a sigh. She walked up the stairs to their apartment and unlocked the door. It seemed like no one was home at the moment. She hummed to herself to fill the silence. Turning on the lights in the kitchen, Iko began to make herself some instant noodles. Her birthday was in two days! She would be 22 in a few days. She smiled to herself as she watched the water boil.