My room was eerily empty, every little thing had been packed into two small luggages ready to be migrated into a new life, an independent life, college life. The last thing left in my closet was the band tee, I wanted to desperately forget. Even if it had been years since the infamous Warflowers concert incident, it was still a haunting memory. I've been told by my friends and my mom that I am over reacting about the experience but it was mortifying. Till this day no one pieced together who the girl was at that concert and it was going to stay that way. Reluctantly I grabbed the shirt and shoved it in my purse.

"Can you believe we're roommates?" Kristen asked, while unpacking boxes of utensils. Kristen had been my best friend since I was nine years old. We had dreamed about the day we would go to university together but me constantly moving around from parent to parent, it never seemed as if it would happen.

"Hey can you pass me a pen?" I asked. These leases weren't going to sign themselves.

Kristen reached into my purse,dropped it on the floor and burst out laughing. "Warflowers! No way!" she exclaimed, pulling out the shirt.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her and grabbed my shirt from her grip.

"You kept it!" she said astonished.

I felt my cheeks burn red. I should've just thrown it away.

Before she could say anything else, our tv (that came with the dorm) lit up. It was flashing and made a buzzing noise.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Kristen scrunched her eyebrows and we proceeded to walk over to the tv.

All the sudden "Campus News," covered the screen. I guess this was their announcement show or something.

"All students are told to remain calm and treat their new classmates with the utmost respect. Anyone who fails to follow these simple rules may be subjected to non-registration for the next term," the anchor announced.

What in the world? Treat who with respect?

Kristen and I looked at each other, then back at the tv. I was still grasping on to my shirt.

"To commemorate their first semester, we will also be having a little competition for tickets to their campus show," the anchor continued.

My heart started racing a mile a minute. Say who it is.

"The competition for the Warflowers will be starting for the tickets in two minutes!" the anchor exclaimed.

I dropped my shirt and jaw on the floor,simultaneously. Kristen started jumping and grabbed my arm. Before we could even fathom what was going on we knew we needed to get those tickets. We started sprinting across campus to get to this competition on time. There was no use though it was ten minutes away and the competition started in two. We were running on pure adrenaline.

"I know a shortcut!" Kristen exclaimed.

She ran past my shoulder and turned right. I followed her but she was on the track team in high school and I wasn't. So, I lost her. She turned right and I turned right but I didn't see what she did after that. I decided to trust my gut and turn right again.

Running at full speed, I felt my heart beating against my chest. The double espresso probably didn't help my heart's current condition. I was panting and started laughing at how unfit I was . I was watching my legs move from under my torso but couldn't feel them. Until I blacked out. I ran into a pole, I think.

"Oh, oh my gosh, are you okay?" a voice asked.

I felt my eyes regaining vision and my throbbing head.

"Are you freaking kidding me!" I exclaimed. "You made me lose the competition!"

Normally I would never ever yell at a stranger but I was extremely frustrated.

"I'm sorry?" the british voice said, sounding more like a question.

"Yeah, you should be. I-," I stopped myself. This was not worth it. I swallowed hard. Maybe Kristen got there in time? I turned around and didn't say another word.

"Listen, I really am," the voice called. "Wait!"

I turned around a couple steps away from him and looked up and there he was.

Eli Cruz and a couple of other boys in hoodies, who I assume were Rolan,Vic, James and Kellen, the Warflowers.

"You're-um," I stuttered, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants.

"Yes, I am darling," he said as he smirked mischievously. He winked one of his green eyes that were glowing in the sun and shagged his light brown shaggy hair in front of his face. He was well aware of his effect.

"Well now I won't be able to go to your guys' concert, so thanks," I said, shocked that I could even formulate a sentence let alone a sassy one.

"Don't worry I could take you as a 'special guest,'" he said as he ran his fingers through his hair. My stomach swarmed with butterflies and my heart was racing.

I heard the boys snicker in the back.

"Merry Renata," I said, extending my hand.

Eli smirked as he looked over at my hand and grabbed it. He kneeled down and kissed my hand and I heard the boys in the back losing their minds. "Bye," he said as he walked away.

"He, what!" exclaimed Kristen, loud enough for everyone in our complex to hear us. It felt like this was some sort of dream, a fanfiction even, one that only happened for those cool girls at school, not someone like me.

This all felt surreal but the reality was that the concert was about to begin in a couple hours and I needed to get ready. Honestly, I don't know if I would even be allowed to go in because saying that "the band themselves called me" wouldn't really be an easy sell.

I lined up in the long line of murmuring people and stood there. I wished that I brought Kristen along but I was unsure of what my invite really meant too. I should've just brought her. All the sudden, the crowd started screaming loudly as I saw the boys jump out of a Black escalade. I made eye contact with Eli and he pointed at me and then to the security telling me to skip the line. I blushed and walked over.

"Name?" the security guard aked.

"Merry Renata," I said.

He smiled and opened the ribbon and ushered me to my spot. I looked around and I was in the special standing area. There were girls all around me.

The girl next to me flicked her hair and began talking to the girl beside her "Eli Cruz called me here himself," she bragged.

My heart sunk.

"No, he called me here," two girls said together.

"What? He called me here!" another one said.

Now I felt a lump form in my throat.

"Who here has Eli Cruz called?" the first girl asked.

Every single girl in the "special area" raised their hands.

Now I was about to puke.

The show started seconds after this and each of the boys emerged on the stage.

Eli emerged and pointed at me, I flipped him off and proceeded to push my way out of the stupid crowd. I caught a glimpse of his look. He didn't look happy, but I didn't care. Eli Cruz was the bane of my existence then and still now.