Chapter 3: Ticket Wars and Power Plays

After class that afternoon, the teacher talked about the upcoming Thanksgiving break, then pulled out a stack of tickets.

"These are tickets for the Maple Heights Music Festival. I have a friend working there who got me a few. Anyone interested can come get one."

The class erupted in cheers. Someone asked which artists would be performing.

The teacher projected an image of the tickets: "Some indie bands, a few up-and-coming musicians, and... ROY. She's actually coming!"

A boy whistled, and even the usually aloof Derek unexpectedly raised his hand. "Ms. Carter, I want a ticket."

At our school, there's something called the 'Derek effect.'

Whenever Derek joins an event, everyone else scrambles to follow.

In less than half a minute, all the tickets were gone. Some people didn't get one—including me.

I watched the tickets vanish like hotcakes at a bake sale. My heart wasn’t in it, anyway. After school, a few girls blocked me at the classroom door, waving their tickets in my face like they’d just scored Taylor Swift seats.

"Maddie, you must really want to go to the music festival with Derek."

"But you're so broke—how could you afford a ticket? It's $30, you know."

I looked at them blankly. "What do you want?"

"If you crawl under my legs, I'll give you a ticket. How about it?"

My gaze swept over the tickets in their hands.

The organizer who invited me had given me a pile of these tickets—they're all stuffed in my backpack.

I frowned, genuinely confused. "It's just a music festival ticket, isn't it?"

They burst out laughing, as if I'd told the world's funniest joke. "Just a ticket? Easy for you to say. They're almost impossible to get! Do you even have one?"

"Yes," I said, and under their stunned gazes, I pulled out a thick stack of tickets from my backpack.

The tickets fanned out in my hand, the glossy paper catching the sunlight. For once, the laughter wasn’t at my expense. The shock on their faces was priceless. I could have taken a selfie and made it my phone wallpaper.