42 Backstage Passes

"You are being so weird, Will - I mean Sebastian." I caught myself blunder and gave him a quick glance to see if Bash had noticed my mistake with names.

Curses!

William Simeon Bernards, you have done me wrong even in this lifetime! I will need to find a way to get back on you and serve you your well-deserved comeuppance.

"You are one to talk about being weird, Elizabeth Jennings. Weren't you the one who called me William over and over just a few days ago?" he retorted, "Not to mention you spat at me too."

"Haven't we gone through this already?" I pouted. "Do you want another bout at this or would you please just move on?"

Bash shrugged his shoulders and stepped on the gas as we were nearing Coachella Valley. I felt myself lurch at the speed and then I righted myself in my seat.

Thankfully, I had worn the seatbelt.

I crossed my arms and tried to ignore Bash's attempt to bring me into the guilt trip. I won't be swayed by his beautiful smiles anymore.

I have come back here with one thing in mind - and that is to take revenge on the people who wronged me and the girls. Sebastian as the reincarnation of William was one who is on the list and I might not prioritize him now, but he will definitely not be the last to get a piece of me.

I should focus on gathering information first before I fully commit myself into avenging me and the girls.

Bash drove past a few establishments and then a huge gate welcomed us. The entrance was sophisticated and looked high-class as it looked like it was actually automated instead of manually opened like it used to for gates in the past.

The truck passed by with Nico waving an ID and a few papers towards the guard and he let us in. The place was huge and I kept on glancing left and right, drinking in all the details of this new place I am in.

There was a signage that we passed by and I wasn't able to catch up reading everything. If I saw correctly, it was probably something along the lines of 'Polo' and 'Club' and something about a 'Welcome'.

We went further into the open space and Nico banged the side of the truck to get Bash's attention.

"Bash, there is a parking space with lots of palm trees over there. We'll go by foot in Coachella Valley to see everything leisurely." Nico said at the back.

In the distance, I was beginning to see what looked like the entrance for the music festival. Nico had shown us the map of the area and it looked so much grander than what I had imagined it to be.

Somehow, I was beginning to look forward for this event as well. Back in Shalem, our family weren't exactly fond of festivals as we tend to choose working more than to have fun.

Except maybe for religious festivals as we were led to believe it was part of our duties.

There wasn't anything more important than to fill our plates with food. No carnivals nor festivity made us excited more than eating thrice a day.

And that one would be quite a feat if we could all eat.

Bash found a parking space and backed up to tuck in the truck safely into a shady area where tall palm trees loomed over.

A few moments later, the truck parked with a halt as Bash stepped on his breaks and pulled a lever that creaked, I almost thought it would break. I craned my neck to see that there was a lot of busy people going in and out, probably ones that were part of the extensive preparations.

As I have overheard from the girls, the music festival would begin tomorrow and would last for two weekends. Tomorrow's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and the same days a week after.

"Alright now, upsie-daisy. Carefully now or you will have to ruin your beautiful get-up." Nico said as he helped the girls down the truck.

I opened the door and hopped down. The heat of the sun was making me sweat and I was somehow both relieved but at the same time regretful to have agreed to wearing my thin clothing.

Relieved that the cool open air could whip at my bare skin but at the same time regretful that I would have to be exposed and get my skin burned.

"Don't we have some parasol or something?" I asked.

I mentally slapped myself for using such outdated words when I was already in the 21st century. It was a relief when nobody had pointed it out.

Umbrella.

I should have said 'umbrella'.

"Oh! I have something that might help." Becky said and she rummaged through her tiny sling bag and handed me something.

I stared at the round black spectacles that she gave me and raised a brow at her as if to ask if this was all she had to protect ourselves from the sun. She whipped herself one too in the shape of a pink heart while Suzy had her in an ombre yellow-orange.

Ali got herself a black bucket hat and I began to feel envious of it. A bonnet could be useful right now. Not spectacles as wide as my face!

"Come on now ladies and gents, this way to the entrance and I'll let you see our place first before we go on our separate little tours." Nico waved at us excitedly.

"Just make sure to never get yourselves in trouble and don't touch art exhibits. Artists can get territorial and will definitely bark and bite you when you try and get close to their babies." He added.

We approached a huge entrance that had 'WELCOME TO COACHELLA 2022' arranged in bold and bright colors in an arch above. The words were shaped in a fun and quirky font and I wondered how the organizers were able to pull off such with just their bare hands.

"The signage is 3D printed." Bash said.

"Uh… I wasn't asking." I replied as I squinted my eyes at him.

The spectacles Becky gave me were dark disks that covered about half of my face. Bash couldn't see my squint and I was a bit sad about it.

I wonder what his reaction would have been if he had seen my eyes squint at him.

"You looked like you were curious, was what I thought. Your mouth was hanging open a rabbit could definitely jump in and get comfortable." Bash said and I felt mortified.

Did I really left my mouth to open like that?

As we were about to enter into the actual event area, a man and a woman stopped us on our tracks and began asking questions.

The man was burly and was about as muscled as Levi but was much taller. The woman was smaller but she had an air of authority in her that screamed she wasn't one to mess with.

"Excuse me, you aren't allowed to come in the event area unless you have passes."

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