Chapter 1: Everything is New
The room was dark. Nothing was moving and it was freezing. Suddenly a beam of car lights make a few things visible for a blink of an eye. There was a beautiful wooden dinner table with a bowl of- the light has disappeared. There was a slight rustling of a key with at least a dozen of keychains. The key opened the lock and the big old wooden door swung open. Four people stood there with bags, more than you can count. The mysterious people entered the room and one of the figures moved towards the wall and switched the light on. It flickered for roughly five seconds, but the light now shone a bright beam onto the wooden table. Now you could identify what stood on the table, it was a white ceramic bowl with many drawings on it. In that were dozens of fruits and a hand grabbed a banana. “Aunty Marija has even left us fruits here!“, said Magdalena, “Oh isnt this- Kids get off your phones! It is our first day in the new city and all you want to do is be on your phones? Michael, Janina, please.” Janina stood up rolling her eyes. She had a grey sweater and a white t-shirt on. Her sweater has accidentally fallen off her shoulder as she stood up, so she jerked it. It worked. The clothing piece was there where it belonged to. Janina gasped loudly. Full of surprise and excitement she yells, “Oh my god! Yana_XOX has the exact same table! Doesnt it cost like thousands of dollars?” Magdalena was utterly confused. She gave a helpless look to her husband, Rick. The man with broad shoulders and an all-black outfit glanced over at his wife shrugging. “It is a nice table isnt it?“, said the dad not knowing what else to do. “Anyways, kids get ready for bed it is already late. Tomorrow is the first full day in the city! Isnt that exciting?” Michael and Janina groaned, but did as their mother had said. They both walked to what they believed to be the bathroom. Turns out they entered the washing room, quickly turning away they started shuffling up the stairs, trying to find the bathroom.
Magdalena frowned and pointed up to the second floor, but then noticed that they already went upstairs. Rick pulled out a chair and the mother sat down carefully. She then shuffled with her chair towards the wooden table, where a beam of light shone down. Rick took a seat right next to his wife. He smiled patting her back. The middle-aged man frowned slightly then shook his head and spoke, “Hey, it will be alright. It’s a new city, you will definitely enjoy this more than out in the countryside. And about the kids- don’t worry. I know for sure that the both of them will find many good friends.” Magdalena looked up at her husband, smiled a bit and then stopped. She was too busy fighting the thoughts which would gobble up her mind. Rick noticed that and gave his wife a tight hug.
Back to Michael and Janina, they were currently fighting over the rooms. Janina blocked the doorway to a room Michael supposedly really wanted. “That room has a bigger window, Janina. Please! I want more light. You were always complaining about the sunlight annoying you in your room”, he yelled, as he was trying to squeeze past his sister who wouldnt give up the fight. The girl took her brother’s head into her hand and pushed him away. He was weaker than her and built skinny. She laughed, “If you want to impress boys in this city, you gotta get stronger.” Michael could not care less. He nodded, but slyly he ran off into the room he wanted so badly. Janina noticed that and screamed up, “You little-” Let’s not get in too much detail what she had called him. She chased him across the room, which had a great view on the moon through the big window, a rather uncomfortable looking bed and a desk. It looked very unwelcoming, but for some reason this room has enchanted Michael into wanting it. “Okay, I have a compromise. How about rock, paper, scissors and the winner gets to keep the room for 2 years and then we switch”, said Michael out of breath after his sister has been chasing him for 5 minutes. “After 2 years I probably will move out, dumbie!” “How about one year then?” Janina thought for a second, her chin in her hand. “Deal”, she said slowly after thoroughly thinking about the offer. On the count of three they started. It was an intense game, it decided the fortune of the next year. It was 1:2 for Janina and the chances were low for Michael, but after two very exciting and stressful rounds, the boy has won the room. His sister cursed and gave out a loud groan. He decided to hug her. “It’s alright, you can visit my room at any time- as long as you knock”, Michael offered trying to calm Janina down. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ll take tha as a ‘Thank you my lovely brother!’”
After the fight about the room, the both of them went to the bathroom, which they had finally found, and brushed their teeth getting ready to sleep. Little did they know, tomorrow will be an exciting day in the new city. As they got ready for bed Michael proposed, “Uh, Janina?” She looked up at him with an intrigued expression on her face. “How about we have a ‘sleepover’ in my room tonight? It would be kind of fun wouldn’t it?” Janina inspected Michael through and through to see if he was playing any of his usual tricks. “Sure, sounds a lot of fun to me”, she paused, “I have a brilliant idea! How about we steal some of the snacks from the kitchen at night and watch musical movies. Like the DVD of Heathers, Mean Girls, Wicked and so on? I mean you have the DVD-Player from the car with you, don’t you?” Michael nods with a wide grin spread across his whole face. The siblings take the rather comfortable matress out of Janina’s room and put it in the middle of the uncomfortable seeming room, which had a slight personal touch of Michael’s pride flag dangling on the wall next to the bed. With a thud the matress was on the floor. The boy got some blankets from below telling his mom he would like to have some blankets so he does’nt freeze. It is the middle of spring, but after an exhausting trip his mother isn’t the brightest candle on the cake. And so, Janina and Michael had everything for their sleepover. There was one thing missing, the DVDs. They were in one of the boxes downstairs and since their dad was for sure not on the toilet anymore, they would have a problem with getting them. The siblings sat there staring at the roof. “I miss Jonathan”, Michael said to break the silence. Janina was about to say something mean, but realised that this would be inappropriate at this moment, since Michael was seriously sad. “I mean he didn’t love or even like me to begin with, but he was hot”, he continued, “His presence made me happy...” Janina sat up and hugged Michael tightly. She told him that he would find a new crush here in this huge city. Suddenly the light lit up in the hallway to Michael’s room, which was located at the end of that hall. The siblings looked at eachother panicking and literally praying that their parents wouldn’t allow them to stay. The dad said from the opposite end of the hallway, “Goodnight Kids, don’t stay awake for too long. Mom and me have our room downstairs!”
Janina and Michael celebrated silently. They knew that as soon their parents said goodnight they would go to sleep. That meant that they can get everything they need from downstairs. After waiting for about three minutes, the siblings decided to go down the stairs and get the DVDs and chips. Michael opened the door of his room and glanced down over the railing of the hallway. The lights have been completely switched off and the living room was empty. He signalled “All clear” to his sister in the sign language they had made up when they were younger. Janina got out of the room and the both of them crept down trying to be as quiet as possible. Michael got the box with the DVDs and Janina opened the cupboard carefully and took out the chips. Slowly but surely the siblings went up to Michael’s room and close the door silently behind them, which was a masterpiece since door squeaks louder than an airplane turbine, or at least that is what Michael has said. He switched on the DVD-player and the opening to Heathers has started. “Oh, seems that I still have the Heathers DVD in-“, he said getting interrupted by Janina, “That was the last thing we watched, dumbie.” Michael sheepishly chuckled at his mistake. He said that he has the mind of a gold fish: He forgets what happened in the last 3 seconds. Michael was captured by the story and sang along to some songs he knew. Janina was more passionate than him, since Heathers was her favorite musical. She seemed that the story was so capturing and relatable. Michael on the other hand preferred Wicked, he enjoyed the character development and the depth of the music. His dream is to be the first genderbent Elphaba on Stage. Janina wants to be casted for Heathers as well. Both of them have great chances to achieve their dreams, both sing great and fit the vocal range perfectly. Dancing is their absolute talent. Both of them have it naturally. Who knows? Maybe they will get casted for their dream roles. As the musical comes to an end, Michael searches through the box of DVDs for the Wicked DVD. “I can’t find it”, he mumbled. “Oh, come on. I’ll find it”, Janina replied knowing that she will for sure find the DVD. The girl rummaged through the box searching for a green DVD cover. After what felt like ages for Michael, she has found it. “See, I always find everything.” “Thank you so much, sis! I love you!” They put in the DVD and it starts playing. Michael was glad that their parents had bought the DVD of Wicked in London, since it was only sold in 2003, where Michael wasn’t even born.
At the end of the first act Michael has fallen asleep, just as Janina has. It was a quarter after 2am, so that is no big surprise both of them had drifted off into the land of dreams. I’m so happy they went to sleep, else they would have missed the surprise, which awaits them tomorrow.
