Chapter 1 - A Yellow-and-Purple Striped Shopping Bag

I WAS NOT in the mood for strawberry gum.

I declined as the person sitting next to me offered me a piece. Of course, they couldn't have known that chewing gum in this situation could be possibly fatal for me. Yes, fatal, either because (1) this road wasn't smooth and I could feel every dent in the concrete as the taxi rumbled along, so chances of the gum flying the wrong way were high, or (2) I was so nervous that I would think about how I'd almost missed the bus here, panic, and inhale the gum by accident. Either scenario ended with my choking on that sweet piece of strawberry gum, and I was not about to commit social suicide like that, thank you very much.

So instead I focused on the address that I had scribbled in pen onto my left palm: 111 Baker Street, L1T XXX, Bayport. I could barely go two seconds without glancing down at this address before looking back up, as if staring at it could make it arrive any faster (it wouldn't, I tried).

Before I knew it, though, we'd arrived, and after I paid the driver and the taxi rumbled off, I found myself staring up at the house at 111 Baker Street. It was a big house, a sturdy three-story residence secluded on a neatly trimmed lawn that was slightly yellowing, the way grass gets when it can't stand the summer heat. The neighbouring houses were spaced luxuriously, with this lawn ending and the lawn of the other house starting at least ten meters away. It would be a pain to mow this lawn, I imagined, but it had been visibly taken care of with love and a critical-eye. The house had beautiful arched windows with folding wood doors stained a slight pink, while the front door was a beautiful bright blue. The brick was mostly beige, and the roof had cadet blue shingles. The house radiated something, an x-factor, something pleasant that I couldn't pinpoint.

I hoped this was the correct destination. Hopefully, English hadn't changed overnight and Baker Street didn't read Airfryer Street or something.

If this was the wrong house, then I didn't know what I could do, because I only had enough money left for one meal and a single bus ticket. I guessed I would probably have to haul my belongings and become homeless until I saved enough money to rent a straw hut.

I walked up to the front door, but before I could even set my bags down to ring the doorbell, the door was thrown open. A chubby woman with short, curly red hair quickly sized me up, her kind eyes flashing with recognition and warmth.

"Cora?"

"Aunt Cheryl!" I exclaimed, stretching my arms for an embrace, just slightly awkwardly because my bags were still in my hands. She laughed, pushing forward and crushing me in a hug. "Oof," I chuckled as my bags slipped out my arms forcefully and landed with a thud.

"The last time I saw you, you were obsessed with Twilight and had never-ending conspiracy theories about vampires," Aunt Cheryl said with endearment, tearing up slightly.

I winced and gave her a faux-irritated look as we broke off the hug and pulled my bags into the house. "You really could have avoided that piece of non-information about me."

She snickered. "I didn't mind them, honestly. That sparkling vampire was quite..." She made a chef's kiss gesture and I gasped. "Aunt Cheryl!" She just laughed it off, and I shook my head amusedly as I followed her into the house.

The house was nice and tidy, with polished wooden floors and a graceful banister that curved up to the second floor. Right after the entrance was a small living room, and then it split into the kitchen doorway and another hallway that led to the other living room and the staircase. I caught sight of a pretty black and white striped glass vase and I mentally took note of it. It looked exactly like the type of thing that I would accidentally knock over on any good day.

After Aunt Cheryl inquired about my parents, she started making some tea for us. "Also, Cora," she started, and I already knew exactly what she was going to talk about. "You remember that I also have three other people living here, hmm?"

I nodded. I mean, I was slightly more on the shy side, so sharing a house with some random strangers, even though it was my own aunt's house, made me feel just slightly nervous. Would I have free reign around the house or would I have to behave myself formally? Would we split chores? Could I even raid the snack cabinets late at night if I felt like it? In the hurry to get here, I hadn't even thought about any of this, but now it was just flooding my brain like someone opened the Hoover Dam in there.

"You'll love them," Aunt Cheryl assured me, and I sighed thankfully. Then she casually continued, "They're the same age as you. You'll have a blast here!"

I choked on the excess of air that I'd inhaled, then tried to put on a normal face. "Same age?" I coughed lightly, a complete epitome of unaffectedness, "Nice." Inside, however, my stomach was somersaulting and my esophagus was doing power yoga.

I had been expecting people either older or younger than me; I was good at dealing with them and they usually connected more easily with me. The last time I tried to make new friends with a person my age, it was at a gothic frat party and she'd asked me whether I was "a sub or a dom" and I'd had no clue what she was talking about so I'd replied with an enthusiastic, "Subway sandwiches are amazing! I'm not sure I've tried a 'dom' before, though." She'd just cackled and said that I could have a career in stand up comedy and then sashayed off, a shining pair of handcuffs dangling from a wrist.

Sad times, really.

Aunt Cheryl continued on about her daily routine, and I listened half-heartedly. I suddenly wondered if I would have to do some more sub/dom research.

She then passed me a cup of her signature chilled milk tea, which I took gratefully. My throat still felt weird from my choke-on-nothing attack, so I carefully took a sip from the cup. I sighed. "This is exactly what I needed," I admitted, cupping the mug in my hands and taking another sip of the tea. Then I shot a mischievous look at my aunt. "This is actually what I came for, you know. Aunt Cheryl, you know I only hang out with you because of your supercool chai skills, right?"

I pretended to flip my hair over my shoulder and then gave her a sassy look with pursed duck lips. Knowing how crazy I looked, we both burst out laughing. Aunt Cheryl's laugh filled the kitchen, loud and fun-loving and familiar. I missed this, I thought wistfully.

I opened my mouth to ask whether or not I could pull off the pouty duck-look when I heard a noise outside. It seemed to be coming from the entrance, and I glanced up from my tea cup in a panic. Were there robbers outside, waiting until we were in our most vulnerable state of being half-drunk on tea? I only had small gold hoops on, and then the next valuable thing on me was my beloved pair of purple-and-white striped Hannah Montana socks. But Aunt Cheryl barely batted a lash as she poured another cup of tea for herself. "It's one of them, your new housemates. Probably Jolene," she told me, chuckling, and I nodded absentmindedly. There was no visible threat to my Hannah Montana socks, and I sighed.

I was just taking another sip of the delicious tea when the door opened and suddenly, all I could hear was a loud blaring of that boy band's song, "What Makes You Beautiful," and a voice singing loudly along to it.

I gasped and choked- on my tea this time- pulling the cup away from my mouth as the drink quickly surged down the wrong way. Oh my sweet little gosh, I thought as I hacked away. They're going to think- no, realize- that I'm a deranged and feeble infant that likes to dress like an adult and occasionally gets high by snorting tea powder.

"The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed," I heard from the hallway as I wheezed.

"Are you okay, Cora?" Aunt Cheryl gasped worriedly, coming over to thump my back. This is going to be embarrassing to the exponent of embarrassing, I thought desperately. I held a thumb up to signal that I was okay, and Aunt Cheryl moved back but glanced at me with concern.

Now it was a "Nah na-nah nah, na-nah nah nah nah nah," that I heard. Finally, the voice and its owner entered the kitchen. A girl my age, twenty-one or so years old, walked in with headphones around her neck, a blaring phone in one hand, and a bright yellow-and-purple striped shopping bag hanging from her other arm. She had shoulder length brown hair that had some black streaks through it, and her eyes crinkled as she smiled at Aunt Cheryl. Then, she rushed to pause the music once she caught sight of me.

"Cheryl!" she gasped in fake-annoyance, pocketing her phone effortlessly, "you should have told me!" The girl glanced at me again, taking me in. "And who do we have here?"

"Jolene, this is my niece, Cora. Remember I was telling you about her?" Then Aunt Cheryl turned to me. "Cora dear, this is Jolene D'Sha." I hurriedly put my tea cup on the counter and swallowed before I spoke, hoping I didn't give away that I was choking like a greedy snake that'd eaten a deer whole just seconds before.

"Hi, I'm Cora Turwal," I smiled as I reached a hand out to shake, immediately feeling moronic about repeating my name even though Aunt Cheryl just told her what it was.

"Hi..." Jolene faltered as she stepped closer. She grasped my hand firmly, but then her eyes squinted like she was trying to remember something. "Wait, Cora Turwal?" She looked me up and down, not in a snooty way, but as if she was actually taking in my socks and pants and shirt separately and putting something together in her mind. Jolene's eyes widened with recognition. "Cora...Did you go to Pine Bridge Middle School?" she asked, practically jumping with excitement.

I nodded, confused, when suddenly it hit me and I recognized the girl standing in front of me. "Oh my gosh," I breathed in wonder, a surprised but genuine smile taking over my face. "Jolene D'Sha, it's been so long!"

"I thought I recognized you from somewhere! The last name got me. Topper Turwal, everyone used to say, remember?" she asked, and I grinned sheepishly. Jolene turned to Aunt Cheryl. "Can you believe this? Cheryl, I never would have expected your niece to be my classmate," she said, putting an arm around my shoulders.

Aunt Cheryl laughed in wonder, setting a hand on both our shoulders. "Life can be like that, sometimes," she said. "In fact, this one time I bumped into this old admirer of mine at a small party the other day..."

"Cheryl!" Jolene hooted, raising her eyebrows at me in delight. I smiled back, still not recovered from the shock of Jolene D'Sha.

"So," I started as Aunt Cheryl started making more tea for Jolene, "how's life so far? How are things with you?"

Jolene ran a hand through her hair and leaned back on the counter. "Not too shabby, to be honest. After that business degree, my friends and I have been just living the bachelor life, you know what I mean? Impromptu camping trips, crashing pub parties, midnight gaming...It's been wild," she smiled at me. I nodded enthusiastically like I even knew the spelling of 'bachelor life'. She slightly tilted her head. "What about you, Cora?"

I opened my mouth to blurt the first answer that popped into my head: Oh, I'm continuing my higher studies in biology. I also just learned this new word game online, and I'm absolutely addicted to it. It's supposed to be good for the brain, you know, so I thought why not! >Insert knowledgeable and elegant laugh here.<

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