Chapter 1
Thirteen-year-old Karol sat on the couch, letting herself sink into the soft cushions. She held her head in her hands, trying to relieve herself of the memories that floated in and out of her mind.
Karol had just arrived with her mother and her brother in New York a few days ago after her parents broke up. (They weren't married yet)
She terribly missed her Russian home. Here, she was friendless and lonely.
She missed Auttie, her red-brown retriever, she missed her pink walls and her cat.
She missed everything...
Karol closed her eyes, trying to forget her old home and enjoy a high view of the big city.
The large 30-floored apartment building was new to her; the countertops were modern and sharp, and the walls were painted a light grey. All in all, the new home reminded her of a designer magazine.
She sighed again, still unused to the different surroundings. To her, it felt uncomfortable.
Her old home had been big and cozy- the smells and noises were familiar. She longed to go back to the past, even if it were just for a moment.
Now as she rose to her feet, she felt slightly dizzy. Karol had never been a fan of heights; and now, she was living at the top of New York!
Karol's dizziness was relieved as her mother entered the room. "Hi mom, how was work?"
"Tiresome, the hospital just fired more workers," she replied, running a hand through her thick hair. "I spent all day interviewing and being nervous- I don't want to lose my job!" She laughed and collapsed where Karol was sitting.
She reached for the glass of water on the table, flashing Karol a view of her perfectly manicured nails as she did so.
Karol frowned as she watched her mother flip out her phone and adjust her makeup, mumbling incoherent words as she applied mascara.
It was only when Karol cleared her throat awkwardly that her mother snapped her mirror shut. Her eyes widened as she looked at Karol as if she had forgotten she was there. With a tut, she leaned forward and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"How was your day?" she cooed, trying to make up for her lack of interest.
"Boring." But the truth was that Karol was thinking.
About everything, New York, Apartments, Heights, Auttie, her cat (they never named him, they just called him "Kitty"), father, her new life, her school, and so on.
With a chuckle, Mrs. Ivanov flipped her hair dramatically over her shoulder and continued,
"Oh, and modeling today was especially hard. I have a new boss, gonna be on the cover of BLUE again."
Mrs. Ivanov was quite young- twenty-seven to be exact. With her thick white-blond hair and icy blue eyes, she looked flashing.
Karol's mother drummed her fingers against her leg as she turned her attention to her daughter once again. "Well, I'm not going to be home tonight, going to Jace's. Is that fine with you?"
" Yes..." Karol grumbled, she hated when her mom went out on dates-but she couldn't blame her, her mother was only 27 after all.
Mrs. Ivanov spun around, walked into her crystal heels and out the door, blowing a kiss at Karol.
"Have a good time, I'll be back soon!"
The door shut.
Karol stared at the closed door for a moment, the familiar feeling of bitter resentment beginning to build up once more.
Shrugging it off, she turned toward the flat-screen TV and flicked it on, more out of boredom than curiosity.
Not to her surprise, the television was showing BLUE 2 and her mother's smiling face was plastered across the screen as she strode down the runway, flashing a pure white smile to frantic photographers.
Karol instantly shut off the TV, her annoyance now almost at its max.
She wandered to her room, her eyes landing on an old photo. Curious, she walked closer, gasping as she saw what the photograph contained.
From the glossy surface, a young blond haired, green eyed girl smiled up at her, waving happily.
Immediately, she felt a wave of nostalgia overwhelm her. "Oh, how I miss Russia."
Her light blond curls were shorter and her bright green eyes (from her dad) shone brighter.
Karol compared herself with her mother- they were very similar, except Isabella wore makeup and much more fashionable clothing.
"Maybe, I want to impress mom. Maybe... I should be more like her..." Karol mumbled to herself.
She stumbled to the makeup table, took one look, then walked away with a sigh.
"Well... why am I thinking this! But... Ugh! I want to be like mom... no... I'll do it...but..."
Karol argued with herself over if she should follow her mother's footsteps or not.
She decided to try.
She strolled to Mrs. Ivanov's wardrobe and opened it.
Inside there were all kinds of things: tops, crop tops, oversized ones, dresses, long ones, fluffy ones, jeans, ripped ones, short ones.
Her closet was filled with clothes, cute clothes.
Karol sighs at the sight then looks at herself, she was wearing a purple long sleeved shirt with stars and black leggings, which was, according to her mother, not cute.
She closed the door, dragged herself downstairs to eat and went to bed. Karol slowly drifted to sleep, dreaming of Russia and the home that she might never see again.
