chapter 2

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I was basically standing in the middle of the apartment. I noticed how my love for my home in Frankfurt was growing. Where I stood, there was a small mat for shoes. As a separation, there were black wooden beams between the ceiling and the floor, which was actually stylish. I walked around the wooden beams. There was a bed against the wall, windows, a small metal cabinet, and a desk, with another window above it. Then, I went through the desk into a small room where I could barely turn around, a sink with a base cabinet underneath, a hanging cabinet above, next to two hot plates and a small fridge. Hey! There was a microwave standing there.

"Wow.. This is small. How do you manage?" I asked Emily. "I have a slightly bigger room.. But my parents pay quite a bit of money."

I should have guessed that. Well, I felt right at home. "So, I have to go downstairs now." Emily stood on one foot and then the other. She seemed uncomfortable. "I have to give my first speech as a spokesperson later and I still have a lot to sort out. I would be happy if you could come by later." - "Yeah, sure. We'll see." I felt totally lost.

When Emily left, I looked around again. It was practically screaming for a shopping tour; it looked terrible here.

The very first thing I did was take out my laptop and plug it in. My phone battery had been dead for a while. I left it charging. Next, I hung and folded my clothes in the metal cabinet, and finally, I put up the pictures I had. There were two: one of Tanja and me and one of my mother. Then my ancient laptop finally decided to finish booting up. I heard the Skype ringtone. I answered Tanja. "My goodness, I thought with your luck, the plane had crashed. You have several texts from your mother," she said directly. "Phone battery dead," I commented as an explanation. "A girl picked me up who speaks fluent German. And I just met a student who introduced himself." She obviously perked up. "Did he look good?" I groaned in annoyance. "There seems to be some party downstairs or something. The girl asked me if I wanted to come down." Tanja yawned as she replied, "Then just go!"

"I. At a party." was my entire explanation. "Yeah, but this way you'll get to know people more easily, and tomorrow school won't be so bad."

The idea wasn't so stupid after all. It was much more relaxed, and I already recognized some faces, and they recognized me. "Yeah.. You probably have a point." I stood up. "Is it okay if we talk again tomorrow?" She yawned again. "Of course, little hedgehog. I'm dog-tired anyway." We said our goodbyes, and then I changed my clothes. I swapped my red sweater and leggings for a black sweater and leggings. I really had variety. I quickly brushed my hair and looked in the mirror. I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes. Huge, they made me look like a frog. Dark circles were slowly forming under my muddy green eyes; it was getting better and better.

I tied my hair into a bun and went outside. I looked over the balcony onto the courtyard, and I saw some people repeatedly carrying things into the auditorium: large boxes, tables, and chairs. I felt a bit like Baby from Dirty Dancing as I walked down the stairs, except I didn't have to inform any parents that I was just looking around, and it was raining like crazy.

I walked under the awning and then crossed the wet ground towards the auditorium, and then I was here.

It actually looked like something out of a movie. A typical American gymnasium. I walked through a few people and had to apologize here and there when I was in someone's way or walked into someone. They looked at me with furrowed brows because they didn't know me. "Oh, Mari, there you are!" Emily came towards me, looking a bit feverish and totally nervous. I smiled slightly. "I don't like parties, but I thought I could be of some help." And that was even true; my helper syndrome was very pronounced. "Hmm. No, not really." She turned around. "The actual party starts in an hour." She handed me her clipboard. "Maybe you can go over my speech again." Oh God. My English was barely enough for talking to people; who knows what dialogues she had in there?!
"There's an empty chair. Feel free to sit down." She practically pushed me onto that lonely chair. "I need to sort out a few things like the lights and microphone, I'll be right back." 
I watched her as she walked up the stairs to the stage and disappeared behind the blue curtain. 
I let my gaze wander further. A shorter, stocky older man stood there; he had a balding head and a beard, definitely the principal. He was discussing something with someone. My gaze moved on. 
To a tall boy with long, wild black hair, which wasn’t entirely accurate since he had shaved the sides. He had to bend down to the principal. He was wearing a black muscle shirt with a black denim vest adorned with several buttons. Torn black pants that ended in boots. I only realized I was staring at the guy when our eyes met. He had piercing bright green eyes; my goodness, was he a demon or something similar? Who has eyes like that?! His eyebrow was pierced, just like his lip. 
He opened his mouth, probably to ask why I was looking so dumbfounded, then furrowed his brow and listened to the principal again. "Mari!" I jumped slightly; I could have sworn I literally bounced in my chair. "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you," Emily said. "How's my speech?" I stammered when she asked me that. "Honestly, I was just looking around the hall and found the principal. That guy there is the principal, right?" She glanced up at the stage. "Yes, exactly." "And... who is the boy next to him?" I tried to ask as casually as possible, even though I didn't even know why I wanted to make it seem casual. "That's Mason Chaplin," she said, pointing at him. "He's the singer of the school band. He's a friend of my boyfriend. My boyfriend plays the bass guitar." I was amazed. "No offense, but you don't come across as if your boyfriend is a member of a rock band," I said, and she laughed. "It's fine. But it's the truth." 
Then something else came to mind; I almost reluctantly looked away from Mason. "How come you speak German so well?" 
She smiled. "I'm from Germany." 
I probably had wide eyes. "My dad is a successful lawyer, and my mom models here in the States now." She pulled a chair closer and sat down. "And you?" I laughed nervously. "Well, I can’t compete with that. My mom is a nurse." 
"And your dad?" 
"I have no idea." It was the truth, and I didn’t miss my dad. How can I miss something I don’t know? 
Emily accepted that without further questions, for which I was grateful. "And you? What do you want to do once you can work?" 
"I want to be a nurse too. But in the maternity ward. And you?" 
"I have no idea. I'm interested in organizing things. But who knows where I'll end up later?" At that moment, she was called and had to help. "Okay..." Now I really felt lost, and from the sound of it, there was a storm brewing outside. 
Great.

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