Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 1

"Bye Hannah, have a good summer!"

"Bye!" I turned around to face my roommate Bri one last time. "Keep in touch, okay?"

"Will do!"

I threw my last moving box in the back of my brother's truck and shut the door, relieved that I was officially done with my Junior year of college.

"Ready to go?" Adam asked as I hopped into the passenger seat.

"Yeah, let's go home."

We pulled away from the curb, and I watched the campus disappear behind us in the side mirror.

"How did finals go?" Adam asked, his light brown hair poking through his baseball cap. He needed a haircut. I couldn't help but notice the 5 o'clock shadow appearing on the lower part of his face.

"Pretty good," I replied. "At least, I don't think I failed any."

He laughed, rubbing his chin. "Failing your music classes? I wouldn't even believe that."

I smiled, but he was right. Music is my passion.  It's what I'm studying at college. And a year from now, I'll have a degree in music composition.

"I still think you should audition for a part in the musical this summer." Adam said.

I laughed, thinking he was joking. "Yeah right. You know I don't act. And I definitely don't sing or dance."

"You'll never know if you don't try."

Oh, so he was serious. Adam was very supportive of my musical passion along with the rest of my family, but for some reason he seems convinced that I'm going to be a Broadway star, even though that's not the direction I'm even planning on going. What I really want to do is compose my own musical scores. And in the meantime, I help with the summer musical at home, which I've done since I was 14. Each year, I've played a different instrument. I've done violin, piano, trumpet, cello, even the drums. I hadn't been told what instrument I'd be playing this year, but I couldn't think of one I wouldn't be happy with. During the rehearsals, I usually help out with the stage crew when the orchestra isn't needed. I can go into work each day knowing there will always be something for me to do. But I've never thought about trying to act, sing, or dance though. I mean, I've done some singing in the shower, but only if I knew I was completely alone. And strangely enough, although I loved all kinds of music, I've never taken choir or voice lessons. I guess I've always enjoyed the sound of musical instruments more.

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

He looked over at me and grinned, giving me a soft punch in the shoulder. "I'm your older brother. Of course I'm always right."

I rolled my eyes. "And what are your plans for the summer?"

Adam shrugged. "Hang out with Sam and Nate. Work another summer at dad's office. The usual."

I nodded. Adam is in school to be an engineer, but like me, he has off during the summer. Unlike me, he does not work at the theatre. Instead he works part-time for my dad at his accounting office for a few months. 

Adam and I chatted with hardly a moment of silence during the two-hour drive. He pulled into the driveway of our small blue house and parked. I hopped out of the truck, but I knew better than to start unpacking. I haven't seen my parents in almost 4 months, so I knew they would be all over me when we got inside. I looked up at the white door with slightly peeling paint. It wasn't much, but it was home.

We tried to sneak in quietly, but as soon as my brother and I shut the front door behind us, my mom was already peeking at us from the kitchen, her head popping up from the recipe book she was reading.

"Hannah!" My mom called out. She ran up to me and hugged me tight enough to make me feel like my insides were being squished. "Rob, look who's home!"

My dad's head peeked around the corner. "Hey Han!"

Before I knew it, dad was squishing me too. "It's good to see you too!" I choked, running out of air.

"How were your finals?" My mom asked, as she finally let me go.

"They went well! It wasn't too much trouble."

"Good! Come in, come in. Are you hungry? I made spaghetti tonight just for you!" She said, taking my backpack from me and handing it to dad to take.

"Really?" I asked, feeling my stomach grumble. I definitely hadn't had time to eat much today since I was so busy packing up all my things. Spaghetti was my favorite.

"Absolutely."

~~~

"So, when is the first meeting for the musical?" My dad asked later that night.

"Two weeks," I said after a bite of my spaghetti. I'll have just enough time to relax until then. Are we still going to go camping this weekend?"

"Yep, we're still on. The weather looks pretty good," Dad said.

The rest of the night went by quickly. It was so amazing to be back in my hometown. I had missed my family, and even though they're only two hours away, I don't always get to see them very often.

After dinner, we sat on the couch and watched a few reruns of Jeopardy.

"What is the Czech Republic?" Adam stated, no hint of question.

Sure enough, he beat the contestants to the answer. I may have been given the gift of music, but Adam was the genius in our family. I didn't know anyone as smart as my brother, and he was so down-to-earth about it. I looked at the clock:  10:26.

"I think I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone." I said, getting off the couch and waving. "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight." They all said in slight unison.

I made my way to my room and cleared o all the boxes that said "Hannah's room" off my bed. I definitely wasn't ready to unpack everything just yet. Instead, I flopped onto my bed, and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

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12/30/16

Hi everyone! This is a new story that I'm starting. I hope you like it! Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Thanks for reading!

~Kay xoxo