𝚆𝙰𝙸𝙳𝙼𝙰𝙽𝙽𝚂 𝙷𝙴𝙸𝙻 ,, magnus nielsen

chapter one|antisocialist

Chapter One

antisocialist

It was another day at the Nielsen house. Well, another morning. Magnus and I had spent the night before binging every Stephen King movie we could illegally download with German subtitles. Unfortunately, Magnus Nielsen snores. And his feet are cold. So, I got little to no sleep at all. Wonderful.

The alarm on my phone went off around seven, and half an hour later, Magnus was still very much asleep.

After my uncle went missing four years ago, I found I was spending more and more time with the Nielsens. Ulrich had been close with my dad and my uncle growing up, as was my mom with Katharina. They were like my second family. Magnus and I have been inseparable since we were kids. I can't think of a time when we haven't been there for each other.

"Magnus, wake the hell up."

He groaned, rolling over and burying his head in the pillows.

"Magnus Tronte Nielsen, come on!" I hit him with a pillow

"Five more minutes, Liese!" He shouted

"No, not five more minutes! We have an anthropology test this morning!"

"Fine, I'm up!" The blonde boy sat up in the bed, his blonde hair sticking out everywhere. I would never admit it out loud, but it looked dreamy. But Magnus and I could never be more than friends. He spent most of last year practically stalking Franziska Doppler, which almost made things really weird between us.

I hit him with the pillow once more for good measure.

"What time did we fall asleep last night?" He mumbled

"Halfway through The Shining." I laughed, tossing him a shirt from the floor "Definitely after midnight."

"Jesus." Magnus stumbled out of bed, almost tripping on our blanket and pillow fort form last night, his laptop still splayed on the ground. "Race you downstairs?"

I grinned "You're on, Nielsen."

Without warning, I took off down the stairs, almost knocking Magnus' younger brother Mikkel over.

"Sorry Mikkel!" I shouted, tearing down the stairs, Magnus close on my heels.

At the bottom of the staircase, Katharina was attempting to walk up the stairs, and I had to jump down a few steps to avoid bumping in to her.

"Careful, Annaliese!" Katharina shouted as I tried to regain my footing on the laminate floor.

"Good morning Katharina!"

I stumbled my way into the living room when Magnus grabbed on to my belt and tackled me to the carpet floor. This was a regular occurrence in our race to the dining room. Usually, Magnus won.

"Jesus Christ, Magnus!" I shouted between laughter as we tripped over each other trying to get up

"Don't kill each other before breakfast." Ulrich laughed from the dining room

"Can't make any guarantees!" Magnus shouted, pulling on the leg of my jeans, causing me to fall sideways on to the couch

"Your son snores like a tractor trailer!" I laughed, getting to my feet and pushing Magnus back onto the floor

"I believe it." Ulrich laughed "Have you seen Martha?"

"I think she's still asleep." I was almost at the table when Magnus picked me up by the waist and spun around so that he sat down first.

"I win." The blonde said, picking up a croissant.

"You cheated." I laughed, ruffing Magnus' hair before getting a glass of apple juice

Ulrich shook his head "You guys take this too seriously."

"What can I say? It's a cutthroat business."

"Did I miss the morning entertainment?" Martha asked, sauntering into the kitchen

"Magnus won this morning, but that's okay. I'll get him back."

Katharina and Mikkel came into the dining room together. Katharina turned on the radio, something she did quite often in the mornings.

"Today marks four years since the disappearance of nature photographer Zacharias Kruspe in the Winden Caves. Four years later, and there are still no answers as to what happened to the forty-one-year-old."

I reached under the table and grabbed Magnus' hand. Uncle Z was still a touchy subject. I could tell Ulrich was bothered as well. After all, they had been close friends in high school.

Nobody ever leaves this town.

I'm going to get out of this town, Anna-bear. I'm going to see the world.

"Katharina, could you please change the station?" Ulrich asked, sensing my discomfort around the topic

"Oh, of course. Sorry dear." Katharina patted me gently on the shoulder.

Since the incident, I had become 'the girl whose uncle went missing in the caves'. People who didn't know Annaliese Kruspe knew 'the girl whose uncle went missing in the caves'. I hated it. The only thing I hated more was watching the disappearance tear my parents apart. I spent more time with the Nielsens and the Kahnwalds than I did with my own family.

"What are you kids up to today?" Katharina asked

"Anthropology test this morning, after school I'm teaching guitar lessons at the middle school, and later we have a candlelight vigil thingy at the caves for Uncle Z."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Magnus offered

"You don't have to."

"No, no we'll be there." Ulrich said, putting down the newspaper he was reading "Just tell us what time. Have your father call me. Zacharias was important to me as well."

"Guys, we should get going." Martha interrupted. "Bartosz wants to meet us halfway, and then bike with us."

"Have a great day!" Katharina called as we walked out the door

"I'm sorry about that entire thing getting awkward." Martha said "Bartosz didn't really text me, I just figured you wanted to get out of there."

"Thanks, Mars." I grinned, picking up my bike "At least we're early. Maybe we can go down to the train tracks, get stoned like we used to?" I suggested to Magnus

He shrugged "Sounds good to me. I need to cram for anthro anyways."

One thing you would never know about Magnus just by looking at him; he was a surprisingly good student. He just hated studying.

Which is how we ended up getting high at the train tracks while studying for anthropology.

"Magnus, come on. It's anthropology. You have to devote more time to reviewing." I harped, exhaling a cloud of smoke

"It's not like I want a career in anthropology. I took it because-"

"Because Franziska was taking it, I know. You practically stalked her all last year."

"And now look where it got us."

"You could have asked her for help."

"But I wanted you to help."

I took another drag. "Five more minutes, and then we rally need to be at the school."

It was always about Franziska. I wanted him to see me the same way he saw her.