Finding Family

Evalynn: The new Steps Generation

I was lying in my room making patterns out of my iron beads and trying to drown out my sisters' conversation about the first episode of Steps Reunion when the doorbell rung. To save Charlotte from having to put her phone call with Katie down to answer it I called to her I'd get it and ran down the stairs. I unlocked the door and was surprised to see Mia stood in the doorway (her being the shy twin it was normally Ash who came to ask if I wanted to go over to theirs).
"Hey Lynn, I well... we... were wondering if you wanted to come over to ours now and watch the first episode of Reunion together? If not we can do it some other time?" She asked.
"I'd love to! Give a minute to get my bear and put some shoes on!" I replied, beckoning her into the house to wait.
For my 9th Birthday Mia, Ash and I had gone into town and been to build-a-bear, the end result being we now had three bears that were sisters. I'd named mine, a regular blonde bear, Faye and had scarcely been anywhere without it in tow since (though I still took Tara the lamb with me everywhere too). We'd brought them all a couple of outfits (including a Steps inspired sparkly outfit each) over the time since we'd got them and all sorts of accessories, mine included sunglasses and a microphone that attached to her hand with a band of elastic because I thought both suited Faye Bear very well, and I could well imagine Faye herself liking them.

I grabbed Faye bear from the end of my bed where she normally sat watch over me when I slept, and searched for the matching purple dap to the one in my hand. I couldn't find it anywhere and eventually gave up, opting instead for my metallic gold ballet daps. I'd scuffed the toe on one a while ago so they'd stopped being pretty shoes to wear to parties and become just normal shoes for running around in. I pulled them on and ran to Lottie's room to let her know. "I'm going to Mia and Ash's house, tell mum when she gets home!" I called to my sister.
"Have you got your phone?" She replied.
I ran back to my room, grabbing it off my desk where it normally sat. It was a humble phone, with a flick out keyboard, which had also served as Lottie's first phone. It still worked perfectly, so it had been passed down to me when I'd turned 10 a few months ago, but no-one really messaged me on it as my best friends lived so close, so I mostly ignored it's existence. "Yep!" I called. "See you later!"
I ran down the stairs and back to Mia, shutting the door on my way out the house but not locking it because I didn't have a key of my own and Lottie was home anyway. The weather wasn't great, although I wasn't sure what I was expecting for mid September, so we ran across the park and into their house to stop ourselves getting blown away on the journey. They'd always lived just across the park from me, or at least they had for as long as either Lottie or I could remember, so it was really convenient getting to their house; it was actually quicker to walk over than to drive round. The park in the middle meant that we could easily hang out together when we were younger and be supervised from our homes. We were very lucky.

Ash had the door open before we made it up the path, and I tumbled into my best friends' house, slipping my shoes off in the doorway as I always did. I was relieved to be out the wind, I could feel how the wind was messing up my hair and I always imagined spending too much time out in the wind would make me end up with dreadlocks like Faye had worn in a few of the Steps music videos. As soon as I kicked my shoes off onto the mat, Ash embraced me tightly and I hugged her back.
"Ooooohhh... You've brought Faye along! Shouldn't she already know?" She joked as she saw the bear.
I smiled at her, "Probably, but I couldn't bring myself to watch it without her." I replied. "Can't wait to watch it, I can stop avoiding the spoilers Katie's been sending me for the last couple of days!"
"I wanna see what they all look like now!" Mia replied, bouncing and accidentally flicking her hair all over the place as she often did when she was excited.
"Mia! Watch your hair for goodness sake, it's sticking to all the picture frames!" The twins's mum called as she looked round from the living room doorway.
Mia looked round. "Oh sorry." She said, carefully brushing her hair down with her hand.
Her mum shook her head with a grin. "It's all set up, the living room's all yours girls! And don't eat all the sweets and make yourself sick Ashley." She said passing us and heading up the stairs.
Ash grinned, and led us into the living room. The curtains were drawn, so it was almost like a movie theatre, there were a couple of bowls of sweets and crisps, and we'd each been left a glass of squash. I looked at the TV screen, telling us the details of the recording of the episode and smiled at my best friends. Ash, as ever the one in control, grabbed the remote from off the table and selected the play button.
"This is it, our first experience of Steps now." Ash said as the save file for the show loaded up.
I squeezed Faye bear closer to my chest for comfort, unsure what light the show might paint my favourite people in. "Yep. Here goes." I replied.