chapter two - a winter's tale

Instructions

Chapter Two - Onyx's POV We still have another four hours of our six hour long drive. I sit in the seat right behind the driver’s seat, and break out of my zoned-out state to the Hamilton music. Guns and ships is playing, and I couldn’t help but fantasize standing on stage and singing it in front of a crowd. It is only my biggest dream ever to be an actor on broadway. I look around the car; Mom is in the front seat driving, Evan is in the passenger seat gaming away on his laptop, Nora is sitting behind him journaling in her notebook, Mama is sitting next to Nora reading, and Caleb is sitting across from me in the back while watching what I’m assuming is Anne with an E. I close my book, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, even though we haven’t arrived yet. Reading gets boring after you’ve been doing it for hours. I absolutely love Shakespeare’s plays. I just love acting in general. The High School we’re gonna be going to is putting on a production of A Winter’s Tale for their winter show, and I intend to get the part of Perdita. Even if I do identify as enby, the lead female role is my goal. “Hey, Caleb?” I whisper-ask him. “Yeah, what’s up, Onyx?” He replies in a whisper because I’m whispering, pausing his show and taking the headphones off his brunet head. “Do you think you could convince Mom to get us McDonald’s?” I suggest, noticing the brightly-colored restaurant in the distance. Their juicy fries called to me when I saw them on a billboard about a mile away, and Caleb doesn’t ask for a lot of things; meaning it’s pretty much a guaranteed yes. “Good idea,” Caleb responds. “Hey, mom? Could we stop for McDonald’s? I’m hungry.” “Sure! I could go for a burger.” Mom answers, pulling into the parking lot. Caleb, Nora, Mama, and I cheer. Yes, even Mama. Evan just continues gaming on his Nintendo Switch. The car stops, and we all get out. I think it would have been easier using the drive-thru, but this works. Evan even gets out, reluctantly leaving his switch in the front seat. We walk inside, and I order some fries and an ice cream cone. Everybody else orders what they want, and then we find a table to sit down at while we’re waiting for our food. Caleb starts unsuccessfully making origami out of the floppy brown napkins out of sheer boredom, so the others initiate conversation. “That reminds me,” Nora says, meeting Mom and Mama’s eyes. “I’m sixteen now, would you let me get a job at the McDonald’s in the town we’re moving to? What’s it called again…Greenville?” “Why do you need our permission to get a job? You do you, sweetie.” Mama laughs, looking eagerly towards the counter the whole time. “Well, I just think it would be a little weird if I got a job that y’all didn’t know about.” Nora explains. “It’s fine if you get a job, Nor.” Mom says, smiling. “What even is our new town like, anyways?” Evan questions glumly. He sat leaning back in the booth, arms crossed. “I know they’re gonna be putting on a production of A Winter’s Tale at our High School!” I chirp excitedly. “There’s a painter’s club at the school, too!” Caleb adds. “Is there gonna be anything for me?” Evan grumbles, slumping farther down in his seat. “If you like Christmas, yes,” Mama answers, scrolling through her phone. “They are very well-known for their extravagant Christmas celebrations.” She holds out her phone to show us an instagram post of one of their Christmas parades. “Mama, we already know they’re famous for the Christmas festivity. We don’t need more pictures, we’ll see it firsthand when we’re there.” Nora explains. With that, our food is ready, and Mama jumps up as they call out our names. She brings back our food on a red tray, and we all dig in, talking about random things while doing so. Once we’re done eating, we all pile in the car again and set off for our weird Christmas town, our new home. As soon as I sit down, I dive back into my book, devouring each page. The new house comes into view a few hours later. It has a victorian style, and is yellow with white trim. There’s a porch in the front, with wooden steps leading up the the white double doors entrance. Even though we’ve already visited this place multiple times and I’ve seen just about a million pictures, I still love it. I step out of the car and breathe in our new house, our new life. Everyone else is busy gathering up their stuff and heading inside. Enthusiastic Caleb, with his short brown hair, cargo pants, mushroom t-shirt, and green flannel, runs in immediately. I have the urge to run after him, but wait for Nora instead. Evan walks up the drive next, with his ruffled brown hair, sweatpants, and that generic minecraft creeper hoodie. Then Nora, with her short brown hair, pajama pants with a witchy moon and sun pattern, and an oversized navy blue hoodie. (continued in notes and credits)