Hello Sunshine

Tuesday morning couldn’t come quickly enough. I’ve been out of my skin with excitement ever since Charlotte told me about the interview. The only thing that could, and is managing to, ruin my happy disposition is packing.

“Ugg; I don’t even know what I want to pack.” I moan to my younger sister Evangeline, or Evie as I so affectionately refer to her as. She’s standing in the middle of my bedroom, looking around at the clothes, accessories, and suitcases strewn about it. She just smiles and shakes her head at me, keeping silent.

I moan again throwing my self onto my twin sized bed, rolling unto my back and hanging my head over the edge so that I can look at her upside-down.

“I think,” she starts, picking up a few shirts that are closest to her, “that you should make a list of what you need. Then start packing and once you get an item into a suitcase, check it off the list. That always works for me, anyway.” She shrugs nonchalantly as she continues to pick up my clothes.

I just lay there, not motivated enough to pack, make a list, or do anything else for that matter. “That’s a good idea.” I comment, reaching down and running my fingers through my hair as it cascades down to the floor like a waterfall. I continue to watch her as she picks up a few suitcases and lines them up to the left of me, closest to the door.

“How about I go get us some green tea ice cream and you get start on packing.” She says rhetorically, setting down the pile of clothes she’s collected onto the Victorian styled high-back chair sitting in the corner of my room. I watch her as she walks out of the room and down the hall, disappearing down the staircase of our townhouse.

I sigh, rolling my head so that I can look up at the wood ceiling. “Packing.” I whisper to myself, covering my eyes with my pale hands. I lie there unmoving for a few moments; thinking about noting and listening to my shallow breathing. Suddenly, with a burst of realization, I leap to my feel, turning in a circle until I find my alarm clock. “Oh dear Lordy.” I say in a quite, panicky voice. The clock reads 11:30am.

I stare down the pile of clothing still sitting on my chair for a moment, trying to think of what to start with.

Paper. Pencil. Paper. Pencil. Or some other writing utensil.

I scan my room looking for paper of some, any, kind and a writing utensil. Laying on my vanity, underneath my plane ticket and passport, is a blue notebook and an orange pen. I walk over and grab them before walking back over to the edge of my bed. I sit down, opening the notebook to the first clean page as I do so.

Underwear, t-shirts, bras, jeans, skirts, sweatshirts, p.js, socks…

I hurriedly scribble out a list in my chicken scratch called hand writing and sit there for a moment. To think, by this time tomorrow I’ll be in Los Angeles, the city of angels, with a band known round the world. A clip of them winning at the EMA runs through my head.

The Teutonic triumph that is… TOKIO HOTEL!

I smile, recalling how excited I was. Jumping up and down, screaming, almost impaling Evie with the remote in my excitement. I laugh, standing up and walking over to my closet. I open it with one rough push; placing my hands on my hips and leaning my weight on one leg as I stare at all of my clothes.

“T-shirts…” I murmur as I run my hand along my tops. With a professional eye, I pull out three t-shirts; gently, but quickly, taking them off of their hangers and tossing them into the suitcases Evangeline had lined up next to my bed for me. Taking a few pairs of jeans off their hangers, I walk over and set them in one suitcase.

One suitcase for clothes, one for hair, make-up and other toiletries, and my carry on for my laptop, camera, and notebooks. I sigh, checking “jeans” and “t-shirts” off of my list, glancing back over at the foreboding pile of clothes still sitting silently on my high-back.

“It’s nice to see that you’re actually doing something instead of just lying there waiting me.” I hear Evie say from behind me.

“It is, isn’t it?” I answer, not turning to look at my 19-year-old sister. The floorboards creek as she walks closer to me, peering down into my suitcases.

“You still have a ways to go,” she comments, sitting herself down unto my bed with two bowls of green ice cream in her hands. I look at her. Her honey blonde hair is as long as mine, the only difference is that she has hers pulled away from her face. All throughout our lives, people have always asked if we’re twins, that’s how similar we look. With only one year in our age differences, she’s been my best friend and worst enemy.

She digs into her bowl of frozen goodness as she positions herself more comfortably onto my bed. “Yeah,” I say absent mindedly, fingering a leaf of paper in my notebook. I blink a few times before refocusing on the task at hand. As I begin to dig through a pile of clothes, I listen to Evie set my bowl of ice cream down onto the nightstand and continue eating hers.

“Underwear.” She suddenly says. I pause, looking over my shoulder at her.

“What?” I question, wrinkling my nose a bit at her.

“You’re list. I’m just reading off what else you still need. I’m trying to help.” She retorts, a slight edge to her words.

“Oh, thank you.” I respond, before going back to sifting through my clothing. I stand back up, a couple scarves in my clutches, and I throw them into my clothing suitcase. “Can you please check that off of the list?” I ask Evie, walking over to my dresser that is placed against the wall with the window. She doesn’t answer me vocally, but I hear the scratching of pen on paper as a respons. As I look through my drawers, pulling shorts, underwear, and pajamas out every once in a while, my gaze shifts to look out of the window.

It’s a beautiful August morning; the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it’s a great day to be alive. I can see old Mr. McCalliker pulling his waste disposal bins to the curb as Jouncie, his golden retriever, runs around playfully. I can’t help but smile as I go back over to my suitcases. Evie looks at my questioningly, but doesn’t say anything.

Twenty minutes later I find myself being ushered into the bathroom by Evangeline.

“It takes you, like, and hour and a half to get ready. It’s already noon, Tabby.” She pushes me and my second bowl of green tea ice cream into the bathroom before closing the door and leaving me with my thoughts.