When Worlds Collide

Lois followed Ellie down the stairs and into the kitchen. The sound of her other cousin's and uncle's voices brought her back to reality, and as soon as she stepped into the kitchen her mouth dropped open in surprise at the sight of her youngest cousin. Gone was the puppy fat and long shaggy dark hair, the slightly shy toddler that Lois knew before they moved to California was completely changed. He was now well built and had short hair. Something about the way he moved showed he had grown in confidence and like his mother, he also had a light tan. Her uncle hadn't changed as much, something which Lois was grateful for as she had never really liked change of appearance in her family. Once again the overly happy puppy barreled itself at Lois's legs but didn't have as big of an impact.

"William, Chris, Lois is here"

Both of their heads shot up and went to the door where Lois stood. Big smiles grew on both of their faces as they both went to give her a hug.

"Jeez Lolo how much did you grow up?"

"I could ask you that too Will, what happened to the little boy that was too shy to say hello?"

William just chuckled and stepped aside to allow his dad to hug Lois.

"My my haven't you changed. How's your mom and Ed? Are Yve and Gaea still dancing?"

"Yeah they're both fine, they were a little teary eyed when I left them but if it's okay I'll phone them later and tell them I arrived safely and I'm with you now? And yeah they still dance, they've both been offered ballet scholarships to the Royal Ballet school so they've done really well."

"Chris! Let the girl sit down before you bombard her with questions, and of course it's fine Lois, although you may have to leave a message because of the time difference" Alison said and gestured for Lois to sit next to Ellie. Once they were all eating, the questions came rolling in thick and fast. Most of them were about family back home in England and what Lois was hoping to do during the summer and what she would be getting up to in her college.

"So Lois," Chris began "are you looking forward to meeting Ellie's friends?"

"I'm excited actually, I'm glad that I'll have someone to introduce me to people and from what I've been told they all have similar personality traits like Ellie so that's good."

Alison and Chris just smiled and nodded. They knew for a fact that all Ellie's friends would instantly like Lois and accept her as they had accepted their daughter. After dinner was finished Ellie excused herself and Lois and dragged her older cousin up to her room. Lois smiled when she saw Ellie's room. The walls were white like Lois's, but instead of flowers there were musical notes and quotes placed randomly here, there and everywhere. The bed was placed under the window, but had only a few pillows. The carpet was black and deep red, blue and purple bed sheets lay all over the floor. The one corner held both of Ellie's guitars and books, while the opposite wall held her TV and X-box. Ellie caught Lois staring at the guitars knowing that she had always wanted to learn it.

"I'll ask Brian if he'd be willing to teach you some day." Ellie said bringing her out of her daydream.

Lois blushed at the thought, having forgotten about how well Ellie was able to read her.

"Lois, come here" Ellie said motioning her to come over to her dresser where she was holding a picture. Lois smiled when she saw it, thinking back to when it was taken. They were both 6 and it was just after Ellie's birthday

"LOIS! Come here I want a picture of you!" Ellie called to her cousin.

"Coming hang on, Barbie needs to get dressed first!" Lois called back from her room.

Lois bounded down the stair, her hair in one long braid behind her while her ballet pump ribbons flew behind her. Ellie was dressed in her swimming team uniform, with her towel over her shoulder.

"Okay girls let me get a picture then." Alison said as they fussed over each other, making sure their clothes were all on right.

"Lolo, just tuck your ribbons in for now you can do them up in the car" Linda said as they were already late for dance class as it was.

As soon as they heard the camera click, the two cousins raced into the car with their moms following behind. This is how they had always been. Linda and Alison would get together for a coffee before Lois had dance and Ellie had swimming and loose track of time before rushing out the house. The bond between the girls was almost instant and it made the mothers happy that they would always have someone there to stick up for them.

Lois smiled thinking of the memory "I remember that day, it was when I got my first solo and you got your first medal" All their achievements seemed to come together. The most recent one being Lois getting into the dance college and Ellie getting into her media college.

"Hey Ellie, mind if I go phone my family?"

"Yeah sure, use the house phone though till your next contract comes in, you don't want to be paying loads on a phone call to England at this time as well."

"Thank you, I'll probably go to bed after that to be honest, I'm shattered."

"No problem, I'll show you round tomorrow when your stuff gets delivered. Night Lolo, I'm glad your here" Ellie added. With a quick hug the two teenagers said goodnight and Lois went to find the phone. As Alison had said, Lois had to leave a message because of the time difference.

"Hey mom, dad, Yve, Gaea. I got here at about 2 in the afternoon, local time so about 10 at night where you are. Alison and Chris have made my room amazing just how I had imagined actually. Ellie's going to take me round town tomorrow and she said that her friends will all love me so I'm glad about that. I miss you all already but I'll be home for Christmas. I'll try and Skype you sometime this week, no promises though! Okay I'm going to bed now so I'll talk to you all soon. Love you all." As soon as Lois hung up she got changed and got into bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she was asleep. Tomorrow she would finally get the chance to meet Ellie's group of friends.