2.1 I'm stronger than yesterday

Britney spent a lot of her free time with her boyfriend, Hanfried Miller. They had met at chem class, where he had accidentally knocked over her test tube and spilled all of the liquid in there on Britney. Panicking, he had run up and down the classroom, thinking that there was something severely dangerous in it. It had, in fact, only been water, which is why Britney had started laughing at some point. Hanfried had stopped running, looked at her laughing, then went back to her table and nudged her. She had known she could have told him that she wasn’t in pain or anything before, but it had been too funny to watch him panicking. Besides, it had been kind of cute that he was so worried about her. They were dating ever since, but sometimes Britney couldn’t help but think that he was just into her because of her looks. More than one time she caught him staring at her, and when she asked what she had just said, he often couldn’t answer, and didn’t even seem like he cared.

She decided to process her thoughts in a new novel, one that featured a typical male teenager, dealing with girls and trying to get as many of them as possible. Even though she really tried to put herself in his position and not only write him as a two-dimensional, dick-driven guy, she couldn’t help herself. Thoughts and experiences with him kept coming back to her mind.  This was not going to be a complex, insightful ode to the range of male emotions, but much rather some kind of revenge, written for all girls in the world who were feeling like her. 

In addition to her writing projects, she had decided to take up painting. It was a brilliant way to express emotions that couldn’t be expressed with simple words, no matter how fancy. Pictures showed something; they let the observer feel what was on the artist’s mind. While trying different techniques and color combinations, a small thought came to her mind. The most desirable goal in life had to be being capable of writing and painting at the highest stage. This way, she would be able to open up to the entire world.

Not all of her siblings were this sure about what to do in their future, though. Barbra often spent her afternoons alone at school or at the local pool, because nobody seemed to enjoy her company. Sometimes, not even she did. Barbra didn’t quite know where she belonged, and who she wanted to be. The best parts of the day were the ones she spent with a book in her hands, not being disturbed by anybody. The world of books was where she could be brave and adventurous, where nobody looked at her in a funny way and made her feel insecure about herself. 

Family gatherings mostly only happened between Anna, Benjamin, Birdy and Britney. The others were out, doing their own thing and not caring about their siblings. Billy had managed to get himself a fan club, Beth was not exactly what you would call a pleasant company sometimes, and Barbra was…somewhere. 

Whenever Britney was not busy with school, writing or painting, she took up books to broaden her horizon. There were so many things other authors had already written about, and it couldn’t hurt to read about them. By the choice of topics, Britney could already tell a lot about the authors’ minds, which was highly interesting. People were extremely complex, yet there were some tiny little things that could be determined so easily. This was what she wanted to do. Get to know more people, learn all about them – and then write about them. Discovering secrets, connections, scandals, and making them public.

At one of their rare study dates on the school ground after class, the girls talked about their parents, who were their shared interest. Apart from this, they weren’t interested in the same things, but their mom and step-dad were important to all of them. Benjamin had grown so much older recently, and they were scared that he would leave them soon, leaving a devastated family behind. The kids had already lost one father, they couldn’t imagine losing another one. And Anna would probably collapse. Benjamin had picked her up from the ground, and he had made her happy again. Spending more time with them right now seemed like the right thing to do, just in case.

That weekend, they took another trip to the summer festival, which was coming to an end soon. While everybody engaged in their own fun activities, Britney took a book and curled up in a corner. Birdy spent most of the time eating, declaring that she had been extremely hungry for the last few weeks. 

Billy and Anna actually spent the entire afternoon together. It was nice to see them bond again, and it seemed like for a few hours, Billy was able to put down the masquerade of a cool guy. [A/N: can you say “perfect timing when taking the picture”?!]

Later that day, Britney put the book down – she had finished it – and went to the skating rink. A nice guy was making his first steps, looking absolutely stranded, but in an adorable way. Britney decided to help him out.

Needless to say that she had overestimated her own skating skills.

Birdy, however, seemed to a natural on the skating rink. She pirouetted, drove backwards and on one leg, drawing all attention to her. Britney, being challenged, tried to follow her sister’s complex movements, but ended up in some kind of yoga-position instead, not daring to move.

A huge firework ended this perfect afternoon that had brought the family much closer together.

Author's notes: Sorry that it took me so long to post again. As it seems to happen frequently in my family, tragedy has struck again and we're dealing with a lot right now. Between classes, intership, work and household chores there wasn't much space for playing or writing. But since Christmas vacation just started, I have a little free time on my hands now. I hope to get out more chapters within the next days/few weeks; not only here, but on my other legacies, as well. 

Thanks for staying with me/us! :)