Head Over Wheels

4- ESTRELA

I passed by Gabi's room on the way to my own, to freshen up before everyone was here. 

Friday-night dinners at my grandma Celeste's house were a busy affair. The two of us were usually joined by her daughter Alicia, her live-in boyfriend Matheus, and my cousins Heitor and Gabi. Gabriela always wanted to spend weekends here alledgedly was to keep me company, but I had a strong huntch that it was an excuse to stay up watching movies and eating junk food. She even had her own bedroom, decorated in a French Rococo style, after she secretly watched snippets of "Marie Antoiniette" and became obsessed with pastel colors and ruffles. That, to her, was the idea of the perfect princess-style bedroom. Even her four-poster bed was painted in white, pink, and gold. It was kind of awesome, out of a movie, even if it wasn't my favorite style, particularly.

I opened my own bedroom door and turned on the steampunk light fixtures on the ceiling. 

 Since I came to live here over a year ago, grandma asked me what I wanted as a theme for my bedroom and I picked Steampunk, after my favorite literary genre. Parts of it, like the wall painting, the bedpost with the lights, and some of the furniture and fixture, adapted from old things we had laying around in the house gathering dust. Some fixtures were made out of pipes we had bought and I had helped spray-paint in antique gold and brown. We also bought the extra fluffy dark marroon suede comforter I liked to get snuggled in, as grandma told Gabi and I bedtime stories. I suppose I could have told her I am way too big for bedtime stories, but it was kind of nice listening to her soft tone as I drifted off to sleep. 

I touched the book that lay on my dresser, from last night, "The Nutcracker". Gabi had heard that story lots of times. It was my first time, and I listened on intently, as Clara attempted to convince her parents that a big fat rat had stolen all the gifts from under the Christmas tree. My last though before I finally dozed off,  was that, just as Clara had managed to defeat the Rat King and recover her toys, maybe I could get some semblance of my life back. Not as it was before, but maybe the next best thing.

I turned on the water and got in the shower, trying not to get my hair wet.

I couldn't help but think of the night I came here to live, and everything that happened after that. I had that chance now, to be Clara. Maybe, I could get a normalish life. Of sorts. I didn't want to go back to my mom's, far from it. But having people remember me for something I achieved, and not from some tabloid news that kept coming up, I would be happy. If only I could set foot in a school building without wanting to barf, that would be stellar.

It was my second shower that day. In Rio de Janeiro, Summer starts unofficially in September. After freshening up, I threw my figure skating uniform in the hamper and slipped into something more comfortable, black tailored shorts and my favorite grey crop top shirt, with the drawing of an Ouija board, but with a pizza slice in each side of it, and instead of the letters, it read " a slice a day keeps the bad spirits away". I put on some chapstick, and ran downstairs, before all the pizza was gone.

I stepped into the kitchen just as the intercom started to ring.

Before I sat down, I greeted everyone. I hugged Grandma last. Alicia was outside, getting the pizzas.

"I heard we are celebrating tonight. Gabi just told everyone she made the Sugarplum fairy in the Christmas recital" she said, after we were done hugging. I glared at Gabi. She hadn't even waited for me...

"I didn't tell them your news yet. " Gabi shrugged.

"Ah, thank you so much" I said, but already felt my irritation subside.

"So, what is your  news?" Alicia, said, walking in with the pizza pie, and placing it on the center of the table.

"I made a role too. I got Clara."  I said, in between bites of my slice. "Jana just told me over the phone, that the great  skater Ulisses Vasilievwould be my partner. That is exactly how she said it. The great". I tried to sound out Heitor's reaction.