61Well, after that much needed hiatus, the much loved Love in London is back! I hope you like the new, improved version!
Thanks a billion to Jasper's Girl 4life, whose tips I used to make my story better! Love you to bits! (in a friend way)
Disclaimer: I'm excited to see how you guys will like this now that it's better, but I still don't own Twilight.
"Note for you, Chrissy!" came a call through the front door.
I dropped the Milton Times and asked eagerly, "Who's it from?"
My brother, Henry, walked through the door of the dining room and dropped a stack of envelopes on the table, grinning. "Who knows?"
I shook my head, hiding my little smile from Henry as I gathered up my long auburn hair with a red ribbon and twisted it into a bun, letting a few curls fall into my face.
I took my envelope from the stack on the table, opened it up, and took out the paper on which the letter was written. I then unfolded the letter and started reading.
Dear Miss Newman,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to give an audition at the Musical Theatre Academy of London. Please arrive at our school – Europa House, 1317 Ironmonger Row, London – by December of this year and be ready for your audition. Thank you.
With most sincere gratitude,
The Musical Theatre Academy of London
I dropped the letter, my mouth forming a small O. "Henry!" I shrieked. "Look!"
Henry strode over and grabbed the letter. The wrinkled crease his forehead was making quickly smoothed out, and he grinned broadly. "This is amazing, Chrissy!"
"And it's in London, too!" I was getting more excited by the second.
"So?"
"So? London has buses! Oh, and they have this new show, it's called Punch and Judy! It sounds amazing, funny and fascinating! And Charles the Second had the most romantic wedding with the princess Catherine of Braganza.
"But...Charles the Second also introduced the hearth tax. And I have to use and own the Book of Common Prayer. Where am I going to find a Book of Common Prayer? I don't even know what that is!"
"Why are you even reading the newspaper?" he persisted. "Young ladies shouldn't read the newspaper. It's improper. You should be—I don't know—knitting. Leave the newspaper to big, strong men like me."
With that, he snatched the newspaper off the table. "Besides, isn't your passion ballet? I thought you'd be ecstatic."
"Yes, but still..."
"Goodness, Christina," he said, abruptly exasperated. "Just go and have fun. That's what childhood is about, right?"
I muttered, "I'm twenty-one—hardly a child," but Henry didn't seem to have heard. He stormed out of the room. Henry often had bouts like these, where one second he was happy and the next he was angry. The doctors called this "manic-depressive psychosis".
I made up my mind in that moment. I decided I would go to London to audition for the Musical Theatre Academy.
I stood at the dock, teary-eyed. It was harder than I had thought, leaving Henry. Who would live with my older brother now? He'd be all alone! It wasn't that he couldn't take care of himself—just that loneliness triggered his bouts more often.
I gave Henry a final, wordless hug and stepped on the ship. Little did I know that it was the last time I would see him.
Once everyone had boarded the ship, it set sail. I soon discovered that I suffered from seasickness. I spent most of my time in my cabin, green-faced and trying to hold down the bile that was threatening to come up.
When we finally landed in London, three excruciating weeks later, I was one of the first to flee the ship. "Thank God I'm off there," I muttered in relief as I collected my things. From there, I boarded a bus to a famous inn that I had heard of, the George and Dragon. It took around fifteen minutes to get there, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, much more than I had enjoyed the horrible ship journey.
I walked in, paid rent, and was ushered immediately to an empty room. It wasn't all that great, but it was the best I had. After dumping my things into the room and securing the door with a key, I settled into the horse-and-carriage yet again to look for the Musical Theatre Academy.
Admittedly, I was two months early for the deadline, but I was very eager to see what the building would look like.
The Musical Theatre Academy would have taken ten minutes to walk to from the George and Dragon, so of course on bus it took about five minutes to get there. But when I did arrive, I was not disappointed.
A magnificent white building loomed in front of me, looking rather like it could have been a shoe factory or a barn before renovation. The large white French doors were constantly swinging back and forth; the place was flooded with people entering and leaving.
I caught my breath. It was beautiful.
Suddenly, I felt someone bump into me from behind. I spun around as a shabby woman with a shawl dropped down to retrieve something—a book, I saw.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized. I bent down to get the book for her—it was The Book of Common Prayer, what a coincidence—and our heads bumped. We both laughed.
"Piper Milton," the woman said, offering a hand.
"Milton is the name of the town that I come from!" I exclaimed, shaking her hand. "I'm Christina Newman."
"Where are you staying?" she inquired.
"The George and Dragon," I replied.
"What luck!" said a surprised Piper. "I stay there too!"
I discovered that she stayed just down the hall from me, and that she was visiting her uncle, who was, apparently, the pastor of the church here. I made plans to accompany her to church the following Sunday, which with a jolt I realized, was tomorrow.
Little did I know how much this one trip to church would change my entire life.
I think this is definitely a better start. This, unlike my first attempt, will follow the storyline of the history.
BTW: if you watch American Idol—or even if you don't—check out "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" by Elise, Reed, Haley, and Eben...AMAZING! It's my inspiration—heard it thousands of times!