I'm hoping that we get along
It's time for innovation
It's time for us to make a change
It's time for a Chinese New Year
- Chinese New Year, SALES

Christmas had always been Ellie's favorite holiday.

She loved how happy people got around Christmas time, how they seemed to have a lighter step, practically bouncing through the streets. She loved all the happy, smiley faces and the people greeting each other in the shops. She truly enjoyed the Christmas songs, even the cheesy ones and the Christmas lights and decorations in all the streets.

But what she loved most about the Christmas season was Christmas Eve. Her whole family would get together for Christmas, every single cousin and all the second-degree aunts and uncles would come to eat dinner and share presents on the 25th but on Christmas Eve, it was just her and her parents.

They would sit down in their living room together, putting on some kind of cheesy movie and drink tea or hot chocolate. They'd turn off the big lights, the room being only lit by the TV and some candles that Ellie's mother placed all over every available surface. When Ellie was younger, she would get to open one present - just one - on Christmas Eve but it really was not about the gifts, it had never been. Ellie enjoyed giving presents to other people far more than she enjoyed receiving them, just to see the sparkle in people's eyes when they got excited for the content of their gift.

Still, for her, it was more about getting together and enjoying the time they had, putting all conflict aside and simply enjoying each other's company. Talking about random things, living in the moment, a little calm in the rushed and hectic world. It made her feel happy and at peace with life.

This year however, everything had been different.

The atmosphere was tense, unspoken words lingering in the air between Ellie and her parents.

Ellie knew her parents were disappointed in her choices. It was not that they did not love her, they truly did care about their daughter and only child. Maybe they even loved her a little bit too much. Her mother and father wanted her to have a good life with a good job and dropping out of college after just one semester was not really what you called 'academic success'.

But Ellie had been so unhappy with her psychology major that she did not see any other opportunity. So she had started writing applications to other colleges with different majors and had finally dropped out at the end of her first semester. Her parents were furious, understandably. Ellie still lived with them, since she had to leave the college campus room, of course. The disappointed looks her mom shot her every time she was in the same room as her and the way her dad would shake his head every once in a while really had not made December the most pleasant month.

But after her semester had ended, Ellie had nothing to do but wait until she got notification from the new colleges she had applied to. The replies would most likely come in March or April and until then, she had at least three months of waiting. Her parents did not like this at all.

"We just want your best," her mother had said very softly yet sternly.

"We just don't think you should waste a whole year like this," her father had added while scratching his balding head, "maybe you should just try again next semester, I'm sure you'll grow to like it."

Ellie was certain she would not. Psychology just did not fit her at all and she was angry at herself for not picking English Literature in the first place. It had taken her weeks to decide between the two and apparently, she had decided wrong. Which was already a cardinal sin, at least in the eyes of her parents.

But Ellie herself had a reason to be disappointed, too. She really did not want to go to Canada for three months but what choice did she have? With her parents refusing to leave her alone at home and not having any money to get her own place, she had to oblige and go with them.

Her father, Daniel Parker, was a quite well-known biologist who specialized in plants of all kinds. Together with Ellie's mother Helen, he had written a few books on plants and ecosystems of all kinds. So naturally, when an old friend had knocked on his door (well, called on his phone) and asked him to write a book about Canadian wildlife together, Dan just had to accept that offer immediately.

And well, that was the reason why Ellie was sitting in a plane this very moment, waiting for the huge metal-bird to finally land.

She had flown twice before, once to and back from England for the holidays and once to Washington as a class trip in her senior year, but it still made her a little nervous. Being so high up in the air, relying on nothing but some guy's huge invention, breathing the only oxygen left at this height, always in danger of possibly falling down from the sky - it really was not all that great.

They had travelled all across the US so far, from their hometown in North Carolina all the way up north across the Canadian border. The friend from Canada lived in a small village in British Columbia with his family. Around this time of the year, they were most likely buried in snow.

Ellie snapped out of her thoughts when the plane sank down a few feet, making her stomach jump. She made a little, surprised noise, thus alerting her mother who was sitting next to her.

"Are we landing already?" Ellie asked, looking at her phone to check the time.

"Yes, it shouldn't be long now until we're on solid ground again," Helen smiled at her daughter knowingly, "then we'll be picked up by the Reynolds by car."

Ellie nodded, looking out of the window towards the cloudy sky. It was late afternoon, they had boarded their flight very early in the morning and after a draining 12 hour flight and endless movies on the little TV, Ellie could not wait to finally walk a few steps again.

"How long will the drive be?" She asked her mom.

"I don't really know but I don't think it'll be too long."

Ellie just nodded and curiously looked out of window, seeing how the clouds came closer and closer, engulfed them in a fog of heavy white and finally cleared to give Ellie a free sight of the landscape lying underneath her. Not much changed - it was still very much white and very much Canada.

It took another ten minutes to land and soon enough, they were all out of their seats, scurrying along the small airport to pick up their luggage. Ellie's suitcase was quite big, considering that she did not even have that many clothes to begin with but her parents did not want anyone to freeze in Canada's cold weather. A few weeks prior to their take-off, they had bought some winter clothes for all of them and Ellie pulled on her new winter coat, burying her face in the soft fake-fur of the collar.

When they left the airport, they were greeted by cold air and a few snowflakes who landed on Ellie's face and hair. Quickly, she put on her new beanie, pulling the red wool over her chestnut curls and ears.

As they were looking around for someone to greet them, Ellie heard a car door being shut and a woman emerged from behind a big, blue SUV.

"Hello!" She called out, waving in the air with both hands.

"Janet, there you are!" Ellies father began walking again, his slight belly looking comically large underneath his thick jacket. 'It's proof for how good your mother cooks' he always said with a smile and well, Ellie had some proof of that as well, then.

Janet Reynolds was a tall woman, taller than Dan and definitely taller than Ellie and her mom who were both barely 5'2''. She wore a stylish winter coat and when she accidentally knocked off her white hat from excitement and hugging Ellie's parents, a dark-blonde bob was revealed underneath.

"You must be Ellie," she greeted the daughter of her old friends at last, "it's so nice to finally meet you!"

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you, too, Misses Reynolds," Ellie awkwardly held out a hand towards Janet Reynolds who just pulled the younger girl into a hug.

"Oh, please call me Janet," she offered with a big smile, "we're going to be living under the same roof for three months, I think we can already use our first names."

Ellie laughed and nodded, feeling a little better about this trip already.

"Here, give me your luggage, dear," Janet took Ellie's suitcase and led the way to their car, opened the trunk and put in all three suitcases with the help of Dan.

"I'm sorry Philip couldn't come, too, but he's quite an awful driver and we didn't want the three of you having to squash together in the backseat."
Janet opened the back door and Ellie and Helen gladly climbed in while Dan took the passenger seat. When Janet was seated as well, she opened her jacket and pulled off her hat, shaking her hair.

"Sometimes I prefer summer," she laughed while starting the engine, "it's much warmer then."

"I bet not as hot as it gets in Jacksonville," Helen chuckled and ran a hand through her curls that were just like her daughters - except for the first few grey strands, "if we didn't have air conditioning, I would've moved up north long ago."

All four passengers laughed as Janet pulled out of the parking lot.

"Ellie, you'll love it in Frostfields," she claimed and gave Ellie a smile in the rearview mirror, "our daughter, Quinn, is just your age. I'm sure you two will get along just fine."

Ellie wanted to believe her, she really did. But weirdly enough, adults were not always right when they said things like this.

The drive to the village where the Reynolds lived took a little over an hour. Ellie took off her jacket soon, the heating inside the car was on and it was actually really comfortable. It seemed to be a rather new car, the seats smelled of leather. Ellie looked out of the window the whole time, her brown eyes fixed on the beautiful sceneries all around her.

It was quite magical, mountains and snow everywhere, dark trees poking up against the sky and big flakes falling onto the window. If it was not so cold, Ellie might have considered living here.

When they arrived, the sun was already lowering towards the edge of the mountains, drawing long shadows on the floor. However, it was still light enough to see the village they were entering. A big sign on the left of the road alerted the passengers that they were now entering Frostfields and Ellie pressed her nose against the car window, trying to get a glimpse of where she would be staying.

Frostfields was not much more than a single road, twisting towards a two-topped mountain in a slight curve. Houses and huts were standing left and right to it, light leaking out of the windows. Except for their car, there was no movement in the village, no one was outside. There were not even streetlights.

To be honest, Ellie had expected a bit more. Being from a rather big city she had already anticipated something similar to this but she was still astounded by how small it really was.

"There we are," Janet said as she steered the car towards the very last house on the right. Right behind the wooden facade, the whites and grey of the mountains rose towards the sky. Janet drove up a short highway that led to the house which was standing on a slight hill, almost leaning against it.

"We'll enter through the garage, the front door is on the other side," Janet said, coming to a still in front of the house. The garage door opened after she pressed a button on a remote and slowly, they rolled into the house.

When the engine came to a halt, Ellie left the car and waited for Janet to open the trunk again. This time, she carried her own suitcase, following the blonde woman towards a door. It led to a small corridor with a steep staircase and three more doors, one on the left and two on the right.
"Dan; you and Helen can leave your suitcases down here," their host said, "your room will be the one right here. The first door on the right is the bathroom, I hope that's okay."

"Absolutely okay," Dan took the suitcase from his wife and dropped them in front of the door, "we'll inspect our luxury suite later."

He laughed along with the two adult women and Ellie followed them up the stairs. They entered the next level through another door and Janet led them to the living room where the stairs to the upper level started. The room was very cozy with a big TV over a fireplace and some sofas to sit on. There were some big windows on the opposite side of the room that led to a porch outside.

"Quinn, will you come downstairs?" Janet shouted at the ceiling, "Our guests are here."

Before the mysterious daughter could emerge from her room, a person in an awfully colorful Christmas sweater entered the open living room from the kitchen, immediately hugging Dan and filling the room with laughter.

The new person was a tall man with hair that was brighter than that of his wife and already getting silver at the temples. He hugged Helen, too, before shaking Ellie's hand with a firm handshake.
"Nice to meet you, Ellie, I'm Philip," he introduced himself, "I know your dad from college, back when he had a little more hair."

Ellie could not help but chuckle, giving her dad an apologetic look even though she knew Dan was not insulted as he grinned along.

"Happy new year by the way," Philip added, raising his hand with an imaginary glass as if toasting, "or is it too late to say that already?"

"January the third, I guess it's okay," Dan nodded, "I may be bald but at least I remember the date."

Suddenly, there were step-sounds on the wooden stairs and a girl entered the living room, pulling headphones from her blonde head and looking around the living room to observe the situation.

"Quinn, how nice of you to join us," Philip grinned at his daughter who rolled her eyes in return but politely went up to shake hands with the guests.

"It's so good to meet you in real life," Helen smiled at the young girl, "we've only ever seen pictures of you. You look great, dear."

"Thank you," Quinn sounded embarrassed and when she turned to greet Ellie, her cheeks were tinted pink.

"Hey, I'm Quinn."

She did not shake Ellie's hand and they both awkwardly looked at each other, probably figuring out what to do with that unknown girl in front of them.

Quinn was pretty, there was no way of denying it. She resembled her father more than her mother, had big, green eyes and was half a head taller than Ellie. And, Ellie noticed not without a sudden burst of self-consciousness, she had a slim and athletic figure.

"Quinn, why don't you show Ellie her room?" Janet proposed, "You two will be sharing the upper level."
The initial shock when Ellie had heard the word 'sharing' faded quickly and she nodded, grabbing her suitcase to follow Quinn up the stairs. The blonde girl led the way to a tiny hallway, barely big enough to fit three doors and the end of the stairs.

"The one on the right is my room," Quinn explained and pointed towards the shut door, "the left one is yours. We'll be sharing the bath but don't worry, you can lock the door."

She opened the middle door that led to the bathroom. The bathroom was small but functional, there was a toilet, a sink and a tub inside. The walls on the left and the right over the tub were sloping roofs, making for an almost triangular shape.

"I made you a bit of space in the dresser under the sink," she informed Ellie, "and you can put your toothbrush on the board there if you'd like. Oh, and another thing..."

Quinn entered the bathroom and grabbed the shower curtain, showing Ellie a loop of yarn towards the bottom and a hook in the wall, right above the edge of the tub. The curtain was triangular as well, fitting perfectly into the corner.

"You'll have to secure the curtain down here since it's wider at the bottom," Quinn said, mimicking said action, "and please put it inside the tub unless you want to mop the bathroom afterwards."

Ellie nodded, making space for Quinn to leave the bathroom again.

"I'll leave you to it, then..." Quinn awkwardly bit her lower lip, making an uncertain motion towards the door to Ellies room, "if you have any questions or if you need anything, just ask me, I'll be right here."

"Okay, thank you," Ellie smiled at Quinn who returned the gesture.

"One thing!" She spoke again when Ellie had already turned towards the door, "If Pasta is ever in your room with you, please make sure to close the door. He isn't allowed up here unsupervised because he fell down the stairs once."

"Who's Pasta?"

"Oh, right, you haven't met him yet," Quinn gave herself a light facepalm, "Pasta is our dog - give me a second, I'll go get him."

Ellie set down her suitcase again and waited patiently while Quinn disappeared in her room. Through the crack of the door, Ellie could see a comfortable-looking room with a big bed next to the entrance and a desk under the sloping roof at the foot end.

When Quinn emerged from the room again, she was holding a little creature to her chest, scratching it behind its ears.

Pasta had to be the ugliest dog Ellie had ever seen. He had big, bulging eyes that seemed to be looking into different directions and his sand-colored fur was already grey around his tiny snout which had an underbite. He seemed to be a mixture between a pug and a chihuahua or some other small sort of dog and with every breath he took, there was an audible snoring-like sound.

"He's, uh... cute," Ellie said, eyeing the little dog who happily licked at Quinn's hand whenever he could.

"He's a little grumpy old man but I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world," Quinn replied, pressing a kiss to Pasta's head who almost fell out of her arms trying to reach his owner's face with his tongue.

An awkward silence settled between the two girls and Ellie slowly turned around to enter her room when a voice came from downstairs.

"Dinner is ready!"

Quinn was the first to follow the call of her father, walking down the stairs with Pasta still in her arms. From the top of the stairs, Ellie could see her squatting down to let the dog down and soon enough, the sound of little paws and claws on wood could be heard.

Quickly, Ellie opened the door to her room and thrusted the suitcase in the gap before hurrying after Quinn. When she entered the dining area next to the living room, everyone was already sitting. Philip occupied the seat closest to the kitchen while Ellie's mom sat on the seat opposite of him. Ellie took the chair to her left, inspecting the food on the table. "

"Ellie, what would you like to drink?" Janet asked her, offering a bottle of water and a carafe with some kind of juice, "We also have some lemonade in the fridge if you'd like that."

"No, water is fine, thank you," Ellie reached for the water bottle and filled her glass, taking a few sips immediately.

"I made some lasagna for us tonight," Philip said and reached for Ellie's plate to give her the first serving, "I hope you'll like it."

"It looks absolutely delicious," Dan said as soon as he got his plate back and Ellie nodded in agreement. The lasagna smelled awesome and looked very good.

"Well, enjoy your meal!"

When everyones' plates had been filled, Philip grabbed his fork and smiled at his guests who happily dug into their food. It had been hours since Ellie had last eaten something, the food on the plane was not really what you called tasty. She was hungry for some real food and the lasagna really tasted amazing.

"Would you like some more?" Janet asked helpfully when Ellie had finished her portion and she nodded eagerly.

"What about you, Quinn?" Philip said to his daughter who had also eaten all of her serving.

"No thanks," the blonde girl shook her head, "I'm full and as good as it is, the lasagna is also kind of heavy. I could never eat more than one serving."

Ellie's appetite vanished within the span of two bites. She was sure Quinn had not meant it in a mean way but it still made her feel bad. Their different eating habits were probably the reason why Quinn was at least three sizes slimmer than Ellie yet here she was, digging into her second helping. Was that second portion she was eating really worth it? But it would be rude not to finish her plate now that she had asked for more. Discreetly reaching down to unbutton her jeans, Ellie took another bite of the lasagna.

"I'm going to feed Pasta," Quinn announced as soon as everyone was finished and stood up, her tight-fitting sweater revealing that she was not even bloated after eating her meal. Oh, life could be so cruel sometimes.

"Wait a minute darling, I want to talk about tomorrow first," interjected Philip, motioning for his daughter to sit down again. Quinn refused, instead putting her hands on the back of the chair, waiting for her father to speak.

"Dan and I are going to go out to investigate the area tomorrow," Philip explained, "for our book, we'll need lots of wildlife examples that we have to collect. I think Helen will accompany us so it's only the two of you at home."

"Oh, okay, that's fine."

"Janet, what do you do for a living again?" Helen asked, looking at Quinn's mother.

"I'm a teacher in Lone Pine," Janet answered, "I've been teaching at the Lone Pine High for too many years to count now."

"At least you never were my teacher, that would've been awkward," Quinn chimed in, "can I go feed Pasta now? The poor guy must be starving by now."

Everyone laughed at that exaggeration and Philip waved his daughter off who went into the kitchen, followed by a salivating Pasta.

"We made some Nanaimo bars for dessert if you'd like them," Janet offered, already getting up to retrieve the sweet food.

"Thank you but I'm full," Ellie said, side-eying her empty plate that was practically screaming at her how much she'd eaten.

"Me too, that lasagna was terribly tasty," Dan rubbed his stomach and looked at Janet worriedly, "do you think we could save the Nanaimo bars for tomorrow?"

"Sure, a night or two in the fridge won't harm them."

"Great! Dan, we should talk more about that book of ours - and Helen, I heard you're a writer? I think we could use one."

When the four adults started talking about their work and projects, Ellie silently stood up from her chair and went up the stairs to take the first real look at her new room.

Since it was already dark outside, she was met with nothing but darkness when she opened the door and fumbled around a little, trying to find the light-switch on the wall. When the lights finally turned on, she entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

The room was not too big but not exactly small either, just the right size for a guest room. There was a bed with a wooden frame underneath the sloping roof to her right, next to an empty shelf and a cosy armchair. In front of the window which was opposite the door, Ellie spotted a small desk with another chair.

Ellie went over to the window and looked out of it. Since it was completely dark outside and lit inside, she could not see out of the house so she just closed the heavy curtains and turned back to the room.

The wall on the left had a sloping roof as well but there were closet-doors in the wall. When Ellie opened them, she found one closet to be empty while the other contained some towels, blankets and other stuff that she probably was not supposed to look at. Sighing, Ellie opened her suitcase and started putting her clothes into the wardrobe (or the wall-drobe, haha).

She did not have anything to put on the shelf except for the two books she had brought and her laptop and sooner than later, she was done. The room did not exactly look, let alone feel like home but it was warm and comfortable.

Ellie yawned, taking a look at her watch only to find out it was only half past seven. Still, she felt absolutely exhausted and drained from the day. After a quick shower - with the curtain inside the tub - she changed into her pajamas and spent another hour or two on her phone, listening to music and writing texts to her friends back at home before turning off the lights and going to bed.

It took her a little longer to find a comfortable position and go to sleep, the new mattress not quite like her usual one at home but when Ellie did finally fall asleep, she slept like a log.

_____
What did you think of the first chapter?

BTW, if you notice any mistakes, always feel free to point them out to me! I'm not a native English speaker so there will probably be a few grammatical/spelling errors, sorry about that...

xx Lotta