HOME

KIRAN

The first day of school was over and I headed home. Mom and I only have one car, and since her work is only a few blocks from our apartment and my school is both further and starts earlier, we agreed that I should use the car to get to and from the school, then all other times it can be for moms use.

I didn't want to be the new kid who gets dropped off by his mommy every single day - I would die of humiliation, especially since I have my own license, there was just no point in making my mom get up at 6 AM every day. Why should we both have to suffer?

"How was your first day?" She asked before I could even shut the door.

I shrugged and frowned as I said to her, "Take a guess."

She pursed her lips and narrowed her brown eyes at me as she thought about it, "A typical first day for a new kid where you ignored everyone?"

"Bingo!" I pointed at her and reached into my pocket to get the car keys out.

I felt something in there, like a scrap of paper that I don't remember putting in there. I took out the key and dropped it on the table before unfolding the neatly folded note and reading it:

Saturday, 7 PM

1453 Summers Ln

892 - 1724 <- Aurora W.

"What's that?" Mom asked as she watched me.

"I, uh... got invited to a party." No point in lying to her, it's not like I'm going to go.

"On your first day?! I thought you said you ignored everyone!" She put her hands on her hips and faced me like she was accusing me of lying.

"Yeah, I did - that doesn't mean that they ignored me."

She lifted her brow, along with the corner of her mouth, and hummed, "Who gave that to you?"

"If I had one guess, I would say Aurora Williams."

"A girl?" She lifted her eyebrows once while looking at me.

"A taken girl," I informed her as I shed my jacket.

Our apartment wasn't much - a two-bedroom with one bathroom, a small kitchen, and an attached living room. It wasn't much but it was enough for the two of us, and it was affordable with mom's new waitressing salary.

Neither of us is too materialistic, so most of our belongings were put into a few boxes and shoved in the car as we moved across state lines.

Since we came from California, I wasn't foreign to the rainy weather, but I also wasn't a fan of it. Mom said after the divorce she needed to get away, and she loved the thought of being near "wine country." I just laughed at her and agreed - as long as she's happy, I'm happy.

"Facts like that can change," she reminded me.

I chuckled and looked at the note before crumbling it in my hand, "I don't like her, mom, okay? She's annoyingly perky. And pushy."

"I'm just saying, you're a handsome young man, Kiran, and you can get any girl you want." I rolled my eyes at her pep talk and she continued, saying, "Trust me, you got your looks from me."

She put her hand underneath her short hair and acted to push it up, we both laughed.

"When is this party anyway?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"It's odd they make you start school on a Thursday."

"I think they're easing us back in. The schools colors are blue and gold, and every other day is a 'blue day' or a 'gold day,' each day you have different classes, so I think they were just giving us a taste of what the school year will be like before we have a whole week of it."

"That makes sense," she responded. "You hungry?"

I smiled, "I'm good, mom, thanks. I have homework to do, I'll be in my room."

She nodded at me and I turned to head to my room. Who gives homework on the first day of school?

*

AURORA

"I'm home!" I announce loudly as I shut the front door behind me as if anyone would answer me.

Mom and dad are always out for work doing this-and-that. They're rarely home, so my brother and I took it upon ourselves to learn how to cook so that we didn't starve or rely on take-out every night.

Ryan, my older brother, is a cameraman. He travels all over the country and is only here at home on rare occasions, and even if he is here, it's only for a day or two before he has to pack up and head out to his next gig.

Ryan is the only person in the family who doesn't support my dream of being on Broadway. He says that it's a one in a million chance and I would only be met with disappointment and frustration after years of hard work and constantly being told no, so I don't really complain whenever he leaves for work. If anything, I welcome his absence.

My retort to him was always to say, "I'll keep that in mind for my Tony's speech - I'll be sure to leave you out of it."

He's probably right, to a certain degree. I am prepared for a lot of rejections, but I also know that once I get that "yes," it will all be worth it.

I will walk the streets of New York with a smile on my face and a skip in my step because I'm going to be living my dream.

Ryan says that he works in the entertainment industry, and he knows how people can be. I just shake my head because television and the performing arts are entirely different.

My parents are both supportive - or, at least, as supportive as they can be since they aren't home most of the time. I'm not too sure they know how seriously I mean to take my future in show business.

They will attend one or two of my performances in a school play or something and tell me that I did great, but not much more than that.

Mom thinks it's my bubbly personality that I get from her that makes me camera-ready and eager to have the spotlight shone on me. I just love losing myself in the performance, in the story, the character, all of it. The stage feels like home to me.

Jen and Dani get it and support my dream with all the encouragement they can, always asking me to sing to them because they love my voice, or asking me to play out a part in a scene from some movie with them. We have fun together, and we laugh a lot, I know we are going to have an amazing adulthood together ahead of us in New York.