Today I have the first chapter of my novel for you! I hope you’re gonna like it.

Before you start reading… I need to warn you – you have never read a book written like this before! Because it’s… A Polish-style narration.

Now I can only wish you a pleasant reading.

***

2^nd February 2014

Dear Diary,

I spent an extremely enjoyable day with my friends. We went out for a little chat. We were wandering around the town for four hours! Well, happy people don’t count time, right? However, one thing makes me sad… This is our last meeting together… In a few days, Joe will go on tour, I will start working on a new film… Sindy and Brian will stay in Los Angeles… I’ve just realized that the script from the finale of our show began to come true in real life! I must admit that I will miss him terribly… I mean Joe… He’s my best friend and beloved after all. I will definitely be seeing Sindy and Brian, but we won’t be together like we used to. Nothing will ever be the same now… What if Joe forgets about me and falls out of love?! No, I don’t want to think about it! I would die of sadness… I just realized that when I start to write about something else, I suddenly recall my beloved man… Hmm, I need to focus for a moment and tell you about our first casting meeting (me, Joe, and Sindy; I met Brian later).

Okay, so let’s go back in time to such a one day in July 2012…

*

It was 7:00 A.M. and Cher Lloyd’s song Want U Back woke me up. Yep, that’s my ringtone. I loved this note so much two years ago…

I heard a voice on the phone:

– Laura Brown? – a man asked me.

– Yes. How can I help you?

– I’m calling to inform you that we have considered your application and you are in the top five! We invite you to the casting!

He gave me the exact details of where the meeting would take place, and I hung up. I wrote down the address on a piece of paper.

– Sam! Come here! – I shouted at the full blast.

One minute of pause. Samantha is my younger sister. I was sixteen then, and she was fifteen. I remember that some people were confusing us in those distant times because she looked more mature than me…

I’m average height, I didn’t like strong make-up then, and she had a completely different sense of style… Well, I’m learning from her even now… So, imagine a blonde, dark-eyed girl with light make-up and a dress with a wide sweater, and her with a heavily accentuated eye, wearing a little black dress.

Samantha has black hair just like our father while I’m blonde like our mother, and that’s another disadvantage because it makes me look younger than my sister… And she literally wears black every day, even these days… So, you probably understand these frequent mistakes now, dear diary…

– Lau, is something on fire or so? What happened? – I heard from behind the door.

She quickly entered my room, holding a sandwich in her hand. Ha! Her face was dressed in mustard!

– They called me to tell me about Alice’s role. They invited me to the casting!

I threw myself on her neck and quickly regretted it because she had stained me with the sauce and the sandwich fell to the ground…

– I’ll clean it up later… – I said reluctantly.

– Choose the prettiest clothes, put the make-up on, and have breakfast quickly. Anyways, where will the casting be at and at what time? – Sam said.

I went to the nightstand and started reading the note.

– At 11:00 A.M. at Grasshopper Street, building no. 5. In LA, of course.

Sam nodded and left. I went to the bathroom, and then I went downstairs fifteen minutes later. I ate a bowl of cereal with milk and drank a glass of orange juice. Of course, I didn’t eat dishes!

*

An hour later I was sitting in the waiting room for my turn. There were four other girls in the room with the same hope as me. I would love to get this role! “I must do my best!” – I was encouraging myself.

A certain blonde girl snapped me out of my thoughts. I felt like I knew her! Well, I must admit that she looked like my sister Sam. A lot. And she was even more like me than my own sister. She sat down next to me.

– Hi. I’m Sindy, and I got the role of Betty – she shook my hand.

– Hi. My name is Laura, and I hope to get the role of Alice.

– Nice to meet you… And I think this role is meant for you!

– Oh, thank you so much. I don’t know what to say…

At that moment, the door opened, and a brunet left the room. I must admit, he looked quite handsome…

Sindy got up and walked over to him.

– And how did it go? Did you get it?! – the girl asked the question.

– Yes! I got the role of Justin!

After these words they had a high five. And the boy looked at me and… It seemed like he saw a beautiful picture! Sindy pulled him towards me.

– Laura, I want to introduce someone to you – the blonde said.

That brunet was still staring at me strangely… After two minutes she pinched him, and it worked!

– Hey, I’m… Ummm….

– A total fool… – she said quietly. – Joe! – she gave him the clue after a moment.

– Oh yeah! My name is Joe – he smiled.

– And I’m Laura – I smiled back.

We looked at each other without words for three minutes, I guess… I even liked it… And then the door opened.

– Laura Brown! Please, come in! – I woke up from the trance and moved quickly to where the guy was standing. At the last moment, I turned around.

– Joe, Sindy! Will you wait for me?

– Sure – the girl said and smiled.

I entered the room, but I could still hear Joe’s words:

– She remembered my name!

It sounded like the words of a little child who enjoys the candy, lollipops, and chocolate all at once…

*

I felt something strange on my leg. I looked down. The cup of water that I had in my hand found its way onto my pants. I don’t know by what kind of miracle… It turned out that I fell asleep… I was still sitting in the waiting room. Wait, these people I met were a figment of my imagination? It felt like a real life, but well…

I started wiping the water off and a girl came up to me. Wait, this is Sindy! The girl from my dream! And a moment later she was standing in front of me! OKAY…

– Hi. My name is Sindy. I think you might need a tissue – she handed me the package.

– Thanks. I’m Laura. Nice to meet you.

– I don’t want to be nosy, but how did it happen that the water is not in the cup anymore? – she asked.

– Well… I fell asleep – I laughed at myself.

Just at that very moment, the door opened, and a brunet walked into the waiting room. This is Joe! The boy from my dream! “Ok, it started getting scary…” – I thought.

– Sindy Cooper? – he asked the girl.

Weird, he didn’t even look at me. Am I invisible or something?

– Yeah. What’s up?

– Hey, I’m Joe and I’m gonna play the role of Justin. I was told to tell you that you got the role of Betty. Congratulations.

– Wow. What a great… Thing! – well, she was really happy about it. And it made her not to find the right words.

Then here comes a miracle and Joe noticed me. Seriously? Zero reaction? He even looked disgusted…

– Hey. I’m Laura and I’m waiting for my turn. Maybe we’ll work together.

– Maybe.

 And he left. Did I have something on my forehead then or something? He looked at me so crookedly. Sad, even incredibly sad…

*

An hour passed, and I was waiting for the results. “Maybe I’ll get this role! One brief moment separates me from fulfilling my dreams and… One more girl”. I remember those thoughts and the memory very well. They told me to wait and said that they would choose me or her. In the end, the door opened, and the director came to us in the corridor. In other words, the waiting room.

– Congratulations, Laura Brown. From this day you’re playing the role of Alice – he stretched forth his hand.

I was so happy! I couldn’t believe it was really happening. That’s when my dreams began to come true… But… Well… Let’s go back to the storyline now… And… Action!

– Come with me. You must meet the rest of the cast.

After these words, I followed him, and we entered the room. There was a large table in the centre. Each of the four places was signed with the name of the character and a real person. Sindy, Joe, and some dark-haired boy were already in the room. I guessed that the fourth person was… Brian! Yep, I looked at the inscriptions written on cards and read them real quick. I found out a moment later that I was right… Because the boy came up to me and introduced himself.

– Hey, my name is Brian. It looks like you’re Laura, and you’re playing Alice. Congratulations – he smiled at me very friendly.

– Hi. It’s nice to meet you.

After a while, Brian was sitting in his seat again. “Well, he’s pretty cool… I like mature boys… They are often such handsome specimens…” And then Sindy came over to me. How good that she didn’t know what I was thinking about then. Ha!

– Hi again. I can see that you made it. I hope we will become friends. I like you already.

– Aww. You are so sweet. Can I? – I opened my arms.

Can I… I meant to hug. I hope everything is clear… We hugged very tightly. I noticed Joe rolling his eyes. “What is he about?” – I was wondering for a minute. I couldn’t wonder any longer because a moment after he got up, stood in front of me and said:

– Well, we’ll work together from now on.

– Yes, it looks like that.

I don’t think he liked me then… The way he looked at me wasn’t the nicest. I went to my seat. He did the same. We sat at the table in order: Joe, me, Sindy, and Brian. The director stood in front of us. He had some papers in his hands and was looking at it.

– Dear children. I cordially greet you. I’m the director, and I want to tell you that the series Friends Dreamers is planned for at least two seasons. We must start shooting the first episodes next week as the premiere is scheduled for December. There is a contract, and I’m asking you to read it and sign it – he handed out a thick bundle of papers.

“Shall I really read this? Twenty-five pages of the contract?! It’s going to be an extremely interesting reading. Woo hoo!” – I thought.

*

An hour later, I handed over the contract. The rest too. The guy stood in front of us with some new papers again and spoke:

– My dear children. We will be shooting the series here in Los Angeles. We will meet on the set in two days, and this is your “timetable”. Here’s exactly what your days will look like during the filming. I also have the script for the first episode for you. You must memorize your lines. It’s the priority. All clear?

– Yeah… – we said like a choir.

He handed out the papers. I looked at the schedule.

“What? I should be up at 5:30 A.M.? Well, I must survive it somehow…

I’m very happy that we will be filming in LA. It’s a beautiful City of Angels, a place where you can make your dreams come true, it’s always warm and you don’t have to go anywhere…

Anyways… I just can’t believe it! I’ll be on TV! My dream is really coming true! Ah!”

I know I’m fabulizing my memories a little bit… I don’t remember if it’s what I was thinking about then, but now when I think about it… I think that’s what I could’ve been thinking. I also remember that my perspective was changing for the last two years so yeah…

The information meeting had ended. I already wanted to leave the building, and suddenly I saw that… Joe was following me! What did he want? Not being nice to me again?

– Hey, Laura. Will you come over to me? I plan to throw a little party at my house tomorrow. Sindy and Brian will come by too. So what? Will you come?

For the first time, he smiled at me. “Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought…” crossed my mind.

– Okay. I will come – I said after a moment of hesitation.

– Cool! – I think he was happy to hear it. He gave me a note with the address. – I hope you will find the right building.

– Sure. See you later.

– See you later.

I went out…

*

This was our first meeting. Interesting, isn’t it? Okay, I must go now. I’m a bit tired…

In the next entry, I will tell you what Joe’s party looked like and the first days in the new job of dreams…

P.S. “Music is a part of your heart…”

Recently, such wise words were sent to me by my friend from Poland. Music is her passion. She thinks about it exactly the way Joe does. In a few days they will meet at the Silver Trills concert in Warsaw. I’ll tell you everything about it soon…

***

So, that’s all. It’s quite long because as I said previously… At first, these were two separate chapters with the TBC thing in the middle… Anyway, I hope you like it like that too!

Let me also remind you that you can buy my novel signed copy here if you’d like to continue reading like that. Also, there is the e-book, and you can find it here if you wanna continue reading asap. If you want to own a T-shirt – click here – or bag – click here. The novel collection is here.

You can also use the code “winterlove20” for all these things mentioned above. It’s valid until 14th February.

See ya on Wednesday!

Love, A.A.