Midnight Mayhem

1

Eliza's hamster crawled around her hand, searching for his early morning snack. She smiled, watching her soft cloud disappear into her sleeve.

'You know Momo, this is the one night of the year I am actually awake with you.' He scurried out of her sleeve again, and he wondered around her desk. The window that was to the side of her let in the cold air from the night. Eliza tucked her knees closer to her chest, trying to squeeze into the acrylic chair she was sat in and held Momo in her hands.

She gazed over at her clock, and the little digital hamster was pointing to it being 11:45pm. It had been the craziest year. She had asked her mother to move out the beginning of the year, but she argued and refused to support Eliza, who had been very serious about the request. She had made it her resolution to move on from this dingey old house and resume the life she was uprooted from in Tokyo.

The only problem was she had also begun to root here to make life bearable again. Her best friend Beth was not mean, she had made life ok in England. School had been survived with her, and their lives had been intertwined with music and study. How would she tell Beth that her new resolution was to move away? 'No, tonight is the night.' Eliza told herself, she refused to let her thoughts distract her from what she had promised herself to do. She needed to do this for her sanity, it was time to move on.

She gazed around at her room, still the pale lilac that she hadn't chosen, and cringed. 'I am not going to miss these colours.'

She gently picked up Momo and put him back into her cage. Turning to slide the window open, she looked back on her little hamster. 'I'll let you out when I'm back.'

The fresh air hit her face before she squinted and it made her eyes water. She slid out into the cold night regardless and grasped her navy cardigan closer to her as she walked onto the roof of the terrace. It wasn't a far drop but as she jumped to the playhouse it would make her nervous in case her mum heard any noise. Sometimes Lily carried in her reptiles to re-home them. The last one was the wild spider, the coast was clear tonight.

She walked a while away from her house, into the heart of London. It was gradually coming more and more chaotic, as usual. She walked toward the river Thames, from the small duplicate houses to the beginnings of awake apartments. Music boomed, the people to yelled over it. Maybe this would be the year? A red bus drove past her and she crossed the street in her black pumps that matched her hair. She was 22 now, her mother couldn't stop her moving to Japan... right?

She walked up to the third bridge at 11:59 just as Beth had organised with her. The streetlights shimmered on the Thames, and a few party boats were heard downstream. Everyone awakened this time of the year. Cafés opened, bars served people by the hundreds. Eliza found it hard to find a clear path. She made eye contact with Beth and waved, they both ran up to each other. 'Last week felt like too long ago.' Eliza admitted.

'We have attachment issues...' Beth laughed. 'You know it'll be exactly one hundred and twelve seconds before we become our soulmates. You must tell me exactly who I am... promise?'

Eliza smirked, 'if I become my soulmate, I'm going to give you my violin—' she shifted her jeans and tucked her short hair behind her ear. 'You need to tell me who I become too...'

Beth rolled her eyes, 'not so sceptical now, are you? Anyway, next week I want to play a piece of Monet with you. I found a symphony that fascinated me, here's the violin part.' Beth said, she passed over a few pieces of paper that had been crumpled. Eliza took them, and tucked them into the back pocket of her jeans.

'I will revise it at some point... life's been crazy.' Eliza admitted, but she should have told the truth.

'You have the music; can't you find some time? You always say that—' but Beth was drowned out by the first explosion of the fireworks. They both jumped, however, they knew it was a sign for midnight.

They both looked at each other, their faces shifted. A distant scream of a woman walking close to them faded and merged and felt empty. Almost as if you watched someone with a liquid filter adjust your features. Eliza's hair turned short, and blonde. Beth's eyes were merged into a deep indigo, instead of the beautiful blue they were, and her blonde hair faded to a deep brown. Eliza struggled to stand, and collapsed to her knees, bewildered by the whole experience. She gazed hazily over at the woman who screamed and watched her arms shift into a deep tanned colour. Beth collapsed, also looking very drained. She looked at Eliza who's face had paled, and saw the face still finding it's right place. She put her hands on Eliza. Beth helped Eliza up, though she felt weak herself. 'You need to stop speculating. Oh, and do you want to give me your violin now?' Beth laughed, and it wasn't hers. It was, but it wasn't. Her personality had been morphed into a boy, making her seem childish. Like a young boy from school who is still feeling the ropes to what he can get away with that isn't stupid enough to be punished for.

Eliza smiled, 'what do I look like then?'