new life | depeche mode

Chapter 1 - Happy Birthday

"Are you ready for the concert next week?" Jules asks. I shrug.

"Ready as I'll ever be, I guess." I reply. She turns to me and rolls her eyes.

"Look, Eve, I get that it's not Depeche Mode or whatever, but try to be enthusiastic. The tickets for the iHeartRadio concert were super expensive, if you don't want to go, let me know. I'll just take Grace or Eloise or something."

The bell rings, marking the end of our period five lunch.

"Sorry Jules, I AM excited!" I say, trying to sound perky.

"Whatever Eve, I'll see you in History," says a ticked off Jules. She grabs her stack of binders, notebooks, and folders and leaves the lunch table. I grab my books and head to gym.

***

"There's the birthday girl!" Mom exclaims as I walk through the front door. She's standing in the hall, smiling at me.

"Mom, stop it! I'm sixteen now!" I laugh, looking at the banner in the living room, adjacent to the hall. It's pink, with a castle, a princess, and a knight. In big letters across the top says "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVE". She must have dug it up from the attic or something.

My little brother Hank scurries into the room. "Hapfy birfday Evf," he says, his mouth full of chocolate chip cookies.

"Henry!" Mom exclaims, "Keep out of the kitchen!"

He runs into the play room to avoid further punishment. Mom turns back to me.

"Eve, why don't you go upstairs and hang out in your room. I've still got a little bit to do around here for your birthday." She suggests. I agree and climb the stairs.

I love my room. It's my oasis away from the world. My walls are a light blue, and I have a string of fairy lights over my bed. I have a big cork board over my desk, covered in pictures of The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Howard Jones, Simple Minds, and the Thompson Twins. All my records are downstairs with my parents' records in the living room, all I have is an old CD player. I put Songs of Faith and Devotion on, and sit on my bed.

I just wish I had someone to listen to this with. My parents like my music, as they're the ones who introduced me to it, but it's not the same. I feel my friends getting annoyed whenever I bring it up. I was over the moon when my parents agreed to get me tickets for the Global Spirit Tour, but my friends were less than thrilled for me. That's partly the reason why I'm not super pumped to go to that concert with Jules. I have nothing against the songs on the radio, but nothing compares to Louder Than Bombs or Changesonebowie, you get what I'm saying? It's petty, I know, but why do I have to be so happy for someone who wasn't happy for me?

Oh dear, I must sound like a jerk.

I'm halfway through Rush, when Mom calls me down. My dad and older sister Teresa are home now, so it's more Happy Birthdays, then dinner.

I was told we could eat anything for my birthday, so I said pizza from the local pizzeria. After that, it's presents.

First, I got some money from my grandmother in Ohio, it's not a lot, $25, but I can definitely put it towards something. Then, from Hank and Teresa, a set of DM pins and The Best of Howard Jones CD. Mom and Dad got me an eyeshadow palette, a $15 iTunes gift card, and Spirit on vinyl. I hugged my parents and siblings, thanking them for their presents. I promised to give a call to my grandmother later.

Then, Mom got an ice cream cake out of the freezer. Across the cake were all the various logos of bands and artists I liked. Then, in the center in red: HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY EVE!

As I blow out the candles, I decide to make a wish.

"I don't know who's out there. A fairy godmother or a guardian angel or whatever. All I've ever wanted, since I was little, singing Wham! songs on the playground in elementary school, is to fit in somewhere. Can that be accomplished? I just want-"

"C'mon Eve! Blow out your candles already!" Hank whines, hungry for cake. His outburst interrupts my thought process.

"Do something!" I think, as I blow out my candles.

My family and I talk for a while, then I go up to bed. As I brush my teeth, I think of my wish.

"Only in cheesy movies do wishes come true," I say to my reflection in the bathroom mirror. I pull my hair up into a bun and climb into bed.

***
In the morning I wake up, with the sun shining on my face. I soon notice, with my eyes still closed, that I wasn't sleeping in my bed. I open my eyes, and realize, to my horror, that  I was in a park, under a tree. I let out a little shriek. My plaid pajama pants and old dance recital t shirt were gone- I was wearing jeans, black converse, and a purple button down shirt. My hair was no longer in a bun, but down. To my side, there was a copy of The Shining next to me. Something told me to get up and walk down the gravel path. I vaguely remember the night before. I had told my Mom after dinner that I was going to sit in the park and read the book she had given me for my birthday. She had given it to me that morning.

WAIT.

Last night I celebrated my birthday with my family, there was no book. What's the deal with The Shining?

Up ahead I saw a housing estate.

That's your home, a nagging voice told me.
I passed little shops as I walked by. A concerned woman came up to me.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Eve! You had your mother worried sick! Staying out all night!  What were you thinking?" Upon closer look at her face, I realized that she looked familiar.

"I fell asleep in the park- honest!"

"I believe you, but just hurry on home, dear," she said.

I walked down the road and into the development. I walked around the road in the development until I came upon a house.

That's yours, the voice said again. I walked up to the front door and knocked.

Teresa opened the door, but she looked different. She was wearing a sundress and had her hair done in that stereotypical 70s curl.

"Eve! You're here!" She cries, pulling me in. "Really! Where were you?"

"Out in the park reading, and I fell asleep." I say.

My mom walks in, wearing a yellow shirt and matching skirt.

"Eve! You silly girl! I was just about to go ask Mrs. Gahan if she had seen you!" She exclaims, running towards me and hugs me.

My eyes got wide. "Mrs. Who?" I ask.

"Gahan. David's mother? Anyway where were you?"

I explain what happened again, but I couldn't stop thinking about Mrs. Gahan. Why does my family know her? Why is everyone dressed in 70s clothes? Why do I live in a housing estate somewhere in England?

I go upstairs to what I believe is my room. There's a small calendar pinned to the door of my closet. What I see next makes my jaw drop to the floor.

JUNE 1978