𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 -𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚘𝚍𝚘𝚛𝚎 '𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎' 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎

Chapter 1

Winter of 1861
The March Sisters are in their house. Some would say that they are fine young ladies with great manners. But if you really knew the girls, you would say they have a talent for getting into trouble.
I should know. I mean I am one of them. They call me, Marilyn March. Most actually just call me Mari or Mary.
I'm not really a writer. That's my sister, Jo. She writes the most magnificent stories. To be honest, I don't even know why I'm writing.
Maybe it's because she gave me this notebook. I could never write stories like hers but maybe I could write stories about my life.
"MARY!" I hear a shout from downstairs.
"yes?" I call back.
"You better be ready before we leave without you!" my sister, Jo, yells.
I quickly get up and put the notebook away. I go to Meg's room and see Amy and Beth. They're sitting on the bed.
"I know just who I'll dance with." says Meg.
I turn and look at her. Her dress is beautiful. A nice violet color that suits her complexion. Jo is doing Meg's hair with a pair of hot tongs.
"Who will you dance with Jo?" asks Amy.
I look at Amy and gasp, "What an absurd question, Amy! You know Jo never dances."
Amy laughs as Jo throws a pillow at me. I stick my tongue out at her.
"Why can't we ALL go to the party? It's not fair!" Amy complains.
"Just wear your regular shoes, " Jo says as she looks at Meg struggling to put on her slippers.
"These fit last winter!" Meg states. She forces the shoe on to her foot.
"I bet by the end of the night, Meg's feet will be swollen, "  I say to Jo.
Jo laughs as Meg turns and glares at me. I smile at her as she can't help but laugh. Amy puts on some jewels and sighs.
"My nose will simply not look refined, " Amy complains.
"I like your nose." Beth says quietly. I love Beth to bits and pieces. Especially because she's quiet and the rest of my sisters get annoying very fast.
Amy reaches to jo, "Now, Jo-"
Jo moves slightly out of Amy's grab,"Don't touch me, thanks! I already feel ridiculous enough. I don't want to look it!"
Amy sighs, "You could be pretty if you tried."
"That is simply not true." I say. They all turn and look at me. "We are all pretty even if we don't try."
"How uplifting, Mary!" Jo says, sarcastically as the rest laugh.
I throw a pillow at her and tease, "You're just jealous because people call me the nice one."
Jo rolls her eyes.
"I don't want to go, but I wish I could hear all the music." Beth says.
"I'll try to keep it all in my head and sing it to you when we get home." Jo says.
"Or better yet, so we won't have to hear Jo's singing voice, I'll get the music sheets and you can play them to us." I smile as I play with the locket around my neck.
"That would be wonderful. I can't wait." Beth smiles brightly.
Jo goes back to doing Meg's hair. Beth watches Jo.
"Ought they to smoke like that?" Worries Beth.
"It's just the dampness drying." Jo says confidently.
           "What a queer smell. It's like burnt feathers." Meg observes.
         "There, now you'll see a perfect little ringlet." Jo says removing the tongs.
           When Jo lets go, a burnt clump of hair falls to the ground. We all look at each other and gasp. Jo screams. Meg screams because Jo screams. Then Amy screams and I scream.
           "You're ruined!" Amy gasps in slight delight.
          "Why is her hair off?" Beth asks with a confused face.
           I start to laugh but quickly hold it in,"I'm sure that Marmee can fix it."
         "Meg, I'm so sorry!" Jo apologizes over my snorts. I'm trying to keep it in. I really am. It's just so hard.
           Meg looks in the mirror, "what have you done?!?"
         "I'm sorry! You shouldn't have asked me to do it! I ruin everything!" Jo says as Meg runs out of the room.
           She calls for Marmee, our Mother."Marmee, I'm spoilt! I can't go! My hair!"
        Marmee calms her down and does her hair this time. You can barely see where it is scorched.
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           Meg, Jo, and I walk into the Gardiners party. It's already in full swing. We walk down the hallway as Meg is chastising us. Although I don't really pay it much attention.
          I finally tune back into what Meg is saying when Jo hits my side for me to pay attention, "...Don't stare. Don't put your hands behind your back. Don't say Christopher Columb-"
          "See now I just think you're throwing random rules at us." I tell Meg.
           She rolls her eyes, "This is serious. Don't say capital. Don't shake hands. Don't whistle-"
            Meg is interrupted once again but this time, she doesn't mind. It's her friend, Sallie Moffat. Before she can even say bye to us or tell us anymore rules, she's whisked away by Sallie.
         Jo and I go stand on the side of the room. The people dancing are in the center. I notice Jo looking over at a young man. He's staring at her.
          She tries to make her escape, "I'm going to go get some food, if you don't mind."
         "Go ahead." I say but she does not pay any attention to me.
          She walks away. I decide that now is a good time to get that sheet music for Beth. I go over to the orchestra. They sound lovely. In just the nick of time, they take a break and go over to get some refreshments.
         Perfect. I quickly go over take some of the music and tuck it under my arm. I slip into a room that has a curtain covering it. I take the sheet music and try to find a place to put it.
         I put the sheet music under my dress where you can't see it. I turn around to explore the room.
        "Jesus!" I say when I turn around. A young man is looking at me.
        "How long have you been there staring?" I ask. 
       "Enough to see you slip something into your dress." He says with a smile.
        I sit down on the couch in a proper way like Aunt March taught me, " If you must know, it's for my little sister, Beth. She adores music so I got her sheet music."
        "Oh. Good to know." He puts his book away.
       I turn and look at him, " Is there something you need?"
      "Do you want to dance?" He asks.
       I laugh, "Let me check over the list of rules I was given."
       I make a thinking face. Going over all of Meg's rules. Surprisingly dancing is not one of them.
       "Dancing sounds great," I sigh." Except I don't know how to."
        "I think I have the perfect place for us to dance." He says.
        He takes my hand and sneaks us outside. I'm just the giggling girl behind him.
"This is your idea?" I ask." To dance outside?"
"Yes. It is." He bows and holds out his hand,"May I have this dance?"
"I guess you may." I say jokingly and I take his hand.
We walk past a window normally before he twirls me. I link arms with him and spin in a circle. We walk normally past the other windows when we get to the end, we dance wildly.
I twirl past him and the windows. My locket swings around my neck. I motion for him to come to me. He quickly sprints towards me. He grabs my arm and dips me.
"I don't even know your name." I say as he brings me back up.
"I'm Theodore Laurence. You are Ms. March, right?" He asks.
I look at him, confused. We keep slow dancing. His hand lightly touching my waist.
"You're house is right across from mine." He explains.
"Ahhh. You live in the haunted mansion." I say our made up name for his house.
"Haunted mansion? I kinda like that. It sounds ominous." He says.
"More like scary." I say, rolling my eyes. I tend to do that a lot but only really in a joking way.
"I never did get your first name." He says to me.
"Marilyn. Most people call me Mari or Mary though." I reply.
"How about I call you lyn?" He asks.
I laugh, " If that is what you want. But I get to call you... let me think.... Teddy!"
"Oh. That is unfair. Teddy is such a kid's name." Teddy argues with a laugh.
"It is not unfair. Lyn is a bland name." I defend my actions.
"I go by the name Laurie. That is a good name." He says his name as an example.
"What's so wrong with Teddy?" I ask with a smile.
"What's so wrong with Lyn?" He asks back.
I groan, "Maybe I should just call you Dore."
"That's even worse!" He exclaims.
We get cut off with a knocking at the window. It's Meg. Jo is holding her with a pastry in her mouth. Ah. Jo found the food table.
Meg motions to the door and quickly leaves. Dore and I look at each other and hurry to the front.
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