Chapter one- The First Day of the Rest of Your Life


New Year's Eve- Seven months earlier


"Well, another year gone just like that. Scary thought..."

"Tell me about it. Each year just seems to go quicker and quicker."

Two women were discussing the year gone by in their living room. One of them was a twenty five year old with long black hair wearing a grey hoodie zipped up halfway, showing off a pink T-shirt underneath, as well as blue jeans. She was Anna Tyler, a woman who spent almost her whole life living in the town of Pernington, Essex. Next to her was a woman in her mid fifties, with short greying auburn hair. She was wearing a baggy blue T-shirt and white trousers. This was Jennifer Tyler, Anna's mother.

"Still can't believe tomorrow will be the last day I spend living in this house." Anna sighed. "Honestly, I can't wait to leave this dump of a town but it still feels so surreal..."

"How's the packing going?" asked Jennifer.

"Not bad, thanks. Got most of my stuff sorted out and Alice said she'd help me do the rest tomorrow. Just got my video game collection to do, mostly."

Jennifer laughed.

"Looking at how many of those you have, that'd probably take more than a few days to pack."

"And that's before we even get to the consoles." Anna laughed back. "We'll get it done, though. You know how much I've been looking forward to this move."

"I know. And I can't say I'm not looking forward to finally getting you out of my hair. I just hope that now you're moving to London you'll stop spending all your time indoors and start being more active. Not that I won't be worried about you of course."

"Muuum! I'll be perfectly fine, honest. What could possibly go wrong? Okay, everything. But apart from that, what could possibly go wrong?"

"You're not helping..."

Anna couldn't help but chuckle. Jennifer wasn't what you'd call overprotective, but like any good mother she worried about her a lot. In truth, Anna was as worried as she was excited at moving. She had no idea how things would go or even if she'd be able to find work. But anything was better than the sad and lonely life she led in this town. Her parents bitterly divorced when she was three, and as a result Jennifer was forced to raise her on her own. As such Anna became very dependant on her mother, and when she started nursery and was left on her own for the first time, she started panicking and caused quite a scene. As a result the other children avoided her, not wanting to talk or even play with her. All except for one. Alice Mackenzie. She had a curious interest in Anna, feeling that all she ever really needed was a friend. So one day Alice asked Anna if she wanted to play with her. Anna was a little reluctant at first as all she wanted was to be with her mum. Over time though, she began to take a liking to Alice and the two became the best of friends.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Ooop, that'll be Alice now." said Anna, getting up off the sofa. She walked over to the door and opened it to a woman with blonde, tied back hair that went down to her shoulders. She was wearing a green coat, as well as glasses. dark blue trousers and grey trainers. She was also carrying a backpack over her shoulder.

"Helloooooo!" Both girls said, giving each other a hug.

"How's things going, Alice? Any trouble getting here?" said Anna.

"Good thanks, but ain't it cold tonight? Had a smoke before I rang and I'm bloody freezing right now!" Alice replied, taking off her trainers and coat revealing an unzipped black tracksuit top which showed off a white T-shirt.

"I know, right? Mum's got the fire on right now though, so you'll warm up pretty quickly."

"Sounds good. The traffic's been pretty heavy, but I managed. Obviously there's a lot of people going to all the new year celebrations, you know?"

"Of course. Still, at least you made it in time to see it in."

"Hello Alice." said Jennifer as she entered the hall. "You want something to drink? I have some champagne, or wine..."

"Hiya Jen. Oooo, I'd love some champagne, but I think I'll wait until the new year comes in. Don't want to drink too much."

Alice had come over not only to see in the new year with Anna, but to help her pack for the move. The whole thing had been her idea from the start, mainly because that was where her boyfriend lived and she wanted to be closer to him. But with house prices out there being rather high, she struggled to afford one until she hit upon the idea of having Anna split the cost with her. That would of course mean Anna would have to move in with her, but Alice felt that leaving Pernington would be just what Anna needed to get her life in order. Alice was the only friend she had ever had, and due to her shy nature she never made any more, not even at work. Much of that shyness was a direct result of all the bullying she endured shortly after she started at Junior school. She had been relentlessly picked on by the other kids there, though she did have Alice to stick up for her. But then they started Senior school, and the bullying got even worse than ever. Things got worse still during the middle of their second year, when Alice got expelled from the school after a big fight with one of the nastier bullies. Now Anna only had Alice to talk to after school and on the weekends and found coping even harder than ever. Because of this, she never went to college or university and went straight to work. Her current job was at a recycling plant, and while she didn't hate it she felt as though her life was at a dead end. Maybe moving away from Pernington would give her the boost she so desperately needed.

"So, you ready for the move?" Alice asked.

"Of course." replied Anna. "Just need to finish packing. So, we're off to yours tomorrow, and then we move the next day?"

"That's the plan. We could have gone straight from here, but I couldn't bring Cookie along tonight and someone's gonna need to feed him tomorrow. So yeah, we might as well go from my place."

"Poor little puss. All on his own tonight with all the fireworks..."

"Ah, he'll fine. Knowing him he'll probably sleep through the whole thing anyway."

"True, true."

The two kept bantering until Jennifer came back out into the hall.

"Nearly midnight, girls. Best get your drinks in. Now Alice, you said you wanted champagne, right? How about you, Anna?"

"I'll have the same please, Mum." said Anna. Jennifer went into the kitchen to pour everyone out some champagne. They then gathered around the TV, ready for the new year to ring in.

"I think there's just enough time for a toast before the fireworks." said Jennifer, raising her glass. "To a new beginning."

Both Anna and Alice raised their glasses in tandem. "To a new beginning!"

Just as they had clinked their glasses together, the ever familiar chimes of Big Ben began to ring on the TV.

"Well, happy new year everyone!" said Anna, raising her glass again.

"You too!" said Alice as the fireworks started. As they watched the display, Anna couldn't help but wonder what the new year- and indeed her soon to be new home- would bring...




"Jesus Christ, Anna. HOW many boxes did you bring?"

"You didn't have any issue yesterday! Why now?"

It was the second of January, and Anna and Alice were now well on their way to their new house in London. In the back the car was an animal carrier containing Alice's pet cat Cookie, who was sleeping as usual. Anna had two cardboard boxes on her lap, since they couldn't fit all of her belongings into the removal truck. The previous day, they had to put all of Anna's belongings not only in the big boot of Alice's car, but on the back seats as well. Alice didn't press Anna on the matter but very quickly regretted not doing so.

"Because I didn't take my stuff into account. I mean, geez. Your stuff is like, seventy percent of everything we're taking here!"

"I do have a lot of stuff." Anna said meekly.

"It's a good thing there'll be plenty of space in our new house." Alice sighed. "You can pretty much have your own game room in addition to your bedroom." It was true that Anna had a huge collection of video games. She loved collecting the older stuff in particular, and was always on the lookout for the rarer games.

"Good thing we both play them a lot. Heh, maybe someday we should start our own YouTube channel or something."

"I can't imagine it getting off the ground, but it could be fun. You really like talking about games as well, so you might have something insightful to say."

"You know it. I can be something of a walking encyclopedia on these things. Oh! That's it, isn't it?"

"I believe it is. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say we appear to have a squatter..."

The car had approached a three storey house at the end of a street. 45 Park Tree Road- their new address. Park Tree Road was a street in a particularly woodland based area in the north east of London. Plenty of trees and woods, though there was also a small shopping district, restaurants and even a few pubs in the area so it wasn't too bare bones. Outside Anna and Alice's new house was a fairly tall man wearing a beige jacket and light blue jeans. He also had brown hair that looked faintly spiky, glasses and a very light stubble on his chin. In his hands was a basket containing all sorts of sweets.

"We sure do." said Anna as Alice beeped her horn at the man. She then stopped the car outside the garage, got out and gave him a big hug. Anna also got out, though she had to fumble about with the boxes she was holding.

"Hi Steve!" said Alice, giving her boyfriend a kiss.

"Hey, Alice. Hi Anna." said Steve, giving the basket to Anna, along with a peck on the cheek. "Welcome to London. I bought some treats for you..."

"You shouldn't have!" said Anna, eyeing up the basket's contents. Lots of her favourite sweets were in there- Love Hearts, Sherbet Dips, Drumstick lollies... "Though you do realise that by the time I'm done, Alice'll only have the Blackjacks and all the liquorice left, right?"

"No, you might want to leave a little bit more than that for me..." said Alice. But she couldn't blame her for that remark. Anna was known for her tremendous sweet tooth. Steve laughed at their exchange as Alice turned to him. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting you to meet us here."

"Yeah, well... I wanted to welcome you personally. Plus, I figured you guys could use some help getting your stuff in. Though... I was kind of expecting more. Just those two boxes and Cookie?"

"Huh." said Anna. "Now that you mention it, the removal van isn't here yet. Oh shit, don't tell me they got lost..."

At that moment, Alice's phone rang. She answered it while Anna and Steve kept talking.

"So, looking forward to living on your own, Anna?"

"Well, I'll be living with Alice so it's not really on my own. But yeah, it's gonna be nice to have some independence. Also, having two bathrooms. Always annoying when I needed to go, but Mum spent forever in there back home."

"A little too much information there, mate. You sure you'll be alright finding a job? This part of London's not the most active area."

"Eh, Alice is in the same boat. We'll manage. I hope."

"Right." said Alice with an annoyed tone in her voice as she put her phone down. "They got lost. Apparently they're turning back and looking for another path. In other words, we're not going to be unpacking for a while."

"How the hell did they manage to do that?" asked Anna. "Don't they have Sat-navs? Or, I don't know... Some actual KNOWLEDGE of England's roads?"

"I know. Bloody unbelievable. Well, I have the key, so we may as well go in and unpack Anna's two boxes. And let Cookie out. He probably wants to stretch his legs right now."

"Plus, it's probably a bit warmer in there than it is out here." said Steve.



There wasn't much to the first floor of the house. Just the cloakroom, as well as a door on the left that led to the garage and the stairs to the second floor. Everyone took their coats off and hung them up, Steve revealing a black T-Shirt underneath his own. On the second floor was the living room, the kitchen and a spare room which Anna had decided to make her dedicated gaming room. Finally, the third floor had the main bathroom and three bedrooms, one of which had it's own bathroom. It was a pretty nice house, though it would have been even nicer if they actually had some stuff to put in there.

Alice let Cookie out of his carrier and let him explore his new surroundings as Anna and Steve opened up the two boxes they bought in. In one of them was Anna's Mega Drive, as well as some of her favourite games. In the other was some of her Playstation 4 games, though currently no Playstation 4 to play them on. Or even a TV.

"Aaaaand these things are useless at the moment." said Anna. "Guess there's nothing we can do until the removal guys show up. If they ever do."

"Ever the optimist, I see." said Steve.

"Heh. What can I say? Trouble has a habit of following me."

"Only if you let it. I'd say Alice is right- you definitely need more confidence."

"Yeah, that's part of why I wanted to move in the first place. Really hope I can make a new start out here..."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Please tell me that's the removal guys..." said Alice as Anna went downstairs to answer the door. It wasn't. Instead, it was a ginger haired woman wearing glasses, much like Alice and Steve. She was wearing a grey T-shirt with black trousers and an unbuttoned green shirt. On her head was a blue baseball cap which she wore back to front. Clearly fashion meant nothing to her.

"Ummm... Can I help you?" said Anna, as Steve and Alice came downstairs to see who was there.

"Yeah, I'm here to see Steve. I kinda have something to give back to him."

"Oh, hi Kelly." said Steve. "How'd you even know I was here?"

"Well, you weren't in when I dropped by your house." said the new girl. "Then I remembered Alice was moving in today and figured you'd be here to help her out."

"Okay, I get that. But how did you find this place?"

"You gave me the address, silly. A few days ago, remember?"

"Oh, right. Yeah. I kind of forgot about that, actually. Sorry."

"I can tell you're a little confused right now." said Alice to Anna. "So, let me introduce you. This is Kelly Stevenson, my other main friend from back then. Kelly, this is Anna Tyler, my best friend and now housemate."

"Ah! So you're Anna!" said Kelly, shaking Anna's hand. "You won't believe how much Alice has talked about you. Nice to finally meet you!"

"Same." said Anna. "Now that I think about it, Alice told me about you as well. She said you met at her second senior school?"

"Apparently so. We basically met one day when Alice was being picked on by the bullies. I talked to her afterwards and it seemed a lot of people heard about what happened in her previous school. Since she didn't have any other friends there, I decided to hang out with her. I mean, I didn't think she was a bad person for sticking up for her friends. In fact, I sometimes kinds wish people did that more often..."

"I see. You both went to college as well, right?"

"That's right. Then after that we went our separate ways. I moved to London to go to university, though I kind of dropped out because the course I was taking wasn't really doing it for me. Alice still kept in touch though, and even came over from time to time to play some table top RPGs with me and my other friends."

"Now that I know. That's how she met Steve. She was DMing one of your games, and Steve just so happened to one of the other players."

"I remember that game well." said Steve, chuckling. "We were playing Paranoia, and Alice had this scenario where Alpha Complex was under attack from a bunch of Eldritch abominations that were coming in through a portal inside a blue clearance citizen's fridge."

"No kidding?" laughed Anna.

"No kidding." Kelly chuckled. "And that's before we used a disco ball to make a load of Shogoths dance. Seriously. That happened."

"And then the disco ball caught fire." said Steve. "Good times. Honestly, it was that inventiveness that made me fall in love with Alice in the first place."

"I've certainly heard stories about Alice's DM sessions." said Anna. "I'd love to play a few games with you guys someday."

"You'll get your chance, I promise." said Alice. "We should definitely plan something in the not too distant future."

"Aaaaaanyway..." said Kelly, handing a DVD box to Steve. "I came here to give this back to you, Steve. Your Thunderbirds Are Go! Box set."

"Ah, thanks." said Steve, taking the box. "What did you think, anyway? I know you're a huge fan of the original series..."

"Eh, it was okay. Nowhere near as good as the original, though. Half an hour per episode just wasn't enough time to build the tension. Really not a fan of the fact International Rescue knew all about The Hood, either. Pretty sure in the original they practically knew jack all about him. Might need to rewatch it some time to make sure."

"Big Thunderbirds fan, eh?" said Anna.

"You bet!" said Kelly. "It's just amazing how ahead of it's time it was. Not to mention it's the main reason I do what I do these days."

"And what do you do, exactly?"

"She invents things." said Alice.

"Yup, I'm an inventor." said Kelly. "I wanted to make awesome machines just like Brains in the show. Maybe even make the world a better place. Haven't quite gotten there yet mind, but Rome wasn't built in a day and all that. I have however, actually been hired to help out with a top secret project at Solstice Technologies."

"Really?" said Anna, clearly impressed. "Solstice Technologies, huh? That's a pretty big deal. I'd ask what kind of project it is, but you did say it's top secret."

"All I can say is, if everything goes according to plan it'll change the world as we know it. It's gonna be HUGE."

"Nice." said Steve. "Guess we'll be looking forward to that, then."

"And I'll be able to say I finally managed to make a difference." Kelly said as she looked at her watch. "Speaking of which, my next shift starts pretty soon so I need to make a move."

"Sure thing." said Alice, giving Kelly a hug. "Great to see you again. And I think we'll be seeing a lot more of you in future, right?"

"Count on it." said Kelly as she turned to Anna. "Nice to finally meet you too, Anna. I look forward to spending more time with ya!"

"Yeah, same here." Anna replied. "I can tell I won't be bored here with people like you around."

"Catch you later, Kelly." said Steve. "We need to find a time to meet up so we can introduce Anna to the rest of the gang."

"Sure, I'll let you know when I'm free. Later!"

Kelly turned and left, waving to everyone as she walked away.

"So yeah, that was Kelly." said Alice. "What did you think?"

"Aside from the fact she seems to cosplaying as a Rule 63 Kevin the Teenager, she seems nice." said Anna. "Like I said, I don't think things are gonna be boring here."

"Wait 'til you meet everyone else." said Steve. "Kelly's the most eccentric out of all of us, but the rest of us are quite fun too."

"I can't wait."

Anna looked at Kelly as she walked out of distance, then looked back at her new house. She sighed as she realised she had no idea how things were going to go. She didn't know what to expect now she was living away from her old home. She knew she had Alice and Steve to help make things easier, and Kelly as well as their other friends she had yet to meet. For now though, she was going to take things one day at a time. It may not have been the best start to her new life, but surely the only way now was up. However, nobody realised at the time that their lives were about to change in a way they never saw coming. Change in a truly extraordinary way...