Hey hey heyy!

Here's a new chapter ;)

XXX

I didn't listen to most of what she said. Therefore, I was given the simplest task - to buy balls and other decorations. I decided to go to the store right away so I could deal with it and not put it off.

I went into the first store that was on my way, 'Heaven'. I've never been here, but the store said that "Everything you need is here!" Great, let's see if it's true.

A middle-aged woman was sitting behind the cash register.

"Excuse me, do you sell party decorations? You know, all sorts of balloons and stuff," I approached her and asked, immediately regretting it when I smelled her perfume. Ugh, I don't even know how to describe this, where did she buy it? It was a heavy, sweet smell of some kind of jasmine, which made my nose tickle.

"Of course, honey, last row on the right".

I had to scan the row 3 times to notice 2 packs of balloons. I didn't find anything else. I took one pack in my hands. Blue color. You know, this time I decided to take my task seriously, and if I was told to buy the best decorations for the party, then I will! I said goodbye to the woman with the terrible perfume and left the store.

Then the most brilliant idea came to me. What did Tinka say about that glitter shop earlier? She said that she buys most of her outfits and... Uhm... Everything related to glitter there. I took out my phone and searched for 'Glitter shop Chicago'. Nope, nothing. Maybe it was 'Sequin shop'? I only got one result - 'Sequin Boutique'. Aha, I knew I was right about the sequin part!

XXX

The boutique turned out to be much further than I expected. Please don't ask me how many times I took the wrong turn.

The shop itself-oh, sorry, the boutique itself did not live up to its name at all. I thought I would see a huge building painted in all the colors of the rainbow, but it was just gray. Gray!

I opened the door and was greeted by golden bells hanging above it. I don't know what they are called... I'll have to ask Rocky.

When I looked around, I swear my jaw was on the floor. Everything was so... Hessenheffered!

Now it's clear why Tinka loves this store so much.

Okay, imagine this: Everywhere you look, there's glitter and sequins. The walls are bright pink and covered in sequins, and there are shelves full of sparkly stuff. Mirrors throughout the boutique reflected all those sparkling things. Mannequins dressed in absurd sparkly clothes. Sparkly and weird dresses, tops, skirts, accessories (although some of them were actually nice). Wait, is that a glittering makeup station in the corner? And it. Was. Sparkly. Too.

So now you know what Hessenheffer heaven lookes like. My eyes are hurting! Pinch me, am I dreaming? If I am, it's probably a nightmare.

"Welcome to our sequin paradise. How can I help you?" A girl came up to me wearing a pink dress with the words 'Sequin Boutique' written on it. She was about twenty years old.

"Um," I realized that all this time I had just been standing near the entrance. "Do you sell party decorations? Balloons, candles, and other things."

"Come with me," The girl took my hand and led me through the store. I tried to look around, but it was impossible - there were too many rows. "Here," She pointed to the section labeled 'Decorations'.

The assortment was huge! Colorful banners and streamers (with glitter, of course), balloons in every shade of the rainbow, some even filled with confetti or sequins. For the tables, there were glittery tablecloths. There were also sequined flowers and glittery candle holders.

I chose pink and yellow glitter balloons, 16 cake candles and a large 'Happy Birthday' banner. One pack had 20 balloons in it. Perfect. Wait till Rocky sees all this!

Everything cost me 50 dollars. I was planning on spending that money on new shoes, but oh well.

Before going to the checkout, I went into the clothing department. Something caught my eye. Blue dress with feathers. Hmmm, is it just me or is this the same outfit Tinka wore to school last week? Yep, I'm right.

Oooh, but this jacket is not bad at all. I picked up the silver jacket and walked over to the mirror. Then I opened my bag to take out my phone and took a photo. Next time I have money, I will definitely come here again.

When I paid for everything, they gave me streamers as a gift.

I still can't understand how I didn't know about this shop-I mean boutique.

XXX

'Ring ring ring!'

Ugh. I hate Monday mornings. Half asleep, I stretched out my hand to press the snooze button, but accidentally knocked over the alarm clock. I opened one eye and looked at the floor. Is it broken? Well, at least it stopped ringing. If mom asks why I missed the first lesson, I will just say that the alarm clock broke. I had already started rehearsing my speech, when I heard someone calling my name:

"CeCe, wake up!" Damn, mom hasn't left yet.

"I am not sleeping!"

"Yes you are!"

I guess now I'll have to go to school again. I got out of bed, put on my slippers and headed to the kitchen.

"Good morning," My mom was already in her uniform, adjusting her cap.

"I don't have time, so please make Flynn something for breakfast. Okay, I'll go now. Flynn! Rise and shine!" She kissed my forehead and left the apartment. "Don't be late for school!"

She locked the door and I walked towards Flynn's room.

"Flynn, come on, we're late!" Actually, we weren't late, but I had to hurry him up somehow!

"I'm up, I'm up," Flynn finally woke up and sleepily went to the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"

"Well, actually, I was thinking about a one-minute breakfast..."

"Well, I was thinking about bacon," Flynn sat down at the table and I ruffled his hair.

"Well..." I started to answer him when a familiar voice interrupted me:

"Hey hey hey!" Rocky was already dressed to go to school, which was strange since she usually takes longer to get ready.

"Hey Rocky, is today some special day? You usually take longer than me to get ready."

"Not at all, I just wanted to discuss with you..." She came closer and whispered, as if she was afraid that Tinka would hear us: "Tinka's surprise party."

"Rocky, why are you whispering, relax, it's not like she'll hear us," I opened the cupboard and took out a box of cereal.

"Yeah, you're right, it's just that when I talk about surprise parties, I'm always afraid that someone will overhear us."

"Let me guess, it's because of me, right?" I chuckled as I poured the cereal into the bowl. "Well, what can you do, I am Cece "Unsurprisable" Jones."

"So, you haven't bought those party decorations yet, have you?" She looked at me with her 'I know everything' look and I pretended to be offended.

"No!"

"No as in yes, you have?"

"Yes! Wait, no!" Uhhm... I was completely confused.

"No you haven't?"

"I have!"

"Wait, really?" She raised her eyebrow as if she didn't believe it. Ha, well in her face! I'm responsible!

"Yes, really. And they are gor-geous!" I said the last word in a singing tone.

"Okay, is someone going to feed me or not?" Flynn tapped his spoon on the table. Oops! I forgot he was here.

"Here. Cereal. Eat."

"Finally!"

XXX

At lunch, I decided to approach Tinka, who sat alone at the table and picked at her pasta with a fork. She was wearing a gray shirt and pants, and not a single sequin!

"Hey, Tinka, what's up?" I tried to sound as cheerful and casual as possible. "What ya doing?"

"Mama and Papa are worried. They say he left and never came back..." Tinka looked up from her plate of pasta. I noticed that she spoke without an accent, her voice was shaking as if she was about to cry, in her eyes I saw hopelessness. She looked like a homeless puppy, and I just wanted to tell her that everything will be fine.

"Gunther?" That was the only thing I could say.

"Of course Gunther, who else?!" Tinka raised her voice and I saw tears in her eyes.

"N-no, Tinka, please don't cry," I'm quite an empathic person, so if someone is crying, then I'll probably cry too.

"But how can I not cry? I-I don't know how I'll live without him, without him I'll just be... 'Heffer...'" She weakly raised her hands in their signature pose. I hugged her and patted her on the back. We sat like that for about 5 seconds.

"By the way, Tinka?" I didn't want to at first, but I decided to ask her anyway.

"Hm?"

"Maybe he plans to return to Chicago?"

"Nonsense, if he wanted to return to Chicago, he would have said so. We sent a letter to grandma, but she hasn't responded yet," Tinka started speaking with an accent again.

"Well, you don't know that for sure."

She simply shook her head in response.