Hey folks,
some introductory remarks:

This is going to be a long story. Not the longest I have ever written, but probably the longest I'm going to publish here.

I consider this to be a work in progress. When finished, the "saga" will comprise four or even five stories. Two of them I have written so far. I have tentatively started writing the third story, while for the fourth, nothing but a rough outline exists at this point in time. As for the firth...no clue whatsoever yet.

But as each story ends at - what I consider - a good moment to end a story, there won't be any "cliffhangers". So: Me posting the first two stories, while the others remain months - or probably years - in the making, won't hurt.

The first two stories comprise 56 chapters over a total of 120 A4 pages. Don't say, you have not been warned. If you really intend to stick around, you're in for the long run!



Especially in the first chapters, a lot of people are introduced. With the exception of a handful, most persons are of lesser interest, and you are excused to not remember them. I hope though, that it will become apparent soon, who the important persons are.

But if not: Keep an eye open for Leonie, Jessica, Karina, Nadine, Susanne and Leonie's father . Those are the most important persons. Of already lesser interest are Monika, Christoph & Marcel. The rest is more or less interchangeable.

You may as well forget the names of all teachers as soon as they are introduced. They will not play an important part. They only have a name because... well... in real life people DO have names and I try to create a somewhat realistic setting here...



I am also publishing this story in the German part of this forum.

This story was originally written in German and afterwards translated to English by me.  As my command over the English language sadly isn't where I would like it to be ;-), I am utilizing the help of google translate and/or deepl. That is, I'll let google translate / deepl do the brunt of the work before I sit down and iron out the kinks as best I can. So please bear with me if my translation is patchy in parts and may sound clumsy and awkward ;-)



Now for my obligatory warning to all readers who never read one of my stories before:

My stories differ from most of the others posted on this forum in two ways: Firstly, nothing happens and secondly it takes forever to finally get there ;-)

My style of writing could be described as "lengthy" and "excessive", probably even as "boring". I tend to use a thousand words, where fifty might have sufficed. In other words: Everything is rolled out very thin, the tension curve in this story is quite flat. Anyone expecting wild action and hair-pulling drama will certainly be disappointed.

To give but one example: While this story will feature braces and the amount I talk about them drastically increases over time until I talk of nothing else, in the first five chapters, braces are mentioned exactly once.

I just want to warn you that this story may not be to your taste!



It should go without saying that all names are fictitious; similarities to existing people and locations would be purely coincidental and are not intended!



Well, I would like to say that I have read so many wonderful stories in the last couple of months that my fingers started itching and - as a consequence - I sat down to write this story.

Sadly, that would be a lie.

Not about the stories I have read here. You - all of you - have outdone yourself and I enjoyed reading every single story. Thanks for your continued effort.

No, I would be lying about having written this story in the last couple of weeks. When in reality I started writing the first paragraph in November 2019. I worked on it off and on for weeks, months, years. Tweaking it a bit here, adding a paragraph there.

Looking forward to the story!

Sounds like this story is a bit like mine: long, and mentions braces more in passing, rather than all the time.

Looking forward to seeing how the story progresses.

After that: All I do, is talk about braces.
Every single chapter...again and again

Sounds perfect 

Chapter 03/22 - The first recess

The first few hours are pretty uneventful. While the first lesson is just a 'normal' lesson of History for most of those involved, Leonie has the problem of having to get used to a lot of new things:

New classmates, new teachers, new curriculum. Of course, she takes notes; but it's clear that she is having a hard time following when Mr. Jakob talks about the end of the Weimar Republic.

"By the by: At the school you last went to, Leonie, where did you stop in History?" he turns to the newcomer.

"French Revolution", Leonie looks up from her new exercise book. "In my last History class, Marie Antoinette was just walking up the stairs to the Guillotine..."

"Oh, that's a completely different topic... here that's a topic in the tenth grade."

In an eloquent gesture, Leonie just shrugs her shoulders.

Before he leaves the room at the end of the lesson, Mr. Jakob turns to Leonie again: "If you have time during lunch break, I would like to give you the textbooks that you need for the rest of the year."

The girl nods. They arrange that a classmate will take Leonie to the staff room.



Ms. Wollschläger, the second period's Maths teacher, is amazed to see a new face. But, when Leonie had outlined her story, she makes it more than clear that she thinks absolutely nothing of changing schools in the middle of the year.

Because of the teacher's rather harsh manner, Leonie has no desire to explain her family situation in more detail, but contends herself with saying "There was no other way..."



During the first recess, Leonie has an urgent request: "Where are the toilets, please?" Three people point with outstretched arms and two offer to lead Leonie there.

After she comes back, her desk-neighbor is waiting for her. Jessica points down the corridor: "Third period is Biology. And the Biology rooms are at the other end of the school." They set off together.

A short time later Monika, Annika, Konrad, Johannes, Christoph and a few others join them. It's still recess after all, the 'new girl' is interesting and nothing else exciting is happening; Leonie almost feels like a freak show attraction.

"Where have you been before?" she is asked.

"I have told you that I always moved across Germany, didn't I?" A few classmates nod. "And I actually meant that quite literally: I was in Kiel until two weeks ago." That makes for some raised eyebrows.

for those readers unfamiliar with Germany: Kiel is one of the northernmost cities, while this story takes place in the deep south of Germany. A distance roughly(!) equal to London-Inverness / Lille-Bordeaux / San Diego-San Francisco / Kansas City-Indianapolis / Vancouver-Calgary / Sydney-Brisbane. Yes, to those in the US / Canada / Australia, those distances might not seem that large, but it is still an entire day of traveling

"And the previous school year in... where was I again? Oh yeah: Stuttgart, Berlin and Munich. In that order! And before that, a year at different schools in the Ruhr area and even a few months in Austria..." She grins: "And now I'm here again, in the deep south of Germany."

"You get around a lot!" is one comment on it.

Another is: "Where are you from originally, if you do not mind me asking?"

"Roughly from the center of Germany. Near Kassel."

"Don't take it amiss, but I can hear that..."

"My accent is that bad?", laughs Leonie.

"Not at all. I just wanted to say, that we can hear, that you're not from around here. That's all!"

Someone interjects "Well, constantly moving around would certainly piss me off!"

And Johannes asks: "Is that even allowed?"

During Christoph's answer: "Otherwise she would hardly be here", Johannes' face is illuminated again by the display of his mobile phone. It is astonishing how little escapes him, even though he almost never takes his eyes off the smartphone.

"But he's right," objects Leonie. "It's not that simple. In theory, at least. Normally there is no provision for someone to change schools that often. Changing once because the parents are moving is not a problem. But to change schools several times a year and for several years in a row, normally the Youth Welfare Office would object to that."

"I'm an adult since a few months, so it's less dramatic now, but..." A gaggle of fifth graders runs past them with so much noise that Leonie has to take a break. "... when I still was a minor, we once had a visit from the Youth Welfare Office, that is why I know a bit about it:"

'Occupational travelers' - also disparagingly known as 'traveling people' - don't have it easy, as they are here today and there tomorrow, often do not have a permanent place of residence and still have to give their children access to an adequate education.

There are several ways to achieve this: Some large circuses have hired a private tutor to teach the children during the season. There is also the concept of mobile schools, in which teachers drive from place to place and give the children face-to-face classes one day a week. The rest of the time it's done online. Or they visit special schools equipped for children of occupational travelers. Then they have to exhaustingly document each and every of their learning goals in a kind of 'school diary'.

"But none of that works for me", Leonie shrugs her shoulders: "We don't have a private tutor travelling with us. And we don't stay somewhere else every other week. We're staying somewhere for a few months at a time. I am able to attend a normal school, just not long enough to be able to stay at the same school for a full year... And that's why we are somehow 'occupational travelers' and somehow we're not."

"I don't know exactly what my father had negotiated with the Youth Welfare Office, but until now they always consented. And so, I can-may-must-should-want to accompany him."

"But now that you're an adult, that's moot, isn't it? You can do now, whatever you want, right?"

"Not exactly, no!" Leonie objects. "While I may be 'of legal age' now, I still go to school. And that's why the Youth Welfare Office still somehow has a say in that matter. Don't ask me for particulars though, I'm not THAT familiar with the matter..."

All this effort would not even be necessary if 'home schooling' were allowed in Germany. Then parents could teach their children themselves, as long as they stick to a given curriculum. And Leonie's father would certainly be able to convey the material to his daughter. But unfortunately - even if 'home schooling' is very popular abroad - it is forbidden in Germany.



Then she changes the subject: "Speaking of other schools: How long are the breaks? First one is twenty minutes as well?" Until now, it was not even clear to the others that even such simple things as recess durations could differ from school to school or from state to state. Incidentally, the first recess here is [/i]'only'[/i] a quarter of an hour long.

"But do you actually manage to always learn the new material after you move?"

The new girl laughs: "No, I don't. My grades look accordingly. Well, it's not so bad that I'd have to fear having to repeat a form, but the Numerus-Clausus is out of question. Well, I don't want to become a doctor anyway, so meh!" She shrugs her shoulders: "Some subjects are easier to learn than others: Maths and English don't cause me any problems: Even if I haven't had heard about a topic yet, it's easy for me to find my way through there."

"But History, for example: At this school it is about the 'Third Reich'. In Kiel it was about Marie-Antoinette. In Munich I had heard about the French Revolution six months prior already, while in Berlin it was about the Middle Ages. I feel like going mad, I tell you. If I write in the next test that Charlemagne was guillotined by Hitler in 1792, I wouldn't be surprised... "

The ringing of the school bell brings an end to the conversation.

Yes. the beginning of this story hast a lot of potential. 

Chapter 04/22 - Second recess

There is nothing special to report about the third period - Biology. Of course, the presence of an additional student astonished the teacher, but nothing more. Well, even that really was not a 'matter of course', as it took the teacher more than ten minutes until he found it necessary to utter a surprised: »Oh, who are YOU anyway?« Furthermore, the teacher is so average that Leonie hadn't even remembered the name.

At the end of the lesson, it is time again to pack their bags, because now they have to head back to their 'normal' classroom. The school is divided into several wings. "It has grown so over time," Christoph explains:

The school has been expanded again and again until it is roughly L-shaped in its current form. The building they are currently in, contains the homerooms of the lower grades, the Biology and Art rooms. This is followed by the wing with the main entrance and the administration. Then comes the auditorium / assembly hall. Then the Chemistry and Physics rooms. Then the 'middle school' home-rooms, and at the very end are the handicraft-, workshop- and computer-rooms. And - of course - the rooms of the upper classes to which they are now making their way again.

"I'll never be able to remember that", Leonie shakes her head.

Christoph is about to repeat his explanations - this time with even more details.

"The only thing that you absolutely have to remember", Karina replies, interrupting his longwinded explanation nonchalantly, "is that the cafeteria is making up the foot of the 'L'."

Leonie points over her shoulder. "So, somewhere back there? From where we just came? All the way at the other end of the school from 'our' classroom?"

"I see you've been paying attention," Jessica nods. "Past the classrooms of the 'little ones'. There's a big glass door at the very end, with the cafeteria behind it. The upper school rooms are at the other end of the school. That's why we always have to hurry at lunchtime, because otherwise the queue is endless."



One period worth of German is due now. Leonie is sorry for the German teacher. An older man named Fischer with no ability to assert himself whatsoever. Seems nice, but her classmates are constantly playing tricks on him. He actually seems to be happy about her presence, because Leonie is a student who at least doesn't make life more difficult for him. He's the type of teacher who gives good grades to students that just sit quietly in their seats.

"Where to now?" asks Leonie when the fourth period has come to an end and the second recess is due.

"We'll stay here," replies Jessica. "Geography is in here." Then she waves to Leonie: "But we have to leave the room. It will be locked again from now on!"

"Why's that?", asks the newcomer.

Jessica talks about the pilot project that the teachers had started and the collapse of it, as it had apparently led to a lot of stealing. The German teacher indeed locks the door behind them.

"It is a little different in Kiel," Leonie lets herself be led into the auditorium. "There, the rooms are not locked, but no one is allowed to stay in the rooms or in the corridors. We all had to go into the main hall or outside. During recess, the teachers patrol the hallways. And if they catch you, you'd better have had a damn good explanation why you're still in the classroom."

"Here, they talked about this possibility as well", nods Jessica, "but the teachers thought this was too much of a hassle for them. Locking the rooms is simpler."

"For the teachers. We are the ones that get screwed over!", a boy complains.



It's winter - and cold as heck - so very few want to spend the time in the schoolyard. And that's why it gets a little 'cozier' in the auditorium. Again, a few people gather around her and the conversation from earlier continues.

"Do you have our schedule?"

"Yes, Mr. Jakob gave it to me this morning," Leonie pulls an A4 sheet of paper out of her pocket and unfolds it. "It will take some time to memorize it, but: Yes, I have it!"

"This afternoon Physics is cancelled. Ms. Maier has been ill for a few weeks! In case no one told you already", a voice in the background reports.

"No, that is news to me. Thanks for the info." Leonie consults the plan: Damn it, Physics is second to last. "It would be nice if it had been the last period, then we could have gone home earlier!"

"No, we couldn't have," Jessica objects. She has no idea how things are regulated in Kiel, but here, one has to stay on school grounds for the entire school day.

"Too bad. The 'northern lights' seem to be a bit more relaxed in that regard," says Leonie.

"Unless of course, one is already of age. Then they're allowed to leave, of course... But not everyone in 11th grade is that old yet. But I believe, you said, that you're already 18?" remembers Jessica.

"Yes, I am", confirms Leonie, "For four months now. And you?"

"I'm 19", Jessica blushes slightly, "I had to take a lap of honour a few years back..."

"Jessica is the oldest in our class!", a girl laughs.

"Yeah, yeah, just you laugh, my baby dear. Unlike you, at least I'm already allowed to drink alcohol", is Jessica good-natured reply. And turning to Leonie: "Then of course you're allowed to leave school grounds!"

"Good to now. But what for it?" asks Leonie, "Is there something of interest to do? Is it worthwhile to 'hit the city' in a free period?"

Jessica's answer is lost in the noise.



The fifth graders get rowdy when two brawlers think they should duke it out and the rest cheers them on. The teachers soon have the two stubborn boys apart, but for Leonie it is a little too wild and crowded in the auditorium.

"No matter where you are, the 'little ones' are always causing a ruckus," she laughs as she heads back towards the classroom with Jessica and one or two others. They have to wait in front of the locked door, but at least it's quieter there.

"Leonie, I didn't mean to hurt you earlier...", Monika begins; unsure whether she should bring up the subject again at all.

Leonie wrinkles her forehead. She has to think for a moment what the girl is actually alluding to. Then it occurs to her: "Oh, because you had asked about my mother?" Monika nods and Leonie waves it away. "Don't worry about that, that didn't bother me. I have no problem talking about it either. I just didn't want to blurt it out in front of the entire class... That's why I cut you short earlier."

Then she nods: "Yes, of course, it would've been much easier if I didn't have to travel around with my father, but instead were able to live with my mother and go to school there... But unfortunately, that just doesn't work."

"Are your parents divorced too?", asks a petite, rather smallish girl, whose name she had forgotten again - or never heard in the first place? "I... I 'm only asking because my parents are divorced, and I live alternately with my mom and dad." Then the girl notices that her question might have been a bit too personal for the first day and she apologizes awkwardly.

Leonie shakes her head and answer regardless: "No, they are not divorced. Or, well, maybe they are somehow. Just different. More permanent." She sighs and for a moment the permanent smile disappears from her face. "My mom died five years ago..."

Embarrassed faces all around, Monika stutters an apology. But Leonie dismisses it: "You don't have to be sorry; you had no way of knowing. Yes, of course it's sad, but my father makes up for it!"

"And you don't want to - or can't - stay with relatives - your grandparents for example?" Jessica's question is worded carefully. She's not sure if she should have even asked this question. But now it's too late anyway. "I mean, I probably wouldn't want to live with grandma and grandpa all the time either, but maybe it would be - well, you know - easier?"

Leonie shrugs: "Let me put it this way: »Drunk drive crashes into family celebration and leaves eight people dead«. That was the newspaper headline the day after...  The closest relative I still have - apart from dad of course - is an aunt. And she has had a terrible falling-out with him after the accident because - according to her - he was to blame for it... bullshit!

"He wasn't even at the party. How could he have been to blame for a total stranger drinking far too much? Bullshit!" She sighs: "He was at home taking care of me because I had a fever!" A hard smile without any humor: "That's why the both of us survived..."

"In other words: my father and me. There's no one else. That's why I'm travelling with him. If there had been another possibility... Gosh, folks, don't make such faces. I almost might think you're about to start crying."

"Not at all," contradicts the girl with the divorced parents. "Still, that definitely can't be easy for you..."

"No, you're right," agrees Leonie. "But it's not as bad as you might think either!" It has been long enough now that the pain and grief are no longer all-encompassing. Of course, those feelings won't go away that easily, and sometimes Leonie still has to fight them. But luckily, she is a cheerful person who normally finds it easy to see the positive in the world. "After five years and with a father who does his best, it's not that bad anymore. I can live with it."

The bystanders notice that, despite this confirmation, it cannot be easy for her to be reminded, as Leonie's lips become narrower for a couple of minutes.



"As long as I was a minor, there were not too many possible solutions:" She counts on her fingers which options she had had left: "Well, if I hadn't traveled across Germany with my father, I probably would have needed to go and live with my aunt, who doesn't like me. And neither do I like her. Stupid cow!"

"Or I would have had to live in a boarding school all year round, which would've been expensive as heck. Or, according to the Youth Welfare Office, I would have been able to live on my own from the age of 16. My own apartment and all that. Because of the difficult circumstances. But if I then couldn't cope on my own and the Youth Welfare Office were to make a stand, I might even have had to go to a foster family. So... to be honest, I am - despite all the disadvantages - glad that it works out the way it does! "

Nodding heads all around confirm that in the light of the new facts the other children see it the same way as Leonie. "Well, now I'm technically an adult. But honestly, I'm not really in a hurry to get my own place. As long as it works out that I'm moving around with my dad, I want to keep doing that for the time being."

The others realize that it might be better to change topics for now.



"What will you do in English later?", Christoph asks: "Will you take the test with us?" More and more classmates arrive at the closed door as the recess draws to a close.

"Uh, no idea? I didn't even know until just now that a test was due..." She consults the timetable: "When is that? Sixth period?"

Jessica shakes her head: "I don't think she has to take the test. That would be a little steep, I think, being her first day."

"But English is a basic subject... everyone should be able to do that."

"That's right, but how do you know how far Leonie has come so far? You have heard that she was on a completely different curriculum in History up to now!"

"You're right, but... Hello Mr. Gründgen."

Further speculations are ended by the fact that the school bell rings and the Geography teacher stands at the door at the last stroke of the bell.

Part 2

Monday Afternoon

Chapter 06/22 - After lunch

"Does the new girl actually know where she has to go to?" someone asks. It is shortly before the end of the lunch break and the majority of the teenagers are already waiting in front of the door of the Art room.

"Did you tell her that we are here, Jessica?" Monika asks.

The addressed shakes her head: "Didn't think about it. I assumed that she would come to us in the cafeteria. Then we could have walked together."

"Now what? Shall we go look for her?"

"Why's that?" Konrad points to the school bag that is leaning against the wall. "If I'm not mistaken, it belongs to our newcomer, doesn't it? So, she was here already!"

"And where is she then?" Konrad's crush, Annika, asks this question: "In the end she can't find her way back and we really have to look for her? Should we call her? Do you have her number?" The last question was directed at Jessica.

Who shakes her head. "I'm not her babysitter! She will show up again!"

But when the key jingles in the lock a few minutes later and the Art teacher unlocks the room, Leonie has not yet returned.

"Mr. Von Braun, there's someone new in our class," begins Jessica, while the school gong marks the start of the period. The art teacher nods, he has already heard about it. "But she's not here yet. It may be that she got lost." Most of the others have trudged into the room by now. "I would like to look for her if she's not here in a minute."

The teacher nods, visibly not pleased. "If you think you can find her, then... and who am I hearing? Has the mystery of the missing person been solved already?"

Footsteps echo in the corridor. Since the lower grades have now gone home by now, it is pretty quiet here in the afternoons. And so, the quick steps on the stone floor are all the more noticeable.



Finally, Leonie turns the corner and grins embarrassed: "I'm sorry, I almost couldn't find my way." With a red head, she quickly picks up her backpack and the paper bag and makes her way to the classroom. Jessica stands there, bewildered, staring after the girl with big eyes.

Mr. Von Braun chases Jessica into the room before closing the door behind her. Leonie has meanwhile found herself an empty table: Fortunately, there is a free chair at the very back of the room, on which she is now sitting down with a red head. Practically all eyes follow her. And those who haven't noticed yet, are nudged by their neighbors.

Many openly stare at her. A few - including Jessica - are more reserved, but still have big eyes. A few classmates grin and a few others whisper to each other as they watch the girl looking shyly forward from the very back of the room.

However, this is not because Leonie was almost too late. That would be a little embarrassing, sure; but it would also be understandable; after all, it is Leonie's first day in a still unknown environment. In other words: Today she is still 'allowed' to get lost.

No, that alone would not have been enough for Leonie to now sit there with a red head and all eyes slowly turning away from her only when the Art teacher begins his lesson. There is another reason for this: Something that wasn't there before!

A silver metal bow stretches around the girl's head; it emerges from her mouth, spans around her cheeks, turns into a blue cushion below her ears and then disappears under her shoulder-length brown hair.

Yes, that's right: Leonie is suddenly sporting headgear.



In the first few minutes several of her classmates look at her more or less - mostly less - surreptitiously until the art teacher loses patience: "Here in front is where the action is. Folks, please do concentrate a little." After that it gets a bit better.

Leonie had deliberately chosen the seat at the very back. Normally she would have tried to sit next to Jessica again, but now she was glad that there was an empty seat in the back row. Because of that she has escaped the stares of the others for now.

If she really had sat down next to Jessica, she now literally could have felt both furtive and openly smirking glances boring into her back from all sides. Where she is sitting now, most of her classmates have to turn around to face her.

Fortunately, the Art teacher - who is becoming increasingly indignant - does not allow that to happen. The fact that Art is a double period helps her to calm down further, because she is now more or less 'safe' from the eyes of the others for one and a half hours. Likewise, she's safe from stupid comments.

Leonie has no false hopes: They will surely come later - the stares and the comments - but hopefully by then most of them will have gotten used to the idea that their new classmate suddenly is wearing headgear.

That would make sure that Leonie doesn't have to face all of it. By the time they've had a double period, most will hopefully have gotten over their surprise. And then have the decency not to stare too openly and not to ask all-too stupid questions.

Her cheeks slowly return to normal color. After a few minutes she gives a thumbs up when Jessica turns to her questioningly. Too bad that Jessica gets a rebuke from the Art teacher, who is increasingly getting irritated by the constant distraction of his students.

Otherwise, the double lesson is not very interesting. Leonie has no interest in Art and Music, she is more interested in the natural sciences. But of course, she can't pick her curriculum.

Finally, the school bell rings for the second time, the double lesson is over.