A Change Will Do You Good

A Change Will Do You Good is the pilot episode of It's A Mad World (Because Of Them) and the first episode of Season One. The episode was directed and written by Nina with the help of Shan. It aired on May 14th, 2016.

Plot
13-year old Croatian girl Nina Tadavić moves into the William Ofibty House For Cooperation and Evaluation, meeting several interesting people, including a party girl, an outcast, and a fashion freak.

Episode – A Change Will Do You Good
As I handed the scrunched up plastic cup to the middle aged stewardess, I couldn't help but wonder, in typical Tadavić fashion, if I had forgotten something back at home. Surely, my parents could mail it to me, but what if it's something important? Like my toothbrush, or my favorite beige jacket, or God forbid, Sabrina, my blue teddy bear whom I still slept with.

The plane leaned to the left as the green meadows of North America appeared in the window next to me. Even though I'd always wanted to go, I never quite got the chance. And I definitely didn't think that this would be my chance. I never thought I'd feel fear, or worry, or just any bad emotion while coming to this place. However, at that moment, it felt like somebody combined all of them in a little jar, shook it, put a liter of vinegar –  and then poured it all down my throat.

I heard the jingling sound signaling that all passengers must now fasten their seatbelts as the plane is about to land. Of course, in this case, "all passengers" meant me, as I was the only one here. I struggled with the simple task of buckling due to the fact that my hands were shaking uncontrollably and I could barely control my breathing. A few minutes later, the plane made a smooth landing right in the middle of a field in the American state of Iowa. I looked around the aircraft. This was my last time as a free individual. Of course, the William Ofibty House For Cooperation and Evaluation isn't like a prison, but it definitely felt like one to me. Spending God knows how long so far away from my friends and family, from everything that I know, and with a group of complete strangers. When I was signing up, Mr. Ofibty told me that it's normal to feel scared before entering the house. But I wasn't scared. I was terrified.

I gathered my belongings and walked out of the plane, carefully stepping down the metal staircase. The sun was shining low in the sky, and a gentle cool breeze was blowing, pushing my hair across my face. It smelled like my favorite shampoo –  coconuts. A smell that reminded me of home. I sighed and walked across the field to a tall lady with a big smile on her face. "Hey, darling. You must be Nina Tadavić. My name is Mrs Edna Gowalski and I am here to welcome you to the William Ofibty House for Cooperation and Evaluation." I attempted to muster a sincere smile, but it turned out looking like I had just a swallowed a lemon. "Shall we go in?" she asked. Before I could give her a reply, she turned around and started walking with a heavy pace. I sighed and tried to catch up to her, which was very hard. Even though she was in high heels, she was much faster than me. I finally managed to let words out of my mouth. "What about my suitcase?" I asked shakily. "Oh, don't worry, it's already at the house." she said without looking at me. I sighed and continued walking.

It seemed as if we would be walking forever. We passed through a small forest and by a lake when I finally saw it. A big grey manor. There seemed to be nothing around it except for fields and trees, but it's not as if anybody passing by could focus on anything but it, as it was truly majestic. Huge stone steps led up to the massive wooden door. There were dozens of equal windows, some open and some closed. There was a beautiful garden with several ponds across it right at the front, adjoined by numerous benches. I couldn't even begin to imagine what could be found in the backyard.

I followed Mrs Gowalski up the stone steps. Now, it was my legs' turn to shake. I had to walk significantly slower in fear of losing my balance and falling down, as I had started to feel dizzy. Mrs Kowalski finally stopped in front of the door and looked at me. "I think you'll love it here. Everybody has fit in well, and, even though the house does accept people to the age of 30, nobody there is significantly older than you. The oldest current habitant is only 20 years old." Honestly, I felt very relieved to hear that. One of the parts that I was very scared about was the age of the other people. I had a natural instinct in me to be more trustworthy of people closer to my own age.

"This is where I leave you", she said, "be good and have fun." She winked at me, turned swiftly on her heel and walked down the steps. I looked at the door, putting my fist into a knocking motion. Seconds were passing and passing, but I simply couldn't bring myself to actually knock, and when I finally did, it was so quiet that I was worried that nobody would hear it. However, somebody did hear it, as, seconds later, three people appeared in front of me. One, a tall, burly boy with golden hair and a friendly smile. One, a short, awkward girl with short brown hair who looked kind but shy. And another boy with a glare on his face and short, black hair.

The older boy extended his hand. "Hi. I'm Joey. Welcome to Ofibty." I shook his hand and smiled politely, eyeing the other two. He noticed where my eyes had drifted. "Oh, these are Shan and John. Sorry, they're not very talkative. Shan is shy, and John is kind of a bitch." The black haired boy groaned and rolled his eyes. "The girl is gonna avoid me now, Joey." Joey was still looking at me. "Good", is the only thing he said. I couldn't help but snicker. "I'm Nina." Joey nodded. "Nice to meet you, Nina. Come in, meet the squad."

I finally passed over the threshold of the house I had been dreading for months. We were in a huge, white atrium that housed nothing but a big round table stocked with beautiful orchids. I immediately walked over to it. "I love orchids", I whispered. But, there was no time to marvel at their beauty, as the three ushered me through brown doors into a giant living room. Much like the atrium, its main color was white, but it had so much more in it. There were about four white, leather couches, a plasma TV, several gaming stations, a giant aquarium, and many gorgeous decorations. I focused on the room so much that I didn't notice eleven pairs of eyes staring at me. "Everybody, this is Nina." Joey said as the rest of them started approaching me. "Lily." "Ellie." "Brandon." "Delilah." "Mark." "Nasia." "Tyler." "Justin." I repeated my name about 15 times that day. It felt like the first day in a new school.

Before I knew what was happening, we were all sat down on the four couches. I felt like I was an animal at a zoo. "So, Nina, where are you from?" an awkward boy named Mau asked me. "I'm from Croatia." A tall blonde by the name of Delilah gasped. "Oh my God, Europe. I literally love Europe. Eurovision is my favorite thing ever. Do you watch it?" I looked at her in awe. "Uh, sometimes– " but before I could continue, a lanky brunette whose name I couldn't remember cut me off. "Delilah, please do not scare the girl. Nobody here cares about your obsession with Eurovision. We all thought it was cute at first, but now it's just creepy." Delilah rolled her eyes. The boy sitting next to her, a tall, skinny, blonde one, squeezed her hand and repeated the words "Keep your cool, keep your cool, keep your cool." I was pretty sure that his name was Justin. "Any siblings?" I got asked by Shan. I nodded. "Yeah, I have a sister. Her name's Irma. She's, um... she's 22 and she's in med school." Several people around me nodded. I had a horrible feeling that they didn't find me interesting, but I decided to shake it off and try to engage in conversation with them, at least until I could go to bed.

That evening, I walked up to a room that I had been pointed to, which had my name written on it. The walls were purple and the furniture was green –  just like in my actual room back home. The thought of it brought tears to my eyes, blurring my vision. I blinked a few times to make them go away. This was not the time. I had to get ready for bed. My suitcase was indeed there, placed neatly at the foot of my bed. I opened it. It smelled distinctly of my apartment, a vanilla smell mixed with coffee and strawberries. I grabbed my pajamas and my toothbrush and walked outside to find a bathroom.

As I got ready for bed and walked out of the bathroom (which was also, of course, huge and white), I crashed into the black haired boy, John, that had greeted me when I arrived. "Oh, sorry, I was just--" "No, it's fine", he cut me off, "I'm really not a bitch like Joey said." I smiled. "So what are your thoughts on the great people of Ofibty?" He made air quotes as he said the word great. "Um...", I trailed off, "well, I think that Joey and Shan are both so nice. I probably like them the most. Also Ellie. I mean, she's close to my age and we have similar interests." He rolled his eyes. "I don't care about that. Tell me who you don't like." His eyes picked up a devilish spark and his lips curled into a smirk as he said the latter sentence. I blinked. "I supposed I didn't quite click with Delilah. She just seems to be like one of those typical popular girls you run into in every clique. She's friends with everyone and the most talkative, but she seems to exclude you for reasons that are only known to her." He nodded. "That's good to know. Have a good night, Nina." He walked off. "Good night, John."

I walked back into my room, closed the door behind me, and gently placed my toothbrush and my day's clothes into the suitcase. I sprawled myself across the silky king sized bed and stared at the curtains that were circling it. My first day definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I ran into some fairly nice people. Well, the Eurovision obsessee Delilah and the truly creepy John kid aside. I stayed out of drama, I didn't engage in any conflicts, and I didn't develop a crush on anybody, which were my goals for my entire stay here. I was determined that I would make them happen. Yes. I must. There's no other way.

Young and foolish, they say.

Main Cast

 * Selena Gomez as Nina Tadavić
 * Blake Lively as Delilah Kostek
 * Shailene Woodley as Shan Kalanti
 * Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Justin Sanzianos
 * Ki Hong Lee as Tyler Pavoni
 * Brandon W. Jones as Joey Beulens
 * Alexandra Daddario as Lily Plunkett
 * Melissa Benoist as Ellie Metcalf
 * Alex Pettyfer as Mark Keene
 * Logan Lerman as John Thurston
 * Elijah Wood as Mau Juarez
 * Leigh Anne Pinnock as Nasia Nolan

Recurring Cast

 * Ben Barnes as Brandon Doe
 * Mario Lopez as Tom Fernandes
 * Priyanka Chopra as Nadia Nayla

Guest Cast

 * Tina Fey as Edna Gowalski