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Lizzy | JJ
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TEAGAN forced Lizzy to rise from her comfortable position in the bed, which was warm and cozy, quiet and dark. Lizzy felt like a zombie, her brain processing the scenery around her as slow as possible, her feet dragging from exhaustion, a little soreness shooting through them from her interference in Lucas and Mateo's fight. Lizzy just wished to burrow back into bed, permitting her mind to slip into unconsciousness. It was so much easier not moving a muscle—neither her brain nor her arms nor her legs, just her heart and lungs performing their jobs perpetually.
"Are we home yet?" Lizzy mumbled as they descended down the stairs, her eyes half-closed. The party had dispersed like a deformed bracelet's beads rolling off a table. Those who were left, dawdling and chatting in clusters who were most likely close friends of Paisley, stared at Lizzy like—Lizzy wasn't sure exactly how to describe it—she was an unkempt, uncultivated drunkard. Teagan ignored their gawks, stomping straight out the front door. Lizzy was dimly aware of her friend's riled up attitude, steam seemingly pouring out of her ears with heated, red cheeks to match.
"No," Teagan said curtly, hauling Lizzy through the obscurity of the night, a few beams from streetlights illuminating their pathway.
Lizzy struggled to focus on Teagan, the colors around her blurring into an undefined palette of various shades of grays and blacks. "Wait...you're not driving, are you? I'm the designated driver," Lizzy reminded Teagan.
Teagan paused abruptly before giving her friend an amused look, a laugh prancing on her lips. "You really think I'd let you drive right now in this state."
Lizzy mocked Teagan by morphing her face in a similar expression. "And you'd really think I'd let you drive in your state," she retorted, referring to the drinks that Teagan had consumed during Paisley's party.
"Lizzy, sweet, sweet Lizzy, I only had two drinks—the one you gave me and then one more later on but I could barely stomach them because of...well...Mateo and his despicable presence. I think enough time has passed by that it has run out of my system. And besides, Paisley's house is only a few minutes from yours and it's basically through neighborhoods the whole time. The only accident I could possibly get in is running into a mailbox."
Lizzy didn't have any energy to bicker with Teagan any further. After Teagan unlocked the car, Lizzy climbed into the front seat and slammed the door, immediately resting her head on the cool glass of the window. Teagan entered the driver's side, the inner car lights blaring down on them and causing Lizzy to wince and squint from their brightness. While the car's interior was illuminated for a few seconds, Lizzy noticed the palimpsest slashes of mascara around her friend's eyes, like a raccoon's, and Lizzy could tell that Teagan had attempted to wipe away all evidence of her sobs. "Trouble with Mateo?" she asked quietly, forcing herself to stay awake in order to be a proper, compassionate friend for Teagan.
"Something like that," Teagan said before the lights from the ceiling faded, casting the car's interior into darkness. "I thought maybe we had a chance when he fought Lucas for me, but as it turns out, Paisley's still in the picture and it looks like she isn't going anywhere for a long, long time."
"Have you told him? About your feelings?"
Teagan allowed a lull of silence to pass between them, the car's vibrations soothing and leading them both into a trance. Lizzy had almost fallen back to sleep when Teagan finally spoke again: "He doesn't care."
Lizzy rose her head from its resting location on the car's seat, regarding Teagan skeptically. "If he doesn't care, then why did he fight Lucas for you tonight?"
Teagan wasn't sure how to answer such a question so she didn't; instead, she pulled into Lizzy's driveway, her whole house foreboding because of its lifelessness and the shadows lurking in every corner. Lizzy pushed herself from the seat and thanked Teagan for the ride and the fun—Lizzy was positive that fun wasn't the right word for it but her mind was rolling at turtle speed and she was too exhausted to think of another adjective—night. "Please text me when you get home," Lizzy beseeched Teagan. "I want to make sure you made it home safely."
Teagan rolled her eyes, which were renewed afresh with unshed tears. She needed some alone time to allow her bubbling emotions to roam free, a wild animal imprisoned in its cage. Lizzy understood that Teagan required some space in order to sort out all that had occurred tonight. "Love you, T." Lizzy blew her a kiss. Teagan swiftly returned the favor, a weak and watery smile gracing her face.
"See you, Liz. Oh, and by the way, do you think you could text me Reece's number? He's really nice and I think we could be good friends."
Lizzy nodded and waved before retreating to her heaven, her cozy cave, almost falling asleep as soon as she curled herself under her favorite turquoise blanket.
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The next morning, unfortunately, was a work day for Lizzy; however, a day full of flowers, leaves, petals, and stems sounded quite appealing compared to the chaos of the night before. Even so, her alarm clock resounded in her ear way too early in the morning and Lizzy started off her Saturday with a mood as tart as Lemonheads. Sunshine peeked through her window blinds, caressing her hair and skin with its warmth. Lizzy decided that she needed some new blinds, nevertheless—ones that blocked every single sunray and leaving her in pitch-black like her heart and soul.
Her mother wouldn't let her catch another wink of sleep and risk being late to Once and Floral; she pounded on the door as loud as she could and yelled through the wood (very inconsiderately in Lizzy's eyes). "Rise and shine, Lizzy! You have to get yourself to Once and Floral before 9:00." Lizzy groaned, a piercing headache beating in her skull, her muscles sore and various bruises sprinkled on her skin from her momentous yet tragic decision to interfere with Lucas and Mateo's physical conflict.
"Lizzy, I'm serious," her mother persisted when she detected no sign of life emerging from the other side of the door besides the infuriated groans that took flight from Lizzy's lips.
"Okay, okay, okay, I'm awake." Lizzy sat up on her bed and stretched, forcing some sort of vivacity into her system from what little amount of energy she still contained. She slung her arms into the sunlight, hoping by some miracle photosynthesis could occur on her skin and she could obtain some liveliness that way. She had no such luck, however, thanks to biology and science. Despite her love of plants, she couldn't transform into one.
Yet, in her dreams where anything could be possible, Lizzy owned a heart of a daisy—pure, genuine, halcyon. A young frolicking child in a field of flora was where she belonged.
After Lizzy dressed herself and prepared herself for work, she checked her phone, which contained a few messages from JJ who was insanely curious about how the party transpired. He had texted her in the very early hours of that morning while Lizzy was still fast asleep. She figured he'd finally learn about how much she treasured her sleep but he was just too enthused and couldn't wait to ask.
So the party? How'd it go?
I hope it went better than my party experiences lmao.
@ Opal and all of those other girls I've tried to flirt with.
??????????
I'm dYING, I realllllly want to know, please reply soon.
Dude, I was sleeping. You really need to pay attention to when you text me because in my time zone, when you're texting me is very, very, very early in the morning. Okay, JJ?
Lizzy wasn't expecting a reply since she had awakened early for work at Once and Floral, but apparently JJ hadn't slept at all because of his excitement to hear about Lizzy's experience at Paisley's party. Or she had woken him up with her texts. Either way, his message was almost instantaneous.
Sorry, sorry. I forgot that it's early morning for you. I mean, it's early morning for me too but sometimes I can't sleep and other times I just wake up and can't fall back to sleep. I'm partly an early bird too, I guess.
I'm neither an early bird nor a night owl. I'm one of those daytime birds just chillin in the tree minding its own business. You're that one bird that everyone hates because it wakes them up really early, chirping and chirping in all the other birds' ears.
Oops? I'm sorry for being me? I hope you're happy that I'm apologizing? Can I hear about the party now?
Ooooohhhhh yeahhhhh. Shit went down at Girl's party lol. It's a long story, JJ. Are you sure you can handle all of it?
I was born ready. Let me just go grab some popcorn.
Did you get some?
Yeah, I'm good. You may proceed.
Okay so Daisy and I went to Girl's party, ya know? Anyway, it was pretty chill at first except she kept trying to talk to these really creepy dudes that I completely disapproved of. There's this guy who I work with who is super sweet and so I thought that she and he could hang out together. I knew she'd be safe with him because I trust him and whatnot. Besides, the whole plan was setting her up with some nice guy to distract her from Luigi. So I go find him.
Then, what happened? This would make a great movie, Lizzy, my popcorn is almost gone.
Hurry up and make a fresh batch. I got wayyyyy more coming toward you.
Anyway, I found my friend, the really nice guy, and I walk up to him about to ask him to stay with Daisy when HE KISSES ME OUT OF NOWHERE.
WHAT TF!? THIS BOY GOT GUTS LMAO. GO HIM! HE SHOT HIS SHOT MAN RESPECT!
IKR. The only problem is that I don't like him like that. At all. And then I kindly reject him as best as I can, but he's so nice and innocent and he gets all sad and red and I feel absolutely terrible.
Shit. That's the worst for guys, let me tell you. I would know.
I still had to ask him if he can help me out with Daisy and he agrees. After that, I left him alone and I felt so completely awful. I still feel completely awful. Now, I had to find Daisy who I lost and had no idea where the hell she went. I eventually found her in a dark hallway, staring at a closed door.
Satan? Because that's just creepy and far from normal.
Oh, shush, she's not satanic. Apparently, she had frightened one of Luigi's best friends into that room because he wouldn't do what she wanted.
What did she want him to do?
She wanted him to find Luigi and try to convince Luigi that she and he should be together. Helping her in breaking up Girl and Luigi. Something along those lines.
This is getting good. Keep going.
So I get Daisy and my friend/coworker together. Finally. And I'm so tired so I go get myself something to drink. I leave them for literally a few seconds.
The suspense is killing me.
I go back and I can't find them anywhere. They disappeared. Poof. And then, I went into Girl's front entryway and I see two boys fighting on the ground.
What the fuck?
I pushed through the crowd until I got to the center of the fight. I couldn't really recognize the boys at first. But then I saw my friend/coworker and Daisy standing off to the side with pale, scared faces. I walked over to them and they were staring super intently at the fight. I asked them what was going on and my friend/coworker said that they were fighting and he told me I could tell who they were if I looked. So I did and it was that boy that Daisy had scared into the room and Luigi who were fighting!
Woah. Jesus, this sounds like the most lit party ever. I wish I could've been there.
It was insane. But the story isn't over yet.
There's more?
Oh yeah. The fight was getting pretty serious and I knew that somebody needed to step in and stop it. So I stepped in and stopped it.
YOU DIDN'T???!!!!
I did and everything hurts and I'm a dumb, stupid kind of brave lol.
That you are. Why were those two fighting in the first place?
Apparently, the guy that Daisy scared attacked Daisy and that's why Luigi fought him—because he saw her get attacked.
Damn.
Basically my reaction to this whole thing.
Enough about me and the party, what about you and your life? How's basketball going?
My life is pretty boring compared to yours. Anyway, we won the next game and we have Regional Finals next week! How about if I win that game you'll tell me where you live? I know we live in relatively the same time zone because early morning for you is also early morning for me. And not the exact location but the general area? And if you don't want to, we can choose something else to reveal.
Lol, I don't mind revealing a very, very vague area of where I live but can you send me a pic of yourself to prove that you're you and not some creepy man? I'll do the same.
Okay, I'm down. Ready? Three...Two...One...
Are you sure that's you? You look way too nice and good-looking for that to be you.
I can't even read your rudeness because of how hot you look. Like, holy shit.
Stahp it, you're making me blush.
I was right. You are so freaking beautiful. Even though when I called you that before, it was meant for Opal lol.
Well, thank you. Listen, I got to go to work. Text you later tonight when I'm free?
Sure thing. Adios, French toast.
Seeing a picture of his face sent a jolt of electricity down the length of her body, her eyes widening and her heart racing like it was in a NASCAR race. Extremely handsome and attractive were two ways that Lizzy would describe him. After viewing his true appearance, Lizzy's heart yearned to see him face to face, her hand combing through his feathery brown hair, her eyes staring back into his bronze ones before meandering around and soaking in the constellations that dotted his cheeks and his pearly teeth enclosed by (kissable) lips.
Maybe soon, Lizzy thought to herself. Maybe soon.
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A/N:
Here's an early chapter (lol "early" chapter and "Early" Bird) for you because I'm going to be out of town starting Friday and I don't know when I would be updating next. I'll be on Spring Break! Yippee!!! So here's one to read whenever you feel like it but there won't be a chapter on Saturday :) Please vote and comment if you enjoyed! I love hearing your thoughts and predictions!
- Payton