Ta-da! Here I am! Very late! I blame Doctor Who...anyways, here is the new chapter. It's not edited, so ...
Oops? And the picture on the side (or if you're on a phone or tablet, at the top) is the thing...you'll know what I mean. Haha
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Lizzie showed up on the doorstep of the North household at exactly 6PM. Dressed casual in a simple dress, jacket and boots, she knocked on the door several times and bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
Excitement laced every vein in her body and the grin on her face expressed nothing but joy. After all, Jesse, Everett and herself had all reached a large milestone in their lives. No longer would they be confined to the ciriculum and time tables of High School life.
No more teachers with stern expressions slapped across their faces.
"Right, cause now we get a college time table and professors with stern expressions slapped across their faces," Jesse had pointed out with a snicker. Lizzie refused to give him an answer. Mostly because he was right.
But also because too much excitement at the summer before her overwhelmed the desire to be correct and pick a fight with one of her best friends, even if it only served as a playful endeavor.
A few seconds after Lizzie knocked at the door, it opened to reveal Jesse, who automatically stepped aside to make room for her to enter.
"Lookin' good, Jesse," Lizzie said with an overexaggerated wink.
Jesse rolled his eyes and shut the door, walking away from her. "Has anyone ever told you what a pain you are? Cause I'd love to be the first," he replied, giving her quite the mocking expression.
Once again, Lizzie refrained from answering that question and chose another. "So, you seem ready to go. Where's Everett? And the rest of your family while I'm asking." Lizzie looked around the room with a puzzled expression, walking the few steps to peek around the corners as well. The house seemed oddly quiet for one lived in by five human beings.
"They left to finish up some last minute prepping at the party. They wanted us to be able to walk in and not feel the need to anything at all and just have fun," Jesse told her with a wave, seemingly nonchalant about the whole ordeal.
Lizzie had noticed lately that something seemed a bit ... off about Jesse. When they first met and for the first month or so, he was loud with an opinion about everything and content smile on his face. But nowadays, he acted all broody and quiet. It drove Lizzie a little insane if she were to be honest.
However, always looking for the positive, she chalked it up to the fact that Jesse's part time summer job would be starting soon and he just wasn't ready to take on the adult world yet. Which she completely understood. Jesse currently stood in the realm of teenage freedom, crossing over into the real world slowly. It could be a bit intimidating.
Which also explained why she didn't push him much. Graduating high school meant so many things. They weren't kids anymore. Reality stared them in the face now, waiting for them to make deicisons and figure out their plan in life.
She couldn't blame Jesse for being a little annoyed. Lizzie herself had issues figuring out what she would do with the rest of her life.
Bringing herself back to the present, Lizzie replied, "Oh, okay. Well, then when are we leaving to go meet up with them?"
Jesse merely shrugged again, making Lizzie sigh. She could almost feel steam pushing out of her ears. What could possibly put Jesse in such a mood? The lack of response was really beginning to grate on her nerves. Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Lizzie told him she would be right back and headed into the kitchen and down the hall.
Stopping at Everett's door, she rapped her knuckles against the wood several times. Inside, she could hear rustling, mumbling and a few choice words being released as the person inside rushed around his room.
"Hold on!" Everett shouted breathlessly.
Lizzie stifled a giggle and waited patiently for him to open his door. In seconds, the door was flung open and Everett said with a scowl, "Jesse, you said I had at least twenty minutes ... and that was only five minutes ago! We can't be ready to go yet!"
"Someone is stressed out for their party," Lizzie teased, poking him in the side.
Everett yelped as he jumped back. Lizzie erupted into a fit of giggles and leaned against thedoorway. "Not the humanoid you were expecting?" she asked innocently.
Frowning playfully, Everett shook his head at her. "Very rude, Lizzie. Very, very rude."
He turned and Lizzie watched as he made his way to his closet, opening the door and sticking his hands inside. "Would you judge me harshly if I said I was rather concerned about my appearance tonight?" he asked her sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just don't crave the feeling of looking like a dolt around other people and ... well, I'm nervous," he confessed.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I stared at my closet for a good twenty minutes before deciding on what I would wear," Lizzie replied with a shrug as she folded her arms across her chest.
As he returned to thumbing through his clothes, Lizzie looked around Everett's room (with him mumbling about the shirts in his closet as the background noise) and noticed that it had a very ... childish feel to it.
She tried to think of why it would be that way still. His bed had obviously bed switched out for something to fit him, but still held a few things that were obviously from his childhood.
Lizzie just assumed that due to his lack of sight, nobody took the time to just freshen up the appearance of his room, as if time could just be frozen despite the many years that passed since Everett's sight left.
Walking across the floor, she stood in front of one shelf, one packed with pictures, toy cars and books.
Smiling, Lizzie stretched out her arm and picked up a frame that contained a picture of three little boys, arms around each other as they smiled at the camera.
It didn't take Lizzie long to realize that the snapshot was of Everett, Jesse and their oldest brother.
She couldn't quite remember his name, but she giggled when she realized all three boys had curly hair. Everett's seemed to have naturally straightened out, but Jesse still had a good bounce on his head.
"Okay, which one?" Everett finally sighed, exasperated. Lizzie looked at him from across the room as he held up two shirts. Smiling a little, she put the picture frame back down and studied the two pieces of fabric hanging in the air.
Finally, she spoke up, saying, "The one on the left. It's got little dots on it and it's awesome."
He nodded and made a shooing motion with his hand, which she took as he was about to change so make a break for it. Noticing a black tie hanging on the back of the door, she snatched it off and grabbed the handle.
"See you in a minute," Lizzie called out over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her
She entered the living room, pushing up the sleeves of her jean jacket up to her elbows and leaning against the doorway. Jesse was sitting on the fluffy chair in the corner with his head set in the palm of his hand.
Huffing out a breath of air, Lizzie marched up to the seemingly pouty teenage boy and thumped himk on the top of his head. Startled, Jesse threw himself backwards and looked up at her wide eyes.
"Uhm, hello to you too?"
"What's wrong?" Cutting straight to the point, as usual, Lizzie stared down her current opponent with a peircing gaze.
Used to the constant pushing and prodding, Jesse just shrugged and replied, "Nothing is wrong. Let it go, Lizzie."
The blunt and slightly cross edge to his voice made her eyes go a bit wide. She was used to Everett sometimes being a bit snippy. After all, he had been that way since she met the guy.
But Jesse always had softer edges, always had kind words and a soothing tone to his voice. When he became sharp with his words, it just threw her completely off guard.
Instead of commenting, however, Lizzie merely nodded her head and made her way to the entry way. There, she crossed her arms once more and set her shoulder on the wall.
The awkward silence in the air nearly suffocated her. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long for Everett to come bounding through the halls and informing them that he was ready to head out.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, Mandy! Thanks for coming!"
Lizzie said hello to yet another classmate. It seemed kind of weird that so many people were hugging her and 'catching up' as they put it. She hadn't spoken to most of these people considering most of her time had been monopolized by the North boys.
If she were to be perfectly honest, though most of these people wer eher classmates, she had no idea who most of them were. She chalked it up to the fact that she came into the school a little late.
Then after she met Jesse and Everett, Lizzie didn't feel the need to expand on that.
But apparently, now that they were all going seperate ways, the rest of her graduating class felt the unyeilding desire to inform her how much they would miss her and her 'antics'.
Shaking her head, Lizzie glanced around the party and let out smile. It was a huge success. Music blared through the speakers and people were dancing and laughing and enjoying themselves.
Her parents and the rest of the North clan had already excused themselves to a back room of the rec center for some card playing. Occasionally, one adult would come out for around fifteen to twenty minutes to make sure everything remained decent and appropriate before checking the drinks (they wanted to make sure they weren't spiked) and grabbing a handful of snacks for the journey back to their cave.
Overall, everyone seemed to be having a blast.
It reinforced Lizzie's belief that alcohol didn't need to present to have fun.
Just a bunch of weird teenagers.
Bobbing her head, a favorite song of Lizzie's started to blare through the speakers and her feet automatically began leading her to the dancefloor. Nearly everyone else already squeezed into it and she was determined to join the fun.
That is, until she spotted the raven haired guy with sunglasses that made her forget her last mission. Now, she just wanted to chat with him.
Grinning, Lizzie bounced over and greeted Everett, along with the guy (whom she recognized as Devin) standing next to him.. "Hey, guys. Having fun?" Lizzie directed the question more towards Everett considering his name was scribbed on a third of the party invitiations.
Devin returned to smile on her face and nodded his head rapidly. "Yeah! It's great! I didn't realize how hilarious Jesse's brother could be."
Everett made a face that told Lizzie half of whatever he told Devin, he actually meant as a truth. Apparently Devin thought he was being funny.
"Oh, yeah. Once you get this guy rollin', ya just can't get him to stop!" Lizzie joked, bumping Everett's hip with her own as the three settled into an easy conversation. As Devin began rambling about something weird his dog did, Lizzie leaned over to Everett and mumbled, "I'm gonna go get a soda. Want one?"
Everett nodded, a grim smile on his face when he realized he would be left alone with Devin for a few minutes.
With a roll of the eyes, she chuckled and walked off towards the snack table. Snapping her fingers a few times, her eyes roamed the table for what she wanted. Lizzie grabbed a paper bowl and threw in some chips before grabbing two sodas.
However, a collective gasp and murmur went through and it broke Lizzie straight out of her thoughts. She quickly put the food in her hands down and flipped around. A bad feeling went through her gut when she found a group of party goers huddled near the corner she left Everett at.
Lizzie jogged over and pushed through the crowd of bystanders, only to find Everett sprawled out on the floor and his face redder than pile of beets. Her burning gaze swept across the crowd of people in search of the culprits. Most, including Devon, were whispering in concern and a few girls had their hands on their mouths with wide eyes. None were making a move to help, however, it became clear that they weren't the culprits.
But when she spotted two guys giving each other a low five and sniggering uncontrollably, she knew she found who she was looking for.
Anger clouded her vision and she stomped across the floor, gently grabbing Everett's bicep to pull him to his feet before she glared at the two boys who now innocently stood to the side.
Lizzie recognized them from school. They weren't popular jocks or anything. They weren't misfits, or the bad boys. Apparently, they were just two jerks.
"Why would you do that?" she shouted, her voice straining with anger. "He can't see!"
"Oh? I had no idea. My bad," the taller of the two told her innocently. She obviously wasn't having it. If Lizzie were a dog, she would have been growling uncontrollably and she felt like maybe she should do it anyways.
It could freak them out a little, at least.
"That is such a bold face lie!" she snarled out at the taller of the two, handing Everett his sunglasses that had skittered across the floor upon impact. She knew that everyone in the room realized EVerett couldn't see. That was the whole point of him wearing sunglasses. Why else would someone be sporting shades indoors at nine at night? So far, no one had judged. Everyone was nice to him and welcomed him and made him comfortable. Everyone stayed far enough away that he wouldn't trip over them and they were always helping him out.
But these two idiots here just had to break the chain and it ticked her off to no end.
"I want you out," Lizzie finally said, forcing an air of calmness into her voice.
"Lizzie, it's fine. They didn't mean it," Everett whispered in her ear. He lightly tugged her wrist in an effort to avoid confrontation.
Gaping, Lizzie turned to him. Firmly planting her hands on his shoulders, she replied, "Everett - I love how you're trying to give people the benefit of the doubt. Seriously, I'm really proud of you for that. But these jerks did this on purpose. Please don't defend them."
And with that she turned her attention back to her target of choice. Crossing her arms, she reiterated, "This is just as much mine and Everett's party as it is Jesse's. And we want you gone."
"Just leave it, Dan. It's just a party," the shorter muttered, nodding his head in the direction of the door.
Dan, as he was called, only narrowed his eyes on Lizzie and casually walked up until he invaded her personal bubble. "Oh, please. What are you going to do? Throw me out? I'm twice your size and well," slipping a look at Everett, he smirked. "I can see way better than him. So who's gonna stop me?"
Lizzie was moments away from replying when the music was kicked down a few notches and another voice cut in.
"That would be me."
In a flash, Jesse had come to stand at Everett's other side, nostrils flared and the look on his face just expressing his overall displeasure at the turn of events. "What's going on here?" he asked, mainly to Lizzie. She gave him a quick rundown and his brown eyes darkened significantly
First, these guys purposely trip his brother and now they were trying to bully Lizzie so they could stay? So not gonna happen.
"It's not just Lizzie that doisn't want you here - I want you two gone as well," he said, arms crossing over his chest as he stared down the two idiots in front of him.
The taller of the two boys let his jaw go slack and shook his head. "Oh, come on! It was just a - -"
"No!" Jesse snapped. Waving a hand carelessly in the direction of the entrance, he continued, "It's not funny. It's not a joke. That's my brother and best friend you just mistreated, so guess what?
There's the door - it's feeling lonely, so go give it some action." And with that, he turned on his heel and stalked off, only peeking over his shoulder to let the two trouble makers understand that he would know if they didn't leave.
WIth a smirk, Lizzie grabbed Everett's hand and began tugging him along as she waved to the two boys. They were already grumbling under their breath and shuffing towards the coat room.
"Well, Jesse was not taking no for an answer was he?" she chuckled, leading Everett away from the loud music.
Before he could reply, however, the door opened and Everett felt the assualt on his ears cease and be replaced by the soothing sounds of crickets and wind rustling through the trees. "What are we doing out here?" he asked curiously, letting Lizzie drag him all over the place.
"Well," she began, almost nervously, "I know that we are generally supposed to take our gifts home and open them later but ... well, I really wanted to give you my present now. You know, a little fun after that incident."
Everett stopped in his tracks, causing Lizzie to be yanked backwards and let out a yelp.
"Thanks for dislocating my shoulder," she bit out sarcastically, although Everett knew she was smiling.
"You got me a present?" he asked dumbly. He should have known that Lizzie would do this. Not that he didn't appreciate it, but ...
"Well, yeah," she replied, a bit confused. But she just dragged Everett along until they came to her car. "Okay, just stand there for a second and let me grab it." Excitement seeped out of Lizzie, making Everett grin and he started to get jazzed too. Whatever the gift, Lizzie was really happy about it.
"Okay, ready?"
Everett nodded and Lizzie told him to hold out his hands, which he did.
Something a bit heavy was placed in his hands, a weight he didn't expect. "Whoa, what is this?" he asked, confusion sweeping across his features.
"It's a music box type thing. It's really cool. Twist the knob on the bottom!"
Everett did as she asked and twisted the small metal knob on the bottom until it wouldn't go anymore. As the tune began to play, Everett slid his fingers over the piece of wood in his hands. The smile on his face grew with every inch he covered and as every dot in head connected.
"This is a mini piano, isn't it?" he mumbled. The sleek and smooth feeling under his skin made him smile and he lightly shook his head. "I can't believe this - what song is playing? It sounds familiar."
"Oh, it's an Elvis Presley song. I thought you might like how it sounded in music box form. I did," she trailed off and Everett could feel her eyes on him, assessing the reaction to the gift. "It's got flowers all over it and a violin with sheet music and I just ... ya know ..." Everett could tell that she was beginning to get nervous and shy about the gift and realized that he still hadn't said anything about it.
"I love it, Lizzie. Seriously. I just feel so bad cause, well ... I didn't get you anything," he told her sheepishly, cheeks turning a bit red.
He heard her chuckle and then Lizzie's head rested on his shoulder. "It's all good. Trust me. I didn't buy it just so I could get something in return. I just really wanted to get this for you."
Inhaling a large amount of air, Everett felt for the roof of the car and set the music box down on it.
Ensuring that the trinket wouldn't fall off, he quickly put his hands on Lizzie's shoulders and pulled her in close for a hug.
It didn't surprise him that she easily returned the gesture and couldn't help smiling. "You're too awesome," he mumbled, spitting out a few strands of hair and causing her to chuckle again. Giving her one last squeeze, he said, "Thank you for being so stubborn."
He hoped she understood how much gratitude had been packed into that one sentence.
"Anytime, Everett. Anytime."
Turns out, she did.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Moral of the chapter (and this is not going to be a regular occurance...): Not everyone is going to be a jerk to people with a disability. But some people are naturally nasty and feel the need to pick on others in any way they can while onlookers just kinda...exist because they don't know what to say or do at that point.
Anyways, VOTE. COMMENT. & FAN.