Chapter1: A hard day's night
"Look you guys can just go ahead, I'm just going to work on this essay." The studious 19 year old told her college roommates and also friends.
"Elizabeth, your not going to spend another day on the assignments." The dark brunette stated as she sat across from Elizabeth on their small couch.
Looking up from her medical book, Elizabeth sighed out of frustration starring at her four friends.
"You guys know, I hate drinking." Elizabeth reminded them as she turned her attention back towards her essay.
"Well you can always be the sensible one and make sure none of us end up going to spend the night with those Princeton guys." Elizabeth's other friend Monica stated as she walked into the main room from the bathroom.
"Yeah, you always are the reliable one." The one sitting in front of Elizabeth stated with a sly smile.
"Yeah Claire, that's me, always the reliable one." Elizabeth said in an annoyed tone.
"You girls go have fun, I need to get this essay done." Elizabeth added as she noticed her other friend Corrine walk in with dreamy eyes.
"Elizabeth you can't leave me with Corrine! All she'll be talking about is Carrigan." Monica exclaimed.
"I wouldn't say that the only thing she'll be doing is talking about that boy." Claire stated coyly.
"Corrine may I remind you Carrigan is a skeeze who only cares about one thing and that's himself." Elizabeth said as she stood up from the couch to stretch her legs from their cramped Indian style sitting position on the couch.
"Just because you grew up with the boy and didn't have the nerve of getting him when you had the chance doesn't give you the right of raining on my parade." Corrine replied with a nasty tone.
"Fine, don't say I didn't warn you." Elizabeth replied as she walked into her room and closed the door behind her.
Walking over towards her desk she could hear her roommates leave the dorm as they giggled. Shaking her head she closed the window as raindrops fell into the room splashing onto the ugly salmon pink carpet.
I don't understand why they can't realize that right now is what makes them who they are. With the choices they make in college for their careers. Elizabeth thought to herself as she starred at the pile of medical books on her desk.
Partying was never Elizabeth's lifestyle, most of her friends ragged on her for still being a virgin with all of the good looking boys at Princeton. But what her friends didn't know was that her life was already planned out for her from the beginning by her dad, a governor. From the beginning he planned on her being a doctor, or a nurse at least. He sent her to a prestigious private catholic high school for a well-rounded education. After that it was Englewood College for girls in New Jersey, or as the locals would call it, Englewood Cliffs or sometimes the Cliffs.
Realizing her eyelids with sinking with weariness, Elizabeth blinked several times and decided to take her mind off her studies and grabbed the letter that was sitting on her desk, which was addressed to her.
Dear Elizabeth,
Everything's going fine. The climate here is very dry. We make routinely canteen trips during the day because everyone in my troop gets so thirsty. You wouldn't believe how many times I've won in the game of poker here. I told some of the guys if they want to play a true poker player to play you when we get back from Vietnam. I can't wait to get back home and see you, mom and pop I have so much to tell you guys. Well I have to go, we didn't have much time to write this time. But I'll make it up in the next letter.
Remember it's not what you do that says who you are, but it's how you do it and how much it means to you.
Love, Caleb.
Smiling she folded the letter back up and put in the shoebox, which held all of her brother's letters. If there was one thing that mattered just as much as education in the Griffin household, was patriotism. Elizabeth's dad, being a governor, was very proud of his country.
Glancing over towards the cat clock on the wall, Elizabeth realized it was 10:30. Yawning, she made her way towards the dresser and changed into some grey sweat pants and a navy blue tang top. Decided she might as well get some sleep, she then plopped herself onto her bed and closed her eyes ready to let the darkness overtake her, making her fall into deep sleep.
That was until, the phone started to ring. Scoffing, Elizabeth stood up tiredly and walked over towards the main room and picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" Elizabeth asked tiredly as she leaned against the small side table with her eyes closed.
"GRIFFIN!" the voice yelled causing Elizabeth's eyelids to burst open, revealing her light green eyes.
"Monica?" She asked.
"YEAH! LISTEN, I FORGOT MY PURSE ON THE COUNTER. DO YOU MIND STOPPING BY HERE AND DROPPING IT OFF?" Monica asked as she spoke loudly into the phone.
"Yeah, yeah. Just stop talking so loud!" Elizabeth stated as she starred over at Monica's blue small sequined purse.
"I'll be there in a few seconds, bye." Elizabeth stated shortly before hanging up the phone. Walking over towards the counter she grabbed Monica's purse and also her car keys.
Damn girls need to remember their crap. Elizabeth thought as she exited their dorm room walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Jogging down towards the 1st floor, she opened the door towards the parking lot.
Walking over towards her car, she opened the door and quickly got inside.
Driving down the main street, were the college students hung out she starred out her front window and pulled into the parking lot of the bar where her roommates hung out the most. Not giving a crap on how she's dressed, She quickly got out of her car slamming the door behind her. She didn't like the idea of her friends always calling on her when they needed something, always knowing that she had no other things outside of school to do. Basically, she was always free.
Walking into the bar, she glanced around the smokey room looking for a blonde headed girl or a brunette. Since Corrine and Monica were the tallest of the four roommates.
Hearing the shrill and high-pitched giggle of Corrine, Elizabeth followed that specific giggle. Hoping Monica would be somewhere near Corrine. Making her way through the people dancing to the music, she stopped when she felt a hand caress her buttocks. Turning around, she saw one of the Princeton boys. He had dark brown hair, with brown almost shaped eyes. He wore a green sweater, with a yellow collared shirt underneath.
"Hey there sweet stuff." He stated drunkenly. Not wanting to start a bar fight, Elizabeth turned away ignoring the boy as she made her way deeper into the crowd leaving the boy baffled as to where she went.
"STOP IT!" Corrine's shrill voice exclaimed throughout the bark with a giggle following. Elizabeth spotted her blonde hair bobbing up and down from one of the tables at the far end of the room. Maneuvering through a group of two guys and two girls dancing rather closely together, Elizabeth finally arrived at the table, only to be shoved into one of the seats from someone behind.
"You've finally found your senses." Claire stated in a very odd voice, almost as if she was….
"Elizabeth!" Corrine exclaimed causing the man who was kissing her neck to jump back startled, turning his attention towards Elizabeth.
"Hi, Corrine have you seen Monica, I've brought her purse for-
"Griffin, who decided to unlock your ball and chain?" a voice interrupted Elizabeth, causing her to grimace.
"Screw, you." Elizabeth stated only to see his dirty blonde haired eyebrows raise high above his piercing blue eyes, giving her a suggestion.
"Look, Corrine have you seen Monica?" Elizabeth asked ignoring Max's perverted-ness.
"Uh, she went over there, and then towards there and ended up way over there." Corrine pointed out while giggling and giving Elizabeth no answer whatsoever. Laughing at Corrine's state of mind, Max looked at Elizabeth who looked annoyed and agitated.
"She went outside." Max answered shortly after taking another swig. Standing up, Elizabeth turned around with Monica's purse.
"I wouldn't go to her if I were you." Max stated with a smirk causing Elizabeth to turn around.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked obviously not getting what was going on.
"She's getting more than drunk tonight." Max stated with a snigger shortly afterwards causing Elizabeth to scrunch up her eyebrows in disgust.
"Ew, that's disgusting." Elizabeth stated causing Max to raise his eyebrows again.
:"Just knowing that it's probably one of your lousy disgusting friends who just spends a night with one woman and throws her away the day after. What is that some kind of pact between you guys?" Max opened his mouth to respond.
"You know what, don't answer that. My IQ is probably dropping by the second just by being in here." Elizabeth stated causing Max to close his mouth. Turning back around she began walking towards the exit of the bar, while hearing Max call out.
"Ah, go repent your sins!"
That was another thing she hated, ever since she turned down one of Max's promiscuous friends the student body of Princeton refers to Elizabeth Griffin as a prude.
If she wasn't in such of a rush to leave this bar, she would of replied back with some smart comment. But she just wanted to get back to her dorm and get some sleep.
Walking into the parking lot, she heard rumbling down a few cars from her own. Walking towards that car she noticed a foot hanging out the back window. Scoffing in disgust, Elizabeth stood there as she asked, "Monica?"
"Sh…sh…Ye-..Yes?" Monica's familiar voice replied after seconds of shushing.
"It's Elizabeth, just wanted to let you know that I've brought your purse for you." Elizabeth stated as she angrily chucked the purse into the car hitting the guy in the back of his head.
Hearing the thud, Elizabeth turned around smirking as she walked back towards her car.
I can have fun too. Elizabeth thought as she drove out of the parking lot and onto the street while smirking.
Walking into her dorm room, she placed her keys on one of the hooks before walking back towards her room. Starring at the shoebox full of letters, she figured she could write one back to her brother tomorrow during her library time. Glancing up at the clock she sighed as it read 12:30. Walking over towards her bed, she pulled the comforter back as she climbed in and closed her eyes after lying down for a few seconds, letting the darkness pull her into a deep sleep.
Hearing the bang of a chair falling against the floor followed by sorts of giggles, Elizabeth sat up in her bed and blinked a few times while glancing at the clock.
6:30. Sighing, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, then walked over towards her bedroom door and opened it up to find Corrine on the ground laughing hysterically.
"You just got home?" Elizabeth asked seeing her friend's hair in dishevelment. Bending down to help Corrine up, Elizabeth also noticed the strong smell of liquor.
"Elizzzabeth! It was so amazing. Max is so, so, unbeelieveable! I think I'm in lovee!" Corrine stated loudly as her arm was slung over Elizabeth's shoulder.
"No your drunk Corrine, you don't know what your talking about." Elizabeth stated as she helped her friend walk over towards the bedroom.
'God, if the D.A. was here, you'd be to the dean's office in a second." Elizabeth muttered as she plopped her friend on the bed.
Turning around, Elizabeth said "Now stay here, I'm going to go and get you some Tylenol for the hangover you'll have tomorrow."
Elizabeth turned back around hearing no reply, while finding Corrine falling over. Dodging for Corrine's shoulder, Elizabeth pulled Corrine back up to where she was sitting up straight.
"You have no idea what you missed out on..You should of grabbed him when you had the chance…He was right too, you are a bit of prude." Corrine stated causing Elizabeth to step back watching her friend.
"Nevermind about that Tylenol, you deserve to have a hangover tomorrow…Well I mean later in the mourning." Elizabeth stated realizing that it was tomorrow.
Elizabeth then walked back over towards her bed and made her way under the covers once again as she leaned her head against the soft familiar feeling of her pillow.
Waking up from the sun's rays falling upon Elizabeth's face, her eyes flickered open as she starred up at the ceiling. Sitting up in her bed, she glanced around the room realizing her roommates were already up. Climbing out of her bed, she walked into the main room to find them splattered about. Corrine on the couch with a rag on her eyes, Monica eating a bowl of cereal and Claire's head face down in a book.
"Well Good mourning to all of you ladies!" Elizabeth stated cheerily as she walked over towards the table.
"SHUTUP!" Corrine stated causing Monica to snicker with Elizabeth.
"If I didn't say thanks for bringing my purse last night, thanks." Monica stated with a sly smile and the color of crimson rising in her cheeks. Elizabeth gave a small smile before glancing back over at Corrine.
"Your welcome too, Corrine." Elizabeth stated loudly, only causing Corrine's headache to worsen.
"For what?" Corrine groaned out as she stood up and starred at the other three girls.
"Oh for helping you in your drunken state as you went on and on about Carrigan." Elizabeth stated as she poured some orange juice.
"Oh yeah, how was that?" Claire asked raising her eyebrows.
"He was so…oh my god." Corrine said as she brought her hand to her mouth hiding her smile.
"That good?" Claire asked causing Elizabeth to groan out of annoyance before she started drinking her orange juice.
"He was amazing.." Corrine went on as Claire walked over to the couch to sit down and listen.
"I bet 10 dollars Corrine will have him begging for more than one day." Monica stated causing Elizabeth to turn towards her after finishing her orange juice.
"I'm interested….I bet you that Max will drop her after today, he's not the monogamous type." Elizabeth stated with a coy smile.
"I don't know, Corrine has a way with keeping men for more than one day." Monica stated.
"Whatever, I'm going to go shower. You guys need one too, your making our dorm reek with liquor and you better hope the D.A. won't stop by for a weekly visit." Elizabeth stated as she grabbed her shower bag and walking out of their dorm room, towards the showers.
After taking a quick shower, Elizabeth quickly brushed her teeth and walked back towards their dorm room in the robe the school gave her and the rest of the girls for the showers.
Seeing her friends in the same positions, as they were when she left, she walked back into their room and grabbed the hair dryer and dried her hat flat and straight while using a brush. She then changed into a blue jean skirt, with a white tang top and a small yellow sweater with white tennis shoes.
She grabbed her books and notebook and left the dorm room and headed for the library. She didn't want to deal with her friend's mess this mourning, she already dealt with Corrine's and that was bad enough.
She walked around in the library on the campus, connected to Princeton's library, looking for a table to sit at. Finding an empty one at the far end in the right wing of the library, she placed her books on the table along with her notebook.
She pulled out her pen and began writing,
Dear Caleb,
I'm glad to hear your okay. School's been well school. Not much I can say there, still doing Dad's goal for me. Get the medical education and hopefully become a doctor. Even though it's my freshman year, I can't wait for it to end. I'm tired of dealing with my friend's drunken nights; I can't wait for everyone to grow up. They're still acting like high schoolers. This is college, we're starting the rest of lives, we're starting our future and this is how they act! I can't wait to go home and be back with normal people like our parents in a few months for thanksgiving. Speaking of thanksgiving, I'm sure pop will have his old graduate friends back at the house or congressmen, or lawyers that he wants to encourage them to vote for him. I'm sorry to hear that the weather is so dry there; it's still breezy up here in New Jersey. Did they give you any idea of when you'll be coming home soon? You've been there for such a long time I think mom is starting to worry; she's been calling me at the dorm asking if you've mentioned anything about going home in your letters to me. We all miss you dearly.
Love, Elizabeth.
"Knew I would find you here." Monica greeted, surprising Elizabeth and also pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Hey Monica." Elizabeth greeted with a small smile as she placed the letter in the envelope.
"I had to leave our dorm too, Corrine would not stop talking about Max. She's already got those dreamy eyes whenever she talks about him. You better pay up, I think she's gonna last awhile for Max." Monica stated with a smile.
"I can't believe you!" A shrill high-pitched voice caught the attention of the two girls, causing them to turn towards the bubbly pony tailed blonde leaning against a bookcase conversing with someone they couldn't see.
"I think her ponytail maybe pulled back a little too tight and it's causing her voice box to change rhythmic patterns." Monica stated with a snicker as she tapped her pen against her notebook.
"I'd say it's someone who cheated on her." Elizabeth stated turning her attention towards the girl.
"Is that Heather McIntyre?" Elizabeth asked noticing the well-known senior at Englewood.
"Oh my god your right!" Monica realized followed with a small giggle.
"I'd say one of her friends told her that the books in this building are filled with everything we need to know for our courses." Monica stated poking fun at Heather's IQ.
"Let's find out who's right." Monica stated slapping down a dollar calling their guesses of what Heather can't believe a bet.
"Fine." Elizabeth stated turning her attention towards Heather.
"But please, I can help you if you're falling behind on your schoolwork!" Heather exclaimed as a blonde shaggy haired man walked out from between the aisles of bookshelves.
"We're both wrong." Monica stated seeing Max.
"Please, like she could help anyone with a class. Plus, with her in the room Carrigan would have his attention on a different intention of having her in the same room." Elizabeth stated as Monica's eyes lightened up with excitement.
"Well he is the one breaking it off, so that would mean him and Corrine are probably going strong."
"Pay up." Monica shortly added holding her hand out for Elizabeth.
"No. This doesn't prove anything. Max might go out another night with you guys, but he would probably have his eyes on the girl that walks into the bar shortly after you girls do, then Corrine would be long gone." Elizabeth explained as Heather walked out of the library.
"Fine next night we go out, your coming with. Miss critical one, that you are." Monica stated taking her hand away.
"What no? Monica, you know I have my studies to worry about, especially with exams being this close." Elizabeth obliged. Monica shook her head at her friend's studious manner.
"You need to get out, Elizabeth this isn't healthy. Being locked inside, studying every night. Trust me your going to pass!" Monica reassured her.
"It's just one night." Monica added seeing Elizabeth's expression.
"I'll think about it." Elizabeth stated as she flipped her book open to the chapter she would be quizzed on Monday. Leaving Monica grinning.