The snot green sun beat down, as usual. Wax-ball City was coming alive, and Lizard Liz was always an early riser. Her green scales quivered as she checked herself for bed bugs. Then she rubbed her weak, pale blue eyes and slithered out of bed, struggling to keep her eyelids from closing again. Her tail dragged on the dusty carpet floor. Clicking her tongue against her mouth, she slowly tied her favorite bib around her thick neck, sputtering out the door.
Now, most Garbage Pail Kids shared fairly large apartments with one another, which Liz relied on to give her a morning energy boost from the many others shoving her out of the way in the ugly, thin corridor. The cracked walls were painted in mismatching shades of tan, and working yellowed florescent lights were few and far in between. The carpet was crusty and prickly from so many kids vomiting on it in the past, and it once had a red and periwinkle spotted pattern. But now it looked like the dirtiest, worst pink imaginable mixed with a mutant chartreuse.
The elevator situation was no better. Boogers rubbed in places you wouldn't have ever known an elevator had, pencils in the ceiling, mind numbingly audible squeaking from the elevator mechanics, and distractingly blinking lights. Worst of all was the fact that Liz could barely move her tail, surrounded by the thick, sweaty bodies of her peers. Everything felt humid and stuffy, making the moment where the door opened and she could get off nothing short of sweet, cool relief. Her destination, the lobby, looked like the hallways, infested with spiders and rats and dust bunnies. A duct tape decorated television flashed in the corner, unable to be turned off because the knob for that had gone missing and still had yet to turn up. The kids sighed and stumbled out the door.
Despite the sun shining bright, everything was cold and wet. There were no leaves on the ground because the trees had slowly died off from a lack of care. But the shriveled corpses of weeds lay at the bottom of rusty chain-link fences, buried in the dew covered grass. Tan exhaust clouds make the sky look rusty, and the sidewalks has large gaps it was easy to trip on. Since the buses hadn't been functional for a year or so, everyone needed to reluctantly walk to school.
Plopping down on her desk, Liz plucked her pencil from the ceiling, ready to doodle on what was left of her notebook. It was impossible for someone like her to understand the words of Mad Max, a Kid serving as the teacher for science, beyond the others' chatter. So instead she teethed, slept, scratched at the ceiling, and snapped up flies with her long, pink tongue. Essentially, there were no rules in school. It was just a place to keep them for about four hours during the week. Why anyone came up with it was anyone's guess. Especially in a chaotic world like this.
After what seemed like a century in the chaos, school let out. Liz instantly felt herself be pushed to the grimy floor by a boy with a black cowlick and a gray jacket. "Move, shrimp!" He barked insistently. The girl responded with a deep growl behind his back. "Yeah, Greaser Greg. Like you have the liberty to call ME shrimp, when we're the same size…" Greg spun around and glared at her, not even caring that he was blocking Max's path. "She's got a point." A zit-covered girl said quickly, scurrying to help her pal get up. "Ooh...I'll fix you good, Pizza Face!" Greg roared, his eyes blazing his fury, leaping onto both of them. He forced "Pizza Face" to the ground on top of Liz, who could feel her lungs deflate like balloons. "Guys, guys!" Max waved his hands. "School is no place for this…Ow!" Greg had smacked the poor guy clean across the cheek, sending him careening into the hall. A boy with horns and a spaded tail laughed. "That's...that's NOT funny!" Max whined, his cheek in his hands.
Greg and the girls continued to battle, wriggling and snarling, but the boy kept his grip. Soon more kids kept piling on, looking to either burn off their energy or break up the fight. This resulted in a huge, comical dust cloud, with little arms and legs poking out. Luckily, Liz was able to pull herself out, rubbing her head.
A wonderful discovery hit Liz when she stepped outside the school: she was alone. That meant nobody could watch her leave to her secret spot. Sliding into a ring of dead bushes, she crawled into a small tunnel covered up by an old tarp. When she popped up at the other end, wasps welcomed her. This was her favorite compost bin, which attracted all kinds of flies and wasps. "Suppertime" she said happily, unfurling her tongue. Life was quite mediocre right now, and Liz got bored very easily. She decided to take a walk.
Strolling through the crowded streets, Liz decided to leave the outskirts of town. She walked up a tall hill surrounded by a fence. Beyond the hill was a mysterious, dark tunnel that snaked away from view. The edge of the hill's cliff was the limit; no Garbage Pail Kid was ever allowed beyond it. It felt icy and rough here, as if it never met the sun. It made Liz feel numb as she stared off into the horizon. "Hi, Liz." a voice broke the silence, much to her invisible chagrin as another green figure came to her. It was Cracked Crystal, her translucent, shiny pigtails bouncing to her gait. "What are looking at?" "Oh, nothing, Crystal." Liz sighed. "Did they untangle everyone at school?" "Uh huh." Crystal responded with a bright smile. "Ashley's glasses got caught in Joe's hair. It was funny." "Oh." The lizard responded flatly. Both girls were silent for a moment. "Anyway…" Crystal said softly. "It's, uh, getting dark and-" "Yeah. I know. The curfew." Liz snapped mildly. For the first time in those few minutes, Liz took her eyes off the horizon. Then they went back to town together.
Liz unceremoniously open the door to her apartment. She felt like she was entering the forlorn habitat of a long dead ghost. Suddenly, something shouted and leapt at her, it's wild blue eyes glimmering. She squealed as it collapsed onto her. Petrified, she looked up to see Greg again, looking angrier than ever. The lights in her room turned on, and they were instantly surrounded by other boys. They didn't look angry, but concerned and even a little scared. "Liz, where were you?!" Greg growled. "I was expecting to have claws in my face! But I instead had to endure your pals' cooties, all for nothing because you're such a coward!" A couple of the boys snickered. A coward!? How dare he! Liz struggled to get up, ready to fight for real. "Why would YOU want to know?" she snapped. "It wouldn't have happened at ALL if you hadn't shoved me!" Another small handful of boys nodded. "Well, I wouldn't have SHOVED if YOU GOT OUT OF MY WAY!" With that bode of fury, Greg readied his fist for a punch. Everyone around them winced.
Suddenly, a black and white arm snagged Greg's fist. "I'm TRYING to watch my evening dramas!" A vampire boy glared at him. "But I see I can just watch you two." The boys snickered, all of them this time. "Nick, stay out of this!" Greg tried to wriggle his arm out of Nick's grip. "Why, in the holy mother of hemoglobin, are you all holding a meeting in Liz's room?" Nick snarled. "File out! Go to your OWN rooms! And, as for both of you, no more monkeying!" Relaxed, the kids cleared out of her room, quietly chattering. Greg's teeth bared at Nick as he got up, then he stormed into the hallway. Liz sat up and smiled gratefully. Nasty Nick had easily established himself as the kids' leader. You had to be really tough to go up against him...or really dumb. "Thank you, Nick." She waggled her tail. "Just be quiet if you're going to stay awake, okay?" Nick remarked coolly, surveying her with warm eyes. Then he himself went back to his room.