This part of my valentines day present for MRS. Annie Venturi... hope you like it :-)
It's funny the things we take for granted. The smiles, The looks, The answers that are right under our noses. Now that I am on my way back home I realize that every thing I ever wanted was staring me in the face, Although I was always too distracted to notice. Wondering how I came to my conclusion? Well it's not very simple. You see it all started with my fourteenth birthday....
I was sitting on the stairs watching as my school mates danced, I was never big on dancing....but in light of the occasion I put all that away and now I was too tired to even stand. As I looked around I realized all the effort that was put Into the decorations. It was Overly decorated for my taste. There were streamers hanging from every possible space on the wall, The ceiling was covered in balloons that were blue and pink not a spot was spared. My sister who always made everything perfectly over the top woke every one up early to start decorating and , In spite of all their whining and complaining everything turned out perfect as it usually does when Casey is around.
"Having fun Liz?" My step brother Edwin said as he sat next to me on the stairs.
"Yeah" I responded " It turned out pretty great".
Edwin had truly been my best friend since in moved in to the Venturi's house. Our friendship was never the tell me your secrets kind like I had with my friend steph, However we did everything together from solving mysteries to starting high school. I was always there for him even when he didn't ask for help and, He was always there for me in spite of me not needing his help.
" I'm glad it was worth Casey driving us all crazy" He said grinning.
Stephanie made her way towards us. Edwin ran as soon as he spotted her. As great of a friend as steph was she had one flaw, and that was her obsession with Edwin. The girl lived in a world only she could see.
She would take a simple "hi" from Edwin and interpret it as "I want to be with you forever". That's exactly how I ended up hearing a story that ended in the birth of her third child almost every day since I met Steph. She sat down next to me where Edwin had been.
"Lizzie! Did you see who just walked in?" She pointed towards the door.
And there he was Ronnie! The most beautiful male specimen I had ever seen. I had a crush on him for almost a month. He was a sophomore with hazel eyes and beautiful blonde hair that changed with the disco lights.
"Go say hi to him" Steph said in a very exited tone.
" I cant" I responded. Before I knew it she was pulling me up "Sure you can" she said.
I have to say for such a small person Stephanie sure was strong, because somehow she managed to pull me up and push me towards Ronnie almost instantly. Furious didn't even begin to describe how I felt. Ronnie the poor thing I almost fell on top of him. He managed to catch me, I have to say I was MORTIFIED. It wasn't just the fact that could have fallen on him...But it was how he caught me that was more then a little embarrassing. When Stephanie pushed me he held me by the hips in order to stop me. And there I was trespassing the boundaries of personal space.
I couldn't move, I couldn't speak Until finally I heard " You must be Lizzie".
I felt my face go red. He slowly let go of me and smiled. " I'm Ronnie" He said with a smile still on his face.
"I know" was my response. My face went Impossibly redder. ".....I mean, I've seen you around....Hanging with Edwin..."
He smiled at me softly " I know what you mean".
I had never met a person with a voice more charming than Ronnie's and if anyone told me I would then they would be lying. I couldn't help but smile back.
Suddenly I heard "Ronnie, What's up?" From a familiar voice.
"Just talking to your sister" Ronnie responded. Edwin walked closer to me and threw a hand around my shoulder. "I see" he said blankly . "didn't Cindy come with you?" He said in a more colorful voice.
That's when it came back to me Cindy barker had been Ronnie's girlfriend since last week, They were very coy about it but everyone in school knew.
"NAH" Ronnie said "She was being really clingy and I had to cut her loose".
A big smile started forming on my face against my will. I didn't want to be happy that he broke up with his girlfriend and I didn't want Ronnie to notice that I was happy. I couldn't help it.
Ronnie looked at his watch with a worried expression."...Umm...I have to go".
"But you just got here" I said sounding more disappointed then I actually wanted to.
" Sorry. I just stopped by to wish you a happy birthday" I was shocked "Really?" I responded.
I had no idea he knew about my existence until tonight. He only hung out with Edwin at school and I never talked to Edwin when he was hanging with Ronnie because I didn't have the courage to be around him. He visited our house twice and both those times I hid in my room. I wondered why he would take the time out to wish a happy birthday to some one he barely knew. This thought quickly went away when he smiled and said "Yeah".
He Turned around and Walked towards the door as he waved.
I woke up Monday morning still a little tired from all the cleaning up I had to help with on Sunday. Apparently once your birth day is over you become a target for helping Casey again.
Over all I can't complain, We had a little bit of fun. Especially when we got so irritated that we threw a bag of garbage over her head....At least it was dry. She a typical Casey mini-break down and stormed off to her room. Then the weirdest thing happened My eldest step-brother Derek went into the room and an hour later they both came out all happy. I can't say I had ever seen that before in this house. Usually when Derek talked to Casey it' was only make her feel worse. I guess university changes people.
As I walked downstairs the scent of chocolate ship pancakes hit my nose. I walked through the kitchen doors and saw Edwin was already sitting on the island eating cold cereal. My mother was next to the stove pouring more mix into the pan. I always admired my mother. She was able to work, go to our events and still make time for breakfast. She always looked flawless while doing it. She had perfect porcelain skin . Her hair reached her shoulders in giant curls that were never out of place. She always looked great in everything she wore a quality I envied.
"Good morning hun" she said sweetly.
" 'morning mom.'morning Ed"
"'morning" Edwin replied with a mouth full of cereal.
I looked down at my watch that reads even fifty nine
"Oh my gosh. Edwin We're late!"
I grabbed a pancake from a plate my mom was holding and stuffed it in my mouth as we ran out the back door. Edwin and I ran inti class together.
"you're late" said Ms. Linn in a relaxed tone.
Ms. Linn was our English teacher. She wore granny style glasses that almost hid her unibrow. Her teeth were always stained with lipstick like she carelessly threw on makeup before she left the house. Her frizzy blonde hair net her overalls at the chest.
"Sorry Ms. Linn" I responded as sweetly as I could.
" It's O.K Lizzie if you are anything like your sister I know you have a good excuse for being late, have a seat" she said smiling .
I walked towards the second row and took my assigned seat.
Ms. Linn went on " And as for you" She Pointed at Edwin " I'll see you in detention".
"...What! , Why?" Edwin asked with confusion drowning his face.
"have a seat Mr. Venturi" she commanded.
Edwin took his seat next to mine and rolled his eyes as I smirked.
As the time approached the the bell to ring I couldn't wait to get out of class. Don't get me wrong I love Catcher in the Rye but Ms. Linn had a way of making every single class especially boring. Besides I wanted to see if there was another one. The bell rang and Edwin ran past me. I had never seen him move so quickly before.
I walked towards my locker and saw Stephanie desperately applying lipgloss on her lips.
"uh...are you O.K?" I asked.
"Yeah...It's just I have chemistry next..With Edwin"
I rolled my eyes and turned to open my my locker. There It was a small white envelope with Lizzie typed on it. "So is it there?" Steph asked.
"why do we care so much?" I asked just a little annoyed.
"because" she said "These are going to be the good old days I I'm going to remember when I'm a stay at home mom taking care of Edwin's kids".
Once again I Rolled my eyes. Frankly I was getting tired of that story. I needed to find a way to make Edwin fall for Steph or get Steph a new obsession.
" So open it" She said in a perky tone. Every day for the past four school days I had gotten an envelope in my locker. It always had a note inside with a poem and at the signature all it was love with with no real name to be seen. I opened it up and this time it didn't have a poem but it said
"Meet me by the janitor's closet during lunch period"
-Love
I read it to Steph and she started to squeal. "that's only two periods away!"
" I don't know this guy could be crazy. This guy might not even be a guy"
Stephanie gave me a strange look." Why do you always have to be so negative"
I would of answered but the bell rang and I couldn't be late for another class. As I turned the corner towards the janitor's closet. I saw Ronnie and Edwin talking. I couldn't believe it. He was the one who was writing the notes? There was no way I could be positive of that unless I asked him directly. I swallowed hard and walked towards them fidgeting with the envelope on my hand.
As I approached them Ronnie turned around and said "Hi Liz".
"Hey" I responded "what you doing?"
"oh I was in the hall when I ran into Edwin and here we are" He said before he winked at me.
"Listen I have something embarrassing to ask you" I said nervously.
"sure" he responded.
"So is it you?" I asked
" Is it me what?" he said a little confused.
So I handed him the envelope and he opened it
"oh this...Yeah...It's me" he said smiling.
"What!?" I heard Edwin say a little out raged, although I didn't pay much attention to his tone at the time. "Edwin could you give me a minute with Ronnie please?"
Two months passed since that day by the janitors closet. Two months since Ronnie and I started dating. Every thing was going great! Ronnie was Charming, Chivalrous, and most importantly funny. Yet Ifelt there was something off in my life. My best friend since I moved into the Venturi's house, The person I did almost every thing with had become distant. I felt like I hadn't talked to him in ages.
One morning I sneaked up on him and pulled him into the games closet as he made his way to the bathroom. "O.K Edwin what's going on?" I asked
and his only response was "What?"
"You haven't said a word to me in three days" I responded.
"That's not true I just said what" I punched him on the arm
"you know what I mean.......It's not like it used to be".
"I'm sorry liz, But if you keep dating Ronnie I'm afraid it's going to stay this way".
This furthered my anger and confusion.
"What did we ever do to you?" I asked.
"You did nothing but Ronnie is a liar" he said softly touching my arm.
This action made me calm a little. Edwin always had a way of doing that to me.
"how" I asked him.
"Liz He didn't leave you those notes." he said only slightly angry
" how would you know?" I asked.
Because I'm the one who put them in you're locker." He said before pressing his lips against mine.
This a two chapter fic...so I'll be uploading the rest of it soon.