Not A Regular Life
Chapter 1- Welcome to The Park
It was a sunny and warm day in City. The sky was a beautiful blue and everyone was smiling. Not including Lizzy (Elizabeth) Martin.
She was an averaged height 22 year old with long dark purple hair. Her eyes were a darker shade of purple than her hair, and in some lighting, looked brown. She was wearing a gray shirt that said 'I hate you', black short- shorts with a white belt, and a pair of rainbow combat boots. She always dressed in the same style, no matter what her mood was.
Today was her first day working at The Park. She was going to be the new Groundskeeper. Along with 5 other people. She only previously had met Benson (The Park manager) and Pops (the other park manager).
Pops was a bald, old man with a child- like manner. He always wore a top hat, white button up, black vest, gray slacks, black dress shoes, and a white handlebar mustache. Benson on the other hand was a complete opposite. He was a strict middle aged man with some facial hair. His usual attire was a red shirt, gray shoes and pants, and a red hat.
Lizzy was avoiding people walking around her as she skateboarded to The Park. She was running late and took all short cuts possible. That meant jumping over strollers and trashcans, sliding down stair railings, and knocking a few people over.
Meanwhile, back at Pops' house, Benson was calling a Park Meeting to introduce the newly hired employee. Rigby, Mordecai, Skips, Muscle Man, High Five Ghost, and Pops were sat on the steps of the house while Benson stood in front of them.
"Can we get this going already?" Rigby asked rudely as he laid back against the steps.
"In a minute," Benson looked at his watch as he grew impatient with the new employee. 'Did I make a mistake with this girl?' He thought to himself.
"I'm here!" a voice shouted in the distance. Lizzy quickly jumped off her skateboard and carried it as she ran over to Benson.
"You're late," Benson stated. His voice was monotone and held a tone of responsibility.
"I got a bit stuck with my former boss," Lizzy brushed a piece of hair behind her ear as she tried to catch her breath. Images of trying to tell her boss she was quitting ran through her mind. She tried keeping it simple but he was all for arguing.
"I'll let it slide this time. Okay everyone, this is our new Groundskeeper. Her name is Elizabeth Martin-"
"Lizzy Martin," Lizzy corrected.
"I mean Lizzy Martin. Anyways, I want you all to help her understand the rules and expectations of having this job. Well, at least the ones who know the rules and expectations of The Park. She's not a slacker so do not turn her into one. You can get to know one another when you're not working. Got that Mordecai and Rigby? You better! Any questions or comments?" Benson looked expectantly at the workers before him as he finished his speech.
"I have one," Rigby raised his hand.
"What is it, Rigby?" Benson sighed. He knew in his gut that it was going to be something immature.
"Nice hair," he snickered at Lizzy. Muscle Man laughed at this openly and high fived High Five Ghost.
"Nice face," Lizzy retorted. Mordecai nudged Rigby's shoulder as everyone chorused in many 'oooooooooooh's.
"Okay, okay. Calm down! Just get back to work," Benson walked away with his clipboard as Pops followed behind him in a hopping motion.
"I'm Skips," a man with white hair, a white shirt, and blue jeans held his hand out to Lizzy as he skipped over to her.
"Nice to meet you," Lizzy smiled. She noticed his skipping but chose to ignore it.
"I'm Mordecai," a tall boy with black spikey hair that was dyed blue at the top greeted. He wore a blue t-shirt and black skinny jeans with converse. His right ear was pierced and his right hand had a black cuff.
"That's Muscle Man," he pointed over to another boy who had semi-long black hair, a grayish-blue shirt that exposed his over swelled belly, and black jeans with shoes.
"That's High Five Ghost," a very short boy with pale white skin and black attire stepped forward. His hair was a lighter shade of gray and had a glove on his right hand.
"And this 'charming' friend of mine is Rigby," Mordecai threw his arm around the boy who insulted Lizzy before. The bottom half of his hair was shorter and a darker brown than the top half, which was a lighter brown. He wore a brown shirt, a few chain necklaces, and black skinny jeans. His left ear was pierced and his left hand had an orange cuff.
"Nice to meet most of you," A glimmer of amusement passed by Lizzy's eyes as she hinted toward Rigby. "I'll see you guys around," Lizzy turned around and began walking in another direction. She wanted to keep this job and decided it would be best to get working right away.
When she was out of ears reach, Mordecai said, "She's hot."
"You guys think every girl is hot," Skips noted.
"You know who else is hot? MY MOM," Muscle Man shouted.
Lizzy had just finished mowing her side lawn and was ready to take her 15 minute break. She had planted 10 pots of flowers and trimmed the bushes. She released her hair from the tie she had put it in earlier. She looked at her phone's clock. 'I really need a watch,' she thought. It was 5 minutes before her break time.
"I'll take a walk," Lizzy said to herself a she began walking to the side of the park Mordecai and Rigby were supposed to clean.
When she arrived; her mouth dropped open. The grass still wasn't cut and the hedges were weirdly shaped. The trash bins were on their sides spilling out garbage and flies. And the worst part; the benches were covered in a hideous color of paint. Green and purple mixed together.
"Oh, hey Lizzy," a shaky voice said from behind Lizzy. She turned around to see Mordecai and Rigby with gloves on. "How's your side of the lawn?" He asked while smiling sheepishly.
"I'm not even going to ask," Lizzy said, more to herself.
"At least help us!" Rigby shouted after her as she began walking away. He clearly didn't want to do any of the work, though.
The new employee was surprised with his openness. "Why should I?" She yelled while turning around.
"We'll…" Rigby rubbed the back of his neck but then stopped once he realized he was still wearing his gloves.
"We'll pay for your lunch!" Mordecai offered.
With a sigh Lizzy turned around, "Fine."
She walked over to them and glared into their eyes. She was going to but the most expensive meal she could find. She headed back over to the garage to get some equipment back out.
Deciding that picking up the trash would be a good start, she grabbed some latex gloves and a few trash bags. Her depressing attitude waved off onto the somewhat attractive boys next to her.
"Thank-" Mordecai began.
"I hate you both already and I barely know you," Lizzy interrupted and threw a trash bag to both of her co-workers.
"That is not how you landscape a bush!" Lizzy scolded Rigby.
Mordecai left to go get some paint and a scraper for the soiled benches. An argument began to brew as Lizzy tried to calmly show Rigby how to trim a hedge. But his ignorant attitude was getting the best of her.
"Oh, then how do you landscape bushes Miss I-Know-Everything!" Rigby yelled back.
Even though Lizzy was only a year younger than him, he treated her like she was a dumb 5 year old. He was a lot shorter than Mordecai but was still taller than Lizzy by a few inches; allowing himself to think he was the more superior one. He mentioned this fact earlier when he noticed his shadow casted over her figure. That was what seemed to set her off.
"You have to make the sides straight and the corners sharp!" Lizzy pointed at the bush.
"Sure," Rigby stepped back, closed his eyes, and raised his arms up in an 'I don't know' gesture and said, "But how can I blame you, what do girls know about anything, let alone landscaping?" He smirked.
Lizzy gasped over dramatically and dropped the trimmer she was holding. "Fine, do it yourself then! I don't need my stupid lunch to be free!" She marched away and charged past Mordecai who looked back at her confused.
"Hey, wait! Rigby, what did you do?" He crossed his arms.
The streets weren't busy as Lizzy walked down the sidewalk. Looking at shops as she passed them, she could tell which ones were popular, and which weren't. She didn't want to deal with much physical interaction and decided to go into a shop an empty looking coffee shop.
She pushed through the main doors and the smell of sweets hit her nose. Her observation was right; it wasn't busy at all. Lizzy sat down at a table that was smack dab in the middle of the shop.
"Hey, can I get you anything?" A significantly tall girl behind the counter asked. Her short, red hair was held in a high ponytail and her black bangs fell freely. She was wearing a plain yellow shirt and skirt. Her name tag read 'Margaret' in cursive.
"Um," Lizzy got up to look at her choices. She usually ate at the options at the building she used to work in, so nothing was really familiar to her.
"I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich and orange juice," she put a 10 dollar bill on the counter.
Margaret nodded and began to prepare the meal. Lizzy watched as she slid two slices of bread out and cut a thin slice of cheese.
"Eilleen, can you get the orange juice, please?" Margaret shouted out.
A short girl with short light brown hair came out. A side of her hair was tied up and she wore the same clothing as Margaret.
"Sure," she got out a cup and jug of orange juice out. She made her way over to Lizzy and placed the jug down. "Hey, nice boots!" Eileen commented as she stared down at Lizzy's combat boots.
"They are really cool." Margaret added as she set down a plate with the finished grilled cheese on it.
"Thanks. That's nice of you to say," Lizzy smiled. Lizzy had lived in this town for quite a while now and had never met people so… forward.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Eileen asked.
'Eh, why not?' Lizzy thought as she nodded.
"Bye!" Lizzy waved to her new friends as she walked out of the coffee shop. The three had exchanged numbers and talked about random things. She was surprised that the two girls were actually willing to be her friend.
Lizzy began walking back to The Park. She took out her ear phones and plugged them into her phone. Scrolling through her song list, Lizzy found a song she could listen to. Music always helped with the awkward feeling Lizzy would get while walking down the street.
She smiled as she matched her steps with the beat of the song. Boys would never pay much attention to Lizzy and she was fine with that. But she would find herself emerged in envy whenever she saw a particular girl walk past a group of boys as they whistled at her.
As she approached the park she could hear yelling. It became clearer and clearer the closer she got. Cringing at the noise, Lizzy looked over from behind a tree to see Benson yelling at Mordecai and Rigby.
I've had enough of you two slackers!" Benson yelled. The two boys looked at the ground shamefully. They obviously didn't mean it but that just seemed to anger Benson even more.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Lizzy murmured as she approached Benson. "Benson-"
"What now?" Benson turned around so quick that his clipboard flew out of his grip toward Lizzy. She ducked her head as it flew past her and got stuck in the base of a tree.
"I'm sorry!" Lizzy said in fear that Benson would throw something else. The shock enveloped her insides and made her feel numb.
"No, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Benson rushed toward Lizzy. He had completely forgotten about the two boys. It wasn't exactly how Lizzy planned diverting Benson's attention, but it seemed to work.
"I'm fine, I dodged it," Lizzy laughed nervously.
She looked behind her to see the spot where the two boys were supposed to be. Couldn't tell if she was surprised by this or completely unsurprised.
She waited a few moments for Benson to stop apologizing. Sadly, she only saw him being encouraged by her silence. "Um, Mordecai and Rigby ran away," Lizzy said quickly.
Benson turned around and saw that what she had said was true. He turned a bright shade of red and began shouting profanities. By the look on his face Lizzy could tell this has happened more than once. Benson began to stalk away shouting, "I'LL FIRE THEM!"
Lizzy couldn't help but laugh at this. Seeing someone so easily annoyed was quite humorous to her.
She looked over at the still wrecked lawn. She had two options; walk away and have them Mordecai and Rigby deal with further punishment, or get on Benson's good side and clean it herself.
With a groan she went to continue what she started earlier.
"You know, its Lizzy's fault for not helping us," Rigby stated 'matter-of-factly' as him and Mordecai walked down the street. They had left the park for an hour to give Benson time to cool off. And to avoid dying for another day. Using another person as a distraction might have come off as manipulating to the ordinary, but to Mordecai and Rigby, it was routine.
"I'm pretty sure you're the one who insulted her," Mordecai noted.
"Details, details! All I remember is her abandoning us," Rigby shrugged as they approached The Park. Both boys stopped in their tracks as they noticed their side of the lawn. The grass was cut, the hedges were trimmed, the garbage was picked up, and the benches were clean of paint. It was almost as if they hadn't got into a prank war with Muscle Man and High Five Ghost at all.
"But-when- how?" Rigby jumbled over his words as he looked to Mordecai. They shared a moment of confusion before they were interrupted.
"Girls can't do anything, huh?" Rigby turned around to see Lizzy standing with her arms crossed. Her face showed both amusement and annoyance. "Well a girl just did all of your work," she smirked and walked away.
Rigby huffed in ignorance; refusing to believe she did everything on her own.
"She's got a point, dude," Mordecai laughed. However, he was abruptly shut up by the contact of Rigby's fist and his cheek.
Alrighty! I understand that it's kind of shirt and not really a good description of the characters, BUT I promise it does get better. I like to think of this as the appetizer before the main meal. Anyways please favorite, follow, and comment on this story! Give helpful feedback and please nothing include hateful. Thanks again and I'll see you when chapter 2 comes out. Bye!
-Ash
