Hi!
I sort of had the idea for this story while I was still writing "All my loving", so I decided to finish that one first.
Let me introduce to you, the one and only Lizzy Stevens. She is the main character of this story. Her name is heavily influenced by the wonderful song "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" on the amazing album "Help!" by the fantastic group The Beatles.
I don't have the ending of the story figured out yet, but I can sure promise you some romance and drama on the way!
Ok. Here we go!
-Stine
"Come on, give me fever, put your little hand in mine.
You make me dizzy, dizzy Lizzy, girl, you look so fine.
You're just a-rockin' and a-rollin', girl I said I wish you were mine."
London, August 1965
Lizzy Stevens woke up at half past seven, just like she used to. She yawned, and stretched in bed, before she pulled the sheets aside and got up. Her bedroom floor was freezing, and she quickly stepped into her slippers.
Her younger sister Martha was still tight asleep, just like she used to. Waking up Martha wasn't among the easiest things you could do. It usually involved a lot of screaming and yelling. Lizzy was convinced that it could easily be compared to waking up a sleeping lion.
She let her sister sleep, and tiptoed out to the kitchen. She put the kettle on, and hurried to the bathroom before anyone else got there before her.
In the mirror over the sink, a pale face stared back at her. She had long, dark brown hair and eyes that were dark blue in colour, almost like the ocean. Lizzy didn't look upon herself as pretty. She was a sweet girl, and could be charming if she wanted to, but she didn't find herself attractive, like the famous actresses and models you saw in all the magazines, the ones all the boys longed to be with.
Lizzy washed her face, and put on a tiny bit of makeup. She pulled her hair back in a tight bun, and went back to her room to get dressed. Then she started the first phase of waking up her sister, by pulling the curtains aside. Daylight flowed into the room. Martha groaned, and pulled her blanket over her head.
"Wake up, Martha. It's time for school." Martha didn't answer.
"If you don't get up soon, you're going to be late again." Still no reaction.
"Oh my!" Lizzy exclaimed. "Is that really Paul McCartney standing there, right outside?"
That made Martha jump out of the bed, and dash over to the window.
The street was nearly empty, except for an old lady walking her dog. There was of course not the slightest sign of any Beatle.
"You're up." Lizzy said triumphant. "That really did the trick. I'll remember that."
Martha screamed in irritation, as she realized she had been fooled. "You're unbelievable!" she said.
Lizzy grinned. "I know." She said. "Go to the bathroom now, please."
Martha stomped out of the room. She had just turned fourteen, and fourteen years of being Lizzy's little sister had taught her a thing or two. There was just no point in arguing with Lizzy when it came to things like that.
It was about time to wake up the others. Lizzy went into the room next to the one she shared with Martha.
The three youngest of her siblings were still asleep, tucked under their blankets. The youngest, Ellie, was four. Edward was eight, and Thomas was nearly ten.
"Wake up sleepyheads." Lizzy said cheerfully. "It's morning."
She opened the curtains, and let the sunshine light up the room.
Ellie sat up in her bed. She had dark brown, curly hair, and big, brown eyes.
"Good morning princess Ellie. I trust it you had a good night's sleep?"
Lizzy sat down on the edge of her bed, and kissed the little girl on the forehead.
Ellie giggled. "Very good princess Lizzy." She said.
"What do you say? Shall we go and have some breakfast?" Lizzy said in a posh voice.
Ellie giggled again, and followed her sister.
When their mother Anna woke up, all the children were sitting around the kitchen table, eating their breakfast.
Lizzy was walking around, making sandwiches, pouring milk and trying to prevent any potential fight that might occur between Thomas and Edward.
Anna looked at her oldest daughter. She was going to be a fantastic mother some day.
"Good morning mum. Did you sleep well?" Lizzy smiled at her mother. Anna sat down, as Lizzy poured her a cup of tea.
"Very good. Thank you for waking up the children."
"I'm not a child." Martha grumbled.
Anna grinned. "Thank you for waking up the children, and Martha." She said.
Anna and Lizzy both started to laugh. Martha sent her sister an angry glare.
"Oh, come on Martha. Cheer up, will you?" Lizzy said.
As soon as little Ellie was finished eating, Lizzy took her to the bathroom and helped her get dressed. She braided her hair, and the little girl happily ran into the living room to play. Edward and Thomas had been ordered by their mother to the bathroom to brush their teeth, and was standing outside the bathroom door, fighting over which one to go first.
"Hurry up boys." Lizzy said. "You have to leave in five minutes."
Lizzy went back to the kitchen, and sat down to have breakfast. Anna was doing the dishes.
"When did dad come home last night?" Lizzy asked.
Anna sighed. "Late." She answered.
"Was he angry?"
Anna shook her head. "No. I've seen him a lot worse than that."
"You shouldn't let him..." Lizzy started, but was instantly interrupted by her mother.
"Lizzy. We've been through this before. Leave it, please. It's between you father and me."
"But it affects us all!" Lizzy protested. "They way he treats you. It makes me so angry."
Anna sighed again. "Eat you breakfast." She said.
Lizzy ate in silence, and afterwards she hushed Edward, Thomas and Martha off to school.
She brushed her teeth, and looked at her ordinary face in the mirror again. For a moment she wished that she was someone else. Somewhere else.
But then reality struck her, and she realized she was late for work. She rushed out of the flat, down the stairs and got her bicycle from the backyard.
Less than five minutes later, she arrived at the factory. Her hair was all tousled from the bike ride, and as she parked her bike, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name.
"Elizabeth! What a coincidence. I haven't seen you in a while. Funny I'd run into you here."
She turned around to see the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment. William Jenkins. William always had a way of making her feel uncomfortable. Lizzy didn't know whether it was the way he always called her "Elizabeth" like she was the queen or something, or the way he so obviously was trying to make a move on her.
She resisted the urge to answer him something like "What's so funny about it? I spend eight hours a day, five days a week assembling radios in this place. So do you. Why is it such a coincidence that we occasionally bump into each other?" But she didn't. Instead, she smiled at him.
"How are you?" She asked politely.
"Very good." He said, and put an arm around her shoulder. "What do you say? Do you want to join me at the movies tonight?"
"I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I have other plans. Sorry." Lizzy smiled innocently.
She grabbed her purse. "I'm going to be late." She said. "Excuse me."
She hurried towards the entrance, before he could follow her.
"Some other time then, beautiful!" he called after her.
Lizzy shuddered. Nothing in the world could make her go out with William Jenkins. He was a total player. He only dated girls for a short period of time, before he went on to someone else. She refused to be his next victim. Why on earth had he chosen her? She knew countless other girls who would have killed to go on a date with William. Why couldn't he just pick one of them, and be satisfied with it?
Lizzy pushed all thoughts aside, as she got ready for another day at work.
When she finished work that afternoon, and got on her bike, she was in no hurry to get home. Her life was dull, comprehensible and nothing like she wanted it to be.
She wanted to get away. Leave right now. She wanted to meet new people, experience things. See the world.
When she cycled along the streets, thinking like that, she didn't know that she was just one day away from the beginning of her life's biggest adventure.