Disclaimer: blah blah blah, I don't own the characters . . . blah blah blah
. . . wish I did . . . blah blah blah. Y'all know how it goes. Fill it in
yourselves. I KNOW that Willa is a Mary Sue. RAMPANTLY mary-sue. I wrote
this story cause it makes me happy, so I really don't care how much you
hate mary-sue's, or hearing the name mary-sue, or people who say mary-sue
every fourth word, ahem, mary-sue. If you like it, very cool, more power
to ya. If not, no one effing cares. Thanks!
Chapter One.
It was a drizzly and chilly afternoon in late March when Lucky Spencer and Liz Hardy entered the Pier 9 Arcade. As always, the teen hot spot was packed with people. Liz and Lucky made their way across the room, and Liz noticed her sister standing a distance away. She paused briefly.
"Liz? Hey! Earth to Liz!" Lucky spoke, realizing his companion had stopped short of their original air hockey table destination.
"What?" she replied absently, and then looked over to where Lucky was staring at her expectantly. "Sorry, Lucky. What?" "Lately Lizzie, you're a million miles away. What's up?" He asked, sitting down on a bench as Liz sat next to him. She sighed deeply.
"Sarah makes me so mad. She thinks she's the coolest thing ever since she started hanging out with Elsie Hunter. Everyone knows Elsie's just a brat who always has to get her way." she said, pulling back her short brown hair and looking to Lucky for assurance.
"I know what you mean. Elsie thinks she's the queen goddess of PC High. It's bad enough that Sarah hangs around her, but now she's got Maxie and Lucas falling all over themselves to make her happy." He added, nodding over to where the group was now standing, in a huge crowd surrounding the motorcycle game.
"Wonder what's going on over there." She thought aloud, standing on her toes and straining to see over the sea of people.
"Don't know. Let's go see." He replied, standing and leading her into the heart of the crowd. By the time they reached the center the mass of people were all cheering loudly.
Derek Horton, a dropout of PC High and the widely known "King of Arcade Motorbike Racing" was taking on new talent. People came from far and wide to challenge the King. To date everyone who had tried, failed.
This time the "new talent" was a girl. She was considerably smaller than him; dressed outrageously in a pair of frayed camouflage pants and a white a-shirt tank top. Her hair was a mess of honey blonde braids and she was covered with pony bead bracelets and thick hemp necklaces. She was the oddest sight the Pier 9 arcade had ever beheld, and she was beating the master.
By the time she rounded the last corner the crowd was getting out of hand and Derek was desperate. In a last ditch effort he pulled his bike up along side of hers and attempted to run her into the railing. She stopped short and he missed, crashing his bike. With a final tap on the gas she was through the finish line. Her time slowly materialized on the screen, declaring her the new record holder. It asked for her name and "*willa*" appeared.
It was then that she climbed up to a standing position on her bike and turned to face her public, revealing a cherubic face centered by a pair of dark blue eyes. Lucky gasped loudly and Liz jumped, surprised by his sudden noise.
"Lucky? What is it?" She asked, shaking his arm. A smile spread slowly across his face. Moving closer to the bikes he raised an arm and yelled over the noise,
"Willy!"
Everyone stopped dead and turned to face him, including the girl. An identical smile spread across her lips and she replied,
"Lucky!"
As suddenly as it had stopped the talking began again, this time focused mainly on how Lucky Spencer knew this strange new girl. Blowing a kiss to the ex-master she jumped off the bike and into Lucky's waiting arms. He hugged her tightly and then took her arm, leading her over toward the window where there was more room. Liz followed, dumbfounded.
"Willa, what are you doing here?" He asked, hugging her again.
"Feeding my closet arcade game addiction. And yourself?" She quipped, Australian accent now highly obvious. Lucky shook his head and grinned.
"No, really. I thought you were supposed to be hidden away in the Alps or something. At least that's what your brother told me."
"Jail break, dearest. You didn't really think I'd let them lock me up forever in that nunnery they call a prep school did you? You happy to see me?" She asked, gazing up at him expectantly.
"Ecstatic." He replied, laughing. Suddenly he remembered Liz, standing open-mouthed at his shoulder. "Willy, this is Audrey's granddaughter Liz. Liz, this is Wilhelmina Jacks, my best friend and a raving lunatic."
"Jacks? Like as in J&J Jacks, the makeup company?" Liz asked, and Willa's nose wrinkled.
"If you must." She replied with a shrug.
"I see you still have attitude about money, Miss Willy. Yeah, Lizzie, Jax and Jerry are her brothers." Lucky added with another smile. Willa looked to Liz apologetically.
"Sorry. Don't mean to come across all rude and stuck up. I'm used to dealing with prep school girls who think friendship has a minimum bank account balance. It'll take me a couple of days to get deprogrammed." She spoke, offering Liz a warm smile. Liz nodded, though she'd never met anyone from a prep school so she really couldn't relate.
"I take it none of your family knows you're here." Lucky stated, and she shook her head. "You're a bad girl, Willy. You know they're just going to get mad and send you away again."
"Thanks for the loving advice, kitten." Willa replied, sticking out her tongue and pulling up the hem of her long pants absentmindedly. "Don't worry, I won't let them send me back. I was just headed over to see my bro."
"And what, got lost?" Lucky teased. Willa ignored him.
"Is it true Jerry's hanging around town?"
"Yep. I think he's staying at the Hilton." Lucky replied, reaching out a hand to touch her slim arm. "Willy, you're freezing. Aren't you smart enough to wear a coat?"
"Pipe down, young Spencer child." Willa spoke with a grin as she turned to leave. "I've got to book, see what my older bros have been up to. I'll give you a ring when I find out where I'm staying. It was nice to meet you Liz. You guys have fun today, eh?"
With that she kissed Lucky's cheek and was out the door, allowing a stream of chilly air to pass into the arcade. Both Liz and Lucky shivered, remembering Willa's extremely petite frame clad in a small white tank top.
"That was interesting." Liz spoke after Willa's departure, looking to Lucky who now stood gazing dazedly out the window. "What's this prep school she's talking about? How do you even know each other? What does she mean by attitude about money?"
"Slow down, kid. One question at a time." Lucky replied, sitting back down on the familiar bench.
"Sorry. I'm being nosy. Do you mind?" Liz asked, searching Lucky's face for hidden signs of doubt.
"It's okay, Lizzie. Will isn't top secret or anything. Ask away."
Across the room, Maxie, Elsie, Sarah, and Lucas watched the new girl leave. They had witnessed everything, from her stunning victory to her connection to Lucky. Once the girl had departed Elsie regained her position at the center of the group, pushing her long frame up onto the stool and tossing back a lock of her bleach blonde hair.
"Wonder what that was all about." Sarah spoke aloud, fiddling with her own blonde hair and chewing on a thumbnail.
"We don't have to wonder. I could go ask Lucky." Maxie replied, looking to Elsie hopefully. Lucas looked up quickly, praying that Elsie would shoot the idea down. After several moments Elsie shook her head and Lucas breathed deeply.
"No need. I don't think that's the last we'll see of her." Elsie decreed, thinking back to the girl's unerring control over the crowd. Her presence was one to rival Elsie's own, and she didn't like it. Without another word Elsie turned away from the scene, closing the topic for conversation.
"Okay. How do you two know each other?" Liz began.
"Will lived here a few years back, four or five. She moved here when she was something like ten, and we were in the same class in Middle school for the three years my aunt and I lived here together."
"Makes sense. So why did they send her away?"
"Well, lots of reasons, really. Her brother's fiancée died for one thing. Willy didn't take that too well, they were really close. Her parents never really approved of her living here in the first place. They want to give her the best that money can offer, which is the exact opposite of what she wants."
"And that's why she has attitude about money?"
"Yeah, sort of. She says if she can't afford to break or lose it there's no point in having it. She's independent as hell, and doesn't want to live off her family fortune. I think she saw too much of that at school before she moved here, and that's what she means about the prep school kids. Living out of Mommy and Daddy's wallet, without any need to do for themselves."
"Not what you'd expect." Liz commented. Lucky nodded, watching across the room as Elsie and her pack moved away from the bar and out the door.
Once the four had reached the street Elsie began to walk briskly toward her car, followed closely by Sarah and Maxie. When Lucas failed to move Elsie spun around and looked at him petulantly.
"Lucas, are you coming?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows. To her surprise, Lucas shook his head.
"Nah, I've got to meet my brother at Kelly's." he lied, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"Are you sure, Lucas?" Sarah asked, looking up at the clouds that threatened ominously to crack open at any moment and pour rain on them. Lucas nodded and Elsie sighed, turning on a heel.
"Whatever." She called over her shoulder, motioning for the other girls to follow her. Lucas watched them go before turning to head in the other direction, wondering why he had lied to them and trying to figure out how he was going to get back to the island. He was nearly halfway to Kelly's when a crack of thunder sounded and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Immediately the rain began to fall heavily and Lucas took off in a sprint, desperately seeking shelter from the moisture. Finally he came to a covered bus stop and pressed himself against the partition, huddling next to the clear wall to try and stop the wind from soaking him. Before long he realized his shelter was already inhabited, and he looked over to see who was sharing his refuge.
He was startled to find the girl from the arcade leaning against the wall, shivering uncontrollably. Looking up she smiled at him, a smile that lit up the dim day and caused Lucas' heart to pound loudly in his chest.
"Your friends don't like to stand in the rain with you?" she asked, accent making her appear almost cartoonish.
"Friends?" Lucas asked, confusion settling over his young features. Her grin broadened.
"Your friends. I saw you at the arcade. My name's Willa." She spoke, offering a hand. Lucas took it shakily, and held it for several moments before he realized it was inappropriate to grasp perfect strangers at bus stops for extended periods of time. He released her and smiled crookedly.
"I'm Lucas. You're new around here."
"Sort of." She replied cryptically, looking up at the sky. It didn't look like it was slowing down. They stood for several moments in silence before he realized she was really shaking.
"Are you cold?" he asked, taking off his coat. She smiled as he unsteadily slipped the thin corduroy garment over her shoulders.
"Thanks." She replied, drawing it tighter around her. They stood in an amiable silence for several moments before Lucas's nerves got the better of him.
"I, I've got to go." He stammered, starting out into the rain. He hadn't gotten more than three steps before she called out his name. He spun quickly, his heart pounding rapidly. "Yeah?"
"Your jacket." She spoke with a grin, holding out the coat for him to take. He smiled sheepishly and grunted a farewell before taking off as fast as he could.
Chapter One.
It was a drizzly and chilly afternoon in late March when Lucky Spencer and Liz Hardy entered the Pier 9 Arcade. As always, the teen hot spot was packed with people. Liz and Lucky made their way across the room, and Liz noticed her sister standing a distance away. She paused briefly.
"Liz? Hey! Earth to Liz!" Lucky spoke, realizing his companion had stopped short of their original air hockey table destination.
"What?" she replied absently, and then looked over to where Lucky was staring at her expectantly. "Sorry, Lucky. What?" "Lately Lizzie, you're a million miles away. What's up?" He asked, sitting down on a bench as Liz sat next to him. She sighed deeply.
"Sarah makes me so mad. She thinks she's the coolest thing ever since she started hanging out with Elsie Hunter. Everyone knows Elsie's just a brat who always has to get her way." she said, pulling back her short brown hair and looking to Lucky for assurance.
"I know what you mean. Elsie thinks she's the queen goddess of PC High. It's bad enough that Sarah hangs around her, but now she's got Maxie and Lucas falling all over themselves to make her happy." He added, nodding over to where the group was now standing, in a huge crowd surrounding the motorcycle game.
"Wonder what's going on over there." She thought aloud, standing on her toes and straining to see over the sea of people.
"Don't know. Let's go see." He replied, standing and leading her into the heart of the crowd. By the time they reached the center the mass of people were all cheering loudly.
Derek Horton, a dropout of PC High and the widely known "King of Arcade Motorbike Racing" was taking on new talent. People came from far and wide to challenge the King. To date everyone who had tried, failed.
This time the "new talent" was a girl. She was considerably smaller than him; dressed outrageously in a pair of frayed camouflage pants and a white a-shirt tank top. Her hair was a mess of honey blonde braids and she was covered with pony bead bracelets and thick hemp necklaces. She was the oddest sight the Pier 9 arcade had ever beheld, and she was beating the master.
By the time she rounded the last corner the crowd was getting out of hand and Derek was desperate. In a last ditch effort he pulled his bike up along side of hers and attempted to run her into the railing. She stopped short and he missed, crashing his bike. With a final tap on the gas she was through the finish line. Her time slowly materialized on the screen, declaring her the new record holder. It asked for her name and "*willa*" appeared.
It was then that she climbed up to a standing position on her bike and turned to face her public, revealing a cherubic face centered by a pair of dark blue eyes. Lucky gasped loudly and Liz jumped, surprised by his sudden noise.
"Lucky? What is it?" She asked, shaking his arm. A smile spread slowly across his face. Moving closer to the bikes he raised an arm and yelled over the noise,
"Willy!"
Everyone stopped dead and turned to face him, including the girl. An identical smile spread across her lips and she replied,
"Lucky!"
As suddenly as it had stopped the talking began again, this time focused mainly on how Lucky Spencer knew this strange new girl. Blowing a kiss to the ex-master she jumped off the bike and into Lucky's waiting arms. He hugged her tightly and then took her arm, leading her over toward the window where there was more room. Liz followed, dumbfounded.
"Willa, what are you doing here?" He asked, hugging her again.
"Feeding my closet arcade game addiction. And yourself?" She quipped, Australian accent now highly obvious. Lucky shook his head and grinned.
"No, really. I thought you were supposed to be hidden away in the Alps or something. At least that's what your brother told me."
"Jail break, dearest. You didn't really think I'd let them lock me up forever in that nunnery they call a prep school did you? You happy to see me?" She asked, gazing up at him expectantly.
"Ecstatic." He replied, laughing. Suddenly he remembered Liz, standing open-mouthed at his shoulder. "Willy, this is Audrey's granddaughter Liz. Liz, this is Wilhelmina Jacks, my best friend and a raving lunatic."
"Jacks? Like as in J&J Jacks, the makeup company?" Liz asked, and Willa's nose wrinkled.
"If you must." She replied with a shrug.
"I see you still have attitude about money, Miss Willy. Yeah, Lizzie, Jax and Jerry are her brothers." Lucky added with another smile. Willa looked to Liz apologetically.
"Sorry. Don't mean to come across all rude and stuck up. I'm used to dealing with prep school girls who think friendship has a minimum bank account balance. It'll take me a couple of days to get deprogrammed." She spoke, offering Liz a warm smile. Liz nodded, though she'd never met anyone from a prep school so she really couldn't relate.
"I take it none of your family knows you're here." Lucky stated, and she shook her head. "You're a bad girl, Willy. You know they're just going to get mad and send you away again."
"Thanks for the loving advice, kitten." Willa replied, sticking out her tongue and pulling up the hem of her long pants absentmindedly. "Don't worry, I won't let them send me back. I was just headed over to see my bro."
"And what, got lost?" Lucky teased. Willa ignored him.
"Is it true Jerry's hanging around town?"
"Yep. I think he's staying at the Hilton." Lucky replied, reaching out a hand to touch her slim arm. "Willy, you're freezing. Aren't you smart enough to wear a coat?"
"Pipe down, young Spencer child." Willa spoke with a grin as she turned to leave. "I've got to book, see what my older bros have been up to. I'll give you a ring when I find out where I'm staying. It was nice to meet you Liz. You guys have fun today, eh?"
With that she kissed Lucky's cheek and was out the door, allowing a stream of chilly air to pass into the arcade. Both Liz and Lucky shivered, remembering Willa's extremely petite frame clad in a small white tank top.
"That was interesting." Liz spoke after Willa's departure, looking to Lucky who now stood gazing dazedly out the window. "What's this prep school she's talking about? How do you even know each other? What does she mean by attitude about money?"
"Slow down, kid. One question at a time." Lucky replied, sitting back down on the familiar bench.
"Sorry. I'm being nosy. Do you mind?" Liz asked, searching Lucky's face for hidden signs of doubt.
"It's okay, Lizzie. Will isn't top secret or anything. Ask away."
Across the room, Maxie, Elsie, Sarah, and Lucas watched the new girl leave. They had witnessed everything, from her stunning victory to her connection to Lucky. Once the girl had departed Elsie regained her position at the center of the group, pushing her long frame up onto the stool and tossing back a lock of her bleach blonde hair.
"Wonder what that was all about." Sarah spoke aloud, fiddling with her own blonde hair and chewing on a thumbnail.
"We don't have to wonder. I could go ask Lucky." Maxie replied, looking to Elsie hopefully. Lucas looked up quickly, praying that Elsie would shoot the idea down. After several moments Elsie shook her head and Lucas breathed deeply.
"No need. I don't think that's the last we'll see of her." Elsie decreed, thinking back to the girl's unerring control over the crowd. Her presence was one to rival Elsie's own, and she didn't like it. Without another word Elsie turned away from the scene, closing the topic for conversation.
"Okay. How do you two know each other?" Liz began.
"Will lived here a few years back, four or five. She moved here when she was something like ten, and we were in the same class in Middle school for the three years my aunt and I lived here together."
"Makes sense. So why did they send her away?"
"Well, lots of reasons, really. Her brother's fiancée died for one thing. Willy didn't take that too well, they were really close. Her parents never really approved of her living here in the first place. They want to give her the best that money can offer, which is the exact opposite of what she wants."
"And that's why she has attitude about money?"
"Yeah, sort of. She says if she can't afford to break or lose it there's no point in having it. She's independent as hell, and doesn't want to live off her family fortune. I think she saw too much of that at school before she moved here, and that's what she means about the prep school kids. Living out of Mommy and Daddy's wallet, without any need to do for themselves."
"Not what you'd expect." Liz commented. Lucky nodded, watching across the room as Elsie and her pack moved away from the bar and out the door.
Once the four had reached the street Elsie began to walk briskly toward her car, followed closely by Sarah and Maxie. When Lucas failed to move Elsie spun around and looked at him petulantly.
"Lucas, are you coming?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows. To her surprise, Lucas shook his head.
"Nah, I've got to meet my brother at Kelly's." he lied, hoping she wouldn't notice.
"Are you sure, Lucas?" Sarah asked, looking up at the clouds that threatened ominously to crack open at any moment and pour rain on them. Lucas nodded and Elsie sighed, turning on a heel.
"Whatever." She called over her shoulder, motioning for the other girls to follow her. Lucas watched them go before turning to head in the other direction, wondering why he had lied to them and trying to figure out how he was going to get back to the island. He was nearly halfway to Kelly's when a crack of thunder sounded and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. Immediately the rain began to fall heavily and Lucas took off in a sprint, desperately seeking shelter from the moisture. Finally he came to a covered bus stop and pressed himself against the partition, huddling next to the clear wall to try and stop the wind from soaking him. Before long he realized his shelter was already inhabited, and he looked over to see who was sharing his refuge.
He was startled to find the girl from the arcade leaning against the wall, shivering uncontrollably. Looking up she smiled at him, a smile that lit up the dim day and caused Lucas' heart to pound loudly in his chest.
"Your friends don't like to stand in the rain with you?" she asked, accent making her appear almost cartoonish.
"Friends?" Lucas asked, confusion settling over his young features. Her grin broadened.
"Your friends. I saw you at the arcade. My name's Willa." She spoke, offering a hand. Lucas took it shakily, and held it for several moments before he realized it was inappropriate to grasp perfect strangers at bus stops for extended periods of time. He released her and smiled crookedly.
"I'm Lucas. You're new around here."
"Sort of." She replied cryptically, looking up at the sky. It didn't look like it was slowing down. They stood for several moments in silence before he realized she was really shaking.
"Are you cold?" he asked, taking off his coat. She smiled as he unsteadily slipped the thin corduroy garment over her shoulders.
"Thanks." She replied, drawing it tighter around her. They stood in an amiable silence for several moments before Lucas's nerves got the better of him.
"I, I've got to go." He stammered, starting out into the rain. He hadn't gotten more than three steps before she called out his name. He spun quickly, his heart pounding rapidly. "Yeah?"
"Your jacket." She spoke with a grin, holding out the coat for him to take. He smiled sheepishly and grunted a farewell before taking off as fast as he could.