Eliza was in a good mood the next day as she closed her locker and headed to first period. The main reason for her happiness was the fact that she had a new friend. Eliza had a good feeling about Nellie. She usually needed more time to decide on how she felt about a person (she liked to take everything into account), but she just sensed that Nellie was a kindred spirit. She hoped that she and Nellie would become close. As for who else Nellie would become close to, well, Eliza had a hunch.
As she made her way down the hall, various guys passed by her, looking at her a little longer than was necessary to safely walk by. As his sister, Eliza possessed some of same physical qualities Michael had. She had the dark curls, the bright eyes, and the easy smile. Instead of her brother's healthy tan, she had her mother's porcelain skin. But Eliza, though fully aware what Michael's good looks and charm did to the hearts of high school girls, she wasn't aware that she held the same amount of power.
As Eliza pondered Nellie, Michael, and her various homework assignments, she made her way to where a group of guys were standing. Two were tall and had curly hair, while the other one was short and Asian, but gained at least two inches with his hair: Charlie, Michael, and Abraham.
"Morning, boys." She greeted them as she stood behind them.
"Liza! Long time no see." Michael, closest to her, replied smiling. He'd driven her to school 15 minutes ago. He pulled her by the elbow into the circle.
"Elizabeth." Charlie said seriously to her. He had a boyish face and blue eyes and was dressed in cobalt pants and gray striped tee.
"Charles." She replied and returned the bow.
"Hey, Eliza." Abraham said, leaning against the lockers, his red backpack slung over one shoulder. "Settle an argument, will you?"
"How much sleep did you get, Abraham?" Eliza questioned him, concerned.
"Too little, I had to study for Chemistry, but that's not the point." Abraham replied, closing his eyes but getting back to the topic at hand. "Mike, explain."
Michael turned to his sister. "Abraham and I are in a debate about what is the best unconventional topping on ice cream. I say peanut butter, he says licorice." Michael explained calmly. "Charlie says banana slices, so he's no help."
Eliza frowned. "How do you serve licorice on ice cream?"
"You chop it up into little cubes and let them rain down on top of the ice cream, forming both a visually appealing and delectable dessert." Abraham told her animatedly.
"I haven't ever tried this concoction, Abraham, so my judgment is disqualified," Eliza told them carefully, "But if I had to choose one, I would have to say peanut butter is the superior choice."
She ruled. Michael whooped and did a tiny victory dance.
"Just you wait!" Abraham shouted at Michael. "I'll get Blake and Shanna to back me up!"
"We need to have an official tasting battle!" Charlie shouted, jumping up. "All of us, Friday after the show. Then we could have an actual showdown!"
"Done." Abraham said, shaking Charlie's hand.
"Sounds like fun." Michael said, laughing a little at Abraham's murderous glare at him. "Excuse me, it sounds like torture! My throne is being threatened!" He amended. Eliza smiled at the intense ice-cream defenders.
"See you guys at lunch." She grinned at them and then began to move through the halls.
"Eliza, wait up!" Someone yelled and slid into the wall on her right. It was Charlie. "Eliza, why won't you go out with me?"
Eliza turned around and faced him. She'd had a feeling this would come up. "Charlie, you're sweet, but I just won't." His face dimmed. "You're my friend and basically my second brother. I just don't care for you that way, and I know you don't either."
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked her, confused.
"You, my dear boy," she jabbed his chest, "Are tired of being alone, and I don't blame you. You need a girl and you think I'm the best for the job, because I'm apparently the best girl you know. But you've never stared at me or hinted things, like you've done in the past when you have liked other girls." She told him as they walked side by side down the halls.
"Why are you the best?" Charlie asked, trying to get rid of the sinking feeling that she was right. But she was Eliza. She only said things like this if she was right.
"Because I'm decent-looking, musically-inclined, and nice." She replied. "And single. You want to date someone, and you think because of the previous reasons you want to date me. And because it would annoy Michael."
Charlie laughed. "That's just an added bonus! But I have to say Liza, you definitely are smarter than me." He looked at her nervously. "As amazing as you are, I guess you're right. If we were supposed to be together it would have happened by now." He'd known Eliza since elementary school and had never, in all of the years spent as friends, had a crush on her.
"I'm glad you came to your senses." They were in the Algebra 2 classroom now.
Charlie sighed. "Yeah, but I'm still alone." He plopped down in his desk. "Why is it that all the girls I've been interested in get all starry-eyed for Michael, who hasn't dated anyone in a year and a half?" Charlie questioned exasperatedly. "And you, the girl who couldn't possibly like Michael, rejects me anyway. What is my problem?" He laid his he down on his desk.
Eliza pouted at him. "Poor Charlie. And you forget the plethora of girls who have crushes on Blake. Some even like you."
"Who?"
"You don't know them, which brings me to your problem. You don't know enough girls, Charlie." Eliza told him briskly.
"Are you accusing me of not being sufficiently outgoing?" He asked, his eyes wide. "And what other girls are there to know?"
Eliza laughed at his outgoing comment. "There are new girls, people you never really paid attention to, and all of the freshmen girls. Don't roll your eyes. We're only sophomores." She took out her calculator and began to fidget with it. "In fact, I met a new junior girl yesterday in Art."
"Oh?" Charlie asked eagerly.
"Sorry, not your type. She was just an example of how many new people there are for you to meet."
"She likes Michael, doesn't she?" Charlie said mutinously, running a hand through his hair. "See, girls who like Blake can also like me, because we're both friendly and nice and silly. Girls who fall for Michael like his quiet thoughtfulness and brilliance, which I don't have any of."
"She doesn't like Michael. Not yet." Eliza smiled as the bell rung. "She hasn't even met him. And what you lack in brilliance you make up for in charm."
"How do you charm your way to a girl's heart?" Charlie asked her, frustrated.
"You sing to them, Charles."
Nellie's second day wasn't exactly peachy keen. All the classes here were on different curriculums than the classes back home, so she was basically either way behind or way ahead. She was especially confused in her Pre-Calculus class, so much that she could barely follow along. Apparently, the juniors in Illinois were more advanced than the Washington kids in math. Luckily her literature class was reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, which she'd already read and liked.
As Nellie moved from her fourth period (PreCalc) to her locker to grab her things for lunch, she realized that no one had attempted a conversation with her today. She had to agree with Eliza; she just wasn't in classes with friendly people. Except seventh period, she reasoned, which she was excited for. Last night she'd had a crazy dream where she was back at her old school. But instead of being a student, she was a ghost. No one could see her or hear her. She watched her friends act in a fall musical, which for some reason also included David Tennant as a cast member, and hang out without her. She'd woken up crying and missing her friends dearly. She decided it would be good to be around a new friend.
"Hey, Nellie!" Nellie turned around happily. Her new friend had timing.
"Hey, Eliza." Nellie replied, greeting her. They continued walking down the hallway. "Do you have lunch this period?"
"Mm-hmm." Eliza said, following Nellie over to her locker. "And so do most of my friends. How would you like to sit with us?" She asked.
Nellie breathed a sigh of relief. "I'd love to. Thank you." She smiled at Eliza, who was wearing an oxford shirt, jeans, and tall, equestrian-style boots.
"Don't worry; they're all nice and friendly, if a little tired." Eliza swung her lunch box as they left Nellie's locker and strolled in the direction of the cafeteria. "They all seem to run low on energy on the midweek slump."
"That's okay. I'm a little worn out myself." More than a little, but that didn't really matter. She pointed to Eliza's lunch box, which was geometrically duct-taped. "Did you make that?"
"I did, actually." Eliza said glancing down at it as they approached the cafeteria.
"It's really cool." Nellie told her.
Eliza smiled. "Thanks. However, while mine might be cool, that's adorable." Nellie's lunch box was a pink and blue snail. It was indeed adorable.
"Thanks." Nellie said as they walked into the cafeteria. She was glad that she was walking with Eliza. The two of them, being uniquely beautiful and somewhat mysterious, directed some stares. Apparently new people became interesting when they ate in the cafeteria.
"Okay. Follow me." Eliza directed as she looked out into the sea of people. They walked to a table over to one side near a window and the doors leading to the outside seating area. Liza waved.
Nellie looked at the table, which held a mixture of boys and girls. None of them looked remarkably familiar. There was a girl with long blonde hair, an Asian boy with a cool jacket, a curly-haired boy who seemed to be building something with graham crackers, and another boy with longish light-brown hair egging him on.
When they reached the table the blonde piped up. "Hi, Eliza!" she said perkily. "Who's your friend?" She smiled at Nellie. Scratch that, she beamed like the sun.
"Hi, Shanna." Eliza replied. "Attention, all friends and table members!" They all looked up at her. "I present to you Nellie, a new junior whom I am sure you will all adore." She gestured to Nellie, and then sat down next to the longer-haired boy. She waved Nellie over and she sat down next to Eliza. The boy reached behind Eliza to shake the new girl's hand.
"I'm Blake. It's nice to meet you." He said. He had a good-natured smile and a strong handshake. Nellie smiled softly back at him. The girl with the blonde hair waved at her from across the table.
"Hi Nellie, it's so nice to meet you." She had a cute, southern twang to her voice. "We need another girl to hang out with. I'm Shanna."
"Hi. Thanks for having me." Nellie said semi-shyly. This caused and outburst from the Asian boy.
"You brought another totally loveable, proper-mannered girl into the group!" He yelled at Eliza, who just looked amused as she munched on some celery. He quickly reached his hand across the graham crackers to shake and smiled nonchalantly. "I'm Abraham, great to have you." He told Nellie.
Shanna leaned over to her. "Abraham is overtired today because he had to study for Chemistry. He's not crazy." Nellie nodded. She'd had Chemistry and just barely passed the quiz, it definitely was tough. Shanna waved a hand in front of the curly-haired boy's face. "Charlie, stop staring at your graham castle for a second and say hello!"
He looked up and Nellie and greeted her. "Hello, Nellie! Liza told me about you. I'm Charlie." He shot her a goofy smile before returning to his work.
"May I ask why you're making a graham cracker castle?" Eliza asked him reproachfully. He didn't look up when answering.
"Earlier this morning I was talking to Michael, and he wondered aloud if you could make a house of graham crackers the same way you could make a house of cards." Charlie said, concentrating on the castle. "This idea caused spark in me, and I was gonna question Michael about it, but then he ran off." He carefully laid a graham cracker on top of two others.
Nellie decided she liked Charlie. She imagined a light bulb going off above his head at the mention of a graham cracker house.
"How did you get the crackers then?" Abraham mumbled, his head lying on the table right next to the crackers. He had a very good view of one side of the castle and Charlie's hands.
"Blake and I have study hall third hour." Charlie said. "We left to get supplies. Then, I decided to make a castle." He stopped for a second and paused to admire his creation. "Too bad Mike isn't here to see it." He turned to Eliza. "Hey, Eliza, do you think Kington would let this pass for a project for AWB?"
Eliza laughed and rolled her emerald eyes. "You'd have to explain your inspiration to him."
Nellie was confused. "You're in our class, too?" She questioned Charlie.
Charlie nodded. "Yep. But I usually stay inside to sculpt."
Shanna patted him on the arm. "Our Charlie is very, uh, innovative." She told Nellie.
Nellie smiled. "Personally, I think the graham cracker castle is a great idea for a project. It's a piece of culinary architecture."
Abraham sat up, stretched, and tried to fix his smushed hair. "I don't know how I'm supposed to stay bummed out with Nellie here. She's too infectiously sweet." He looked at Nellie and assumed a dramatic pose. "I am but a sad bowl of oatmeal compared to you, Nellie. You are a children's breakfast cereal, sweet and lovely, and I am a soggy mess." He declared. Nellie hid her face in her hands and giggled.
Blake raised a hand. "Let it be known that in this cereal analogy, I'm Cap'n Crunch." everyone laughed at him and his terrible pirate accent. Charlie gave him a high five.
"Abraham, let's be real here," Eliza said, folding her hands and looking at him intently. "If you were a cereal, you would totally be Rice Crispies."
"Snap, crackle, pop!" Shanna yelled fiercely and attempted to bust an Abraham-like move. He smiled.
"I guess you're right," Abraham admitted, "But that's still not sweet."
"It's still good, though." Nellie said, and he brightened.
"You think so?" She nodded. He poked Charlie in the arm. "Charlie, if you were a cereal, what would you be?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He looked up and smiled at them. "Trix." Nobody disagreed with that.
"What about you, Shan?" Blake asked, nudging her. She appeared to be deep in thought.
"I think Frosted Flakes." She decided, sweeping hair away from her clear blue eyes. "Liza?"
The dark haired girl was taking a sip from her water bottle, but she wiggled her eyebrows at them. "Apple Jacks." She told them when she'd swallowed. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Hey," Charlie said looking up at them, alarmed. "Nellie never chose what cereal she'd be!" They all turned to her expectantly.
"Oh." She said, thinking. "Uh, Cocoa Puffs."
Blake smiled at Nellie. "Good choice." He told her.
"Guys," Shanna said, now faced with a dilemma. "What cereal is Michael?" That started a wild debate among the friends. Everyone started talking at once, trying to decide what cereal was for Michael.
"Wait!" Nellie shouted, and everyone turned to her. "Who's Michael?"
"Michael," Abraham told her, "Is Eliza's ridiculously good-looking older brother. He and Blake make such a swoon-worthy pair that Charlie and I get jealous on a regular basis." Charlie nodded in agreement. Blake looked uneasy. Nellie decided, even though it wasn't really important to her, that Blake was definitely cute in a popular, football-player way. All the boys were good-looking.
"He's tutoring in the library now." Eliza tried to save the conversation. "And stop hyping him up! Let Nellie develop her own opinion of him when she meets him."
"Well, that's my opinion of him." Abraham muttered. "Let's get back to cereal!" With some smiles at that, they were back debating.
Shanna and Charlie had a strong argument going for Golden Grahams while Blake, Abraham, and Eliza thought that didn't fit. They'd all finished their lunches and were gathered around Charlie, helping him with the graham castle. Nellie had become the graham castle's second in command because she was the only one listening peacefully and happily to the disagreement. Her group of girlfriends in Washington was great, but they were too serious to argue about cereal personalities.
Abraham slammed his fist on his table. "Don't do that!" Charlie yelled and shot him a look, the graham castle wobbling treacherously.
"Sorry!" Abraham whispered then returned to his normal voice. "He's not Golden Grahams, I tell you!"
"Who's not Golden Grahams?" A voice from behind them asked.
Nellie looked up. A fit, tanned boy in a red sweatshirt and jeans stood in front of them, smiling slightly. He ran a hand through his curly, chocolate brown hair then wandered closer to the table.
"Michael," Eliza said, "If you were a cereal what would you be?"
"Hmm." His brow furrowed as he mulled it over and leaned against the table. Nellie, meanwhile, was mulling him over. She could see Abraham's point. "I know!" he said, lighting up as he turned to Eliza, "Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" Shanna and Charlie considered that, and Blake, Eliza, and Abraham looked pleased. That fit. "Why, what are you?" He asked Eliza curiously.
"Apple Jacks," She replied promptly. Michael smiled. Then he caught sight of the graham castle.
"Charlie, you seriously attempted it? That's awesome!" He hurried forward to examine it, and then spotted the person hovering behind it, adjusting one of the walls. "Oh," he muttered, staring at the girl by the castle. She had short black hair that was falling in her face as she worked, soft facial features, and eyes just as dark as her hair. She looked up and spotted him, her eyes landing on his. They were warm, and intriguingly pretty. She was wearing a simple white shirt and a colorful scarf.
Eliza came to stand behind him. "Michael, say hello to Nellie. She's new."
He held out a long, tan hand. "Hello," He said, smiling down at her. "I'm Michael, Eliza's brother."
She smiled shyly back at him. His eyes were lighter than Eliza's, more of an olive color, but they were just as inviting and rich. "I'm Nellie. It's nice to meet you." She felt a blush coming on for some reason.
"Likewise." He replied, letting go of her hand and turning back to everyone else. "So, why are we cereal?" Michael asked, nonplussed. This lunch behavior was normal.
"Abraham was feeling metaphorical; he said he was some sad oatmeal and Nellie was a children's cereal because she's so sweet." Eliza told him. She could be counted on to be reasonable.
"Ah." He nodded as he began to examine the graham castle from every angle. "So Nellie, what sugary-sweet cereal did you end up being?" He asked, some of his usual goofiness creeping into his tone.
"Cocoa Puffs." They shared a smile before he moved on with the questions.
"Blake?" Michael questioned his best friend expectantly.
"Cap'n Crunch." That got a chuckle from Michael.
"Charles?" he asked.
Charlie raised his head for a second. "Trix."
"Perfect." Michael smiled. "Shanna?"
"Frosted Flakes," She said primly and beamed at him.
"She's grrrrreat!" Blake shouted from behind her. Shanna laughed and swatted him playfully. Michael just shook his head at them then moved on to Abraham.
"Abraham, we all know you aren't actually oatmeal," Michael said, raising his eyebrows at him.
Abraham looked at Michael. "No, I'm Rice Crispies."He replied proudly and Michael cracked up.
"If you ever need a preforming or superhero alias, that's should be involved." Michael told him earnestly, but with a smile. Charlie tugged on his arm.
"The bell's going to ring any second," Charlie whispered. "You need to help me transport this." Michael quickly focused on the castle, making a game plan with Charlie and Blake. Charlie had been forward-thinking enough to build it on his art portfolio, which was big enough to hold the castle. The plan was to lift it and move it as quickly as possible to the art room. As predicted, the bell rang and everyone in the room was suddenly on their feet and moving toward the exits. The guys started hauling the castle out the campus doors, even though it was already shaking, and the girls walked out of the cafeteria entrance.
"I like your scarf, Nellie. It looks like it is water colored!" Eliza told her as they left. They were discussing clothes, though she could tell Nellie wasn't particularly focused on the subject.
"Thanks." Nellie smiled, fondling the yellow, blue, and purple scarf tied around her neck. She felt happier than she had in days. The girls continued to talk fashion, topics ranging from theater costumes to their own closets. Nellie mentioned how much she liked Shanna's baby doll dress, who then expressed how she wished she owned Eliza's boots.
They came to the hallway intersection where they had to part ways. Eliza turned a corner and yelled over her shoulder. "See you in Art!" Nellie waved to her and Shanna, who followed after Liza, and wandered off to her locker. She was glad it hadn't been a dreary day.
Hello, guys! This chapter is a lot longer and features all of your TGP2 characters in it, and I hope you like it. I've now seen Tenacity and Romanticality. Please review, I haven't gotten any and it's disheartening. Just tell me what you think! Thanks!