I was quite amused to be walking back into my school, after being pulled out of class and leaving the first time around. I had checked the clock on the radio in Mrs. Rosert's car, and realized it was only five minutes until the end of eighth period. If we couldn't make it from the faculty parking lot, through the building, to the other side where the principal's office was, my classmates would get to see me with an overly full backpack, and a rather curiously full duffel bag. Not to mention that you could probably read my thoughts and feelings like an open book; my face being the page. I was really crummy at masking my emotions, and my friends definitely knew something was up by now.
We hadn't taken two steps into the building when the bell for the end of eighth period rang. I practically laughed at the irony of it all. In all my day-mares, I was never able to come up with a circumstance as awkward as this one was turning out to be.
With the masses of students in the halls, I lost my guidance counselor. Once I realized that she was already far up ahead, and was not looking back to see if I was behind her, I realized that this was the time to make my little 'escape'. I wanted to tell my friends the truth, before they were left to succumb and believe the awful rumors that were bound to come.
"Liz! Where were you seventh period? And why do you look like you're ready to spend the week upstate or something?" This was the first of the bombardment of questions which was to follow very quickly. My friend Ally stood in front of me, a very puzzled look on her face.
"Because uhm…well," for whatever reason, I was having a hard time spitting out the truth. It's not like I was going to lie or anything, but I just didn't want anyone to see me cry; that would make this all so much worse. Not to mention, that the truth almost sounded like a lie to me right about now. I couldn't believe it; how were my friends going to?
"Come here, we'll go upstairs and find Nicole first, so you don't have to repeat yourself." I was very thankful that Ally could, and would read my like any other book she ever did; quickly and efficiently, not one to miss a single detail. She grabbed my hand and we hurried up the stairs to Nicole's locker.
"Ally? Liz, what's wrong!?" Nicole was immediately worried. She and I were so alike, always jumping to the most pessimistic conclusions.
I managed to hold back my tears by staring very intently at my feet. "My parents died today." I realized that my friends couldn't possible think that I was lying, because of the emotion evident in my voice, written on my face, and conveyed by my body language. They were silent for awhile, automatically recalling that I had no relatives within this country; they all lived either in Great Britain or various countries throughout Europe.
"So they're putting you on a plane and sending you away?" Nicole, again, the one to think pessimistically.
"I don't know what they're going to do with me; they're making me return all my textbooks and I had a little under an hour to pack everything I wanted to bring along with me. No one even told me how they died." And that was the second time that day that I lost it; only this time it wasn't awkward because it was in front of an out of place authority figure. This time it was awkward because it was in front of my friends, and the rest of the student body who happened to be in the hallway at that time. Which, of course, included Matt.
Matt Alders was a junior, who was on my bus. We started talking in my freshman year, whenever we'd both take the bus home in the afternoons. This year, I saw him at the pool every once in a while, after swim practice. The fact that he swam and wanted to get a job as a lifeguard made me crush on him even more than I already was. He just happened to be walking past my friends and I in the hallway, and stopped when he saw the state I was in. With him, I couldn't ever tell if he just considered me a friend, or something more. Anyway, he cared enough to stop and not say anything at first, but observe the situation.
"Liz…" he wanted to make sure that I was okay, which I appreciated quite a bit, seeing as everyone else that I knew in that hallway just stared in my direction; they didn't want to comfort me at all.
"Hi Matt, I'm sorry, but I really can't talk right now." I turned to Nicole and Ally, hugging them both for the last time; I didn't know if it actually would be, or if I'd ever get to see them again. "I'll call you guys really soon, okay? Don't worry about me too much."
"Lizzie, that'll be near impossible. Call as soon as you possibly can, even if you don't know what's going to happen, we want to hear from you regardless." Nicole said for both her and Ally. I was surprised Ally hadn't said anything after pulling me upstairs with her; I think she was trying to form some sort of plan to see me again, or just taking in the severity of the whole situation.
When I turned back around, Matt was still there, now with a serious look of worry in his chocolate brown eyes. He was too shy and too considerate to ask what, but concerned enough to follow me down to the office.
I hadn't been as bold as I ever was with him, except for that day.
"Matt," I said, as he walked beside me down the emptying hallway, "I don't think I'm ever going to see you again, so I just want you to know that I really did like you. A lot and I probably will for awhile. Good luck with high school. I wish I'd kissed him on the cheek that day, but I wasn't that bold. As if taking a cue, Matt stopped walking at the end of the hallway, and just watched me continue on down the stairs by myself. I wish that goodbye went differently, but I have no idea how I wish it would've gone.
"There you are Elizabeth," Mrs. Rosert said, as I walked into the principal's office. Her tone of voice suggested that I should've felt guilty for escaping her in the hallway, but the look she gave me and the easiness of the task hinted otherwise.
"Sorry, I had to say goodbye to some friends first," I said without any guilt whatsoever. They should've let me go and say goodbye to my friends, I didn't expect how cruel the adults in my school could be.
I was ushered into the principal's office, and after waiting for some time, he entered.
"Elizabeth Toal," he started off.
"Yes?"
"You've gathered everything?"
"Yes and Mrs. Rosert brought my textbooks back with her."
"Excellent. Now, about your remaining relatives…"
"None of them live in the U.S." I finished for him. "I know, and I want to call my Aunt Lydia, she lives in Glasgow.
"I'm afraid you can't make a phone call out of the country from the school phones." Luck was not on my side today. Well, obviously not; my parents were dead.
"And I'm afraid of what is going to happen to me, and where I'll end up by the end of the day," I said, in a very facetious tone.
"Okay then, I believe the police station has decided that you will be escorted to the airport, and put on a plane that leaves for London in," he looked at his watch, "five hours. You will take your bags with you on the plane as carry-ons, and your Godmother was contacted to pick you up there tomorrow, at the time of your arrival."
Although my Godmother was my Aunt Lydia, and that was precisely why I wanted to call her, I didn't feel like filling in the principal.
"Okay, when are the police getting here to escort me to the airport? And where is my ticket?" I recalled luckily, that I had my passport tucked away with my supply of American money in my backpack. I only wished that I had had the chance to exchange some of it over here, other than the airport, so the rates would be better, and less expensive.
"We expect them within the hour, and your ticket was purchased by your Aunt over in Great Britain, so once you get to the airport and check in, they will give you a print-out of it.
For the better part of eighth period, I sat in the Principal's office. There were a few teachers who eyed me curiously, and even a few asked me how I was holding up. The students sent to the office for various errands, or for punishment just stared at me in bewilderment. I was so out of place there. Of course, just as the end of eighth period rolled around, a police officer came in to bring me to the airport.
"Elizabeth Toal?"
"Yes, that's me."
"May I see your passport?" I handed it to him, after taking it out of my bag. I expected this, seeing as it was a reliable form of identification.
"Okay, I'm bringing you to the airport. Is this all you're bringing?"
"Yes, sir."
"Let's go then, I'll sign you out of school."
Once we got through the school, I was pretty sure that almost everyone knew something was up. How could they not, I was getting a police escort out of the building! I almost couldn't wait to hear about the ridiculous rumors Nicole and Ally were sure to pass on to me.
The officer put both my bags in the trunk of his patrol car, and his partner even let me take the front seat on the way to the airport. These two were much nicer than my principal or guidance counselor had been, and even answered my questions…well, almost all of them.
"What is going to happen to my house?"
"Your parents left it to you, so we've asked the neighbors to take care of it and we're going to make sure everything inside stays safe as long as you're living in England with your Aunt."
"Thank you," I said, relieved that I'd be able to go back and get the rest of those family pictures. But then I realized that I still hadn't been told how my parents died.
"Uhm…I know this may sound odd, but no one told me how my mom and dad died," I said, timidly. I felt stupid once I asked the question, seeing as both officers remained silent for a while after.
"Mysterious Circumstances." I looked at the replying officer like she was crazy. She gave me an apologetic look back, knowing how confused I was. "We're not supposed to say, and actually, I'm not even 100% of it myself." That was all anyone told me for a long time about their death.
A/N: Okay, so within the next two chapters, I'm hoping to tie this all together with HP…but we are making some progress, right? I mean, she's headed to England!!
Anyway, I'd like to thank the quick response by Aquamarineocean. And even though I can't reply to her review, I will ASAP!
Is anyone willing to BETA me?? I really need some help here, as you may be able to see. I'd really appreciate it! And I promise, I'm going to update this quite frequently; my swim season just ended Saturday, so I'm going to have plenty of free time in the next couple of weeks.