A/N: Ah, yet another chapter. Well, I'm happy to be able to write again and would love to hear what you think of this little story I'm working on…
Chapter 2The next week was a flurry of activity for the new college student. Liesl tried her best to keep up in class, sometimes struggling with the hard parts due to the language, but with the help of Becky she managed to get her work done.
She had soon found a rhythm in her daily routine, getting up in the morning, helping Maria get the younger children ready for school, and if she was lucky she managed to get some reading done in a quiet moment in that early part of the day. But with seven children, those respites were few and far between, and with Maria's ever-growing stomach there were even more things for the teenager to do. Then school, where she would meet up with Becky and Colleen on every break and whenever possible eat lunch together. They talked with ease about school, life, love, and everything in between. Colleen and Becky had asked her about her family and how she seemed to have such a young mother. When they heard the love story of her parents, they sighed, both with dreamy looks in their eyes. They found the story very romantic. Liesl just laughed at them—well, sure, the story was romantic, but it was her parents they were talking about!
Then Colleen told the story about her own "parents." When Colleen's birthmother had died it had taken a long time to convince social services that the children should live with their mother's friend. For one, she was still only engaged to be married. She was a fulltime doctor, making her free time scarce, and her fiancé was a self-employed contractor who built homes. But after much endless paperwork, they were granted custody of the three children. And within a few months their new guardians had been married, and three years later the family got a baby girl in their midst.
When Liesl got home from school she would try and help her siblings with homework while she studied at the same time. Then she helped Maria get dinner ready and after that assisted with putting the younger children to bed. All in all, Liesl had a full schedule on her hands, and she really didn't have time for much else. But she loved her family and wanted to play her part when the baby came.
Two weeks after she started college, she could easily find her way around campus. One Monday morning she walked alone in one of the hallways trying to get to her next class on time. Her mind was filled with details she needed to remember for the class, and she hugged her books in her arms. Turning a corner she failed to see the person walking in the opposite direction. Her books fell out of her hands while she tried to grab hold onto something to keep her balance. She toppled forward right into the person's chest and instinctually grabbed onto the person's arms, keeping herself upright. As her vision quickly scanned upwards she found herself inches away from a pair of blue eyes with eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement. Shaking her head, she moved her body away from him and realized it was none other than her friend Colleen's brother. Not remembering his name at that moment, she just stuttered, "Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't… Sorry, I…"
Matthew was surprised, to say the least, as he had suddenly found himself almost run over by his sister's friend. He recognized her from the times he had seen her with Colleen and Becky. He grinned slightly and said, "No worries… uh… Well, nothing really happened." For the life of him he had no idea what else to say so he scratched nervously behind his ear, trying to come up with something even remotely coherent.
"You're Colleen's brother… um, Matthew, right?" His name suddenly came to her, and she smiled widely at her own revelation.
He nodded his head and said, "Yes, that would be me and you're… Oh, I forgot your name. Sorry. Guess I don't really pay much attention to my sister's chatter about her girlfriends." He smiled sheepishly and hoped she didn't take it too badly that he didn't remember her name.
She laughed out loud and responded, still smiling, "Well, at times I don't pay much attention to my brothers and sisters either, and I got six of them…" He raised his eyes in surprise and exclaimed, "Six! Wow, no wonder you shut off at times."
She smiled in return, shrugging her shoulders.
"I'm Liesl, by the way." She offered her hand in a polite gesture, and he took it gently in his and said, "Liesl." He let the unusual name roll over his tongue, noticing it sounded slightly foreign. She saw his confusion and explained, "I'm from Austria. I don't think many are called Liesl over here in America."
He shook his head and smiled as he said, "It's been nice meeting you, Liesl, but I have to find my class now. I guess we'll see each other around sometime." She nodded her head as she smiled back—and felt her face heat up a little, quickly averting her eyes when she realized she had been staring at him.
He reached down and picked up the books she had dropped and returned them to her as he said a final goodbye. She stood and watched him walk down the hall, and when he turned another corner she finally turned and walked quickly to her own class. She made it just in time, but for some odd reason she found her mind drifting off into a daydream more than once during the lecture.
Becky, who shared that class with her, had noticed her faraway looks, and when they had a break she asked, "What's on your mind? You seem so far away today, Liesl."
She replied as she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I have no idea, Becky, I… well, I guess I'm just… I don't know." She stopped her rambling and smiled sheepishly at her friend.
When Becky saw how flustered she was and the slight redness of her friend's cheeks, she squealed out in delight, "Oh, you've met someone, haven't you! Don't lie to me, I see that dreamy faraway look in your eyes. Colleen looks the same whenever she talks about Andrew. Who is he?"
Liesl was shocked Becky would think that. "NO! Oh no… I haven't met someone, not like that! I'm not even looking right now—you know that!" She felt her own voice break and stutter. Why did she react like that?
Becky didn't believe her at all, and all the way to the cafeteria she kept trying to guess who Liesl had been fantasizing about. When they met up with Colleen, Becky couldn't keep her excitement at bay and insisted, "I think our friend here has met someone. Well, she denies everything but look at her!" She turned Colleen around so she could see Liesl, who rolled her eyes at her two friends and sat down determinedly to eat her lunch.
"Really! Hmmm, I wonder who it is…" Colleen gushed and started looking over the crowd of students, all eating and socializing. She turned back to Liesl and asked, "Who'd you run into?"
"I… well, I've only spoken with the two of you today and some of my classmates… but no one else." She hesitated a little when she recalled how she had literally run into someone earlier that day. "Oh, well, I did run into your brother but… NO, it's not what you think. Absolutely not!" she exclaimed when she saw the surprised but also very excited looks on their faces. She tried her best to veer off from the topic and make them forget it all, but both girls started giggling.
"Okay, let's just leave it… please!" Liesl begged her friends. She really didn't want any form of relationship with a boy right now.
"Okay, okay, we'll leave it be. For now," Becky conceded and winked at Colleen, who kept on giggling.
The girls calmed down, and the conversation for the rest of the lunch break was filled with everything else but boys and possible love interests. But from time to time Colleen and Becky shared a few glances, mutually and silently agreeing the whole matter was still to be watched closely.
When school ended, the three friends sat outside the main building. Liesl waited for her father to pick her up, and Colleen and Becky waited for Matthew to come and drive them home.
Liesl looked at her watch and searched down the street for their car. Her father was always punctual, but today he was now ten minutes late. She started to worry and chewed nervously on her lip.
"Oh, don't worry, he'll be here soon," Colleen said to her friend. "My slow brother is late, too. Wonder what he's up to today."
The girls waited a few more minutes when a voice called out to them. "Miss von Trapp, I got a message from your father." A school secretary waved a piece of paper in front of her, and Liesl looked down and read, Gone to the hospital with your mother. Baby is coming, don't worry, we got here in time. Please come here, too. Need a game plan for the rest of the family. Hope you can find someone who can drive you.
She felt her head start to spin at this news. Colleen held onto her arm and gently moved her to a nearby bench. Liesl started to mumble, "Oh, dear Lord, please let them be okay…" She looked at her friends and explained, "The baby isn't due until two weeks from now. It's too soon."
The secretary asked Colleen if they knew someone who could drive Liesl to the hospital. Colleen answered, "Oh, yes! My brother can do that—ah, he's finally decided to show up." She saw him walking slowly towards them.
Matthew knew he was late, but today he just didn't really care, especially knowing Colleen would tell him off for his lateness. But when he spotted the trio further down the path, he noticed their new friend Liesl seemed upset over something so, picking up his speed, he moved to their side.
"What happened?" He looked at the still-mumbling Liesl and then at his sister for answers.
"Her mother's at the hospital, in labor, and the baby isn't due for two weeks," Colleen explained and added, "Please drive her there. You can drop me and Becky off at the end of our road and take Liesl to the hospital from there. Please!"
He nodded his head, "Oh sure, I can do that. Come on, Liesl, let's get you to your family." He reached down and took her gently by the arm. She looked up into his blue eyes and smiled her thanks to him.
Colleen took her other arm, and together they got their friend to Matthew's car. Liesl did a double take when she saw his "car"—well, it was more a truck than a car, with only one front seat. Looking at the slightly beat up vehicle, she started to wonder if they could all fit into the cab.
Matthew walked over to the car, patted it gently on the hood, and said, "She doesn't look like much, but she takes me to wherever I need to go." He shrugged his shoulders; he had bought this truck when he got home after his one year away, after… The pain of loosing his love was still lurking under his skin. He shook the feeling way, trying to forget. Working a year at a ranch had given him some extra money, and now that he worked most weekends together with his father, he earned enough to keep the truck running. Although it still needed a bit of work here and there, the truck was his.
"Come on, let's get everyone inside, you first, Liesl." He led her to the truck, and when he noticed her uncertain look he reassured her, "I'm sure we can fit everyone in, don't worry."
When Liesl got into the truck, she heard Colleen and Becky giggle while they, too, got in. She sighed deeply thinking this is going to be a long drive to the hospital. And when she felt Matthew jump into the truck beside her and move close to her, she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Oh yes, this was going to be a long, a very long drive.
Now crammed between Colleen and Matthew, she felt herself grow even more self-conscious than ever before. Every time Matthew had to shift gears she felt his arms brush over hers, and at times his leg bumped up against her leg. Liesl tried not to focus on the butterflies starting to flutter in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the world around her.
"Enjoying yourself, Liesl?" Colleen whispered mischievously into her ear, not wanting Matthew to hear her.
She merely shot her friend a death stare and inhaled sharply when she felt Matthew's arm brush over hers once again. Colleen winked at her. She had a feeling that something wonderful was about to happen between her brother and her new friend.
Liesl shook her head. Apparently it amused her friends that she had run into someone, and that someone's being Colleen's brother only added to the excitement of it all. While trying to convince herself that she was not interested in any form of relationship with any boy, she kept her eyes shut, trying to clear her head so she would be ready to help out her family.
A/N: I'm not sure how long this will be, but I'm very open to ideas for something fun/interesting/romantic that could happen?
Please do review… would like to hear your thoughts about this one. ;)