Chapter Three
Everything seemed to be going great in Elizabeth's life. She had the man of her dreams, but she also had another whom she was leaving out in the cold. As prom neared, both guys were asking her to go with him. Elizabeth didn't know what to do. To make her grandparents and Cry-Baby's grandparents happy, she knew she would have to go with Edward. But in order to make herself happy, she knew she needed to go with Cry-Baby. No one could offer her any advice on what to do because she had to make the decision herself. She had to choose whose heart to break. As each day seem to disappear and prom grew nearer, each boy kept on nagging her about it. So she finally made a decision on what to do. She told both of them that she would not be attending the prom with an escort; she decided to go alone so that neither of them would be jealous of the other. But she made a mistake in doing that, each of them thought that she was going with the other. Somehow, Edward had gotten word that Elizabeth was seeing Cry-Baby, and Cry-Baby knew that she had never ended her relationship with Edward. What a tangled web Elizabeth was knowingly weaving?
On the eve of the dance, Elizabeth's grandparents had to go out of town on a business trip. So she was all alone in the house. On the day of the dance, Elizabeth didn't even want to get out of bed. After lunch, Elizabeth headed over to the beauty parlor to get her hair and nails done. After getting a French manicure and pedicure, she went sit in her hair stylist's chair. She asked, "So, what would you like for me to do with your hair?"
Elizabeth said, "I want it down."
So the stylist put Elizabeth's hair in rollers and let them set. Once she pulled her hair out of the rollers, she took a comb and just picked through the curls to make her hair fuller. After all her hair was sprayed, the stylist took a little bit of the hair from the front of her head, pulled it to the back, and secured it with a crystal hairpin leaving just a few strands loose in the front to frame her face. Elizabeth looked in the mirror and said, "It's beautiful. Thank you."
Elizabeth then left to return home to finish getting ready. She went up to her room and pulled out the prom dress she had been hiding from her grandparents. She knew that they would have just died if they had seen what she was going to wear. It was white like they would have wanted, but it wasn't in the style that they would have liked. There was no poof anywhere on the dress, and the dress had hints of black on it. The dress was strapless and the bust was done in ruche detailing, and there was a black ribbon encircling the dress right underneath the bust and ending with a black bow. Then the dress hugged every curve until it mermaided out on the bottom. The white part of the dress stopped at her knees and underneath was black tulle. To accessorize, Elizabeth wore elbow length black gloves, a crystal bracelet, and the necklace Suzie had given her. When she looked in the mirror after she was dressed, she was stunned at her reflection. She said, "This is the real you Lizzie. You love him Lizzie."
Then the doorbell rang, and she went downstairs to meet the driver that was hired to pick her up.
The dance was already in full swing, and everyone was having loads of fun. That is, except for Cry-Baby and Edward. They were basically stalking each other to see where Elizabeth was, but neither of them saw her. Cry-Baby even had Suzie searching for him, but she had no luck either. By the time Elizabeth walked into the gymnasium, everyone's attention was to the principal. He was on the stage getting ready to announce the king and queen. He announced, "And this year's prom king is…Jonathan Angel."
Elizabeth thought, "Who is that?"
When she looked up at the stage, she saw Cry-Baby being crowned prom king. She said, "That's his real name."
Then the principal continued, "And this year's prom queen is…Elizabeth Wells."
Cry-Baby frowned upon hearing her name. Just as he was about to inform the principal that she wasn't there, the crowd began to part and gasp. Never had a drape AND square been crowned together. Cry-Baby looked to the back of the room and saw her walking in his direction. A huge smile took over his face as he walked toward the stairs of the stage. He held out his hand, she placed her hand in his, and he helped her up the stairs. As the principal was placing the tiara on her head, Elizabeth looked over at Cry-Baby and saw a tear falling. She was getting weak in the knees. Cry-Baby stood close to her, took hold of her hands, and whispered, "I thought…"
Elizabeth put her index finger over his lips and said, "Sshh…Why would I miss any chance to spend time with you?"
He smiled, and the principal announced, "Now it is time for the King and Queen's spotlight dance."
So Elizabeth and Cry-Baby interlocked arms, walked down the stairs, and headed out to the middle of the dance floor. As they were dancing, she whispered, "There is something really important I need to tell you."
He said, "Tell me."
She said, "Not here."
He said, "Okay. Well we'll go back to Turkey Point when the dance is finished. Everyone will be there since we're having an after party."
She whispered, "I'll need a ride."
He said, "No worries my angel. I'll take care of you."
She thought, "He called me his angel. No one has call me that since before my dad died."
She smiled and rested her head on his chest as the song continued. Their classmates couldn't believe that the head of the drapes and little miss queen bee herself were dancing together, and that they looked happy. Edward had already stormed out of the gym. He was enraged by the way Elizabeth was dressed, how she wore her hair, how her make-up was done, and the fact that she was dancing with him. Edward just sat in his car for the rest of the evening, and he even watched as Elizabeth left with Cry-Baby in his jalopy. When the couple arrived at Turkey Point, they immediately went to their secluded spot. As Cry-Baby anxiously tried to get the blanket situated so that Elizabeth's dress wouldn't be ruined, she just couldn't help but laugh. Then she remembered what she wanted to tell him, and she got nervous. As he continued to run about, she said, "Cry-Baby…"
He said, "Just a minute Angel."
He continued darting around the small area, and she just stood there smiling at him. She knew he was just trying to get everything to be perfect. Finally, Elizabeth got tired of waiting. She walked over to him, grabbed his arm, and said, "Johnny…"
He jerked his head around to look at her, and he sternly said, "No one calls me that."
He scared her. She said, "But Johnny, I love you."
Cry-Baby's mind was still so preoccupied with making sure everything was perfect that he didn't even realize what she had said. He just quickly replied, "Yeah, I love you too."
Elizabeth said, "But Johnny…"
Then he finally looked at her from across the way and saw her standing there with her hands clasped together and on the verge of crying. Then she saw the smile on his face. She took a deep breath, smiled, and whispered, "I love you Johnny."
He rushed over to her, intertwined his fingers in her hair, and said, "I love you too Lizzie."
Then he leaned in and kissed her. This kiss was different from all the others though because it was now a true love's kiss. They slightly pulled away from each other, and he rested his forehead on hers. She said, "I've always felt it; I just never knew what it was. But now I truly know my heart completely belongs only to you."
He said, "So Edward…"
She said, "I'm through with him. I'll just need to tell him. I don't know how he's going to handle it."
He said, "Don't worry because afterwards I'll be here for you."
She smiled and placed a quick kiss on his lips. They both walked over to the blanket, and Cry-Baby helped her to sit down. He said, "By the way, I love the dress."
She said, "I got it especially for you. I just knew that you would love the colors."
He said, "You're right. But if you knew you wanted to be with me, why didn't you agree to go to the prom with me?"
She said, "I wanted to surprise you."
He smiled and said, "You succeeded."
As they looked up at the stars, Elizabeth asked, "So, what do we do now?"
He asked, "What do you mean?"
She answered, "Everyone still hates the idea of you and I dating. I think your sister and friends are the only ones that accept us as a couple."
He said, "Well, my family is okay with it too."
She thought, "If you only knew…"
She said, "Everyone will be betting on us to fail."
He said, "Then we'll prove them all wrong."
Elizabeth said, "I sure hope so."
Cry-Baby said, "Don't worry about it because we'll have each other."
A little while later, they decided to head on over to the party that was still in full swing. Right when they walked in, Cry-Baby escorted his girlfriend out to the middle of the dance floor. As they were dancing, he asked, "What time do you need to be home?"
She answered, "Whenever you are ready to let me go because my grandparents are not home."
He said, "I'll never be ready to let you go."
She pulled him closer and said, "Then don't"
He looked down at her face and saw how serious she was. He asked, "Lizzie, what's wrong?"
She said, "Johnny, no one want really wants us to be together."
He said, "That's not true. My family and friends are okay with it."
That was when she blurted out, "Only your sister and friends are okay with it. Your grandmother hates me. She told me at your birthday party that she would run me out of your life if I continued to be in it."
By this time, the whole crowd had stopped dancing and was looking at the couple. He looked at her with such a disbelief on his face and said, "No way."
She said, "Johnny, please trust me."
He asked, "How could you make up such lies?"
She said, "Johnny, I'm not lying to you. I love you and that is why I told you. I have been keeping that secret to myself since the birthday party, and it has been eating away inside."
He yelled, "You don't love me because you wouldn't say such things if you did."
She said, "But Johnny…"
Anger came across his face as he said, "Nobody calls me that."
She looked into his eyes, and she saw the look of betrayal in them. She knew she had lost him. Elizabeth had just gave her heart fully to him, and he was already breaking it. She pleaded, "I just thought that you should know."
He said, "You're lying. My grandmother loves me and would never say such things to a girl I loved."
When she heard him say "loved," she knew it was over. That was when the tears started freely flowing down her face. She said, "I better go."
Then she unclasped the necklace around her neck and placed it in his hands. Before she left the building, she said, "I do love you, and I never wanted to hurt you. That's why I kept it inside all this time because I would rather deal with the pain than you."
As she vanished into the brush, Cry-Baby looked down at the necklace in his hand and then clenched it inside his fist. He punched a column so hard that his knuckles started bleeding. Elizabeth found her way to the road and started to walk the ten miles to her house. When she was halfway home, it started raining. By the time she reached her grandparents' house, she was soaking wet, and her dress was ruined. She was so emotionally drained, that she just went up to room, peeled the dress from her body, slipped into her pajamas, and went to bed. As she began to wonder if she should try to talk to Cry-Baby again, she started thinking that maybe she should just stay with Edward. Then she realized…she just didn't want to be there anymore.
Twenty minutes later, she started packing her things. After all her things were together, she went up to the attic where she knew where her father had stashed some cash for emergencies. Then she went change into some clothes and sat down at her desk to write a letter.
To My Love,
I never expected it to end like this and end this quickly. Please believe me when I say that I did not lie to you. I had been forever contemplating on whether or not I should tell you. Honestly, it was not just the squares that were against us. Didn't you see the look on everyone's faces at the dance? Everyone at Turkey Point hated the fact that you were interested in me. I never once completely felt accepted there. Our grandparents do not like the idea of us being a couple. I can still remember that day. At your birthday party, remember when you came running over to me because you thought Jennifer was bothering me. Well, it was actually your grandmother that had upset me. That is when she told me that she would see to it that you and I would never be together. That evening when I got home, my grandmother came into my room and told me that she forbid me to ever see you again. I tried as hard as I could to forget what was said, but I just could not do it. I tried to force their looks of deceit out of my head, but I could only do that when we were together, side by side. When I saw you give me the same look your grandmother had given me before, I could not bear to think that I was the cause of it. Yet, I knew and expected all of the backlash when we would begin to date. But, you and I had each other. I thought that we could survive anything; however, we could not even survive our differences. So I have made a decision that will be the best for both of us. I have decided to leave New York. No one will know where I am going, not even my grandparents. I am glad that no one will know. I do hope that you find someone that both you and the drapes will love. Maybe you and Jennifer were meant to be together. You do not like her now, but maybe she is your true love that you just do not see. Do not worry, I will not bother you anymore.
Love,
Elizabeth
After placing the letter in an envelope and sealing it shut, Elizabeth made her way to school. Since she was President of the Prom Committee, Elizabeth had been given keys to the school. So she let herself in and went slip the letter into Cry-Baby's locker. She did not want to leave him, but she knew she had to do it because it was going to make everyone happy in the end. She said goodbye to everything she loved and went to the train station. There she bought a one way ticket to New Orleans and was gone.
When she arrived at her maternal grandparents' house, she rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. After seeing her grandpa, she nearly collapsed into his arms as he asked, "Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"
He carried his granddaughter into the living room and laid her on the couch. When she woke up, she said, "Pawpaw, please do not tell anyone I am her. I do wish that no one at home knows where I am at."
He said, "Come on my little southern belle; let's get you something to eat."
Once she walked into the kitchen, he had her sit down at the table and eat something. He asked, "Okay, what happened?"
She then proceeded to tell him the entire story, and he just sat there and listened to every word. Afterwards, he said, "Okay, I totally disagree with how everyone handled your situation. First of all, did you know that your parents were each from a different social class? You see, your father was a square, and your mother was a drape. Your grandmother hated them being together, but your father didn't care. He loved your mother. When your grandmother saw she wasn't going to be able to do anything about it, she cared enough for her son to let it go. So I don't understand why she wouldn't accept you dating a drape? You see, your parents were perfect for each other, and they gave us the most perfect granddaughter. Sweetie, you were the greatest gift your parents could ever ask for. If this boy really loves you, he will not stop until he finds you."
Elizabeth said, "I do not want him to find me."
Then her grandma walked in and said, "Come sweetheart. Let me show you to your room so you can take a nap?"
Her grandpa said, "I'll phone the girls' academy and have you registered for the rest of the year. Then I'll call your old school and have them privately send the transcripts."
Elizabeth said, "Thank you Pawpaw."
She gave him a kiss, and her grandma brought her to Elizabeth's Mom's bedroom. When she walked into her mom's bedroom, it reminded her of Suzie's room. You see, Elizabeth had her mom's wild side inside of her, but it was her dad's side that everyone saw. Right after she laid on the bed, she was fast asleep. Meanwhile, her grandpa was working on enrolling her into the girls' academy and under a new name - Eliza Ann Carter.
