Elizabeth descended the large steps of Fowler Crest that morning. She
had no idea if Lila still lived here but it was worth a shot. Since
Jessica, and probably Ryan now, wouldn't talk to her, Elizabeth would try to
reach Jessica through her friends.
She knocked on the door. Presently, a maid came to the door and opened
it. "Hi, does Lila live here?" she asked nervously. The maid nodded
curtly and led her to large room where Lila was lounged out on the couch
watching a soap opera. Her dark brown hair tumbled down her back and she
was wearing a tight t-shirt that said 'Princess' across her chest.
Lila glanced as the maid entered and her eyes lit up. "Jessica!" she
said smiling walking towards Elizabeth with open arms. But when she
reached Elizabeth she halted. "Elizabeth?" she asked tentively.
Elizabeth nodded. "Hey, Lila."
Lila stepped back and looked at her warily. "When did you get back?"
"Yesterday. I went to see Jessica and she was..."
"Mad?" Lila said raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, she wouldn't talk to me."
"That figures. After you left, she was pretty upset. But after a few
weeks, she became more like herself. She never mentioned you to anybody."
"She shut me out of her life," Elizabeth whispered hoarsely.
"What do you expect?" Lila said rudely. "I mean, it's not like you left
on good terms. And you never wrote or called her. If you had made some
effort instead of disappearing then she probably wouldn't be so mad."
"Jessica knew where I was!" Elizabeth retorted.
Then Lila's cell phone went off. "Hello, sweetie," Lila cooed into the
phone and turned her back on Liz. Elizabeth glanced around the room.
She noticed that the room seemed more overdone then when she had last
come here in high school. Lila had a shelf full of awards and trophies,
Elizabeth saw a cheerleading one and then her eyes went to another one.
It was a plaque saying that Lila had won first place in the wet t-shirt
contest for Spring Break. There was a photo of Lila wearing a black
bikini bottom...and a very wet t-shirt that showed...well...a lot.
"Now why did you come here, Liz?" Lila said, snapping Liz back to the
present.
"I wanted to know if you would talk to Jessica. Explain to her that I'm
not mad and that I want to work our problems out. Maybe if she listened
to you..."
"Forget it, Liz?" Lila sneered. "I'm not your messenger. Plus, I doubt
that she would listen to me anyways. This is your problem, not mine."
And with that she looked at Liz. "I want to warn you, Liz, that things
have changed since you went away."
"Thanks for the warning," Elizabeth said snippily. And as she marched out
of the room Lila said softly with a grin, "Things have really changed."

"That was terrific, Jess," Lana said smiling brightly. "You did your
best ever. Your definitely going to get a bigger part in the next
production."
"Thanks, but you know I'll only work if you're in the play as well,"
Jessica said smiling affectionately at her best friend, Lana Michaels.
She had met Lana during her sophomore year at school. Jessica had met a
guy named Lance Parker who she dated for a few weeks. He was an actor
in the campus theater group and and told Jessica a bunch of lies about
losing his parents and was acting as a way to cover up his feelings.
Jessica had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. But some good had come
out of it. She had met her best friend. Lana was a member of the theater
group as well and when Jessica had caught Lance making out with Lana
she had freaked but she and Lana quickly realized that they had both been
lied to and had bonded instantly.
Jessica's eyes suddenly landed on a large bouquet of daisies on her
dressing table. She picked it up confused.
"Those are gorgeous!" Lana breathed. "Ryan is so romantic!"
"Ryan didn't send these. He's allergic to daisies." Jessica was
thoughtful for a minute. "I bet Elizabeth sent them trying to butter me up,
but if she thinks that something like this will work then she has-"
Jessica stopped as a shadow of a man filled the room.
"Hey Jessica, great job tonight." Jessica turned to face him and she
gasped when she saw him. He looked just as he had four years ago, maybe
better. But she grabbed for a chair as she stared into the eyes of
Jeremy Aames.