What You Didn't Expect
Chapter 18: Packing
Lizzie hit locks on her car and headed into the grocery store. She needed to pick up some newspapers to wrap up some stuff to haul it back to Hillridge. She'd called her parents that morning to tell them that she was coming home for good, and they had been more than excited. Lizzie giggled as she thought back to her mother's reaction.
"Oh, Lizzie! That's wonderful! Are you going to live here at home?"
"Actually, no, I'm going to be staying with Miranda until I can find a good apartment," she'd told her mother.
"Oh. well it's going to be so great having you home to stay!"
Lizzie grabbed a couple newspapers from a stand near the door, and took them up to the express lane to pay for them, then headed back out to her car. She couldn't wait to get on the road back home. The moving van would be there in two hours to pick up her stuff, so she had to hurry and pack up the last of it, the breakables that she'd needed the newspapers for.
*~*~*~*
"Hey, Randa. Just wanted to call and let you know that I'm leaving now, in ten minutes or less, I'll be out the door and on the road to Hillridge, California, so I'll see you in about four days! Bye!" Gordo hung up the phone, then picked it up again and dialed Lizzie's number.
"We're sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected." The operator's monotonous tone blared in his ear. "Disconnected?" Gordo wondered out loud. That was weird. Lizzie had told him before that her phone bill was her highest priority, and she always paid it before anything else. He shrugged it off, thinking he'd dialed the wrong number, and called again. He got the same thing. 'Weird,' he thought. He gave it no more thought, and headed out the door, locking it for the last time and heading down to the apartment offices to turn in his key.
*~*~*~*
Lizzie sang along with the radio as she flew down the interstate, feeling lighthearted and happy to finally be going home permanently. "Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis. Ooh, that's where my family's buried and gone. Last time I was there I noticed a space left, next to them there in Memphis. In the damn back lawn!" She sang along with the song at the top of her lungs, the radio up as loud as it would go. A man in a truck blew past her, looking at her oddly as he sped by. She laughed and went back to singing the song.
*~*~*~*
Gordo merged onto the interstate and slipped into the afternoon traffic. As soon as he could get through that, he'd be on his way to California. He planned on staying with his parents until he could find a decent apartment, which he hoped wouldn't be too long. He didn't want to impose on them, since he'd depended on them for 18 years before going off to college. He was sure they were enjoying a life without their slightly different child blaring his "obnoxious" music and watching his "useless" television shows. He knew they loved him, but parents never understood their children until they were grown.
*~*~*~*
Miranda played the messages on her answering machine back when she got home from work. There was one from Gordo, announcing that he was on his way back to Hillridge, one from Lizzie saying the same thing, and one from her mother just calling to say hello and see how she was doing. Miranda wasn't the best at calling and visiting her parents all the time, but she made a point of going back to her old house to visit them at least once or twice a month. As the tape in the answering machine rewound, she threw her purse on the counter and headed into her room to change into her bathing suit. Today was a good day for catching some sun, so she called one of the girls from her work and convinced her to head out to the beach with her.
Chapter 18: Packing
Lizzie hit locks on her car and headed into the grocery store. She needed to pick up some newspapers to wrap up some stuff to haul it back to Hillridge. She'd called her parents that morning to tell them that she was coming home for good, and they had been more than excited. Lizzie giggled as she thought back to her mother's reaction.
"Oh, Lizzie! That's wonderful! Are you going to live here at home?"
"Actually, no, I'm going to be staying with Miranda until I can find a good apartment," she'd told her mother.
"Oh. well it's going to be so great having you home to stay!"
Lizzie grabbed a couple newspapers from a stand near the door, and took them up to the express lane to pay for them, then headed back out to her car. She couldn't wait to get on the road back home. The moving van would be there in two hours to pick up her stuff, so she had to hurry and pack up the last of it, the breakables that she'd needed the newspapers for.
*~*~*~*
"Hey, Randa. Just wanted to call and let you know that I'm leaving now, in ten minutes or less, I'll be out the door and on the road to Hillridge, California, so I'll see you in about four days! Bye!" Gordo hung up the phone, then picked it up again and dialed Lizzie's number.
"We're sorry, the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected." The operator's monotonous tone blared in his ear. "Disconnected?" Gordo wondered out loud. That was weird. Lizzie had told him before that her phone bill was her highest priority, and she always paid it before anything else. He shrugged it off, thinking he'd dialed the wrong number, and called again. He got the same thing. 'Weird,' he thought. He gave it no more thought, and headed out the door, locking it for the last time and heading down to the apartment offices to turn in his key.
*~*~*~*
Lizzie sang along with the radio as she flew down the interstate, feeling lighthearted and happy to finally be going home permanently. "Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis. Ooh, that's where my family's buried and gone. Last time I was there I noticed a space left, next to them there in Memphis. In the damn back lawn!" She sang along with the song at the top of her lungs, the radio up as loud as it would go. A man in a truck blew past her, looking at her oddly as he sped by. She laughed and went back to singing the song.
*~*~*~*
Gordo merged onto the interstate and slipped into the afternoon traffic. As soon as he could get through that, he'd be on his way to California. He planned on staying with his parents until he could find a decent apartment, which he hoped wouldn't be too long. He didn't want to impose on them, since he'd depended on them for 18 years before going off to college. He was sure they were enjoying a life without their slightly different child blaring his "obnoxious" music and watching his "useless" television shows. He knew they loved him, but parents never understood their children until they were grown.
*~*~*~*
Miranda played the messages on her answering machine back when she got home from work. There was one from Gordo, announcing that he was on his way back to Hillridge, one from Lizzie saying the same thing, and one from her mother just calling to say hello and see how she was doing. Miranda wasn't the best at calling and visiting her parents all the time, but she made a point of going back to her old house to visit them at least once or twice a month. As the tape in the answering machine rewound, she threw her purse on the counter and headed into her room to change into her bathing suit. Today was a good day for catching some sun, so she called one of the girls from her work and convinced her to head out to the beach with her.