~*~DISCLAIMER: It SHOULD be well understood and quite obvious that we 3 cool gals DO NOT claim to own any part of the great show that is Charmed. HOWEVER, these characters ARE of our own copyright, and only the IDEA of the show Charmed will hold familiar to any of you (everything else is original). So Enjoy! ^_^~*~
Liza
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"Missy's the Poo...So take a big whiff-" Laying on her stomach staring at the T.V., her dark brown eyes showing a rather bored expression, Elizabeth Piña, or Liza as she was commonly referred to by those who knew her reached for her remote control, changing the channel.
"--Is that your final answer?" Her dark brown, shiny orbs rolled at the idiotic remark of the game show host before tapping her finger, yet again, upon the clicker, changing the channel once more.
"No no José! Caròlina no esta enferma! No esta enferma!" Arching her eyebrow, Liza moved her arms upright and rested her chin upon her palms.
"This might be interesting..." She muttered, her voice having a slight tinge of the south, her eyes scanning the television, trying as best as she could to translate. However, apparently her four years of Spanish was not enough to aid in her conquest...then again, it never really had during any other occasion, either.
Sighing deeply, Liza turned off the T.V. in defeat.
"What do I do now? There's nothing on the television...like EVER, really. Hmm...there HAS to be a place to go...place to go..." She trailed off, in deep thought, desperately trying to concoct any sort of activity that would be more worth while than what she had currently been doing.
"Ahh ha! I got it!" She exclaimed suddenly, snapping her fingers and smiling, her dark brown eyes finally taking on some life and delight as she continued on.
"The only ONE place that I never get bored of...to the mall!!" Finally realizing that for the past three minutes she had been conversing with herself, a light blush began to spread across Liza's tan cheeks.
"Uh, yeah; better get dressed..." She proclaimed as she gazed down at her current attire: a baggy deep maroon sweatshirt and dark khaki pants.
"Ah yes! MUST change!"
Waltzing herself straight to her closet, Liza fingered her way through the countless pants and shirts hanging neatly inside.
"Which one--which one--which one...Ooooh!!" Grabbing a pair of green baggy pants and a oriental-style white shirt with lighter green flowers decorating the right side. Humming to herself as she changed into her new outfit, Liza walked to the bathroom to fix her hair and makeup.
"Dadedum. Dadedu...Dadededadededo..." A little tune played happily within her head and against her lips as she finished up last minute touches to her hair, fashioning them into two small buns of dark brown hair on each side of the middle-back on her head, leaving small traces of two strands of streaked blonde hair along her face. Smiling in approvement, Liza moved onto her makeup, where she only needed to apply a small amount. Finally, and completely satisfied with her overall work, she clasped both of her hands together, smiling at herself feebishly into the mirror.
"All Done! Now, FINALLY; to the mall!"
Putting on her brown boots and grabbing her keys, Liza made her way out of her otherwise empty dormroom door.
"Hmm..I hope I have enough time to get to the bus..." She raised her arm and turned over her wrist to check the time, smiling in relief.
"Good, I've got a solid fifteen minutes until it arrives." Nodding to herself, Liza made her way down the hallway, receiving the usual countless smiles and whistling from guys along the way. Choosing to ignore them, however, she continued on, but soon stopped short as she spotted a familar figure walking on ahead of her. Quickening her pace, Liza was now walking alongside the universally acclaimed "prodigy," college Junior, Janelle Ember.
"Oh! H-Hey, Janelle!" Slightly startled, Janelle turned her head towards the direction of the voice, her mocha colored visage displaying a pleasant expression; however, after seeing who it was, Janelle's friendly face mysteriously vanished, settling into look of slight annoyance as she abruptly returned her attention in front of her, quickening her steady walk.
"Where ya heading?"
"...To a party," Janelle answered, void of any emotion as she continued on, Liza somehow managing to keep up with the taller girl.
"A party? Really?? Who's hosting it?"
"Rachel Townson..."
"Rachel..." Liza mimicked, her voice indicating her obvious confusion as Janelle sighed lightly under her breath.
"You don't know her, Liza."
"Oh; right."
As the two collegiate girls continued walking down to the end of the hallway, Liza's eyes downcast, an uncomfortable silence began to settle down upon them. Gazing up, her dark brown gaze met one of the many dorm room doors lined up in the hallway, however recognizing the number. Stopping by the door, she allowed Janelle to keep on walking.
"Um, I guess I'll talk to ya later, then! Bye!" Liza called out to Janelle, who only waved back feebly. Now turning her attention back towards the door, Liza lifted a small hand to knock upon it three times and waited to hear a familar voice answer from inside.
"Who is it?"
"It's...Liza..." Liza responded uneasily, now not certain she had knocked upon the right door, as she was expecting a female voice to respond, rather than the male one that had done so instead. She was about to walk away from it when the same voice sounded from behind the door once again.
"...Come in; the door's open."
"Oh! All right..." Opening the door slowly, Liza spotted a young man whom she assumed to be the boyfriend of the girl who traditionally occupied that room, the all too often uptight Senior, Lin Bloom, leaning on her pink bedspread. Lin herself was at her desk, hunched over a book and scattered papers.
"Well, I just wanted to stop in and say g'night in case ya'll are sleeping by the time I get back from shopping..."
"Mhmm...You go have fun shopping..." Lin mumbled back in an annoyed voice, her book muffling her response even more than it already had been. Feeling as though she was being ignored and unwanted, Liza backed up into the door, fumbling a blind hand behind her until she found the doorknob, opening it.
"Well...G'night then." Hearing a grunt from Lin that she assumed to be her way of returning the gesture, her boyfriend, however, managing to deliver a polite goodbye her way, Liza walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Making her way out of the building and to the bus stop, Liza once again encountered numerous smiles and miscellaneous gestures by any male student walking past. Standing, not sitting, by the bus stop bench, she lightly muttered to herself as she began to wait.
"This blasted bus better not be late..."
"Hey Doll! Why don't you and I take a seat on this nice, old bench?" Thankfully recognizing the voice of her friend, Brendan Hall, Liza smiled lightly as her gaze rose to meet his deep blue eyes, a few strands of his black hair finding its way in front of his eyes like it always managed to do.
"Brendan, I swear; you are such an idiot."
"Ah, you know me too well, Liza. Anyway! What IS a beautiful girl such as yourself doin' out alone?"
"Shopping; going to the mall. Maybe might go see a movie as well...I'm kinda bored, so what else can I do? Anyway, how about you? Where are YOU heading??" Laughing, Brendan responded, running a cool hand through his raven colored locks.
"To a party, of course!"
"Whose?" Liza inquired, already knowing the answer.
"Rachel's; duhhh!"
"Who IS this Rachel person, ANYWAY?!" Liza groaned, rolling her eyes as Brendan shrugged, a little smirk playing upon his face.
"Honestly, I dont know. BUT, I DID hear that she holds GREAT parties." Narrowing her dark brown eyes, a smirk began to spread across Liza's lips as well as she said,
"That's not the ONLY reason why you're going...IS it??"
"Again, you know me too well, Liza dear. Of COURSE that's not the only reason why I'm going! I'M going to see if there might by any hot guys there!!" Brendan revealed, sighing playfully and winking as he watched Liza begin to giggle. Reaching out, she gently patted her gay friend's shoulder, grinning.
"Well, you go have fun at that party then, Brendan, and update me if you see any hot STRAIGHT guys there, all right??" Winking herself, Liza smiled as Brendan laughed.
"Right--right! Talk to you later, Liza!!" Waving Brendan off as he left her, Liza noticed the lights of the bus coming towards her in the distance.
"Took the stupid thing long enough..." When the bus finally approached and stopped, Liza stepped inside, placing the money into the container and taking a seat towards the back.
---------------------------------------------------10 Minutes Later: Florida Mall-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Inhaling the warm air of downtown Florida as she stepped off the bus, Liza smiled to herself, the warm sun giving her cheeks a more golden-tanned color. Walking inside of the mall and immediately heading towards the cinema, Liza glanced up to where the posters of the movies where hung.
"Hmm..'Lord of the Rings' sounds good...but WAY too long..." She murmured to herself as she continued to peruse through her other available options, however none seeming to interest her.
"Ah, well...Shopping would be good; it could take my mind off of upcoming tests, AND would reduce my stress BECAUSE of those test--" She stopped abruptly as she noticed the increasingly weird glances being directed her way by people who'd pass.
"Crud, I'm talking to myself again...aren't I..." Smiling nervously, Liza continued on, walking into the store known as Pac-Sun. There, a young guy a little taller than she has come over to greet her. Looking up, her dark brown eyes met with his hazel, his dusty blonde hair short and gelled into a spikey sort of do. Smiling warmly at him, Liza looked back down to the shirts in her hand before turning her attention back to him.
"Hello, miss; how are you doing this evening?"
"I'm doing fine, thank you. Now, how are you doing?" Apparently not expecting her to return civilties, the young man smiled nervously at her, a pink tint growing within his tan cheeks.
"I'm doing well also, thank you for asking! Can I ring those things up for you at the register?" Nodding, Liza replied, continuing to smile at him.
"Yes, thank you." Following him to the register, Liza watched as he walked behind the counter and began to ring the two shirts up.
"I'm sorry, I'd forgotten to ask what your name was."
"Name's Ian; what's yours?" The cashier countered, his blush becoming more vivid as he continued to ring up the items for her.
"Liza."
"That's a very nice name, Liza...uh...that will be $45.62." Handing Ian a $50 bill, Liza and he both smiled at one another, taking her bag from him as he began to hand her back her change. Shaking her head in protest, she smiled wider at him, gently pushing his hand back toward himself.
"No, keep it; thank you." One last time Liza smiled at Ian, winking as she made her way out of the store, leaving a slightly dazed and grinning cashier behind, who managed to call after her quickly.
"Have a nice day!" Turning around, Liza waved back at him, grinning.
"You too, Ian!"
Walking out of the store and already heading down to another, Liza checked the shirts in her bag, not noticing an oncoming person until too late. Both having not paid any attention, the two of them collide, causing Liza to drop her bag and contents onto the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" They both managed to stammer at the same time, bending down to put everything back into the bag. A warm blush played lightly upon Liza's cheeks as her eyes rose to rest upon the forest green eyes of a handsome young man. Extending his hand out to her politely, he smiled warmly back at her.
"Here, let me help you." Extending a slightly shaky hand out towards him, Liza grabbed a hold of the young man's hand as he helped her to feet.
"I'm really sorry for bumping into you like that; I guess I wasn't paying attention..." Waving her hand gently at him, Liza smiled genuinely.
"No need to worry; I wasn't paying much attention myself, either."
"I still feel I should make it up to you somehow...how about you and I go see a movie?" The young man offered, running a hand through his chocolate brown colored hair.
"Ah, but there's nothing interesting playing..." Liza revealed, giggling lightly.
"Hmm, well...if that's out of the question, how about going to the arcade? But, no...a cute girl like yourself probably isn't into that kind of thing, I'm sure..." The now blushing guy stated, smiling nervously at Liza as he continued on.
"...Or would you rather not hang out with me at all?" Giggling some more, Liza shook her head as she replied,
"Sure! The arcade sounds like fun!" Linking her free arm with his, the two of them began their walk towards the arcade. When they arrived in front of the entrance to the semi-dark arcade, the young man walked on ahead.
"Whoa, whoa! Wait up, now!" Liza called out after him, a smirk playing upon her lips.
"I'm sorry?"
"Ok, number one: you have to play it easy on me. And number two: I never got your name..." Blushing profusely at the realization of this, the young man cleared his throat as she smiled a rather crooked smile at her, answering.
"Ah! That's right! I'm sorry about that; where have been my manners?? Let's start over, ok? Hi! I'm Carter; nice to meet you!" Smiling back at Carter, Liza took his now extended hand, shaking it.
"And I'm Liza; nice to meet you, Carter! All right! Well...let's head in!"
Relinking her arm with Carter's, Liza allowed herself to be lead inside of the arcade, finding herself standing in front of a snowboarding simulator type of game.
"Carter! Let's try that one!!" She suddenly exclaimed, grinning up at the tall boy who stood beside her, lightly laughing.
"Are you sure you want to play THAT one? Since...well, you know, I AM revered as the master around here for this game."
"Oh, now ARE you? Then let's find out, shall we?" Walking up to the game and slipping a couple of tokens into the slot that the two of them had gotten earlier, she and Carter both stepped onto their seperate boards. Looking over to Carter, who was already in a "ready to go" sort of position, clearly having not been joking at being pretty well at this game, Liza tried as best she could to mimic him. The screen began its countdown to one and then started. A mere couple of minutes into the race, Liza already found herself losing, and quite terribly. And, to make matters worse, a few random people had begun to crowd around the both of them. A tinge of annoyance also had begun to brew within her system as she made the final jump in the race, and as she began to do so, fully concentrated upon it, a weird sensation started to rise from within the pit of her stomach. Looking down, Liza was astonished to find that both of her feet were no longer upon the snowboard anymore, let alone any such solid surface.
Completely caught off guard from this sudden occurrence, Liza accidentally swung one of her leg in shock, hitting Carter straight off his board and into the nearby prize showcase, his body cracking the glass as his head connected with it. Hearing an uproar of gasps from the crowd that had been surrounding them, Liza suddenly fell to the ground, a dazed, far away look in her eyes. Rubbing her head as she slowly sat up, Liza asked numbly as she felt a random bystander help her up,
"What happened??"
"What did you do THAT for?? I mean, all the poor guy was doing was WINNING...geez..." Turning her face up to the person, Liza's visage did not escape its confused countenance.
"I don't know--"
"Hey!! What's going on here??" A deep voice from behind Liza suddenly boomed, and she turned to face a fairly chubby security guard heading straight towards her. Feeling the apprehension that had been already growing from deep within her begin to spread throughout the rest of her body, she quickly thought of something to say, stammering.
"S-something h-happened with this game...there...there was a...a glitch, and I guess s-some sort of electrical current coarsed through the both...of...us..." Liza trailed off, suddenly remembering about Carter, searching the large crowd for his whereabouts as the security guard narrowed his gray eyes at her. He took out a walkie-talkie from one of his pockets, sighing into it before speaking.
"...Another glitch over in sector 38...think we're gonna need an ambulance over this time, too, quick...the arcade; right." Placing the walkie-talkie back into his back pocket, the security guard left Liza when his eyes suddenly landed upon the unconscious Carter over in the corner, crouching down beside him.
"The ambulance should be here pretty soon. Try to see if you can wake him up, will ya?? I've gotta get these other people out of here...All right, people! Show's over!! Either go back to your games, or leave the premiss!"
Rushing over to his side as the guard left it, Liza gently picked up Carter's bruised head, lightly shaking his shoulders.
"Carter...Carter...Wake up...My God, I am SO sorry about what happened...I...I don't even KNOW how it happened, but I AM sorry for it!!" Seeing no signs of response from him, Liza was relieved to her the faint but growing sounds of sirens.
"The ambulance is coming, Carter; hold on..." She reassures her new friend as she suddenly begins to feel tired, a few paramedics rushing inside of the arcade and heading straight towards them.
"Are you all right, miss?? How did this happen??"
"I'm fine...just help Carter...the game...it...it caused a glitch and caused him to crash into this showcase..." Liza answered lightly, looking down with guilt as two paramedics lifted Carter's lifeless body onto the stretcher and wheeled him out of the arcade and mall. Rising from her spot slowly, with the assistance of the first paramedic who had inquired her, Liza quickly asked,
"Can I go with him??"
"Huh?? Oh, yes, sure. Come on." As the medic helped her out of the arcade, millions of thoughts began to careen throughout Liza's head.
"What just happened...did I...levitate??...Impossible...and FREAKY...TOO freaky..."
----------------------------------A Half Hour Later, Florida State Hospital-----------------------------------------
Watching from the window outside the hospital room that had been assigned to Carter, Liza finally pulled away from it, and decided that she should call someone. Anyone. For some unknown reason, however, a sudden thought popped into her head to call Lin, of all people. She let the phone ring, hoping to hear Lin's familiar voice pick up, but was only greeted with the onset of rings.
"No answering machine, I guess..." Giving up, Liza paused a moment before suddenly having the urge or incentive to try calling Janelle's number next. So, punching in the proper seven digits, Liza stood, waiting for her to answer. However, this call, too, went on ringing, but at least an answering machine this time picked up.
"Hey, Janelle; it's Liza...I know you're probably still at the party, but I felt that I just HAD to call someone...I'm at the hospital...It's kind of hard to explain why or how I got here in the first place, but...um, yeah...bye." Hanging up the phone, Liza walked into Carter's room, taking a deep breath as she pulled up a chair beside his slumbering self and whispered,
"Please be okay..."
Liza
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"Missy's the Poo...So take a big whiff-" Laying on her stomach staring at the T.V., her dark brown eyes showing a rather bored expression, Elizabeth Piña, or Liza as she was commonly referred to by those who knew her reached for her remote control, changing the channel.
"--Is that your final answer?" Her dark brown, shiny orbs rolled at the idiotic remark of the game show host before tapping her finger, yet again, upon the clicker, changing the channel once more.
"No no José! Caròlina no esta enferma! No esta enferma!" Arching her eyebrow, Liza moved her arms upright and rested her chin upon her palms.
"This might be interesting..." She muttered, her voice having a slight tinge of the south, her eyes scanning the television, trying as best as she could to translate. However, apparently her four years of Spanish was not enough to aid in her conquest...then again, it never really had during any other occasion, either.
Sighing deeply, Liza turned off the T.V. in defeat.
"What do I do now? There's nothing on the television...like EVER, really. Hmm...there HAS to be a place to go...place to go..." She trailed off, in deep thought, desperately trying to concoct any sort of activity that would be more worth while than what she had currently been doing.
"Ahh ha! I got it!" She exclaimed suddenly, snapping her fingers and smiling, her dark brown eyes finally taking on some life and delight as she continued on.
"The only ONE place that I never get bored of...to the mall!!" Finally realizing that for the past three minutes she had been conversing with herself, a light blush began to spread across Liza's tan cheeks.
"Uh, yeah; better get dressed..." She proclaimed as she gazed down at her current attire: a baggy deep maroon sweatshirt and dark khaki pants.
"Ah yes! MUST change!"
Waltzing herself straight to her closet, Liza fingered her way through the countless pants and shirts hanging neatly inside.
"Which one--which one--which one...Ooooh!!" Grabbing a pair of green baggy pants and a oriental-style white shirt with lighter green flowers decorating the right side. Humming to herself as she changed into her new outfit, Liza walked to the bathroom to fix her hair and makeup.
"Dadedum. Dadedu...Dadededadededo..." A little tune played happily within her head and against her lips as she finished up last minute touches to her hair, fashioning them into two small buns of dark brown hair on each side of the middle-back on her head, leaving small traces of two strands of streaked blonde hair along her face. Smiling in approvement, Liza moved onto her makeup, where she only needed to apply a small amount. Finally, and completely satisfied with her overall work, she clasped both of her hands together, smiling at herself feebishly into the mirror.
"All Done! Now, FINALLY; to the mall!"
Putting on her brown boots and grabbing her keys, Liza made her way out of her otherwise empty dormroom door.
"Hmm..I hope I have enough time to get to the bus..." She raised her arm and turned over her wrist to check the time, smiling in relief.
"Good, I've got a solid fifteen minutes until it arrives." Nodding to herself, Liza made her way down the hallway, receiving the usual countless smiles and whistling from guys along the way. Choosing to ignore them, however, she continued on, but soon stopped short as she spotted a familar figure walking on ahead of her. Quickening her pace, Liza was now walking alongside the universally acclaimed "prodigy," college Junior, Janelle Ember.
"Oh! H-Hey, Janelle!" Slightly startled, Janelle turned her head towards the direction of the voice, her mocha colored visage displaying a pleasant expression; however, after seeing who it was, Janelle's friendly face mysteriously vanished, settling into look of slight annoyance as she abruptly returned her attention in front of her, quickening her steady walk.
"Where ya heading?"
"...To a party," Janelle answered, void of any emotion as she continued on, Liza somehow managing to keep up with the taller girl.
"A party? Really?? Who's hosting it?"
"Rachel Townson..."
"Rachel..." Liza mimicked, her voice indicating her obvious confusion as Janelle sighed lightly under her breath.
"You don't know her, Liza."
"Oh; right."
As the two collegiate girls continued walking down to the end of the hallway, Liza's eyes downcast, an uncomfortable silence began to settle down upon them. Gazing up, her dark brown gaze met one of the many dorm room doors lined up in the hallway, however recognizing the number. Stopping by the door, she allowed Janelle to keep on walking.
"Um, I guess I'll talk to ya later, then! Bye!" Liza called out to Janelle, who only waved back feebly. Now turning her attention back towards the door, Liza lifted a small hand to knock upon it three times and waited to hear a familar voice answer from inside.
"Who is it?"
"It's...Liza..." Liza responded uneasily, now not certain she had knocked upon the right door, as she was expecting a female voice to respond, rather than the male one that had done so instead. She was about to walk away from it when the same voice sounded from behind the door once again.
"...Come in; the door's open."
"Oh! All right..." Opening the door slowly, Liza spotted a young man whom she assumed to be the boyfriend of the girl who traditionally occupied that room, the all too often uptight Senior, Lin Bloom, leaning on her pink bedspread. Lin herself was at her desk, hunched over a book and scattered papers.
"Well, I just wanted to stop in and say g'night in case ya'll are sleeping by the time I get back from shopping..."
"Mhmm...You go have fun shopping..." Lin mumbled back in an annoyed voice, her book muffling her response even more than it already had been. Feeling as though she was being ignored and unwanted, Liza backed up into the door, fumbling a blind hand behind her until she found the doorknob, opening it.
"Well...G'night then." Hearing a grunt from Lin that she assumed to be her way of returning the gesture, her boyfriend, however, managing to deliver a polite goodbye her way, Liza walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Making her way out of the building and to the bus stop, Liza once again encountered numerous smiles and miscellaneous gestures by any male student walking past. Standing, not sitting, by the bus stop bench, she lightly muttered to herself as she began to wait.
"This blasted bus better not be late..."
"Hey Doll! Why don't you and I take a seat on this nice, old bench?" Thankfully recognizing the voice of her friend, Brendan Hall, Liza smiled lightly as her gaze rose to meet his deep blue eyes, a few strands of his black hair finding its way in front of his eyes like it always managed to do.
"Brendan, I swear; you are such an idiot."
"Ah, you know me too well, Liza. Anyway! What IS a beautiful girl such as yourself doin' out alone?"
"Shopping; going to the mall. Maybe might go see a movie as well...I'm kinda bored, so what else can I do? Anyway, how about you? Where are YOU heading??" Laughing, Brendan responded, running a cool hand through his raven colored locks.
"To a party, of course!"
"Whose?" Liza inquired, already knowing the answer.
"Rachel's; duhhh!"
"Who IS this Rachel person, ANYWAY?!" Liza groaned, rolling her eyes as Brendan shrugged, a little smirk playing upon his face.
"Honestly, I dont know. BUT, I DID hear that she holds GREAT parties." Narrowing her dark brown eyes, a smirk began to spread across Liza's lips as well as she said,
"That's not the ONLY reason why you're going...IS it??"
"Again, you know me too well, Liza dear. Of COURSE that's not the only reason why I'm going! I'M going to see if there might by any hot guys there!!" Brendan revealed, sighing playfully and winking as he watched Liza begin to giggle. Reaching out, she gently patted her gay friend's shoulder, grinning.
"Well, you go have fun at that party then, Brendan, and update me if you see any hot STRAIGHT guys there, all right??" Winking herself, Liza smiled as Brendan laughed.
"Right--right! Talk to you later, Liza!!" Waving Brendan off as he left her, Liza noticed the lights of the bus coming towards her in the distance.
"Took the stupid thing long enough..." When the bus finally approached and stopped, Liza stepped inside, placing the money into the container and taking a seat towards the back.
---------------------------------------------------10 Minutes Later: Florida Mall-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Inhaling the warm air of downtown Florida as she stepped off the bus, Liza smiled to herself, the warm sun giving her cheeks a more golden-tanned color. Walking inside of the mall and immediately heading towards the cinema, Liza glanced up to where the posters of the movies where hung.
"Hmm..'Lord of the Rings' sounds good...but WAY too long..." She murmured to herself as she continued to peruse through her other available options, however none seeming to interest her.
"Ah, well...Shopping would be good; it could take my mind off of upcoming tests, AND would reduce my stress BECAUSE of those test--" She stopped abruptly as she noticed the increasingly weird glances being directed her way by people who'd pass.
"Crud, I'm talking to myself again...aren't I..." Smiling nervously, Liza continued on, walking into the store known as Pac-Sun. There, a young guy a little taller than she has come over to greet her. Looking up, her dark brown eyes met with his hazel, his dusty blonde hair short and gelled into a spikey sort of do. Smiling warmly at him, Liza looked back down to the shirts in her hand before turning her attention back to him.
"Hello, miss; how are you doing this evening?"
"I'm doing fine, thank you. Now, how are you doing?" Apparently not expecting her to return civilties, the young man smiled nervously at her, a pink tint growing within his tan cheeks.
"I'm doing well also, thank you for asking! Can I ring those things up for you at the register?" Nodding, Liza replied, continuing to smile at him.
"Yes, thank you." Following him to the register, Liza watched as he walked behind the counter and began to ring the two shirts up.
"I'm sorry, I'd forgotten to ask what your name was."
"Name's Ian; what's yours?" The cashier countered, his blush becoming more vivid as he continued to ring up the items for her.
"Liza."
"That's a very nice name, Liza...uh...that will be $45.62." Handing Ian a $50 bill, Liza and he both smiled at one another, taking her bag from him as he began to hand her back her change. Shaking her head in protest, she smiled wider at him, gently pushing his hand back toward himself.
"No, keep it; thank you." One last time Liza smiled at Ian, winking as she made her way out of the store, leaving a slightly dazed and grinning cashier behind, who managed to call after her quickly.
"Have a nice day!" Turning around, Liza waved back at him, grinning.
"You too, Ian!"
Walking out of the store and already heading down to another, Liza checked the shirts in her bag, not noticing an oncoming person until too late. Both having not paid any attention, the two of them collide, causing Liza to drop her bag and contents onto the floor.
"I'm so sorry!" They both managed to stammer at the same time, bending down to put everything back into the bag. A warm blush played lightly upon Liza's cheeks as her eyes rose to rest upon the forest green eyes of a handsome young man. Extending his hand out to her politely, he smiled warmly back at her.
"Here, let me help you." Extending a slightly shaky hand out towards him, Liza grabbed a hold of the young man's hand as he helped her to feet.
"I'm really sorry for bumping into you like that; I guess I wasn't paying attention..." Waving her hand gently at him, Liza smiled genuinely.
"No need to worry; I wasn't paying much attention myself, either."
"I still feel I should make it up to you somehow...how about you and I go see a movie?" The young man offered, running a hand through his chocolate brown colored hair.
"Ah, but there's nothing interesting playing..." Liza revealed, giggling lightly.
"Hmm, well...if that's out of the question, how about going to the arcade? But, no...a cute girl like yourself probably isn't into that kind of thing, I'm sure..." The now blushing guy stated, smiling nervously at Liza as he continued on.
"...Or would you rather not hang out with me at all?" Giggling some more, Liza shook her head as she replied,
"Sure! The arcade sounds like fun!" Linking her free arm with his, the two of them began their walk towards the arcade. When they arrived in front of the entrance to the semi-dark arcade, the young man walked on ahead.
"Whoa, whoa! Wait up, now!" Liza called out after him, a smirk playing upon her lips.
"I'm sorry?"
"Ok, number one: you have to play it easy on me. And number two: I never got your name..." Blushing profusely at the realization of this, the young man cleared his throat as she smiled a rather crooked smile at her, answering.
"Ah! That's right! I'm sorry about that; where have been my manners?? Let's start over, ok? Hi! I'm Carter; nice to meet you!" Smiling back at Carter, Liza took his now extended hand, shaking it.
"And I'm Liza; nice to meet you, Carter! All right! Well...let's head in!"
Relinking her arm with Carter's, Liza allowed herself to be lead inside of the arcade, finding herself standing in front of a snowboarding simulator type of game.
"Carter! Let's try that one!!" She suddenly exclaimed, grinning up at the tall boy who stood beside her, lightly laughing.
"Are you sure you want to play THAT one? Since...well, you know, I AM revered as the master around here for this game."
"Oh, now ARE you? Then let's find out, shall we?" Walking up to the game and slipping a couple of tokens into the slot that the two of them had gotten earlier, she and Carter both stepped onto their seperate boards. Looking over to Carter, who was already in a "ready to go" sort of position, clearly having not been joking at being pretty well at this game, Liza tried as best she could to mimic him. The screen began its countdown to one and then started. A mere couple of minutes into the race, Liza already found herself losing, and quite terribly. And, to make matters worse, a few random people had begun to crowd around the both of them. A tinge of annoyance also had begun to brew within her system as she made the final jump in the race, and as she began to do so, fully concentrated upon it, a weird sensation started to rise from within the pit of her stomach. Looking down, Liza was astonished to find that both of her feet were no longer upon the snowboard anymore, let alone any such solid surface.
Completely caught off guard from this sudden occurrence, Liza accidentally swung one of her leg in shock, hitting Carter straight off his board and into the nearby prize showcase, his body cracking the glass as his head connected with it. Hearing an uproar of gasps from the crowd that had been surrounding them, Liza suddenly fell to the ground, a dazed, far away look in her eyes. Rubbing her head as she slowly sat up, Liza asked numbly as she felt a random bystander help her up,
"What happened??"
"What did you do THAT for?? I mean, all the poor guy was doing was WINNING...geez..." Turning her face up to the person, Liza's visage did not escape its confused countenance.
"I don't know--"
"Hey!! What's going on here??" A deep voice from behind Liza suddenly boomed, and she turned to face a fairly chubby security guard heading straight towards her. Feeling the apprehension that had been already growing from deep within her begin to spread throughout the rest of her body, she quickly thought of something to say, stammering.
"S-something h-happened with this game...there...there was a...a glitch, and I guess s-some sort of electrical current coarsed through the both...of...us..." Liza trailed off, suddenly remembering about Carter, searching the large crowd for his whereabouts as the security guard narrowed his gray eyes at her. He took out a walkie-talkie from one of his pockets, sighing into it before speaking.
"...Another glitch over in sector 38...think we're gonna need an ambulance over this time, too, quick...the arcade; right." Placing the walkie-talkie back into his back pocket, the security guard left Liza when his eyes suddenly landed upon the unconscious Carter over in the corner, crouching down beside him.
"The ambulance should be here pretty soon. Try to see if you can wake him up, will ya?? I've gotta get these other people out of here...All right, people! Show's over!! Either go back to your games, or leave the premiss!"
Rushing over to his side as the guard left it, Liza gently picked up Carter's bruised head, lightly shaking his shoulders.
"Carter...Carter...Wake up...My God, I am SO sorry about what happened...I...I don't even KNOW how it happened, but I AM sorry for it!!" Seeing no signs of response from him, Liza was relieved to her the faint but growing sounds of sirens.
"The ambulance is coming, Carter; hold on..." She reassures her new friend as she suddenly begins to feel tired, a few paramedics rushing inside of the arcade and heading straight towards them.
"Are you all right, miss?? How did this happen??"
"I'm fine...just help Carter...the game...it...it caused a glitch and caused him to crash into this showcase..." Liza answered lightly, looking down with guilt as two paramedics lifted Carter's lifeless body onto the stretcher and wheeled him out of the arcade and mall. Rising from her spot slowly, with the assistance of the first paramedic who had inquired her, Liza quickly asked,
"Can I go with him??"
"Huh?? Oh, yes, sure. Come on." As the medic helped her out of the arcade, millions of thoughts began to careen throughout Liza's head.
"What just happened...did I...levitate??...Impossible...and FREAKY...TOO freaky..."
----------------------------------A Half Hour Later, Florida State Hospital-----------------------------------------
Watching from the window outside the hospital room that had been assigned to Carter, Liza finally pulled away from it, and decided that she should call someone. Anyone. For some unknown reason, however, a sudden thought popped into her head to call Lin, of all people. She let the phone ring, hoping to hear Lin's familiar voice pick up, but was only greeted with the onset of rings.
"No answering machine, I guess..." Giving up, Liza paused a moment before suddenly having the urge or incentive to try calling Janelle's number next. So, punching in the proper seven digits, Liza stood, waiting for her to answer. However, this call, too, went on ringing, but at least an answering machine this time picked up.
"Hey, Janelle; it's Liza...I know you're probably still at the party, but I felt that I just HAD to call someone...I'm at the hospital...It's kind of hard to explain why or how I got here in the first place, but...um, yeah...bye." Hanging up the phone, Liza walked into Carter's room, taking a deep breath as she pulled up a chair beside his slumbering self and whispered,
"Please be okay..."