Like A Candle In The Wind
This takes place in early April after the first week back from Spring Break.
"David!" Mr. Cameron Lewis' voice boomed throughout the large auditorium. "That's not yours - the bigger corsages are for the girls. You and Josh need to grab the smaller ones. And I don't care if you don't know how to pin them to your lapel - Brenda will do it."
Brenda helped David Hsieh unpin the yellow carnations from the lapel of his suit jacket and set them on the nearby table. She quickly grabbed a smaller boutonniere from the case the florist had sent over and pinned it to his jacket.
"There," she smiled, smoothing the black fabric over his chest. "You look like a million bucks."
David chuckled easily, his fingers creasing and un-creasing a piece of paper in his hands - his speech for the evening. "Thanks, Bren, I appreciate it. I'd probably prick myself a billion times and bleed all over the stage."
She laughed. "You nervous, Hsieh?"
The tall Vietnamese President of the National Honor Society nodded hesitantly. "Kind of."
Brenda surprised him by smacking his arm. "Well, snap out of it," she scolded. "There's nothing to be nervous about. And besides, you're in front of people all the time. I figured you'd be used to this by now."
"Well, I'm never giving a speech and inducting other students," he pointed out witheringly. "I just hope I don't make any stupid mistakes or trip or something."
The slim brunette before him shook her head at him. Her long brown hair, straightened for the evening and softly framing her face, cascaded over her shoulders, and the movement made the fabric of her form-fitting black dress rustle. "You won't - you'll be perfectly fine."
"Josh, where's the program?" Mr. Lewis yelled, scouring the stage for his Treasurer. "Heck, where are you?"
"Right here, Sir," Josh Minohl spoke up, sprinting toward his NHS advisor from backstage. "Lexi's here, just so you know," he added, referring to his Vice President.
"Here I am, Mr. Lewis," came a soft voice belonging to none other than Lexi Cassidine. She was quickly ascending the small flight of stairs up to the stage, her knee-length blue dress swishing around her knees. "I have my speech and Ms. Ward gave me about seventy-five programs."
"Excellent," Mr. Lewis nodded, gesturing to the sixty-eight chairs that were lined up on the stage. "One program needs to be placed on each chair. Do you think you and Josh can do that?"
She nodded instantly. "Sure, no problem."
"Good. Now, where is Elizabeth?" Mr. Lewis' green eyes scanned the auditorium. The seats were still empty, with a few early parents scattered here and there. Movement at the door captured his attention, and Ms. Keisha Ward was beginning to lead the new National Honor Society inductees into the auditorium.
"Seat them in alphabetical order, Ms. Ward," he directed. "Check the list I gave you."
She smiled back and nodded, already sending the children to their seats at the front of the theater. More and more parents filtered in, and Mr. Lewis saw his current NHS members milling around backstage. He walked over briskly to them, scanning the large area to make sure everyone was within earshot.
"All right, guys," he began. The group instantly quieted down as they waited for instruction. "I want you to wait in the tunnel." He was referring to the passageway that led from behind stage to the entrance to the auditorium. "It's big enough for all of you, and when you hear my cue, I want you to come in through the theater doors, walk down the side aisle and onto the stage in single file. You will then shake hands with your President by the podium. Then, you are to take your seats on the stage. And remember to stay in alphabetical order so that we don't have any problems matching your names as we call them out."
The kids nodded and returned to their muted chatter as Mr. Lewis sought out Sonny in the crowd. "Do you know where Elizabeth is?" he asked.
As Sonny shook his head, the blonde boy next to him furrowed his brows. "You mean she's not here?"
It took Mr. Lewis a minute to remember his name, but it came to him - Jason Morgan. "No, she's not. I can't imagine what's keeping her - she's always so punctual. And we have to start in half an hour."
Sonny's eyes darted past his advisor to where Brenda stood on the stage, talking to David. The two of them were laughing easily and David was pointing out to the crowd. When Sonny followed his hand, he saw that the President was pointing out his little sister, who was waving gaily at Brenda.
"Maybe Brenda knows, Mr. Lewis," he broke in. "She's probably your best bet."
Mr. Lewis nodded. "Good idea." The three of them were soon striding over to where David and Brenda stood, and Brenda started when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Brenda, do you know where Elizabeth is?"
She shook her head. "No, sir, Mr. Lewis. I was wondering the same thing."
"Well, we'll just hope she gets here in time," he sighed before motioning to the table. "OK, I need you all to help me clean this off. The only thing on the table should be the matches and the candles. And Brenda, fix the skirt, would you?"
Brenda's fingers instantly flew to the blue skirt of the table and pressed it securely to the white tablecloth. Sonny and Jason quickly cleared off the flowers that the officers wore, with Jason holding onto the large corsage that was reserved for Elizabeth. The extra programs were dumped behind stage and Brenda and David hurriedly straightened the wooden candle stand, anxious to get everything in order as more and more parents filtered in.
The Vice-Principal sauntered onto the stage, straightening his red tie under his dusty brown suit jacket as he did so. Usually, he left the entire function up to Mr. Lewis, but tonight, besides being the induction of the National Honor Society, was also the distribution of academic letters and gold bars.
"So," he asked casually. "Which two officers are going to be handing out the academic awards?"
Mr. Lewis frowned and his eyes darted to the door again. "Well, one of them is right here," he said, dropping a hand on David's shoulder. "The other one - my Secretary - is hopefully on her way."
"Okay," the other man replied slowly. "I have a few instructions, David, that I need to give you, and I hope you'll pass them on to Elizabeth once she arrives." He continued after David nodded, stuffing his hands into his pocket as he listened intently. "I will be reading the names at the podium and there will be a stack of plastic-wrapped letters on the table over there. One of you will distribute the letters, one to each student, and the other one will shake hands. But it's up to you, actually, I should say. If you both want to give letters and shake to keep things moving, feel free to do so. Just remember: give with your left, shake with your right. And the left hand should always be above your right."
"Give with your left, shake with your right," David repeated. "Got it."
The Vice-Principal nodded and wandered off backstage, clapping Sonny on the back as he went.
"All right," Mr. Lewis got out. "It's time for the rest of you to make yourselves scarce."
Brenda, Sonny, and Jason nodded and turned around to join their friends in the tunnel. David, Josh, and Lexi gathered near the front of the stage, shuffling their feet and picking at their folded speeches in their hands.
"Look, Mr. Lewis," Lexi burst out. "There's Beth!"
The three officers, their advisor, and Elizabeth's three friends all turned in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, there was Elizabeth, unbuttoning her knee-length black coat as she walked, revealing a black skirt and creme sweater with black embroidery. Her hair, rippling in soft waves, had been gathered partly back and pinned in place and she had applied a light layer of makeup to her porcelain skin. In her hand was a folded piece of paper and a program she'd picked up from Ms. Ward.
Jason smiled as she ascended the stairs, almost backstage himself. He waited for her to catch his gaze but she didn't, staring straight ahead at her fellow officers as she walked across the stage. Sonny pulled him back and out of view and they disappeared into the lit tunnel, but not before Jason handed Elizabeth's corsage off to Sydney.
"I'm here," Elizabeth sighed, shrugging out of her coat and dumping her speech on the table. Sydney appeared behind her and squeezed her shoulder with a smile, and Elizabeth gratefully handed her the coat.
"You'll be great, Beth," she grinned at her friend before turning to the three others. "You all will, so don't worry. And lookin' good, by the way." She switched the coat to her other arm and pinned the yellow carnations to Elizabeth's sweater before winking at them all and turning away.
David smiled and watched Sydney scurry off back stage, her long hair bouncing as she did. Mr. Lewis quickly filled Elizabeth in on the order and the procedure, not bothering to ask why she was late. His Secretary was punctual to a fault; if she had been late, there had to be a good reason. And he didn't want to press, especially judging by the look on Elizabeth's face.
Her eyes lacked their usual sparkle as she surveyed the almost full auditorium. In the sea of faces, some of them familiar and some of them not, she finally found her parents who had hurried over to PC High from Mercy Hospital. They smiled at her, waving, and she was barely able to smile back with a limp wave of her hand.
David was watching her closely, his lips pursed together in concern. Out of all the NHS officers, he was closest with Elizabeth. They had been friends ever since she came to PC High, probably because they had all the same classes together. Plus, she was friends with his girlfriend and he saw her often outside of school. And he knew her well enough to know when something was wrong.
Mr. Lewis walked toward the sound box to instruct them to dim the lights in exactly five minutes, and when Josh and Lexi began talking among themselves, David seized the moment to sidle over.
"Hey, Beth," he smiled gently, his black eyes sparkling with concern. "You okay?"
She seemed surprised at first, but then realized that David was one of the few people who could see past her facade of strength. "I..not really."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
His offer was earnest but Elizabeth found herself chuckling. "Here?" she asked, gesturing with a flat palm at the crowd. "It seems a tad inopportune, eh?"
He smirked, seeing the absurdity of the situation. "True. I was just...concerned. Are you sure you're okay?"
She forced a smile even as tears crept into the corners of her eyes. "I'm fine, David."
"OK, not that I believe that, but I'll let it go," he replied quietly, folding his hands behind him as he faced the crowd. In a few minutes they'd have to take their seats and the ceremony would be underway. "Just as long as you fill me in later."
She nodded, her head dropping with a sigh. "Yeah."
He watched her sadly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Come on, Beth, it can't be that bad, can it?"
She snorted. "I don't really want to talk about it right now, David."
He accepted her response and withdrew his arm. "That's fine," he assured her. "I just...God, I hate seeing you like this. What happened to the cheerful Elizabeth that I know and love?"
She allowed a small smile, but only shrugged at him.
Mr. Lewis was making his way back to the stage and the lights were slowly dimming, so the four officers made their way back to their seats. They were the only four students on the stage, with sixty-four empty seats arranged neatly in rows behind them.
Mr. Lewis welcomed the parents and students to PC High's NHS Induction Ceremony and Academic Award Distribution Night. The parents all beamed and clapped loudly, and Elizabeth scanned through the crowd, managing to catch glimpses of Brenda and Sonny's parents. Sonny's were sitting next to a blonde woman and a dark-haired man with a young boy that Elizabeth instantly recognized as AJ Morgan.
Mr. Lewis began by introducing the four officers, all of whom stood up and smiled graciously as he did so. Then it was time to bring on the current members and the String Quartet playing on the side of the stage began a new number as the theater doors opened and Elizabeth's classmates walked rigidly down the aisle. Brenda caught her gaze and shot her a dazzling grin, but Elizabeth just tipped her head in reply.
Mr. Lewis began reading their names in alphabetical order as they filed onto the stage, shaking hands with David before finding a seat behind the officers. Brenda quirked a brow at her while she absently shook David's hand and Elizabeth managed to smile back at her. Sonny was a short distance after and he too looked at her questioningly. Elizabeth just offered him a tight-lipped smile and shrugged.
Jason followed several members later, and whispered, "Hey," to her as he passed and shook David's hand. She nodded at him as he stood in front of David, who stood next to her, and simply replied, "Hey, yourself."
Once the NHS members were all seated, Mr. Lewis turned the microphone over to the Vice-Principal, and David and Elizabeth rose and walked to the table to distribute the letters. The younger students filed onto the stage and David and Elizabeth kept up the pace, shaking hands and giving them the letter that they could sew onto their letterman jacket.
"Nervous about your speech?" David whispered to her as he shook hands with a freshman.
"Heck, yeah," Elizabeth nodded. "I don't know if it's any good."
"I'm sure it's better than mine," David chuckled.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, really, I think it's stupid."
David just scoffed at her. "See, when you think something is stupid, everyone else thinks it's pure genius, so I don't think you have anything to worry about." And it was no joke - Elizabeth's skill with and knowledge of the English language was extremely impressive.
"No, David, you don't get it - I just wrote it five minutes ago, at the stoplight on Park."
David forced back his laughter. "You're kidding me."
"No."
"Well, I wrote mine during lunch today, so we're in the same boat."
She chuckled then, and David smiled to himself, thinking he was on his way to cheering her up.
"I just hope I don't trip and fall," he confided in her.
"You're not the one wearing stilettos, fool."
"True. But these shoes are pretty uncomfortable."
"Try wearing a skirt when it's only forty-degrees outside."
"Ouch."
"Yeah."
There was a pause as they continued smiling at the students before them as they shook hands.
"I hope we don't mess up when give our speeches - you know, Freudian slip and whatnot."
"Yeah."
"And I hope I can actually light the candles - why didn't they give us a Zippo or something?"
"You know, I've decided that I shouldn't hang out with you."
"Why's that?"
"Because we both tend to flip out when it comes to these things, and we're just feeding each other's nerves."
"Yeah."
Another pause.
"I hope my jacket sleeve doesn't catch on fire."
Elizabeth giggled despite herself, earning a confused look from the third to last freshman in the line. "You're too much, Hsieh."
"Too much fun, you mean."
"Oh, indeed. Without a doubt."
Then it was time to resume with the NHS Ceremony. Jason watched David and Elizabeth walk back to their seats, noting the small grin on her face. It seemed genuine and he was glad, but a part of him wished he had been the one to say something funny and make her smile like that. The thought seemed kind of strange to him, especially since he didn't know when or how he had come to care for her so much, and the fact that he didn't even know what she was upset about.
Mr. Lewis introduced David and turned the podium over to him. David stood up slowly from his seat and walked over to the table, lighting first the thick candle in the middle and then one of the slender yellow ones.
"Scholarship," he announced loudly, informing the audience what the candle he had lighted stood for. Claiming the podium, he soon settled into the swing of things and delivered his speech smoothly.
Once he had finished, he introduced Lexi. The tall brunette stood up quickly and strode over to the table. She calmly pulled out a match and struck it on the first try, lighting the second yellow candle.
"Leadership," she spoke up as she faced the audience. She found the podium and delivered a speech that, though beautifully written, was a bit on the long side - three minutes. David's had only been two and a half minutes, and Elizabeth found herself wondering how long her own speech was.
Next was Josh, who strolled over to the table and lit the match on the second try, smiling cockily at his friends on stage when they gasped, thinking he'd be unable to strike the match. The first candle he tried didn't catch, so he quickly lit the only other remaining candle.
Great, Elizabeth sighed. So the one with the faulty wick is mine. Excellent.
"Character," he announced confidently before delivering his speech. It was shorter than Lexi's and longer than David's, and Elizabeth reluctantly admitted to herself that it was a tad boring. Besides, his reference to Michael Jordan didn't even make sense. But not that anyone cared.
And then it was her turn.
Josh smiled encouragingly at her and she rose from her seat and made her way to the table as calmly as she could. She cursed the black stilettos that Sarah had bought for her when she came home from college on vacation not too long ago. She wasn't used to wearing high heels - she was a flip-flop girl, didn't everyone know that?
Elizabeth was relieved to make it to the table without tripping, and she calmly set down her speech and sucked in a deep breath before reaching for the matches. Mr. Lewis had told all of them to light it a certain way - striking vertically down - and she had already practiced. But still, she had a bad feeling.
She struck the first match.
Nothing.
She turned it slightly and struck it again.
Nothing.
Elizabeth bit her lip as tears threatened to flood her eyes. Talk about the shittiest day ever. I can't do anything right anymore.
Jason watched her closely from his seat near the table. He saw how her hands trembled, how the match shook in her delicate fingers, how her lower lip was trembling slightly before she captured it with her teeth. And more than anything, he wanted to be able to go up there, light the match for her, and find some way to make her feel better.
But procedure and Mr. Lewis demanded that he stay in his seat, and so he did, although his knees remained tense as if he would spring from his seat at any minute.
Brenda and Sonny were also watching Elizabeth and exchanged nervous glances with each other, both asking with their eyes if the other knew anything about why their friend was so upset.
Elizabeth heard tittering laughter from the crowd on stage and the crowd behind her, but she didn't care. She knew it wasn't malicious. She glared at the match in her hand before turning it slightly and striking it one more time.
Nothing.
With a huff of annoyance, she flung it down on the table. She heard Johnny's distinctive chuckle from the audience, and somewhere on stage, Kyle was doing his best not to laugh. She could just picture his ear-to-ear grin, though.
She plucked another match from the box and struck it against the side of the box.
Nothing.
With another huff of disbelief, Elizabeth set the box down on the table and plunged the unlit match into an already burning candle. It sizzled and caught instantly, and she quickly lit the next candle.
And promptly forgot to announce for the audience's benefit, "Service."
No one seemed to mind - the audience was smiling and chuckling at the charming - and not to mention resourceful - young woman on stage. Elizabeth didn't even register the fact that her all her friends on stage were clapping quietly for her as she made her way to the podium, beaming. But she did hear Kyle Nugent shout from his seat next to Jason, "And that's why she's in NHS!"
The audience laughed good-naturedly and waited for Elizabeth to begin her speech. It took her a minute to bring the microphone down enough to speak into it, and the audience chuckled again.
Jason watched from his seat as she unfolded the paper, her fingers still trembling slightly. The spotlight was on her, beaming down brightly on her face and making her cream colored sweater glow. It cast strange shadows on her skirt, and her shapely legs caught the soft yellow hue. Her stilettos were simple and black and added about three or four inches to her height. She looked simply lovely to him, but then again, he always found himself enchanted by her simple and elegant beauty - especially when she was wearing a green turtleneck sweater and had her hair in braided pigtails while being sprawled across the tiles in front of Sydney's locker.
She was speaking smoothly but he could hear her nervousness. The audience was receptive, though - as she spoke about ringing the Salvation Army bell outside the mall, the kids' eyes widened, as she spoke of an act of charity being a trifle to some but very precious to others, the adults in the crowd nodded. Mr. Lewis was standing behind her at the curtain, his face stern, nodding to himself at her eloquent words.
David didn't hear a word from his fellow NHS members behind him - while they had quietly chatted during some of the other speeches, they hung onto Elizabeth's every word. And he didn't blame them - Elizabeth's speeches were always sensational, and delivered with such shocking self-confidence and resolution that for a moment, it was hard to believe the person orating was a barely five foot girl with innocent eyes and a youthful smile.
Elizabeth's eyes swept across the new inductees as she prepared to finish off her speech. "Human service is in all actuality the highest form of self-interest for the person who serves. For your endless zeal and tireless efforts, you know that you'll have helped the school, the community, and complete strangers. But soon it will dawn on you that perhaps the person you've helped the most is yourself."
There was an appreciative murmur from the crowd - even a few hushed "Amen"'s - but Elizabeth didn't hear them.
"On that token, we welcome you into the prestigious ranks of the Promethean chapter of the National Honor Society. We have great confidence that you will continue in the excellent tradition of selfless service. And for that, we thank you."
The audience burst into applause, as did Mr. Lewis and the small crowd on the stage, but Elizabeth didn't register any of it as she covered the two paces back to her seat. She sank down between David and Josh, thanking God that it was over. She was in no mood for this sort of thing right now. All she wanted to do was go home and dig out a pint of Haagen-Dazs.
David rose to claim the podium, flashing her a beaming smile as he did. Mr. Lewis hung back and proudly watched as his four students took command of the ceremony, as they had practically from the beginning. He had taught all of them at one point or another - Lexi and Josh were in his Spanish class and Elizabeth and David had been in his Honors French class. He was very close with all four students and cared for them deeply. It had been his pleasure to work with such a spirited, dedicated bunch as them, and he couldn't help but feel sad that the year was coming to an end and he'd have to let them go.
"Please rise and repeat the pledge after me," David instructed, pulling out the NHS Pledge. A look of confusion crossed his face when the entire audience moved to stand, thinking it was the Pledge Of Allegiance. "Um, I meant the NHS Pledge."
There was a muffled, "Oh," that resounded through the room and pretty soon everyone was chuckling. David led the students through the pledge, swore them in, and he and Elizabeth passed out certificates and pins as Josh and Lexi read names.
The Vice-Principal took the mic and invited everyone to the Commons for punch and cookies, and the ceremony was officially over. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed her temples. Maybe now she could find her parents and drag them home.
Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder. When she turned around, she was enveloped into a bear hug and folded neatly against someone's chest. When she looked up, it was Kyle.
"Hey, Beth," he smiled gently. "You were great. Good job."
He let her go and David wrapped his arms around her shoulders, giving her a hug from behind. "Yeah, good job," he echoed. His parents were already waving for him and he reluctantly excused himself. "I have to go, but call me if you need to talk."
"I will," she promised, smiling after him.
"I mean it, Webber," he warned sternly. "You've listened to my bitching and moaning too often for me not to return the favor."
She laughed and he slipped down the stairs, instantly disappearing in the sea of parents and students. Elizabeth turned back to find a huge group of kids around her and the remaining two officers, with everyone congratulating them. Josh was shaking hands all around, and practically everyone insisted on giving Elizabeth a hug.
"That was hilarious," Kelly laughed, patting Elizabeth's shoulder. "You officially win at life."
"Good job," beamed Whitney, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Very resourceful."
"Smooth," Luke drawled, gently punching her shoulder.
Next to him, Marcus was still laughing. "Fo' sheezy, Little Mama."
His diction had the desired effect - Elizabeth laughed. "Get out of here, you," she chuckled, pushing him away. He knew she thought it was hilarious whenever he called her Little Mama, so he did it as often as possible.
The stage was slowly clearing as everyone made their way to the Commons. Sonny and Brenda appeared out of nowhere, both of them hugging her at the same time.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Brenda asked, pushing her hair out of her face.
"Is everything all right?" Sonny wanted to know, his dark eyes laced with concern.
"It's fine, guys," Elizabeth reassured them. Seeing that they didn't believe her for a minute, she sighed and tucked a lacy tendril of hair behind her ear. "I'll tell you about it later."
Sonny just nodded slowly, not wanting to press the issue. Elizabeth wasn't a downer - she had to be one of the most optimistic people he knew. Even if she wasn't happy, she'd find something to cheer herself up. And the way she looked now...Sonny wasn't even sure he wanted to know what was bothering her.
Next to him, Brenda still watched her best friend carefully. "OK," she got out hesitantly. "Whenever you want to talk, we're here for you."
"I know, guys, I know," Elizabeth smiled. She heard Sonny's mother calling out for him, so she gently pushed Brenda and Sonny toward the stairs. "Go on, get to the Commons. I'll be right there."
They walked off slowly, both of them glancing over their shoulders at her to make sure she wasn't going to have some nervous breakdown as soon as their backs were turned.
Elizabeth sighed for what must have been the millionth time that evening. She was hungry, her throat hurt, her feet were screaming in agony atop the High Heels from Hell, she had a headache coming on, and nothing was right anymore. At that moment, her fondest wish was to curl up in a little ball and not do anything or see anyone.
Still fantasizing about how wonderful it would be to be left alone for the rest of forever, she turned and collided solidly with a tall, hard object. The object apparently also had arms, which instantly seized her waist and steadied her. She braced her hands against the hard plane she had connected with and when Elizabeth looked up, she wasn't too surprised to see that it was Jason.
"You snuck up on me there, Morgan," she noted wryly. "You have a habit of doing that - someone should put a bell around your neck or something."
"But that'll take the fun out of the hunt," he chuckled, his broad hands still wrapped around her narrow waist. She smiled and he gazed down at her, itching to ask what was wrong, but knowing that he shouldn't press. They were at such a tender point in their relationship that any wrong move could have been hugely detrimental. So he didn't push her.
She absently rubbed the fabric of his dress shirt between her fingers. He looked nice when he dressed up. Today he was wearing tan slacks with a brown leather belt and a dark red shirt. Some of the boys wore ties, but Jason didn't. He looked clean and polished, and the light color of his pants seemed to almost match his golden wheat hair.
One hand dropped from her waist and he stepped around her. They were shoulder to shoulder now, with her tucked into his side as the hand still wrapped around her waist rubbed slow circles through the thin fabric of her black skirt. The auditorium was almost empty now, and her heels clicked audibly as they walked off the stage in silence, his arm still draped around her and her fingers securely in the belt loop of his pants.
They were talking softly and didn't notice the pair of blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at them.
The man to whom the blue eyes belonged to turned to his spouse, and when he spoke, his voice was tense and wary.
"Honey? Who's that boy with Beth?"
Caroline Webber looked up from her purse in the direction of her husband's hand. "Oh, Jeff, don't point."
"Who is he?" he demanded, lowering his hand and placing it on his hip.
"I don't know," she replied, not sounding nearly as concerned as he would have liked. "He seems very familiar, but I can't place his face. Maybe he's one of Beth's friends."
Jeff's eyes followed the twosome as they strolled slowly down the stage. The hoodlum - a well-dressed hoodlum was still a hoodlum - still had his arm around his little girl's waist. His poor, defenseless baby! Totally unprepared from such an assault by an experienced, hardened predator.
"Jeff! Caroline!" A woman's excited cry kept Jeff from running onto the stage and defending his little girl from the ill-intentioned hoodlum that was holding her hostage. Spinning around, he saw his old friends and colleagues from General Hospital.
"Oh, my goodness!" his wife exclaimed, instantly hugging the woman who had yelled their names. "Monica! Alan! It's so good to see you again."
Alan Morgan smiled warmly at Caroline before turning to Jeff and shaking his friend's hand. "Hello, Jeff, how is everything?"
"Just wonderful," he replied with a smile, still shaking. "And you?"
"No complaints," Monica smiled, her hand on his wife's shoulder. "We've missed you both terribly."
Caroline smiled. "Oh, the feelings are reciprocated. It's been so long since we all got together."
"Too long," Jeff agreed. "Not like two years ago, when we spent almost every waking minute at the hospital together." After moving from Colorado three years ago, both he and Caroline had worked at General Hospital for a year before transferring over to Mercy two years ago.
Alan grinned broadly. "Those were the good old days," he sighed. "Back when the four of us practically ran the place."
"Management still bad?"
Monica nodded. "Yes, but not as bad as everyone thought it would be. And not as bad as before. Sure, we have our scrapes with them, but it's all right."
Alan quickly changed the subject. A doctor at General Hospital for more than twenty years, he loathed the new administration and board. The only thing he abhorred more than dealing with them was talking about them - who needed that aggravation? "So you still like Mercy? How's that going for you?"
"Pretty good," Caroline smiled. "Although we work more than we used to. They don't have as many surgeons as General Hospital, and they'd rather have us work more than hire anyone new."
"Same story everywhere," Alan sighed. "Trying to get the work of three men out of one. What can you do?"
This time it was Monica's turn to change the subject. "We really must get together and go out to dinner like we used to," she said, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "We've missed our wonderful conversations."
"And all the fun we used to have," Alan nodded. He turned to Jeff, grinning. "Remember all the crazy things we used to do right out of Medical school?" Alan and Jeff had gone to Medical school together at Johns Hopkins, and Alan loved to reminisce about their wild days and nights before they both settled down and started their families. Jeff had started his in Colorado while Alan had started his in Port Charles. And at long last, the two had joined up again when the Webbers moved three years ago to Port Charles.
"Not in the front of the wife," Jeff responded jokingly, nudging Alan with his elbow. "What're you trying to do - get me killed? Or worse, castrated?"
Monica laughed, a light tinkling sound in the quiet auditorium. "He hasn't changed a bit, has he, Caroline?"
Caroline shook her head ruefully. "Not on your life."
The foursome stood silently for a while before Alan's eyes lit up. "Oh, I meant to congratulate you - Elizabeth did a wonderful job. Her speech was great."
"Thanks," Jeff smiled proudly. He would have loved to have been able to say that he had helped her come up with it, but that would have been far from the truth. In fact, he didn't even remember seeing her work on it. A pang of guilt hit him as he realized that he hadn't seen his daughter once since the day before yesterday, when they all sat down to breakfast together. Or rather, he and Caroline had sat down for breakfast. Elizabeth had raced from her room to the bathroom to the kitchen and back, grabbed the pop-tart her mother offered her, gulped down the orange juice he had shoved at her, and ran out the door telling them that she had layout after school and wouldn't be home until six. Not that that mattered much - they usually weren't home at that time anyway.
"We're very proud of her," Caroline agreed with a beaming smile. Jeff studied her at length - despite her bright smile, he could still see the regret in her eyes. Regret over the fact that they never seemed to see their baby girl anymore. And in a few months she'd be off at college - hopefully at Johns Hopkins, where both he and his wife had met and studied - and they'd see her even less.
"As you should be," Monica nodded firmly, her eyes sparkling. "She's a remarkable girl." Though she knew of Jason's somewhat involvement with their daughter, she was content not to mention it at the moment. It didn't seem to be the right time or place. But that was only considering that they didn't know already.
Alan didn't trouble himself with worrying over such social proprieties. "Our son certainly thinks so," he beamed. "He's been spending quite a lot of time with her, and admires her very much."
Jeff nearly choked on his own saliva - their son? Wait, what was his name? Alan Jr. was the little one...how old was the older one? Wasn't he in college already?
Next to him, his wife's mind was already racing, and at a much faster speed than his own. "Oh, Jason," she managed to get out, trying to look calm and not at all as if she'd just been told that the moon was made of cheese and was already being processed and shipped out by the Wisconsin dairy industry. "They're in the same class, that's right."
Monica nodded, still smiling. Alan just clasped his hands in front of him, not knowing that he would be getting a lecture later that evening.
"Jason?" Jeff croaked.
"Yes," Alan nodded, digging himself deeper and deeper. "I think they walked out of here together not too long ago."
Jeff's blood stopped, turned cold, and then ran in the opposite direction. He tried to control his breathing, which was difficult considering his trachea had constricted to the width of a needle.
Despite all his careful measures and painstaking precautions to hold the boys off and safely away from his youngest daughter, one had infiltrated the defenses. One had managed to sneak in right under his nose. And that was not at all acceptable.
He knew he'd have to move fast to thwart the enemy. The only problem was that he didn't know anything about the enemy except that it disguised itself as the son of his friends.
For some reason, he had always assumed that Jason was several years older than Elizabeth and already at college. And wasn't he married...? Oh, no, wait, that was Sonny's older brother, Dick or Nick or something.
And add that to the fact that Jeff rarely saw Jason - he had only been to the Morgans' house a few times in the three years that he had been here, and Jason wasn't ever around. AJ always was, either digging for dinosaur bones in the backyard or riding around on the dog wearing a cowboy hat. But Jason was always out. And when Alan and Monica stopped over at their house, which was rarely, they never brought the children.
So Jeff understandably felt doubly blind-sided by this new villain in his life - not only was the villain after his defenseless daughter, but he was also the middle child of one of his best friends.
"Well, shall we join the children in the Commons?" Monica asked brightly, not noticing how tightly Jeff's teeth were clenched as he dreamed up ways to completely extricate Jason from his – and Elizabeth's - life.
"Sure," Caroline smiled, a little too brightly, and steered her husband for the door behind Alan and Monica.
"Spending a lot of time with her?" Jeff asked seethingly, repeating what his friend had said earlier.
Caroline shrugged helplessly. "Hell if I knew."
Meanwhile, Jason and Elizabeth were walking slowly down the hallway outside the theater, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows into the inky black sky as they did. They knew nothing of what had unfolded in the auditorium after they had sauntered off the stage in one another's arms.
All Jason knew was that something was terribly wrong with Elizabeth, and all Elizabeth knew was that somehow she felt a little better just by having Jason to lean on.
And the thought scared her - not because it was scary itself, but because it was new. Foreign. She had never needed anyone to lean on before, despite all the things she'd gone through. She always got through her problems. She always relied on herself and she made it through. If - rarely- she ever needed anyone to talk to, she turned to her grandfather. But that wasn't for serious things like this; that was for when she was bummed and wanted to be cheered up. And if she wanted to talk about girl stuff or if her parents were driving her batty, she'd always turned to Sarah.
When it came to the Big Sister department, Elizabeth really considered herself blessed. Sarah had never been the bitchy or over-competitive sister her other friends frequently complained about. Sarah had to be one of the most loving, compassionate, mellow, and down-to-earth people Elizabeth knew. They rarely fought when they were younger, even though they were three years apart and the potential for disagreement was heavy. Elizabeth rarely borrowed Sarah's clothing, and when she did, her older sister didn't have much to worry about because she was always very neat and careful when it came to her own clothes, and even more so when it came to anyone else's. They never fought over boys or friends or the car or anything of the nature.
When she was younger, she liked to tag along when Sarah invited friends over, and she found that as long as she remained relatively quiet and participated at the right times, no one seemed to mind. And whenever she was bored, Sarah was always there and ready to have some fun. They'd go to movies together all the time, they'd often spend an entire afternoon baking brownies and truffles just because there was nothing good on television, and when Sarah would occasionally sneak out at night, she would sometimes let Elizabeth accompany her. They'd drive around for hours and often find themselves on the swing set at the park, watching the rays of sun first kiss the horizon.
Whenever she needed advice, Sarah was there. From fashion to their crazy parents, Sarah always gave the best advice. She knew Elizabeth better than anyone and always knew what to say to her. If she was angry with her father for being such an unexplainable weirdo, Sarah would calm her down by telling her that Daddy was old - what did she expect? If her curfew was too early, Sarah would give her helpful tips on how to either get Daddy to extend it or forget it. And whenever her parents missed something - a piano recital, a carpool day, a parent/teacher conference - Sarah always told her the same thing: "They've got to go to work, Beth. There are so many hurt people out there who need them more than we do."
And at that age, Elizabeth accepted it as the truth. As she grew older, she realized that it was just one of those things that Sarah believed in because it was easier to believe it than realize that her parents just weren't home as often as they should have been. And even though she didn't believe the excuse anymore, she was basically able to accept the fact that her parents wouldn't be there most of the time as part of her life.
So that was what Sarah was good for - guidance. She had never failed her little sister, and Elizabeth was grateful for that. Sarah would always tell her that the Webber girls had to stick together at all costs. And so they did. To this day, with Sarah away at university, they were still exceptionally close.
But despite the closeness, Elizabeth never talked to her about anything like this. Truth be told, there wasn't anyone she really did talk to like that. She wasn't used to needing other people like that, and the thought that maybe she did need someone else's support always made her feel weak.
But why was it different with Jason?
Everything about how he handled the situation and how she responded to him was different. And although it scared her a little, she had to admit that it felt...right. Easy. Not forced.
Instead of immediately demanding to know what was wrong and attempting to fix it - and doing a really half-assed job at it, too - he just left her alone while staying with her the whole time.
Did that even make sense? Was it possible to leave someone alone and yet stand by his or her side?
With Jason, it was.
To her, he seemed to prove countless contradictions like that wrong. He never pestered her about what she was thinking and yet she knew that he'd always be the first one to sit down and listen when she was ready to talk. He was always the first to make her laugh, but if she needed him to be serious, he was. He was so easygoing most of the time, always cracking jokes and just having a good time, but when it came to things he cared deeply about, he was completely focused.
And even now, he wasn't pressuring her to talk. And for some strange reason that she had an impossibly hard time explaining, just being with him made her feel better, as if he was letting her borrow some of the strength he always carried so well.
His hand squeezed her waist gently and she sighed, pulling away slightly.
"Thanks."
His eyes were puzzled. "For what? I didn't do anything."
"You did more than you know."
She settled into silence again, but this time Jason wasn't able to hold off his curiosity.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The silence still stretched between them, and Elizabeth was about to speak when they arrived at the door of the Commons.
Ms. Ward was standing at the entrance, ushering some more lost parents inside, and she beamed when she saw Elizabeth and Jason.
"Hey, kids," she smiled, instantly walking over and patting Elizabeth on the back while steering them into the cafeteria. "Elizabeth, your speech was wonderful. You did a great job. Were you nervous?"
"Oh, yeah," Elizabeth nodded, pulling away from Jason but threading her fingers through his as she did so, letting him know that she wasn't about to let him go anywhere. "Very nervous."
Ms. Ward shook her head, her silver spectacles catching the light. "You didn't look that way at all," she assured her. "You looked calm and confident, and did a wonderful job."
"Thank you," Elizabeth smiled as they walked toward the center of the large cafeteria. All the chairs had been stacked and swept to the side, and the room was clear of furniture except the punch and cookie tables in the center of the room. Parents, students, new inductees and teachers all milled around, sipping the pink liquid and mingling.
Through her peripheral vision, Elizabeth spied Mr. Lewis making his way toward them. Ms. Ward excused herself, seeing some parents she had been meaning to chat with, and Elizabeth turned to face her advisor.
Mr. Lewis was smiling broadly, proudly, but Elizabeth was too busy blushing with embarrassment.
"Elizabeth-"
His words were cut off by her embarrassed wail. "Oh, Mr. Lewis!"
"What's wrong?" Jason stepped aside when her teacher moved closer, placing both hands on her shoulders. But Elizabeth's hand remained in his, refusing to let him move too far away. "What is it?"
"Oh, come on, Mr. Lewis," she burst out. "Don't tell me that you didn't see it! I totally ruined it all! The candles, the prompt, the introduction – everything!"
Her advisor stared down at her in disbelief before shaking his head. He caught Jason's gaze for a minute and rolled his eyes as if to say, women. "Honey, do you want to know what I saw out there?"
"Oh, dear God. What?" She was still busy studying the floor and didn't notice how the two men were watching her.
"I saw a very calm, self-assured girl go up there, show her ingenuity and adaptivity in the face of a problem, and deliver a sensational speech that the crowd loved."
She peeked up at him. "Really?"
"Would I lie to you about something like that?"
"So I didn't look like a total clown?"
Jason frowned at the timidity in her voice. "Not at all," he and Mr. Lewis assured her in unison. They caught each other's gaze again and Mr. Lewis let him continue. "You were fine, Elizabeth. It wasn't a big deal at all - if anything, it was cute," he finished with a smile.
Her wry smile reminded her of how much she hated being called cute, but he didn't care. She was cute. Everything about her was adorable.
"You did a wonderful job, Beth," Mr. Lewis added earnestly. "I was so proud of you. All of you," he added as Lexi and Josh joined them, each sipping punch. "You were all great."
"Thanks, Mr. Lewis," they both smiled. Lexi offered Elizabeth some of her punch, but the petite brunette shook her head.
"Thanks anyway."
Mr. Lewis excused himself and David joined the group. Jason stood around awkwardly as they all shared their favorite memories and reminisced about all the fun they'd had as NHS officers, despite all the hard work.
Apparently, during the clothing drive in which members of the community were instructed to leave their boxes on their porch for pick-up by NHS members, David had been chased across three backyards and had to jump a fence to escape a hyperactive and possibly homicidal Yorkshire terrier.
Josh reminded them of the pie-eating contest during the annual Welcome Back Raider Social, in which they'd had quite a few problems when it came to weighing the pies and deciding the winners, so they had to eye-ball it, which wasn't very accurate since a lot of the pie ended up on the table or in the contestants' noses.
Jason was able to comment on that one, since he had been the one to supply the pies from his work. He worked at a local restaurant as the pastry chef and made pies, and when he had been asked to help out with the contest, he had gladly snagged some pies for them.
But other than that, the conversation was centered on the four officers. Lexi told how an old lady brought her hot cocoa when she was ringing the Salvation Army bell outside of Wyndhams, and Elizabeth reminded everyone of all the back-breaking work they'd done while packing food boxes for low-income seniors at the Humanitarian Service Project.
Sonny and Brenda were standing nearby and talking to the Czar, and Jason decided it might be a better idea to let Elizabeth have a nice conversation with her friends. He was just sidling away, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible so as not to be rude when he felt a tug on his hand. Elizabeth, still nodding and smiling at David, held him fast.
Jason smiled to himself and scooted back into place, part of him relieved that she still wanted him around even though she was talking to her officer friends. Presently, the conversation hit a lull and Josh drifted away to talk to his other friends.
Jason and Elizabeth excused themselves as well, and no sooner had they stepped away than they were ambushed by Sonny and Brenda. So surprised was Elizabeth by the assault that she didn't notice the wide-eyed, red-faced man in the corner whose spouse was trying to restrain him from marching over and physically separating her and Jason.
David and Lexi watched the couple depart silently as Josh and Kyle returned to the group.
David took a small sip of his punch, swishing the red liquid in his clear glass. "Well."
Josh snickered, watching as Jason snaked an arm around Elizabeth's waist. "Yeah. That was kinda weird."
"In a good way, though," Lexi corrected, glancing at him sideways.
Kyle was the first among them to nod emphatically. "Yeah, definitely in a good way. I mean, those two seem to be really good together. For what it's worth, I'm happy for them."
"Me, too," David agreed immediately and sincerely. "But still – I'll never get used to the sight of them together."
Josh laughed, twisting to shoot his empty cup into a nearby garbage can. "I know what you mean, man."
"Hey," Lexi interjected, frowning at her fellow officer. "They're cute together."
"See, now, that's the same thing Jess says," David replied, wagging his glass at her. "All the girls seem to think they look 'totally cute' together, and I don't get why. I don't think they look bad or cute, so I'm just curious."
"Yeah, me, too," Josh added. "What makes 'em so 'cute'?"
The brunette rolled her eyes. Guys could be such lamebrains sometimes. "Just the fact that she's so tiny and nerdy and perfect, and he's so tall and outgoing – and also perfect – and the fact that they've been in the same school for three years and are only now getting together." She shrugged her shoulders, returning her gaze to the couple. "I can't really explain it, but they just look good together."
The three boys joined her as she perused PC High's newest power duo, tapping their fingers on their chins contemplatively.
David was the first to break the silence. "I'll still never get used to seeing them together."
"Here, here," Josh agreed.
Across the Commons, Sonny and Brenda had jumped on Elizabeth as soon as she had separated from her NHS colleagues.
"Hey, Beth," Sonny smiled sympathetically. He could feel Brenda fidgeting impatiently next to him, anxious to know what was troubling her best friend.
"Hey, guys," Elizabeth smiled, attempting to be cheerful. "Wow, am I glad that ceremony's over. They never should've combined the Academic Letter Ceremony with NHS Induction Night. It was a total mess, and besides that, way too long."
Brenda watched her warily, her lips pursed into a thin crimson line. "Okay, Webber," she cut in tersely. "Now, you're going to cut the act and tell us what's bothering you so that we can fix it."
Sonny gaped at her. "Brenda!"
She looked at him, perplexed. "What?"
"Way to be considerate and thoughtful, not to mention discreet."
The brunette had to fight the urge to smack him right there in the Commons. That certainly wouldn't be good – his parents might be watching and they certainly wouldn't be too keen on their son's new girlfriend if they thought she was a female Mike Tyson. "First, screw discreet – I never did that well anyway. Second, don't tell me how to talk to my friend. My mom does that and I hate it."
"Look," Sonny said in a low voice. "I just don't want to push it, okay?" He turned back to Elizabeth and she was touched at the concern in his eyes. "Beth, if you need to talk about it, don't hesitate to grab us and let it out. But we're not going to stand here and badger you to spill it in the middle of a school function." He ignored Brenda's protest and grabbed her elbow, intent on steering her toward the refreshment table. "Instead, we are going to go get some punch."
Elizabeth chuckled as the two walked away, Sonny practically dragging a very displeased Brenda who was trying to maintain her dignity while throwing a fit at the same time. "Those two," she trailed off, knowing that Jason knew exactly what she meant.
"Yeah," he smiled. "They mean well."
A slender, elegant woman had taken notice of them and was quickly walking toward the center of the room, a wide smile on her face.
"Jason!" she called with a hint of a Spanish accent. "Mi hijo, how are you?"
"Good, thanks," Jason beamed back, leaning down to hug Sonny's mom. "And you?"
"No complaints," she replied as always, turning to Elizabeth. She smiled lovingly at the girl and took a minute to frame her pale face in her hands. "Elisbeta," she smiled. "Como estas, carina?"
"Asi, asi," the petite brunette replied with a smile. "Como esta su hijo?" Sonny's mother had always encouraged Elizabeth to speak Spanish to her for practice, and even though she was no longer at the stage where she had to practice her pronunciation and sentence structure, some habits died hard.
"Ric esta muy bien, gracias," she replied. She looked up as Sonny's father joined them. He smiled at Jason and winked at Elizabeth.
"Excellent speech, Bethie," he nodded. "You were wonderful – everyone in our row thought you were just the cutest thing."
Elizabeth bit her lip to keep from smiling too readily – he, too, knew how much she hated being called cute, and that was precisely why he and Ric made a habit out of calling her cutie almost every time they saw her. "Thank you, Mr. Corinthos."
Mr. Lewis walked by then, and Sonny's parents went off to talk to him, leaving Jason and Elizabeth standing alone in the center of the cafeteria.
"You want some punch?" Jason offered, already leading her to the refreshment table. She nodded and he poured two glasses while she snagged two chocolate chip cookies from the platter.
"Let's go sit down," she suggested, indicating the tables that were spread across the other half of the room. Only the grandparents were sitting down, the other guests having too much fun standing and mingling.
Jason nodded and they made their way to the lunch tables, picking one more at the back of the cafeteria. He pulled out her chair for her and pushed it in before sitting himself. His friends always laughed at him when they saw him do that, but he couldn't help it. To this day, his grandfather still pulled the chair out for his grandmother, just as his father did for his mother.
Elizabeth nibbled on the soft cookie and didn't notice that Jason didn't touch his, choosing instead to just sit and watch her. She had nibbled it into the shape of a crescent moon before she noticed his eyes on her and turned to look at him.
"Hey," he nodded when he saw that he'd been caught. It was such a simple reaction – he wasn't expecting anything from her, just sitting calmly and watching. Her gaze fell to the dark red dress shirt he wore, and she found herself wanting to undo the top two buttons. Having not opted for a tie, Jason felt obligated to button his shirt all the way up, and it couldn't have been very comfortable, although if she really forced herself to, she'd admit that she wanted to unbutton it slightly for purely selfish reasons.
She leaned back in her own chair, taking a moment to survey the rest of the room. She spotted her parents in the far corner of the cafeteria, actively chatting with Mr. Alcazar. Or at least, her mother was actively chatting and laughing to one of his stories. Her father, on the other hand, was alternating between fake-smiling and scanning the room with quick, darting movements of his eyes. She looked away quickly on the off-chance that he'd spot her and they'd make eye contact.
Jason expelled a deep breath, still watching her, and her eyes returned to him. He hadn't moved from his position, and she slowly set her half-eaten cookie on her napkin where it lay on the table and turned in the chair to face him.
She could see that he was waiting for her to say something, but his mouth remained shut. Elizabeth licked her lips once before she spoke, her fingers twiddling nervously in her lap.
"I didn't get into Stanford."
His eyes bugged and she firmly reminded herself of the rule – no tears. No voice-wobbling. No crying.
Jason blinked once, twice, as if she had just blurted something in Arabic. "Wait – what?"
Elizabeth fought to keep her voice normal and succeeded. "I didn't get into Stanford."
His shoulders sagged upon comprehension, and the infinite sympathy she saw reflected in his eyes brought an unwanted rush of tears to her eyes. She blinked them back as quickly as she could, not wanting him to think that she was so fragile and weak that she'd burst into tears in public.
"Hey," he whispered, scooting his chair closer to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Come here." She allowed him to pull her against his chest and after a moment, pressed her face to his neck as he rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay."
Her lips pulled into a distorted curve as she tried to suppress a sob and failed. "No, it's not, Jason."
He pressed a kiss to her temple and wrapped his other hand around her waist until she was practically in his lap.
"Stanford was supposed to be my way out," she got out in a broken voice. "My escape from my parents' demands to go to Johns Hopkins. And now I don't even have that." She sniffled and then cursed herself for crying on his shoulder even though she swore to herself that she wouldn't. Jason felt her press a hand to his chest in an attempt to push away from him, but he wasn't about to let that happen.
Elizabeth was surprised to feel his grip around her tighten as he whispered fiercely in her ear. "Hey, don't do that. Lean on me, Elizabeth; that's what I'm here for." Another soft kiss was feathered over her hair. "Don't pull away and shut me out."
She sniffled again, resigning and letting his arm surround her and pull her into his chest again. It was a long moment before she spoke. "Thanks."
"For what? I didn't do anything." His hand never ceased caressing her shoulder.
She smiled, remembering the line from their earlier conversation. "You've done more than you know."
His chest rose and fell on a sigh as his fingers feathered through her wavy hair. "Just don't hide your emotions from me," he said softly. "You don't have to pretend with me, Elizabeth – ever. And you don't have to carry all your problems and worries alone. I'm ready to help if you'll let me."
Her fingers tickled the underside of his jaw as she explored the light fuzz that was already forming. Her other hand reached down to twine with the one he'd placed protectively over her waist, and she burrowed into his chest.
"Tha-"
"And don't thank me."
"Oh."
They sat like that for a few minutes, her too weary to say anything, and him too relieved that she'd let him hold her and comfort her to want to press matters further before she was ready to do so.
"Jason?" Her voice was soft and faraway.
"Mmm?"
A sad sigh. "I really wanted to go to Stanford."
He swallowed, shifting slightly on the uncomfortable plastic chairs but retaining his firm hold on her. "Do you know what my grandmother says?"
"What?" It was so soft that he wouldn't have known that she'd spoken had he not felt her chest move against his.
"She says that whatever happens to us happens for a reason. Whenever God closes a door, He opens for us a window."
She considered his words, her fingers pinching and rubbing the fabric of his shirt.
"He has a plan for us, Elizabeth, and He always knows what's best for us. And that's what He wills to happen." He pulled away and smiled down at her. "That's what my grandmother has firmly believed for all of her life, and I've never had any reason to doubt it."
She looked away and Jason could see the hint of tears welling up in her eyes. "Honey, maybe you weren't meant to go to Stanford. Maybe there's someplace even better out there for you – someplace that will recognize your talents and help you nurture and develop them instead of treating you like just another tuition check."
Elizabeth sniffed softly. She liked the sound of what he was saying. But even more, she liked the sound of him calling her honey. "Mmm."
"If they rejected you, Elizabeth," he continued softly with firmness of conviction. "Then they're fools. And it's their loss, because wherever you end up going, you are going to tip the world over on its axis."
She snuggled into him again, closing her eyes. A few tears broke through her lashes and tumbled haphazardly down her cheeks, but the profound depression that had enveloped her so thickly earlier was dissipating. "Maybe you're right."
"I know I'm right," Jason insisted, giving her a small shake. "You belong somewhere else, Elizabeth. All you have to do is figure out where."
She huffed, her bitterness returning. "For the longest time, I thought that somewhere was Stanford. I felt so safe, Jason, because as long as I had Stanford, there was no way my parents could force me to go to Johns. As long as there was somewhere I really, really, really wanted to go with every fiber of my being, they couldn't deny my wishes and force me into Medical school by preying on my insecurities. Now I've got nothing."
He frowned at the forlorn tone of her voice. The predicament she was painting regarding the parental units seemed more like a battle than a loving relationship. "But what about Chicago? You said that was your second choice."
"That was a sham and they know it," she replied bitterly. "Stanford was on the top of my list, and it was the only thing on my list. It was my Trump card, and now I'm stuck."
Jason was about to reply but was interrupted by Sonny and Brenda, who had spotted the duo cuddling together in the corner and figured now was the moment to get the dirt.
"Hey," Brenda greeted them hurriedly. "Beth, honey, are you okay?" Next to her, Sonny made no move to end her inquiries.
Elizabeth nodded, a sad smile touching her lips. "Yeah."
"What's going on, Beth?" Sonny asked softly, sitting on the table. Brenda joined him, perching herself on the corner.
Elizabeth licked her lips before replying. "I didn't get into Stanford."
Both of her friends gaped at her with shock and disbelief. Sonny was the first to recover his voice.
"Holy crap," he whistled. "You're kidding me."
"Oh, Beth," Brenda sighed, her shoulders drooping. "I am so sorry."
"Me, too," Sonny added sincerely. "I know how much you wanted to go there."
"Look at it this way," Brenda broke in, trying to be helpful. "There's got to be somewhere better where you belong."
"Exactly," Jason agreed, giving Elizabeth's shoulder a squeeze.
The petite brunette sighed and shifted on her chair before leaning into Jason again. "I guess," she agreed reluctantly. "I just thought that I'd already found that place, and now it feels like I'm back at square one, and it's so late in the game."
"You'll find it again," Jason assured her, stroking her upper arm as he looked to his friends for agreement. "Don't worry about it, Elizabeth. Just trust yourself to make the right decision, and I know you will."
"And you can always transfer out later," Sonny added helpfully. "It's not so bad."
Elizabeth groaned, covering her face in her hand. "I don't even want to think about transfers and all that yet. I worked so hard on their application and everything, and what was it worth? Nothing. In the end, I wasn't good enough."
"Hey," Jason cut in immediately, giving her a strong shake. "That's not true and you know it, Webber. You are good enough."
"And remember what the Czar always told us?" Sonny interjected. "He said that if we got rejected, to remember that it wasn't personal. And it's not."
"It never is," Brenda added. "To them, every applicant is just a number, and they never even have the whole picture of the student – all they have are bits and pieces: standardized test scores, subjective grades, verbose recommendations. They don't ever know the real person they're debating over, and yet they feel that they're qualified to decide if he or she is good enough to be accepted to their institution or not. Even though that's the system all across the board, it doesn't make it any less stupid."
"She's right," Jason agreed. "It's never personal. If someone gets turned down, it's often because the school already has enough people to fit the niche that person belonged to. Like, they've filled their quota of computer geeks and jocks and D'orchestra kids, and they just don't need any more. So it's not that you're not good enough; it's just that a bunch of other people just happened to be in line before you. Don't let that affect the way you view yourself, and don't let it make you question your abilities."
"You don't need to be scared, Beth," Brenda assured her. Her smile was soft and sympathetic. "You'll get through this and you'll find someplace better."
"That's what it all comes down to," Jason said softly
to her. "You will find someplace better, and you'll be much better off and happier there than you ever could have been at Stanford."
Elizabeth nodded once, slowly, then again. "Yeah, you're right."
"Of course we are," Brenda huffed. "You ought to know that by now."
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "And the sooner you figure out that I'm a genius, the better off we'll all be."
Elizabeth smiled and chuckled as Sonny glowered at the wooden table.
"Personally," he began, jabbing pointedly at the table. "I want to know what those yahoos on the admission committee were smoking when they read over your stuff."
"It's the same stuff you were on when you asked Courtney Matthews to Prom last year," Brenda huffed under her breath, but Sonny heard her anyway.
"Prom?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. "Um, excuse me, it was Turnabout and she asked me. And what was I supposed to do, say no?"
"Given the fact that you're at risk for catching herpes just by shaking her hand?" Brenda asked. "Uh, yeah, Einstein."
Sonny scowled at her. "Look, I felt bad for her, okay? And it's not like I had a date anyway, so what did I care? And remember who you asked?"
"I'm warning you, Corinthos-"
"Tony Jones? Are you freaking kidding me? That kid's a freaking Lurch! Does his vocabulary even exceed ten words?"
"Hey! He was a nice guy, okay? And he wasn't half the jerk you are!"
"Oh, so now I'm a jerk?"
"What, you think this is some overnight development or something, Don?" Brenda was shoving his shoulder now as Jason and Elizabeth watched in amazement, not knowing whether to break it up or smirk at their bantering. "You've always been a jerk!"
"Well, if I'm such a jerk, why are you going out with me?" Sonny demanded, unable to keep from grinning. He was standing next to her and his face was inches from hers. Brenda shoved at him again but he wouldn't move, his eyes glittering as he laughed at her. "I guess that makes you a jerk by association – how does Mrs. Jerk sound to you?"
Brenda laughed despite herself, giving in to one last urge to shove him, but with his heels planted firmly on the tiles, Sonny wasn't moving anywhere. "Don't flatter yourself, Corinthos."
Elizabeth and Jason were laughing now at her predicament – even if Brenda wouldn't admit it, Sonny had gotten her. From now on, it would be darn near impossible for her to call him a jerk without him reflecting it back on her.
The brief sparring match in the corner had drawn a pair of eyes with the movement, and the man to whom the eyes belonged was not too happy.
"There they are, Caroline," he whispered to his wife. "The enemy has been spotted. Advancing at twenty-two hundred hours."
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Oh, give it up, Jeff. They're not doing anything."
Her husband couldn't believe his ears. "Not doing anything? Woman, are you blind?" The dark glare directed in his direction didn't stop him from his tirade. "They're touching. That's right – his hands are on her. I don't know what she's thinking – why would she let that happen?"
"Jeff, they're kids – this is their age-"
But he was far beyond listening to her logic. "Surely she agrees with me that boys are horrible, unattractive creatures with hands that are far too large and exploratory. Why would she allow those hands on herself? He's probably brainwashed her – we've got to move fast if we're going to bag this one. He's on to our game, I can feel it. There's not much time-"
"There you two are," came Monica's voice. Jeff cringed visibly as the two doctors stepped directly in front of him, blocking his view of Elizabeth and the hooligan that had attached himself, leech-like, to her body. "We've been looking for you."
Caroline smiled up at her husband, who looked like he was about to have a coronary. Her daughter and Jason were still in her view, and from what she could see, they were just chatting with their friends. Jason had his arms around her daughter's shoulders and she was snuggled up next to him as they laughed and chattered away with Sonny and Brenda. As far as she could see, the scene before them was hardly dangerous. In fact, it was rather cute.
"Did you know they have these mini cheesecakes over there?" Alan asked, stuffing one into his mouth. "They're quite good."
"I'll bet they are," Jeff got out through clenched teeth. Alan noticed that he was straining to see something, and turned around to investigate.
"Oh, there are the kids," he beamed, pointing in the direction of his son and the charming Webber girl. "Aren't they adorable?"
Monica smiled, secretly hoping that Alan would stop right there – Jeff didn't seem to be taking the news of his daughter's maturation very well.
But Alan was never one to take such a cue. "I bet we'll be in-laws before you know it, Jeff," he joked, not noticing that his wife was studying the floor with newfound and almost fanatic interest.
Caroline, on the other hand, was laughing. But her chuckles were cut short as her husband suddenly lunged forward, his eyes blazing and his mouth set. She reached forward quickly and grabbed his shoulders, preventing him from stalking over to the kids and immediately demanding that Jason relinquish his daughter immediately or face a firing squad.
There were some things that fathers just didn't take very well, and for Jeff Webber, it was his little baby receiving comfort and attention from a male other than himself.
