Chapter 3

"So you're feeling better, Liz?" Lindsay asked. She was leaning against the wall beside the mirrors waiting for Elizabeth to finish fixing her hair.

"I'm the same as always and I haven't keeled over yet—is my hair sticking out in back?" Elizabeth studied her reflection mercilessly.

"Uhhh…just a few strands." Lindsay smoothed Elizabeth's hair where her friend could not see. "Damn, your hair is so soft. I hate you…"

Elizabeth glanced at Lindsay out of the corner of her eyes. "Are you serious? My hair has such sun damage I'm surprised it hasn't withered up and fallen out. The sun has bleached it so much I've been mistaken for a blonde-"

"So wait you never even highlighted it?"

"Of course not…"

"Seriously Liz, I'm jealous…"

"You can have it. I hate my hair." As Elizabeth took a final look in the mirror, she could not help but be grateful the faculty was too busy hunting down the punks who planted stink bombs in the hallway to care about the dress code. Her denim skirt was a couple of inches of above her fingertips and her blue sleeveless top showed more of her stomach and shoulder than the deans considered conducive to the learning environment.

"I wish, but I just have the skin for light hair." Lindsay had her slightly past shoulder length dark brown hair in tight braids. She was only about two inches shorter than Elizabeth, but not nearly as slender. The consensus was Lindsay and Elizabeth were two of the most attractive girls in their whole class, but neither would believe such a claim.

Elizabeth placed all of her things back in their designated place in her locker and closed the door lightly so as not to knock anything down.

"Your locker scares me, Liz. Too much order."

Elizabeth frowned. "You know I don't like anything out of place…"

"Yeah, I think I've heard you say something about that before." Lindsay chuckled much to Elizabeth's discontent.

"I'm heading to class now." Elizabeth started down the hall away from Lindsay.

"But we still have almost ten minutes before the bell rings." Lindsay called, but her friend was not listening. Every morning played out the same. Elizabeth was also very fond of promptness.

As always, Elizabeth was the first one in her in first hour Chemistry II. She studied her notes again. They had a test that day and she did not feel like she knew the material as well as she usually did. Track had been consuming her life recently, but Elizabeth was determined to not to let her grades reflect that.

"Jack, you better hide that. By third hour the whole facility will be on the look out and I would hate see you caught red handed--- or in this case cone-headed." The speaker erupted into wild laughter.

"Come on Will don't you trust me. They haven't caught Jack Sparrow yet have they."

"No, now that you mention it I don't trust you. You've gotten me caught a few times."

"Trifles, Will. He who falls behind, gets left behind."

Will stuck his foot out and Jack who rarely paid attention to where he walked fell flat on his face. "It's all about what a man can do and what a man can't do." Will sprinted into the classroom and slammed the door behind him.

"Get back here you whelp. How dare you trip the great Jack Sparrow. Wait…you're not actually going to class are you?"

Will collapsed with laughter into his chair. "Liz, you miss way too much not hanging out with us in the mornings. I should insist you…"

"I'm right here. You don't have to scream." Elizabeth did not look up from her notes. "We have a test Will and it is not on Jack's aphorisms."

"I know. I studied last night during commercial breaks. There was an all night marathon of-"

"I'm focusing."

"Sorry Elizabeth…" Will slid into his chair and rummaged through his bag. No sooner did he find his Chemistry notebook did the bell ring and the teacher appear from his office in the back. Will's eyes followed him to the front of the room.

"Good morning class. As I'm you all remembered we have a test today. Nevertheless, don't fear I don't think it is that hard and I wrote it myself. Last year I only had one causality during this exam." The teacher winked at a white-faced boy sitting in the front row. This class had a reputation for being one of the hardest in the school. After almost two-thirds of a year, Elizabeth did not believe that. Then again when you spent as time studying as she did, there was not much that was very difficult.

"I should have taken Jack's advice and ditched class today…" Will whispered to Elizabeth.

"Or you could have taken my advice and studied." Will's face fell when he heard her response. She had a real knack for killing his fun. He did not have time to pull together a come back because the teacher passed out the tests and everyone was expected to be silent.

"Tell me again why we took that class? There were so many less painful choices," Will moaned as they proceeded to their next class.

"I don't recall putting a gun to your head and telling you to take it, Will. If you didn't want to work or think that hard you should have taken ceramics with Jack."

"Jack got kicked out of that class after he…"

"I know what happened."

"I just didn't want you to be alone in a rigorous class. I thought we could help each other out…"

"Then you just answered your own question. Anyway they wouldn't have run the class if I was the only one taking it…"

"I don't know for anyone else they wouldn't but you are number one is our class and one of the most talented runners in school history." Will said, a bit of disdain evident in his voice.

"Will if that is how you feel then why do you bother talking to me?" Will slapped his hand into his face. He could not figure out for the life of him where she got half the stuff she accused him of.

"I'm playing with you Liz. It was a joke…I was just making conversation…"

"Whatever. I don't have time to play around. Some of us actually have lives." Elizabeth picked up her pace and left Will alone.

"Why do I bother? Sometimes I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out she didn't even have ears…"

"True that mate. She has her nose stuck up so high…you gotta start ignoring her…Lizzy is a total spoiled rich kid who has always gotten everything she wanted and can't imagine it any other way." Jack jumped out from the locker he had been hiding in and grabbed Will's shoulder.

"No, she isn't. I know she is not. That is the only reason I talk to her anymore…"

"A word of advice: don't get your hopes up."

"Good thing I'd be an idiot to take your advice then."

"Will, haven't I taught you anything in the years we've been friends?"

"Let's see….you taught me how to steal, shirk responsibilities and run away- with a mentor like you I don't even need school." Jack rolled his eyes, feigning hurt. Will laughed. "I'll see you at lunch, Jack."

Elizabeth ran into James in the stairwell. He swept her up as she rushed past and brushed his lips against her face. "Damn Liz, you look hot today."

Elizabeth's eyes glowed. "You're just being nice." She said softly, playfully pushing him away.

"Oh am I?" The tips of their noses touched. James' hands rested on her shoulder. Elizabeth breathed in his scent, forgetting everything for the moment. Then the one-minute bell rang. Elizabeth slipped away and fled the scene. She could think of few things as awful as tardiness.

On her way to the lunchroom, Elizabeth encountered Lindsay and Eric. They were standing in front of a locked door holding each other. Elizabeth decided to give them some privacy so walked past without saying a word. A hand reached out and pulled her back.

"Don't ignore us Liz. We're not ashamed to be around you during you and James public display of affection." Lindsay still clutched Eric's hand. He smiled at Elizabeth. His hair was slightly messed- most likely his girlfriend's doing.

"Hey, I just hate to be the one who pulls you two apart." Elizabeth shook her head.

"Liz, I'm really sorry for how my brother acted yesterday. When he drinks that much his minds turns into mush and he oozes his nastiness all over."

"It's cool. I don't really remember what he did so you forget it too."

"Make sure James apologizes too. He was hitting the drinks a little heavy himself. He acted too rough for my liking."

"Really?" Elizabeth watched the pattern on the floor as they walked. He hadn't seemed any different from every other time. James wasn't docile, but he certainly would never do anything that could hurt her.

"Just the opinion I got- maybe he had a bad day." Lindsay got in the lunch line. Eric had his arm around her back.

"I'm going to go give Will back his notebook…I borrowed it earlier…" Elizabeth needed an excuse to talk to Will. She knew her friends especially James didn't endorse her friendship with him. As Will was not as rich or popular as they were, they saw him below themselves. Elizabeth tried her best to make it seem as though they more acquaintances, but even Eric and Lindsay –who weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer- got suspicious after Elizabeth ran off everyday to talk to him.

"Uh sure…we'll be at our table…like we always are…"

Elizabeth arrived at Will's table in time to see Jack swagger in through the front doors. She was sure Jack was the only one who could successfully sneak in and out of the building without the deans catching him. A few months back, she had gone to her car to pick up a forgotten textbook and upon her return two deans were waiting to interrogate her. She couldn't help but envy Jack's evasiveness. Will had his head done and was laughing hysterically into the table- making Elizabeth think she had walked in on some elaborate scheme.

"Good day, Miss Swann." Jack tipped his imaginary –the dean had confiscated it the third week of school- hat. Will looked up; his face was beet red and stained by tear marks.

"What's up Liz?" He greeted. Elizabeth shrugged.

"Just saying hello while the others buy food."

"Don't you need lunch too?" Will asked, in his concerned voice.

"Lunch isn't really my favorite meal. I feel better when I skip it…"

"I vaguely recall you saying the same thing about dinner."

"No wonder you're so skinny." Jack poked Elizabeth's stomach. She slapped his hand away.

"Do you mind?"

"Actually I do." He smirked at his own joke. Elizabeth pulled her shirt down to cover as much skin as possible. Will was fighting a losing battle not to choke on the cookie he was eating. Jack's lunch consisted of a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew.

"Is that bench not up to your standards?" Jack asked when Elizabeth didn't sit down.

"Ahhh no…just I should go…"

"Yeah your friends are looking over here." Jack waved across the room.

"Liz, Jack and I are going miniature golfing later. Why don't you come?" Will asked. Elizabeth usually spent Friday nights with James, but she was in a surprisingly good mood and didn't want to turn Will down. She hated that sad look he got in his eyes when she did.

"Sure, but I have practice so just come pick me up at around seven." Elizabeth left Jack and Will and walked with her head down back to her other friends. She feared how angry James would be if he knew, she had plans with other guys. If he asked, she would say she had too much homework. It wasn't exactly a lie and everyone would believe it.

"I'm scared, Will."

"Why?"

"Her mood took a complete 360 from this morning. That is not normal…" Jack kept one eye on Elizabeth until she disappeared into the masses of students.

"Is that Jack harassing you, Liz?" James pulled Elizabeth into a hug. "I'll make sure he never approaches you again."

"Not really…he is Will's friend. We rarely talk. Don't waste your time on Jack."

"Yeah wasteful- you got that right."

Elizabeth sat next to James and drank the remainder of her water bottle.

"Shouldn't you eat? We don't want a repeat of what happened yesterday." Eric offered Elizabeth food. She shook her head.

"I'll eat when I get home. It is too close to practice. I used to eat right before I ran, but then I kept getting sick and after I stopped eating it went right away."

"Yeah I remember that. That was last year. You haven't eaten lunch since then?"

"You sit with me everyday."

"Yeah Lindsay, that really was a dumb thing to ask." Eric teased.

"So you want me too pick you up after practice and we can all go to dinner?" James asked.

"I'd love to, but I have a paper due for history on Monday. I don't want to be stressed out on Saturday or Sunday so I want to start today." James looked disappointed. Elizabeth couldn't please everyone and she saw Will much less than James. "I'm free tomorrow for sure though."

"Ok then, I'll call you before then and we can decide what we're going to do."

The bell ended their lunch period. Elizabeth headed upstairs in almost a skip. She was still tired, but her mood had improved from earlier. She pushed it out off as a side effect of Friday. She had physics and history in the afternoon, which was easy compared to a few of her morning classes. Will was in her physics class but he sat on the other side of the room so they couldn't talk. Instead of listening to the lecture, she started on her homework. Though no one dared mention it, the teacher had explained the same theory yesterday. When she finished with time to spare, she pulled out the manga Will had lent her many weeks ago. She had almost forgotten she still had it until she uncovered it at the bottom of her bag. Elizabeth spent the remainder of the class reading; the only thing on her mind was ensuring she read the panels in the correct order.

"So that is where that went." Will reached for his book, but Elizabeth pulled away.

"I'm almost done. I'll give it back later."

"No, keep it as long as you want. I forget I even had the first volume."

"Oh Will, the main character is really cute."

"I knew you would say that, which is precisely why I gave you that series first. I figured I could hook you if you fell in love with the character."

"You really thought into that."

"Only cuz you are a hard one to get through too."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Means you're going to be late if you don't hurry." Will tapped her on the head with his pen. "I'll see you later, Liz." Elizabeth smiled. She read as she walked down the hall- a task that may have been impossible had she not have been so agile.

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