Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: Thanks so much for all of the kind reviews! And congrats to everyone who got the trivia question about Lizzy's birthday right! February 9, 1964 was the day when The Beatles first preformed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and more than 72 million people saw them. February 7, 1964 is the actual day when the Fab Four arrived in New York City, and on February 11 they played their first U.S. concert. Thought I'd share that with all of you… Now, onto chapter 19!
Lizzy stared down at the sketchpad sitting on her lap, pencil in her hand. She sat cross-legged in the center of her bed in silence with her artwork. Outside, it was a particularly dreary March day; wind whipped the palm trees back and forth, the sky was gray, and rain had been falling since the early morning hours. The depressing weather hadn't helped Lizzy come out of her saddened state at all. In fact, it only seemed to make things worse.
She found that she couldn't look at the drawings on the page in front of her anymore, as tears suddenly flooded her vision. The page was covered in sketches of skyscrapers, taxi cabs, signs and building fronts--anything that she remembered from her short time spent in the Big Apple. It was right there in front of her; everything to remind her of the family that was living there at this moment. The family she should be with right now. For the last couple weeks, all she could draw was the sights of that city, or the faces of her parents and other relatives. She was incredibly homesick, because that was what New York really was--her home.
Sure, she talked to her family once every week, but that wasn't enough. It was great to hear their voices, but she always thought about how much better it would be to see them. She was keeping a countdown until the spring break, when she would be able hug each and every person as soon as she saw them. She couldn't wait. Sadie, Prudence, and Rita had promised to take Lizzy and Lucy shopping, Max was still being held to his promise to take her for a night out on the town, and Jude kept telling her that he had a surprise waiting for her.
Lizzy thought that her drawings would bring her some sort of comfort, but had no such luck. She was supposed to be thinking of ideas for her final project in Art class at school. Mr. Henderson had told his students that their final project would be a large painting on a canvas. The assignment was to draw something that held a special meaning to you, something that you could convey symbolically. Lizzy's ideas had morphed into literal things that represented New York City.
But it wasn't New York she wanted to paint--besides, everything she drew of the city was grey, lonely and overall depressing. She wanted to paint something that symbolized her reunion with her parents; something colorful, that would represent a new start in her life. However, she wasn't feeling the creative spark, and unfortunately, she had to have a rough outline ready for school tomorrow, when they began painting.
The eighteen-year-old tossed the sketchbook and pencil onto the floor, frustrated. She laid back, gazing up at the ceiling, listening to the rain pounding on her window. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door, making her jump with a small gasp. Lizzy sat up sharply, pushing a few strands of her dark hair out of her face.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Paul," the muffled voice stated from the other side of the door, "Can I come in?"
"Yeah." Lizzy replied, lying back down. The door opened, and Paul shuffled in, shutting it softly behind him. He saw Lizzy lying on her bed on her side, and walked over, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, resting a hand on her leg.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "Are you sick?"
Lizzy paused for a beat. "In a way, I guess." she mumbled. Paul noticed the sadness in her cerulean eyes and immediately realized what was wrong. She wasn't ill, she was homesick. He reached up to rub soothing circles on her back.
"Only one more month." he reminded her, offering a reassuring smile.
"I know," Lizzy said, her voice shaking ever so slightly, "but…I…"
"You miss them," he finished. "You know, they're probably feeling the same way right now."
Lizzy wiped a stray tear from her cheek, and sat up, dangling her legs over the side of the bed. She rested her head on Paul's shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. He placed a kiss onto her forehead, brushing away another tear that had managed to fall. Paul wanted to help her, comfort her. He continued to embrace her, trying to tell her things would get better soon. The clouds would break, and her life would be bright again when she returned to New York.
"Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right…"
Paul told Lizzy. She only glanced up at him skeptically.
Little darling
It's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Little darling
The smiles returning to the faces…"
Paul brushed his finger along her cheek, grinning. Lizzy returned it, but only half-heartedly.
"…Little darling
I seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, do do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darling
I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, do do do
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right
Here comes the sun, do do do
Here comes the sun
It's all right
It's all right."
Lizzy hugged Paul back. She really needed that. She knew Paul was right--the sun would come soon. She just had to wait a few more weeks, but it would be there, waiting to greet her warmly.
The very next day, Paul and Lizzy sat out in the courtyard of their high school during lunch with the rest of the seniors who had opted to take advantage of the nice weather, compared to yesterday's gloominess. The two teenagers were sitting in the grass; Paul had his brown-bagged lunch splayed out in front of him, while Lizzy was just finishing up hers. She tossed the now empty bag into her messenger bag and took out her sketchbook, hoping to get the creative spark back--and fast.
"Think of anything yet?" Paul questioned, watching as she tapped a beat onto the cover of her sketchpad with her pencil.
Lizzy sighed. "Nope."
"Don't you have art in, like, two periods?"
"Yep."
She set the sketchbook and pencil beside her and laid back on the grass, hands behind her head. She stayed like that for quite some time, gradually drowning out the hum of conversation coming from their classmates all around the courtyard, or anything else she found distracting. Lizzy focused on the sounds of nature--the grass rustling in the light wind, birds chirping overhead, the waves crashing against the shoreline and rocks. She was conscious of the palm trees towering above, and the sun blazing down on her from a bright blue sky. If she tried hard enough, she could almost imagine the sand underneath her.
That's when the idea struck. Lizzy sat up, eyes opening. She grabbed her sketchbook and pencil and began sketching furiously. Paul laughed.
"Guess the creative flow is back, isn't it?"
"Mmm-hmm." Lizzy replied, eyes never leaving the paper. Her hand moved quickly, drawing the outline of her painting. She knew it would be perfect; it would symbolize Lizzy and her parents exactly. She couldn't wait to start working, to express her idea on a canvas, full of color and life.
Lizzy knew the painting was going to take a great deal of time, effort, and above all, patience. She planned to put a great deal of detail and intricacy into it, as she did with every peace she completed. That's why, in the weeks leading up to her departure to New York, she took advantage of her free periods during school. She took her canvas, paints, and brushes to the art studio across from Mr. Henderson's classroom and worked when he happened to have a class, or when he didn't, she stayed in his room. She even worked after school on some days, with Mr. Henderson and Paul looking on with curiosity as the painting slowly began to take shape.
Lizzy had never been more proud of something in all her years of drawing, sketching, and painting.
The entire background of the painting was a mix of black, purple and dark blue, with white specks (and a touch of metallic silver) as stars. On the left side of the canvas, in the top corner, the stars were a bit bigger, and took on a diamond-like shape. There were fluffy, white clouds with hints of lighter colors painted there, too, to give it some depth. Coming out of the clouds was a woman with long, blond hair that seemed to be blowing in an unseen wind. The woman's azure eyes were focused on something far off, her arms outstretched and reaching for it as she floated out of the clouds. She was dressed in a flowing, white skirt and the same yellow tunic-like shirt Lizzy had received, and her feet were bare. This woman was Lucy. There was a message written in an almost neon pink color, underneath Lucy, which read, "My mother is of the sky…"
On the right side of the canvas, in the bottom corner, the Earth jutted out into space, the water a shade of cerulean and the land a mix of both dark and light greens. The land Lizzy had painted on the earth was actually a rough outline of the United Kingdom, which she figured was very fitting. A man stood on the Earth, reaching one of his hands out. He had deep, brown eyes and shaggy, dark brown hair. He had on a bright red shirt rolled up to his sleeves, and blue jeans lightly splattered with flecks of paint. This man was obviously Jude. Written in vivid, orange paint, curving along the Earth below Jude's feet, was the message, "My father is of the Earth…"
Finally, in the middle of Lucy and Jude, there was a young girl suspended in the inky black and purple space, stars shimmering around her. She was the person both the man and the woman were reaching out to. She had the same dark brown hair as the man, yet the same cobalt colored eyes as the woman. She wore blue jeans and a purple top, a strawberry pendant noticeable around her neck, and a black hat sitting on top of her head. She was looking ahead, her arms were down but a little out at her sides. She was aware of the adults' presence, and looked as if she was ready to reach out to them in return. This young girl was, of course, Lizzy. The message written below Lizzy's feet in red paint finished the other two phrases, bringing everything full circle. It read, "…But I am of the Universe."
The painting carried a lot of symbolism for Lizzy, and she felt very attached to it. She was extremely happy to see it finished, as was Paul, who knew what most of it was about without any sort of explanation. When it came time for Mr. Henderson to grade everyone's final projects, Lizzy stood by hers proudly while her teacher scrutinized it.
"This is amazing work, Lizzy," he praised. "All the extra effort really paid off."
"Thank you." she answered humbly. She ended up getting an A on the project, so it certainly was worth it to stay after school and work through her free periods. On top of getting an A, though, Mr. Henderson pulled Lizzy aside after class to speak with her about something.
"You remember me saying how I work at the art museum on weekends, right?" he asked once most of the students had begun to file out the door. Lizzy nodded in reply. "Well, the museum's having an art show the weekend after spring break ends, to show off some artwork done by high school students all over the area. Do you mind if we put your painting on display?"
Lizzy was momentarily shocked. "Mine? Really?"
"Yeah," he answered. "All you'd have to do is show up and stand by your painting for a bit, talk to some people, and maybe have a look at the other stuff that's there, if you want to. It'd be great to have a student there who's going to the School of Visual Arts in the fall."
"Sure," she said brightly. "It sounds like fun. Thanks, Mr. H."
"Okay, cool. I'll get back to you with the details after break."
"All right. Thanks again!" Lizzy exclaimed as she started to leave the classroom. She was halfway down the semi-empty hallway when Mr. Henderson dashed out the door.
"Lizzy?" he called. The teenager turned around quickly.
"Yes?"
"I forgot to ask," he told her, "but what's your painting called? I need to know for the show."
Lizzy grinned. "Across the Universe."
A/N: I liked this chapter--hope you did, too. For the record, I tried to sketch Lizzy's painting…it didn't turn out too well, but then I tried really drawing it with oil pastels, and I only got the part with Jude done (although Jude's face is blank 'cause if I tried to draw it, it wouldn't do him any justice). I was excited when I got the idea for the painting, though. I was inspired by some lines in a Beatles song.
So, I have a new trivia question for all of you. What song is the "message" in Lizzy's painting from? ("My mother was of the sky/My father was of the Earth/But I am of the Universe…") I changed the "was" to "is" for the story, but the rest is still the same. I'm curious to see who gets this right…