Alternate

Chapter 1, part 1

Elizabeth gathered her materials that had spread themselves across the blanket: paint tubes, brushes, and bits of paper. Putting her materials into her rather large tote bag, Elizabeth folded the blanket, tucked it under her arm, and set off home. She ran through her mental checklist for at least the 5th time.
   1. Feed Eleanor
   2. College classes, 10:00-12:30
   3. Grab lunch and painting stuff after class
   4. Paint till 2:00
   5. Run errands till 4:00
   6. Study till 5:30
   7. Feed Eleanor
   8. Meet Nick for dinner at 6:00
   9. Movie with Nick at 7:30
A relatively average day for the 20-year-old gal, except for Nick.

Nick was 22, 5'11, with curly brown hair and Green eyes. Elizabeth met him in a Physiology class that they took at school. They had been partnered up for a project, which had become a close friendship. They'd been nearly inseparable for the past 4 months, and as much as Elizabeth didn't want to admit it, her feelings for Nick were changing. He was just as sweet and kind as ever, but she could feel herself growing distant. She couldn't understand why. Nick was kind and sympathetic, and everything a friend should be. Well, maybe he picked what he called "a friendly argument" one too many times, and maybe he was a little too eager to be in her life 24/7, but was that any reason to close their chapter of friendship? Shaking her head to clear her mind, Elizabeth continued on her way.
When she reached her apartment, she could hear the loud mews of her cat, Eleanor, from behind the locked door. Chuckling to herself she unlocked it and cautiously stepped in. The cat stared at her from inside a cardboard box, located beside the lovely cat bed that Elizabeth's mother had gifted the cat for Christmas the past year. A look of haughty indignation was on Eleanor's face as if to say "And where have you been, young lady? Do you realize what time it is? The idea. I may never forgive you for this".
"I'm sorry, Your Highness," said Elizabeth, setting down her bag and advancing to cuddle her cat.
"There you are! I love that about you. You're so punctual!" cried a voice from the other room.         Elizabeth screamed and reached for the can of RAID that she kept by the front door. "No, Liz! It's ok! It's Me!" A head poked timidly out from the adjoining doorway. "Please don't spray me," begged Nick, fear and fun shining from his eyes.
Elizabeth sighed in exacerbated relief. "Nicholas Darby! What are you doing in my apartment?! And please, I've asked you multiple times to stop calling me Liz. And more importantly, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY APARTMENT??" she put her hands on her hips, like a mother waiting for her child to explain.
"Oh come on, Liz," grinned Nick, stepping into the room with his hands in the air, "I know you secretly like the Nickname..." he raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to get the joke. "Get it? Cause it's a name that Nick gave you, therefore, it's a Nickname!"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I get it, Nick, just like I've gotten it for the past 3 weeks. You can stop mansplaining it." She put down the can of RAID and scooped up Eleanor, who voiced protest for a moment before resigning to her fate. "But seriously," Elizabeth continued, "how did you get into my apartment?"
"I have the spare key," Nick responded, holding up the rectangular keycard.
Elizabeth gasped, "Where did you get that?!" she asked, snatching it from him. "I never gave this to you! Why do you have this?"
"You left it on the counter a few weeks ago," said Nick, "I thought you'd rather have me steal it than some actual thief. So I've hung on to it for safekeeping, and to play a little joke on you."
Elizabeth sighed again. "Please do not swipe my stuff without telling me. Scratch that, please don't swipe my stuff at all." She posted the keycard and readjusted her hold on Eleanor. "Now, what are you doing here?" She questioned.
"I wanted to see you," Nick replied.
"We're going to see each other tonight, remember?" asked Elizabeth.
"I know," Nick responded, "but I figured we could spend the afternoon together instead of just the evening. I know you run errands today, I can help!"
Elizabeth buried her face in Eleanor's fur so that Nick wouldn't see the angry tears in her eyes. He meant well. She knew that. That was why it was so hard to tell him that she needed space. That she needed him to back off and let her live her own life. A life where she didn't have to silence her cell phone so that she had an excuse to not answer his several daily phone calls.
"You ok?" Nick asked, his tone shifting slightly as he noticed his friend's distress. Nick did mean well. He had no idea that their little arguments and his somewhat drastic attempts to be there for Elizabeth weren't wholeheartedly welcomed by her. His feelings for Elizabeth had changed too. To be completely honest, he had never seen her as just a friend. He had wanted to ask her out the day he met her in Physiology class. Her long blonde hair that she sometimes braided in two tails to keep out of her face, her blue eyes that seemed to hold the sky and all its moods, and her nerdy round glasses won his heart the moment he saw her. But he had never gotten up the courage, or the moment never felt right, but tonight would be different. He would romantically appear in her living room as she arrived home to heroically offer to help her with errands. Then he would take her to a lovely dinner, maybe something with pasta and non-alcoholic wine.  Last but not least he would chivalrously pay for popcorn with extra butter at the movies, thus, as he thought, sealing his fate as the world's best prospective boyfriend. But now Elizabeth was crying. He could tell by the way her shoulders hunched. He hadn't counted on tears. Hopefully, he could still pull through with his plan. He stepped forward, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Liz?"
Elizabeth pulled away. She didn't care if her eyes were red, she was frustrated and tired and just wanted to be left alone. She took a deep breath and looked up at Nick. "I think we need to talk." She said firmly.