When Life Happens

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

"Heeeeyy Moooom!" cries doe-eyed Beth, as she storms through drawer after drawer of faded cotton tee shirts. "MOM! Do you have my shirt? The black one ?!"

A door creaks from behind Beth and a petite blonde woman, face taut and concealed with an obvious layer of makeup, steps in, black shirt in hand.

"Lizzy, I wish you'd choose to dress up a little bit. At least make an effort, you know. When I was your age I always strived to dress like the girls in magazines. And it's not like we're poor, you know I can afford to get you a nice dress here and there. Maybe you'd fit in more."

A heavy sigh is emitted from Beth at the words fit in. It's not like she wasn't a pretty girl. In fact, at one point, Elizabeth had been relatively popular. But that was freshman year, three years ago. 

"Mom," says Beth, turning around, "I could care less about fitting in."  

Turning around, she takes the shirt and rushes her mom out with a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you."

Alone and content with her solidity, Beth steps around mounds of looseleaf notebook papers and fiction bestsellers, and switches her radio on. Music blares out, in a deafening yet beautiful melody, and Beth sings along.

And IIIIIIIIII will hold on hooppee And IIIIIIIIIII won't let you choke on that noo-

A knock at the window interrupts Beth, and she smiles at the figure outside, signaling for the window to be opened.

"Hey Hannah," says Beth as she pushes against the windows, both of them opening in a door-like fashion. 

The girl, tall and slim in structure, with long-ish mahogany hair and deep set eyes sits upon the window sill and throws her legs over the side, stepping into the small room. 

"Man, you seriously have no idea how much I cried last night just thinking about this Thursday. I am like so unbelievably pumped , I feel as if I've waited a lifetime for this and even tho-"

"Hannah, please. We've gone over this every morning for a week. We have to act somewhat civilized when we see them. We have to make an impression. Imagine Harry's face though."

Beth glances up from shoving papers into her bag and smiles at one of the posters on her wall. 

"Thursday is going to be the best day of our lives."

Hannah walks over to the radio and turns down the dial for the volume. 

"I seriously don't know how you listen to this so loud, especially after I told you about my 'early-age hearing loss.' Man, I hate doctors."

"Soz, but you can't not listen to Mumford & Sons on high volume. You just can't."

Beth glances in the mirror and runs a brush through her long, boring hair. "Hey, do me a favor and see if Jonah's awake pleeeaaassseee. You know you're dying to see him," adds Beth with a smirk.

That last comment pulls a blush out of Hannah and she shyly turns around towards the door. 

"Fine, but only since you're practically begging me."

As Hannah walks out, Beth grabs a few precious mementos, a handful of stacked bracelets, and her favorite beanie. You're almost out. Think college, think freedom, think long nights with a good book and , omg, coffee. Lots of coffee.

"You ready to go?" Jonah asks, his light brown hair a disheveled mess on top of his head. Styled perfectly to create the bed head look most likely. 

Jonah wasn't the worst big brother in the world, he was actually Beth's closest friend. He was her confidant whenever she felt most alone. But he was also from an entirely different world. The world of ImAPopularJockInHighSchoolSoPeopleFearMeAndWorshipMeAtTheSameTime. The world Beth knew absolutely nothing about. 

"Yeah, we're ready."