Fan to Family.

First Day

~Liz~

"Please," I sigh, begging.

Josh sighs, checking the time. "No, Liz. You need to get going. You still have things to do before it starts. You'll see Aly, right? I can't let you stay. I've gotta go."

He rubs my shoulder reassuringly as I zip my bag. He gives me a hug and a forehead kiss.

"I'm a call away, go get em' tiger," He says from the now rolled down window to the door I just closed. I smile a little and trudge inside, shifting my bag on my shoulder. After 4 minutes of hopeless wondering and asking 6 different people, I'm pointed in the correct direction. After a deep breath, I approach the young lady, maybe Chase's age. I smile.

"I'm Liz Joseph, I'm new here," I explain. She smiles, swiveling around and grabbing a few papers. She spreads them out across the counter.

"This is your class schedule, and these two are pretty self explanatory. Have a nice day."

I turn back out, toward the hallways. I look at the paper with my locker number and that sort of stuff.

"Liz," a familiar voice call. I look up just in time to not walk into Aly. "What's your first hour?" She asks, grabbing my schedule. Her eyes scan over the paper and she grins. I raise an eyebrow.

"Just come with me," She chuckles. I allow her to lead me down the hall. We enter into a classroom with very few kids in it.

"You must be Liz," a guy who looks barely into his 20's says with a smile. I nod.

"Well, hello. I'm Mr. James. These dorks just call me James. I'll be your homeroom teacher," he says brightly. Aly grins at him and hugs him.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever," he chuckles. She agrees.

I swallow thickly and back away slowly, heading toward a desk. My mind wanders to how much I miss Tom.

"Liz," Aly starts, "come on. I know you'll sit next to me."

I slide into a desk next to her, in the front of the room. James leans on the edge of Aly's desk, his ankles crossed and a hand on her desk.

"So you two are friends?" He asks. Aly nods.

Kids filter in as James casually talks to Aly and occasionally me. Soon enough the bell rings and James clears his throat over the dull hum of murmuring students. He leans his lower back against a somewhat sturdy desk near the front of the room.

"Good morning. I see many faces I know very well, and a few somewhat familiar faces. But, in midst of this familiarity, I'd like to introduce an extremely unfamiliar face to you all," he motions for me to stand with him, "I'd like to introduce our newest student," he pauses as I stand next to him and he places a hand on my shoulder, "Liz. Would you like to tell us anything about yourself?"

I think for a moment, "I moved to California a few months ago... Um, I'm, uh.." My brain can't come up with anything to share that I'd be allowed to vocalize to this many people. James sees me struggling to find something and smiles reassuringly. "I dabble in photography and music. That's about it."

I go back to my seat and keep my head down. Homeroom seems to take an eternity to pass, just like the rest of the day.

I slowly walk toward the front doors of the school, most kids already gone.

I reach the glass doors and glance out. When I don't see a familiar car, I sigh and deflate even more, resting my forehead on the glass.

I jump when I feel a hand on my shoulder and Aly's voice, "Hey, you okay?"

Our friend is standing beside her with an awkward smile. I nod, "yeah."

"Need a ride?" Aly asks. I shrug.

I follow them out of the doorways and glance further down the drive to see if I recognize any cars. I smile a little, "I'm good, thanks. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I stride to the car and pull the door open. After tossing my bag in and sliding myself into the seat, I glance at the driver.

"How was school?" Chase asks, then sees my face, "What's wrong?"

His eyes are soft and concerned. I shrug. "It was such a long day, and boring. I hate it so much. I'm so tired."

His eyes scan my face, "Are you sure that's all? I can tell there's still something."

He begins to drive off as I begin to explain the downfall of my day.

~Chase~

I pull Liz into a hug, kissing her hair softly. She takes a deep breath.

"Come on, lets go inside," I offer. She nods, slinging her bag over her shoulder and making her way out of the car. I pull her into a side hug and say something I'm sure will cheer her up. She smiles and laughs a little.

I swing open the front door and place my keys on the small table in the entry hall. Liz greets the other two, who are sitting in the living room, and drops her bag. I release her from my side hug and she plops down between Josh and Debby. I sit on the couch across from them.

"How was your first day of school, Munchkin?" Josh asks. He looks at though he can tell she's upset too.

"Okay. I have a few classes with Aly, and a few on my own. Most of them are decent. A few suck, a lot. My home room teacher is pretty cool. He reminds me of Tom...." She trails, picking at her nails. I have no clue who Tom is, or his significance, but Josh and Debby seem to understand why he upsets her.

Josh hugs her into his side, "at least this teacher is pretty cool."

"Where Ty?" She asks, glancing around.

Josh sighs and glances between himself and Debby. He glances at me too. He gives us the 'who should tell her' look.

I shrug.

"He's at the airport."

Her jaw drops and the sadness in her eyes grows. "Why?" She questions.

"Jenna called, and apparently something is up so he needs to go see her right away."

"Is she okay?"

Both Debby and Josh nod.

Liz gets up, motioning for me to come with her. Debby gives me a look but I shrug it off.

Liz perches herself on the stool in the music room.

"I had so many great ideas today, and it bothered me that I couldn't just sit down and show them to you," she says.

"I have some to show you too," I shrugged, only half sitting on my own stool.

~Debby~

After Josh and I talk for a while, I go to tell Chase something.

I know they must be in our make shift music room, so I head down the hall towards it. I stop in front of the door when I hear their tones.

"Liz!" Chase says in a harsh yet hushed tone.

"Chase, come on!" She mutters.

His voice is louder this time, "You need to tell them soon, or I will."