What Remains of Elizabeth Clove | COMPLETED & IN EDITING

Chapter 6

As soon as I saw the keg, I knew we were screwed.

But in all honesty, I wasn't nervous about the fact that we were about to humiliate ourselves. I was more nervous about how my mom would react when I came home because

a.) I didn't get home by curfew

b.) I reeked of alcohol

c.) I lied to her

"Hmm.. Let's see.." Victoria put a finger on her chin, thinking, plotting our demise. "Poetry boy, let's go." she snapped her fingers at Cam. My heart sunk as I remembered where that awful nickname had originated from.

English class, Freshman year.

We were all assigned to write a poem of some sort, and no one, including myself, was taking it seriously.

No one, that is, except for Cam.

Cam wrote a deep and heartfelt poem, and everyone thought it was hilarious and perfect teasing material. I thought it was amazing, personally.  Not everyone likes poetry, I suppose.

"No!" I cried, and Victoria's eyes widened. "Let me go first." I said softly. Cam already suffered enough at school. Victoria's smirked. "Fine then." SHe said as I was shoved forward. "If that's what you truly want, Max, then so be it." Gulping, I moved slowly towards the keg, ready to chug.

As I was pushed in the direction of my doom, I saw and heard my saving grace and rescue.

The police had shown up.

Normally, seeing the cops show up at a party is a bad thing, but it saved me from having to chug an entire keg of beer.

Thanks police department!

"It's the cops!" I heard a guy yell. "Everyone run!" After Captain Obvious shouted a warning, the place was in utter chaos, which made it the perfect time to split and run to my car with Cam.

Thanks Dude!

Noticing our opportunity through the screams and the running guests, Cam grabbed my hand and raced into the woods behind the Chernova's, towards our escape vehicle.

Thank God I parked 5 blocks away.

Out of breath (and almost out of time) I slammed the car door shut, my heart beating out of my chest.

"Did we really just do that?"  Cam said softly, breathing heavily as well. "Did we really just crash a Chernova party?" He grinned over at me. "That was exhilarating." Half listening to Cam, I started my car, thinking about what Chase had told me. Liz was a totally different person than I thought she was. I didn't know a Liz who went sneaking out to parties or to buy drugs. The Elizabeth Clove I knew was a girl who liked rocking out in her bedroom, snapping shots on her polaroid camera, and spending time with her best friend.

Had our whole friendship just been a lie? Was anything actually real?

"-and now at least we can read more of the notebook." Cam's voice intruded on my thoughts as I left the Chernova's neighborhood. "Mhmm.." I muttered. "Yeah, Yeah, excited to find out more about Liz's secret life." I said sarcastically, not looking Cam in the eye. "What do you mean?" Cam asked me quietly. "Liz was a totally different person Cam. Liz hung out at parties, with Victoria and her chums, she smoked weed and broke the law with Chase, and best of all, she lied to the both of us Cam. She lied!" I cried, my grip tightening on the steering wheel. It took everything I had to make myself not cry. "Don't blame yourself for this Max." Cam said softly. "She ran her own life, and maybe she didn't want to know about some of it. Maybe she wanted to keep you safe." Silent, I stared out at the road, trying not to scream at Cam.

Then the radio betrayed me.

Our song, House of Memories, came on. "Change it." I barked at Cam. "Why?" He questioned. "I said change it." I repeated harshly. I did not want to relive that night. That would just result in more tears and more anger. "Fine, Fine." He looked at me sideways. "Hey Max, You're not on your period right?" He asked, cracking a faint grin. "Fuck you Cameron Guchal." I said, offended. "Is that really your first thought?" I looked over at him for a split second. "You're ridiculous." I stopped the car. "Welcome home."  I said, smiling over at him. He nodded at me, getting out of the car. "Update me!" He cried as I pulled away.

Great. Now I had to go home.

"Where the hell have you been Maxine?!" My mother didn't hesitate to yell at me as I walked inside to yell at me as soon as I walked inside. "It's almost 12:30!" Sighing as I set my keys down, I said, "I'm sorry. I lost track of time. We were just having so much fun." Yes, being humiliated in front of most of the student body apparently counts as fun now a days. "Oh.. I see.." My mom said slowly. "And Cam's house too fun for you?" She asked. "Yes... why..?" I asked her in return. "That's funny.. Because I chatted with Ms. Guchal around 11:30 asking her to tell you to come home.." I drew in a sharp, quick breath. "And she said that you weren't there." My mother's eyes narrowed. "Now tell me Maxine, where were you tonight?"

There was no point in lying, I knew she had me cornered.

"I was at the Fall Throwdown." I muttered, looking down at my mud covered feet. "You're grounded Maxine." She said, lowly growling. "You aren't going anywhere else than school for the next four days, understood?" She hissed. Silently, I nodded, even though I knew I could sneak out eventually. "Go to your room." She ordered. "Sleep." Trudging up the stairs, I made my way up to my room.

On my bed, there sat the notebook, and I grinned.

Even though I was mad at Liz, I couldn't wait to read more.

•••

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