What's The News? • Lemoxie

Chapter One

I walked the all too familiar streets of the only city I've ever been able to call home. Stain'd-by-the-Sea had vastly improved over recent years when Cleo perfected her formula for invisible ink. My mother neither come back with the large groups of tourists nor sent for Dad and me. I made the best of staying here. Kellar Haines, my best friend, moved in with us too! The Stain'd Lighthouse opened back up with the tourists and old residents coming in train after train.

The Stain'd-by-the-Sea I once knew was almost back, except for one girl. Ellington Feint. This being said, I don't hate her, of course, she's just really shady. She would've left town years ago if it weren't for Kellar and them falling in love. They're cute together, but it's pretty annoying when you walk into the kitchen for some damn snickerdoodles and see someone you consider your brother making out with his girlfriend on the kitchen counter...

I sat myself in the attic library of Black Cat Coffee and began absentmindedly typing really whatever popped into my head. I really wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, so I stopped and threw out the paper. "There goes a little more ink..." I mumbled to myself before ploping down back into my corner on the ground. I closed my typewriter case and pulled up my sleeve to stare at the scar from a cut from a nurse that's good with a knife.

The scar reminded me of someone. Someone who arrived in Stain'd-by-the-Sea years ago them left, but he never left my mind. He was the kind of person who was always lurking in the shadows, but not in a dastardly way.

Lemony Snicket.

I wanted to find him. He... He made me feel special. I know that's really cheesy and dumb, but it's true! He referred to me as his "prime associate" and that was really sweet. Lemony just had this odd, unexplainable vibe to him that drew me in. Sure, I had a massive crush on him, and sure, he seemed to reciprocate those feelings, but that was in the past...

"Moxie? Are you in the library?" A voice called out as the little bell on the front door jingled.
"Yeah, Cleo, I'm up here." I replied, pulling my sleeve back down since Ellington practically forbade us from merely thinking about Lemony, after... The thing he did. You know... Murdering her father...

Cleo bounded up the steps with a smile plastered. She began to say something about how her day went until she looked at my face and stopped.

"Moxie, hun, have you been crying? Your eyes are kind of puffy and your cheeks look tear-stained." She asked me sympathetically.

I shrugged. I guess I couldn't tell I was crying... She wiped my cheeks with her hands and pulled me into a hug. I wondered if she could tell I was thinking about Lemony. If she could, she didn't choose to mention it.

"Come downstairs. You can figuratively eat your heart out." She said with a small smile. I nodded and picked up my typewriter before following her downstairs. She walked over to the machinery and pressed the "a" button, so the attic library closed, and the "b" button so the machinery started making bread.

"Why were you crying, Mox?" She asked me, also pressing "c" for coffee.
"Um... I'd rather not say." I answered, finally noticing Ellington sitting at the small bench in front of the player piano. Her hair was in its usual long, black high ponytail which showed her hoop earrings that were 3 inches in diameter. Maybe you've heard the saying "The bigger the hoops, the bigger the hoe." Well, in this case, it's " The bigger the hoops, the bigger the pretentious bitch. "

I'd never say that out loud, of course.

Ellington scoffed. "Oh come on! We're your friends! You can tell us!"
"No thank you ." I responded.
Cleo didn't persist and gave Ellington an annoyed look when she attempted to. I pouted and stared at the counter as Cleo handed me a slice from the fresh loaf with a bit of apricot jam.

"Thanks," I said quietly and took a small bite, " I'm going to go though. My dad said I should be home by noon anyway. "

Cleo nodded in understanding as I shoved the plate away from me and took my typewriter case, leaving as soon as possible. Cleo would probably understand if I told her what was happening with me lately, but Ellington has seemed to be lurking around a lot recently.

When Lemony was around, he'd think about Ellington a lot. I hate to admit it but I was so damn jealous! The most amazing guy ever wouldn't stop thinking about a girl who is not me!

I hailed a taxi with a bright blue stripe. "Hey, Pip!" I said as I climbed into the backseat, "To the Stain'd Lighthouse, please!"
"Got it, Moxie! What form of payment are you using?"
" The book about the farmers who adopt a red haired orphan girl isn't as overrated as it seems. " I answered.

Pip grinned at me and started up the engine. "You've been a little shaken up recently, I've noticed. I can keep a secret if you wanna keep this" -here he chuckled a bit- "off record."
" Har har, Pip... "
"Just trying to make a friend smile... Now tell your friendly neighborhood taxi driver what's had you rattled."

"I... I miss Lemony." I answered, just barely loud enough for him to hear me.
"Oh..."
"Please, please don't tell Ellington! She'll gut me like a fish if I so much as say his name!"
"Moxie, he murdered someone."
"But he had a good reason! Hangfire, Armstrong Feint, whatever you want to call him, was a murderer, an arsonist, and all around treacherous!" I countered.

Pip sighed and nodded in agreement. We sat in relative silence for the rest of the ride and I thanked him as the taxi came to a halt. Once inside, I walked into the kitchen and Kellar and Dad were talking about the weather or something. I went and grabbed a cookie from the counter (Dad recently took up baking as a side-hobby and he was pretty damn good at it).

"Hey, guys, what's up?" I asked, putting on a somewhat genuine smile.
" The sky. " Kellar joked. "Nothing much. You?" He added.
"These turned out wonderfully, Dad." I said, obviously changing the subject.

Dad went on a tangent about how baking has kind of made him feel more in tune with his thoughts and stuff. God, Dad, hippie much?

As he was about to being up other treats he might want to try making, was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I chirped, flinging myself off the counter and adjusting my hat as I walked to the front door. I opened the door to reveal a handsome boy about my age grinning at me. He asked me an all too familiar question.

"What's the news, Moxie?" Lemony Snicket asked me.

~•~

I hope you all like my first chapter of my All The Wrong Questions fanfic! I can't wait to share it with you all! :)

- Lauren Snicket