She's Got a Way - Billy Hargrove

Chapter Two

Elizabeth was abruptly woken by the front door slamming shut at 6:00am and once she was awake there was no chance she was going to get back to sleep. Mornings were not her thing. Tiredly, she rubbed her eyes and dragged herself to the bathroom to take a shower before getting ready for her first day at her new High school. 

Lizzy tied half her hair up into a ponytail, allowing the bottom half to flow down her shoulders. She completed her face with minimal makeup, mascara and lip-gloss only. Going to her wardrobe, she pulled out a pair of denim jeans and a light blue sweater which she tucked into them before cuffing her jeans slightly. Pulling on some white sneakers, she grabbed her bag and jacket before leaving the house.

Standing on the from yard she watched as a maroon coloured '81 BMW 733i pulled up to the curb before Dustin emerged from the front seat. The curly haired boy waved her over to them and gestured for her to get in the front seat of the car before he got in the back.

"Hi Elizabeth, did you have a good first night in your new home?" Dustin asked kindly, Lizzy nodded. She looked over at the guy sat next to her, he had beautiful brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Smiling, Liz waved at the mystery boy and he waved back.

"Steve this is Elizabeth. Lizzy, this is Steve." Dustin introduced the two. Steve heald his hand out and Liz shook it. Soft hands. "Oh yeah, Elizabeth doesn't speak." he added nonchalantly. That is what she loved about Dustin, he didn't care that she was mute, he still treated her like a normal person. Steve looked between Dustin and Lizzy a couple of times before nodding, shrugging and turning the key. The slow purr of the engine was all that could be heard in the car.

"So, uh, Elizabeth, are you excited to start a new school?" Steve asked breaking the silence looking over at the girl in the passenger seat. She nodded slightly shaking her hand, Kinda. "Understandable. It's not as bad people think, there are some people to look out for but it is just like every other American High School."

Elizabeth smiled and looked back at Dustin, shaking her head slightly. This was her first time attending school in America so she had no idea what 'every other American school' was like. Steve looked at her confused and she just shook her head. Grabbing a pen from her bag she wrote on her hand 'I'm British.' and showed it to him. Taking his eyes of the road for a second he read her hands before glancing back to the

"Oh right! You're not American? Cool." Steve laughed slightly to himself running his hand through his perfect brown hair. He was trying his best to keep a conversation going so she didn't feel awkward.

The rest of the journey to the new school was quiet, Dustin and Steve chatted quietly about nothing in particular, while Lizzy began to take in her surroundings. Steve pulled into the school's parking lot and the three of them got out of the car. Her little cousin said goodbye to them and headed off towards his friends, leaving Liz alone with Steve. Following closely behind Steve, the two of them walked over to two other people around the same age as her, he greeted the two people and then their eyes fell onto Elizabeth.

"Oh, this is Elizabeth, Dustin's cousin. Elizabeth this is Nancy and Jonathan." Steve said. Lizzy smiled slightly and waved at the two new faces. Nancy had curly hair that rested on her shoulders and bright blue eyes, Steve had his arm draped around her slim shoulders and she was leaning on him slightly. The other boy, Jonathan had messy brown hair and brown eyes, he was stood awkwardly next to the couple. They stood in silence looking at each other waiting for someone to say something. Elizabeth looked at Steve hoping that he would say something and help. He clocked on to the situation and coughed slightly.

"Oh, Elizabeth's mute." Steve said softly, both Nancy and Jonathan nodded understandingly. The three of them stood talking for a little while, Lizzy stood and listened to them trying to get a feel of the group.

"So, Elizabeth are you nervous about starting here?" Jonathan asked. Liz scanned her surroundings and nodded. It looked nothing like the school she used to go to, there were people smoking by the school in plain view of the teachers, loads of shouting and students drove cars to school. At her old School everyone was very civilised and nobody she new drove, if you wanted to smoke you either had to wait until four or hide behind the science block. It was very different.

"It's just like any other High School in America really." Nancy chimed in. Elizabeth smiled, looking over at Steve before holding up her hand which still said 'I'm British' and Steve laughed slightly.

"That's exactly what I said to her." Steve said smiling at Nancy, thinking about the conversation that the two of them had in the car.

Nancy leaned up and kissed Steve's cheek. Lizzy looked at the loved-up couple and she wasn't sure if the relationship seemed a little forced, or if the compassion between the two was genuine.

Seeing the couple act to close in front of her, made her quite uneasy. At first she didn't know where to put her eyes, she looked over to Jonathan and noticed he also looked uncomfortable. The two of them locked eyes and Lizzy smiled at him trying to break the awkwardness.

"So, uh, what did you do in the UK, um, school wise?" Jonathan asked trying to avoid the awkwardness in the air. Elizabeth just looked at him with a dead expression until he realised the stupidity of his question and began to apologize to her. Smiling, she shook her head and placed her hand on his shoulder, 'It doesn't matter.' They laughed at his mistake before it was interrupted by the loud rattle of an engine and blaring music.

Spinning around on her heel, Elizabeth's eyes fell onto a light navy blue '79 Chevrolet Camaro. Calling it a nice car was an understatement, not only was the exterior beautiful but Lizzy was a sucker for a V-8 rear wheel drive car. She turned back to the group and gave them a confused look.

"That's Billy Hargrove. He's a jerk."