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Luke's**********
"Uh, what did you say?!?" Liz asked incredulously.
'Not quite the reaction I'd hoped
for, but definitely
better than no,' Lucky thought
to himself. "Okay,
Elizabeth, will you do me the honor
of becoming my
wife?"
"Oh, God, Lucky! This is so sudden...I
just, oh, I
just, I don't think I could...I
mean, oh, I don't
know." Horribly frightened, confused,
and not just a
little exhilarated, Liz rose from
her chair and began
to nervously pace the room.
Not a little worried, Lucky began
explaining, "This
wasn't a sudden decision on my
part. I've thought it
out. Hell, I bought the ring over
a year ago. I mean,
I know we're young, barely out
of high school, but a
lot of good marriages start that
way. You know, the
whole high school sweethearts thing.
Of course, we
only became a couple a few days
ago, but I've loved
you a lot longer than that. I'm
not perfect, and I
know I don't deserve you, but...Humph,
there's
always a but...'
As Lucky continued his ramblings,
Liz for once it
seemed was completely unaware of
his presence. 'I
can't marry Lucky. I'm too young.'
*You've only
wanted to be Mrs. Lucky Spencer
since you laid
eyes on him.* 'Well, where would
we live?' *Oh,
you know perfectly well that PCU
has a special
residence hall for married students.
In fact, its rates
would be cheaper than having a
female roommate.*
'How would Gram react?' *Is this
really her life?*
'We haven't been a dating couple
for that long.'
*Again, you've been in love with
the guy for well
over three years!* 'But what about
his temper, his
tendency to lose control?' *You
KNOW he would
never hurt you, emotionally or
physically.* 'all right,
I do love him, but what about that
saying,
sometimes love just isn't enough?'
*Please, not only
is that saying poppycock, but you
trust Lucky more
than anyone else in your whole
life.* 'Ok, what
about, well, sex?' *You know the
answer to that,
and it wouldn't be sex, it would
be making love.*
'Well, why should I marry him?'
*More importantly,
why shouldn't you?* 'I don't have
an answer to that
question.' *Yes, you do.* "I do,"
Liz said aloud.
"...the 'but'. You know I've never
understood...What? What did you
say?" Lucky said.
Words couldn't describe the elation
he attempted to
hold back because if he had heard
her wrong, the
pain would be all-consuming.
"I do. I will gladly become your
wife." Liz turned
and faced Lucky, with a small,
nervous smile. "That
is, if you'll still have me."
"If I'll still have you? Uhmmm,
that's a toughie. Let
me see...of course I will!!!
Ecstatic, the were-dating-but-now-engaged
couple
embraced. Happily, Lucky swung
Liz around a few
times. "Nothing's ever going to
come between us."
"No, nothing," Liz wholeheartedly agreed.
Looking into each other's eyes,
Lucky slipped the
ring onto Liz's trembling finger.
"You know, for
practicality's sake, we probably
shouldn't tell anyone
right away?" Lucky said.
"What do you mean? Of course we
should tell
others! Why wouldn't you want to?"
"Well, its just. Your seventeen,
I'm eighteen. I think
right it would be illegal or something.
I don't know.
What will your grandmother say?"
"Oh, silly. Gram will be pleased
and happy for us.
And if she's not, well, I think
it would be legal in
New Jersey."
"Ah, no you don't. You're not getting
out of it than
easily," Lucky said a bit forcefully.
"You're getting
the whole package. Big church ceremony,
a three-
tiered cake, presents, an expensive
wedding dress,
asking your bridesmaid's to spend
three hundred
dollars on a horrible pink confection
that they'll
never wear again."
"Oh, is that they way of it, then?"
Liz asked rather
imperiously.
"You're darn, tootin' right, little
missy! Besides, if
we didn't Mom, Bobbie, and Ruby
would blister me
if I took you off without a fancy
wedding," Lucky
replied.
"Well, then, we can't disappoint
them, can we?" Liz
asked, leaning up to peck Lucky's
nose.
"We sure can't."
"I love you, the future Mrs. Spencer."
"I love you, the future Mr. Webber,"
Liz replied
impishly.
"We'll talk about that later."
"Well, we should talk about it now.
You know,
weddings aren't the easiest things
to plan. There's
the caterer, the music, the invitations,
the shower,
the...oh, my...the, um, the, Lucky...ohhh...what
are
you?!? Hey, that tickles!"
"I know."
"Well, stop. Getting back to what
I was
saying...there's also the rehearsal
dinner, the
dresses...oh, Lucky...wait, what
are you...doing?"
Continuing trailing kisses down
Elizabeth's neck,
ears, checks, and any other place,
he said before
taking her lips, "Shutting you
up."
Liz was much too involved now to
take insult to
Lucky's comment.
Wyndemere**********
Nik and Emily, returning from their
evening out, fall
exhausted upon the sofa in the
living room.
"I don't know about you, but I am
full," said Emily.
"That's the first time in weeks
that I've eaten more
than two courses at a meal."
"What do you mean?" Nik asked, concerned.
"Well, I just don't get to eat whatever
I want,
whenever I want. Its not as if
I'm starved, Ned
makes sure of that, but I can't
pig out on a regular
basis."
"If you ask me, I think you're too
thin. Anything
stronger than a breeze, and you'd
blow away," Nik
teased gently.
"Oh, you! Anyway, what time is it?"
"Uh..." Glancing at his watch, Nikolas
responded,
"A little before ten. Why? Something
wrong?"
"Oops! I'm supposed to be home at ten!"
"Oh, sorry."
"No, its my fault. Give me a call
later in the week if
you want. I'd like us to get together
before I go back
to school," Emily called out as
she dashed towards
the door.
"Okay!," Nik returned, but he didn't
know if she
heard him. 'Oh, well. I'll call
her day after tomorrow
and set something up.' It was at
this point that Nik
realized Em had left her shopping
bag. 'Uh, oh!' He
would have hurried to catch her,
but he knew she
would be long gone. 'I'll return
it tomorrow, or
something.' Reclining back on the
couch, Nik
thought about his purchases. 'I'll
send the perfume
tomorrow, then maybe the gown the
day after that.'
He had gone with Emily only because
he knew what
good taste she had. Her help
picking out the
fragrance and dress had been tremendous.
She hadn't
even asked him who they were for.
Suddenly
remembering the most important
part of the 'special
evening' he was planning, Nikolas
reached for the
phone, hoping it wasn't too late.
A little before ten--the Hardy's**********
"I'm sorry I couldn't drive you
home," Lucky
apologized.
"Oh, please! Walking past the docks
was so much
more romantic," Liz assured him.
"I don't think I can
remember a time in my life when
I have felt
so.....happy."
"Happy? You're engaged to be married
to moi, and
all you are is happy?" Lucky murmured,
stopping in
the middle of the porch.
"Well, what do you want me to be?"
Liz asked
indignantly.
"I don't know...ecstatic, effervescent,
enthusiastic,
excited, enthralled, exhilarated,
enchanted, en..."
"You've been reading the dictionary
again, haven't
you?" Liz teased as she turned
the keys in the door.
"Besides, don't all those words
boil down to happy?"
"Oh, you..." Lucky's further comments
were
interrupted by the ring of his
cellular phone. "Geez,
who could that be? Answering rather
impatiently,
Lucky said, "Hello?"
On the phone, "Oh, Lucky! Am I glad
your there. I
called the club, but there wasn't
an answer. Where
are you?" demanded Laura.
"Uh, on a date. With Liz," Lucky
replied. "Mom,
you knew that. Why did you call?"
"Well, your sister is ready to go
to bed, but she
won't until you come home and read
her a story like
you promised."
"Oh, man! I completely forgot! I'll
be there in ten
minutes!"
"Okay. So, how is Liz?" Laura inquired.
"She's fine, Mom. Gotta go! Bye,"
Lucky hung up
before his mother could demand
to talk to Liz.
"I didn't know you had a cell phone," Liz said.
"Yeah, well. They made me get one
a few months
ago. Security reasons they said,
for when I drive.
But its really so they can contact
me at any moment
and bug me."
"Oh, well. I guess this is it. Uh, good night."
"Yeah, good night. I should be going.
Bye," With
that Lucky turned away, and Liz
shut the door.
The reason for their sudden shyness
and hesitation
was that it had both just dawned
on them that they
had promised to spend the rest
of their lives with the
other. Lucky, suddenly consumed
with panic, run up
to the front door and began to
bang on it. Before he
got too loud, however, Liz opened
the door.
"I just had to make sure. What was
your answer?"
He hunted for any sign of doubt
or regret in Lizzie's
eyes.
"My answer? To what?" Liz asked innocently.
Looking stunned for a few moments,
Lucky
stammered, "Oh, God. It wasn't
a dream. It wasn't a
dream. It can't be."
Fearful that Lucky would hyperventilate,
Liz
grabbed his arm and said, "My answer
is and always
will be yes."
Finally, it dawned on Lucky that
she had been
kidding. "Don't ever go that again,"
he warned.
"Then don't go off again without
giving me a proper
good-bye."
Realizing what Liz meant, he pulled
her into a
searing kiss that didn't end until
a few moments
later.
"Better?" he asked impishly.
"Definitely better," she agreed, breathlessly.
Silently, Lucky disappeared into the night.
'Whatever am I going to do with
him?' she thought,
closing the door behind her. Suddenly,
she
remembered Gram. 'Oh, no. I hope
Lucky didn't
wake her.' She was about half way
up the stairs
when she heard a voice from the
kitchen.
"Who was that?"
Turning, Liz got the surprise of her life.
"SARAH?!?"
Rushing down the stairs, she flung
herself in her
sister's arms.
"What are you doing here? When did
you get back?
Where's Mom and Dad? What about
Gram?" Liz's
questions tumbled out one after
the other.
"Oh, you know silly. Gram has that
big medical
convention in Arizona for the next
two months. She
didn't want you to be alone, so
she asked me to
come home for awhile. Mom and Dad
are still in
Bosnia."
"What convention? Gram never mentioned
a
convention to me!"
"Oh, Lizzie! You haven't changed,
always running to
and fro so that you've haven't
an inkling about what's
going on in others' lives," Sarah
chided. Though her
tone was that of humor, Liz thought
she detected an
underlying edge of bitterness.
"Anyway, you didn't
answer my question. Who was that?"
Still reeling from the news, Liz
said absently, "Oh,
that was Lucky. He was just dropping
me off from a
date." Feeling a bit better, she
said, "Well, tell me.
What's happening?"
"Oh, Liz. Too much. Let's talk tomorrow
morning,
okay? I'm so tired," Sarah said.
"Oh, right. Your flight must have
been exhausting,"
Liz said sympathetically. Sarah
nodded agreement,
though she had been back in PC
for a few days now,
caring out some of her own personal
plans. 'Liz
doesn't need to that right yet.'
Heading upstairs, they both said
their goodnights.
"Sarah, I am glad your home," Liz
said.
"Me, too. Oh, by the way, do you
still have your
own phone line?"
"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Liz asked,
confused by
such a question.
"Just making sure. G'night." Without
any further
explanation, Sarah went into her
room.
'That was strange.' Liz stepped
into her room.
Stripping off her evening gown
quickly, she put on
her pajamas. She crawled into bed,
but she couldn't
sleep. She was much too excited.
'Mrs. Elizabeth
Spencer. Mrs. Elizabeth Webber
Spencer. Mrs.
Elizabeth Webber-Spencer. Maybe
I should do a
Felicia and be Mrs. Elizabeth Spencer-Webber.
Hmm?'
Too caught up in the thoughts of
the future, Lizzie
was startled when her phone jangled
to life. "What
the...? Hello?
Silence.
"Hello?"
More silence.
'Must be a wrong number,' Liz thought
as she hung
up the phone. The minute her fingers
left the phone,
however, it rang again. And again
rang.
Disturbed, Liz answered timorously, "Hello?"
"Don't you ever, EVER hang up on
me again, you
little slut!"
Truly frightened now, Liz asked, "What?"
"You better watch yourself, little
girl. You headed
down the same path that got you
into trouble two
years ago!" rasped a metallic,
staticky whisper. "You
don't mend your ways, and you'll
find yourself in
that exact same position!!"
With that the line clicked dead.
The Hardy's--the next morning**********
"Ouch! Dammit!" yelled Lizzie as
she tripped over
her shoes at the bottom of the
stairs. Hopping on
one foot, she made it to the kitchen,
drawn in by the
sweet smells of cinnamon rolls
and coffee. However,
the sound of cheerful whistling
assaults her ears.
Upon entering the kitchen, she
is shocked to Lucky,
in an apron, pulling freshly baked
goodies out of the
oven.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Lizzie rudely
demanded.
Looking up, Lucky jumps at the horrid
sight of his
fiancee. 'Man, maybe I should reconsider
this
marriage thing of she looks like
that every morning.'
Then he remembered the other morning
when he had
caught Lizzie just out of bed.
Thinking of her on
that particular morning made him
smile.
Of course, Elizabeth had no way
of knowing Lucia's
true thoughts. Scowling, she asked,
"And why the
hell do you have that stupid grin
on your face?"
"My, my. Such language. Its not
becoming of a lady.
Of course, I don't think anyone
would mistake you
for a lady looking the way you
do right now."
In the middle of a huge yawn, Liz
suddenly became
extremely self-conscious. Running
to the counter,
she picked up the gleaming toaster
oven. Looking at
her reflection didn't brighten
her disposition. Dark
circles under her eyes made her
look like a raccoon.
Her hair was tangled and stringy
around a face that
was in need of a good scrub. Then
she remembered
the cause for her awful mood.
"Yeah, well, I didn't sleep very
well last night. And
you never answered my question.
What are you
doing here?"
"Well, I decided I couldn't go another
minute
without looking upon your lovely
countenance and
loving disposition. Of course,
taking in your current
state of appearance and your surly
attitude, I
probably would have been better
off staying at home
in bed," Lucky replied teasingly.
Liz, however, went into deep thought.
She hadn't
slept more than five minutes at
a time last night, not
after that horrid phone call. 'What
kind of creep
would do that?' Worsening the scene
were endless
nightmares about the rape, nightmares
she hadn't
suffered in months. 'Maybe it was
just a crank call.'
However, it still struck her as
odd that it came out
of the blue, like Lucky's proposal,
Nik's interest in
her life, and Sarah's return. All
in all, circumstances
did their best to confuse poor
Elizabeth. Of course,
then she remembered the wonderful
happiness she
felt previous to the phone call,
and the reason for
her happiness. 'Oh, yeah. He's
going to marry me.'
Looking down at her hand, Liz saw
the ring, the
small diamond set in gold swirls
of filigree. Realizing
she'd been extremely rude, Liz
sauntered up behind
Lucky, who was in the middle of
kneading dough
and still making comments about
her current state of
dishevelment, spun him around,
and planted a big,
fat wet one right on his lips.
They continued doing
that until a voice interrupted.
"Ahem. Excuse me. They have rooms
for that sort
of thing, you know."
Embarrassed, the two lovers turned
to see Sarah
standing in the doorway, looking
none too happy.
They found that they couldn't quite
make eye
contact with her.
"Well, talk about warm welcomes.
I come down
here, surprised to smell actual
food, and the only
thing that's cooking is the two
of you," Sarah
remarked snidely.
"Gee, Sarah, here I was, all ready
to welcome you
home, and then you go and do something
to ruin it,"
Lucky replied sarcastically.
"Something like what?"
"Something like being yourself."
Sarah and Lucky eyed each other
disdainfully, their
mutual hatred unmasked and tangible.
Liz, not
wanting to get caught in the crossfire,
ducked out of
the room to shower and dress.
Neither her sister nor Lucky noticed
her departure.
Both were too caught up in the
memory that had
lead to their joint animosity.....
Sixteen months ago--May**********
It had been two weeks before prom,
and Sarah, a
senior, needed a date. She had
turned down three
prior offers because she already
knew who she was
going with. The limo had been rented,
the dress was
hanging in her closet, the corsage
had been ordered,
the tickets bought. All had been
planned. The only
aspect lacking was the actual guy
himself: Lucky.
She even knew how and when she
would approach
him.
Right the final bell rang on that
said day, Sarah
cornered Lucky alone. He had been
desperately
trying to avoid her all day, having
heard rumors
from reliable sources about Sarah's
plans. It wasn't
that he disliked Sarah or anything.
He just didn't
want to go with her. To him, even
though they
would only go as friends, it would
seem like
betraying Elizabeth, who he had
already made plans
with for the night of prom. He
thought he had made
it through the day until he closed
his locker door and
found Sarah standing behind it.
"Uh, hey, Sarah," he had said. "What's up?"
"Oh, not much," she purred. "But
there is something
I've been wanting to ask you."
"Uh, really?" he murmured, nervous.
He didn't want
to hurt her feelings. She was so
unpredictable these
days. Actually since coming back
from Europe. It
was as though Elizabeth and Sarah
had switched
places. Liz was the sweet, beautiful,
charming,
beautiful, honest, pure, beautiful
one while Sarah
made Cinderella's stepsisters seem
like Snow White.
Sarah, in just a span of nine months,
had cheated,
lied, manipulated, and/or slept
her way through most
of the guys in school. It was also
rumored that she'd
attempted to seduce some of the
teachers into giving
her passing grades, including but
not limited to Mr.
Murty. 'Of course, if that's true,'
Lucky thought, 'she
failed pretty miserably.' It had
already been
established throughout most of
the school as to what
gender Mr. Murty preferred the
previous summer.
Of course, Sarah had been away,
so she didn't know.
'But she sure found out quick.'
"So what's your answer?"
Knocked out of his musings, Lucky
asked confused,
"Wh-what's the question?"
"You know, silly!," she said coyly.
"Are you or are
you not going to be my date to
the prom?"
"Uh, no, I'm not. Sorry, but I've already got plans."
Not quite expecting that answer,
Sarah pouted,
"Plans? With who?"
"Well, your sister. I promised her
weeks ago that the
night of prom I'd take her out
to a fancy restaurant.
Like the PC Grille or something,"
Lucky replied.
"Oh, please! Its just Lizzie. You
can break them.
She would be such a bore anyway,
moaning and
groaning about the rape. I mean,
its been over a
year. Get over it. Don't you agree?
Of course you
do. So its settled. I'll pick you
up at seven or so..."
"No! I cannot, check that, I WILL
not break my
plans with Liz. And until she says
so, the topic of the
rape does NOT get old. I would
think as her sister
you would have more compassion,
but hey, why I
am surprised? Ever since you returned
from Europe,
you've been acting like a complete
bitch! You've got
serious issues!" Lucky yelled at
her, angered that she
would dare make light of Liz's
feelings.
"Well, excuse me! I just thought
you'd like to have a
time! God knows you've been uptight
enough of
late! I'd be more of a good time
than little Miss
Help-Me-I-Was-Raped!"
"And who could I ask to confirm
that? Let's see?
Uhm? Oh, I know! How about
the entire football
and swimming teams combined?!!?!!"
disgusted,
Lucky started walking away.
Infuriated, Sarah yelled at his
back, "Go on, Lucky!
Of course, if you want to live
up to your nickname,
you'd better find a quick way to
unlock the ice
princess's legs! You're never gonna
get any another
way! The only way anybody could
ever f**k frigid
little Lizzie is if they tied her
up! Of course, since
your father's a rapist, why not
ask him? Maybe the
two of you could melt her little
heart together?!?
You know, a sorta father-son bonding
experience?!?"
Up until she said that, Lucky had
managed to ignore
her. Suddenly, he turned, "Well,
why don't you join
us? I'm sure a woman of such vast
experience such
as yourself would be able to give
us a few pointers!"
he yelled right back.
"What's your fascination with her
anyway?!? I'm
surprised such a righteous individual
as you wouldn't
cringe at the thought of touching
'used goods'?"
Incensed, Lucky threw her words
back in her face,
"Used goods? This coming from the
person who's
banged most of the able-bodied
males in school?
Face it, Sarah! You have nothing
on Elizabeth. You
are a WHORE! And the only person
responsible for
that is YOU!"
Lucky stalked off, fuming. Sarah
was angry as well.
And her rage only grew as she realized
a group of
people, including some teachers,
had witnessed the
entire exchange. 'You're dead,
Lucky,' she thought,
'You and her.' Humiliated, she
turned and walked
out of the building, plans for
revenge rolling through
her mind.
Fortunately for Lucky, Lizzie never
caught wind of
the argument witnessed by
at least a third of the
school. At least, if she did, not
one word of it was
mentioned in front of him. The
two weeks passed
quickly, and with no sign of revenge
from Sarah,
Lucky began to feel more secure
that she was going
to let the whole thing blow over.
However, his feelings of relief came much too soon.
Prom night--the Hardy's*****
"Ohhh! I feel so sick!" moaned Elizabeth.
"I think
I'm..." She vomited before she
could finish the
sentence.
"Hey, watch it! You're going to
mess up my dress!"
Sarah yelled.
"Sarah!" Audrey admonished. "That's
no way to talk
to your sister! She is truly sick!"
'Only with a little help from me,'
though Sarah. 'Now
Lucky will have no choice but to
go to prom with
me.' Then the doorbell rang.
"Oh, I'll get that!"
Rushing downstairs, Sarah opened
the door, not the
least surprised to see Lucky. He
was dressed in a
black-on-black suit. It made him
look dark and
handsome. 'God, he's beautiful.'
"Come in, come in!" Sarah invited
him. Striking a
pose, she asked, "How do I look?"
"Nice," came the cold reply. "Where's Lizzie?"
Sarah's face turned to ice at Lucky's
demeanor.
'Wonder what her reaction would
have been if I'd
told her what I really thought
of that dress?' Lucky
thought. The dress, if it could
be called that, was a
monstrosity. Blood red, it was
short, stopping mid-
thigh, and it was extremely tight
in the upperbody.
The neckline revealed more than
it concealed. 'She
even looks like a whore,' he thought
darkly.
"Well, Lizzie, I'm sorry to say,
won't be going
anywhere. She's sick," Sarah smugly
replied.
"What do you mean?" Lucky asked concerned.
Before Sarah could answer, Audrey
came
downstairs. "Oh, Lucky, I'm so
sorry. Elizabeth had
been throwing up for over an hour.
I'm getting ready
to take her to GH. I think it maybe
food poisoning,
but I can't think of anything she's
eaten that would
be hazardous."
"Oh, no. Is she running a fever?
Any other
symptoms?"
"No, no. Just vomiting uncontrollably.
She did want
me to tell you, however, that she's
sorry. She didn't
want to ruin your evening together,
and she wants
you to accompany Sarah to the prom
so your
evening won't be a complete loss."
"Uh, really, I think I should go
with you to the hos--
-" Lucky began.
"Oh, really, Lucky. Lizzie's a big
girl. She'll be fine. I
think its a great idea," Sarah
chimed in.
"Wonderful," Audrey said, ushering
them out the
door. "You two have a good time."
And that's how Lucky got roped into
attending prom
with Sarah. The evening went fine,
at first. Dinner
was with a group of other kids,
so Sarah and Lucky
weren't alone. It was probably
a good thing because
Lucky had a murderous gleam in
his eye that didn't
go unnoticed by Sarah. It wasn't
until the last dance
at the prom that Sarah slipped
up and managed to
dash any hopes of Lucky's forgiveness
forever.
"Come on, Lucky! Its the last dance!"
Sarah
pleaded, slurring her words together
a bit. She had
consumed a generous portion of
the punch mixed
with Jack Daniels in little more
than two hours.
"Sarah, look, can't you find someone
else to dance
with?"
"No! You're MY date, and you're
supposed to dance
with ME. Don't ruin an evening
that gone perfectly
fine!!"
"All right, but after this I'm going
to check on
Elizabeth."
Leading him onto the dance floor,
Sarah pulled
Lucky as close to her as possible.
For a few
moments, she reveled in the feeling
of being close to
him while he shuddered at the thought
of actually
having to touch her. Then Sarah,
obviously drunk,
began giggling uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" Lucky asked.
"Oh, nothing. Just that I found
Liz and I have
something in common after all."
"What's that?"
A few more giggles, "Oh, that we
both drank spiked
drinks tonight."
Cautiously, Lucky asked, "I know
you've had the
punch, but what did Liz have?"
A tongue loosened too much from
the booze, Sarah
replied conspiratorially, "Her
milk. I *hiccup* put
Dra-dra-drano in it. Won't hurt,
just make her sick
for a few hours."
Stunned, Lucky stopped dancing, "You WHAT?!?"
Looking up at him, Sarah said, "I
only arranged for
you to back out of your date with
Liz like a
gentleman."
"By poisoning her? With a household
chemical?
God, I'm speechless! I'm also outta
here!"
Before she could stop him and try
to explain, Lucky
stormed off the dance floor, and
he headed out the
door. The last sounds he heard
were the screams of
Sarah vowing more revenge.
He, however, didn't turn back this time.
Present--The Hardy's**********
After that enlightening night, Lucky
never left Liz
alone with Sarah. If Audrey thought
they spent too
much time together, she didn't
show it. In fact, she
seemed to welcome it. It was almost
as if Audrey
suspected what Sarah had done,
but without proof,
it would have been futile to bring
it up. It didn't
really matter anyway. Two weeks
after prom, Sarah
graduated and left immediately
to join her parents in
Europe, where they had decided
to open a practice
after their commission in Bosnia
ended. Until that
morning, Sarah and Lucky hadn't
been in the same
room alone since that dreadful
night.
Walking to the table with a cup
of coffee, Sarah
asked, "Did you ever tell Liz?"
"What? That the sister she loves
dearly actually
poisoned her in a fit a jealous
rage? No," Lucky said.
"Umph," was the only response he received.
A few more moments of silence passed
before she
spoke again.
"So why didn't you tell her? Afraid
of breaking her
fragile hold on reality?" she asked
spitefully.
"You, being of no morality and pure
evil, wouldn't
understand."
"God, Lucky, why are you always
trying to protect
her? Its disgusting," Sarah exclaimed.
"Its not like
she's some cowering virgin with
lily white thighs. So
pure and dainty!"
"No, Sarah, she's not. She's a strong,
albeit
stubborn, young woman that has
more integrity,
compassion, honesty, and love than
you could ever
hope to be. The only reason you
hate her is because
she's everything you can and will
never be."
Unmoved by Lucky's sermon, Sarah
asked, in a
stage whisper, "Still can't get
in her pants, can you,
Spencer?"
The clanging of the pot being thrown
in the sink was
the only sign of Lucky's repugnance.
At that moment, Lizzie, looking
and feeling much
better after a hot shower, came
downstairs.
"What's going on? What was that
loud noise?" she
asked.
"Oh, nothing serious. Lucky just
dropped a pan,"
Sarah replied.
Lucky, however, couldn't stand to
be in the same
room with Sarah anymore. Grabbing
Lizzie's hand,
Lucky stalked out the back door.
"Run all you like, Spencer. You
can never hide from
me," Sarah said to herself. "You'll
pay, eventually."
With that, she casually went back
to sipping her
coffee and reading the newspaper.