**
"When we were young,
And truth was paramount.
We were older then,
And we lived a life without any doubt."
From Seal's "Don't Cry"
**
INTERLUDE CHAPTER - from Lucky's POV.
My hands were shaking. Why were my hands shaking? I hadn't moved from her bathroom before I regretted my words.
Now I was sitting in my own driveway, clutching the wheel with shaking hands, and berating myself for not controlling myself better.
"Elizabeth," I whispered. My head fell against the steering wheel. "How could I be so stupid?"
And yet my pride wouldn't let me go back to her. Just like it hadn't let me turn around while I stood outside her bathroom door, listening to her throw up. What had I done?
I heard a noise and had just raised my head when my door was wrenched open.
"Come inside," he said simply. His words were tired. "We need to talk."
"What?" I asked, not really comprehending. As much as I hated to admit it, "helping" Elizabeth had taken more from me than I wished to know.
My dad used my shoulder to pull me from the car, and propelled my toward the house. I was standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by confusion, when he pushed me gently onto the couch.
"Cowboy, there's something I have to tell you."
I raised my eyes to his face. He looked haunted. Scared, almost.
"Dad?"
"Lucky, I need you to listen to me. Listen to me, and try not to judge me until I'm finished."
Something inside my brain screamed at me to hold my hands over my ears and never let go. My dad paced the floor in front of me.
"Lucky, a long time ago..."
** Switch to Elizabeth's POV**
"Elizabeth, no matter how much you think so, I WASN'T born yesterday." Gram's rebuke caught me off guard. She usually bought my stories hook, line and sinker.
"Gram, I'm telling the truth!" I protested. In all of this, I hadn't moved. I remained huddled on the windowsill, tucked almost inside myself.
"Will you just stop it?!"
I was shocked. I had never seen Gram blow her top before. Tears I had been holding back since her entrance found release. They wouldn't stop coming.
"Don't pull that on me, young lady. Tears aren't going to get you out of this!"
Something inside me snapped.
"STOP IT!" I was screaming. I was screaming and I couldn't help myself. I was on my feet without realizing it, my hands were fisted up. Sarah had somehow appeared in the doorway. "You don't know what happened! You don't know!"
Gram was taken aback. She looked alarmed that I would scream at her. "Young lady, you will not use that tone with me-"
"Gram, shut up! What happened to me last night? HUH? My date cancelled on me to go out with my sister!" Sarah paled. Gram looked confused. "Yeah, that's right. I didn't have a date for the dance. So what'd stupid little Lizzie do? I went to the movies by myself. Then I went to the park, because heaven forbid I should be home early. My Gram would be so disappointed if she learned her Lizzie couldn't keep a date for one dance."
My voice had lowered considerably. Tears rolled down my face. Gram looked sick to her stomach and Sarah looked like she was trying to disappear into the wall.
"Elizabeth, do you know how dangerous the park is at night?"
Gram's soft words sent my world tumbling.
"Yes, I do, Gram," I said, finally distaching myself. "Because last night I got pulled off a park bench and raped."
The air was sucked out of the room. Dead silence. I could hear both of them breathing. Funny, I seemed to be holding my breath.
When neither of them said a word, my heart shattered. I rushed past them both and out the door, stifling my sobs as I passed.
** Switch back to Lucky's POV**
My room was in darkness. I couldn't breath. Nothing was registering. How did I get here? My dad's words still ran through my head.
"...raped her... drunk... scared for my life... raped her... raped her..."
My hands were clenched in the bedsheets. I was lying flat on my back. I wondered if Elizabeth had stared at my ceiling the same way when she couldn't sleep. How could I ever face her again? Knowing what I knew? And after I had made a fool of myself.
I felt like throwing up. Screaming until I was sobbing, and then throwing up. I stared at the ceiling in silence. My father had finished telling his tale and left me alone. He had disappeared out the back door and now, hours later, he still hadn't returned. He would probably spend the night at the club.
Why was this happening to me?
**Switch back to Liz**
I couldn't believe I was here. After I had humiliated myself and then rejected his help, I was here to ask for it again. Plus his forgiveness. Lucky's window was dark. So was the rest of the house. I had taken a chance, climbing up the trellis I had descended ages ago. I peeked in the window. He was in there. I could see him on the bed. I tapped my fingertips against the glass.
He sat up. I could see him in the moonlight. He reached over to his left and the bedside lamp went on. He looked startled. He was at the window in a flash, then it was open and he was pulling me inside. I groaned when he came into contact with my bruises.
"Sorry," he apologized quickly. He planted my feet firmly on the floor, and then stepped back. I took a good look at him. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were red. He looked like he'd lost his best friend.
"Lucky, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he muttered, swiping a hand over his eyes.
"Lucky..." I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to tell him how wrong I was and exactly how sorry I was.
"My world just fell apart," he said, before I could say a word.
End Ch 13.