The Willow Creek Chronicles-First Impressions Part One
Finally! The proper beginning of the Willow Creek Chronicles. I know I’ve been talking about it for a while now, and I’m very excited to present part one!
In case you missed it or need a reminder, here’s the quick description:
When four nineteen-year-olds reunite in their sleepy hometown the summer after their first year of college, they don’t have expectations for a very exciting summer. Little do they know that hidden beneath Willow Creek’s small town exterior is a secret that’s about to change their lives forever.
Well, without further ado, on with the show!
*****
It’s funny. Sometimes, you can look around at all the people you’ve known all your life and feel that you don’t really know them at all. Lizzy sat by herself at one of the round plastic tables in the common area of the Willow Creek Community Church and watched people mingle and chat. It looked like the entire town of Willow Creek had turned up for the party.
People stood around the foyer, filling the space with what most would call a friendly chatter. Everyone was gathered today to celebrate the return of last year’s high school graduates. Most of them hadn’t been seen around town for quite some time, and everyone was buzzing about their return.
The four guests of honor were exactly half of their graduating class. Willow Creek was such a small town that they only needed one high school. It didn’t surprise Lizzy that half of the class had decided not to return. Small town life wasn’t for everyone.
The college students who had returned stood at the middle of a cluster of people wishing them well. The first was Tiana Roman, better known as Tia. She was a well-dressed, fashionable girl. It was a well-known fact that she was self-centered and obnoxious, yet that didn’t stop her from being one of the most popular girls in high school.
Lizzy was honestly surprised to see Tia come back. Tia had always made sure to tell everyone she met how much she hated living in Willow Creek. The college she had chosen to attend was halfway across the country. While it was one of the highest rated beauty schools in the nation, Lizzy suspected that the distance had more to do with Tia’s choice.
Tia’s grandmother was the most likely reason for her granddaughter’s return. She had raised Tia after her mother died and her father left. The woman was strict, she had grown up in Russia, but everyone in town loved her. Helene Rutherford was a wise, loving woman, and even her hard-to-please granddaughter couldn’t hate her.
The center of attention also settled on Silas Alexander Maddox, known to most around town as Si, or less often, Sam. He was an active, mischievous guy with twinkling hazel eyes and perpetually messy red hair. His father was the town’s mayor, and his family owned and operated the nicest restaurant in town, Pemberton Valley Diner. They were highly successful, and the richest family around. Patrick and Loraine Maddox were always incredibly strict with Si and his brothers; Lizzy suspected that was why he was such a goof-off. Si had actually switched majors twice his first year at college. He finally settled on computer science, and was reportedly enjoying it.
The third student was Tristan Beckett, a tall, handsome guy with serious brown eyes who rarely smiled. His father was the town’s preacher, and Tristan took after him in many ways. He was quiet and studious, but unlike his father, he was a little stuck up. He had been best friends with Si since the two were young, and they made quite the interesting pair. He was studying business at the same school as Si, which was only about an hour away from Willow Creek. They still hadn’t been back in town much, and everyone was glad to see them.
All of the attention was centered on those three, but there was still one more guest of honor at the party. That was Elizabeth Bennet Watson, Lizzy herself. She was one of the graduates from the year before as well, but no one showed the slightest interest in her. That was because she was the only one of her class who hadn’t left Willow Creek.
Lizzy had never had any desire to go to college. It just wasn’t in her nature. Instead, she had stayed at home and continued with her job at the town’s only library. She had first started volunteering at the library when she twelve, and had been hired part time when she turned fourteen. She was probably the only nineteen-year-old around who could say that she had worked at the same place for seven years.
Lizzy was a self-proclaimed stereotypical bookworm with a quiet disposition, big black glasses, a job at the library, and a bun on top of her head that always seemed to drop a few stray wisps to curl around her face. She was quite content with that image.
Both of her parents were professors of English literature, so she came by her love of books naturally. Both she and her older brother had literary inspired names. Lizzy, of course was named after Jane Austen’s heroine from Pride and Prejudice; her brother, Peter Pevensie Watson, received his name from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. Both siblings had endured some ridicule over their names growing up, but that couldn’t change Lizzy’s adoration for hers.
Normally, Lizzy was quite content with her life, but tonight she couldn’t help feeling a pang of something she couldn’t quite define. She was on the edge looking in at her former classmates being treated like celebrities. Normally she hated being the center of attention, but neither did she want to be completely left out. Just because she hadn’t gone to college and started something grand in the one year after high school didn’t mean her life didn’t matter.
She glanced around to be certain that no one was watching her. When she was certain, she pulled a novel out of her bag and opened it flat on the table. But an open book was like a neon flashing sign in this town. It was moments before Mrs. Jamison, an older gray haired woman who ran the local B&B, hurried over to Lizzy.
“Oh, Lizzy,” she scolded. “You’ve always got your face glued to some book or other.” Before Lizzy could protest, Mrs. Jamison snatched up her book and snapped it shut. “You should be socializing with your guests, not over here reading.” She pulled Lizzy out of her chair, and with a firm grip on both the book and the girl, marched her over to the throng of people.
Lizzy had known most of them her entire life, but her heart still pounded at the thought of trying to start a conversation. She deliberately slowed her steps, hindering Mrs. Jamison’s determined stride. “If I promise to put it away, can I have my book back?”
Mrs. Jamison huffed, and thrust the book at Lizzy. She rescued it from the older lady’s rough grasp and quickly slid it back into her messenger bag before it had to endure any more abuse.
“Well now,” Mrs. Jamison said haughtily, “give your guests the attention they deserve.” With that, she left Lizzy standing on her own, still on the outskirts of all the people.
The other three guests of honor had now scattered throughout the crowd. Lizzy found each of them quickly in the sea of faces, but she didn’t feel comfortable starting a conversation with any of them. Really, she just wanted to avoid them all. All of the faces around her were familiar, but not all of them were friendly.
The door on the far side of the meeting hall opened, and a face entered that was both friendly and familiar. Lizzy’s face lit up, and she scooted around the crowd to greet the newcomer.
“Peter, you’re here!” She cried, throwing herself into her brother’s arms.
Peter laughed. “Hey there, Lizzy B! I take it you missed me?”
Lizzy released her brother and brushed a dark brown curl away from her face. “More than you know.”
Peter was seven years older than Lizzy. He was currently working on a degree in architecture and was hardly ever home. Peter hadn’t been home since Mother’s Day, and no one had known for sure if he would be able to make it back today.
Lizzy lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I opened my book for thirty seconds, and Mrs. Jamison was on me like a vulture. She practically shoved me at the crowd, saying I read all the time and was neglecting my guests.”
Peter gasped in mock horror, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. “How can such a crime go unpunished?” His eyebrows lowered in a playful scowl. “Let me go deal with her.”
He moved to head straight for the older lady, but Lizzy laughed and grabbed his arm. “Peter, no!” she scolded playfully.
Her brother relented with raised hands. “Alright, I guess I’m staying here. But the next time Mrs. Jamison commits such a crime against you, don’t say I didn’t try to help.”
Lizzy shrugged. “I can handle Mrs. Jamison,” she gestured to the rest of the room. “It’s everyone else all together that I can’t deal with.”
Peter and Lizzy walked side by side to the refreshment table. “So,” Peter asked, “what book were you reading when you were so rudely accosted?”
Lizzy smirked and handed a plate to her brother. “What do you think?”
He took the plate and began piling as many snacks on it as it could hold. “Of course. The usual.” He balanced a cookie on top of his already heaping plate. “Would you mind getting me a drink?”
Lizzy nodded. “Lemonade?”
“Are they really serving anything else?”
Lizzy grinned and headed to the drink table as Peter tried to avoid spilling his food on anyone on his way to a table.
Pemberton Valley Diner had catered the party, and as a result, the food was all incredibly good. The Maddox family’s diner was fairly well known, and it was about the only thing that brought visitors to Willow Creek. Their lemonade was the most famous item on their menu, and no one could figure out just what made it so good. Loraine Maddox wasn’t telling.
Lizzy was startled by a tap on her shoulder. The full cup of lemonade slipped from her grasp and spilled all over the white tablecloth.
“Oh, whoops,” Tia said, for that was who had startled Lizzy. Tia barely glanced up from her phone. “That made a mess.”
“Yes it did, Tia,” Lizzy replied, annoyance tinting her voice. She went to the kitchen connected to the commons to get some wet paper towels. To her surprise, Tia followed her. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped at her phone screen, and she maneuvered perfectly through the crowd without looking up.
“Gram said I should come over and like, hang out with you or whatever.”
“Great,” Lizzy muttered, cranking several feet of paper towels out of the dispenser on the wall and wetting them from the sink faucet. She headed back to the drink table, Tia still tagging along behind.
Tia made no move to help Lizzy with the mess. Lizzy cleaned it all quickly and then threw the paper towels in the giant round trash bin. She then filled a new cup of lemonade for Peter.
“I’m taking this to Peter now,” she said to Tia, hoping the other girl would leave her alone now. It was always so hard trying to keep up with Tia. Unfortunately, Lizzy’s words had the opposite effect than she intended.
Tia’s head shot up in interest. “Peter’s here? You didn’t tell me your brother was here!” She shoved her phone into the back pocket of her designer jean shorts and snatched the cup out of Lizzy’s hand. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and strutted over to the table where Peter sat. Lizzy discreetly rolled her eyes and followed.
“Hey Peter,” Tia said, setting the cup in front of him. “I brought you this.”
Peter looked up from his plate of food, which was only slightly less heaping than it had been before. “Oh, thanks Tiana.” He grabbed the cup and took a huge drink.
Tia laughed and slid into the seat next to him. “Oh, call me Tia. No one ever calls me Tiana any more. So Peter,” she propped her chin on her hand and stared at him. “How’s school been for you? What are you studying again?”
“Architecture. And school has been good. I’ve really enjoyed my classes, and I had some really great professors this year.”
Lizzy slid silently into the seat on the other side of her brother. She had no desire to join the conversation. Tia probably wouldn’t let her get a word in edgewise if she tried. Plus, Lizzy had a feeling this conversation would be more interesting without her involvement.
Tia let out a high pitched laugh. “Oh, that’s so funny! You’ll be just like Indiana Jones!”
Lizzy’s stifled laugh came out as a snort.
Peter bit back a grin. “That’s actually archaeology,” he said politely. “But I appreciate the reference.”
Tia’s laugh went up an octave higher. How was that even possible? “Oh, Peter, you’re so funny.”
It was slightly painful for Lizzy watching Tia flirt with her older brother. Peter already had a girlfriend, but Lizzy wasn’t about to tell Tia that. It was too amusing to see someone else embarrass themselves for a change.
Lizzy could only take so much of Tia, and the girl droned on and on. She showed no signs of leaving Peter alone any time soon. Lizzy eventually rose from the table and left Peter to the mercy of Tia. He shot her a glance that clearly said, “Don’t leave me with her.”
Lizzy shrugged and mouthed, “Good luck.”
The chatter in the room had grown to an almost unbearable din. Lizzy checked her watch. It was five after nine in the evening. Lizzy stifled a yawn. It was entirely too late for this much conversation. She needed some space. Since everyone was occupied with other things, she slipped out the church’s back door.
If she had known what was coming, she never would have gone outside.
*****
Tada! There it is, the beginning of a brand new completely original series. I’m quite excited about this one. I’d love to hear feedback! Any thoughts on our main characters? What do you think Lizzy will find outside? Let me know!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed; be sure to keep an eye out for the next part!
~Jadyn