The Willow Creek Chronicles-First Impressions Part Two
Well, obviously I’m still getting the hang of this blogging thing. But I am back! This time with the long promised continuation of the Willow Creek Chronicles. Now, this part has been written for awhile now; I just had to get myself to edit and revise it. Finally, it is done and I’m so excited to present it here today!
In case you need a refresher, check out part one here!
*****
A few days before the party, Lizzy is just having an ordinary day. At least she’s trying to. It would be nice if she could go twenty-four hours without embarrassing herself half a dozen times.
*****
Earlier that week…
Willow Creek was a boring little town, and Lizzy wouldn’t want it any other way. Not everyone shared her opinion however, and took every opportunity to create some excitement. So, it came as no surprise that a group of women, including Lizzy’s mother, were going all out in their party planning.
Lizzy didn’t think the return of her former classmates was that big of a deal, but most everyone else in town seemed to think otherwise. Being in the minority when it came to pretty much any decision was just part of the norm in her life. Her mom always said she was special that way, not that it made Lizzy feel any better. She had no desire to stand out.
Lizzy adjusted the strap of her messenger bag and pushed open the door to the Pemberton Valley Diner. A wave of the most amazing smells hit her as she stepped into the diner. The place was near empty on this Tuesday mid-afternoon, and the bright, cheery atmosphere instantly calmed Lizzy from the stresses of the morning.
The booth in the farthest corner from the door was Lizzy’s usual spot, and she collapsed into the blue and white seat eagerly. Her mom had roped her into helping with the party planning, and that had taken up her entire morning. Lizzy hadn’t sat down since breakfast; she’d been kept running around picking up decorations, making sure Mr. Henderson at the bakery had the correct cake order, and other such errands. There was about an hour before Lizzy’s shift at the library started, and she needed to de-stress and take some time to cool down.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” Lorraine Maddox, owner, manager, head chef, and occasional waitress, came over to take Lizzy’s order. “What can I get you today?”
“One lemonade and one white chocolate scone, please.” Lizzy said without looking at the menu.
“The usual, then,” Mrs. Maddox said, slipping her pad and pen back into her apron pocket. “Coming right up.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Maddox,” Lizzy called as the woman headed back to the kitchen.
Lizzy pulled out her book and opened it on the table. She was reading Pride and Prejudice for what seemed like the hundredth time, but she never tired of it. Sometimes it felt a little silly, loving the book so much, since it might seem that her preference for it was due to her being named after the main character. That was only a small part of it. It had a good plot and some of the best character development of any book, in Lizzy’s opinion.
Before she could get started, Gabriel, the youngest Maddox brother, arrived at her table with her order.
“Thanks Gabe,” Lizzy said as she took her plate and drink glass from him.
He smiled, but only out of reflex. “You’re welcome, Lizzy.” He walked back to the kitchen, his steps slow and his shoulders hunched.
Lizzy was puzzled watching him. He had just graduated high school this spring, a year early. That seemed like the kind of thing that would make a person happy, but Gabe was far from that. Lizzy couldn’t fathom what could be bothering him, and she didn’t know how to ask.
She sighed and took a sip of her lemonade, and all the thoughts swirling in hear mind stopped immediately. The lemonade was perfect as usual. She sighed again, contentedly this time, and took a bite of her scone. It was time to get lost in her book.
The minutes flew by with every page she turned, and the diner around her disappeared into the world of Regency England. Lizzy could see the couples dancing around her in a swirl of colors and hear the music floating gracefully on the air. Refined chit chat came from all around, and a feeling of excitement filled every corner of the room.
It was the exact type of situation she avoided desperately in the real world, but here in this fictional place, every person was as familiar to her as her own self. She glided around the room with Elizabeth Bennet, greeting the likes of Charlotte Lucas, Aunt Phillips, and dear Jane Bennett. Every character was a friend.
Lizzy was fully immersed in the story, enjoying every moment. Lizzy Watson was a shadow to Elizabeth Bennet, and they were both completely in their element. Then, in walked Mr. Darcy.
“Hey, Sam, are you here?”
The door to the diner opened, and a voice called out. The interruption jolted Lizzy back to the real world. It took her a moment to adjust and identify the disturbance. Oh. Tristan Beckett. Lizzy slumped in her seat and kept her gaze down, silently hoping he wouldn’t notice her.
The chances of that were slim to none. Usually no fewer than two Maddox family members could be found in the diner at a time, but at the moment, Lorraine and Gabriel were nowhere to be found. Tristan looked around, and surprise, surprise, spotted Lizzy right away.
“Hey, Lizzy,” he said, walking over to her booth. “Have you seen Sam around?”
Good to see you too, Lizzy thought. It had been around a year since she had last seen Tristan, and it would have been nice to get a proper greeting after all that time. But that was how he had always been, abrupt and a little rude. Lizzy didn’t know why she expected anything more; it wasn’t like they had ever really been friends anyway.
“Ah…” Lizzy stuttered. Tristan always intimidated her, and right now she couldn’t get her brain and her mouth to coordinate. The answer she needed was simple, but it wouldn’t come. All she could think was how grown up and professional Tristan looked in his college polo, while she was wearing the same jeans she’d had since she was fifteen. What question was she supposed to be answering?
She took too long trying to formulate an answer. By the time she got her brain unfrozen and back on track, Mrs. Maddox had come out from the kitchen.
“Never mind, I’ll just ask Mrs. M.” Tristan shot a glance back at Lizzy as he weaved through the tables crossing the dining room. Mrs. Maddox greeted him enthusiastically, like a socially capable human being. They had a quick conversation and Mrs. Maddox told him that Sam wasn’t around. He thanked her and headed for the door.
He sent one last glance Lizzy’s way and she realized she had been staring the whole time. She quickly looked down at the table and groaned. She let her head hit the table with a thud. Why couldn’t she have a normal conversation like a normal human being? He probably still thought she was weird and dorky.
All she had wanted was a chance to show her returning peers that she wasn’t a failure. A good first impression: that was all she wanted. So far, she’d blown it with Tristan. Her expectations for meeting Si and Tia again were slowly getting lower and lower.
Her watch buzzed, and she checked the time. Her shift at the library started in twenty minutes. It would only take five minutes to walk to the library, and then she would have extra time to get ready. Quickly, she gathered all her things together, took her dishes to the counter and paid Mrs. Maddox what she owed. With a quick wave and a thank you, she was out the door.
After a quick walk soaking in the summer sun and cooling breeze, Lizzy pushed open the front door of the library. A feeling of calm immediately sunk deep into her bones. There was never a time that the library couldn’t make her feel better. It had always been a second home to Lizzy. Even before she worked there, she spent every spare moment between the shelves. It was entirely possible that she had spent more time at the library as a child than in her own home.
The library was a rustic building like most in town. It was two stories of red brick with tall, wide windows spanning the front of the top floor and scaling from floor to floor in a thin strip on the side. The upper level was part meeting room and part storage with a small break room for employees. The sprawling ground floor had different sections for Children’s, Adult Fiction, Non-fiction, and Media.
Lizzy stepped inside and waved at Miss Denise, the head librarian, as she walked past the check-out desk to the stairwell to the top floor. The stairs were the most modern part of the building. For as long as Lizzy could remember, they had been old and creaky, seeming on the verge of falling apart. Then, last year an anonymous donation had been made to cover the renovation.
Lizzy liked to call the new stairs the Rainbow Staircase. If you came at just the right time of day, the sun shone through the floor to ceiling windows and reflected through the new glass railing, casting a long rainbow down the side of the white stairs. As the sun continued to move through the sky, the rainbow fractured, scattering all around the staircase. It always reminded Lizzy of the promise of better things ahead.
She jogged up the stairs now, pausing only a moment to finger a miniature rainbow on the wall. The meeting room upstairs was decorated like a fairytale forest for the kid’s story time later; Lizzy grinned, anticipating the excitement it would bring all the little ones. The door on the far side of the room was locked, so Lizzy pulled her key out and twisted it in the lock. The door groaned as Lizzy shoved against it with all her might.
Inside the storage room was pitch black, so Lizzy flipped the light on as the door slowly shut behind her. Rows of bookshelves filled every spare inch of the space. There had to be almost the same amount of books crammed in here as the ones on display downstairs. It always amazed Lizzy just how full this room was.
One last door was on the opposite side of the room. Lizzy opened this one and flipped on the lights in the break room. All that was in here was a fridge, sink, microwave, and a table with a few chairs.
Lizzy tossed her messenger bag on the table and drew out her name tag to pin it on her shirt. She wore it like a badge of honor. A quick glance at her watch showed that there were five minutes until her shift started. Lizzy headed downstairs as quickly as she could.
At the bottom of the Rainbow Staircase, she hesitated. Several creaky steps led down to a dark alcove. There was a door down there that led to the creepy basement. Those steps hadn’t been refurbished like the rest of them, and they only added to the spookiness of the lower level.
Whispering voices floated up out of the darkness.
A quick glance at the check-out desk showed that Miss Denise and the other librarian on duty, Lucas Bridger, were both accounted for. And yet… there were those voices again. It was impossible to make out what they were saying. Lizzy strained, but couldn’t make sense of it.
She stepped down. It was like something was urging her to go down there. She had to know what those voices were. She took another step. The voices were louder, but still unintelligible. She peered down into the darkness. She reached toward the door.
“Lizzy?”
Lizzy jumped and stumbled on the steps. Miss Denise caught her and kept her from toppling over and cracking her head on the cement floor of the basement. “Lizzy, are you alright?” she asked, her forehead creased with concern.
“Do you hear that?” Lizzy gestured for Miss Denise to be quiet. They stood for a moment listening. Lizzy could hear the voices still.
Miss Denise shook her head. “I don’t hear anything, honey. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Lizzy was puzzled. “You don’t hear that?” As soon as the words left her mouth, the voices faded away.
Miss Denise wrapped an arm around Lizzy’s shoulders and led her away from the basement. “Maybe you should go home and get some rest,” she suggested.
Lizzy let herself be led away and fought an urge to look back at the basement. “I’m fine,” she answered, only partially convinced herself. “I was probably just imagining things.” She beamed her most convincing smile at Miss Denise. “Just give me a project to work on and I’ll be good.”
The head librarian sighed and fussed, but eventually gave in. She piled books on a cart and pushed Lizzy toward the children’s section. Shelving books was simple, and she wouldn’t have to worry about Lizzy at all.
Miss Denise Fairchild was one of the few people that Lizzy wasn’t intimidated by. The short, petite librarian probably couldn’t intimidate anyone if she tried. With her cropped blonde hair she reminded Lizzy of a pixie. Despite being only a few years younger than Lizzy’s mother, the woman was full of energy and an appetite for fun. She was quite fond and overprotective of her staff and one young bookworm in particular.
Lizzy breezed through the children’s section and returned all the books to their places in no time at all. She had memorized the Dewey Decimal System when she was eight, and had learned the exact layout of the library and every shelf in it by heart by the time she turned five. For some reason, it still managed to surprise Miss Denise.
When Lizzy brought the empty cart back to the counter, Miss Denise placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, but soon sent Lizzy to the adult fiction section with another cart. Lizzy finished that one just as quickly. After an hour, she had shelved all of the books waiting behind the counter. Miss Denise waved her upstairs to get ready for the kid’s story time.
They held a story time every Tuesday during the summer with a special one that Lizzy led once a month. Lizzy would dress up as the main character from a story that Miss Denise let her choose and told the story to the kids. Today, she was going to tell the story of Princess Violet Rose.
This fairytale was similar to Sleeping Beauty, and it had been Lizzy’s favorite growing up. Sometimes, Lizzy felt a little awkward dressing up like this, but today she was only excited. The kids always loved seeing the characters come to life, and their smiles warmed Lizzy’s heart. Besides, who wouldn’t feel some joy from pretending to be someone they admired for a little while?
By the time Lizzy had slipped into a forest green princess dress and donned a blonde wig, she could hear the chatter of excited young voices filling the meeting room. Lizzy cracked open the storage room door and watched as Miss Denise did her best to keep the childish excitement from crossing the line into uncontrollable chaos.
A dozen kids swarmed around the room, most of them girls with a few begrudging brothers dragged along. The clock on the wall struck 4:00. It was time to start. Lizzy closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. As she opened her eyes with a loud exhale, she was no longer librarian Lizzy Watson, she was Princess Violet Rose.
Miss Denise settled the kids down and announced the Princess in her most dramatic voice. Lizzy gave her very best princess wave and took her place at the head of the room. She began her story.
Lizzy completely lost herself in the words. The room around her transformed into an actual enchanted wood, and the construction paper castle on the wall behind her became a stone and mortar royal residence. She told the story with no need to have the book in front of her. It was all committed to her memory. For one glorious hour, Lizzy was transported to another world.
“And they lived happily ever after. The end.”
The room burst into applause. Lizzy blinked and the spell was broken. She stood once more in the meeting room of the library, dressed in a costume. The kids clambered and squealed as Miss Denise tried to maintain order.
Lizzy knelt down and began interacting with the kids while staying completely in character. Parents were beginning to arrive up the stairs to collect their little ones. Most of the kids wanted a picture before they left, so Lizzy stood in front of the castle backdrop and posed with them as parents snapped photos.
She knew each of the kids well, and addressed them each by name; they all got a kick out of it. All except for a few of the older ones still believed that she was actually Princess Violet Rose come to life. They loved it that a character from a story knew their names. Even the older ones who had put two and two together still enjoyed it.
“Hello, Lilla and Liam,” Lizzy said, holding her arms out for the ten year old twins. Before she could pose with them, Lilla stood on her tip toes and whispered into Lizzy’s ear.
“You did a really good job with your story today, Lizzy.”
Lizzy smiled at the girl. “Why thank you, Lilla.”
“Even my brother liked it.”
“I’m glad I didn’t bore Liam too much.”
Lilla smirked. “Not that brother.”
An uneasy feeling settled in Lizzy’s stomach. Lilla only had two brothers. If she wasn’t referring to Liam, then that meant… Lizzy was afraid to follow Lilla’s line of sight. But the desire to know for sure overpowered the anxiety. Sure enough, there he was, leaning casually against the stair rail at the back of the room. Tristan Beckett. Beside him stood Si Maddox.
Lizzy’s heart dropped, and she could feel her face flush. The only reason she had let Miss Denise talk her into starting this last summer was because it would just be for the kids. No one over the age of eleven besides Miss Denise was ever witness to her theatrics. Parents came in later just to pick up their kids and take pictures, which wasn’t so bad.
But now Tristan and Si had seen the whole performance. Had they actually been there the entire time? She had been so caught up in her storytelling that she hadn’t even noticed.
Si whispered something to Tristan and nudged him with his elbow, laughing. Tristan smirked, and his eyes met Lizzy’s. He looked away quickly.
Lizzy wished the floor would swallow her up. All she wanted was for the others to see her as a normal, high school graduated girl. Was that so much to ask?
“Can we take the picture already?” Liam complained.
Lizzy tried to get herself back into character as much as she could. The most she could manage was a forced smile that not even five-year-old Grace would believe.
As soon as the last picture was taken, Lizzy fled the room and changed back into her blouse and jeans. When she re-emerged, only a handful of parents and kids remained. Thankfully, Tristan and Si were gone.
To her immense relief, the rest of her shift was uneventful. Downstairs, she met Lucas at the front desk.
“I’m supposed to take over for you,” she told him.
Lucas gave her a characteristic subdued smile. “That’s much appreciated, Miss Eliza.”
Lizzy tried to smile, but not even Lucas’s nickname for her could lift her spirits very far.
He could tell. “Rough day?”
Lizzy gave him a look that clearly told the answer.
He nodded, but made no response, simply moving out of the way so Lizzy could take his place behind the desk.
Lizzy was grateful that he didn’t try to make her talk about it. Like most of Lizzy’s friends, Lucas was many years older than her, but the two of them got on well. He had lived in Willow Creek for almost a year; although there were people who remembered when he would come visit Tia Roman’s parents many years ago before the accident. Everyone had good things to say about him, and it had been unanimously decided at one town council meeting that he was a very welcome addition to the town.
Lizzy had quickly discovered that Lucas had a love of fiction that was almost as strong as hers. Upon discovering who Lizzy was named after, he had started addressing her as if she was really Elizabeth Bennett. Lizzy would never say so, but the nicknames made her ridiculously happy.
“Well, I suppose I’m off then. Give my love to dear Jane,” he joked, waving dramatically at Lizzy and bowing gallantly to Miss Denise who smacked his arm playfully and shooed him away.
Lizzy couldn’t help laughing a little at their antics. Her shifts with Miss Denise and Lucas were her favorites. The three of them had a camaraderie that made working here not feel like work at all.
Lizzy’s spirits had been lifted somewhat, but as soon as Miss Denise retreated to work in the office, Lizzy was left alone to organize things behind the front desk until someone came to have their books checked out.
In the silence, Lizzy’s brain started its annoying habit of reviewing her day, specifically the bad parts. It didn’t take long until her face was burning with embarrassment; why couldn’t she ever act like a normal human being around Tristan? Her spirits were so low that she didn’t even react when a patron checked out a copy of Pride and Prejudice.
When the library closed at 8:00, Miss Denise sent Lizzy home. “I can close up by myself, tonight,” she said. “Go enjoy the rest of your evening.” Lizzy doubted she would.
Lizzy gathered up her things and trudged to her house. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was still bright. She was exhausted. It had been a long, exasperating day, and all she wanted was to go home and sleep.
It was only a couple of blocks to her house, and if she could make it there without interacting with anyone, she would consider the walk a success. Hopefully she had hit her limit of awkward moments she could have in one day.
She clutched the strap of her messenger bag tightly and kept her eyes glued to the sidewalk. How could this day get any—no. She wasn’t going to complete that thought. As soon as she did, something—
Someone collided with her head on. Lizzy stumbled back and looked up to see who she had run into. The jury was out on whether she should bust out laughing or break down crying. With the day she was having, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that she had crossed paths with Tia Roman.
Tia pulled an earbud out of her ear and eyed Lizzy up and down. “Oh hey, Lizzy,” she said casually, as if literally running into her was an everyday occurrence. “Nice outfit.”
Lizzy couldn’t tell if Tia was being sarcastic or not. Tia herself of course looked completely fabulous in her coordinating work out pants and jacket. Even though she had obviously been out jogging, she still looked like she had just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. “Thanks,” Lizzy said. “You too.”
Tia placed a hand on her hip and flipped her ponytail. She stared hard at Lizzy, who tried her best not to squirm like a pinned insect.
“You know,” Tia finally said. “I used to have a shirt just like that.”
Lizzy let out a relieved chuckle. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
“But then it totally went out of style. I gave it to Gram to get rid of, and I think she gave it to that one thrift store over in Pemberton. You know the one I’m talking about?”
Lizzy knew exactly the one Tia was talking about. It was the very store she had bought this shirt at. Which meant that there was a very high chance that she was wearing Tia’s old, out of style hand-me-downs. So much for a good impression.
Tia didn’t seem to have made the connection. “Well, it looks cute on you.” She directed her attention back to her phone, and popped her earbud back in her ear. “See you later, Lizzy,” she called as she jogged off.
Lizzy stood alone on the sidewalk for a moment, heaved a deep sigh, and then resumed her trek toward home.
Back at home, Lizzy said a brief hello to both of her parents and then quickly retreated to her room. As soon as she stepped in, she dropped her bag on the floor, walked over to the light teal record player on her desk and slipped on an album. She dropped the needle, and collapsed on her bed as the first notes of ABBA’s Knowing Me, Knowing You, began to play.
Every single chance she’d had to impress Tia, Si, and Tristan had come today, and she’d blown each and every one. Maybe she should have tried harder. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now. Although, on the tiniest sliver of a bright side, at least the pressure was off for the party on Friday.
*****
Oh poor Lizzy… Fun fact, when I first decided to have this flashback, it was originally going to just show how boring of a town Willow Creek is, since things start getting strange in the next part of the story.
But as I was writing this part it became more about Lizzy’s inner thoughts and her interactions with those around her. In other words, I started putting Lizzy in embarrassing situations! (With just a dash of weird, suspenseful, foreshadowing thrown in for good measure.)
I’d love to hear any thoughts on this chapter! What do you think of the characters so far? Can you relate to Lizzy? Let me know in the comments!
My goal is to post the next part within the next two weeks, so hopefully it won’t be such a long wait between parts next time!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll stick around to hear more of Lizzy’s adventures!
~Jadyn