Room 239/240

[notcalledlizzie]

Elizabeth is lying, curled up on her bed with a stuffed bear.

A small, neatly wrapped box is sitting on the bedside table.

She's trying to read; the same book she's been reading ever since she was in the library after Speech class.

Her mind keeps flashing back to the trip she made to Mali and the Ivory Coast. She can hardly believe how young and naive she had been. How back then she thought that she could help change the world.

She seems to reread the same paragraph over and over again

"A tumble? Oh, yes - out of the swing," said Katy, as it all came slowly back to her. "Did the rope break, Aunt Izzie? I can't remember about it."

She always reached for books from her childhood whenever she felt down.

Comments

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

*knocks*

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*looks up from the book*

Come in!

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

*enters and plops down at Liz' feet* You going to Rory's party later?

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

That's the plan *nods her head towards the small box*

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

Oh right. *leans back against the board* I talked to Lisa and she didn't mind if I pull out of the assignment.

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*smiles tightly* I guess that means you'll be writing a paper as well then, exposing your inner self to the teacher so she doesn't "push you past your boundaries" in the future.

*hints of sarcasm are obvious*

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

*knocks*

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*calls* Hullo?

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Liz? It's Sam. I just wanted to see how you were doing.

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Come on in.

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam opened the door and walked through. "I saw Janet and Parker already, but I wanted to see how you were doing. That...couldn't have been easy."

She's already ranted all over the library and it's not her assignment. Now is the time to let Liz get it out. She takes a seat on the end of the bed and tries to make herself look huggable.

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth crawls across the bed to curl up next to Sam.

"I hate it," she whispers. "They kept trying to tell me that slavery wasn't always bad. They kept trying to tell me that there were always choices. And all I can think about is that for $30, you can go to Mali and buy a child-slave."

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*looks down at the book, and then at Cam*

You want me to read "What Katy Did to you?

*raises an eyebrow*

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

*smiles sweetly* Sure.

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*looks at him even more skeptically*

Shall I start from the beginning then?

[cameronmitchell.livejournal.com]

If you want. *gets comfortable*

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

*flicks to the first page, and looks down at him with a grin*

What Katy Did. Chapter 1. The Little Carrs.

I was sitting in the meadows one day, not long ago, at a place where
there was a small brook. It was a hot day. The sky was very blue, and
white clouds, like great swans, went floating over it to and fro. Just
opposite me was a clump of green rushes, with dark velvety spikes, and
among them one single tall, red cardinal flower, which was bending over
the brook as if to see its own beautiful face in the water. But the
cardinal did not seem to be vain.

The picture was so pretty that I sat a long time enjoying it. Suddenly,
close to me, two small voices began to talk--or to sing, for I couldn't
tell exactly which it was. One voice was shrill; the other, which was a
little deeper, sounded very positive and cross. They were evidently
disputing about something, for they said the same words over and over
again. These were the words--"Katy did." "Katy didn't." "She did." "She
didn't." "She did." "She didn't." "Did." "Didn't." I think they must
have repeated them at least a hundred times.

[janet_fraiser]

Janet walked in the room and put her backpack down, then saw Liz and Sam sitting on the bed together. "Hey," she said quietly. "Our day has been horrible, hasn't it?"

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth holds out an arm. "Yeah, it has," she agreed, equally quietly.

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam motioned with her head, but didn't let go of Liz. "Hey."

[janet_fraiser]

"Hey." Janet sighed. "Have any good classes today?" she asked.

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

"We had a movie in Classics, Physics was cancelled, and we got to talk about offensive clothing in Advanced Negotiations. So I got to relive the blue dress incident again."

[janet_fraiser]

Janet sits down on the bed, leans into Liz, and sighs. "Aren't we supposed to be enjoying high school?"

[notcalledlizzie.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth wraps her arm tightly around Janet. "That's just some joke the politicians back in Washington have cooked up. It's a myth... you don't really enjoy high school, you just survive it."

[carter-i-am.livejournal.com]

Sam nodded. "You enjoy college."