Thankful for What?

"Step away from the turkey," said Eliza. It was more to herself then it was to anyone else overeating. Eliza was sitting around the table with Julieanne, Ray, Julieanne's mother and their newly adopted mutt Frito, as in the chip. Julienne's dad was stuck in Europe-it was just rude that European business doesn't close for Thanksgiving.

Eliza looked around the table, she was Thankful for her group of friends, she had somewhere to go since her parents had decided on an impromptu vacation to Mexico without her. It also worked out that her and Julieanne were around for Ray, who shockingly couldn't get back home thanks to an eastcoast snow storm. Frito was most likly thankful that he finally had a home and as luck would have it a household that loved fritos.

"Okay if I don't step away right now I'm going to look like the turkey, stuffed with my butt stuck in the air.  And sadly I would look nearly as appealing." Eliza pushed herself away just to get wedged into the corner further by the motley dog. "No, no turkey for you. Remember you have a sensitive stomach?"

Ray smiled at Eliza.  She suddenly felt a small blip, not a full on flip but something.  She wasn't sure what that meant since it was Ray, her friend, her study partner, her partner in crime. 

"Aww look at the too of you.  Bonding over Turkey.  You both kind of cute, his stomach touches the ground and your button is popped on your jeans," Ray said, thankfully still giving Eliza that cute boyish smile that was causing the blip. 

"Hey mister, the button is popped so I can do this."  She bent down and started to rub Fritos little belly.  He wasn't fat yet, he wasn't even close but they were trying hard to make up for lost time while he had been goodness knows where out in the world.  "It's like Buda, you rub it for good luck." 

"Yeah i see the good luck coming right up," Ray said with a little chuckle.

"Where is my quiet study partner.  I don't like this lip.  If this is what i get for inviting you to Thanksgiving, getting you out of your studious element you can count out a Christmas invitation."

"Aw, come on.  No Christmas with you and Buda here?  Well that means wherever i go i might have a chance at the Turkey." 

"Well, I.  Oh, well that’s just.  How rude."  Eliza was speechless if not a little surprised.  She never heard Ray give her so much crap before, it was usually their other partner in crime.  She realized that maybe Ray was only quiet because he was constantly over shadowed.  There was that blip again, she thought.  Then she felt a little rumble, okay maybe it was a blip, and maybe it was from Ray but nope, this was defiantly a rumble and it was not from Ray. Eliza was kind of hoping everyone could leave soon because she wasn't sure her digestive system was loving the Turkey she had just devoured in record time.

Yes it was certain, Eliza was thankful for a lot, she was thankful for her friends, she was thankful for the food, she was suddenly thankful for those deep brown eyes and boyish smile that Ray kept flashing her and she would be even more thankful if the Turkey didn’t cause her indigestion, heartburn or the need to spend the remainder of the afternoon in their too small, outdated bathroom.

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Happy  Thanksgiving - I hope your bellies were full!

Eliza and a Boy

Note: Time is passing, this not the next day to the last post.

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“I’m not really sure I want to know what’s going on Eliza,” said Ray, one of Eliza’s study partners.  Eliza could feel the warmth in her eyes, the puffiness and both were most likely beyond apparent.  The burning that had to signify that her eyes were bright red was a huge reminder that she’d spent most of the night and day crying.

“No, it’s okay.  I’m over it, it’s fine.”  She sniffled a little before wiping at her swollen eyes and digging out a pen and a notebook so they could get down to business, getting homework done; even if all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep away the heartbreak. 

“Right, fine.  You look fine.  Len, she looks great right?  Why would we guess anything is wrong?” asked Ray, sarcasm very plain in his voice.

Len made up the remainder of their little nerd herd of a group, Eliza had actually made them t-shirts last Christmas that had said “Enginerding” since they were engineers and nothing they talked about made sense to most of the known world.  It was like everyone in their department was from outer space and everyone, all three of them in the group, had developed their own language to describe something as simple as a triangle and the three lines that made it up.

“Oh shut it, you two.  I’m fine. Let’s get back to this.  I’ve plotted these equations but something is very wrong so I am pretty sure we are off somewhere,” said Eliza, gesturing to some graph paper that had been erased so many times it was starting to wear thin where she had attempted to plot.  It was so worn in fact the graph lines were nearly invisible.  A tear rolled down her nose and landed in a very warn spot that when she went to wipe it away the spot dissolved leaving a hole.

“Len, smack her.  We don’t have time for girl stuff.  Spit it out,” said Ray.

“Eliza, seriously put on your big girl pants.  We’re guys and our attention spans are about as long as it takes to chug a beer.  Be happy Ray over here has a heart of gold,” Len paused, and finished the rest under his breath.  “At least when it comes to you, poor sap.”

Eliza wasn’t listening she was distracted and had started to doodle some more in the corner of her paper.  She looked up when she heard a small thud from Ray apparently punching Len in the shoulder.

“Ouch, that was a jerk move,” said Len.  “You’re such a chicken.”

“What did I miss?”  Eliza looked at the two of them knowing she was missing something obvious but couldn’t see it.  She was too consumed with the fact she’s just, well last night she’d just, found the theater major practicing the wedding night scene from Romeo and Juliet in his bed and without the scripts.

“Right,” said Ray, a look in his eyes that Eliza just couldn’t figure out.  “Well, uh.  I will be right back. Len hold down the fort.”

Eliza watched Ray walk out pulling his cell phone from his pocket.  “Okay, let’s get this fixed.”

“Sure, sure, one second though.  You do know that Ray has a thing for you right?”

Eliza felt her face burn a little, her cheeks no doubt turning rosy to match her swollen eyes.  “I uh, well no, I don’t think he does.”

“No, he does.  Believe me.”

“Well, how come he’s never asked me out of anything. He’s never done anything to show he likes me.”

Len’s face said it all, his raised eyebrows and his smirk like smile told Eliza he thought she was dumb.  “Right.  Because every guy would go back into six bars to find the purse you think you lost just to realize it’s in the back seat.  I still won’t let him live that down.  You don’t see me doing that, even for my girlfriend.”

“He’s just a good guy.”  Eliza was slouching in her chair now, she really felt bad.  She knew that Ray did a lot for her, but she did things for him too, heck there were times she even thought about kissing him, the long nights when they’d had to do not one, not two but three runs to the local coffee shop.  She’d almost thought those thoughts were from the lack of sleep, but his looks had always made her feel beautiful, smart and well, cared for, if she had to admit it.  But the timing had always be off she told herself and she was imaging his feelings.

“You two are made for each other, your both idiots.  You two flirt like crazy.  And I’m going out on a limb here but Mr. Perfect has just stepped out of your life for one reason or another, judging from the crying thing, that or your fish died.  So now the timing is right.”

“I think you have it all wrong Len, I mean with Ray not me.  Yes I’m single, again,”  she paused as Ray came back in the room.  He was holding an extra large pizza that if Eliza had to guess was a double pepperoni with garlic sauce, her favorite.

“Here.  I ordered this when I heard your voice over the phone and I know pizza always cheers you up.”

Len just stared at Eliza and then turned to look at Ray.  Eliza could read him perfectly; he was telling her as plain as day, “I told you so.”  Poor Ray looked at them and had no idea, clueless, wide eyed and sweet as sweet can be.

Eliza Against the Candy Corn

Happy Halloween even if it is a little late.  Better late then never i always think. 

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“White, orange or yellow?  Where to start.  White or yellow, white or yellow.” 

“If you are talking about snow I’d go with the white.  Yellow isn’t a good sign,” Julianne said walking past Eliza dropping her bag to the floor and flopping on her bed. 

Eliza was sitting crossed legged on her own bed with a bowl and a bag.  Had this been any other time of year maybe Eliza could pass off the idea that she was filling the bowl of candy to set out for everyone who visited, but it wasn’t any other time, it was Halloween.  This was the most dangerous time of the year; Candy Corn was easily obtained and was safe to call Eliza’s kryptonite.

“Seriously El, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to figure out the best way to eat a candy corn.  If I start at the white end I eat them twice as fast, but if I start on the yellow end they seem to last longer.”

“Really El?  The way you eat them I don’t think you are going to save yourself any calories either way.  Just indulge, there is a reason they are only available one time a year.”

Eliza sighed and dropped the candy corn she had been analyzing just to pick it back up and popped it in her mouth, yellow side in first, but she ate the whole thing in one bite anyway.

“Step away from the candy corn dish.  Step away El,” said Julianne, as she seemed to tip toe towards Eliza acting as if Eliza was a rabid dog that might bite.

“Back away Jules.  You know how I get around this time of year.”

“You get this way one time each month, this month it just happens to coincide with Halloween and there’s candy corn available.  So don’t give me that crap, you still need to fit into your costume we bought you, so step away.”

“Whatever Jules.  I don’t care go to the party yourself.  I am not going, I don’t feel much like partying right now.  I just want to lay here and feel bloated.”

“Really?  I can’t believe you just said that.  I can’t be Betty without her Wilma what would Fred think?”

Eliza raised one eyebrow and looked a Julianne with amusement and a hint of fake irritation.  “Maybe Fred will finally realize he’s useless and Wilma finally wised up and left him.” Eliza smiled, popped another candy corn into her mouth and said, “Don’t you think you took this a little far?”

Julianne shook her head.  “Heck no.  You should see the muscles on Barney and well Fred, well let’s say it should make up for the scooter.”

“Ugh fine.”  Eliza took the bowl of candy corn and placed it outside the door, free candy didn’t last long around the dorm so this was probably a smart move on her part, for her waistline at least.

“Alright Betty where’s my animal skin and femur for my hair?”

Day 100 and something...Eliza and the Scooter

I thought i would continue from last week and see how it goes.  I will have to do a special Post for Halloween.  Happy Reading.  Please feel free to tell me your thoughts.

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Eliza walked back into the dorm feeling a bit worn.  She reached her hand up to her head and felt around; it really didn’t even seem worth it to run her fingers through the rat’s nest that at one point had been her silky straight hair. 

“Oh, wow. Okay so I was apparently correct that he doesn’t have a car?”

“Uh, yeah.  You were right.  It was a scooter.  A scooter of death really. I am not cut out for a motorized contraption that small.  I thought we were going to die.”

“Oh dear.  I’m sorry.  You think that he would have planned better, or at least had a helmet or something for you.  The windblown look isn’t a good look.”

Eliza shook out her hair, and then looked in the mirror on the back of their door.  “He did.”

“Oh, well.  Maybe its not that bad?  He’s still cute right?” asked Julianne.

Eliza paused in thought before answering.  “How cute is cute enough to have to look like this each date?”  Eliza gestured to her hair.

“Maybe you two can walk everywhere?”

“Yeah sure.  That leaves us with Hooters, McDonnell’s, the Library Bar and Subway.  Romantic choices. But good news I can get a variety of food and enough liquor that I might be able to drown out any expectations that might creep in.”

“Okay, so he has a scooter.  The good news he seems mentally sane.  That must be  an improvement from nut number two that you dated for four days before he introduced you to his  ‘special friend’ Brad right?” asked Julianne, who was very obviously grasping at straws.

Eliza sighed.  “Yes, I am still unsure if I was actually dating him or if he was just trying to use me to show to his parents.  I am fairly positive he had some issues with who he was and what his parents would accept and so on.  He wasn’t crazy, but I sort of felt like the third wheel on my own dates.  I have horrible taste in men.  On a positive note I made a good friend once we ironed out that I was not the girl for him, now we have the best coffee dates ever.”

“Okay but if you pick one more head case I’m buying you a plant.  You seem to nurture everything; or you at least try to fix everything.  So if that’s your goal a plant should do the trick, maybe help you with the need to take care of everything.  You have yet to pick a fully functional guy.”

“Like your taste is much better,” was all Eliza could say.  Julianne stared at her intently.

“Uh huh.  No pointing fingers at the moment.  Lets recap, there was the guy who was gay,” Julianne said, before Eliza could interupt.

“In my defense he wasn’t out and he was super hot.”

“Right, whatever.  Then there was the momma’s boy, he couldn’t even leave the house without calling home and his mother only lives ten minutes away.  Then there was Lord of the Rings guy.”

“Okay, but in his defense he was the Elf and everyone knows how hot Orlando Bloom was.  Besides it was Halloween when we met, who knew he actually wore the pointy ears all the time.”

“My point is, you have horrible taste.  It’s like you need a fairy godmother or a guardian angel.”

“Jules, what do you think you are?  I mean definitely not the angel but you could be sort of the fairy godmother.”  Eliza smiled at her best friend and couldn’t help but laugh.

“I find that assessment a little off.  I’m an angel, I’ve just fallen.”  That last statement made by Julianne was followed by the two girls laughing contently as Julianne picked up a brush and started to untangle Eliza’s hair. 

Lucky in love wasn’t a phrase she’d be using any time soon as she winced at the tug the brush made.  Each stroke pulled make Eliza’s eyes tear up, perhaps men liked bald woman?  It would certainly fix the whole helmet and scooter dilemma.  Trying to be thankful for something Eliza was certain the one constant in her life would be Julianne, she prayed at the same time that steady stream of bad dates and weird men would not be.

Day 100 and something …Eliza and Elvis

Eliza is a character that has a full story – but until that story can be told to everyone through publication here is who she was in her college years.

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“You have a beautiful mind.”

Eliza looked dubiously at Julianne, her best friend for the last few years.  “Right, uh huh.  When was the last time those words were uttered by a man,”  Eliza paused and held her hand out to stop Julianne, “a real man, a human one.  Not one of those men from your books or the ones on stage in your acting classes?”

“Look do you want help or not?  You asked me to help you figure out what to talk about on your first date and my vision of him was this.”  Julianne waved her hand in the air gesturing to herself clad in a top hat and overcoat, a little paper mustache taped to her nose.

“Maybe we aren’t talking about the same guy?  I mean he isn’t Abe Lincoln and I realize he is a friend of yours so we can give him the benefit of the doubt that he is an odd duckling but he looked normal enough at the last party you dragged me to,”  Eliza said, sizing up Julianne.  Eliza smiled.  “In fact the way I remember him, he is a hot odd duckling, something between that doctor on that doctor show and the hottie in that movie we saw last week.”

A smile touched the edges of Julianne’s mouth.  “Gee with those descriptions how could I not know who you are talking about.”  Julianne laughed for a minute her fake tantrum thwarted. “Oh fine.  Lets pretend he’s boring, whatever.”  Julianne defeated, flopped down onto the twin size bed that was crammed into their small college room. 

“Well at least we know you have the right major, Miss Flair for the Dramatic.”  Eliza dropped down next to Julianne and situated herself so they were facing. “Okay, so when I said help I guess I was really thinking tell me something about him since I have yet to get past the making out stage with him.  I don’t even know his last name.”

Julianne perked up and smiled.  “His name is Theodore Elvis Fitzgerald.  He’s from Connecticut, he’s majoring in Theater with a minor in…”  Julianne pursed her lips in thought, raised her eyebrows and declared, “well actually I can’t remember the minor but who cares.  He loves anything cinema and Broadway related.”

“Well gee, lets state the obvious, well except the name, who names their kid Elvis?  His middle name is Elvis, really?”  The two girls burst into laughter.  “Remember your last fish, his name was Elvis.  All I can think of now is the goldfish with massive white eyes that used to creep up on us in the dark.  Dang thing scared the crap out of me.”

Julianne smiled, mostly likely at the untimely demise of Elvis the fish, who had been exceptionally huge at the time of his death.  “Well who knew that goldfish grow to the size of the tank.”

“No Jules who knew that you would buy, no wait, who knew we could fit a twenty gallon fish tank in our room.  The sucker got as big as a pop can, and his big bug eyes.”  A shudder ran through Eliza before she could finish her thought.  “Well anyway creepy fish.  I still don’t think the university has forgiven us, I didn’t realize he would clog the toilet.”

“Yeah well who cares.  I still laugh at the memory of you and the fish, who would think to sing, or hum, or whatever, the Jaws theme song.  It was brilliant.  Really captured the essence of Elvis as he approached the walls of the tank.”  Julianne sighed.  “Good times.”

Both girls stopped as the phone rang.  “It’s him, answer it,” whispered Julianne.

Eliza looked at the phone as if it were an alien coming for her. 

“Okay, seriously El, answer the phone, it isn’t going to bite.”

“But what if he isn’t what I think he is.  I’m so tired of bad dates and right  now he is a great make out friend.”

Julianne gave her a disapproving look and shook her head.  Still unsure Eliza lifted the receiver. “Hello?”  She paused, “okay, I’ll be right down.”  She hung up the phone.

“He’s here to pick me up, thanks for nothing on the talk points.  Oh well, too late now.  Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, have fun, but…”  Julianne paused, biting her lip.

“Jules what?  I’m on my way out.  You said this outfit was fine.”

“No it isn’t the outfit, it’s more about the picking you up part.”

“What? What do you mean.”  Eliza’s eyes said it all, they were little slits of suspicion. 

“Well.  It’s just, I don’t think he owns a car.”

“You what?  Well then, how, I mean what, oh for the love.  Well maybe he borrowed one?  I gotta go, I’ll let you know later.”  Eliza bounded down the stairs of their dorm hitting the ground running only to come to an abrupt stop.  There he was, the dreamy man with high cheek bones, pink lips, dreamy eyes and helmet hair.  She froze, behind him was a tiny little scooter.