Elizabeth's POV

                  Four year's later.

Losing someone you love is never easy. My sole purpose after my father's death has been to take care of my mother. She had been worse for wear after his death and she sadly turned to alcohol.

She had tried to stop but the pain of missing my father proved to be an unbearable one and the alcohol offered her a mild relief. A moment to forget it all.

After one year of being a slave to sadness, she had finally agreed to get help. We were staying with my aunt Aubrey, at the time. After my father's death, we sold the property and cars and moved to Pasadena where my aunt lived.

Aunt Aubrey had been there for me along with her two sons when mom went off to rehab. I attended a public high school with her youngest son Andrew.

The relationship Andrew and I shared were like that of siblings. Percy aunt Aubrey's eldest son was at university at the time and he however proved to behave more like my father or sometimes even worse. Percy was rather strict with me. Let's just say because of him and Andrew the first and last boyfriend of my teenage years was Tyler.

After one year of mom recovering, she finally came back and we bought a little house in the suburbs. My grades in school slipped and I barely made it to meet the standards to get a university scholarship. My mother argued that it had nothing to do with how smart I was and that I had gone through a huge change of circumstances.

Mom was starting to get better with dealing with her depression and she took on a job as a professor at Caltech University. We had both been saving every penny we could for me to go to Columbia University in New York. Mom and I already flew there a few weeks ago and made all the final payments as well as organized my housing. I was going to be staying with two other girls. Blaire and Himari at the Cortland off-campus housing.

As I stood in my room and packed the last of my sweaters into my suitcase I couldn't help the emotions that washed over me. I was leaving mom. I was leaving my best friend. "Liz," my mother called, popping her head into my room. The smile she had on her face had immediately vanished as soon as she saw my tear-stained cheeks.

"Peanut, please don't be sad," she cooed,  coming over to me. She engulfed me in a hug and I breathed in her familiar scent. "I'll work extra hours in order to have money to fly you back and forth whenever you feel homesick."

"No, no you will not. I can't let you do that. You work hard enough as it is."

"I owe it to you Peanut."

"You owe me, nothing mom," I said and she wiped away her fallen tears.

"Do you have everything?" She questioned, letting go of me and moving to look at all the things displayed out on my bed.

"Yes, mom."

"Toothbrush?"

"Yes."

"Underwear?"

"Ma!" I exclaimed.

"Just checking peanut," she chuckled. I earned the nickname peanut from my father after I had choked on one in a fancy restaurant. The workers at the restaurant were petrified that my father would sue but my father was never one to make a mountain out of a molehill. Even though we were rich we were humble. I'm not allergic to nuts but I had grown a strong dislike for them ever since that day.

My mother walked over to my now zipped suitcase and opened it up again. "Liz are you sure you want to take Mr. Grobbles with you to university?" she asked holding him up. Mr. Grobbles was a brown fluffy monkey that had one glass eye and one button eye. I couldn't sleep without holding onto him.

"I need him," was all I said and she nodded. He was given to me by my father for my seventh birthday. I can still remember how his eyes sparkled in amusement, and I can still remember the exact words he had said to me. 'Mr. Grobbles will always be there to comfort Lizzy whenever she has a nightmare.'

After my mother had checked all my bags to ensure I had everything. We went downstairs with my bags and loaded them into her car.

The drive to the airport was one for my nerves. It was a thirty-minute drive and with each passing minute, I started to get a little more afraid. When I looked at my mother she had tears in her eyes and was trying very hard to stop them from falling. "Mom I don't have to go. I can always stay here and attend Caltech or even Pasadena city college." I was silently hoping that she'd stop me from going. I was terrified of change. She shook her head and wiped at her eyes.

"No, now don't you worry about me peanut. You need to go out there and experience life. You can't be bound to me forever."

The car went silent after that and I realized that she was never going to make me stay no matter how much she wanted me to. She pulled into the airport parking and we got out and loaded my bags onto a trolley.

She came with me to check my flight details and walked with me up to security. "This is where I leave you, Lizzy," she smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as her eyes sparkled with tears. "I love you. Call me when you get to the housing complex." She hugged me, holding me tight as if she didn't want to let go.

"I love you too," I said, after a while and she let go of me.

I walked up to the lady taking the plane tickets and handed her my ticket. I turned around to see my mom one last time before I boarded the plane. She was smiling even though she was hurting on the inside.

"This way miss." The lady taking the tickets directed me to a door. I let out a deep breath and walked through the tunnel that lead to the airplane.

On the plane, I was in a hurry to look for my seat. I didn't like flying. I should have just taken the train. I finally found my seat between two elderly people. An elderly man was sitting by the window wearing a nasty scowl and a woman sitting a seat away from him mirrored his facial expression.

"I told you to pack the sandwiches!" The woman shouted.

"And I told you to take a hike!" The old man retorted. I didn't know what to do to get their attention and their quarrel didn't die down any time soon.

"Why, I never. My mother was right about you!"

"Forty years of marriage Meredith. When are you going to stop using that one," he said, sounding bored.

"You know what don't talk to me for the rest of this flight," she spat.

"Hallelujah, my prayers have been answered," the old man sang, joyfully and put on a headset before turning to look out the window.

"I'm sorry mam, but do you think I could just squeeze past you so that I can get to my seat?" I asked since they were done with their fight.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Of course, you can," she said standing up and letting me go through to my seat.

"You must be wondering why I'm not sitting next to that old fool," she fumed. "I'll tell you why because if I'm within ten centimeters of him I have the urge to kill him."

I didn't know what to say. I had never experienced something like this before. My grandparents never fought around me. I smiled sheepishly at the lady and she patted my leg gently.

"I'll tell you something about marriage. Pretty young thing like yourself shouldn't bother. It's a trap and you'll be stuck with a smelly ..."

"That's enough of your bile, Meredith," the old man spat in outrage while brandishing his fist in the air and my eyes widened.

Their arguing picked up again and I buried my head in a book. I wanted to tell them that they shouldn't fight like this, but it was none of my business.

"Peanuts," I heard the voice of the flight attendant.

"Yes please," said the old man causing their fight to die down again. The old lady next to me muttered something like 'Your brain is the size of one.' But luckily for me, the old man hadn't heard her.

"Peanuts," the flight attendant offered me and I visibly cringed.

"Um, no thanks," I said, scrunching my nose up as I stared at the little bag of nuts, and the flight attendant nodded and left.

"Are you allergic?" The elderly woman had asked me.

"No, I just don't like them."

"You are very inquisitive," the old man muttered and to my dismay, the old woman heard it and they were back at it again. The intercom came on and I tried very hard to block out their argument as I listened to the pilot's instructions.

"This is your pilot Mitchel Knight speaking. Please switch off all electronics. We are about to take off."

I couldn't help the feeling of anxiousness that overcame me when the plane started to slowly move. Even the elderly couple stopped arguing. 

I slowly started to count. It was my way to calm down as a child and it's something I always did whenever I felt an emotion I couldn't control. The counting in a way helped me to keep calm in overwhelming situations. I counted until I felt calm again.

The plane started to pick up and I held onto my seat. The truth is I never really knew if this plane was going to take me to something better or something worse.

Finally, the plane was up in the sky and the couple sitting on either side of me were quiet. I opened up my book and began to read. Pet Cemetery by Stephen King.

I began to lose track of time and before I knew it the pilot's voice came through the intercom. "We'll be touching ground in New York in an hour folks. Sit tight."

I went back to my reading and finally, the plane landed at John F. Kennedy international airport. I stood up, stretched, and walked off the plane with the rest of the passengers. I exited the airport and called for a cab. In less than five minutes a guy showed up. He loaded my bags in the trunk and turned to me."Where to madam?" He asked.

"Cortland off-campus housing," I said and he slammed the trunk of the car shut.

"I can get you there in fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen..." but before I could say anything he had already jumped in the car. Fifteen minutes that was impossible. The drive from the airport to the housing complex was at least twenty five minutes.

I got into the back seat of the cab and the guy sped off, like a bullet straight out of a barrel. I began to slide from side to side on the seat. I looked around for a seat belt and there was none.

"Please sir can you drive a little..." my head hit the partition glass that divided the front and back seat of the car as soon as he hit the breaks violently.

"Oy, are you crazy you going to break my glass!"

"Sorry," I apologized rubbing my throbbing forehead. I had no idea why I had apologized. It wasn't my fault.

He finally got me to the housing Complex. I was battered, but I was in one piece. He helped me unload my bags and I paid him.

I walked up to the house that had the shiny number fifty-two on it. All the houses on the street looked the same. Beige houses with grassy lawns and paved driveways.

I knocked three times on the large door and the door swung open. The next thing I saw was a flash of blonde followed by a very feminine shriek before I had the life squeezed out of me. "I was wondering when you were going to get here. I'm Blaire," said the girl who almost knocked me down with her immense strength.

Blaire was tall, her face was in the shape of a heart and she had golden blonde hair that fell freely down her shoulders. She had beautiful blue eyes and a contagious smile. She was wearing a purple onesie and fluffy rainbow slippers.

"I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz," I introduced myself since we haven't officially met. She latched onto my hand and pulled me into the house so fast that I almost lost my balance.

"Himari!" She yelled and an Asian girl with brown eyes and dark long hair came into the room. She too was rather tall. She was wearing pyjama striped pants and a banana yellow shirt. She had black headphones around her neck. 

She smiled up at me. "Blaire, give her some space," she said, and Blaire took a few steps away from me. Blaire was hyperactive and I didn't mind it.

"Sorry," Blaire smiled sheepishly.

"No, no it's okay," I smiled.

The girls helped me to bring the rest of my bags into the house. The entryway to the house was lit up in yellow light. The floor was carpeted and so was the staircase.

"So what should we do first ladies," Blaire shrieked bouncing on the heels of her slippers. "Scope out New York's finest clubs or a cozy night in."

Himari groaned. "Cozy night in."

"Or we can go to this party that's just down the road?" Blaire suggested and Himari shook her head furiously.

"Nope, no not happening," She disagreed.

"Aww, come on it's at Callum's house. It's just down the street. We'll only go for an hour," Blaire tried to bargain, but Himari wasn't hearing it. Suddenly Blaire turned to me. "Pleassssssssseeeee," she sang and I never liked it when someone begged me.

"Okay, but can I shower and change first?" I asked and she squealed.

Who did I think I was fooling. I wasn't a social butterfly. I was more like a shy moth, but I had already agreed and there was no going back.

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A/N

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