Christmas party

Lizzy wakes to a dark apartment. Then she remembers the events of last night. Karen detects Lizzy waking up and goes to her.

"You good?" Karen asks.

"Um I guess. A little startled to realize I fell asleep here." She whispers back.

"Well you're good to go back to sleep. I'm keeping watch over you." Karen reassures Lizzy.

"I'm pretty wide awake." Lizzy states.

"Of course you are." Karen sighs. "You want to sneak out, lay here til he is awake or I can shock you back to sleep."

"I'm going to go to the bathroom alone. You stay away from me for a little bit." Lizzy says keeping her distance from Karen.

"Very well." Karen goes back to the kitchen counter.

Lizzy finds herself staring in the bathroom mirror. She is feeling a bit warm so she takes off her jeans to be in just leggings and a t-shirt. She then tries to fix her hair into a pony tail.

"You're up early." Alex is standing in the doorway of the bathroom that leads to his room. He is shirtless and in a pair of grey sweatpants. 

Muscles. Lizzy whips her gaze from him. "I'm sorry I can get out!" She says grabbing her jeans and heading to the livingroom.

"I'm sorry for scaring you!" He calls out putting on a t-shirt. That was the first time Alex has seen Lizzy in something other than jeans and her swim suit. He thinks to himself that she looked good this morning.

After a very awkward ten minutes of Alex and Lizzy stuttering at each other, Karen knocks their senses back into them.

"Would you two get over it! You spent the night together as FRIENDS. Alex is still in a relationship even if it is fake. He remains faithful... ish. All after a not so pleasant time on the town. Now I know this from experience, nows the time Lizzy's stomach gets really loud."

A growling noise can be heard from Lizzy's stomach. Lizzy grabs her stomach extremely embarrassed.

"Called it!" Karen says loudly. 

Alex chuckles. "I can make breakfast."

"You cook?" Karen looks at him skeptically.

"Wow thanks for judging." Alex replies.

Lizzy giggles. A lot happened last night. She wants to talk about it but she is nervous. Her gaze falls onto the makeup jars.

"Oh. This one's broken up." Lizzy looks the eye shadow over. 

"Yea they didn't fair well when I got hit but at least they are usable. You will just need to explain what happened to Stacy." Karen states. 

Karen glances at Alex since she left out him replacing the broken jar. He continues to cook some eggs and toast for Lizzy and him. He serves the food at the kitchen bar where Lizzy has been sitting on the stool. He then sits beside her.

"Thank you for everything Alex." Lizzy's voice is gentle.

"You're welcome." He smiles back. "I'm sorry last night didn't go like you planned and I'm sorry again for my behavior in the ally way."

"I forgive you. But I'm curious. You said you liked someone else besides Stacy but you never said who. And I know the you trying to kiss me thing was just an act to see if I would defend myself." Lizzy munches away on toast.

Alex chokes on his orange juice. 

Karen sighs. "You might be the most dense person on this planet."

"Huh?" Lizzy looks between the two of them.

Alex steels his nerves. "It's you. The person I have feels for is you Lizzy."

Lizzy drops her toast on her plate. "Oh."

"Yup."

"Huh."

"Yea."

"Well that's awkward."

"A little." Alex agrees.

"So Stacy likes you or at least did but is now being stubborn. You like me. And I was in love with her."

"What?" Alex looks at her in shock. "You're in love with her?"

"Well I was. I realize now, that I was terrified of loosing her like when I lost everything else. So I clung to her. I still love her but not in a girlfriend way." Lizzy says while pushing eggs around on her plate with her fork.

"Ah." Alex ponders on that for a moment. "You going to tell her."

"To be honest I'm terrified to talk to her. Ugh." Lizzy flops her head into her arms on the counter.

"Today is the Christmas party for the time jumpers too. Maybe that setting will help?" Karen adds.

"Oh Stacy asked me to go with her to that. I told her I work today." Alex states scratching the back of his head.

"You lied! That's just cruel." Lizzy looks at him. "Even though I'm sure I would have said the same thing."

"Parties are scary."

"Yes. Yes they are." Lizzy agrees.

"Oh brother." Karen rolls her eyes. "Alright you both are going to today's party." Lizzy and Alex look at her with eyes of terror. "Don't give me that! You sir need to get straight with Stacy. Will you be an awful person for breaking up with a pretend girlfriend around Christmas but this has dragged out too long. But don't bring up that you like this feral girl when you do break it off. And you Missy!"

Karen eyes Lizzy. "You need to go and explain yourself. You and her have a very rare friendship that could be lost. And she is going to need you today. And we don't mention you spending the night at her 'boyfriends place' because that would do the poor girl in today."

"Alright." Alex and Lizzy agree with Karen. The rest of the morning was quiet. Lizzy helped Alex with dishes and then dropped her a block away from the dorm on his bike.

.     .     .     .     .

Later that night Lizzy finds herself in the shared dorm bathroom. Going back and forth on if she should just leave the makeup in the bathroom and walk away as a surprise. Or if she should just hand it to her. Explaining is going to be difficult either way. Feelings are difficult when you're young.

Stacy walks into the bathroom.

"Oh sorry didn't know you were in here." She turns to leave.

Lizzy is in shock. She reaches her hand out toward Stacy's back and makes noises. "Eh. Um. Ah." 

Stacy looks back with a brow raised wondering what on earth is Lizzy up to.

"I um... Noticed your make up you like was low so I bought you some more." Lizzy looks down and holds her hands out with the make up in them.

Stacy steps back into the bathroom.

"I'm sorry the eye shadow got damaged. There was a gang and Karen got smashed with a bat. I did end up-."

"What?!" Stacy cuts her off stepping closer to Lizzy. "Are you alright?!"

"Yea I'm alright. So funny story. I now might be a leader of their gang. I tried telling them no but they weren't really excepting that for an answer. I was able to loose them so they don't know where I live. So I do have that going for me."

Stacy pulls her into a hug. "You went through all of that for me? Is Karen alright?"

"Karen is alright. I made the guys pay for the damages. I went through all that because we're friends right?" Lizzy hugs her friend back.

"Yes we are. I'm sorry for being so mean to you lately." Stacy says.

"I'm sorry for being mean to you too."

"You knew what was wrong before even I knew." Stacy steps back. Lizzy hands her the make up jars.

"We have been together for awhile. And I was so scared of loosing you. At one point I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend but I stayed quiet knowing you are only interested in guys." Lizzy looks at the ground.

Stacy's heart aches. Her best friend was suffering emotionally and she had no idea.

"But that was me not wanting to loose you. Would you please stay my friend? I have missed you so much lately." Lizzy's eyes well up with tears.

"You're my best friend and no one can replace you!" Stacy hugs Lizzy.

Lizzy hugs her back and lets the tears flow. She is beyond happy to be talking to her best friend again.

After Lizzy dries her tears, Stacy helps Lizzy hide her puffy eyes with some make up. As for outfits Stacy is all out with a cute green and white Christmas dress and stockings. Lizzy is in jeans and a red hoodie. And no Lizzy was not changing out of them no matter how much Stacy fought her. Then they begin their walk down to the lounge and cafeteria where the party was held. Since they can't be with family this Christmas, the dorm is having a get together and friends they made here are welcome.

"Alex says he got out of work and will be joining the festivities later." Stacy tells Lizzy as they are slowly walking arm in arm down the hallway.

"I sent him the color theme." Kiki smiles.

"That poor soul." Lizzy says.

"Why is that?" Stacy looks over at her.

"He won't be able to wear black to match his soul." Lizzy says without skipping a beat.

"Pffftt!" Karen nearly laughs.

"You have spent too much time with Karen." Stacy comments.

"I will not deny that. It was starting to get bothersome." Karen states.

"Maybe I should have left you in the room." Lizzy says to Karen.

"I can still go back." Karen wishes.

"As punishment you're staying with me tonight." Lizzy commands.

"I tried escaping." Karen sighs. They all giggle a little.

They make it to the event. It's a little gloomy. People are talking but it's a forced happy. Everyone invited classmates and coworkers so there was a decent turn out. 

"It's been awhile you two." Amethyst says.

"That it has." Says Lizzy.

"Thank you for having this party set up for all of us." Stacy thanks Amethyst.

"You're welcome. It's hard on people around this time of year when they don't have relatives to be with." Amethyst looks around the crowd. "Well we all should mingle." She smiles and heads off.

Alex shows up, him and Stacy go off to talk in private. Lizzy and him agreed that they will not tell Stacy of what happened in the ally between the two of them.

Lizzy does what she does best. People watch from a corner. Usually there is a little spice here or there but not tonight. Pretty much everyone is blah. Hitohito, Dragon, Tate and Stephen even found her and were talking all hushed.

"You're itching to do something. Why is that." Karen states.

"I feel like I should say something but I ain't got the guts to do it." Lizzy says.

"Give me a sec I can get you some guts." Karen says looking off in the distance.

"What do you-"

"Welcome everyone! And thank you for everyone that showed up tonight to join in on the festivities." Amethyst is in the middle of the room projecting her voice through the overhead speakers. "We are here to enjoy each other's company so let's do that after a speech from Lizzy. Has anyone seen her?"

"What have you done?!" Lizzy whispers to Karen.

"She's over here!" Tate yells. Him and Stephen pick Lizzy up by the arms and throw her on the table so everyone can see her.

Karen hoovers in front of Lizzy to be a microphone for her. Lizzy is beginning to tremble at the knees. She looks over and sees Stacy with a very confused look and red eyes. Alex is behind her with a solum look. She tries to steel her nerves.

"Um h-hi everyone." She pauses. No one replies. "I umm... no one seems happy tonight." Some whispers break out. Lizzy takes a point blank approach. She won't sugar coat it.

"Yea we are smiling but we are missing our families. And these last 24 hours it really hit me that they really are gone... When we left and came here they not only passed for us but we passed for them as well. They had to live through Christmas' and birthdays without us... And I hope you weren't like me and left saying the meanest things to your parents or guardians. I was ferrous with them for sending me... Now that time has passed I now understand why they sent me. They loved me and were hoping for the best. I wish I could tell them that..." She looks at her friends and relaxes a little.

"Now we are alive and we have made friends and have became part of families here." Lizzy gestures to everyone gathered around. "We are not in this alone. We have each other and have met so many in the procees. I have been told people or animals don't die as long as they live in our hearts and memories. So I hope you all can share some of your favorite memories with others here tonight. Thank you." Lizzy scampers off the table. Everyone claps and some burst into tears.

"Well not bad there junky." Karen says to Lizzy who is shaking from adrenaline.

"I hate you sometimes." Lizzy says trying to calm down.

"I'm fine with that." Karen states.

Stacy comes flying in with a hug. Lizzy catches her and steps back trying to balance them both. Stacy begins crying. Alex and the rest of the group gather around. It's not long before Stacy starts drying her tears.

"Alright only happy memories from all of you!" Stacy points to everyone.

"Us too?" Hitohito asks.

"Yes! You still have your family and you need to be grateful and share your happy memories with us tonight!" Stacy demands with a smile.

Lizzy looks around and the room seemed lighter. There were tears but happy ones.

"It was Lizzy's idea so she has to start!" Tate points to her holding up a cup of punch.

"Ah geez." Lizzy says she looks down for a second. "Alright. Mine would be my parents taking me to the fair to look at animals and buying me corn dogs, cotton candy and French fries. The fair had the best French fries."

"Simple back then too!" Dragon chuckles. "Animals and food."

"Oh shush!" She pushes him lightly. Everyone is laughing "Alright Stacy tell us what yours is!"

"Mine is my parents would have a family night. We all would help with dinner and then play games or watch a movie together." Stacy says with a smile. They all agree that's a wonderful memory.

"Alright Tate. Your face says you have a good one to share!" Lizzy laughs.

"Mine is my dad would take me to the pool often as a kid. He joked that I would grow gills and I believed him. I was so sad when I never grew gills!" He can't contain his laughter and no one else can either.

"I can go next." Hitohito says. "My mom is a single parent but she really hid the hardship it was to raise me alone. Her smile and positive attitude always made me feel loved."

"Awww! She sounds wonderful. We need to meet her!" Stacy demands. Hitohito caves to the self invitation from everyone.

"I will be next." Stephen chimes in. "My parents have always been laid back. I do wish they did push a little for me to do something. But with their laid back style I was able to go with the flow and be with everyone this summer." Everyone is happy he was available all summer.

"Alright it's Drags turn." Lizzy says smiling. The guys get a little silent.

"Well my parents ditched me a few years ago at my grandparents." He looks down. "But Lizzy's speech tonight makes me want to go home and thank them for everything they have done for me. My grandparents didn't have to take me in. They try to be there but I push them away. I think my favorite memory of them will have to wait. I should go tell them how grateful I am for them."

Stacy forces the group into a group hug. Alex stands back but the rest of the guys get a silent tongue lashing from Stacy telling them to hug their friend. Even though the guys were trying to tell her and gesture that guys don't hug each other. But since Lizzy and Stacy were in the mix it helped as a buffer.

"Don't think you three are safe from not sharing!" Lizzy says pointing to Kiki, Karen and Alex. She would be pointing to the guys Soleils but they aren't anywhere to be found.

"Oh! Mine is everyday I have been with Stacy!" Kiki says cheerfully. Stacy hugs Kiki.

"Now you Karen." Lizzy smiles.

"Mine is watching you stumble through life awkwardly and some how becoming a gang leader." Karen smirks.

"What?!" The guys look at Lizzy.

"I'm not one! I ran away from them last night and that's that!" Lizzy tries catching Karen.

"Calm down Lizzy. It's Alex's turn." Stacy grabs ahold of Lizzy.

"Fine." She looks at Karen. "I will get you later!" She whispers.

"Do I?" Alex asks.

"Yes." Everyone says in unison.

"Alright." Alex slumps in defeat. "My favorite memory... that one's hard. Probably sitting in the kitchen and eating cookies while Grams baked."

"That's a sweet one." Lizzy says smiling.

They all enjoy each other's company and keep talking over the food and fruit punch. They even ask Lizzy for a lesson on people watching and have a little better understanding of why she does it.

"There you two are." Amethyst says. "Thanks for the speech earlier Lizzy. It really helped the mood."

"It didn't feel like I had a choice." Lizzy gives Karen a baby death glare.

"Well I came over here to spread the good news. We obtained some of the mineral to make another time jump." Amethyst says. Everyone looks at her in disbelief. "This jump won't be very big. But it will be big enough for you all to send a letter back to your guardians."