Chapter 17

Liz somehow managed to get to her next class in time, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. The second their lips had met, she felt a shock run through her body. She wondered if he felt it too.

Lunch arrived quickly. Liz sat down at an empty table with her food and began to eat, trying to think of what she would say if Lucky sat with her. She didn’t need to think for very long, because she looked up and saw that he was sitting with a group of guys from their math class. She sighed in relief and finished her pizza. She was too confused by what happened that morning to deal with him yet.

Lucky slowly ate his lunch, not paying attention to the guys around him. He couldn’t stop looking over at Elizabeth eating by herself. He usually sat with her to work on their project, but the teacher had given them the weekend off, sort of a “honeymoon”, and there was nothing to work on at the moment. He wasn’t sure if she would want to sit with him, so he found a group of guys from one of his other classes and sat with them instead. He’d been kicking himself all morning for the way he had kissed her. He still didn’t know why he did it, but it was obvious by the look on her face that it had freaked her out.

They managed to avoid each other for the rest of the day and as soon as the final bell rang, Liz hurried out to the buses, not wanting to run into him. She sat down and slid over to the window, staring blankly out at the front of the school. As the bus began to pull away, she saw Lucky coming out to the parking lot. He ran his hand through his hair as he strolled across the parking lot. She was surprised when she saw that he was still wearing his “wedding” ring. From a distance, it actually looked kind of real, since theirs were yellow. She looked down at her hand and realized she hadn’t taken hers off, either. She started to pull it off, then stopped, thinking about Ms. Kraft’s threat to lower their grades if they lost the rings. Figuring it was less likely to get lost if it was on her finger, she left it there.

Lucky walked into his house and went into the kitchen to say hello to his parents, praying they wouldn’t remember that today was the wedding.

Luke grinned at his son as he strolled into the room. “Well, how’s it feel to be hitched?”

Lucky rolled his eyes. “Don’t start, Dad. It’s just a project.”

Laura smiled. “How did you do on the first assignment?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, she’s going to grade them over the weekend and give them back on Monday, so we’re free until then.” He walked over to the pantry and pulled out a box of cereal. He hadn’t been able to eat much at lunch, and now he was starving.

He sat down at the table and poured the milk as Luke watched him. “Nice ring you got there,” he said, grinning.

Lucky looked down at his hand. He hadn’t even realized that he was still wearing it. “Oh, um, yeah, the teacher made us all wear them. She said if we lost them, our grade would be lowered.” He went back to his cereal, hoping his dad would drop the subject.

Noticing that his son was acting strangely, he decided to dig a little and see what was up. “How’s the wife?”

Lucky shrugged again. “Fine, I guess. I haven’t really seen her since, uh, since the wedding.”

Luke smiled. Oh, yes, something was definitely up. Laura shot him a warning look, knowing what he was thinking, but he couldn’t help himself. “So, did you get to kiss the bride?” he asked slyly.

Lucky nearly choked on his cereal. “What? Why would you ask that? It’s just pretend remember?” he answered quickly, his face turning bright red.

‘Bingo!’ Luke thought, smirking at Laura. “Oh, come on, I’m just messing with ya. No need to get all embarrassed. Or....did you kiss her?” he knew he was pushing his luck, but hey, he liked living on the edge.

Lucky stood up quickly. “I gotta go,” he said and hurried out of the room. A minute later, they heard the front door slam, and Luke burst out laughing.

“Well, babe, you better get your money handy, cause it looks like our boy’s falling fast!” Laura just shook her head and laughed. She hated to admit it, but he had a point. Lucky was definitely in trouble.

~*~

Liz paced around her room, trying to figure out what she was going to do all weekend. She hadn’t really made any friends yet, and her grandmother was going to be at the hospital most of the time. She had no money, so she couldn’t really go anywhere even if she wanted to.

“Well, if I want money, I guess I’ll have to go find a job somewhere,” she muttered to herself. “Might as well start now.” She changed clothes and ran a comb through her hair before setting out to start hunting.

~*~

Not knowing where else to go, Lucky walked to Kelly’s. He sat at one of the tables, drinking a milkshake, trying to figure out why he had been so bothered by his dad’s questions.

The bell over the front door jingled, signaling that someone had just come inside. His back was to the front of the restaurant, so he didn’t see who it was until she approached the counter.

~*~

After striking out at three different places, Elizabeth had come across Kelly’s. It looked like a cute place to work, so she decided to give it a shot. She walked in and headed straight for the counter, smiling at the waitress.

“Excuse me, but do you happen to know if you’re hiring?” she asked sweetly.

“I’m not sure. Let me get the manager, okay?” the waitress said, heading for the back. Liz sat down on one of the stools to wait, and swiveled around a little. She gazed around the room, and suddenly found herself looking right into Lucky’s eyes. He was sitting at one of the tables, drinking a milkshake, watching her.

‘Great,’ she thought. ‘I’m trying to avoid him, and instead I walk right into the restaurant where he’s eating.’

Before either of them could react, a voice broke into her thoughts.

“Are you the girl who was asking about a job?” the woman behind the counter asked. Liz whirled around and smiled, offering her hand.

“Yes, I’m Elizabeth Webber. I just moved here, and was wondering if you were hiring.”

“Well, I’m Tammy, and I manage this place, but I’m not sure if we have any openings right now,” she said, shaking Liz’s hand. She looked up, over Liz’s shoulder for a second and nodded slightly, smiled, then looked back at Liz. “Wait here a second. I may have been mistaken. Let me go in the back and check the schedule.” She smiled again and left.

Liz turned around, confused. Why had she changed her mind so quickly? She looked in the direction Tammy had nodded earlier, and saw Lucky, smiling at her. She got up and stormed over to his table. “What was that all about?”

He shrugged. “I was just trying to help. My family owns the place, remember?”

It suddenly dawned on her why it had sounded so familiar. “Oh yeah, I guess I forgot. Still, that doesn’t mean you can force her to hire me. I can get a job on my own, you know!”

“I’m sure you can, but I just figured it wouldn’t hurt to help you out a bit. After all, as my dad would say, you’re family now,” he said, smirking. As long as they were arguing, he didn’t have to think about what had happened earlier.

She frowned, and walked closer to his table, so that she was standing right over him. “Look, I realize you had the best of intentions, but I don’t need your help. When I find a job, I want to know that I was hired for me, because I’m qualified for it, not because I’m your wife!!!” she yelled, oblivious of the small crowd that had formed around the table.

“Wife?!” the woman behind Lucky exclaimed. They both looked up at her shocked face. Nikolas and Emily were standing behind her, looking just as surprised, and Tammy had just come up behind Elizabeth to offer her the job. She looked down at Lucky questioningly.

Lucky blushed for a second and stood up. “Aunt Bobbie, it’s not what it sounds like. I can explain,” he stammered, glaring at Elizabeth, who just grinned back at him, pleased with herself for embarrassing him for once.

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