The young blonde glanced in the mirror one more time, putting the finishing touches on her hair. Upon finishing, she heard the doorbell rang, and she took off down the stairs to answer. Alessandra looked at her, and rolled her eyes. "Probably one of your little friends." Liz smiled. "Probably." She opened the door. JC smiled. "Hey, Liz-bit." She smiled. "Hey."
The older girl frowned and panicked. She looked terrible. She groaned loudly. He looked up toward the noise. "What was that?" Liz looked back also. "Probably Aly. She probably broke the mirror again, either that, or the blow dryer fried her hair. Bye Lessa!" She laughed and walked out. He was silent the entire way there. She looked at him. "Why you bein' so quiet?" He shook his head. "No reason." She gave him a strange look but walked to the park where the others were waiting with sullen looks on their faces. She looked at them weirdly. "What's wrong guys?"
Justin looked up. "Trace isn't here yet." She looked alarmed. "Is he ok?" Christina nods. "Yeah, he's fine. It's not like that." Liz nodded, relieved. She took a seat on the swing, and JC followed suit taking the one next to her. She looked at her friend, trying to figure out what was wrong. Riding up on his skateboard, Trace grinned excitedly at his friends, not paying attention to where he was going. Losing his balance, the young boy went flying into the grass.
Liz and the others burst out laughing at the fallen boy. "Nice move, there slick." Trace groaned as he pulled himself up. "What's with the sad faces guys?" Christina looked away trying not to start crying again. Justin looked down at the ground. JC sighed. "I guess I'll tell them. Today we found out MMC was cancelled. We got a couple more shows to do, then it's over and we go home." Liz looked down, shocked. Christina turned away, unable to stop herself from crying again. Justin moved to put a comforting arm around her.
Trace looked over at Liz who was staring at the ground, with a blank look on her face.
"Hey, guys, it'll be ok." Justin looked at him. "How's it gonna be ok? I'm going back to Tennessee and JC's going back to Maryland and Chrissy's going back to Pennsylvania." "We're gonna be the only ones left." Liz said quietly. She for once was speechless. She was losing three of her best friends. This just wasn't fair. She blinked back tears from her eyes, because she never cried. She was a tough nut to crack, but when it came to her friends... Trace stood up suddenly. "We gotta do stuff. I mean, this is gonna be one of our last days together, right? So let's make the most of it, and have fun." Justin looked up. "What do you have in mind?" He looked at Liz. "Do you still have your skates?" She laughed. "Yeah..." He smiled. "Let's go blading again." Christina laughed. "Last time, I fell and I didn't stop hurting for a week." Justin smiled. "I promise I'll catch you this time and not just watch you and laugh." She nodded. "Let's go."
~*Later that night*~
They headed back to the park talking and laughing, skates in hand. Liz laughed. "Trace, I swear, if you fell on me and made ME fall, I would've killed ya!" He smiled. "Sorry, Lizzie, I'm usually pretty good." She snickered. "Yeah, right." Upon reaching the park, the group turned quiet. Justin shrugged, breaking the silence. "Hey, I'll write you guys." He smiled, hugging Trace and then Liz. "Bye Lizbeth. I'll see you later, ok? Next time, I'm in Florida, I'll look you guys up." She nodded, reaching up to yank on his curls. "You'd better curly." He shook his head, laughing.
Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
I can't believe the hopes he's granted
Mean a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
She let go of him, and turned to look over at Christina, who's face was wet with tears. She pulled her small friend into a hug. "Hey, C. Don't cry." Christina smiled. "I'm sorry, it's just, you guys have become like another family for me..."
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
Liz turned to JC and just looked at him. He was gonna miss her. He smiled and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and let him hold her. She was trying desperately not to cry. "I'm gonna miss you." she said softly. He nodded. "I know. I'm missing you already, and you're still right here." She smiled, then she heard a voice calling. "Justin? Christina? JC? We gotta go!" She looked and saw Britney calling them. Liz looked at him. "Guess you'd better get going." He nodded. "Guess so." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Bye Liz-bit." She forced a smile. "Bye, Josh." The others said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Three