There and Back

*Thank you, Jasper,* I thought as I poured some guy another shot of tequila. Thanks to the fake ID Jasper had gotten for me, I'd been able to get a job at the LAX nightclub in the Luxor. I worked only on Friday and Saturday nights and the rest of my time was devoted to school. It was weird at first to start in January. I couldn't seem to get used to living on my own and being in college. Not gonna lie, it was a rough few weeks at first.
"Can I get a beer? Budwieser, please," someone shouted over the loud music. I looked up to see a guy with white-blonde hair and dark green eyes. He was about as tall as Edward but not nearly as intimidating. This guy was one of the youngest people I'd seen in the club.
"Sure. I need to see some ID first."
He smiled brightly handing over his driver's license. He was barely twenty-one. I handed back the license with a cold bottle of beer. He started to leave but then seemed to think better of it. "Actually, I've been trying to work up the courage to talk to you all night. I'm Scott. What's your name?"
"Lizzy," I answered automatically.
"Well, Lizzy, do you want to dance?"
"Sorry, I'm working all night." I shrugged and smiled half-heartedly.
"Liz," Maria, a small girl from New Mexico called, "I'm here to take over the shift. Go enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll see you next Friday." Dammit, what bad timing. I gritted my teeth and mentally cursed Maria.
The Scott guy smiled widely. "Looks like it's my lucky day. Come dance."
I groaned inwardly. "Alright. Just one dance, though."
I stuffed my night's tips into my jean pocket and hopped over the counter. Scott grabbed my hand and led me out to the dance floor. Fall Out Boy was blasting through the speakers as couples danced widely. Some slutty girls walked up and started grinding up on Scott. I took that moment to escape. Scott was cute, I guess, but definitely not my type. It's like every guy I see has something wrong with them. The problem is that I was just too hung up on Jacob. It sucked that I was gone and my life like still revolved around him.
When I got back to my apartment, I turned the radio on low and started working on some homework. I was majoring in art but I still had to take an art history class as a freshman. I had to read like a million chapters every other night. It probably wasn't a good idea to read it when I was dead tired, but I really just wanted to get it done.
I was in the middle of Van Gogh when Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson started playing. My thoughts immediately turned to Jake and a few tears fell onto the pages of my book. God, that song is like the story of my life right now.
Somehow in the course of the song I'd cried myself to sleep still at my desk. The bright Sunday sun woke me up. I tried stretching and noticed how knotted my neck and back were. I let the hot water in the shower wash over me trying to relieve some of the tension that had built up. When I was done and all ready, I went out and waited at the bus stop for the double decker Duce bus.
I pulled out my art history book from my messenger bag and was reading where I'd left off the night before when two people walked and sat on the bench with me. The woman looked to be in her mid twenties with curly red hair, light blue, almost lilac eyes, and pale skin with freckles. The little girl petting the silver huskie puppy looked like her three-year-old clone. The woman smiled gently at me.
"That's a very cute doggy," I told the little girl.
She looked up at me with curious eyes. "He's not a doggy, he's a wolfy."
My smile slid faintly. "Wolves are dogs too. What's his name?"
"Jakey," she beamed. My heart constricted in my chest. Okay, seriously?
"Sorry," the woman said. "My daughter's obsessed with Hannah Montana. She wanted to name her puppy after Jake Ryan on that show."
"Oh, don't worry about it. She's an adorable little girl." I turned back to her. "Jakey is a very good name for a wolf. He's going to be a very good friend for you."
"You go to UNLV?" the mother asked suddenly.
"Yeah, what gave it away?"
She smiled. "Your sweatshirt. And the book. I took Mr. Roth's art history class last year. It's the most boring class for the most fascinating subject."
"Yeah, it's been pretty tough so far. It's just too much reading."
"Definitely. So are you a Freshman? You're reading at the bus stop so you can't be an upperclassman."
"This is my first semester here. I just graduated high school in December."
She let out a low whistle. "Wow. That's cool. But that means that you're missing out on your prom and stuff."
I shrugged. "I wasn't going to go anyway." My bus pulled up at that point. The two girls and dog weren't boarding.
"It was nice to meet you. I'm Maddison. Maybe I'll see you around." I smiled as she and her daughter waved good-bye.
The closest stop to Fremont was a few blocks away. The covered street was bustling with people gathered carts of merchandise. I found the spray painting stand- where I was hoping to get a second job- right outside of the Four Queens hotel. A large crowd was clustered around watching as the blank page became art. Everyone clapped when the artist was done. She showed her newly painted picture of the Las Vegas strip before passing it to her partner.
"Excuse me? I'm looking for Andy Fox?"
The girl's brown-green eyes looked me up and down. "And who are you?"
"My name's Elizabeth. I have an interview."
Her eyes gained some warmth and she smiled. "I'm Andy." She wiped her hands on her dark jeans and held it out to me. I shook it and felt skin that wasn't freezing or overheating. How sad is it that “normal” was strange for me?
She hopped over the counter and told her partner to start painting. She led me to the cash register joined to the paint stand. Andy took off her black 'Fremont Experience' hat letting her shoulder length honey-colored hair fall and pulled out a slip of paper.
"So you're Elizabeth Swan? Like from 'Pirates of the Carribbean?"
"Yeah. But I'm not as nice as her."
"What are you talking about? She killed jack Sparrow."
"How do you know I've never killed anyone?" I said innocently.
Andy smiled widely. "I like you. So you're a student at the university?"
"Yep. Art major."
"You know, just because you are an art major doesn't mean that you have what it takes for this."
"Oh, I know. Spray painting's totally different from anything else. But this is what I did on the cafeteria wall last year." I pulled out my phone and showed her the amazing graffiti of the wolf, bat, and witch that had barely gotten washed off over the summer. They still didn’t have the faintest idea that I’d done it.
"Damn," she muttered. "You're pretty badass. You start next Sunday four to eleven PM. Kyle and Mitch will show you the ropes. See you then."
I smiled and turned to go. I was passing the Four Queens going to the McDonald's when I stopped dead in my tracks. Jacob was standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets and he was actually wearing a shirt. Can’t deny that I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t see his rock hard abs.
"Uh, Alice told me where to find you," he mumbled.