You're Not Lost

The three of them, Alex, Jack and Elizabeth, all stood on the sidewalk downtown. Jack was anxiously pacing around. Alex seemed to think long and hard about Jack’s suggestion to crash Jessica’s party. Elizabeth looked up at the night sky, slightly hidden by the tops of brick buildings.

Finally, Alex spoke up.

“Yes. Yes, we should definitely crash that party.”

This seemed to give Jack an even bigger burst of energy than before.

“Yes! Let’s go now!”
Alex and Jack began to walk back in the direction they just came from, back to the suburbs.

“Wait!” Elizabeth called after them. They spun around to look at her.

“If we’re going to a party, I want to change my clothes. I want to fit in tonight.”

Both boys seemed to frown slightly.

“But I like your Amish clothes. And your bonnet!”

“You can wear my bonnet tonight.” She laughed, joking.
But Jack was very drunk, and he was not joking.

“Ok, good.” He replied seriously, stepping closer towards her. He started to untie the strings under her chin, but he was having some difficulty. Elizabeth began to blush, and she was thankful that he didn’t seem to notice.

“I feel like this is a very special friendship moment.” He mumbled, finally getting the bow untied and then awkwardly pulling off the girl’s hat. Elizabeth let out more laughter, as he placed the Amish bonnet on his own head and spun back around to join Alex.

“Let’s go to my house. It’s on the way and my sister’s got girl clothes.” Jack grinned, happy-as-can-be with his new accessory. The trio started to make their way up the street.

“Well, I know who I won’t be taking seriously for the rest of the night.” Alex smirked, making Elizabeth laugh once more.

No one seemed to be home at Jack’s house. Most of the house was dark, and he didn’t bother keeping his voice down.

“My sister lives out of town for school, but she still has some clothes here in her old room. She probably wouldn’t notice, or care, if we borrowed some tonight.”

Jack led Alex and Elizabeth up the stairs and into a room. It seemed pretty empty, except for a bed and some small things here and there.

“You borrow your sister’s clothes often, Jack?” Alex laughed at his own joke, while everyone else ignored him.

“Check the closet, I’ll be right back.”

He practically ran out of the room as Alex flopped onto the bed. Elizabeth hesitantly opened the closet. She was starting to feel guilty about this whole night.

“I wish Janie were here to help me…” She thought out loud, as she looked at a variety of different outfits hanging in front of her.

“I’m sure you’ll look good in any of that stuff.” Alex told her. He was lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling.

“Hey Alex, c’mere!” Jack called from across the hall. Alex grinned as if he knew what was going on, and hopped up from the bed.

“Don’t stress on an outfit.” He smiled at Elizabeth, as he walked out. He closed the door behind him and she started to relax a little more.

Clothes. These were just clothes, she thought to herself. She looked in the mirror at her ankle length, thick and heavy dress. She was most definitely ready for a change tonight.

She tried on a couple of things, but nothing fit quite right. Or maybe it did, and she just wasn’t use to it. She sighed after each outfit, wishing her cousin was here to assist her. After a few more minutes, she chose a simple blue dress. It had a plain pattern, and wasn’t too low cut, but it was much shorter than what she currently had on. It fit a little loose and felt comfortable, and it didn’t seem to clash too much with her black flat shoes. She smiled softy at her reflection as she took out her loose pony tail, so that her long dark locks could frame her face. She looked…different. Maybe tomorrow Janie could let her borrow some makeup. But for now, this was enough excitement.

Slowly, Elizabeth made her way out of the bedroom and down the hall. She walked towards the sound of laughter until she came to another bedroom, with the door wide open.

“Look at you!!” Jack grinned. He and Alex were lounging around what she assumed to be his room. They each had a beer in their hand. He was still wearing the bonnet.

“Wow, Elizabeth, you look great!” Alex agreed. She could feel her face turning pink as both boys smiled at her.

“Look at you!” Jack said again. He got up from where he was sitting on the floor to try and give her a hug, stumbling in the process.

“Now I am Amish and you are not.” He said, burying his face into her shoulder as he embraced her. She nodded, even though she was confused.

Alex chugged the rest of his beer and set the empty can down.

“C’mon, let’s crash this party!”

“Oh! Yeah!” Jack pulled away from Elizabeth and went to finish his own beer. He grabbed three more from under his bed and passed them out.

“I keep my beer under my bed, where do the Amish keep their beer?” Jack asked, clearly out of it at this point.

“I knew someone that kept some in a hay bale behind a barn once. But I never drank any. I don’t know if it was true…” Elizabeth shared, getting flashbacks of her home life.

“Scandalous Amish.” Alex grinned.

The trio was off once again, heading down the street to the next neighborhood over. Each of them sipping from their beer cans with every couple of steps.

“I just…I don’t know why she doesn’t like me…” Jack began, and Alex started to groan.

“No, no, no. You are not going to turn into wasted-sappy-annoying Jack. You have to stay wasted-fun Jack so we can fuck shit up at this party. Jessica is a bitch, and everyone knows it. Don’t go getting emotional.”

“Yeah Jack, she isn’t worth your sadness.” Elizabeth tried to help reassure him. Jack smiled at this.

“Do you really think so? I mean, I’m a cool guy, right?” He was still wearing the bonnet and this point, and his eyes were glassy from the alcohol. He was stumbling over his words and also his own two feet. But Elizabeth looked past all of that and gave him a warm smile.

“You are one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, Jack.”

“HA!” Alex laughed out loud. Jack ignored him as he threw his arm around Elizabeth.

“I’ve got your back at this party, Elle. And Alex has my back. And we all have each others backs.” Jack began to pat both of their backs to try and get his point across.

Pretty soon, they were standing outside of a fairly big house. Music could be heard from inside, and a couple people were talking on the porch and drinking. This was it.

“This is gonna be funnnn.”