Liz hated herself for walking away. She hated herself for doing something she swore she'd never do again--let people affect her like that. She stopped packing her clothes and looked into the full length mirror of her hotel room. Her eyes were red from the force of trying to stop the tears from falling, her hair was a mess, and on top of all of that, she could still feel their eyes on her.
"Damn it, I hate feeling like a failure," Liz screamed at her reflection.
Then don't leave, her mind told her, find out everything you can about these guys and make it your goal in life to make them miserable.
"It's too hard to face them again, I am doing the right thing by leaving before I really make a fool of myself," she answered herself.
Picking up her suitcases and placing the phone back onto the receiver, Liz left her future.
* * *
The airport was buzzing with busy people desperately trying to make their plane, and today it seemed as if they all bumped into Liz one way or another. She reached her terminal just in time to find out that her plane was delayed and wouldn't be boarding for another 2 hours. Seeing that her whole plane decided to stick around and take up all the empty chairs, Liz went into one of those quaint little gift shops. She really didn't feel like shopping, something about going home to face her family had brought her spirits down.
Her family had expected so much of her, too much for any one person to deliver. First it was being an A student and captain of the volleyball, basketball, and soccer teams; then when she graduated to go to college and do the same things there. However, her parents never had those dreams realized when she hurt her knee the summer before she left for college. She found out that she would never be able to play competitive sports again, and her parents disowned her.
She could see the disappointed looks on their faces when she came home from the hospital after her 3rd surgery had failed to correct the problem, they had given up all hope on her, as far as they were concerned she never existed. But that didn't mean they couldn't put her through 4 more surgeries to try to fix what was broken, unfortunately, the doctors couldn't fix Liz's pride, self-esteem, or her broken heart.
Another bump from a rude passerby brought her from her pit of self-pity and face to face with the Backstreet Boys. No, not the actual boys, shelves of magazines with their faces plastered on each one of them. Without thinking, Liz bought one of each and went to find an empty chair among the throngs of people waiting for their flights. She was heavily engrossed in an article about Brian's heart surgery when she heard a loud bang. Liz glanced up to notice that her plane had taken off--without her on it.
That wasn't the only surprise, Leslie stood in front of her with her hands on her hips, looking rather angry. "What the hell do you think you're doing?? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?? What the hell are you reading anyways??" Leslie shot question after question at Liz.
"I was just thinking about some things, that's all," Liz finished not meeting Leslie's stare.
"At an airport she thinks!!! Good lord, what's next?? Skinny dipping in the fountains??" Leslie said picking Liz off her chair and dragging her through the airport. "Well, I hope you're happy."
"I think I might be," Liz told her. "No, I meant because your luggage just got a free ticket back to Kansas." Liz looked back as the plane she was supposed to be on zoomed farther away from her.
