Andreas P.O.V-
The wings are brought out to us within minutes. As two guys sit the wings on the table, they give Doug and me wary looks, wondering if we're crazy enough to do this. Trust me, I don't need them to say anything, Elizabeth is all up in my ear. Literally.
"You can't be serious about this, Andreas."
I turn my head in her direction, "I am. You have to know by now I don't play around and I don't back down from a challenge."
She groans, "You heard what Teddy said about the skin peeling from his cousin's mouth, right Teddy?" She points to him. He nods his head.
"Yeah, man. It's a serious thing."
I roll my eyes at both of them, "I'll be fine, just believe in me."
"I do believe in you; it's just I'm scared of the aftermath." Her hand goes through my hair, kissing the shell of my ear. I shiver under her touch.
Across from me, I see Doug getting ready to eat the wings. Carlee is in his ear, whispering cheering chants while he nods his head. "See, look at Carlee cheering him on, why can't you be like that?" I asked Elizabeth. Out of us all, Carlee has always been the most competitive, and it also brings out the bad side of her.
Carlee smirks, "The only reason she doesn't believe in you is that she knows you're going to lose. Doug is going to beat your ass!" Everyone from the table stops talking, even Mary who's sitting at the counter, talking to that waiter guy turns.
"What is Doug doing to you?" asked Bridget.
"I'm not doing anything to her, she's just a firecracker. You should hear her in the-", before he could finish his sentence, Carlee clamps a hand over his mouth.
Jace claps his hands, "Alright, are we ready to get this contest started. Here's how it's going to go, the first person to eat all the wings wins. You are not allowed to drink anything or take a break. We do this in one sitting. Does anyone have any questions?" Both Doug and I shake our heads. "On your marks... get set... GO!"
Doug and I start shuffling wings in our mouths. As soon as the wet sauce touches my tongue, I can feel my whole body start to catch on fire. Damn, these wings are hot. I knew they would be spicy, but not scorching hot to where I felt my tongue was about to fall off.
I push the pain, the burning pain, aside and keep eating. As I look at Doug across from me, all I see is a man on a mission, and that mission is to win. I can see a bead of sweat going down his forehead, as Carlee rubs his shoulders.
"Andreas, maybe you should stop right now," Elizabeth said in my ear. Her finger wipes the sweat from my face.
"No!" She quiets next to me.
The competition goes something like this:
We both chew down as many wings as we possibly can. At one point, Doug was ahead of me, to stop him from catching up, I started sucking the meat off the bones and chewing at the same time, he picked up on it and started copying me. I tried to get him disqualified for that, but Jace said it doesn't fit in the guidelines. Through it all, my eyes start to water and I even get some spice in my eye and Doug is choking on a bone. He has no choice but to bow out of the competition and I win.
Thanks for that bone getting lodged in his throat.
"Yeah, suck on that!" I scream at Doug, Elizabeth slaps my arm, saying, "Don't say that to him, he almost died." I waved her off.
"He lived, he's known as the grown boy who lived and lost a wing eating contest." Doug just sticks up his middle finger.
Our food ends up coming out right after Doug and I settled down from eating the fire-breathing wings. We all sat around, eating and joking around. My eyes leave everyone else and focus on Elizabeth. She ordered the steak and is having a hard time cutting it. I asked her if she wanted me to cut it, but she denied my offer, saying she could do it herself.
Turns out she can't.
"Give it to me." I take the fork and knife out of her hand and cut it myself.
She pouts, "I'm an independent woman who can take care of herself- wait cut it in squares." I roll my eyes, cutting it up the way she wants. I dip a piece in sauce and airplane it in her mouth. She laughs and it sends butterflies to my stomach.
I lean in her ear, "You have no idea how beautiful you look right now." Her lips pull into a smile and she doesn't answer me, instead, she pops a steak in her mouth.
Once we get done eating, Jill and Daniel come out on the stage. They both look amazing. Jill has on a black cocktail dress and Daniel's outfit complements hers. We all give them our undivided attention.
"Hi, and welcome to Mervin's Mary, we're so glad you all could make it out tonight. It's a special day because it's my best friend's birthday, Elizabeth Pratt. Elizabeth, where are you?" The spotlight moves around until it lands on her. It brightens her face; she tries to blind the light from her eyes by holding up her hand, the other hand waves. "Isn't she beautiful folks?" I would say. "Tonight, the song we sing will be dedicated to her, because she's the best person in the world and has the greatest heart. This is for you, babe." Daniel starts to play a slow melody and later Jill sings.
The song is Elizabeth by Frank Sinatra.
"Dressed in dreams for me"
"You were what I wished to see"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth"
"Love was very new"
"Make-believe was coming true"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth"
I watch as other couples start to go to the dance floor, they slow dance to Jill's soft voice and Daniel's piano tunes. Carlee and Doug were the first to get up from our table, he holds out his hand for her. She blushes and takes it, and he leads her to the floor. After them were Teddy and Monica, who refused to move but Jace found a way to persuade her, a threat. Then Bridget and Teddy, she practically dragged him out to the floor. Mary was still at the counter with the waiter guy, Elizabeth and I were the last to go.
I wrapped an arm around her waist, squeezing one of her love handles, God she feels amazing. I guide us to the middle of the floor; her arms go to my neck and my hands hold her waist. We move slowly, wanting her to feel the rhythm.
"You were all much too much"
"Out of reach and out of touch"
"When you came to me"
"I found it could never be"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth"
Her head goes to rest on my chest, I kiss the top of her head and my chin goes to rest on it. If I could stay like this forever, her in my arms and the soft melody of music in the back, I would.
"We've come so far, Elizabeth. I never thought I would be here with you."
Her eyes look at me, the golden lights reflect in her eyes, making them glow like the sun. "Why would you think that?"
"I thought you wouldn't forgive me for what I said at Doug's match." I let out a shaky sigh. "I thought I lost you." I caress her cheek; she leans into my touch.
"I don't think I could ever not forgive you; you do make me sick sometimes but the love I have for you outweighs that. You want to know something?"
"What?" I asked.
"On the day of your championship game, I talked to Jessie."
I stilled us for a second, "What did she say? Did she know who you were?" I can't even imagine Elizabeth and Jessie talking.
"No, she didn't know who I was. We talked about girls' stuff like sororities and corn dogs."
I snickered, "I didn't know corn dogs constituted as girl stuff."
"Well, it does. She was nice to me, and I liked talking to her. I see why you liked her."
"Shouldn't girls not want to talk about the other girl?"
Her brown eyes shine, "I'm not like most girls."
"No, you are not." I kiss her lips, then her head returns to my chest.
You know when you're so happy in life, that sometimes you have to take a step back and observe it, that's how I feel right now. Surrounded by friends and my girl, the mood is just right and the stars are aligned.
Love is both irrational and rational. It drives you crazy, at least the love I have for Elizabeth does. I don't ever want to be without her, I can't imagine it, it sends pain to my chest. She is everything I could want out of life, nothing else could compare.
Elizabeth.
My beautiful, hair-brained, exquisite Elizabeth. She was love, she was passion, she was the dark and the light.
Elizabeth.
I never thought I could feel this bountiful array of emotions for someone, I thought that part of me died alongside my relationship with Jessie.
I was wrong.
Damn was I wrong.
That part of me was dormant, waiting to find the one person that could resurrect it, and I found the repairman. God, that was corny.
Let's get back on track- oh yeah-
Elizabeth.
When I touched her it was heaven, when I kissed her it was bliss, when I made love to her it was chaos.
Fire breathing, death maddening chaos.
I would explode if I couldn't rub my finger through her curls if I couldn't glide the pallet of my thumb across her cheek.
Expose and burst into a million bites of dust.
I ask over and over, "Elizabeth, let me love you."
She tells me yes.
I say, "Elizabeth, let me take care of you."
She says of course.
I finalize it with, "Elizabeth, don't let me leave you."
She doesn't say anything, instead, her palm raises to my chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat beneath my burning inferno of skin.
Those brown eyes that make my legs quake look me dead in the eyes and say, "If I have anything to do with it, you'll never leave me." Her head rested on my shoulder, molding into my skin like clay.
As the music plays, and the mellow voice of the Elizabeth song wafts around us, I absorb everything around me.
The lights.
The people.
The smells.
The structure of the interior.
Elizabeth.
I let all those things embed in my brain, and the girl who altered my life forever does that too.
She taunted me, riled me up, and drove me into insanity.
But through it all, I wouldn't change a thing.
Not. At. All.
"So a dream has to end"
"When it's real"
"Not pretend"
"Dressed in memories"
"You are what you used to be"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth"
"Elizabeth", I breathe.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bV9OPho9H
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THE END
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