Quartermaine Mansion: Dining Room

“Good morning,” Emily Quartermaine chirped as she slid into her seat at breakfast. She grabbed her elaborately folded napkin and shook it out to spread it over her lap.

“Morning, sweetheart,” her mother Monica replied. “Reginald can’t drive you to school today because Lila has an early doctor’s appointment so you might want to ask your brother.”

“Sure,” Emily replied. She searched the table and frowned when she didn’t see Jason already seated. Her grandparents, Edward and Lila, were seated at the other end of the table, her father was at the other with Emily and Monica seated on either side of them. Her cousin Ned Ashton and his wife Lois were in the middle of the table. Her brother AJ was missing but with no early classes in college, he rarely ever woke before ten in the morning.

But Jason was never late for breakfast.

“Today is Beth’s birthday,” Emily told her mother. “So I was wondering if we could do something for her.”

“Aren’t Jeff and Katherine doing anything?” her father Alan asked.

Emily shook her head. “Nope. Her dad’s going out of town this afternoon and you know her mom. If she can’t make it into a social situation, it’s not worth it. And since it’s only Beth’s fifteenth birthday…” she shrugged.

“We’ll have her over for dinner. Cook can make her favorite meal,” Monica suggested. “Just tell Reginald what it is and he’ll take care of it.”

“Sorry, I’m late,” Jason remarked entering the room. He tucked his t-shirt into his khakis and took his normal seat. He started piling eggs and bacon onto his plate. “My alarm didn’t go off.” It wasn’t true—he’d been concerned that Elizabeth would have trouble climbing back down the ladder and he’d snuck her down the service stairs and watched until she rounded the lake.

“It’s fine. You have to drive me to school today,” Emily told him, aiming a fork speared with a piece of sausage at him. “So don’t forget. Oh, and we’re picking up Beth. It’s her birthday, so I hope you got her something.”

Jason frowned. “That’s today?”

Emily sighed in exasperation. “Jason, why don’t you like her? I mean, I don’t understand what the problem is.”

“Well, she’s rude, she’s obstinate,” Jason began, ticking it off on his fingers.

“Will two stop fighting at the table?” Edward barked from his end. “Emily, Jason and Lizzie have never gotten along and they never will. So give it up.”

Emily sighed. “Well, I still can’t believe you forgot her birthday. She got you something for yours in August.”

“Just finish your breakfast. I don’t want to be late for school.”

Webber Estate: Driveway

Jason parked his car a little ways down from the Webber house so that he could have a moment with Elizabeth away from Emily’s eyes. Part of their arrangement was that everything went on as normal between them in public. So they fought back and forth, made fun of each other—they did what was expected. Elizabeth had insisted on that—she said that if they suddenly became friends now, people would think something was wrong.

“I’ll go get her,” Jason told his sister. “Wait.”

“Don’t start a fight with her,” Emily yelled after him.

He shook his head and closed the car door. He walked the very steps to the end of the hedge that separated the Webber house from the driveway and turned onto the doorstep.

Elizabeth was already waiting and frowned when she saw Jason. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m driving you two to school,” he answered. “How do you feel?” he asked, taking in the bulky turtleneck she wore to hide the bruises and cuts.

“Stiff,” Elizabeth admitted. She came down the steps, but he stopped her from walking past the hedge. “What?”

“I just wanted to say happy birthday,” he told her. “Emily thinks I forgot, but I wanted you to know that I didn’t.”

“I know you didn’t,” Elizabeth replied. She stood up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry I make your life so complicated.”

“You don’t,” Jason assured her. He tipped his head towards the driveway. “Come on. Before we’re late.”

When Elizabeth rounded the hedge, Emily was waiting outside the car and threw her arms around her best friend. Jason winced, knowing that it was all Elizabeth could do to hide the tears of pain the embrace caused.

“Happy birthday!” Emily announced gleefully.

“Thanks, Em,” Elizabeth said, pulling away hurriedly. She headed towards the backseat of Jason’s car and pulled the door open. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late for homeroom.”

PC High: Emily’s Locker

“Hey, ladies,” Lucky Spencer said. He was leaning against the locker next to Emily’s with a silly little smirk on his face. “Great party last night, Webber.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth said dully as she unlocked the combination lock and pulled open her locker.

Lucky frowned. “Hey, birthday girl, what’s eating at you?”

“Yeah, you’ve been in a bad mood all morning,” Emily observed. “What’s wrong? Did Jason start with you or something?”

“No. I just…I had fight with my dad last night,” Elizabeth replied. She shoved her history and math textbooks into her backpack. “No big deal.”

“Well, you’re invited to our house tonight for dinner. Cook’s making your favorite,” Emily told her cheerfully.

“Thanks, Em.” Elizabeth shut the locker. “I have to get to geometry. I’ll see you history. Bye.”

She walked down the hall and disappeared around a corner. Emily shook her head. “That girl is such a drama queen,” she remarked with no real malice. “You’d think she was the first one to ever get into a fight with her father.”

“Whatever. So, Homecoming, you thought about it any?” Lucky asked.

“I thought you were going to ask Beth’s cousin,” Emily teased. “What, did Ali turn you down?”

Lucky grimaced. “Alison Barrington is the bane of my existence.”

Emily giggled and wound her arm through Lucky’s. “Come on, we’ve got history.”

“Put me out my misery, Em,” Lucky begged. “Homecoming? Am I going stag or what?”

Emily sighed dramatically. “Well, I’d hate to deprive you of my company, so sure why not?”

“Great. Who’s Webber going with?” Lucky asked pulling open the classroom door.

“No idea. She refuses to let me set her up with anyone. At the rate she’s going, she’ll be stuck going with my brother.”

Lucky took his seat in the back and Emily sat in front of him. “What’s wrong with your brother? He doesn’t have a date yet?”

“Nope. He’s got some crazy idea that Karen Wexler is going to break up with Jagger Cates so that she can go with him.”

Lucky chuckled. “He certainly has a rich fantasy life, doesn’t he?”

Quartermaine Mansion: Sitting Room

AJ stumbled into the room long after breakfast had been eaten and everyone had left the house for the day. He glanced at the clock and just shrugged when he realized it was almost noon and he’d missed his morning class at PCU.

He downed a glass of water and was in the middle of pouring another glass from the mini bar when Lois Cerullo-Ashton entered the room, immersed in some files from L&B, her record company.

She halted in her steps when she saw the eldest Quartermaine heir drinking water on the other side of the room. “I thought you had class this morning,” Lois said, tilting her head to the side.

AJ glanced at her. “I slept in,” he mumbled. He swayed a little and moved to the table near the windows where he just about collapsed into a seat. “What’re you doing home?”

“I forgot Miguel’s file here,” Lois said almost absently. “Are you hung-over?”

“I might have had a little too much last night,” AJ allowed. “Reginald?” he called. He winced when his voice caused a strange echo inside his head and stung. “Where is he?”

“He took Lila to a doctor’s appointment,” Lois told him. “AJ, it’s a Wednesday morning. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate to be hung over in the middle of the week?”

AJ shrugged. “Guess I never thought about it.” He yawned. “What does it matter?”

“It matters because I think you’ve been drinking a little more than you should,” Lois said carefully. She sat down in an adjacent chair. “AJ, I’m worried about you.”

AJ snorted. “Why? Do you think anyone else gives a damn?”

“That’s what I’m worried about. They think you’re just sowing your wild oats and I don’t think that’s it all.”

“I’m just having a little fun with some old friends,” AJ protested.

“Friends like Jack Daniels?” Lois retorted. “You’re starting to drink alone in your room and that’s a bad sign. Damn it, AJ, you’re my cousin and I know it’s only by marriage but I was brought up to take care of my family.”

“That’s very nice of you to say,” he remarked seriously. “But your concern is unneeded here.”

She sighed and stood. “I have to get back to the office. Promise me you’ll think about what I said.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

PC High: Library

Jason entered the library for his fourth period study hall and headed towards the back where he knew Elizabeth would be hiding. When she’d signed up for the tutoring program this year, they’d given her Jason again since he’d brought her back from failing the previous year.

He wasn’t surprised to see her head cradled in her arms, her hair spilling out over the table. She always tried to get some more sleep during study hall. He sat down and pulled out his history book to study quietly.

After about twenty minutes, he saw that she’d turned her face towards him and that her face was scrunching up. By now, he knew she was in the beginning of a nightmare so he reached out and gently shook her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and sat up slowly, rubbing her face sleepily. “Hey. When’d you get here?”

“A little ago. You were sleeping,” he replied. He reached into the front pocket of his book bag and pulled out a silver-wrapped package thin box. “Here.”

Elizabeth gave him a tiny smile as she took it from him. “You didn’t have to do anything.”

“Just open it,” he told her, used to her protests. She slid the silver ribbon off and carefully removed the wrapping paper, setting it aside. Elizabeth opened the top of the black velvet jewelry box to reveal a delicate silver chain inside.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed, pulling it from the box, letting the cluster of shooting stars charm dangle from her fingers. “It’s the one from the mall that I saw last week.”

Jason tugged his earlobe and looked away. “Yeah, I overheard Emily telling Grandmother about it. She didn’t have enough money…so I bought it instead.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Jason…how am I supposed to explain where it came from?”

He frowned and looked away. “I guess I didn’t really think about it,” he said quietly. “I just…Emily said you really loved it so I just…I went out and got it. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.” Elizabeth set the box on the table and turned in her seat a little. “Would you do the clasp?”

He took the chain from her and draped it around her neck before fastening it. “What are you going to say when people ask?”

“I’ll tell them I blackmailed you into it,” Elizabeth replied. She twisted back around and hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry. I love it.”

He kissed her cheek as she pulled back and she flushed a little, looking directly at the surface of the table. “Did you get your geometry test back?” Jason asked, changing the subject.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. I got a 65. Just passed it.”

He reached for her yellow folder in the middle of the stack and flipped it open. “You knew that material yesterday. What happened?”

“Do we have to do this?” Elizabeth asked, sighing. “It’s not like I really need to pass this class—”

“In order for me to keep tutoring you, you have to show improvement in your classes,” Jason reminded her. “Otherwise, they’ll put someone else on it.”

“Fine.” She took her geometry text book from her bag and flipped it open.

Outside the Library 

“Hey, isn’t that your brother?”

Emily halted on her way to the office and joined Lucky at the glass door of the library. He was pointing towards a table in the back where she could make out the sight of her best friend and brother studying. “Yeah, he’s been tutoring Beth for over a year now.”

“I thought they hated each other.”

She shrugged. “Last time I checked, they did.”

“Then why would he get her a birthday gift?” Lucky asked.

“What? How would you know?” Emily demanded. She stood on her tip toes trying to get a better view of them.

“There’s wrapping paper next to her.”

She looked at her friend oddly. “The things you notice scare me sometimes,” she remarked, shaking her head.

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