Once Upon a Time in Veronaville

When she got home she took a nap. She didn't even hear Liza's school bus arrive, and when she woke up it was early evening.

"I'm hungry," Liza said.

"I'm getting up," Nora said, yawning. She went to the bathroom. As she sat there she noticed everything was sparkling clean.

As she wandered downstairs she saw that the newspaper had been recycled, the dishes washed, and the counters scrubbed.

"Liza?" she said. "Did you do all this?"

"I want to help you," Liza said shyly. "So I cleanded everything."

Nora bit her lip. "Come here, you," she said, and gave her sister a big hug.

 

Liza needed a lot of help with her homework, so Nora put her own on hold and sat with her, patiently, for two hours, helping her with her math sums and spelling words. She was determined that Liza wouldn't struggle in school like she did.

Still, when it was finally finished Nora could have cried with relief, she was so tired. "OK, off to bed with you, Missy," she said, giving her a kiss. "Take a bath first, you stink," she said, wrinkling her nose and tickling her sister's tummy.

Liza laughed.

Nora ran her bathwater for her, sat with her while she made silly hats out of the bubbles in the bath, and read her three stories after tucking her into bed. "Night," she said, kissing her forehead.

"One more story?" Liza said sleepily.

"No can do," Nora said. "I've got a hot date."

Liza smiled and snuggled into bed.

Oh, if only, Nora thought. She'd lived here nearly four years and had yet to have a conversation with a single boy.

The paper boy simply did not count.

 

Liza was an outgoing, vivacious six year old. Nora knew she had a nice enough face, although her glasses and prim hairdo made her look older than she was, but Liza was a flat-out beauty, no mistake. Nora worried about that a little. She hoped she was giving Liza the tools she needed in life, including the ability to spot false flattery.

She needn't have worried, she realized a few days after having those thoughts.

Liza was playing cops and robbers with her new friend, Hal Capp, when she tripped and fell. Hal immediately went over to help her to her feet and Liza pulled out an imaginary gun and pretended to shoot him.

"Hah, Sucker!" she yelled, leaping to her feet and running off.

Hal pretended to die, holding his belly. "Auugh, you got me," he said, falling to the ground.

Nora rolled her eyes and smiled.

Liza, it seemed, was going to be just fine.

 

Nora couldn't believe it. She'd gotten straight A pluses on her report card. She stared at it in disbelief.

"Let me see," Juliet said, snatching it from her. "Oh, man! You rock. Don't let my dad see this. He'll accuse me of slacking. I've only got A's."

"I can't believe it."

"I can, you grind. Do you ever take time off to have fun?"

Nora shrugged.

"Hey," Juliet said, "I know. Let's go to the Stratford Strip to celebrate. This Saturday. Bring the brat. I'll buy you both an ice cream."

"Juliet, I really couldn't ... " Nora began.

"Couldn't what? Have fun? See you there, idiot." Juliet waved goodbye as her daddy's limo pulled up in front of the school. "Gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow. One o'clock."

"Fine," Nora said, giving in. "See you then." She was a little scared. She'd never really gone anywhere in town except the grocery store on the corner, and school. But she knew Liza would be thrilled.

 

"Hey," said a male voice behind her. Nora was watching Liza play with a girl she knew from school. They were running around the mall, playing cops and robbers, Liza's favorite game.

Juliet had seen Romeo and had gone to say hi.

Nora turned around. The boy standing there was very odd looking. He had red hair, pointed ears and face paint. She wasn't sure what to make of him.

"I'm Puck Summerdream."

Summerdream was the name on the mailbox of the mansion across the street. "Oh," she said. "I'm Nora. I live across the street from a Summerdream. Is that you all?"

"Yeah, I think so," he said, putting his hand behind his neck and smiling at her. "I've seen you around."

Was everyone in this town rich? "Well, it's nice to meet you," she said, her good manners kicking in.

"Hey, kid, watch out," Puck said, sprinting for Liza and grabbing her before she fell backwards down a set of stairs. Nora's heart leapt to her throat. How could she not have been watching? She ran after him.

"Are you OK?" she said.

"Yeah," Liza looked a little shaken, and Nora gave her a hug.

"Be careful, OK? No more running in the mall."

"OK," Liza said, and skipped off to her friend.

"That your little sister?" Puck asked.

"Yes. Thank you. I can't believe I wasn't watching her."

"Little sisters can be tricky," he said. "I've got one, myself."

 

gwad, I'm loving it so far! Keep writing about this one, for me it's a lot easier to follow with so few characters so far. I hope Nora makes it okay, sounds like Liza is a handful!

 

I want to apologize, first of all. No good pictures of Liza as a toddler. These pictures didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Now that I know I'm taking them for other people to enjoy I'll try to take more, and better, pix.

Meet Nora

Carly scares Nora

Happy birthday Liza

Liza cleans the house

Liza on the phone

 

The pictures are fine, and the girls are adorable. I'm checking in for the third time today .

And what a difficult challenge, a teen and a toddler.

 

I like it! I like Nora's character, too. Makes me feel guilty. I also like hearing about the regular old characters from Veronaville...I never really took the time to think about them.

 

Juliet wasn't in school for a few days, and Nora hadn't heard from her, so she plucked up her courage and went to talk to Romeo. She was very intimidated by him. He was the cutest boy in the school and always seemed so aloof.

Today he just looked sad.

"R-Romeo?" she said.

He looked at her. "'Sup?"

"Is something wrong with Juliet? I haven't seen her around lately."

"Her parents were killed in a car crash last weekend," Romeo said, looking even sadder. "She's gone to live with her grandfather."

"Oh," Nora put her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh, that's horrible."

"You're Nora, right?"

She nodded.

"Maybe you could go talk to her, see if she's OK? The old man won't let me near the place."

"OK," she said. "I'll do that."

 

A sneering teenaged boy answered the door. Like Puck, he wore face paint. Nora wondered if it was a local fashion or something.

"Is Juliet here?"

He motioned towards the stairs with his head, bored. "Upstairs in her room. Help yourself." He wandered off.

She knocked on the one closed door.

"Go away," Juliet said.

"Juliet? It's me, Nora."

The door opened. "Come on in." Juliet's face was swollen from crying. "Oh, Nora, it's horrible." Juliet flung herself down on her bed.

Nora sat down next to her and stroked her hair. "I know."

Juliet sat up. "How's Romeo? Did he ask about me?"

"Yeah," Nora said. "He's the reason I'm here. Your grandfather won't let him visit you, so I said I would."

Juliet wiped her eyes. "Rotten old man."

"At least you have family. That ... boy, and your grandfather--"

"Tybalt's as bad as he is. The only nice one around here is my cousin Hermia."

"I'm really sorry about your parents," Nora said. "I know how it feels."

"I know you do," Juliet said, and started to cry again.

Nora put her arms around her friend and let her cry.

 

Nora walked home, feeling sad. She'd only met Juliet's family once but they'd seemed nice.

"Hey," said Puck.

"Hey."

"You hear about Juliet's folks?"

"Yeah. I was just there. She's a mess."

"I know. My girlfriend's her cousin."

"Your ... " It figured. The one boy she could talk to was taken.

"Yeah. That old man's a character. Some people are saying he ordered it done, just to keep the feud going."

"Ordered--" Nora stared at him. "You can't be serious. That's horrible."

"Yeah, well, so's he. Apparently he broke some promise to Romeo's granddad a long time ago, and the two have been fighting ever since."

"How childish," Nora said.

Puck looked at her in surprise, then laughed. "You're right, but what can you do?"

"Send them to their rooms without supper?" she suggested.

He laughed out loud.

 

good line... how's the challenge work?

 

I just made it up. Basically, you have a teenager raise a toddler by themselves, no money or other cheats (though I did use a money tree). I did a thread on it somewhere ...

 

"Just imagine if we were rich," Liza said one afternoon. The sisters were lying side by side on the grass next to their house, staring up at the clouds. "We could live in one of those nice houses on our block."

"And have servants."

"We'd have servants to tell our servants what to do," Liza said.

"I cahn't be bothered to lift a finger," Nora said in her best hoity-toity accent. "Be a dear and lift it for me."

The girls dissolved into gales of laughter.

 

As Liza grew older Nora grew more restless. If she wanted to go to college she'd have to leave soon. She'd already earned a couple of scholarships, but she hadn't applied to Bard College yet. She didn't want to be accepted, and then not get to go.

One day Liza walked into the house, carrying an envelope, which she gave to her sister. Nora looked at her and realized how grown-up her little sister was looking.

"What's that?" Nora asked.

"Your college acceptance letter."

"But, I didn't apply."

"I know, you dope. I applied for you."

"But, Liza I can't ... "

"Don't you dare," Liza interrupted her. "Don't you dare say you can't go. You gave up everything for me, Nora, so I could grow up with you instead of with some strangers. Now it's my turn to do something for you."

"You're too young."

"And so were you, and I'm not saddled with a toddler. Go. If you stay I'll never forgive you."

Nora looked at her sister and burst into tears.

Liza rolled her eyes. "You'll be bawling on your wedding day, won't you."

Nora nodded, smiling foolishly.

 

"Now, you have the dorm number, and my cell phone, and ... "

"Nora, your taxi's waiting," Liza said, "I'll be fine."

"If you need anything ... "

"Yes, I know, for goodness' sake, you're moving half an hour away."

"Mrs. Summerdream said if you need anything you can call her."

"And I will. Goodbye, Nora."

The sisters kissed goodbye.

"Goodbye, Liza."

 

Pictures!

At one point Nora just lost it. I'd never seen a teen temper tantrum before. She stood there and screamed. I've felt like that ...

Liza cheered her up by dancing with her.

Nora and Juliet

Eliza (Liza) as a teenager.

Off to college

 

The end, for now. The teen challenge is over, anyway. They grow up so fast! I'd call it a success despite the tantrum. For the most part both sisters were pretty happy.

Hope you liked the story.

 

Great! I loved it. I wouldn't mind if you checked on them again for an update. (Second attempt to post reponse. First attempt threw me out of the site.)