The Potter and His Clay.

What a Joke.

Eliza looked to the luscious green fields, taking in the morning breeze with one deep inhale, she smiled as the warmth of the sun caressed her skin. She tightened her grip around her coffee mug, saying a brief prayer in a whisper. 

"Beautiful day" 

she turns around to see her Grandfather enter the patio, they meet by the table, greeting each other with Good mornings and a kiss on the cheek. The patio table is already set with breakfast, toasts, pancakes, bacon, eggs, orange juice and so on. Lilian, her aunt, the youngest daughter of the old couple cooked and cleaned when she wasn't at work, she was thirty one and was still living with her parents when she could easily afford to get herself an apartment. She was a physiotherapist by profession, she loved her parents too much to leave them, she stayed around and made sure everything was in order. Lilian walked onto the patio with plates in hand, she went over to her Dad and kissed him on the cheek 

"morning Dad"

Pastor Thompson smiled "morning sweetheart". She sat the plates down and they sat down, waiting for Mrs. Thompson, 

"Good morning family!" 

they all looked into the house, Ethan Thompson, marched towards them with a grin on his face, he went over to Pastor Thompson and hugged him from behind 

"how was your night Grandpa?"

Pastor Thompson chuckled "it was fine", Ethan grinned and sat next to Eliza, who playfully pushed him with a laugh, he wacked her hand away and sat opposite Lilian. Ethan looked around the table, eyeing the bounty in wonder

"ooh, someone's in a good mood" he smirked at Lilian, she dismissed his smirk as she rolled her eyes, Eliza laughed with a sneaky smirk "someone went on a date last night" she whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear

"a date?" Pastor Thompson asked as he grinned at his daughter playfully

"it was a work dinner" Lilian shot a frown at Eliza who avoided her gaze and looked at her Grandfather, "he's a surgeon" 

Pastor Thompson clapped his hands together "excellent, invite him over for dinner!" he exclaimed 

"yeah and tell him to bring a eligible niece or younger cousin" Ethan added with a chuckle 

Eliza wacked the back of his head, he frowned at her, "Eliza, don't do that" Pastor Thompson scolded softly, Lilian laughed "yeah, you might have wacked all the knowledge out of his head"

"what knowledge?" Eliza smirked 

the table erupted up into heaps of laughter, Ethan sarcastically laughed along until he came to a dead halt

"ha ha" he deadpanned 

Pastor Thompson stopped and dismissed the jokes and laughter "ok, ok, that's enough" he looked at Ethan "ignore them, they can't see a future great musician, when they see one"  

Ethan smiled.

Ethan was gifted, he played the piano, the guitar and the violin, his voice was killer too, he led worship in church when he felt God wanted him to. He was surrounded by Christians all his life, all he knew was his relationship with God. When everything seemed perfect, he fell into the temptation of peer pressure and stranded away from God, he found his new desires focused on drugs and alcohol at the age of fifteen. For a year and half, he experimented and dillydallied with the blossoming season of his adolescence. Until he fell off the roof at a friends party while excessively intoxicated, he fell inches away from the bullnose, hitting his head on the bottom of the pool. The Doctor said it was a miracle he was still alive, he was unconscious for two weeks, and when he woke up he couldn't believe the mess he had created. The expression on his mothers face made him realize how his life had spiraled out of control, after being discharged he promised never to go back to that life ever again. He went to church and confessed his faults and kept on the right track, he was thankful that he had experienced all of that, it allowed him to move closer to God and grow spiritually.

Mrs. Thompson walked out onto the patio with a big smile on her face, she was done with her morning  prayer and finally joined in for breakfast, her blonde hair up in a loose bun, she wore a green top with her long trousers. 

"Good morning !" she chimed happily, she went around the table kissing everybody, she stopped by her husband and kissed his forehead. They have been in love for 30 years in counting and their love was the purest, the kids have ever seen. Mrs. Thompson sat by her husband and they held hands, bowed their heads and all  said a word in prayer. 

***

Eliza tied her up hair in a neat bun and straightened her tie, she grabbed her blazer and pulled it on, she looked into the mirror and brushed off her shoulders. Lilian stood by the door, leaning against the door frame as she watched her niece get ready, she finally knocked on the door softly catching at attention.

 "Got your clean laundry" Lilian stated lifting the pile up in her hands

Eliza smiled and sat down on her bed "thanks Aunt Lil",   Lilian went over to her and sat her clothes at the foot of bed, she plopped down next to her, letting out a deep sigh, she looked at Eliza and smiled 

"you look pretty"

Eliza chuckled  "thanks"

Lilian sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear, "you know, you look so much like her" she whispered, Eliza looked down with a small smile  and played with the frills of her blanket. Lilian took her hand and squeezed it softly

"hey" 

Eliza looked at her aunt with tears beginning to form "I miss her too" Lilian said softly he voice cracking a bit, "if she was here, she'd be so proud of you", Eliza chuckled half heartedly as she wiped her eyes, her aunt pulled her into a tight hug. Eliza laughed as her aunt completely smothered her with her bear hug and kisses,

 "Liza!" 

Ethan walked in and stopped in a halt as he sees them in embrace "wow, so much love" he says in a dramatic tone as he holds his hands together and placed his chin on it 

Lilian pulled away and shot a scowl towards him "clown" she whispered sharply

she got to her feet and made her way to the door "you guys have a great first day", Ethan reached out for a hug but she held her hand out in his face denying his embrace. He gasped with his mouth half open, "wow, you hug her and you shade me" 

she laughed, shaking her head in amusement,  leaving the room. He looked at Eliza who had a smirk on her face, suppressing her giggle,

"she loves me" he simply says with a shrug

she nodded with her eye brows raised "oh yeah, obviously" she grabbed her bag on her study table and they made their way.

***

Garret Hill was brimming with police cars, the fire brigade and the ambulance, Yvette Simone stood by a  white Layne Valley Daily van reporting. Ethan stopped for a moment and they observed the scene, a side of the road rails was rammed through, the fire brigade were slowly making their way down the hill, out of view.  A police officer approached the car and knocked on Ethan's window, he quickly lowered the glass

"sorry kids, I'm going to have to ask you to move along" he said softly

"what happened here officer?" Ethan asked boldly 

"a car skied off the road and now the firemen are trying to get down to it". The officer excused himself as another cop called him over, Ethan began driving away as Eliza said a small prayer for the safety of the person in the car. 

"Dang, bad things happen everyday" he says with a sigh, he looked over to his cousin and poked her shoulder, she looked at Ethan "yeah?"

 "you okay ?"

she nodded, looking ahead to the road before her

"never better " she whispered, as she gripped her seat belt. It took about twenty five minutes till they got to the other side of town, then out of town, to get to school travelling above the speed limit. They parked and got out of the car arguing

"are you trying so hard to be the next guy on the news dead?" Eliza scolded annoyed flinging her bag on her shoulder

"death wouldn't have a hold on me" he said humoredly with a grin, Eliza wacked his arm "I'm being serious!' she snapped "we just passed by a car accident and you want to be Toretto in a minute?!"

he gasped with his hand to his chest "I am offended you would compare me to another person!" he paused, clearing his throat "I'm faster than his butt" 

"Ha! You're nothing close to Fast" Eliza laughed sarcastically  "you're nothing!" she adds

Ethan narrowed his eyes at her "I'm going to pretend you said that". They began walking towards the school entrance until they were blocked by a couple of guys, Rolland Olsen and his football teammates stood supporting him from behind.  

"well if it isn't the freaks" he says cockishly with a snarl,

 Ethan laughs pulling Eliza behind him "that's a good one, good morning to you too Rolland" he smirks "why don't we just go in and learn some words" he gestures towards the school entrance.

Eliza elbowed his side, Ethan winced and scowled at her.  Rolland laughed cockily as he stepped forward, Ethan pushed him back softly "don't come over here" he states sternly shaking his head, Rolland chuckled balling his fists, he flung his fist towards him, with Ethan's quick reflexes, he dodged the blow. Eliza gasped as she stared at the fist flying towards her,  she shut her eyes tightly ready to feel pain collide on her face. 

An eerie silence filled the atmosphere as everyone were watching now, Eliza frowned in confusion as she realized that she was okay, she opened her eyes and looked at Rolland, her eyes went wide as she also sees Jonathan beside her

"let go" Rolland hissed as he tried to pull his hand away from Jonathan's grip. Jonathan pushed his hand away, making him fall backwards by force. Rolland's boys helped him get to his feet, 

"its kind of low of you to be swinging hits at a girl" Jonathan said, slipping his hands into his pockets, Ethan stared while Eliza still stood in shock. Rolland scoffed "what's it to you?" 

Jonathan shrugged "I don't believe in violence against the weak" he said in a cool way. Spencer walked up and stood by his side "well said", Jonathan smirked at his friend "why thank you"

Rolland glared at the pair, he balled his fists up, ready to throw a punch. The school bell echoed through the parking lot, people began rushing into the school, they were scrambled apart and were ushered towards the entrance. It all happened in an instant and it ended in the same way. What a day to start senior year.

***

Eliza searched over the sea of young teens walking around with their meal trays, she tiptoed catching her target across the room who was talking to his best friend. She made her way towards him, pushing through the crowd and dodging flying empty milk cartons and juice boxes, she finally got through and reached the table, she found Spencer sitting alone as he took a bite of his sandwich. He looked at her with a stern expression and looked back down at his tray, continuing with his turkey sandwich. She got closer "hey" she greeted softly

he looked at her "hey" he replied without interest, looking back down at his sandwich

"I'm looking for..." 

"why?" he cut her off

she stared confused "sorry?" 

"why are you looking for him?" he asked resting both his elbows on the table and looking up at her

"I-" 

"you're nothing special Thompson" he said almost in a whisper "he didn't help you because he cared about you, he doesn't" 

Eliza forced a small smile "who said I was special?" she says flatly "I just want to thank him" 

he stared at her with an annoyed look, she folded her arms as she waited patiently, he finally let out a deep breathe realizing she wouldn't leave until she got an answer "he went to the bio lab" he deadpanned.

"Thank you!" she says, she turned to leave and made her way out of the cafeteria, down the hall, made a few turns and climbed a flight of stairs until she came to face the Bio Laboratory. She looked into the room through the glass on the door and saw him talking to Mr. Summer, she leaned against the wall and waited till he was done. After a few minutes, he walked out, Eliza was crouching by the door at this point, she snapped to her feet. He flinched backwards in shock, "what the hell" he cried, 

"I'm sorry, did I scare you?" she asked with her smile dropping instantly

"yeah, with that face" he spat with a frown, straightening up 

Eliza let out a fake laugh "funny" she said sarcastically 

he stared at her, cold and dead looking. She cleared her throat "I just um..." she began "I just wanted to thank you for-" he began walking away.

She watched him in shock "ah, excuse me!" she cried, running up to him, he continued walking without giving any notice of her. She pulled his arm back, making him turn around 

"listen- I just want to thank you for saving my face" she finished a little annoyed 

he smirked, "there's nothing worth saving" he says coldly, he took a step towards her and leaned down to her ear "don't flatter yourself" he whispered " I would've let him hit you" he moved back and turned to leave

"then why didn't you?!" she yelled, anger evident in her tone

he stopped and looked over his shoulder, he turned around once again and looked dead into her brown eyes

"I'm above Rolland, I had to put him back into his hole". Eliza stared at him, she watched him turn around and finally leave, she had never felt so much humiliation all at once, she felt her cheeks flush. Here she was, thinking they would be friends. 

What a joke.