Lucas And The Time-Traveling Fog Party Animals
Chapter 5 Family Weekend

This so-called “Family Weekend” was turning into a family nightmare. I can’t stand listening to four screaming, whining, not to mention complaining from three younger brothers and one sister anymore. It feels like I’m back at home but so much worse. Now, I’m starting to see why Elizabeth needed to be in a dorm, and honestly, I don’t blame her because I can’t stand them either.

Luckily, the chatter and craziness among her family members died down once we all grabbed plates and started to form a line to order from the food court. Now, this food court didn’t have any big chain restaurants, like you see in colleges nowadays. This was just one super-sized version of a high school lunchroom. For me personally, I wanted to order a cheeseburger and a slice of Pepperoni Pizza with a can of coke would be so good right about now.

But before I even opened my mouth to order that, something in my head said, “What am I thinking? That’s a terrible thing to order, not to mention like gross.” Strange words started to come off my mouth when I said “Hi, can I get one chicken breast, a Caesar salad, and a can of coke please?” Ok, what was that! What did I just order? That was NOT what I had in mind. Am I in control of Liz, or is she in control of me? We definitely don’t have the same taste in food, but at least we share an interest in a can of coke. The food server nodded and got my order together before I had a chance to change it and handed my food to me on my tray.

After Liz’s father paid for our meals, which was very nice, we left the checkout area, and lucky me, I got to be the one to replace a spot for us so we could sit down and eat as one big happy family because “I go here.” Anyway, I found an empty table like they had asked and called them over. All of a sudden, I got this peculiar feeling of being watched from behind. But as I turned around to look to see who was watching me, no one was there. It was the strangest thing. The only thing that was a bit stranger was her family, from their friendly demeanor to their quirks. This has got to be the most interesting family that the fog has put me in. While we were eating, I got to say Liz’s choice in the chicken breast and Caesar salad tasted pretty good.

When we were done, it was finally time to go to the courtyard so I could see for myself what kind of tour we would have. But to my surprise, there was nothing, no tour, no anything but green grass, tall buildings, and little kids running around screaming. Liz’s father suddenly turned to me and asked, “Aren’t you going to give us a tour now? We haven’t got all day.”

I answered, “I thought I did already.”

Her father said “You did, but….some of us still haven’t seen it,” while eyeballing Nate and Samantha.

Oh, so this is what he meant by taking a tour...huh? All I got to say is thank goodness I still remember the college visit that I had when I was still a junior in high school, so at least the tour I would give them won’t be too bad, I thought.

I told her father, “You’re right. So, like, let’s get started with this tour, shall we?”

I started to give them a tour, starting with the courtyard, but when I just got to introduce them to the science department, I saw this black girl with black Jerry curls wearing this weird purple striped tracksuit come from who knows where, nearly gave me a heart attack in the process and said to me, “Oh my gosh, there you are...heyyyy.”

As she hugged me, she then stopped to announce, “You know...Margie had told me that you’re back and walking on campus grounds again, but she didn’t tell me where you were heading. That’s so like her.”

Liz’s mother asked me, “Lizzie, who’s this?”

The girl turned to me and asked, “Is this your family?” I looked back at Liz’s family and looked at her and replied, “They sure are. Who else could they be?”

The girl laughed and said, “Oh, yeah, I forgot you mentioned something about your family dropping by.” She turned back to my family to announce, “Hi everyone, my name is Kimberly Evans, but you can call me Kim and me and my bestie Liz over here,” as she suddenly latches onto me with her arm around my shoulder, “are not only like the best of friends but also classmates.” She then let go of me and continued, “We have the same biology class together, and that’s how she introduced me to Margaret and the rest of our gang, which I’m sure you’ll meet and love at the game just as much as we do.”

Kimberly then turned to me and asked, “Ooo, that reminds me. Did you ever tell them about the parade starting soon?”

Liz’s mother answered, “No, she didn’t. There’s a parade coming?! Why didn’t you tell us?” As she looked right at me. I had to answer awkwardly, “It was….supposed...to be a surprise, Kim. I thought I told you.”

“Oh, no. I totally ruined it for you, didn’t I? Sorry, I’m not that good with surprises; you should’ve known that by now.”

I sighed and said, “Yeah, you kinda did, but that’s ok. Maybe, next time.”

All of us then headed towards the main campus square to watch the parade, and we made it just in time as the parade was about to start. We found a great spot on a street corner where we saw people in floats waving at us, there were cheerleaders cheering, and the College band was playing as it passed by. I got to say this had to be the coolest parade I’ve ever seen!! I just wish I could’ve recorded it all. After the parade was over, I noticed that everyone around me was going straight to the football stadium.

So, Kim, Liz’s family and I followed the crowd, but somehow, I lost track of her. But it wasn’t until I was with my family sitting in the bleachers alongside Margaret’s family, waiting for the game to start, that I spotted her again, and this time, she wasn’t alone. She was talking to this group of girls that all had big puffy hair and only sat a few rows below us. They must have been looking for me while they were busy talking because I saw one of them turn around and point to me.

I didn’t know if this girl was pointing to me or someone in front or behind me, so I pointed at myself just to be sure. But in the back of my mind, I knew it was me. Just then, I see the girl laugh hysterically, mutter to herself, and shake her head yes. I thought it would be nice to give her a little smile and wave back too. But that gesture led to my world turning upside down in a blink of an eye because just then, I heard voices that seemed all too familiar, and it was coming from a few rows below me.

Looking down at them, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Why are these girls acting like they just met a long-lost relative or something? I mean, am I or Liz really that special to them? Anyway, their voices of excitement sounded like a concert, with each Liz getting louder and louder. Some of them were even gesturing for me to come over. I tried to, but the moment I stood up, Liz’s mother told me to sit back down. So, I did as I was told and kinda pointed at her mother as to why I couldn’t sit with them. The girls strangely understood that and stopped talking to me.

Now, I only recognized three of the seven girls that were flapping their hands in excitement, and it was my roommate Margaret, Kim from earlier, and the girl that I met in the parking lot, Anna, but other than that, I did not have a clue as to who these other girls were. But that didn’t matter because, as far as I was concerned, I needed to be with those girls like my life depended on it. Her family was driving me insane, and I wanted to be as far away from them as possible, but with Liz’s mom being persistent about me not going anywhere near those girls, my chances were slim.

Until I decided it was finally time to give my newly found girl powers another try. So, I did like any girl would do in my situation, and that is to use those puppy dog eyes to my advantage. I even went as far as to beg about how much I needed this and tilted my head towards her friends just to get my point across. I should’ve received an Oscar for Best Actor by doing this because her mom said, “Oh alright, I won’t hold you back anymore. Now, go on and sit with your friends before I change my mind.”

I opened my mouth wide in shock and replied, “Thanks, Mom, you’re the best...love you!” I got up from my spot in the bleachers and headed for the steps. That’s when I heard her mom shout, “But don’t forget I’m taking pictures as soon as the game is over.”

I cringed. Before I sat down with these girls, I said, “Hey ladi--everybody haha made it,” to which one of them commented, “Finally. it took you long enough.” and another girl added, “I almost thought we would have to drag you.”

“Like are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world... so, scoot over.” The girls then made some room for me to sit down with them.

When the football game started, I saw these gorgeous cheerleaders cheering the football players on as they ran to the field. Then they moved to the sidelines, hyping the crowd with their moves and cheers where I can see them clearly and almost up close. I said to myself, “Wow, look at those cheerleaders go.”

Kim must have overheard me because she said, “Lizzie…. we get it you’re starting to miss your cheerleading days already. Don’t bring us down now; the game is about to start, so you better start focusing on the now...ok.”

“Alright, I’ll stop talking about it,” I replied, not really understanding what she had meant.

My enjoyment of the football came to an end when it was only the second down of the first quarter when the girls couldn’t stop talking about which football player on our team had a cute butt or which dude had bigger muscles. If I knew those girls were going to do this, I would’ve happily enjoyed sitting with Liz’s family.

I made an attempt to shut the girls up by saying, “Hey can you keep it down? I’m trying to watch the game here.” That’s when Margaret said “Oh, please don’t make me laugh. You and I both know that you only came here to just stare at the football players all day long. Besides, you’ve got to admit…..the quarterback is pretty cute.”

Ahhh, man, this is exactly why I hate being around girls in the first place because I always hear similar dumb stuff about us like this in class….all the time! It’s so annoying. They always... always talk about which guy sent the most heart emojis. Look what he sent me, isn’t he the greatest, and who looks better in this photo, this guy or that guy, and why?

Honestly, I could give zero flying hoots about what the girls think or say about me or any other guy. But to be the girl answering that question about some dude that you don’t know is on a whole other level! This is not how I wanted my life to turn out, but here I am with a bow in my hair and a purse in hand, so I guess this is my life now, and since my first plan was a complete and total bust, I have to think of something else to get rid of them.

Maybe I should take the nicer approach instead of acting so mean. After all, they are the ones that really wanted me to sit with them. I took a deep breath and said, “Ok...you got me there, and yeah, I think the quarterback is...is..a little...cute?” What I thought was my short and sweet answer turned out to completely backfire on me. Because now the girls were constantly breathing down my neck and pressuring me for an answer about which player on the football team is cuter and why. But most importantly, which one had a cuter... butt. Now, I tried to answer all of their ridiculous questions to the best of my ability.

They were asking so many that I had no choice but to wing it, and before you knew it, the game was over. But before we could leave the stadium or even the bleachers for that matter, Liz’s mother was true to her word and asked me in front of all my friends for photo taking, and since she asked so nicely, they didn’t mind. In fact, we all smiled for the first one and did some goofy poses for the second and third. After the snapshots were taken, “my” mom said, “Thank you, girls, you looked terrific, especially you, Liz.” Oh no, she did not just say that to me in front of my new friends, did she?

I think she did because as I looked around, I saw Liz’s girlfriends giggling to themselves. My face went red in embarrassment, and did she have any idea how embarrassing that is for me...Liz..or anyone for that matter? Her mom continued, saying, “This will be perfect for our little scrapbook once the film gets developed in a few weeks, but before you girls leave, can one of you take a photo of us? It’ll be quick, I promise.” She then signaled the rest of our family to come over.

One of the girls said, “Oh, I’d love to.” Liz’s mother then handed her a camera that she was conveniently holding. All of the girls then made room as my family was coming down the steps. When they finally made it, we got into our places, and I was told that I had to stand behind them on the bleachers. The girl said, “Say Cheese, everyone.” We all said “Cheese” while I had both my arms around her parents’ shoulders. After the photo was taken, Liz’s family had enough for the day and decided to go home. Thank goodness.

But I had to walk with them all the way to their car, which was another station wagon that was on the other side of campus, and let’s just say I got my workout for the day. Before the family got in their green woody station wagon, they couldn’t help themselves but give me one last family group hug. As they were hugging me, I admit that I actually enjoyed their company and was kind of sad to see them all go so soon. It made me miss my own crazy family.

When they were just about done with all the hugs, Liz’s mother said to me, “Now, if you ever want to stop by or spend the night at home, please let me know ahead of time.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” I replied.