Ch.1
Most of the kids that Elizabeth Waring knew from her school in Dexter, Georgia had gone to Florida for spring break. Elizabeth wanted to do something different. She was tired of all the extracurricular pressures in her life. She had just turned eighteen a week ago and was in the twelfth grade. Between school letting out last summer and starting in fall, she had developed curves. Her 32As had grown to 32Ds. Now she had hips. Five foot four inches, ninety pounds, green eyes and ginger hair, she was gorgeous but skinny with big boobs. With ultra pale white skin, so pale that her veins made her skin look like marble, the sun was not her friend. That and boys, gross as they were, wouldn't leave her alone. Elizabeth was taking college level classes already and would start college courses over the summer. Boys would just get in the way. She usually wore tight sports bras, sweatshirts and warm up pants to tone her budding sexuality down, but the boys knew what was up.
Her parents, Dan and Mary, were proud of her, of course, but wanted her to slow down a little; enjoy her high school years. They had bought her a bus ticket (like there was an airport near Dexter) to Daytona Beach where her nineteen year old cousin Daphne would watch over her and maybe show her some supervised fun. Elizabeth thought that maybe she could visit Flagler College. It was on her list of potential schools. Maybe she would have to bribe Daphne or give her the slip. Daphne was always boy crazy and such a party girl. One time, Elizabeth's parents had caught Daphne drunk, making out in the pool house with a highschool boy when she was only thirteen. They had kept it secret from her parents since she had promised never to do it again. Right. Whatever. Elizabeth hadn't seen Daphne since then, but her parents talked to her on the phone every so often.
Mom and Dad drove Elizabeth to the bus station. Gawd, the trip would last 22 hours and 40 minutes. She was glad that she brought some books. She kissed her parents goodbye, shoved her bag into the belly of the bus and boarded. The ride would have been the epitome of boredom if not for the books and science journals that Elizabeth had packed. Her mental faculties were as mature as her pubescent sexual interests were nonexistent. The food was a blur of Golden Corral and Denny's. Nearly a solid day after boarding the bus, it disgorged her into the sunny Florida heat. Actually, it was the same as the sunny Dexter, Georgia heat with the exception of the salt air. Maybe she would like it here, she thought.
She stepped to the curb outside of the bus station. Daphne had been a no show inside the terminal. She was a little concerned. Suddenly, a black on black Escalade with tinted windows rolled up in front of her. The back passenger window slid down and Daphne waved and called out "Elizabeth! Come on in, let's go!" Daphne scooted over, Elizabeth climbed in. An enormous black man climbed out of the front passenger seat, grabbed her bag from the sidewalk, threw it in the back and climbed back in. They rolled out into traffic.
"Hey honey! It's been too long. How are you?" her cousin asked. Daphne looked a good deal more thin, very gaunt actually, than Elizabeth remembered. She smelled a bit like she hadn't bathed in a while. She was wearing long sleeves and sweatpants, something more like she would wear. Even with these clothes and a very cold car, she was sweating.
"I'm doing well. I have a 4.0. I'm going to graduate and go to college early." Elizabeth stopped talking when she heard the driver snicker.
