free hugs are free! {lizzie}

[METRODORA CROSS]

EEEP!

When the lunch bell rang, Metro jumped out of her seat and nearly ran to her locker, almost running in to a few students who obviously were not paying attention to what she was wearing because all they did was glare at her. BUT WHO CARED? Lunchtime was going to be the best part of today, the one day of every month where she tried to spread happiness and joy around the school.

YOU GUESSED IT! Free Hugs Day!

To Metro, National Hug Day on January 21st was NOT enough, so she was attempting to start the tradition of a hug day on the 21st of EVERY month. Because, as her scientific research showed from doing that project-that-was-totally-bogus-at-first-but-got-better-once-she-had-this-idea last year, hugs were essential for healthy social, psychological and physical development. It also helps build up a good immune system, decreases the risk of heart disease and all that science-y stuff that totally wowed her teacher. Yeah, hugging was a serious thing to Metro, which was why she was wearing her favorite Free Hugs t-shirt(she owned about 8), and got the Free Hugs sign she made on a free day in art class one time out of her locker before heading to the dining hall.

Why the sign? Well, not everyone stopped to read T-Shirts these days, and lunch was a bit crazy. So the white poster board with big black letters might attract more attention, yeah?

So she took her position at her usual table, setting up the sign so that it leaned up against the wall and was easy for people to see. THIS WAS GOING TO BE SO PERFECT.

But if only she had someone else to do Free Hugs day with! Her BEST FRIEND FOREVER AND ALWAYS was at home sick today, so. Oh well, she'd have to find someone else to get with the Free Hugs program.

notes; OUTFIT. and i totally got that hug benefit stuff from the wikipedia page for national hug day so.

[LIZZIE SPENCER]

Lizzie didn’t fit the cliché norm of smart kids sitting at the front. Lizzie sat in the third seat of the front row and yet she had a mediocre grade in the class. However, Lizzie was the farthest thing from the cliché of bad kids sitting in the very back of the room. She should have been sitting somewhere in the middle but she had a little trouble seeing sometimes. It wouldn’t be a problem if she just wore her glasses but she hated those things. Today was one of those days where they just sat and took notes the entire hour. Lizzie was quite sure Science was supposed to be experiments and explosions. Okay, explosions were a bit far-fetched…

The bell rang and half of the class was out of their seats. The teacher seemed to have lost track of time and she began to shout over her students, going on about homework and a test next week. Lizzie already had all of this written down in her agenda and her back-up agenda because she’d already lost three of them. There wasn’t a single thing that was free of her messiness. Packing her things away, Lizzie was one of the last to leave the classroom. She maneuvered the hallways carefully, not wanting to bump into anybody. She’d absolutely have to apologize if that happened and there wasn’t any time for apologies. Lunch was crazy at Baum and she didn’t want to wait in line forever.

Lizzie had been planning to find one of her sisters during lunch; it was always better to eat with them than to eat alone. More often than not, her friends went off campus for lunch or headed back to the dorms for something better than school pizza. Lizzie stood off to the side a little, scanning the crowded room for Mary Anne or Pig. The line was already pretty long and she wasn’t looking forward to waiting. But, there, in the corner of her vision, a sign caught her eye. It was big and read in all caps “FREE HUGS.” Lizze loved hugs. Without a second thought, she made a beeline for the table.

Lizzie recognized the girl but that was probably because Lizzie made sure she at least knew of everybody at the school. Her name must’ve started with a M… Setting that aside for later, Lizzie dropped her bag on the table and flung herself at the girl. Most people hated hugs like these, the squeeze-the-life-out-of-you sort, but she hated the one-armed-two-second-embrace that others gave her. After at least ten seconds, Lizzie pulled back and beamed at the girl. “Free hugs! Why, I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself.” She stuck her hand out for the girl to shake. “I’m Lizzie. Lizzie Spencer.”

outfit!