Six years have gone by since that day when Beatrice protected and was ready to fight for Elizabeth Angel Hawthorne as a member of their family. She spent her late childhood growing up in Hell and learned many things about her mothers in that time. Like how Lisha was the Devil, a Carvation that she had told her legends about, and that she was actually lactose intolerant. She found out that the workplace she visited that one time with Beatrice wasn’t just a regular office building, and that Bea was dead. There were still plenty of details she didn’t know, but that was because Beatrice and Lisha themselves weren’t ready to tell her yet.

With age came changes to Lizzy herself. Thanks to having access to a proper amount of food, and probably because of Lisha’s feeding habits, Lizzy grew to fill out her body and become her natural shape, which was pretty curvy. Lisha was particularly careful to make sure she took no shame in her body though; she would be proud no matter the size. 

Of course, she was made fun of to no end in school at first because of it, but Beatrice’s lessons in dealing with people ensured that she would have plenty of ways to verbally strike back. She probably could’ve physically struck back too if Beatrice had taught her so. Lizzy would’ve believed that people could turn invisible if Beatrice had raised her that way. She stood up for herself when needed, but was content to be one of the quiet kids most of the time.

Throughout school Lizzy didn’t do amazing, probably because her parents’ knowledge was utterly useless and outdated when faced with the modern education system, but she did make good enough grades to be known as one of the smarter kids. Continuing her sessions with Beatrice over the years, she pursued her own passion for singing and music as much as she could without revealing to the other people how good she had gotten.

Now, Lizzy was getting ready for another regular day of high school. She jumped out of the shower, raked her curly hair though an industrial strength hairbrush, and ran to her room. Lisha had left her freshly washed black and red dress hanging on the door. She threw it on and looked in the mirror. She fit her body to line up with the little red horns and devil tail on the mirror that she had drawn on with lipstick. On her way out of the room, she grabbed her hairband with a pair of tiny devil horns on it.

When she rushed into the kitchen, Lisha was already up and cooking something on a pan on the stovetop. Lizzy guessed that Beatrice wasn’t even up yet. She wasn’t getting up earlier than she absolutely had to. Something Lizzy wished she could do.

“Looking devilish!” Lisha said, pointing finger guns.

“I hope so.” Lizzy giggled. She went to her work area and started to put pencils, notebooks, and her computer into her backpack.

“Anything exciting going on today?” Lisha asked.

“Nah, just a boring day.” Lisha dumped the omelet onto a plate and put it at the table for Lizzy. Then she opened the fridge and grabbed half a cheese brick to snack on.

“Did your mom sign that permission slip?” Lisha asked.

“Ma, do you think mom would be able to spell her name right?” Lizzy asked, rolling her eyes. Lisha laughed. “But I got Fluffy to sign it.”

“Again?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “When are they going to realize that you’re getting a snake to forge your mother’s signature?”

“Probably when they realize she writes worse than a medical student.”

“Oh, be nice.” Lisha said, rolling her eyes. She glanced at the clock. “Get ready. It’s almost time to go.”

“Oh! One sec!”

Lizzy scarfed down the other half of the omelet in record time and rushed to her parent’s bedroom. Carefully and quietly, she turned the doorknob and slightly cracked the door open. As if she was waiting, a black snake slithered out and Lizzy closed the door behind her. She scratched Sausage’s chin and let her crawl up her arm sleeve. Sausage didn’t like to show her face very much, so taking cover was nice, especially in a place where Lizzy would probably get suspended for taking a snake to; Sausage was also cold-blooded, so hugging close to a human body was a good way to get warm.

“Let’s go, girl!” Lizzy said confidently. She could feel Sausage wrap around her waist to rest on. She ran back to the front door to put her shoes on and tossed her backpack over her shoulders. “I’m ready to go, ma!”

“Hold on.” Lisha said.

Lizzy grabbed Lisha’s hand and watched her mother change to look like a regular human. Or just a regular stay-at-home-mom. She had on large blue mom jeans and a shirt that said “Family Sized” in red and yellow letters.

“Ma, can you ever wear something that won’t draw attention?” Lizzy complained.

“I can’t help if everyone’s so attracted to my body.” Lisha said proudly.

Lizzy sighed and gave up; arguing with Lisha on this would be useless. She was too shamelessly proud of herself. In a flash of light they were gone from the castle and in an empty alleyway about a block away from Lizzy’s school.

“Goodbye, baby.” Lisha said with a smile, kissing Lizzy on the forehead. “I’ll see you after school. Stay safe.”

“It’s school, ma.” Lizzy said, rolling her eyes. “How dangerous does it get?”

“Just let me worry, alright?” Lisha asked. “Your mom will pick you up today.”

“You sure mom will remember this time?” she asked, arms folded.

“Oh honey, Beatrice is just having some trouble with work these days.” Lisha said sadly. “I’ve been working on trying to help it, but… well, she’s had this problem before.”

“I…” Lizzy sighed. Sometimes talking about Beatrice was exhausting. She’s a laborious person to take care of. “I’m going to class now.”

“Alright baby. Have a good day.”

“I will, ma.” Lizzy said, waving back as she walked down the street. “You too.”

“And what were the central themes of The Alchemist?” asked Mrs. Steward. Nobody raised their hands. “How about you tell us, Elizabeth?”

“Hm?” Lizzy had been dozing off here and there. English wasn’t exactly a strongsuit for her; she blamed Beatrice for that. “Um, the book explores themes of self-actualization, right?” she asked with a yawn and a stretch.

“Correct.” the teacher said, still looking displeased. “And next, let’s…”

Lizzy sighed and opened her notebook to a blank page. The only thing she ever liked about English classes was when they would write poetry once a year. It was probably one of the few things she could put passion into for the class.

She took her pencil and began to write. She liked doing it, but was lucky to write a stanza in an hour. Lizzy knew that she was no poet by heart or anything. By the time the bell rang she only had two lines down.

I’ve shone my brightest to not hide,

So what will it take to earn your pride?

“Elizabeth, the bell.” Mrs. Steward said. She was the last kid still in the classroom. Lizzy groaned and closed her notebook, putting it away and getting up. She was pretty sure that if Sausage wasn’t always shifting around under her shirt, she’d fall asleep. The first class was always the hardest, but fourth period English class was a close second.

“I’d recommend getting adequate sleep tonight.” the teacher said judgmentally. “Just because you’re here doesn’t mean you’re not missing class.”

“I’ll go to bed early.” Lizzy emptily promised, rubbing her eyes.

“I know you’re smart, so get your act together.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Lizzy walked out into the hallway and made her way to her next class. The halls were crowded and cramped, which made it hard to ensure that Sausage wouldn’t get bumped or jostled against.

“Hey, Liz!” said a voice behind her. Lizzy turned around to see her friend, Sherry. “What’re ya up to?”

Sherry had been Lizzy’s best friend for a couple years now, and they had grown to know each other fairly well. Of course, they had birthday parties and sleepovers and that kind of friend stuff, but Lizzy always felt bad that she couldn’t tell her about her parents or where she even really lived. Lisha owned another house in the human world that they used for if Lizzy ever wanted “to have friends over”. Beatrice hated it of course, but she was also the one who said that Lizzy needed something like that for her friends.

Sherry herself never questioned any of Lizzy’s odd answers when it came to stuff surrounding her moms, but it was almost in her nature to not question. She usually went with what everyone else said. 

She was tall and thin, backed by small amounts of muscle here and there in her arms and legs. But she was enough majority bone that a handshake would mean gripping more skeleton than hand. Sherry’s hair was a wavy darkened gold, which she had all the way down to her upper back; she had some hair french braided and wrapped around the back of her head like a sort of crown. 

Lizzy didn’t know how, but Sherry always managed to have on a pair of shorts. In the summer it was high shorts, and in the winter it’d be cargo shorts. She was surprised that Sherry didn’t freeze, but apparently it didn’t bother her. Today she was wearing a pair of jean shorts and a tie dye with sandals. Something that Lizzy thought Lisha would approve of.

“I’m heading to my chemistry class.” Lizzy said sleepily. “You know, like every other fifth period this year.”

“Come on Liz, I was just sayin’ hi.” Sherry complained.

“You’re never just saying hi.” Lizzy claimed, rolling her eyes. “What did you hear, and from who?”

“Well, since you asked, I should oblige.” she said deviously. “So I heard from Jess, who heard it from Sasha, who heard it from Jake, who heard it from Ian, that Jason dumped Lilly just because she has a fat ass.”

“Uh huh.” Lizzy nodded. “And who did Ian hear it from?”

“Jason himself.”

“No way!” Lizzy whipped her head around. “That’s twisted!”

“I know, right?!”

Lizzy had quickly learned that Sherry was also a fountain of gossip and rumors. It’s like she was always listening in on someone’s conversations.

“It doesn’t end there.” Sherry said dramatically. “Jason then started dating Bianca almost immediately.”

“That 11th grade hot pink-clad skinny walking can of hairspray?” Lizzy asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” she confirmed. “And there’s a rumor he’s dating her just because she’s such a stick!”

“That’s-”

“Ladies,” said a teacher, about to close her classroom door. “Stop the gossip and go to class. The bell’s about to ring.”

“Tell me the rest at lunch!” Lizzy requested.

“You know I will!” Sherry promised.