: - watty's shortlist 2022 - :
{riff ff}
Elizabeth Russell seems to have everything but the one thing she's always wanted comes with a different kind of price.
Riff thinks that he has everything he's ever wanted when it comes to the Jets but an unf...
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// - chapter nine - \\ "i won't let you."
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ALLEY BETWEEN WEST 64th AND 65th STREET SUNDAY AFTERNOON
A few weeks had passed and New York was becoming more of a home than Elizabeth ever thought possible. It was hard to lie to her parents and sneak out at odd hours of the night but she had never been happier. Every week she attended the dance at the gym, spending hours dancing with Riff and enjoying the music from the band then afterwards they would sneak back into her room and spend time alone together; learning more about each other than they ever thought possible. The Jets had welcomed the new girl with open arms, visiting her at work and making her laugh with their antics that Valentina seemed to hate.
Her parents knew that something had changed, they hardly ever saw their daughter anymore but they weren't sure what to do. With their eldest, she had always followed the rules and had never tried to move from the path they were making for her but Elizabeth was different; she had her own voice and she was going to use it. They were just concerned what she would get herself into. Moving to New York wasn't supposed to be a forever move, it was just until the work on the new buildings began because Richard Russell had to oversee the construction plans; they didn't want their daughter growing up alongside criminals and that was their biggest worry as she explored the city every day. They were scared of losing her and wanted her as far away from this place as possible.
Little did they know that as they were sitting down to dinner, believing that she was working an evening shift and helped Valentina close the store, Elizabeth was actually walking down the street with Riff. Their hands linked together as they chatted about everything and anything, mostly about their friends and the last dance that they had attended. They were used to lying about their whereabouts, knowing that things wouldn't go well if her parents found out about them; their dates would usually be in the same sorts of places where the Jets were known and therefore, no one would bother them. Although, Elizabeth had convinced him to attend the movie theatre once or twice, forcing him to buy a ticket rather than sneak in through the back door.
"What are we doing out here?" She stopped walking as they reached a large gate which was chained up but left enough space to squeeze through, beyond the gate was a series of apartment buildings that had been evacuated and left for weeks. "Isn't this place shut down?"
Riff let go of her hand and slipped through the gap in the gate, waiting for her to join him. "Not yet, no construction work for another few months. Until then, it's all ours."
This particular space was where many of the Jets had lived and when the state shut the place down, they were forced to relocate to other buildings that were just as decimated and were bound to be closed sooner or later. Riff hadn't lived in this one, he was lucky that his building was still standing so he and Tony had somewhere to live but he knew the area, this was part of the Jets' turf and he wanted to show Elizabeth. She was hesitant to follow him, the building looked creepy as it was abandoned and she didn't want to mess her dress but she also didn't want to miss the chance to spend some alone time with Riff and so, she followed him into the building.
