Hey Guys! Lookie! It's a new story for you all to read! Yeah! I'm not sure
how long regular chapters are going to be but they aren't going to be as
long as this one. I stayed up all night to finish this. No kidding. All 12
hours. Sigh and I have school tomorrow. I'm gonna have to sleep as much as
I can today. I'm still working on my other story called Life, Love and
Lizzie. L, L, and Lizzie is my main story at this point but I have been
planning this one for awhile and I was getting annoyed with not starting
it. SO I did! 21 whole pages for ya! Yeah! 7,166 words for ya'll to read!
Yeah! Oh! I'm not quite sure how long I'll be computer-less. (I'm using my
dad's laptop) Mine is still in shipping. It will get here soon though. Oh!
And everyone say Happy Birthday to my mom! Yeah! She's 42! Lol yeah, I'm
going now.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in this story except Andi, Leanne, and Kate's girl and Matt's son. Yup that's it. So sad. Oh! I'd also like to say that if any of you are from Australia and I mess up with how I describe something or junk, I'm sorry. I did live in Australia for 3 years but only in the Melbourne area. I did visit everywhere else mentioned in the story but I might not have seen it well enough or see the inside or something (eg. The Sydney Opera House-though I did see it, I never went inside. And Luna Park-Although I have seen it, it was up for construction when we came to Sydney. Yeah. Just a warning.)
On with the show!
G'day Lizzie!
Day 1: Leaving Hillridge: August 31st (Aussie Time)
Hillridge High at 9:00 AM August 30th (US TIME)
Airport at 10:00 AM August 30th (US TIME)
On Plane at 1:00 PM August 30th (US TIME) 4:00PM August 31st (Aussie TIME)
Land in Auckland, New Zealand at 4:00 PM September 1st (Aussie TIME)
Land in Melbourne at 7:00 PM September 1st (Aussie TIME)
Crown Hotel at 7:30 PM
Find Rooms/Unpack until 8:30 PM
Dinner at 8:30 PM
Bed when done with dinner (before 10:00 PM)
Dear Diary, Hey! You are now my official travel journal. I am in New Zealand right now and I'm extremely tired. Don't ever fly 24 hours on a plane again! Even with this stop in Auckland, it was not a pretty flight. And I still have to ride in another flight to Melbourne from here! Ugh!
Today (or yesterday or the day before that.WHATEVER! I hate time zones.) was a pretty interesting day. Life altering, I guess you could say. But not in a bad way. No no! Not in a bad way at all! In a very good way! It started at the Hillridge International Airport in the waiting area for gate 6.
"Can you believe this? Two international trips in a time span of two years! And I get to go with my two best-friends this time! This is so cool!" My best friend Miranda Sanchez exclaimed. She was dancing around the airport waiting room with a bright yellow packet of paper explaining the trip's schedule.
Our school had organized a month long trip to Australia for all the graduating freshmen. We were going to travel up the east coast, from Melbourne, Victoria to Sydney, New South Wales, to Brisbane, Queensland and then to Cairns, Queensland. Then we were to head back down to Melbourne to a place called Hall's Gap and climb some mountains there and then we'd head home. I couldn't believe my parents had allowed me to go after the whole Rome escapade! And Miranda got to come with Gordo and I this time! This was so gonna rock!
"I can see it now! The three of us on the beach, the three of us in the famous Sydney Opera House, the three of us at the theme parks in Brisbane, the three of us snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and then back to Melbourne to climb a mountain! I can't wait for this trip to start!" Miranda was very excited about the trip. She had a right to be. She didn't get to come to Rome with us because she had to visit her relatives in Mexico. But for some reason, the three of us together the whole time. It disappointed me. I mean, I love Miranda, but I also love my other best- friend, David "Gordo" Gordon. I mean, I really love him. Ever since he went out with that girl, Brooke was her name; I've had these strange feelings for him.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Hello! He's your best-friend! You can't fall in love with him! That's just wrong! But it's not. I've known him all of my life. Literally! He was the first person I saw. We have this, I donno, connection, I guess you could say. It's like ESP or something sometimes. I can read the tiniest little looks he gives. Like when he's hungry, his eyes get just slightly greener. And when he wants to stop talking about something, but doesn't want to make the person talking about the subject angry at him, his left eye will twitch, ever so slightly, once. I think I'm the only one in the universe who can see that. I don't even think he knows he does that. But when you're best-friends with the boy you've known since birth and have such a strong connection with, and whose so cute, and smart, and down-to-earth, and amazing, and sweet, and whose eyes are so amazingly beautiful.what was I saying? Oh yeah! How can you not fall in love with him?
"Hello? Earth to Lizzie? Come in Lizzie." Gordo waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my daze.
"I asked you if you knew much about the tour guide. She's supposed to be originally from America, but she moved to Australia. Dad's job or something."
"Oh. Sorry. I was, uh, so excited I, uh, went of to Lizzie-land. And no, I don't much about the tour guide. All I know is what you told me and that her name is Andi. That's about it." I told him.
"Andi huh? Where do I know that name?" Miranda wondered.
"There's an Andie who just graduated from Middle School this year." I reminded her.
"I remember that. She was your twin!" Gordo laughed at the memory.
"Oh yeah! Andie! You don't think she's our tour guide do you?" Miranda asked suspiciously.
"Nah. She's still in Hillridge. She can't be our tour guide." Gordo, man of logic, stated. Then he turned to his carry-on (a navy blue back-pack I got him for our "anniversary". We decided to celebrate the first time we met. So, on my birthday, under my parent's noses, we had a little party of our own.) and pulled out his ticket. "I got 25 B. What do you guys have?" he asked, referring to our seats.
I pulled out my own ticket (from my baby blue purse Gordo gave me for our "anniversary") and read the number. "Alright! I got 25 A! I don't have to sit next to Claire or Larry or something, and to make it better, I get to spend the flight time with you, Gordo! You are so much better than, I donno, Ethan or something." As soon as I said that, I regretted it.
"Better than Ethan am I? Lizzie McGuire said I was better than Ethan Craft? Liz, are you feeling okay?" Gordo smiled. Good he isn't totally freaked out or something. I studied him awhile longer. He scratched his arm. He was shocked. That was expected. His right eye twitched. Okay so he was worried. Also expected. But what he did next shocked and pleased me at the same time. His left ear moved, just slightly, but it moved. That meant he was extremely pleased or really, really, really, really, really, happy. Whoa. What did that mean? Could he.? Nah, impossible. But maybe.did David Zephyr Gordon like me, Elizabeth Brooke McGuire. I was about to think about the idea when it hit me, Gordo asked me a question, awhile ago I might add.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, you know, it's kinda hard to have an intelligent conversation with the guy. I mean, remember when we did that dance thing with Mr. Diggs in eighth grade? "Ethan Craft will not be joining us today, because he thought he saw a cloud that looked like a donkey and ran head first into a beehive." Hello! Is there a brain in that head of yours?" I asked no one in particular.
Gordo was laughing hard. He sure remembered it. "Nope!" He managed in answer to my question, then continued on with his laughing.
"Well, Lizzie, I'm shocked." Miranda said. "Since when did you get over Ethan Craft?"
I smiled, "About the middle of eighth grade."
"What! You mean you've been lying to me for that long!" Miranda shouted.
"Miranda, calm down. I'll explain on the plane. Hey that rhymes!" I giggled. My giggle soon turned into a chuckle, thanks to Gordo's continuous laughing, and then that chuckle turned into a laugh. Soon, I was laughing just as hard as Gordo, out of breath, pale, and about to pass out.
Miranda shifted her gaze back between the two of us. "You're crazy. But who cares! We're going to Australia!" She laughed along with us and soon we were leaning on each other for support.
"So, Miranda," I wiped a tear from my eyes, "What seat do you have?"
She glanced at her ticket in her hand. "34 H!?! What! I'm supposed to be sitting near you! This is so lame!"
"Hey! Lizzay, Gor-don, Mi-randa! What's up!" Ethan walked up behind us, probably seeing us laughing ourselves crazy and wanting to get in on the joke.
"Hey Ethan. I don't get to sit next to Lizzie and Gordo, that's what's up." Miranda was really upset if she snapped at Ethan Craft.
"Bummer. I got seat G HE." He showed us his ticket.
G HE? "Ethan can I see your ticket?" I asked.
"Anything for a fine lady such as you." Ethan said, handing me his ticket.
I glanced at Gordo quickly. Okay. His left ear moved. No way was he jealous! Hmmm.
I looked back at the ticket. OH! That's it. "Ethan, your ticket's upside- down. Your seat is 34 G." I informed him.
"Hey!" Miranda shot up from the spot on the floor where she was sulking, "You sit next to me!"
"Really! Awesome! This is going to be a totally like-able beginning to the land of the giant bouncin' rabbits!" He smiled.
Giant bouncin' rabbits? Oh, kangaroos, of course. First Rome was the land where they invented spaghetti so Australia MUST be the land of the giant bouncin' rabbits. Why had I liked this guy again? Hmm.don't know. Oh well. Does it matter now? No.
"Seats 21 through 30 now boarding. Seats 21 through 30 now boarding." The voice on the intercom said.
"Well, that's us. Miranda, I need to talk to you later. Here." I wrote a quick note. It said this:
As soon as we pass over Hawaii, go to the back of the plane, where the bathrooms are. I need to talk to you about a certain person. Luv ya! Lizzie
I handed the note to her. "Don't show anyone." I told her, grabbing my back and running to where Gordo was standing in line. I waved back to Miranda when we got into the line.
"So, can you believe you are going to go to the Land Downunder for a full month?" Gordo asked me, a small smile on his face.
"No!" I squealed. "Australia! I'm still shocked! And they told us about the trip at the beginning of the year!"
His smile grew at my excitement. "I know what you mean. I can't wait to get to the Reef though. I heard the trip we're taking offers beginners scuba diving lessons along with snorkeling."
"Really? Are you gonna do it?" I asked.
"Normally, it'd be an automatic no. But this is the Great Barrier Reef! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'll snorkel too, of course, but diving would be really cool. I'm still not positive I'll do it though."
"If you're gonna do it, I'm gonna do it too." I said bravely. "If you're gonna go under the ocean, I'm not gonna let you go down alone." Remember when I said we were best-friends? This comes along with our friendship. I do every new activity that Gordo does and Gordo does every new activity I do. We were inseparable as kids and I don't think that's changed much at all.
"Really? Thanks Liz! Alright, I'll do it! This is going to be totally awesome!" He exclaimed, startling the ticket lady, who was about to take his passport.
"Sorry." I handed her my passport. She glanced at it, then at me, then, handed it back to me and told me to "have a nice flight!".
"I will. I'm sure." I glanced at Gordo's silhouette in the tunnel.
"Liz! Are you coming? Or are you going to abandon me already?" He put his hands on his hips playfully.
"I'd never abandon you David Gordon." I walked up and slipped my arm through his. Whoa! Shivers! "You know where I live."
He laughed, "Gee, nice to know you care."
Oh, do I ever, Gordo. I care more than you know. "Yeah, well," I grinned.
He laughed again, "C'mon McGuire. They're gonna take off without us."
We found our seats pretty easily. They were the first ones in the Economy Plus section. We were right in front of a TV screen. We agreed that I would get the window seat from here to the halfway mark in the flight (or whenever one of us were awake and remembered) and Gordo would get it from there to Auckland. This plane didn't go straight to Melbourne. We had to stop in Auckland, New Zealand first. But that was fine with me! I got to stretch my legs 3 hours earlier.
When we were buckled in and the safety video was on, I started to feel that fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach. I loved take-offs. I'm not sure why. I just do. I like the feeling of me actually in the air, flying, free...maybe that's why I love Gordo. He makes me feel like I'm flying, like I'm free. Free from everything, school, homework, Matt, friendship problems, family crisis stuff, everything! Hmmm.very poetic. Guess that's what love does to you.
"So what are we going to do on the 24 hour long flight across the ocean?" Gordo asked from the aisle seat.
"I donno. What movies are on?" I wondered out-loud. I grabbed the in-flight magazine and flipped to the entertainment section.
"Ugh. Their all bad. Some Chinese movie-" I got cut off.
"Chinese movie? That sounds cool." Gordo said. He had a thing for Chinese movies since he made that movie with Matt and Dad.
"In Chinese." I finished.
"Oh." Gordo sounded slightly disappointed. Yup. He just adjusted his seatbelt. When he adjusts something, it can only mean he's disappointed.
"Some old 1960's movie, and NBC in Flight." I finished.
Gordo let out a low whistle, "These stewardesses don't like us."
"Nope." I sighed and flipped through the magazine in search of the crossword puzzle that's always in these magazines. I landed on a page titled 'Dear Becky'.
I smiled, "Gordo. Look." I showed him the title of the page, "Remember when I was the advice columnist at school? I can't believe I got so freaked out by the whole 'bad advise' thing." I laughed.
"You gave great advice Liz. Still do." Gordo told me.
"I know. You told me. Remember." I pointed out he had told me that in the E- Zine office the day I officially resigned.
"Yeah. I remember." He adjusted his seatbelt again. What was he disappointed about this time? There wasn't anything to be disappointed about, was there?
"I wonder who the last guy was. Confused Guy. Remember him?" I pondered.
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember him. He sent you your last letter." He sounded nervous. Nervous? First he's disappointed, and now he's nervous.about what!?!
"He seemed really in love with his best-friend. You know what, Gordo?" I turned to him, "I would have told him to just tell her, if I hadn't gotten Veruca so beat up."
His head shot up. "You would've told him that. So you didn't really mean what you actually told him?"
"No! No, I meant that too. But he should have followed his heart about how to tell her, and when. But I would have told him tell her."
Gordo leaned back in his seat. "Interesting."
"What? What's so interesting?" I asked, utterly confused.
"Nothing. Nothing." He put his headphones on and seemed as if he were deep in thought. Once again, I'll say it.about what!?! Does he know something I don't know?
"Hmm." I put my headphones on, glanced over at the channel Gordo had it on and turned mine to the same channel.
We sat this way until I looked out the window awhile later and realized we were over Hawaii. That meant I hadn't talked to Gordo in almost 5 hours! And he was sitting right next to me! What was so interesting that he wouldn't talk to me for 5 hours? Oh well, I'll find out when I come back.
I took off my headphones and tapped Gordo on the shoulder. He took his headphones off and turned toward me. "I've got to go to the bathroom." I told him.
He smiled. Oh man, I didn't know it was possible to miss a person's smile until then. "You mean toilet."
I giggled. Toilet was the Australian slang for bathroom. "Yes, Gordo. I have to go to the toilet." He smiled and got out of his seat to let me out. Before, I moved anywhere, I added, "That just feels wrong. Toilet! Nope, wrong." I left Gordo laughing at my insanity.
I headed back for the "toilets" to find Miranda, but I saw her still sitting in her seat, next to Ethan, talking away. I sighed. Continuing on my journey to the "toilet" I passed through the stewardess's area to the other side of the plane. Walking back towards the front of the plane, I found Miranda's seat.
"Miranda. Can I talk to you?" I asked her.
"Sure, Liz. Be right back Ethan." She got up and followed me back to the toilets.(The more I say it, the more it feels right. Freaky.)
"Wassup?" She asked when we were positioned near the emergency exit in the back of the huge 747.
"Look." I told her pointing out the window. "We passed Hawaii."
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I was talking to Ethan and I'm not near a window so." she started to ramble.
"It's fine." I held my hand up to shush her.
"Cool. So who's this 'certain person' you need to tell me about?" She asked. That's Miranda. Always hungry for gossip. She wouldn't tell my personal stuff though. She's my best-friend.
"Okay, the 'certain person' is more like 'certain people'. They are Ethan and Gordo." I turned to see her reaction.
She had her eyebrows raised, "Ethan and Gordo? Yeah, what about 'em."
"Well, I don't like Ethan anymore-"
"Yeah, I know that." She sounded hurt.
"I didn't like lying to you, Miranda, but I couldn't let anyone find out why I didn't like him. So, well, I continued in pretending to like Ethan."
"Why don't you like him?" She asked.
"Because I like some one else." I told her quietly.
"Oh! Who? Wait, what does this have to do with Gor-" A look of realization dawned on her face. "Do you like.? You do don't you?" She was smiling now.
I smiled too, and shook my head no.
"What? So who do you like? If it's not Gordo, then, who?" She was confused now. Really confused now.
My smile remained plastered on my face. "It's Gordo."
"Stop lying to me, Lizzie McGuire! Do you or do you not like Gordo?" she was angry at me. Time to stop.
"I don't like Gordo, Miranda. I love him." I smiled once again.
She was stunned. "You love him." She repeated. "You love him." She frowned. "You love him." She sighed and took out a $10 bill out of her pocket and walked down the aisle toward Kate. Kate had become friends with us in the last year, but she still hung out with her cheerleader friends. She found a balance between being popular and being friends with us. It was cool.
"Miranda! Where are you going?" I tailed her to Kate's seat.
"Here, Kate. You won okay! She said it! She couldn't have waited one more week!" She exclaimed, throwing the bill on Kate's lap.
Wait. They were placing bets on me? I sighed. Only at Hillridge High School.
"Thanks a lot guys. Nice to know you really care." I laughed and headed back to the toilets in the back (See? It feels right now.) I stopped after I took about 5 steps.
"Hey! Miranda? We cool?" I asked, eager to get back and talk to my Gordo again. My Gordo? Hmm.First time I said that. Cool.
"Yeah. Go get him girl!" She laughed and returned to her seat.
I laughed. "I'll talk to you when we land." I walked through the stewardess's area and back to my seat.
Obviously, the stewardess had come by with drinks while I was gone. When Gordo saw me approach, he picked up his can of Dr. Pepper and my can of Pepsi and jumped out of his seat. "My lady," he bowed playfully.
"Why thank you, sir." I said with my best British accent I could muster up.
We laughed. This was better. No more deep thought processes. Just us. Lizzie and Gordo. This was good.
"I got you a Pepsi." He handed me the can and the little plastic cup and set his Dr. Pepper on the pull out tray.
"Thanks." I said, following suit and placing my cup and drink on the tray in front of me.
"What took you so long?" He asked, taking another drink.
"I ran into Miranda while I was back there." Okay so it was partly true. But I still felt bad for lying to the man I love. Sigh. But he didn't know I loved him yet. Right then and there in seat 25 A of the big 747 airplane, I swore on my Pepsi to tell Gordo on this trip. No matter what it took, I'd tell him. Somehow.
"Oh okay. So what do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I donno. You chose." I told him.
He thought about stuff to do for awhile. "Aha! I've got it! We shall learn Australian Slang!"
"Okay, cool." I paused. "With what?"
"With this!" He held out about 30 pages of computer paper. "This is a dictionary of Australian slang I printed off the Internet. Okay, you ready?"
I nodded, smile stretching from ear to ear at our weird-ness.
"Okay, I'll read something in slang and I want you to guess what it means. I start with some easy ones. What is a toilet?" He smiled.
I laughed. "I know! I know! It's a bathroom!"
"Correct!" He looked through the book for another word. "Okay, what is a posty?"
A posty? Hmm.Posty sounds like a post. Post, post, post, aha! A Post Office! But they wouldn't name a Post Office something...hmm.oh! Maybe. "A postal worker?" I guessed.
"Correct!" He smiled.
This continued on until we finished the 30 pages. We laughed at a few and tried to figure out why we didn't call some of the stuff by the Aussie Slang terms. When we finished, the stewardess came to collect our cups. By that time it was at least 1:00 AM in Hillridge. I was still on Hillridge time and I was tired.
"So what do you want to do next?" Gordo asked through a yawn.
I smiled. He was cute when he was tired. In that case, he was cute anytime. "Sleep." I said simply.
"Good plan." And with that, he fell asleep, head hitting the tray in front of him.
"Yeah, good plan." I echoed. Then, I too fell asleep, my head hitting the tray in front of me.
My dream was good. Really good. I remember finding myself in a small room, my mom, Miranda, and Mrs. Gordon all standing behind me smiling. I was smiling too. I couldn't really see what any of us were wearing. We were just kinda, I donno, heads or something. I heard a phone ring. It played the song I sang in Rome, 'This is What Dreams Are Made Of' I picked it up.
"Hello?" I said.
"Are you ready, dear?" came the reply.
"I've been ready for this since the day I was born." I told the voice. It sounded familiar.
I heard a chuckle. "Really? That long?"
I smiled, "Maybe longer."
I could practically hear the voice smile. "We're ready when you are. But that was a long time ago, so you're late."
I laughed, "Hey! Not fair!"
The voice laughed again, "Just get over here honey. I can't wait to see you!"
"I can't wait to see you either." I smiled.
"I love you." Came the voice.
"I love you too." I replied, smiling.
"I love you like Romeo loved Juliet." The voice was smiling again.
"I sure hope not! They die in the end!" This had been said many times before, I don't know how I could tell, I just could.
"But they died together."
"Just like we will." I smiled.
I heard the voice yell "Matt! Give me back my phone!" in the background.
"Liz, I'm sorry to break up all this lovey-dovey stuff.no wait, I'm not. But just get over here NOW!!! I swear, one more minute and we're all gonna die!" I knew that voice. That was my brother.
I laughed, "I'm coming Matt. Don't die! No wait. No one but you can die. You just, you know, go ahead, bite the dust."
"Haha. Very funny. I'm hanging up now Liz." BEEP
I smiled.
"C'mon guys. Matt's about die we're taking so long."
Mom smiled, Miranda rolled her eyes and Mrs. Gordon was crying.
But she wasn't crying because Matt's about to die. No, she's way smarter than that! She was happy. Hmm.I was happy. I was the happiest person on the planet Earth right now.
I got in a car and we drove to a new building. I can't remember exactly what the building looked like, just that it was a building.
My dad was waiting for me outside the doors. I walked up to him.
"Hi." I greeted him.
"Hi." He returned.
And we hugged. It was a weird hug. Dad was sad and happy all at the same time.
"Are you ready for this?" Dad asked when we broke apart.
"Are you kidding me?" We laughed.
I took a deep breath. "Let's go.
Inside the building, I heard music start. Mom and Mrs. Gordon had already gone inside. Now, Miranda, Kate, and two other girls I didn't know entered the building. I could see what they were wearing now. They wore light blue (almost white) long dressed and each held a bouquet of flowers. I realized I had a bouquet too. After they entered, a little girl and a little boy I didn't know went inside next. The little girl had a strange resemblance of Kate while the little boy looked like Matt but with white-blonde hair. I sighed again and took my father's arm. The music changed and we walked into the building. I looked around. I was at a wedding.
My wedding.
I looked up toward the groom and hoped it was who I wanted it to be. He had on a top hat, the shadow covering his eyes. He looked familiar though. This was where I had to leave dad. I turned to him and kissed his cheek.
"I love you." I whispered to him.
"I love you too, baby." He whispered back.
He walked back to his seat and I continued down the aisle. Again staring at the groom, hoping, wishing with all my might that it was the one person I wanted it to be, I stepped up the stairs and smiled at him. I still couldn't see his face. The music stopped soon after that.
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony of Ms. Elizabeth Brooke McGuire and."
'Oh, please be him. Please be him. Please be him. Please be him.' I thought. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.
"Mr. David Zephyr Gordon."
I couldn't help it. I couldn't contain my excitement. So on my wedding day, I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Ye-es!"
Everyone was staring at me. "Lizzie." Gordo said. "Lizzie." I heard again. "LIZZIE!"
And I woke up.
I woke up crying.
"Lizzie, are you okay?" Gordo asked. He had woken me up. It was just a dream.
But I still felt responsible and guilty. Majorly guilty. "I'm so sorry, Gordo!" I cried. I pulled him into a hug and cried into his shoulder.
"Shhh.Liz, its okay. It's okay Liz." Gordo attempted to calm me down.
"I'm so sorry, Gordo! I'm so sorry!" I repeated.
"Liz, it's okay. It was just a dream. It was just a dream." Gordo put up the arm rest that was in between us and started to rock me back and forth.
I stopped apologizing but I continued to cry.
"Lizzie, please stop. I can't stand it when you cry. Please stop. For me?" Gordo asked, still rocking me back and forth.
I stopped my crying. For him. Because I'd do anything for him. Because I didn't just love him. I was in love with him. And he was the love of my life.
And he didn't even know it.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Gordo asked, referring to the dream.
I sniffed, "I ruined your wedding, Gordo. I ruined your wedding!" I told him, a tear drifting down my cheek. I had to stop crying. For Gordo. For Gordo.
"My wedding?" Gordo asked, curious about my dream now.
"Uh *sniff* huh." I told him. We were still rocking back and forth in the seat. I suddenly realized where I was and what I was doing.and how right and good it felt. I felt safe in Gordo's arms. Now I was beginning to wonder what would have happened in the dream.
"Tell me about it." Gordo said.
"Well, it was at this building, I couldn't see what. And Miranda and Kate and two other girls were the bride's maids and mom and dad were there and you mom was there. I didn't see your dad. He was probably in the audience calming your mother or something. And Matt was there and he stole your cell and then there was Kate's daughter and Matt's son and-" He cut me off.
"Where were you?" He asked.
I stiffened. I couldn't tell him that, could I? "I was.there." I told him.
"Well, I know you were there. It wouldn't have been my wedding if you weren't there. Who were you? Were you a bride's maid? Or what?" He asked curiously.
I sighed. I can't lie to him. He's Gordo. My best-friend, crush, love and soul-mate. No way was I lying to him. "I.wazabide." I mumbled.
"You were what?" He asked.
I.was zbide." I mumbled a little louder.
"Liz, I can't hear you." He said.
"I was the bride, okay? I was the bride and you were the groom and we were going to get married and then I ruined it because I yelled something and then you woke me up!" I yelled. Once again, I broke down and cried.
Gordo was, well, shocked to say the least. So I continued my raving.
"And I'm sorry, because you worked so hard to make it perfect, I could tell, and then I just go and ruin all you hard work by yelling one simple word! And I hate myself for it!" I cried harder. Sure, people were probably looking, but I didn't care.
"Shhh.Liz, it was only a dream. It was only a dream. You didn't ruin anything. Nothing, alright. Don't hate yourself. Hate me. I woke you up. Something good could have happened. Something really good." He sighed. "Here, I was going to give this to you later but I guess now is the right time." He handed me a slip of paper. "I'm going to go sit with Ethan. Miranda can come sit with you. When you figure out what this says, come talk to me. Okay?"
I nodded.
"Good. Miranda will be here in a minute. Just hold on okay." He unbuckled and left. I turned on the lamp above me and read the note. This is what it said:
Dear Lizzie,
M OU NISACUYG EDF
Love always,
Your Gordo
What? I sniffed. This makes no sense! I studied the puzzle until Miranda came and sat down next to me.
"Hey girl. Gordo said you had a horrible nightmare. What's wrong?" She asked. She rubbed my back softly.
I repeated the dream to her and then the conversation I had just had with Gordo.
"Wow." She said after I had finished, "This is one eventful plane trip."
I giggled. "He gave me this," I handed her the note, "And said come see me when you figure it out. It makes no sense. I can't figure it out."
"We have to re-arrange the letters." Miranda said.
"That should be easy." I said.
"No. It's not by word. It's the whole phrase. See? There's not a word 'm' and there's not a word 'ou' or 'uo' so it has to be the phrase."
"What!?! We're gonna be here forever!" I cried.
"No we won't. C'mon. We can figure this out." Miranda reassured me.
"Fine. Let's get to work." I said.
"How about we start the phrase with the letter 'I' or 'A'. It's either one of those for the beginning." Miranda stated.
"I think it's 'I'." There's not much he could write that he would make this so hard to figure out." I guessed.
"Alright. Hold on." She grabbed a clean sheet of paper from Gordo's notepad. "Here. Watch this." She started to scribble on the paper. When she finished, it looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __
I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
"What's this?" I asked her.
"Look. Find the symbol for "I". Now put the symbol on the top row and the letter on the bottom row." She said.
"Where did you learn that from?" I asked.
"I did these in Mexico pretty much everyday when I was bored. I had some pretty hard ones sometimes so I made this chart up. It helps. Trust me. So what do you think is next?"
I looked back at the paper. "I am? Is that it?" I asked her.
"Maybe. Let's try." So we did. The paper looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ E ¢ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
I A M __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
That looked right. Now we got the hard part. I sighed. What could we do with the letters O U N S C U Y G E D and F?
"Let's look at the last word. It's only three letters so it shouldn't be that hard." Miranda suggested.
"What could be a three-letter word that describes Gordo?" I wondered out loud.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"I can't even think of any!" I exclaimed with frustration about 20 minutes later.
"I can. I can think of pig, and cow, and bat, and-" I cut Miranda off.
"It has to describe Gordo! Gordo is not a pig or a cow or a bat!" I yelled with frustration.
Half the plane turned to look at me, including Gordo. He was smiling. He was making me go through this much frustration and he was smiling! How dare he! Okay, clam down, Lizzie. This is Gordo. You know. Gordo. Your best- friend, Gordo. Your crush, Gordo. Your love, Gordo Your Soul-Mate, Gordo. Your Gordo. Calm down. What the note says is probably really, really good. That's why he's smiling.
I waved at the people looking and waiting for them to go back to their own business. When they did, Lizzie turned around.
"Guys! I swear I'm going to kill that guy for putting me through so much stress!" I exclaimed as I sat back down in my seat.
"What did you just say?" Miranda asked.
"I said I'm going to kill Gordo?" I answered suspiciously.
"No! What did you say exactly?" She asked.
"I said "Guys! I swear I'm going to ki-" That was it!
"Guy!" We said in unison.
We wrote that down on the paper. It looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ E ¢ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ? ¥ ½
I A M __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ G U Y
What now? It's now one long word.
Miranda wrote the remaining letters on another piece of paper:
O N S C U E D F
"Stare at it." She commanded.
I did. I stared at it for 5 minutes. Then it finally hit me. But no.That was just.I mean, he's.he couldn't be.
"Confused Guy?" I gasped. No way.
"Yeah, I guess that'd work. But what's it mean?" Miranda asked for Miranda did not know the story of Dear Lizzie.
"In eighth grade, I was the advice columnist for the E-Zine.. You know the online magazine Gordo edited?" Miranda nodded. "Well, he forgot to assign me a project, so all that there was left for me was advice columnist. So I tried it." I continued with my story. "And there was one letter left in my inbox. So I'm thinking, this is the one. And I open it and it says 'Dear Lizzie, I think I like my best-friend as more than a friend. What do I do? Signed, Confused Guy.' I told him to follow his heart. It would know what was right."
"Good advice." Miranda commented.
"Thank you. But anyway, the next day, Gordo's finishing the E-Zine issue and I walk in and he practically jumps in front of the computer."
"Really?" Miranda asked, stars in her eyes imagining the story when it actually took place.
"No, he just shut off the screen he was on but, heck he might as well have pulled out Nitro or something."
Miranda giggled. "I can see it."
I laughed. "So he brings up Confused Guy's letter and I say "I hope I didn't let him down." And Gordo's like "You didn't." Totally weird. Well, anyway, I had agreed to walk with Veruca to her next class so the bullies wouldn't beat her up. You know, safety in numbers. When Gordo jumps up and says "Um, Liz, I need to tell you something." Or something like that. So I'm like "yeah." And he stutters and then says I give great advice."
"You do." Miranda put in.
"That's not what he wanted to say though. He did it again when Ronnie dumped me and when we had that murder mystery party thing. Did I tell you about that?" I asked.
"Yup." She answered, still intrigued by my story.
"So I think he was trying to tell me something important. But that's not the point. If he was Confused Guy, he did was to tell me something important and that means he likes me. But I could be completely wrong too." I sighed. I sighed a lot on this plane.
"Do you think this is a coincidence? This is a really big one if it is. I don't think it can be turned into any other word any way you put the letters. I say it's I AM CONFUSED GUY. Now go, go to Gordo. He's waiting." She shooed me away. "Go!" I hugged her and then got up to go see if I got the puzzle right.
"Hey!" I turned back toward Miranda, "Follow your heart. It'll show you what's right." She yelled.
"Thanks!" I called back.
I walked around to the other side of the plane. Walking down the aisle, approaching Gordo's seat, I said a silent prayer, just like the one in my dream. 'Please be him. Please be him. Please be him. Please let Gordo be Confused Guy.
I reached his chair and showed him the paper. "Am I right?" I asked. I held in a breath of air and prayed harder than ever that I was right.
He smiled up at her. "Took 'ya long enough."
I squealed with joy and hugged him so hard, that he had to squeal to get a breath of air. When I pulled back their eyes locked and slowly, eagerly, like some sort of magnetic force was pulling us, we inched closer together, just inches away from what we wanted most. Finally, unable to wait any longer, I closed the 5 cm gap between our lips and finally, after almost 2 years of longing, passion and care, were unleashed in that kiss. I was brought back the memory of holding his arm in mine and I remembered those shivers. These were no shivers. These were lightning bolts, fireworks, name them what you want but there were explosives. And I was kissing my love. My best-friend. My Gordo. And he was kissing me back. And that's all that mattered.
We broke apart for the need of oxygen.
I was speechless. So Gordo talked for me.
"I love you."
"I love you too." I said it! I did it and it feels great! Gordo finally knows all of my secrets.
"I love you like Romeo loved Juliet." Gordo added. I knew where this was going.
"I sure hope not! They died in the end!" Gordo smiled, his come back ready.
"But they died together."
"Just like we will." I told him.
Gordo looked surprised. "You really think so?" he asked.
"Of course I do!" I told him, "Why? Don't you?"
"No! It's just I never thought you'd actually agree with me. Ever. And I'd die alone." He answered sadly.
"You'll never die alone. Because I'll be there with you." I told him.
"Always?" He asked.
"Always." I kissed him once more before the seatbelt sign went on and I had to run to my seat on the other side of the plane. I totally forgot! We're going to Australia! And I get to spend a month with my best friend and my boy-friend. This totally ruled. I was going to love this. I knew it. This was going to make up for all those lost adventures in Rome. Beach, Surfing, Shopping, Ferry Rides, Snorkeling, Scuba Diving with Gordo, riding on all sorts of Roller Coaster Rides. G'day Mate and Welcome to the Land Downunder!
I've got to go now Diary. Gordo's calling me. Amazingly, we got tickets next to each other again. BTW, New Zealand is beautiful! Even just from what I saw from the airport! The Lord of the Rings was filmed here. It is so amazing. Well, I gotta go. The plane may leave without me and then I'll be stuck Gordo-less and Miranda-less for the rest of my life. Bye-Bye
Love from Auckland, New Zealand,
Lizzie
Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in this story except Andi, Leanne, and Kate's girl and Matt's son. Yup that's it. So sad. Oh! I'd also like to say that if any of you are from Australia and I mess up with how I describe something or junk, I'm sorry. I did live in Australia for 3 years but only in the Melbourne area. I did visit everywhere else mentioned in the story but I might not have seen it well enough or see the inside or something (eg. The Sydney Opera House-though I did see it, I never went inside. And Luna Park-Although I have seen it, it was up for construction when we came to Sydney. Yeah. Just a warning.)
On with the show!
G'day Lizzie!
Day 1: Leaving Hillridge: August 31st (Aussie Time)
Hillridge High at 9:00 AM August 30th (US TIME)
Airport at 10:00 AM August 30th (US TIME)
On Plane at 1:00 PM August 30th (US TIME) 4:00PM August 31st (Aussie TIME)
Land in Auckland, New Zealand at 4:00 PM September 1st (Aussie TIME)
Land in Melbourne at 7:00 PM September 1st (Aussie TIME)
Crown Hotel at 7:30 PM
Find Rooms/Unpack until 8:30 PM
Dinner at 8:30 PM
Bed when done with dinner (before 10:00 PM)
Dear Diary, Hey! You are now my official travel journal. I am in New Zealand right now and I'm extremely tired. Don't ever fly 24 hours on a plane again! Even with this stop in Auckland, it was not a pretty flight. And I still have to ride in another flight to Melbourne from here! Ugh!
Today (or yesterday or the day before that.WHATEVER! I hate time zones.) was a pretty interesting day. Life altering, I guess you could say. But not in a bad way. No no! Not in a bad way at all! In a very good way! It started at the Hillridge International Airport in the waiting area for gate 6.
"Can you believe this? Two international trips in a time span of two years! And I get to go with my two best-friends this time! This is so cool!" My best friend Miranda Sanchez exclaimed. She was dancing around the airport waiting room with a bright yellow packet of paper explaining the trip's schedule.
Our school had organized a month long trip to Australia for all the graduating freshmen. We were going to travel up the east coast, from Melbourne, Victoria to Sydney, New South Wales, to Brisbane, Queensland and then to Cairns, Queensland. Then we were to head back down to Melbourne to a place called Hall's Gap and climb some mountains there and then we'd head home. I couldn't believe my parents had allowed me to go after the whole Rome escapade! And Miranda got to come with Gordo and I this time! This was so gonna rock!
"I can see it now! The three of us on the beach, the three of us in the famous Sydney Opera House, the three of us at the theme parks in Brisbane, the three of us snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef and then back to Melbourne to climb a mountain! I can't wait for this trip to start!" Miranda was very excited about the trip. She had a right to be. She didn't get to come to Rome with us because she had to visit her relatives in Mexico. But for some reason, the three of us together the whole time. It disappointed me. I mean, I love Miranda, but I also love my other best- friend, David "Gordo" Gordon. I mean, I really love him. Ever since he went out with that girl, Brooke was her name; I've had these strange feelings for him.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Hello! He's your best-friend! You can't fall in love with him! That's just wrong! But it's not. I've known him all of my life. Literally! He was the first person I saw. We have this, I donno, connection, I guess you could say. It's like ESP or something sometimes. I can read the tiniest little looks he gives. Like when he's hungry, his eyes get just slightly greener. And when he wants to stop talking about something, but doesn't want to make the person talking about the subject angry at him, his left eye will twitch, ever so slightly, once. I think I'm the only one in the universe who can see that. I don't even think he knows he does that. But when you're best-friends with the boy you've known since birth and have such a strong connection with, and whose so cute, and smart, and down-to-earth, and amazing, and sweet, and whose eyes are so amazingly beautiful.what was I saying? Oh yeah! How can you not fall in love with him?
"Hello? Earth to Lizzie? Come in Lizzie." Gordo waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my daze.
"I asked you if you knew much about the tour guide. She's supposed to be originally from America, but she moved to Australia. Dad's job or something."
"Oh. Sorry. I was, uh, so excited I, uh, went of to Lizzie-land. And no, I don't much about the tour guide. All I know is what you told me and that her name is Andi. That's about it." I told him.
"Andi huh? Where do I know that name?" Miranda wondered.
"There's an Andie who just graduated from Middle School this year." I reminded her.
"I remember that. She was your twin!" Gordo laughed at the memory.
"Oh yeah! Andie! You don't think she's our tour guide do you?" Miranda asked suspiciously.
"Nah. She's still in Hillridge. She can't be our tour guide." Gordo, man of logic, stated. Then he turned to his carry-on (a navy blue back-pack I got him for our "anniversary". We decided to celebrate the first time we met. So, on my birthday, under my parent's noses, we had a little party of our own.) and pulled out his ticket. "I got 25 B. What do you guys have?" he asked, referring to our seats.
I pulled out my own ticket (from my baby blue purse Gordo gave me for our "anniversary") and read the number. "Alright! I got 25 A! I don't have to sit next to Claire or Larry or something, and to make it better, I get to spend the flight time with you, Gordo! You are so much better than, I donno, Ethan or something." As soon as I said that, I regretted it.
"Better than Ethan am I? Lizzie McGuire said I was better than Ethan Craft? Liz, are you feeling okay?" Gordo smiled. Good he isn't totally freaked out or something. I studied him awhile longer. He scratched his arm. He was shocked. That was expected. His right eye twitched. Okay so he was worried. Also expected. But what he did next shocked and pleased me at the same time. His left ear moved, just slightly, but it moved. That meant he was extremely pleased or really, really, really, really, really, happy. Whoa. What did that mean? Could he.? Nah, impossible. But maybe.did David Zephyr Gordon like me, Elizabeth Brooke McGuire. I was about to think about the idea when it hit me, Gordo asked me a question, awhile ago I might add.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, you know, it's kinda hard to have an intelligent conversation with the guy. I mean, remember when we did that dance thing with Mr. Diggs in eighth grade? "Ethan Craft will not be joining us today, because he thought he saw a cloud that looked like a donkey and ran head first into a beehive." Hello! Is there a brain in that head of yours?" I asked no one in particular.
Gordo was laughing hard. He sure remembered it. "Nope!" He managed in answer to my question, then continued on with his laughing.
"Well, Lizzie, I'm shocked." Miranda said. "Since when did you get over Ethan Craft?"
I smiled, "About the middle of eighth grade."
"What! You mean you've been lying to me for that long!" Miranda shouted.
"Miranda, calm down. I'll explain on the plane. Hey that rhymes!" I giggled. My giggle soon turned into a chuckle, thanks to Gordo's continuous laughing, and then that chuckle turned into a laugh. Soon, I was laughing just as hard as Gordo, out of breath, pale, and about to pass out.
Miranda shifted her gaze back between the two of us. "You're crazy. But who cares! We're going to Australia!" She laughed along with us and soon we were leaning on each other for support.
"So, Miranda," I wiped a tear from my eyes, "What seat do you have?"
She glanced at her ticket in her hand. "34 H!?! What! I'm supposed to be sitting near you! This is so lame!"
"Hey! Lizzay, Gor-don, Mi-randa! What's up!" Ethan walked up behind us, probably seeing us laughing ourselves crazy and wanting to get in on the joke.
"Hey Ethan. I don't get to sit next to Lizzie and Gordo, that's what's up." Miranda was really upset if she snapped at Ethan Craft.
"Bummer. I got seat G HE." He showed us his ticket.
G HE? "Ethan can I see your ticket?" I asked.
"Anything for a fine lady such as you." Ethan said, handing me his ticket.
I glanced at Gordo quickly. Okay. His left ear moved. No way was he jealous! Hmmm.
I looked back at the ticket. OH! That's it. "Ethan, your ticket's upside- down. Your seat is 34 G." I informed him.
"Hey!" Miranda shot up from the spot on the floor where she was sulking, "You sit next to me!"
"Really! Awesome! This is going to be a totally like-able beginning to the land of the giant bouncin' rabbits!" He smiled.
Giant bouncin' rabbits? Oh, kangaroos, of course. First Rome was the land where they invented spaghetti so Australia MUST be the land of the giant bouncin' rabbits. Why had I liked this guy again? Hmm.don't know. Oh well. Does it matter now? No.
"Seats 21 through 30 now boarding. Seats 21 through 30 now boarding." The voice on the intercom said.
"Well, that's us. Miranda, I need to talk to you later. Here." I wrote a quick note. It said this:
As soon as we pass over Hawaii, go to the back of the plane, where the bathrooms are. I need to talk to you about a certain person. Luv ya! Lizzie
I handed the note to her. "Don't show anyone." I told her, grabbing my back and running to where Gordo was standing in line. I waved back to Miranda when we got into the line.
"So, can you believe you are going to go to the Land Downunder for a full month?" Gordo asked me, a small smile on his face.
"No!" I squealed. "Australia! I'm still shocked! And they told us about the trip at the beginning of the year!"
His smile grew at my excitement. "I know what you mean. I can't wait to get to the Reef though. I heard the trip we're taking offers beginners scuba diving lessons along with snorkeling."
"Really? Are you gonna do it?" I asked.
"Normally, it'd be an automatic no. But this is the Great Barrier Reef! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'll snorkel too, of course, but diving would be really cool. I'm still not positive I'll do it though."
"If you're gonna do it, I'm gonna do it too." I said bravely. "If you're gonna go under the ocean, I'm not gonna let you go down alone." Remember when I said we were best-friends? This comes along with our friendship. I do every new activity that Gordo does and Gordo does every new activity I do. We were inseparable as kids and I don't think that's changed much at all.
"Really? Thanks Liz! Alright, I'll do it! This is going to be totally awesome!" He exclaimed, startling the ticket lady, who was about to take his passport.
"Sorry." I handed her my passport. She glanced at it, then at me, then, handed it back to me and told me to "have a nice flight!".
"I will. I'm sure." I glanced at Gordo's silhouette in the tunnel.
"Liz! Are you coming? Or are you going to abandon me already?" He put his hands on his hips playfully.
"I'd never abandon you David Gordon." I walked up and slipped my arm through his. Whoa! Shivers! "You know where I live."
He laughed, "Gee, nice to know you care."
Oh, do I ever, Gordo. I care more than you know. "Yeah, well," I grinned.
He laughed again, "C'mon McGuire. They're gonna take off without us."
We found our seats pretty easily. They were the first ones in the Economy Plus section. We were right in front of a TV screen. We agreed that I would get the window seat from here to the halfway mark in the flight (or whenever one of us were awake and remembered) and Gordo would get it from there to Auckland. This plane didn't go straight to Melbourne. We had to stop in Auckland, New Zealand first. But that was fine with me! I got to stretch my legs 3 hours earlier.
When we were buckled in and the safety video was on, I started to feel that fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach. I loved take-offs. I'm not sure why. I just do. I like the feeling of me actually in the air, flying, free...maybe that's why I love Gordo. He makes me feel like I'm flying, like I'm free. Free from everything, school, homework, Matt, friendship problems, family crisis stuff, everything! Hmmm.very poetic. Guess that's what love does to you.
"So what are we going to do on the 24 hour long flight across the ocean?" Gordo asked from the aisle seat.
"I donno. What movies are on?" I wondered out-loud. I grabbed the in-flight magazine and flipped to the entertainment section.
"Ugh. Their all bad. Some Chinese movie-" I got cut off.
"Chinese movie? That sounds cool." Gordo said. He had a thing for Chinese movies since he made that movie with Matt and Dad.
"In Chinese." I finished.
"Oh." Gordo sounded slightly disappointed. Yup. He just adjusted his seatbelt. When he adjusts something, it can only mean he's disappointed.
"Some old 1960's movie, and NBC in Flight." I finished.
Gordo let out a low whistle, "These stewardesses don't like us."
"Nope." I sighed and flipped through the magazine in search of the crossword puzzle that's always in these magazines. I landed on a page titled 'Dear Becky'.
I smiled, "Gordo. Look." I showed him the title of the page, "Remember when I was the advice columnist at school? I can't believe I got so freaked out by the whole 'bad advise' thing." I laughed.
"You gave great advice Liz. Still do." Gordo told me.
"I know. You told me. Remember." I pointed out he had told me that in the E- Zine office the day I officially resigned.
"Yeah. I remember." He adjusted his seatbelt again. What was he disappointed about this time? There wasn't anything to be disappointed about, was there?
"I wonder who the last guy was. Confused Guy. Remember him?" I pondered.
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember him. He sent you your last letter." He sounded nervous. Nervous? First he's disappointed, and now he's nervous.about what!?!
"He seemed really in love with his best-friend. You know what, Gordo?" I turned to him, "I would have told him to just tell her, if I hadn't gotten Veruca so beat up."
His head shot up. "You would've told him that. So you didn't really mean what you actually told him?"
"No! No, I meant that too. But he should have followed his heart about how to tell her, and when. But I would have told him tell her."
Gordo leaned back in his seat. "Interesting."
"What? What's so interesting?" I asked, utterly confused.
"Nothing. Nothing." He put his headphones on and seemed as if he were deep in thought. Once again, I'll say it.about what!?! Does he know something I don't know?
"Hmm." I put my headphones on, glanced over at the channel Gordo had it on and turned mine to the same channel.
We sat this way until I looked out the window awhile later and realized we were over Hawaii. That meant I hadn't talked to Gordo in almost 5 hours! And he was sitting right next to me! What was so interesting that he wouldn't talk to me for 5 hours? Oh well, I'll find out when I come back.
I took off my headphones and tapped Gordo on the shoulder. He took his headphones off and turned toward me. "I've got to go to the bathroom." I told him.
He smiled. Oh man, I didn't know it was possible to miss a person's smile until then. "You mean toilet."
I giggled. Toilet was the Australian slang for bathroom. "Yes, Gordo. I have to go to the toilet." He smiled and got out of his seat to let me out. Before, I moved anywhere, I added, "That just feels wrong. Toilet! Nope, wrong." I left Gordo laughing at my insanity.
I headed back for the "toilets" to find Miranda, but I saw her still sitting in her seat, next to Ethan, talking away. I sighed. Continuing on my journey to the "toilet" I passed through the stewardess's area to the other side of the plane. Walking back towards the front of the plane, I found Miranda's seat.
"Miranda. Can I talk to you?" I asked her.
"Sure, Liz. Be right back Ethan." She got up and followed me back to the toilets.(The more I say it, the more it feels right. Freaky.)
"Wassup?" She asked when we were positioned near the emergency exit in the back of the huge 747.
"Look." I told her pointing out the window. "We passed Hawaii."
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I was talking to Ethan and I'm not near a window so." she started to ramble.
"It's fine." I held my hand up to shush her.
"Cool. So who's this 'certain person' you need to tell me about?" She asked. That's Miranda. Always hungry for gossip. She wouldn't tell my personal stuff though. She's my best-friend.
"Okay, the 'certain person' is more like 'certain people'. They are Ethan and Gordo." I turned to see her reaction.
She had her eyebrows raised, "Ethan and Gordo? Yeah, what about 'em."
"Well, I don't like Ethan anymore-"
"Yeah, I know that." She sounded hurt.
"I didn't like lying to you, Miranda, but I couldn't let anyone find out why I didn't like him. So, well, I continued in pretending to like Ethan."
"Why don't you like him?" She asked.
"Because I like some one else." I told her quietly.
"Oh! Who? Wait, what does this have to do with Gor-" A look of realization dawned on her face. "Do you like.? You do don't you?" She was smiling now.
I smiled too, and shook my head no.
"What? So who do you like? If it's not Gordo, then, who?" She was confused now. Really confused now.
My smile remained plastered on my face. "It's Gordo."
"Stop lying to me, Lizzie McGuire! Do you or do you not like Gordo?" she was angry at me. Time to stop.
"I don't like Gordo, Miranda. I love him." I smiled once again.
She was stunned. "You love him." She repeated. "You love him." She frowned. "You love him." She sighed and took out a $10 bill out of her pocket and walked down the aisle toward Kate. Kate had become friends with us in the last year, but she still hung out with her cheerleader friends. She found a balance between being popular and being friends with us. It was cool.
"Miranda! Where are you going?" I tailed her to Kate's seat.
"Here, Kate. You won okay! She said it! She couldn't have waited one more week!" She exclaimed, throwing the bill on Kate's lap.
Wait. They were placing bets on me? I sighed. Only at Hillridge High School.
"Thanks a lot guys. Nice to know you really care." I laughed and headed back to the toilets in the back (See? It feels right now.) I stopped after I took about 5 steps.
"Hey! Miranda? We cool?" I asked, eager to get back and talk to my Gordo again. My Gordo? Hmm.First time I said that. Cool.
"Yeah. Go get him girl!" She laughed and returned to her seat.
I laughed. "I'll talk to you when we land." I walked through the stewardess's area and back to my seat.
Obviously, the stewardess had come by with drinks while I was gone. When Gordo saw me approach, he picked up his can of Dr. Pepper and my can of Pepsi and jumped out of his seat. "My lady," he bowed playfully.
"Why thank you, sir." I said with my best British accent I could muster up.
We laughed. This was better. No more deep thought processes. Just us. Lizzie and Gordo. This was good.
"I got you a Pepsi." He handed me the can and the little plastic cup and set his Dr. Pepper on the pull out tray.
"Thanks." I said, following suit and placing my cup and drink on the tray in front of me.
"What took you so long?" He asked, taking another drink.
"I ran into Miranda while I was back there." Okay so it was partly true. But I still felt bad for lying to the man I love. Sigh. But he didn't know I loved him yet. Right then and there in seat 25 A of the big 747 airplane, I swore on my Pepsi to tell Gordo on this trip. No matter what it took, I'd tell him. Somehow.
"Oh okay. So what do you wanna do?" He asked.
"I donno. You chose." I told him.
He thought about stuff to do for awhile. "Aha! I've got it! We shall learn Australian Slang!"
"Okay, cool." I paused. "With what?"
"With this!" He held out about 30 pages of computer paper. "This is a dictionary of Australian slang I printed off the Internet. Okay, you ready?"
I nodded, smile stretching from ear to ear at our weird-ness.
"Okay, I'll read something in slang and I want you to guess what it means. I start with some easy ones. What is a toilet?" He smiled.
I laughed. "I know! I know! It's a bathroom!"
"Correct!" He looked through the book for another word. "Okay, what is a posty?"
A posty? Hmm.Posty sounds like a post. Post, post, post, aha! A Post Office! But they wouldn't name a Post Office something...hmm.oh! Maybe. "A postal worker?" I guessed.
"Correct!" He smiled.
This continued on until we finished the 30 pages. We laughed at a few and tried to figure out why we didn't call some of the stuff by the Aussie Slang terms. When we finished, the stewardess came to collect our cups. By that time it was at least 1:00 AM in Hillridge. I was still on Hillridge time and I was tired.
"So what do you want to do next?" Gordo asked through a yawn.
I smiled. He was cute when he was tired. In that case, he was cute anytime. "Sleep." I said simply.
"Good plan." And with that, he fell asleep, head hitting the tray in front of him.
"Yeah, good plan." I echoed. Then, I too fell asleep, my head hitting the tray in front of me.
My dream was good. Really good. I remember finding myself in a small room, my mom, Miranda, and Mrs. Gordon all standing behind me smiling. I was smiling too. I couldn't really see what any of us were wearing. We were just kinda, I donno, heads or something. I heard a phone ring. It played the song I sang in Rome, 'This is What Dreams Are Made Of' I picked it up.
"Hello?" I said.
"Are you ready, dear?" came the reply.
"I've been ready for this since the day I was born." I told the voice. It sounded familiar.
I heard a chuckle. "Really? That long?"
I smiled, "Maybe longer."
I could practically hear the voice smile. "We're ready when you are. But that was a long time ago, so you're late."
I laughed, "Hey! Not fair!"
The voice laughed again, "Just get over here honey. I can't wait to see you!"
"I can't wait to see you either." I smiled.
"I love you." Came the voice.
"I love you too." I replied, smiling.
"I love you like Romeo loved Juliet." The voice was smiling again.
"I sure hope not! They die in the end!" This had been said many times before, I don't know how I could tell, I just could.
"But they died together."
"Just like we will." I smiled.
I heard the voice yell "Matt! Give me back my phone!" in the background.
"Liz, I'm sorry to break up all this lovey-dovey stuff.no wait, I'm not. But just get over here NOW!!! I swear, one more minute and we're all gonna die!" I knew that voice. That was my brother.
I laughed, "I'm coming Matt. Don't die! No wait. No one but you can die. You just, you know, go ahead, bite the dust."
"Haha. Very funny. I'm hanging up now Liz." BEEP
I smiled.
"C'mon guys. Matt's about die we're taking so long."
Mom smiled, Miranda rolled her eyes and Mrs. Gordon was crying.
But she wasn't crying because Matt's about to die. No, she's way smarter than that! She was happy. Hmm.I was happy. I was the happiest person on the planet Earth right now.
I got in a car and we drove to a new building. I can't remember exactly what the building looked like, just that it was a building.
My dad was waiting for me outside the doors. I walked up to him.
"Hi." I greeted him.
"Hi." He returned.
And we hugged. It was a weird hug. Dad was sad and happy all at the same time.
"Are you ready for this?" Dad asked when we broke apart.
"Are you kidding me?" We laughed.
I took a deep breath. "Let's go.
Inside the building, I heard music start. Mom and Mrs. Gordon had already gone inside. Now, Miranda, Kate, and two other girls I didn't know entered the building. I could see what they were wearing now. They wore light blue (almost white) long dressed and each held a bouquet of flowers. I realized I had a bouquet too. After they entered, a little girl and a little boy I didn't know went inside next. The little girl had a strange resemblance of Kate while the little boy looked like Matt but with white-blonde hair. I sighed again and took my father's arm. The music changed and we walked into the building. I looked around. I was at a wedding.
My wedding.
I looked up toward the groom and hoped it was who I wanted it to be. He had on a top hat, the shadow covering his eyes. He looked familiar though. This was where I had to leave dad. I turned to him and kissed his cheek.
"I love you." I whispered to him.
"I love you too, baby." He whispered back.
He walked back to his seat and I continued down the aisle. Again staring at the groom, hoping, wishing with all my might that it was the one person I wanted it to be, I stepped up the stairs and smiled at him. I still couldn't see his face. The music stopped soon after that.
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the holy matrimony of Ms. Elizabeth Brooke McGuire and."
'Oh, please be him. Please be him. Please be him. Please be him.' I thought. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.
"Mr. David Zephyr Gordon."
I couldn't help it. I couldn't contain my excitement. So on my wedding day, I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Ye-es!"
Everyone was staring at me. "Lizzie." Gordo said. "Lizzie." I heard again. "LIZZIE!"
And I woke up.
I woke up crying.
"Lizzie, are you okay?" Gordo asked. He had woken me up. It was just a dream.
But I still felt responsible and guilty. Majorly guilty. "I'm so sorry, Gordo!" I cried. I pulled him into a hug and cried into his shoulder.
"Shhh.Liz, its okay. It's okay Liz." Gordo attempted to calm me down.
"I'm so sorry, Gordo! I'm so sorry!" I repeated.
"Liz, it's okay. It was just a dream. It was just a dream." Gordo put up the arm rest that was in between us and started to rock me back and forth.
I stopped apologizing but I continued to cry.
"Lizzie, please stop. I can't stand it when you cry. Please stop. For me?" Gordo asked, still rocking me back and forth.
I stopped my crying. For him. Because I'd do anything for him. Because I didn't just love him. I was in love with him. And he was the love of my life.
And he didn't even know it.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" Gordo asked, referring to the dream.
I sniffed, "I ruined your wedding, Gordo. I ruined your wedding!" I told him, a tear drifting down my cheek. I had to stop crying. For Gordo. For Gordo.
"My wedding?" Gordo asked, curious about my dream now.
"Uh *sniff* huh." I told him. We were still rocking back and forth in the seat. I suddenly realized where I was and what I was doing.and how right and good it felt. I felt safe in Gordo's arms. Now I was beginning to wonder what would have happened in the dream.
"Tell me about it." Gordo said.
"Well, it was at this building, I couldn't see what. And Miranda and Kate and two other girls were the bride's maids and mom and dad were there and you mom was there. I didn't see your dad. He was probably in the audience calming your mother or something. And Matt was there and he stole your cell and then there was Kate's daughter and Matt's son and-" He cut me off.
"Where were you?" He asked.
I stiffened. I couldn't tell him that, could I? "I was.there." I told him.
"Well, I know you were there. It wouldn't have been my wedding if you weren't there. Who were you? Were you a bride's maid? Or what?" He asked curiously.
I sighed. I can't lie to him. He's Gordo. My best-friend, crush, love and soul-mate. No way was I lying to him. "I.wazabide." I mumbled.
"You were what?" He asked.
I.was zbide." I mumbled a little louder.
"Liz, I can't hear you." He said.
"I was the bride, okay? I was the bride and you were the groom and we were going to get married and then I ruined it because I yelled something and then you woke me up!" I yelled. Once again, I broke down and cried.
Gordo was, well, shocked to say the least. So I continued my raving.
"And I'm sorry, because you worked so hard to make it perfect, I could tell, and then I just go and ruin all you hard work by yelling one simple word! And I hate myself for it!" I cried harder. Sure, people were probably looking, but I didn't care.
"Shhh.Liz, it was only a dream. It was only a dream. You didn't ruin anything. Nothing, alright. Don't hate yourself. Hate me. I woke you up. Something good could have happened. Something really good." He sighed. "Here, I was going to give this to you later but I guess now is the right time." He handed me a slip of paper. "I'm going to go sit with Ethan. Miranda can come sit with you. When you figure out what this says, come talk to me. Okay?"
I nodded.
"Good. Miranda will be here in a minute. Just hold on okay." He unbuckled and left. I turned on the lamp above me and read the note. This is what it said:
Dear Lizzie,
M OU NISACUYG EDF
Love always,
Your Gordo
What? I sniffed. This makes no sense! I studied the puzzle until Miranda came and sat down next to me.
"Hey girl. Gordo said you had a horrible nightmare. What's wrong?" She asked. She rubbed my back softly.
I repeated the dream to her and then the conversation I had just had with Gordo.
"Wow." She said after I had finished, "This is one eventful plane trip."
I giggled. "He gave me this," I handed her the note, "And said come see me when you figure it out. It makes no sense. I can't figure it out."
"We have to re-arrange the letters." Miranda said.
"That should be easy." I said.
"No. It's not by word. It's the whole phrase. See? There's not a word 'm' and there's not a word 'ou' or 'uo' so it has to be the phrase."
"What!?! We're gonna be here forever!" I cried.
"No we won't. C'mon. We can figure this out." Miranda reassured me.
"Fine. Let's get to work." I said.
"How about we start the phrase with the letter 'I' or 'A'. It's either one of those for the beginning." Miranda stated.
"I think it's 'I'." There's not much he could write that he would make this so hard to figure out." I guessed.
"Alright. Hold on." She grabbed a clean sheet of paper from Gordo's notepad. "Here. Watch this." She started to scribble on the paper. When she finished, it looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __
I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
"What's this?" I asked her.
"Look. Find the symbol for "I". Now put the symbol on the top row and the letter on the bottom row." She said.
"Where did you learn that from?" I asked.
"I did these in Mexico pretty much everyday when I was bored. I had some pretty hard ones sometimes so I made this chart up. It helps. Trust me. So what do you think is next?"
I looked back at the paper. "I am? Is that it?" I asked her.
"Maybe. Let's try." So we did. The paper looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ E ¢ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
I A M __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__
That looked right. Now we got the hard part. I sighed. What could we do with the letters O U N S C U Y G E D and F?
"Let's look at the last word. It's only three letters so it shouldn't be that hard." Miranda suggested.
"What could be a three-letter word that describes Gordo?" I wondered out loud.
We sat in silence for a moment.
"I can't even think of any!" I exclaimed with frustration about 20 minutes later.
"I can. I can think of pig, and cow, and bat, and-" I cut Miranda off.
"It has to describe Gordo! Gordo is not a pig or a cow or a bat!" I yelled with frustration.
Half the plane turned to look at me, including Gordo. He was smiling. He was making me go through this much frustration and he was smiling! How dare he! Okay, clam down, Lizzie. This is Gordo. You know. Gordo. Your best- friend, Gordo. Your crush, Gordo. Your love, Gordo Your Soul-Mate, Gordo. Your Gordo. Calm down. What the note says is probably really, really good. That's why he's smiling.
I waved at the people looking and waiting for them to go back to their own business. When they did, Lizzie turned around.
"Guys! I swear I'm going to kill that guy for putting me through so much stress!" I exclaimed as I sat back down in my seat.
"What did you just say?" Miranda asked.
"I said I'm going to kill Gordo?" I answered suspiciously.
"No! What did you say exactly?" She asked.
"I said "Guys! I swear I'm going to ki-" That was it!
"Guy!" We said in unison.
We wrote that down on the paper. It looked like this:
M O U N I S A C U Y G E D F
¢ £ ¥ ¦ § © E ¶ ¼ ½ ? ¾ ? ?
§ E ¢ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ ? ¥ ½
I A M __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ G U Y
What now? It's now one long word.
Miranda wrote the remaining letters on another piece of paper:
O N S C U E D F
"Stare at it." She commanded.
I did. I stared at it for 5 minutes. Then it finally hit me. But no.That was just.I mean, he's.he couldn't be.
"Confused Guy?" I gasped. No way.
"Yeah, I guess that'd work. But what's it mean?" Miranda asked for Miranda did not know the story of Dear Lizzie.
"In eighth grade, I was the advice columnist for the E-Zine.. You know the online magazine Gordo edited?" Miranda nodded. "Well, he forgot to assign me a project, so all that there was left for me was advice columnist. So I tried it." I continued with my story. "And there was one letter left in my inbox. So I'm thinking, this is the one. And I open it and it says 'Dear Lizzie, I think I like my best-friend as more than a friend. What do I do? Signed, Confused Guy.' I told him to follow his heart. It would know what was right."
"Good advice." Miranda commented.
"Thank you. But anyway, the next day, Gordo's finishing the E-Zine issue and I walk in and he practically jumps in front of the computer."
"Really?" Miranda asked, stars in her eyes imagining the story when it actually took place.
"No, he just shut off the screen he was on but, heck he might as well have pulled out Nitro or something."
Miranda giggled. "I can see it."
I laughed. "So he brings up Confused Guy's letter and I say "I hope I didn't let him down." And Gordo's like "You didn't." Totally weird. Well, anyway, I had agreed to walk with Veruca to her next class so the bullies wouldn't beat her up. You know, safety in numbers. When Gordo jumps up and says "Um, Liz, I need to tell you something." Or something like that. So I'm like "yeah." And he stutters and then says I give great advice."
"You do." Miranda put in.
"That's not what he wanted to say though. He did it again when Ronnie dumped me and when we had that murder mystery party thing. Did I tell you about that?" I asked.
"Yup." She answered, still intrigued by my story.
"So I think he was trying to tell me something important. But that's not the point. If he was Confused Guy, he did was to tell me something important and that means he likes me. But I could be completely wrong too." I sighed. I sighed a lot on this plane.
"Do you think this is a coincidence? This is a really big one if it is. I don't think it can be turned into any other word any way you put the letters. I say it's I AM CONFUSED GUY. Now go, go to Gordo. He's waiting." She shooed me away. "Go!" I hugged her and then got up to go see if I got the puzzle right.
"Hey!" I turned back toward Miranda, "Follow your heart. It'll show you what's right." She yelled.
"Thanks!" I called back.
I walked around to the other side of the plane. Walking down the aisle, approaching Gordo's seat, I said a silent prayer, just like the one in my dream. 'Please be him. Please be him. Please be him. Please let Gordo be Confused Guy.
I reached his chair and showed him the paper. "Am I right?" I asked. I held in a breath of air and prayed harder than ever that I was right.
He smiled up at her. "Took 'ya long enough."
I squealed with joy and hugged him so hard, that he had to squeal to get a breath of air. When I pulled back their eyes locked and slowly, eagerly, like some sort of magnetic force was pulling us, we inched closer together, just inches away from what we wanted most. Finally, unable to wait any longer, I closed the 5 cm gap between our lips and finally, after almost 2 years of longing, passion and care, were unleashed in that kiss. I was brought back the memory of holding his arm in mine and I remembered those shivers. These were no shivers. These were lightning bolts, fireworks, name them what you want but there were explosives. And I was kissing my love. My best-friend. My Gordo. And he was kissing me back. And that's all that mattered.
We broke apart for the need of oxygen.
I was speechless. So Gordo talked for me.
"I love you."
"I love you too." I said it! I did it and it feels great! Gordo finally knows all of my secrets.
"I love you like Romeo loved Juliet." Gordo added. I knew where this was going.
"I sure hope not! They died in the end!" Gordo smiled, his come back ready.
"But they died together."
"Just like we will." I told him.
Gordo looked surprised. "You really think so?" he asked.
"Of course I do!" I told him, "Why? Don't you?"
"No! It's just I never thought you'd actually agree with me. Ever. And I'd die alone." He answered sadly.
"You'll never die alone. Because I'll be there with you." I told him.
"Always?" He asked.
"Always." I kissed him once more before the seatbelt sign went on and I had to run to my seat on the other side of the plane. I totally forgot! We're going to Australia! And I get to spend a month with my best friend and my boy-friend. This totally ruled. I was going to love this. I knew it. This was going to make up for all those lost adventures in Rome. Beach, Surfing, Shopping, Ferry Rides, Snorkeling, Scuba Diving with Gordo, riding on all sorts of Roller Coaster Rides. G'day Mate and Welcome to the Land Downunder!
I've got to go now Diary. Gordo's calling me. Amazingly, we got tickets next to each other again. BTW, New Zealand is beautiful! Even just from what I saw from the airport! The Lord of the Rings was filmed here. It is so amazing. Well, I gotta go. The plane may leave without me and then I'll be stuck Gordo-less and Miranda-less for the rest of my life. Bye-Bye
Love from Auckland, New Zealand,
Lizzie