Chapter 7

I woke up early the next morning and got dressed as fast as I could. I wasn't too happy with today, but I was ready for it. Today was the day David was leaving to finish the summer tour with the rest of the idols. I pulled out a box from under my bed and examined it to make sure it wasn't damaged at all. It was a little present I had for David, something for him to remember me by. When I was done, I slid the box back under my bed. My door opened and my mom stood there looking a little confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked half asleep.

"David is leaving for his plane. I need to go with them to say goodbye." I told her.

"Liz, don't you think that you are spending a little too much time with David?" she asked.

I sat down on my bed and slipped my shoes on and thought about what she said. How much time was I spending with David? I didn't know how to answer the question luckily, my phone rang. I jumped up and picked it up off the floor. David had sent me a text telling me that they were ready and I could come over when I was ready. I turned the phone to my mom and showed her the text message.

"See mom? He wants me to come." I told her.

She looked at me for a second and lightened up. Either the text or my face showed her that it was okay. She smiled and walked over to my bed and sat next to me.

"Listen Liz," she said still half asleep. "I'm just wondering if you go with them, it might be harder for you to say goodbye."

"Don't worry mom, David leaving won't hurt me that bad." I told her.

She gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head, then looked back at me.

"When you guys are on your way home, could you ask Mrs. Archuleta or whoever is going to drive to bring you to Nana's?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Because we are going to go over there anyway." She said.

"Okay. I'll ask them." I told her.

I stood up and walked to my door. I turned around to see if my mom was going to go back into her room, but she was already wrapped up in my throw blanket and laying on my bed. I smiled, shut the door, and walked out. Before I made it to the steps, I realized I forgot the present I wanted to give David. I put my stuff down and walked back in. Carefully, without waking my mom up, I dug under my bed for the present.

"What are you doing?" I heard my mom say.

"I have a present for David under here." I told her.

I found the present, and exited on the other side of the bed. I said goodbye again to my mom and walked back out of my room, shutting my door behind me and walked out side over to David's house. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. When the door opened, I was greeted by David's brother.

"Good morning Daniel." I said.

"Good morning Liz. You know David is leaving right?" He asked me a little confused.

"I know. He wanted me to come." I told him.

"Alright then, come in." He said opening the screen door for me.

I thanked him and walked inside. I stood in the living room until he told me I could sit down. I talked to Daniel until everyone else was in the kitchen. David was the last one to come downstairs and into the kitchen. I greeted him before he could step foot on the kitchen floor. He looked at me with half a smile on his face. I knew exactly why he didn't look as happy as normal. It was always hard for him to leave. I knew that having me around wasn't going to help him leave, just make it worse. He must have known what I was thinking and shook his head.

"Is everyone ready?" Jeff yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Yes." we all yelled.

"Hi Liz," Jeff yelled down to me.

"Hi Jeff," I yelled back.

I looked back at David, who immediately changed the look on his face, and looked back at me. The next face he gave me was very different then the last two faces he had given me. I watched him to see what was so important and special he needed to show me. He walked over to the kitchen table, picked up his car keys, and smiled at me. I smiled back to show him that I understood what he meant.

"Hey Mom?" David shouted.

"What David?" she yelled back.

"Me and Liz are going to get a head start okay?"

"How?" she asked.

"My car." He yelled back.

"How are you going to get it back here?"

"Claudia." He said hopeful.

Claudia looked over to David with a puzzled look on her face, and then shook her head. David looked back at her without any kind of smile or anything, he just looked at her. I knew what he was trying to do. David had those eyes where you look into them and it's all over. Claudia leaned forwards, like she was going to fall, but caught herself before she did.

"Oh okay." She said a little annoyed.

"David? Did you use the look again?" I heard Lupe ask.

"No mom." He said real innocent.

I stood there by the front door trying not to laugh. I saw David's head turn to look at me and I quickly looked at the floor. I wasn't going to be pulled in by his eyes again.

"David, remember your plane leaves at 1:30pm." Lupe said.

"I know mom, I'll be there by noon okay?"

"Yeah, as long as you make it in time."

"Don't worry mom, I'll be there." he told her.

He took his bags from the bottom of the steps and walked out. I grabbed the other suitcase and duffel bag, and followed him. When we reached outside, he unlocked the car, and opened the trunk. He put his bags in and turned back around. He stopped when he saw me with the other two bags.

"How many times do we have to tell you that you are a guest and don't need to carry my stuff?" he asked me.

"Until I decide not to listen to you." I laughed.

He laughed back and took the bags from me.

"Well, thank you." he said.

"Welcome!" I said smiling at him.

When the bags were in the car, he shut the trunk and turned to me. He smiled at me, showing his wonderful teeth. His teeth were perfect! Always so white and sparkly, no wonder his dentist loved him. I could feel my knees getting weak. I sat on the bumper of his SUV, I could hear him chuckle as I looked up. I smiled back and stood up.

"Come on Liz, we should get going." he told me with the smile still across his face.

I nodded, unable to speak. I stood up and walked over to the passenger side door. Before I could open the door, he beat me to it. David was always so worried about who opened my door between the two of us. I really never cared who opened the door, but knowing that he always made sure that he opened the door for me made it better.

"Why, thank you David." I said in a formal accent.

"Your very welcome my love." he smiled.

I could feel my heart skip a beat when he said that. I sat in my seat and he shut the door. I could feel my face turn red and I looked at the floor. When he got in the car, I looked over at him. He started the car and began to drive down the street onto the road.

"Yes, you are correct." he said without looking at me.

Before I could ask him how he knew what I was going to say he opened his mouth to speak.

"You're not a hard person to figure out Liz," he chuckled. "I could say that I will love you with all my heart and you will turn red and look at the floor."

He was right. I could feel my face turning bright red. I looked down at my feet. I was really surprised that he knew I would do that. I wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. I looked back up at him and smiled.

"Okay," I said. "So you know most of my actions."

"Yeah. And I know that you will become really excited when you realize where I'm taking you." He said with the smile stretching across his face again.

I watched out the window for only a little while longer until I noticed where we were. I sat up straighter so I could see a little better. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I had a feeling that I was correct. When he turned onto the street, I gasped. I was right. He was taking me to the most wonderful place he could ever think of.

"The house," I said excited. "You brought me to your music video house!"

"I knew you would have noticed." He said laughing.

He turned onto the driveway and drove all the way up to the top. When he turned off the car I reached over and threw my arms around him. I really didn't want to let go of him. When he tried to pull away, I did let go.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"It's ok. I know how you feel." He said.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that." I said laughing.

We both got out of the car and walked over to the door. He pulled out his keys just like he did last time and opened the door. The only difference was that he wasn't using his hands as a blind fold. We both walked into the same room we did the previous day, and sat down next to each other on the cream colored couch. I placed the box on my lap and held it close by. When he realized I had the present, he looked at me with a puzzled look.

"So what is in the box?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to give you a little present so you can remember me." I told him as I handed him the present.

He looked back at me and then back at the box. He started to slowly rip off the rapping paper, leaving only a little black velvet box. He looked over at me and I nodded my head that told him to open the rest. When he opened the little black box his face seemed confused. I could see a fake smile grow across his face. He removed the chain and looked at me.

"Do you like it?" I asked him.

"Yes of course."

"Don't worry there is more." I said.

He nodded and opened the black box again. Sitting there under the holder was a dog tag. He brought the box closer so he could read it better, and then looked at me.

"Thank you." he said with a smile, still a little confused.

"Your welcome." I said.

He brought the box closer once more and read it again.

"Is that Teddy's dog tag?" he asked me surprised.

"Yes. I asked your mom for it and she gave it to me."

"Liz, this is perfect Thank you." he said giving me a hug.

"You're welcome." I said hugging him back.

When we let go, he reached under the couch and pulled out a little box that was the same size as mine, and handed it to me. I looked at him with a smile and sat back again. When I started to open the present, I could feel his arm gently rest on my shoulders. I finished ripping off the rapping paper and came to a black velvet box just like the one I gave him. I looked up at his face, and noticed the smile he had. I looked back down and opened it.

Inside the box was a chain with a silver circle that had a cursive 'L' on it. I looked up at him and smiled.

"David, it's beautiful." I said real happy.

"Really? Because I didn't know if you would like it or not." he said.

"Well, don't worry because I love it." I said taking the necklace out of the black box.

Before I could put it on myself, he took it from me and unhooked it. His hands came over my head and in front of me. I guessed that he was going to put it on. I lifted up my hair and waited for only three seconds until he took my hair from my hands and placed it gently back on my shoulders. I turned back around to face him and looked into his eyes.

"David, thank you so much. I love it!" I said again.

"That's good because like I said I didn't know what you like or not."

"Well, this was a perfect choice." I said.

"Kind of like the choice I made about you?" he asked.

It took me a few seconds to understand what he meant. When I finally understood, I looked up at his beaming face and smiled. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a loveable hug. I honestly didn't want to let go of him. I wasn't sure what it was about David but I just loved the way he would keep me so close to him and wrap his arms gently around me, it just felt so comforting and warm. When he let go of me, he brought his face closer to mine and sat there. I waited for what was coming, and I knew what it was. I could feel my heart beginning to race and my breathing becoming harder than before as he brought his lips up to mine. I was suddenly filled with excitement and calmness at the same time. Luckily for me, the calmness won. I soon eased up and my mussels relaxed as I stayed, locked with David. His hands were still on my back, with one going up and stopping at my neck, playing with my ponytail. I lifted my hands up and tied them in his soft and gorgeous hair. All I wanted from him before he left was a kiss goodbye that I would remember until he came back, and that is exactly what I got. After what seemed like forever, we both jumped and laughed.

"What is that?" I asked startled.

"My phone," He said. "I'm sorry it scared you." He said.

"It's ok."

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and answered it. I looked down at my new necklace and held the charm in my hand. I wasn't sure how I would be without him around. Now, was a perfect time to start thinking about ways I was going to spend the time. When he hung up his phone, he walked back over to me.

"Is everything ok?" I asked him.
"Yeah," He said. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"I guess so." I said.

He took me by the hand and walked me out of the house leading to his car. When he got back on the street, he reached over to the radio and pressed the play button. I figured out what was in the CD player by the look on his face. When the first track played from his CD, he skipped it and went right to track two, which was my favorite. We both sung the song together with a smile across our faces. With out him knowing, I recorded him singing and saved it on my phone. Most of the car ride went by without us saying anything to each other. I really wanted to hear him talk before he left, but I understood why he didn't.

"So, did you figure out how you're going to spend the days I'm not here?" he asked me.

"How did you know I've been trying?" I asked surprised.

"It's written all over your face." he said with a laugh.

"I really don't know yet." I answered him.

He reached over for my hand again and held it tightly in his. When the third song ended, he pressed the next button to play the fifth song on the CD. We listened to the song quietly. I was still wondering how I was going to spend the days with out him and debated if the ideas I had would work or not. Most of them back fired and I had not a single idea by the time we made it to the airport. When we finally made it there, we were greeted by his family, waiting for us at the main door.

"Come on David." His dad yelled running over to the car.

"It's only 11:50 dad." he told him.

"I know but I still want you in there."

With out saying a word David and I climbed out of the car and helped Jeff with the bags. Before I could grab one, Daniel grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over to him.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Keeping you away, we told you before you are not allowed to help."

"Alright, I guess so." I said pout full.

Once all of David's bags were out of the car, Jeff and David ran inside and started looking around for David's gate. Lupe, lead the two of them around and I stayed behind with the other three kids.

"Are you going to be okay once David leaves?" Claudia asked me.

"I'm not sure." I responded.

"Well, we are always going to be there for you." Amber told me.

"Yeah, we live right across the street." Jasmine told me.

Each of the girls looked just like Lupe. They all had that tan skin and the pitch black hair.

"Do you girls really think that is going to work?" Daniel said from behind me.

Daniel and David on the other hand, looked a lot like Jeff. Except that David had that black hair. Daniels was a little browner, the same color as Jeff's. It was so funny to see how each Archuleta kid grew up to look like either Lupe or Jeff.

I walked along with the family, staying behind David and Jeff and next to the girls until we got to the gate. David sat down and I stood in front of him, waiting for an invitation to sit next to him. He nodded his head and looked at one of the seats on his right. I sat down next to him and looked at the girls, who sat across from me. David reached over for my hand and held it tightly in his. I laid my head on his shoulder and I could feel his cheek resting on the top of my head. I held my necklace tightly in my hand and I closed my eyes. We only waited a half hour before they started to call a bunch of letters of the people who could board the plane. When David knew his letter was going to be called, he stood up and said goodbye to his sisters, brother, mom and dad, then turned to me. He held my hands and held them up to his heart. I didn't know what to do at all. I knew that he would eventually have to leave, but I didn't know it was going to happen so fast. I was really going to miss that flawless face of his and those hazel eyes looking back and that wonderful sun shine smile of his. I could feel my throat getting tight and my eyes beginning to water as he looked back into my eyes. I quickly tried to wipe my tears away, but he wouldn't let go of my hands. He placed my hands around his neck and pulled me closer to his face. I could, once again, feel his soft and gentle breathing on my face as I stood there motionless. He finished the gap between our faces with a kiss. I was going to miss him so much. The tears started to become harder to keep from rolling uncontrollably down my face, but I tried my best. When he broke the kiss, I kept my hands locked around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"David, I don't want you to leave." I whispered into his ear.

"I know you don't want me to but, I have to." he whispered back.

"And I wish you the best of luck." I said letting go.

The next letter was called and the line of people began to form in front of the door. He gave one last hug to his mom and dad and looked back at me. The tears now started to roll down my face. I watched him as he waved once more and walked into the hallway leading to the plane. When he was out of sight, Lupe and the girls came over to comfort me as we all walked back to the cars.

"Liz," Lupe said shyly. "What car are you going in?"

I quickly tried to look like I wasn't crying and tried to answer Lupe.

"I'm not sure. But can someone drop me off at my grand mom's house?" I asked her.

"Sure. So that means your going to come with me?" She asked.

"I guess so." I answered.

She turned to Jeff and the kids, telling them to take David's car home and she would be back when she was done dropping me off. We all said goodbye and got into the cars. When Lupe was finally out of the traffic jam, she glanced over at me, who was looking out the window.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked me.

I was afraid to talk because I was sure if I talked I would start crying again, so I just nodded.

"You're afraid you are going to cry again?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"That's why I wanted to drive you myself."

I looked over at her not understanding where she was bringing this conversation.

"I was the same way when David went to Hollywood for the first time, I didn't want to let him go." she told me.

I felt a tad better but, Lupe was David's mom. They normally don't want their kids to go away on a five month trip away from home. I was just some blonde girl who got lucky because of some dumb comment she made. Time passed by as the streets seemed to get more familiar as we passed them. When we reached the main road I showed Lupe how to get to my grand mom's house. When she pulled up to the house, she turned to me with an easy smile on her face.

"Liz, don't worry about him. He will call you." she told me.

I believed her one hundred percent. I knew that he would call me and keep me posted on the tour. My problem was that I was going to miss him a lot. To answer Lupe, I nodded.

"But like the girls said, we are just right across the street, if you ever need help just come over." she said.

"Thanks Lupe." I said as she gave me a hug.

When she let go of the hug, I said goodbye and I would talk to her soon, and climbed out of the car. I walked down my grand mom's drive way to the back door. Before I could finish my walk, I was stopped by Scott chasing after a hockey ball.

"Hey Liz." he said.

"Hi Scott." I answered him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just coming here."

"Who drove you?" he asked me.

"My friend's mom." I answered. I knew it technically wasn't a lie because David was my friend and Lupe was his mom.

"Who David's?" TJ said from the hockey net.

"Maybe." I answered.

"That was nice of her." Scott said.

"Yeah. They are all nice," I paused. "Where is everyone else?"

"In the back by the pool."

"Thanks." I answered as I walked over to the gate.

I absolutely loved my grand mom's house. Besides having a wonderful sized house, she had an in ground pool in her back yard. When I opened the gate, three kids climbed out of the pool and ran over to me dripping wet. I pulled off my sweatshirt and tossed by bag on the grass. Just in time, the three kids ran over to me wrapping me in the wettest hug ever. I noticed two of them, one was Anthony my brother. One of the others was a little blonde hair girl who was about Anthony's height named Sara. She was Cindy and Scott's daughter. The other little kid took me a minute until I finally knew who he was. He was the same height as the other two with the same blonde hair as Sara. It was Jay my cousin.

"Liz!" they all screamed happily.

"Hey guys," I said trying to sound as happy as possible.

When I hugged them all back, they let go running back to the pool and jumped in. I walked over to the table where my grand mom, mom, Aunt Stephanie, and Cindy were all sitting.

"Hi guys." I said sitting down.

"Hello Liz." they answered.

I stood back up and gave them all hugs.

"How are you?" my grand mom asked.

"Could be better." I said kind of fast.

"Why what's wrong?" my Aunt asked.

"Because."

"David left to finish the tour." my mom answered still looking at her magazine.

I turned back to Cindy and nodded.

"I'm sorry." She said giving me a hug.

"It's okay." I told her.

Just then, my phone rang. I let go of Cindy's hug and pulled out my phone from my pocket. David was calling me. I walked away and answered my phone.

"Hello?" I said walking over onto the grass.

"Hi Liz, its David." my phone told me.

"I can see and hear that." I laughed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked. I took my necklace in my hand and held it tight.

"Because I left."

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Okay, well I got to go we are about to take off." he said.

"Alright. I'll miss you." I said.

"I know I'll miss you to. But don't worry because I'll always be there with you and you'll always be with me no matter how far apart from each other we are." He told me.

I tried hard to fight back the tears. "Alright." I answered sitting down on the grass.

"Well, I need to go. I love you." my phone said.

"I love you to, and miss you."

"I know, I miss you to." he answered me.

"Bye."

"Bye." He said hanging up.

I closed my phone and looked at the clock. In just 10 seconds his plane would be preparing for take off. I counted down until zero. His plane was now gone. I wrapped my hands around my legs and buried my face. He was gone, he left. With out much more fighting, I let the tears roll down my face and land on my shirt. Some one sat next to me, I wasn't sure who it was.

"Liz?" she asked me. It was Cindy

I kept my head down.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"What did he say?" she asked.

I lifted up my head and looked down at the grass. "He was wondering if I was okay and to say that he misses me and that I will always be with him and he will always be with me." I said letting more tears fall.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her. I buried my face in a towel she had hanging from her shoulder and continued to cry.

"I know your going to miss him, and that's okay," she said. "You know he will be back." she said.

"I know. But, I'm really going to miss him." I said again.

"I know you will. Come out of the sun you're going to get sun burn."

I nodded and stood up. I moved my bag off of the chair and sat down. I played with my phone a little and without knowing, I was in my inbox. I read all the messages in my phone from David that I never deleted. I fought back the tears again, and lost. I let the tears roll down and land on my shirt as I kept reading. By now, my shirt was soaked from my crying. Someone reached for my phone as I wiped my tears. Cindy took my phone out of my hands and exited out of my inbox.

"Reading messages he has sent you doesn't help your problem." she told me.

I nodded and looked at her.

"Liz, why don't you go swimming with me?" my aunt offered.

I nodded and got up and headed for the doors that lead to my grand mom's house. I walked to the far back and to the closet. I opened up my drawer and got one of my bathing suits. After getting changed, I ran outside and jumped right in the pool. The water was cold, but felt real nice. I looked around for my aunt, but couldn't see her. With out a warning, a huge wave came up over my head.

"I didn't hear you coming!" I shouted surprised.

"That was the point." she laughed.

We both swam over to the deep end and climbed out.

"Want to go off the diving board?" she asked.

"Sure." I answered following her.

We both jumped off the diving board until dinner was ready. When we all finished dinner, they all asked me what David was like. I answered every question they had with out any problems. When my mom was ready to leave, she asked me if I wanted to stay over Nana's.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, so you don't have to see his house, and because we have hockey tomorrow morning." she told me.

"Sure." I said.

I gave her a hug goodbye and waved to her as she backed out of the driveway. When she was gone, I walked back down the driveway into the back where my grand mom was cleaning up.

"Need help Nana?" I asked her.

"No. I'm just about done." she said picking up her tea and newspaper.

I turned around and went back in the house. I walked back to the closet and picked up my clothes. When I was done getting changed for the second time, I found my grand mom on the computer.

"What are you up to?" I asked her.

"Checking my email." she said.

"Cool. Can I get on when you're done?"

"Sure."

I sat down on the couch and watched TV for a little until my grand mom told me I could go on. I sat down in the chair and opened my email. Just like I expected, Shawn had emailed me. I opened her email and read it. I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh. I replied back and shut down my email. I went on YouTube and other websites till 1:30 in the morning. I logged off, shut down, and lay down on the couch. It wasn't long before I fell into another deep sleep.

10