Awwww…! Thank you, thank you, thank you to you guys who reviewed. They so made my day(s)! Just a couple notes before we get started…
Kiamn – I'm glad you appreciate the characters. I hate it when older characters are written exactly as they were as younger characters, as if they haven't changed. Big characteristics may stay the same or similar, but everybody changes, even if just a little bit. And I like Lizzie being intelligent too, and I think it's completely plausible. I used to be a bit of a goof off, and I'm (somewhat) intelligent now.
TheRealXenocide –Truth be told, I had left the site. I spent the last six months reworking my life and now that I'm back, hopefully I'll be able to balance writing with it all a bit better.
Keeponwritin – I think it really improves a story when you know what you're writing about. I'm not pre-med, but I do have a basic understanding of some of the stuff, plus, I'm a geek. I actually like immunology.
Amanda, Jess, WonderGirl – I'm so glad you enjoyed the first story and the beginning of this one.
Thank you all for your encouragement. I wish I were as confident about my other stories as I am about this one.
And since I forgot it last chapter…my disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire or any other characters. I don't own any of the schools, websites, books, etc. that may be mentioned in this story. I don't even really own the idea for this story…got that from a paragraph in a Madeleine L'Engle book…I only own Brenna.
Ok, enough notes. Without further adieu…on to Chapter Two!
Lizzie climbed out of her car and checked her watch for what seemed like the thirtieth time that day. Just after five. She had worked seven hours at the hospital; she only needed five hours tomorrow to complete her volunteer time for this weekend. Right now, five hours seemed like an eternity. Most days Lizzie enjoyed volunteering at the hospital and she liked being in a position to help people, but there were other days where she wanted nothing more than to stay on the couch and watch movies all day.
As she climbed the stairs to her second floor apartment, she heard music blaring through the open window. Brenna was cooking again. She always blasted music when she was cooking. Lizzie let herself into the apartment and poked her head in the small kitchen.
"Whatcha making?" she asked, surveying the mess.
"Orange glazed chicken and those gooey centered chocolate cake things." Brenna replied, pointing to an open recipe book and scattering flour on the flour in the process.
"Yum." Lizzie declared. "What's the occasion?"
"After my little outburst in the library, I decided we needed a treat. So I'm making dinner and then we're going out dancing tonight. We both need a break from all this med school crap."
"Sounds great," Lizzie agreed, "but not before-"
"I know, I know." Brenna cut in. "Loverboy calls at eight. We'll go out after that."
"Great." Lizzie replied, heading for her room. She paused and stuck her head back in the doorway.
"Do you need any help?" She asked, suppressing a grin, "Cause, y'know, there used to be a kitchen under all this mess…"
"Out!"
Lizzie ducked as a chocolate bar flew past her head and hit the wall behind her. She picked it up and unwrapped part of it; it was the perfect appetizer for her no-stress night.
Two and a half hours later, Lizzie and Brenna had finished their dinner and were sprawled on the couch in their apartment, watching the end of The Lost Boys and working their way through small chocolates cakes.
"I dunno 'bout you," Brenna mumbled, her mouth full of cake, "but few things make my day like substantial portions of chocolate and an 80's vampire flick."
"I think I would have to agree." Lizzie grinned at her roommate. It had been several weeks since they'd had a break from stressing over school, volunteering, work, and applications. "We need to take a break more often."
Brenna mumbled something incomprehensible in response, nodding her head. She swallowed and grinned. "If you want to just do the dishes, I'll clean up the massive mess I made in there."
Lizzie nodded and picked up their plates and carried them to the kitchen, or rather, what had once been a kitchen. Brenna was a great cook, but managed to make some incredible messes while she was at it. There was even chocolate on the walls. Lizzie quickly rinsed the dishes and stuck them in the dishwasher. She'd turn it on when they went out.
She wandered back to the couch and flopped on it, poking Brenna, who was now paging through a catalogue for Columbia Medical School.
"Hey, what happened to our break?" she asked, pulling the catalogue out of Brenna's grasp.
"I know…worrying is a hard habit to break though." Brenna sighed. "I'd probably feel a lot better if we had our MCAT scores back…that way I'd know if I had a chance to get into some of these schools."
"I know what you mean." Lizzie agreed. Despite their excellent GPA's and extracurriculars, Lizzie knew that their scores on the MCAT would be a deciding factor for which schools accepted them. While both girls had been assured by their faculty advisors that each of them were top prospects for getting into medical schools, both Lizzie and Brenna faced the next year with a sense of anxiety and –sometimes– near dread. Brenna, normally soft-spoken and introverted, had become sarcastic and more outspoken during the past few months; it was obvious the stress was slowly getting to her. Lizzie, in the hopes of avoiding some of the stress, had thrown herself into work and volunteering, and occasionally found herself joining in her roommate's sarcastic humor.
"Well, the scores are supposed to be mailed to us, what, beginning of June? There's less than two weeks left in May, so we've probably only got a couple of weeks left to wait."
"I dunno…" Brenna paused thoughtfully, "knowing that they're only a couple weeks out from coming almost makes the waiting worse. You just can't win. Now I know why so few people actually get into medical school; most of them have mental breakdowns during the application process and wind up in mental institutions."
Lizzie laughed, tonight was definitely a good night to take a break from all the stress; Brenna was really starting to lose it.
Lizzie checked her watch; it was seven fifty-eight. Brenna rolled her eyes, about to say something when the phone rang. Smirking, she tossed the cordless phone to Lizzie and wandered into the kitchen to clean.
Lizzie took the phone to her room and shut the door as she heard Brenna running water in the kitchen.
"Hey Gordo."
"Hey, how was your week? Has Brenna strangled anyone yet?"
Lizzie laughed, thrilled as usual to hear Gordo's voice. The twelve-hour time difference between Australia and Denver made it difficult for Gordo to keep in touch with Lizzie the way he had when he was going to school in New York. Then between Gordo's sixteen-hour workdays and Lizzie crazy schedule, juggling classes, volunteering and work, neither of the two had the time or the energy to talk at un-Godly hours in the night or morning. They both emailed each other on a daily basis, but had missed the talking part of their relationship. They realized very early on in Gordo's time in Australia that talking once a week was probably the most time, and money, either could afford. So Gordo called Lizzie at 8 a.m. on Sundays, his one day off each week, which for Lizzie was at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. She didn't mind giving up part of her Saturday nights to talk to Gordo; it was more than worth it to be able to talk to him.
"My week's been alright, mostly working and filling out those stupid applications." Lizzie replied. "How about yours?"
"Eh, the usual." Gordo responded. "We're supposed to be three weeks away from finishing shooting, "supposed" being the operative word there. So Peter's a little…unhappy with a few cast members because he's not getting the shots he need from them and we're behind where he wanted to be by now. And the lead actor tripped on the steps of his trailer yesterday and nearly broke his face, which was mildly amusing, because, if I haven't mentioned it before, the guy's a complete shmuck.
"I think you might have mentioned that once or twice." Lizzie grinned. "So once you're done filming, then what?"
"Well, we've got to do film editing, sound effects, digital effects, voiceovers, and probably thirty other things I'm forgetting or don't know about. But it looks like we may be coming back to L.A. to do all the work there once we finish filming. I know you'll be in Denver for another year and I'll be working like a madman, but at least we'll be in similar time zones."
"That's great!" Lizzie's excitement was evident over the phone.
The conversation soon shifted from Gordo's work to Lizzie's school. Gordo knew all that was going on from the several emails per week Lizzie sent him. "Have you had anymore luck deciding where to apply?" he asked.
Lizzie sighed. "Not much. I've still got applications for about twenty different schools and I haven't done much research on any of them. I've really got to get going on that so I can get my applications in by the end of June."
"That soon, huh?" Gordo asked.
"Well, I can turn them in later, the deadlines aren't for a while, but I've got a better chance of getting in if I get my stuff in early." Lizzie told him shortly. Lizzie was still angry with herself for not paying enough attention to her applications. She had spent all her time during the spring semester concentrating on the MCAT and her difficult classes, including biochemistry, taught by a man who was quite possibly the devil himself. Just after finals, during the first week of May, Lizzie realized she had let everything else slide, most importantly, the applications. High MCAT scores and a stellar GPA wouldn't do her any good if she didn't get into med school. Both she and Brenna had kicked themselves into high gear and were catching up with where they should be, but Lizzie was still irritated that she had gotten into this situation in the first place.
Lizzie and Gordo talked for a while longer and Lizzie could hardly believe it when she glanced at her clock and saw that it read 9:30. Just then, Gordo said, "Hey Lizzie, I've got to go. Despite the fact it's my day off, I've still got a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, I should go to. Bren and I are gonna go dancing tonight." Lizzie replied. "I'm actually surprised she's not pounding my door down right now."
"Have fun. And remember, no going home with crazy drunk guys. At least, not more than three." Gordo joked.
"Yeah," Lizzie agreed. "Most of them are pretty sketchy anyways."
After a pause, Gordo voice came back over the line. "I miss you."
"I miss you too."
"Bye."
"Bye."
"Goodnight, Lizzie." Gordo told her firmly, knowing she hadn't hung up.
"Good morning Gordo." Lizzie pressed the off button on the phone, laughing.
Lizzie wandered back out to the main room of the apartment, hung up the phone and turned to find Brenna sound asleep on the couch, snoring lightly, with The Mummy playing on the TV.
Laughing, Lizzie pulled the blanket on the couch over he sleeping roommate, and settled down in the chair with a pillow. Somehow spending the evening with vampires and mummies seemed a little safer than spending it being harassed by drunk guys. And maybe a little more enjoyable too.