Prom Chapter Twenty-Four: The Question

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Gordo brought Lizzie outside of the studio to a grassy area. They sat at a picnic table under a big, shady tree. As Gordo grasped Lizzie's hands, a tall, blonde guy walked by.

"Hey, Lizzie!" the blonde called. She smiled for a greeting, and turned back to face Gordo.

"What did you want to ask me?" Lizzie asked.

"Lizzie. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. No matter what troubles we've been through, we've gotten through them with practically no trouble. And of course, there were a couple of big problems, but we got through those, too. And I know that we can always make it through our hardships. You're the only person I've met that I realize I could spend the rest of my life with. Lizzie..." He paused, to take the ring box out of his pocket. He glanced up, and Lizzie's eyes were filling with tears. He opened the box. He lowered himself from the picnic table bench to the ground, where he rested on one knee. "Will you marry me?"

Lizzie's tears were starting to run down her cheeks. "Gordo..." she said softly, and stood up. She ran past him and back towards the studio.

- - -

Since filming was over, Lizzie got away with locking herself in her dressing room. She wouldn't even let Miranda in. Gordo also stayed in his room, alone. He acknowledged when Jason, Miranda, and Kate tried to talk to him, but he didn't answer. It wasn't as if he was heartbroken; he knew Lizzie had some reason just to run off like that. In reality, it was just that he needed to know why. He trusted Lizzie, and he loved her - but this was straining his heart.

He went down the hall, and entered another corridor, which was where Lizzie's room was. He hesitated, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

He heard a mumbled, "Who is it?"

"Dave," he said.

She recognized the voice as Gordo's, but was curious to why he answered 'Dave' instead. He rarely used any form of his real name.

Gordo's heart skipped a beat as the faceplate reading 'Elizabeth B. McGuire' on the door slowly swung away from his face, and into the room. It was replaced with Lizzie's face. She didn't say anything. She just left the door open and sat down in one of the small chairs in the room.

Gordo shut the door, and sat in the chair opposite her. For what seemed like forever, neither of them said a word. Until Gordo couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Why?" he asked.

She sniffed, and wiped her nose with a tissue that she had apparently been holding. Now that Gordo looked around her chair, there was a small trash can full of crumpled tissues, and an empty tissue box on the floor next to it. "Don't be mad at me," she finally said, breaking him from his trance.

"I'm not mad at you, Lizzie. I just want to know... why?" he asked, looking into her eyes. She looked as if she was about to start crying again. And it didn't look like her eyes and nose could get any redder. Gordo squeezed her hand.

"It's so stupid, Gordo," she said. Her eyes were forming tears again. With his thumb, he rubbed the back of her hand while his other fingers were squeezing hers. By doing this, he was urging her to go on. "Shane was..."

"Wait. Shane Coleman?" Gordo questioned. Shane was the blonde guy who had walked past the two when they were under the tree outside. He also played Victor Ellis on the show. When her answer was affirmative, he said, "Okay, sorry. Keep going."

"Well, anyway, today before we started filming, he knocked on my door and wanted to talk. So I let him in, and eventually, somehow, the conversation got to fortune telling, and he started 'predicting' things. He said that during filming, I'd mess up a line three times, and Carl would get a call saying that the critics loved the show, and... and..." she couldn't continue.

"Did that bastard rape you?!" Gordo said in an above normal voice, and stood up.

"No! No, that's not it at all!" Lizzie said, and pulled Gordo back into his chair. "No, it's just that he said you'd ask me to marry you, and if I said yes, our marriage wouldn't last."

"Lizzie, you know everything would work out," Gordo said.

"I know. But everything he said came true! Today, I only messed up one line, and I messed it up three times. And then Carl got his call, and everything just fit what he told me, and I was so afraid, Gordo, I didn't know how he knew all of this stuff, but he did, and then you said you had to ask me a question, and I started getting really nervous, because I was afraid you were going to ask me to marry you, and then you did, and-" Gordo stopped her.

"Slow down," he said. "He doesn't know anything. People can't tell the future, it's all a big scam."

"I never believed in that kind of thing, but he knew, Gordo, he knew," she said.

"It's a coincidence, Lizzie. I'll get to the bottom of this," he said. Lizzie let out a small laugh. Gordo was glad she was smiling now, but he didn't see what was so funny.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked.

"You sound like a TV detective. Maybe they'll make you an investigator on the show," she said. Gordo smiled, and was glad Lizzie was happy again. Now all he had to do find out what Shane was up to...

- - -

Later that night, Gordo went into his dressing room to go to sleep (Carl had bought the whole cast beds so they could sleep in their rooms at night or just take a nap whenever). He shut the door, but for some reason, the lock wouldn't work. He shrugged it off, and fell into bed fully clothed.

- - -

Gordo awoke to a slap across his face. He sat up abruptly to find Lizzie standing above him. "Lizzie?"

"What do you think you're doing?" she seethed.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, holding his burning cheek.

"Don't play dumb," Lizzie said. She threw a crumpled piece of paper at him. He unfolded it, and scanned over the typed words.

It said:

Lizzie, Shane's right. Our marriage wouldn't work. I realize that we're not right for each other. So I guess this is the end. We need to move on from each other. We shouldn't date anymore. This is it, Lizzie. -Gordo

"Where did this come from?" Gordo asked.

"Don't make me hit you again," she threatened.

"Lizzie, I wouldn't ever say something like that to you," he said.

"Well you sure don't have a problem typing it," she said.

"I didn't type that! Why would I say that to you?" he asked her.

Lizzie pointed at the computer that Gordo had hooked up in his room. On it, Microsoft Word was open. It had the same exact words as the note. And the printer was on. "There you go," Lizzie said.

"Lizzie, I swear to you, I didn't do it," he said.

"Whatever. If you want it to be over, then fine, it's over," she said, and left, slamming the door on her way out. Gordo cringed to the sound of his name plaque thudding against the hallway floor.

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As promised, I'll make a "Spin-Off" story from this one, but it will only be about 5 chapters long.

Tell me if I should write one about Gordo's new job, Jason and Miranda's relationship, or another suggestion you have that has something to do with this story. Eventually, I'll write one, depending on what you guys tell me.