Lizzie in Australia

Chapter 11: Friends Again

After the Show...

"Wow!" Ethan was very impressed with Kate.

"Thanks," Kate said tiredly, but smiling, taking a damp white towel from a black plastic chair and wiping her face, which was covering her face, with gave her a distorted look, because her face was covered in makeup. But she was grinning, clearly happy, that the – no, her – show was finished, because she was the lead, and no mistakes had occurred, which made her look good.

"That show was...terrific!" Ethan continued. The show had really been long, and overdone, in Ethan's opinion, but that was the writer's problems. Kate herself acted wonderfully, sand beautifully, and looked fantastic. Ethan wouldn't be surprised if the show received 5 stars, or the highest rating that an Australian opera could receive; Ethan didn't know what that was. It had depicted of mostly a drama, with some romance in it, as well as action, but Ethan didn't think it had nearly enough action. Ethan would have really enjoyed it if there were more fighting, but most people seemed to like the show, so Ethan didn't complain.

Stan ran over to Ethan. "You were fantastic!" he congratulated her. "You were one of the best leading actresses I ever had!"

"Thanks," Kate said, smiling, if possible, even more widely. "I hope I pleased the audience."

"I'm sure you did," Stan assured her. "Your acting and singing was so fantastic, it was reminiscent of Moulin Rouge, you know, about 10 years ago. Now that was a real masterpiece of Opera. I think I'm pretty accurate when I say that most people think so too."

"Me too," Ethan said, although he'd never even heard of that movie. Well, he'd heard of it, but never watched. He'd never been a fan of opera, or musicals, finding them unpleasant and unappealing. But Ethan had to admit, that new opera was quite good.

*            *            *

"And I tripped, and fell into the water fountain!" Gordo said, laughing.

Lizzie laughed along, and so did Miranda and Matt. Gordo had been talking about the University, but the conversation had slowly eased itself along, and now Gordo was giving a lengthy description of an embarrassing moment he'd had. (A/N: This sentence took a long time to write!)

Lizzie's mind flashed back the past few hours. It was Matt, ironically, who had finally brought up a comfortable subject for them to talk about. After a while, they were talking to each other like old friends – which they were.

Lizzie looked at Gordo, and discovered that he was watching at her. He blushed, and then turned away.

Lizzie glanced at her watch. It was almost 5. The day had gone by quickly, and Lizzie was surprised that she could have so much fun with Gordo, considering the awkward situation.

Miranda, noticing Lizzie, also peeked at her watch. "Do you think we should...uh...go?"

Gordo glanced at his watch. "I guess. Wait! Do you want to have dinner with me? I mean...I'll take you guys somewhere, or something?"

"I don't have a watch!" Matt exclaimed.

"Sure," Lizzie said, hesitating. How would that go with Ethan?

"Okay," Gordo said. "I'll take you someplace cool."

"Sounds good," Lizzie said.

*****

"This is your car?" Matt asked in disbelief, pointing to expensive BMW, all shiny and beautiful, sitting there in front of Gordo's apartment building.

"Yup," Gordo said, pulling out the keys from his pockets, and unlocking the doors.

Matt still looked shocked and in awe as they all climbed into the car.

"So, where do you guys want to eat?" Gordo asked them.

"We don't know," Miranda said, answering for all of them. "We've only been here for, what, 1 day? Anyway, we've only eaten dinner here once."

"Makes sense," Gordo agreed. "I'll take you to one of my favorite restaurants."

"All right."

Gordo backed the car, and then they drove on.

"We're going to Sydney," Gordo said. "So it'll be some time before you guys get to eat."

****

The restaurant that Gordo was taking them to was called Orsta's. "This is mainly a seafood restaurant."

"Ugh...seafood," Lizzie said. "I hate seafood. I despise seafood. I loathe seafood. I dislike seafood. I detest seafood."

"I love seafood," Miranda said.

"So do I," Gordo and Matt agreed.

"Too bad," Matt said, sticking his tongue out Lizzie.

"Childish," Lizzie retorted.

"It's effective," Gordo said, siding with Matt.

Miranda rolled her eyes, but didn't comment on it. "Come one, babies, let's go inside." She grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him away, into the restaurant."

"Wait, are those two a...an…couple?" Gordo said, frowning at them.

"Yes," Lizzie replied. "They already got married."

"Miranda and Matt, huh," Gordo said. "I never saw that one coming."

"Neither did I," Lizzie agreed.

****

The restaurant was pretty nice, and definitely a higher-class restaurant. You would order by walking around something resembling an aquarium, with tons of different kinds of fish, most live and swimming. Each pound had a designated price, and it was definitely clever. There was a menu, to order vegetables, and though seafood was its specialty, one could also choose steak, and such.

"Oyster!" Matt said loudly.

"Hey, let's get some clams," Lizzie said. "Those are okay."

"And catfish," Gordo said, while their waitress scribbled all of this down on a small notebook. (I love catfish!!!!)

After they finished ordering, both from the seafood place and their menu, they were given a table, to relax in. Their waitress gave them a small bowl of salty peanuts, of which Matt ate the most.

"These are good," he commented.

It was a long while before the finally got their food; it most likely had to deal with there being so many people that night. However, it was delicious, they finished all of it.

****

After dessert, the friends were back on the car, heading for the hotel they were staying in.

"You know what? I just had the most brilliant idea," Matt said suddenly.

Lizzie laughed. "I doubt it."

"Since Lizzie sleeps on the ground, maybe she can stay with Gordo."

"Good idea," Miranda spoke up. "I mean, that would prevent her from being uncomfortable sleeping on the ground, yet at the same time, save like a million dollars a night!"

Gordo looked up on the review mirror at Lizzie. "What do you say?"

This had to be part of their stupid plan to get me and Gordo together, she thought. But if she refused, she would lose Gordo's respect, and possibly their newfound friendship altogether, which she definitely did not want. After all, they were supposed to be friends. Just 3 years ago, it would have been great. Now, she felt uncomfortable at the notion. But Matt and Miranda...they cornered her.

"All right," Lizzie said.

****

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