–5–
A/N; I just wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. You guys couldn't be nicer and more encouraging! So...THANKS :) Feedback is so important to any writer, so please, I'd really appreciate any and all constructive criticism and/or complimentary comments. It lets me know what I'm doing right, and what I'm not! And, like I mentioned in the "Story Info" section, as far as couples go in this fiction, nothing is set in stone, so for all those die-hard shippers out there, it's never impossible for your fave couples to come together! Okay, with that said, on with the show!
Bikini. Check. Big towel to wrap myself up in while wearing the bikini. Check. Change of clothes. Check. Tanning oil. Check. Sunglasses. Check. Sweet Valley High Senior Year #15–On My Own. Check.
Lizzie pushed the book deep down in her beach bag, beneath everything else. If Gordo caught her with it, he'd never let her live it down. Hey, she enjoyed deep classics like "A Tale of Two Cities" and "The Great Gatsby" as much as he did–alright, maybe not *as* much, but she had read both...for school–but sometimes a girl needed some light-hearted romantic adventure like SVH. Especially when that girl's life was lacking both those qualities.
Was she forgetting something? Her gaze swept across her room, lips pursed, deep in thought. Oh yeah, her CD player! Now if only she could remember where she put that thing. She checked her closet and unearthed it from the pile of junk on the floor. Maybe her mom was right, her spring cleaning was way overdue.
Lizzie turned around and jumped, startled. "Matt!" she screamed, rushing over to the bed where her younger brother was pawing through her stuff. She tore her bikini from his slimy grasp and stuffed it back inside the bag along with her CD player.
"Eww. Please tell me you're not gonna wear that."
"All my other bathing suits are already packed for next week, and I am not about to go digging through my suitcases to find them now." Lizzie glanced at the corner of her room where her things were all ready to jet off to Malibu, even though they weren't leaving for another few days.
Matt grinned evilly. "Well, actually, that'll be the perfect way to clear a spot on the beach. One look at you and people would go running!"
She rolled her eyes. "Is that the best you can come with up? You're getting rusty, dorkwad."
"Is that the best *you* can do?" he countered stubbornly.
"Ugh, I really don't have time for this! So if you think you have any other worthwhile insults, then just spit them out so I can get on with my life and you can go back to not having one."
"Fine, fine, fine. Can me, Lanny, and Melina come with you to the beach?"
Lizzie burst out laughing. "What? Excuse me? First you barge into my room totally disrespecting my personal space and privacy, then you insult me, and now you want a ride to the beach? I think you're losing it, Matt. Take it seriously when I say this: seek professional help. Fast!"
With that, she placed her hands on his shoulders and shoved him from her room, slamming the door behind him.
"But...but...but..."
"NO!" Lizzie yelled. "Weasel."
The doorbell rang then, and a moment later she heard her mom calling for her. "Lizzie! Your ride's here!"
"Send him up!" Lizzie called back, opening her door again. She peeked into the hallway to make sure Matt had disappeared. Thankfully, he had.
"It's–"
"Yeah, I know! Just tell him to come up! I'm not ready yet!"
Couldn't Gordo ever be even a few minutes late? He knew she had issues with punctuality. She still had to find her flip-flops from when she had kicked them off last night. They had to be on that side of the room somewhere.
Lizzie was knee-deep in freshly laundered clothes, which were now in need of some major re-ironing, when she heard footsteps enter her room. "I'm almost done, I swear!" she said, then spotted her white flip-flops and jumped up, holding them above her triumphantly. "I found them! Yes! Only took me thirty seconds. That's definitely a new record–"
She broke off when she spun around and saw Scott standing in the doorway, his hands jammed into the pockets of his cargo board shorts. He was so tall, he nearly reached the top. Lizzie wasn't used to seeing someone that big towering there, aside from her father, and Scott was even taller than him.
"Oh, hey!" Lizzie said brightly, recovering from her surprise. "Sorry, I thought you were Gordo. He said he was gonna pick me up."
"Yeah, he thought it'd be easier for me to do it since we live closer," Scott said, his eyes trained on her carpet. "He went to get Vanessa. We're all gonna meet at Miranda's, though, so you can still go in his car if you want..."
"It doesn't matter," Lizzie said, sliding into her flip-flops and grabbing her bag. "A car's a car!" She let out a little laugh.
Why did she sound so nervous and flighty? Get a grip, McGuire, she told herself, following Scott out of her room and down the stairs. Just because Miranda and Vanessa had been giving her grief about Scott didn't mean they knew what they were talking about.
"I'm leaving!" Lizzie yelled to her parents.
They immediately rushed out of the kitchen, her father still chewing on the last of his pancakes. She gave them a weird look. Since when did they gather to watch her leave? But they weren't paying attention to her, they were staring at Scott. A sudden flashback of the Ronnie episode flashed through her mind, and she nearly choked on pure air. That would be beyond mortifying, especially since *nothing* was going on between her and Scott. Why couldn't people get that through their thick heads?
"I'll be back by five or six, at the latest," Lizzie promised hurriedly, practically pushing Scott out the door. "Love you, bye!"
"I don't believe we've met," Mr. McGuire said, stepping forward to block the exit. "I'm Lizzie's dad." He extended his hand to Scott.
"Dad, it's Scott, Gordo's friend. You've seen him before."
"Yes, but we never really talked to him," Mrs. McGuire interjected, coming to stand beside her husband. "Are you kids driving over to the beach together?"
"First we're going to Miranda's," Lizzie explained, anxious to escape their suspicious eyes.
Mr. McGuire was staring at Scott intently. "How tall are you?"
"Uh...six-three?"
"Dad!" Lizzie groaned. She nudged her parents out of the way and pulled open the door. "Good-bye!"
"Be safe!" Joe yelled after them. Sam gave her a sharp look. "Well, wear seatbelts! You know what I mean!"
"I am so sorry! My parents are just... Well, nuts."
Scott laughed. "It happens. Mine aren't exactly all there either," he joked.
Lizzie grinned. Had that little episode actually loosened him up? She was a little taken when he held open the passenger door for her, but she slid in and leaned over to push open the driver's door for him. The least she could do was return the favor. Scott got in, started the car, and they were off.
Lizzie fidgeted with the hem of her white sun dress. "So... Today should be fun. I love the beach!" God, was she really this big a ditz?
"Yeah? So you should be excited about next week, then."
"Definitely!" Lizzie said enthusiastically, turning to face him a bit, crossing one leg over the other. Her dress rode up a little and she quickly tugged it back down. "I just wish everyone could go. Then it would be even better."
"You mean, like, Vanessa, right?"
"Yeah, Vanessa." She paused slightly. "And *you*. And..."
"Jeremy?" Scott asked dubiously.
"Well, maybe not Jeremy," she said, and they both cracked up. "If only my little brother didn't exist."
"You don't know how many times a day I think that way about my sister," Scott said with a grin.
Lizzie liked his smile, she decided. He didn't do it nearly often enough, though. He always looked so sullen and reserved and quiet. But then there were moments like these when he let his guard down in a way, and it was nice. Lizzie just hoped she didn't do anything to screw this opportunity up. "So how old is your sister?"
"Ten. And she's already a total pain in the ass."
"Oh yeah, I remember that age all too well. It was pretty horrible. But just wait until the teenage years hit! Matt's gonna turn fourteen, and if I thought he was a total terror back then, it's nothing compared to now."
"Gee, thanks," Scott said sarcastically, but his smile was still holding. "Hopefully I'll be long gone by then."
"Yeah... Wow, college *is* just around the corner."
"I'm seriously boycotting the thought," Scott said firmly.
"Hear, hear!" Lizzie agreed. "This summer is all about nothing except stupid, mindless fun."
Scott turned his grin on her for a split second, and her breath literally caught in her throat. Why hadn't she ever noticed how gorgeous his eyes were? A hazel mixture of emerald green and light brown with flecks of gold. His voice brought her back to reality. Where she and Scott were just friends. Who didn't like each other.
"Yeah, like sneaking off to go clubbing in Los Angeles?"
Lizzie grinned back. "Exactly! Hey, you and Vanessa should come meet up with us in Malibu for at least one night."
Scott nodded. "Yeah, we could do that."
They pulled up in front of Miranda's house just as Vanessa and Gordo were attempting to squeeze the Sanchez's big beach umbrella into Gordo's parents SUV. They managed to get the top part in, but now the pole was sticking straight out.
"Angle it to the right! To the right!" Miranda was screaming.
"There is no more right!" Gordo screamed back.
"Guys, this isn't working," Vanessa sighed, stepping back and letting go of the umbrella. As soon as she did that, the top part sprung open, nearly cracking the SUV's back window.
"Oh my God!" Gordo cried, struggling to get it closed before it did any serious damage.
Miranda and Vanessa stared in awe for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Well, listen, it better work because I am not getting burned again," Miranda insisted, catching her breath. "My shoulders just recuperated, and I have to be caramel-toned perfect when I see Malik next week!"
"And who exactly is Malik?" Mrs. Sanchez demanded curiously, coming out the front door with a cooler in hand.
Lizzie hopped out of Scott's car. "Only the coolest new pop singer to grace the pages of Teen People," she replied smoothly. "Really, Mrs. Sanchez, I thought you were up on the fads," she teased her best friend's mother, who was like a second mother to her–wait, scratch that. Make that more like an *older sister*.
"Oh. Right. Of course I knew that, I was just kidding!"
Miranda shot Lizzie an utterly grateful look. She couldn't very well tell her mother Malik was the seventeen-year-old guy she had met when they had all snuck out to a club last week.
"I don't know how we're gonna get this umbrella there," Gordo said, pulling it completely out. "It's never gonna fit."
"Why don't we just tie it to the top of one of the cars?" Scott suggested casually, as if it was the most obvious solution. Actually it was.
Miranda, Gordo, and Vanessa all looked at each other, realizing how ridiculous they must have seemed trying to jam the thing into the tiny back compartment of Gordo's SUV. The collective response: "Ooooh!"
"Aren't you the hero," Lizzie teased Scott.
He shrugged modestly. "I try."
"Let's put it on your car," Gordo said to Scott. "It's lower and there won't be as much of a chance of it being knocked off by a low tunnel or something."
Mrs. Sanchez raised her eyebrows. "I expect all of my belongings back in one piece! That includes the towels, the umbrella, the cooler, and my daughter," she joked before going back inside.
As soon as Gordo and Scott set to work, Miranda ambushed Lizzie with Vanessa. "Was that flirting I detected, coming from both sides?"
"Oh my God. Can I get one day of peace? Please?"
"Heyyy! Where the party at! Where, where, where the Bacardi at!"
They looked toward the street to see Jeremy gliding over on his skateboard, a big grin plastered on his face. It wasn't certain if he was already stoned or not. All the girls groaned.
"Present company excluded, Gordo has really bad taste in friends," Vanessa muttered.
Lizzie sighed. "No, Gordo just has a really big heart."
Miranda nodded glumly. "Can we kill him?"
"Maybe later. We still need his parent's car," Vanessa quipped.
"Hey there, lovely ladies," Jeremy said, strolling over suavely, board balanced under his arm. "I gotta say, I'm looking forward to seeing all three of you in your little suits." His gaze roamed over their figures.
Lizzie smirked. "Well it'll be a little hard to see through two black eyes, don't you think?"
Jeremy winced, but slowly backed away, clutching his heart through his sleeveless tee. "You wound me. Really. That hurts right here."
"Jeremy, if you're done making a total ass of yourself, we're ready to go," Gordo said.
"I'm riding in the Benz!" Jeremy yelled, jumping into the back of Gordo's SUV.
"I'm riding with Scott," Lizzie immediately decided, making a beeline for his black Nissan.
Miranda was about to go right after her, but Vanessa grabbed her arm and discreetly shook her head. "No way, you're not leaving me alone with Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber there. Come on."
"Ooooh. Right. Oops," Miranda grinned sheepishly.
–*–
"I got it! I got it! I got it!" Lizzie cried, positioning herself beneath the incoming beach ball. She held her arms straight out, thumbs crossed tightly, wrists upward, elbows locked. She had the technique down pact.
Unfortunately her aim was way off and the big brightly colored object bounced off her head and landed in the sand.
"Ugh! So close!" she whined good-naturedly.
"That was better than the last one!" Gordo called from the other side of the volleyball net with a laugh.
"Thanks for the encouragement!"
Scott, who had somehow ended up as the only other person on her team thanks to Vanessa and Miranda, came over to her. "I'm sorry, I know I suck. But I did the arm thing you showed me! It's just the sun gets in my eyes and–"
He laughed. "Don't worry about it. And Gordo's right, you are getting better. But next time back up with the ball. You are allowed to move, you know."
"Move. Right." Lizzie nodded. "Interesting concept."
"And here, you can borrow my sunglasses." He gave her his wrap-around silver ones.
Lizzie took them with a smile and slipped them on. Suddenly it didn't matter in the least that her brand-new Gucci sunglasses were sitting right in her bag less than three feet away.
"It ain't over yet, Gordon!" Scott was yelling, picking up the ball and tossing it in his hands a few times before making a clean serve over. Gordo practically threw himself down to try to salvage the shot, but he ended up eating a mouthful of sand, and the ball landed next to his head with a slight thud.
Vanessa helped pull him up. "It's alright, baby. We can't all be athletes."
"I am too athletic," Gordo said indignantly. "That was a cheap trick. He's taller so of course he has an advantage."
"It's volleyball, not basketball," Lizzie pointed out. "Stop making excuses. Scott's just better than you."
"You wish," Vanessa countered, coming closer to the net, a twinkle in her aqua eyes. "My man can take your man any day!"
"Now who's the one who's wishing," Lizzie joked, then almost immediately felt her face flushing. And it wasn't because of the sweltering sun beaming down on them, either. Please tell me I didn't indirectly refer to Scott as "my man," she begged of herself.
But it was obviously not a hallucination, judging by the smug smirk of satisfaction Vanessa's face had contorted into, and the bewildered expression on Gordo's face. Lizzie couldn't even bear to look at Scott.
"Get away from me, you freak!"
Miranda was running out of the ocean at top speed, Jeremy right behind her.
Gordo sighed. "What now?"
"He's trying to kill me!" Miranda shrieked, grabbing onto the closest available person, Scott for cover.
"Aww, jeez, how dramatic can you get? I was just showing her a crab for God's sake!"
"A crab? Yeah, right! Nice story. But that was no crab, that was most definitely a leech! And he was trying to put it on my neck."
Jeremy held out the tiny orange crab as proof. "Does this look like a leech to you?" he asked Lizzie.
She frowned, desperately wanting to take Miranda's side. "Um...not really?"
Miranda stepped forward a bit. "That's what you were holding the entire time?"
Jeremy nodded.
"Yeah...well...he tried to pull down my bikini bottoms!"
Jeremy grinned then. "Yeah, I won't even try to deny that." They all sighed in disgust. "Come on, she looks hot, what am I supposed to do?"
For a moment Miranda seemed as if she honestly didn't know whether to be flattered or angry, but then Scott whacked Jeremy upside the head and turned the attention away from her.
"You're supposed to control yourself, moron."
"Who you callin' a moron, buttmunch?"
That set off a wrestling match between the two.
"I'd say the game's over," Gordo said to Lizzie. "And guess what? We win!" He and Vanessa slapped five.
"What? You two were so totally cheating!" Lizzie complained.
"Prove it," Vanessa challenged.
"Yeah, and I don't think *being better* constitutes as cheating anyway," Gordo added.
Vanessa looked at her boyfriend and shrugged. "Some people are just such sore losers."
Gordo nodded. "What a shame."
Lizzie scoffed. "Sore loser this!" She kicked a bunch of sand in their direction.
"She did not just do that," Gordo said. "I'm giving you till three. One..."
Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest. He was totally bluffing.
"Two..."
Was his foot twitching? No way. Gordo wouldn't. Still, her arms uncrossed and she glanced at Miranda.
"Two and a half..."
Lizzie began backing away. "Okay, let's not–"
Without warning, Gordo lunged for her. She screamed and ducked out of his grasp, taking off down the beach. He caught up with her in less than five seconds. When did Gordo get so fast? She always used to beat him at races. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he literally lifted her off the ground.
"What the hell?" Lizzie couldn't keep that comment in. Gordo could actually *pick her up*. But he had absolutely no muscle! At least not the last time she checked. When had that been anyway?
"Apologize," Gordo ordered, starting to drag her over to the edge of the water.
"For what?" Lizzie demanded.
"For accusing Vanessa and me of cheating! For being a sore loser! For kicking sand at me!"
"Never!" Lizzie screamed, laughing at the way his fingers were tickling her sides. "You deserved it all."
"I'm sorry, what was that? It didn't sound like an apology!" He had waded into the Pacific up to his waist and angled Lizzie so her head would be the first to hit the water.
Her arm trailed down to the water, then she promptly jerked it back. "It's so cold! Gordo, come on, put me down. Please!"
"Okay. Right after you say sorry."
Lizzie crossed her arms. "Nope. I can stay like this all day."
"Well I can't."
With that, Gordo dumped her into the water. Her yell was silenced by the splash and she stood up, spewing and gagging on the salt water.
"That was low! Even for you!"
Gordo was grinning. "I know, I loved every second of it."
"Just as I will love this."
Grabbing him by the back of the neck, she dunked his head under water, putting her weight on her arms so he couldn't come up. What she didn't count on was his hands trailing slowly, almost sensuously up her legs to rest on her hips and squeezing them a bit. She jumped back, clearly startled, and that gave him the perfect opportunity to straighten up.
Lizzie stared at him oddly, but he was still just laughing. "You are way too easy, McGuire."
She rolled her eyes. "And you're just way too annoying, Gordon." Her foot bumped into something, and she realized it was Scott's glasses. She fished them up with her toes and examined them to make sure they were okay. Still intact.
"You know you love me." He took her hand and began pulling her back towards shore.
"I don't think I even have a choice at this point."
It was turning into a weird day at the beach, that was for sure. But Lizzie had no idea exactly how weird it was gonna get.
–*–
A/N; I just wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. You guys couldn't be nicer and more encouraging! So...THANKS :) Feedback is so important to any writer, so please, I'd really appreciate any and all constructive criticism and/or complimentary comments. It lets me know what I'm doing right, and what I'm not! And, like I mentioned in the "Story Info" section, as far as couples go in this fiction, nothing is set in stone, so for all those die-hard shippers out there, it's never impossible for your fave couples to come together! Okay, with that said, on with the show!
Bikini. Check. Big towel to wrap myself up in while wearing the bikini. Check. Change of clothes. Check. Tanning oil. Check. Sunglasses. Check. Sweet Valley High Senior Year #15–On My Own. Check.
Lizzie pushed the book deep down in her beach bag, beneath everything else. If Gordo caught her with it, he'd never let her live it down. Hey, she enjoyed deep classics like "A Tale of Two Cities" and "The Great Gatsby" as much as he did–alright, maybe not *as* much, but she had read both...for school–but sometimes a girl needed some light-hearted romantic adventure like SVH. Especially when that girl's life was lacking both those qualities.
Was she forgetting something? Her gaze swept across her room, lips pursed, deep in thought. Oh yeah, her CD player! Now if only she could remember where she put that thing. She checked her closet and unearthed it from the pile of junk on the floor. Maybe her mom was right, her spring cleaning was way overdue.
Lizzie turned around and jumped, startled. "Matt!" she screamed, rushing over to the bed where her younger brother was pawing through her stuff. She tore her bikini from his slimy grasp and stuffed it back inside the bag along with her CD player.
"Eww. Please tell me you're not gonna wear that."
"All my other bathing suits are already packed for next week, and I am not about to go digging through my suitcases to find them now." Lizzie glanced at the corner of her room where her things were all ready to jet off to Malibu, even though they weren't leaving for another few days.
Matt grinned evilly. "Well, actually, that'll be the perfect way to clear a spot on the beach. One look at you and people would go running!"
She rolled her eyes. "Is that the best you can come with up? You're getting rusty, dorkwad."
"Is that the best *you* can do?" he countered stubbornly.
"Ugh, I really don't have time for this! So if you think you have any other worthwhile insults, then just spit them out so I can get on with my life and you can go back to not having one."
"Fine, fine, fine. Can me, Lanny, and Melina come with you to the beach?"
Lizzie burst out laughing. "What? Excuse me? First you barge into my room totally disrespecting my personal space and privacy, then you insult me, and now you want a ride to the beach? I think you're losing it, Matt. Take it seriously when I say this: seek professional help. Fast!"
With that, she placed her hands on his shoulders and shoved him from her room, slamming the door behind him.
"But...but...but..."
"NO!" Lizzie yelled. "Weasel."
The doorbell rang then, and a moment later she heard her mom calling for her. "Lizzie! Your ride's here!"
"Send him up!" Lizzie called back, opening her door again. She peeked into the hallway to make sure Matt had disappeared. Thankfully, he had.
"It's–"
"Yeah, I know! Just tell him to come up! I'm not ready yet!"
Couldn't Gordo ever be even a few minutes late? He knew she had issues with punctuality. She still had to find her flip-flops from when she had kicked them off last night. They had to be on that side of the room somewhere.
Lizzie was knee-deep in freshly laundered clothes, which were now in need of some major re-ironing, when she heard footsteps enter her room. "I'm almost done, I swear!" she said, then spotted her white flip-flops and jumped up, holding them above her triumphantly. "I found them! Yes! Only took me thirty seconds. That's definitely a new record–"
She broke off when she spun around and saw Scott standing in the doorway, his hands jammed into the pockets of his cargo board shorts. He was so tall, he nearly reached the top. Lizzie wasn't used to seeing someone that big towering there, aside from her father, and Scott was even taller than him.
"Oh, hey!" Lizzie said brightly, recovering from her surprise. "Sorry, I thought you were Gordo. He said he was gonna pick me up."
"Yeah, he thought it'd be easier for me to do it since we live closer," Scott said, his eyes trained on her carpet. "He went to get Vanessa. We're all gonna meet at Miranda's, though, so you can still go in his car if you want..."
"It doesn't matter," Lizzie said, sliding into her flip-flops and grabbing her bag. "A car's a car!" She let out a little laugh.
Why did she sound so nervous and flighty? Get a grip, McGuire, she told herself, following Scott out of her room and down the stairs. Just because Miranda and Vanessa had been giving her grief about Scott didn't mean they knew what they were talking about.
"I'm leaving!" Lizzie yelled to her parents.
They immediately rushed out of the kitchen, her father still chewing on the last of his pancakes. She gave them a weird look. Since when did they gather to watch her leave? But they weren't paying attention to her, they were staring at Scott. A sudden flashback of the Ronnie episode flashed through her mind, and she nearly choked on pure air. That would be beyond mortifying, especially since *nothing* was going on between her and Scott. Why couldn't people get that through their thick heads?
"I'll be back by five or six, at the latest," Lizzie promised hurriedly, practically pushing Scott out the door. "Love you, bye!"
"I don't believe we've met," Mr. McGuire said, stepping forward to block the exit. "I'm Lizzie's dad." He extended his hand to Scott.
"Dad, it's Scott, Gordo's friend. You've seen him before."
"Yes, but we never really talked to him," Mrs. McGuire interjected, coming to stand beside her husband. "Are you kids driving over to the beach together?"
"First we're going to Miranda's," Lizzie explained, anxious to escape their suspicious eyes.
Mr. McGuire was staring at Scott intently. "How tall are you?"
"Uh...six-three?"
"Dad!" Lizzie groaned. She nudged her parents out of the way and pulled open the door. "Good-bye!"
"Be safe!" Joe yelled after them. Sam gave her a sharp look. "Well, wear seatbelts! You know what I mean!"
"I am so sorry! My parents are just... Well, nuts."
Scott laughed. "It happens. Mine aren't exactly all there either," he joked.
Lizzie grinned. Had that little episode actually loosened him up? She was a little taken when he held open the passenger door for her, but she slid in and leaned over to push open the driver's door for him. The least she could do was return the favor. Scott got in, started the car, and they were off.
Lizzie fidgeted with the hem of her white sun dress. "So... Today should be fun. I love the beach!" God, was she really this big a ditz?
"Yeah? So you should be excited about next week, then."
"Definitely!" Lizzie said enthusiastically, turning to face him a bit, crossing one leg over the other. Her dress rode up a little and she quickly tugged it back down. "I just wish everyone could go. Then it would be even better."
"You mean, like, Vanessa, right?"
"Yeah, Vanessa." She paused slightly. "And *you*. And..."
"Jeremy?" Scott asked dubiously.
"Well, maybe not Jeremy," she said, and they both cracked up. "If only my little brother didn't exist."
"You don't know how many times a day I think that way about my sister," Scott said with a grin.
Lizzie liked his smile, she decided. He didn't do it nearly often enough, though. He always looked so sullen and reserved and quiet. But then there were moments like these when he let his guard down in a way, and it was nice. Lizzie just hoped she didn't do anything to screw this opportunity up. "So how old is your sister?"
"Ten. And she's already a total pain in the ass."
"Oh yeah, I remember that age all too well. It was pretty horrible. But just wait until the teenage years hit! Matt's gonna turn fourteen, and if I thought he was a total terror back then, it's nothing compared to now."
"Gee, thanks," Scott said sarcastically, but his smile was still holding. "Hopefully I'll be long gone by then."
"Yeah... Wow, college *is* just around the corner."
"I'm seriously boycotting the thought," Scott said firmly.
"Hear, hear!" Lizzie agreed. "This summer is all about nothing except stupid, mindless fun."
Scott turned his grin on her for a split second, and her breath literally caught in her throat. Why hadn't she ever noticed how gorgeous his eyes were? A hazel mixture of emerald green and light brown with flecks of gold. His voice brought her back to reality. Where she and Scott were just friends. Who didn't like each other.
"Yeah, like sneaking off to go clubbing in Los Angeles?"
Lizzie grinned back. "Exactly! Hey, you and Vanessa should come meet up with us in Malibu for at least one night."
Scott nodded. "Yeah, we could do that."
They pulled up in front of Miranda's house just as Vanessa and Gordo were attempting to squeeze the Sanchez's big beach umbrella into Gordo's parents SUV. They managed to get the top part in, but now the pole was sticking straight out.
"Angle it to the right! To the right!" Miranda was screaming.
"There is no more right!" Gordo screamed back.
"Guys, this isn't working," Vanessa sighed, stepping back and letting go of the umbrella. As soon as she did that, the top part sprung open, nearly cracking the SUV's back window.
"Oh my God!" Gordo cried, struggling to get it closed before it did any serious damage.
Miranda and Vanessa stared in awe for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Well, listen, it better work because I am not getting burned again," Miranda insisted, catching her breath. "My shoulders just recuperated, and I have to be caramel-toned perfect when I see Malik next week!"
"And who exactly is Malik?" Mrs. Sanchez demanded curiously, coming out the front door with a cooler in hand.
Lizzie hopped out of Scott's car. "Only the coolest new pop singer to grace the pages of Teen People," she replied smoothly. "Really, Mrs. Sanchez, I thought you were up on the fads," she teased her best friend's mother, who was like a second mother to her–wait, scratch that. Make that more like an *older sister*.
"Oh. Right. Of course I knew that, I was just kidding!"
Miranda shot Lizzie an utterly grateful look. She couldn't very well tell her mother Malik was the seventeen-year-old guy she had met when they had all snuck out to a club last week.
"I don't know how we're gonna get this umbrella there," Gordo said, pulling it completely out. "It's never gonna fit."
"Why don't we just tie it to the top of one of the cars?" Scott suggested casually, as if it was the most obvious solution. Actually it was.
Miranda, Gordo, and Vanessa all looked at each other, realizing how ridiculous they must have seemed trying to jam the thing into the tiny back compartment of Gordo's SUV. The collective response: "Ooooh!"
"Aren't you the hero," Lizzie teased Scott.
He shrugged modestly. "I try."
"Let's put it on your car," Gordo said to Scott. "It's lower and there won't be as much of a chance of it being knocked off by a low tunnel or something."
Mrs. Sanchez raised her eyebrows. "I expect all of my belongings back in one piece! That includes the towels, the umbrella, the cooler, and my daughter," she joked before going back inside.
As soon as Gordo and Scott set to work, Miranda ambushed Lizzie with Vanessa. "Was that flirting I detected, coming from both sides?"
"Oh my God. Can I get one day of peace? Please?"
"Heyyy! Where the party at! Where, where, where the Bacardi at!"
They looked toward the street to see Jeremy gliding over on his skateboard, a big grin plastered on his face. It wasn't certain if he was already stoned or not. All the girls groaned.
"Present company excluded, Gordo has really bad taste in friends," Vanessa muttered.
Lizzie sighed. "No, Gordo just has a really big heart."
Miranda nodded glumly. "Can we kill him?"
"Maybe later. We still need his parent's car," Vanessa quipped.
"Hey there, lovely ladies," Jeremy said, strolling over suavely, board balanced under his arm. "I gotta say, I'm looking forward to seeing all three of you in your little suits." His gaze roamed over their figures.
Lizzie smirked. "Well it'll be a little hard to see through two black eyes, don't you think?"
Jeremy winced, but slowly backed away, clutching his heart through his sleeveless tee. "You wound me. Really. That hurts right here."
"Jeremy, if you're done making a total ass of yourself, we're ready to go," Gordo said.
"I'm riding in the Benz!" Jeremy yelled, jumping into the back of Gordo's SUV.
"I'm riding with Scott," Lizzie immediately decided, making a beeline for his black Nissan.
Miranda was about to go right after her, but Vanessa grabbed her arm and discreetly shook her head. "No way, you're not leaving me alone with Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber there. Come on."
"Ooooh. Right. Oops," Miranda grinned sheepishly.
–*–
"I got it! I got it! I got it!" Lizzie cried, positioning herself beneath the incoming beach ball. She held her arms straight out, thumbs crossed tightly, wrists upward, elbows locked. She had the technique down pact.
Unfortunately her aim was way off and the big brightly colored object bounced off her head and landed in the sand.
"Ugh! So close!" she whined good-naturedly.
"That was better than the last one!" Gordo called from the other side of the volleyball net with a laugh.
"Thanks for the encouragement!"
Scott, who had somehow ended up as the only other person on her team thanks to Vanessa and Miranda, came over to her. "I'm sorry, I know I suck. But I did the arm thing you showed me! It's just the sun gets in my eyes and–"
He laughed. "Don't worry about it. And Gordo's right, you are getting better. But next time back up with the ball. You are allowed to move, you know."
"Move. Right." Lizzie nodded. "Interesting concept."
"And here, you can borrow my sunglasses." He gave her his wrap-around silver ones.
Lizzie took them with a smile and slipped them on. Suddenly it didn't matter in the least that her brand-new Gucci sunglasses were sitting right in her bag less than three feet away.
"It ain't over yet, Gordon!" Scott was yelling, picking up the ball and tossing it in his hands a few times before making a clean serve over. Gordo practically threw himself down to try to salvage the shot, but he ended up eating a mouthful of sand, and the ball landed next to his head with a slight thud.
Vanessa helped pull him up. "It's alright, baby. We can't all be athletes."
"I am too athletic," Gordo said indignantly. "That was a cheap trick. He's taller so of course he has an advantage."
"It's volleyball, not basketball," Lizzie pointed out. "Stop making excuses. Scott's just better than you."
"You wish," Vanessa countered, coming closer to the net, a twinkle in her aqua eyes. "My man can take your man any day!"
"Now who's the one who's wishing," Lizzie joked, then almost immediately felt her face flushing. And it wasn't because of the sweltering sun beaming down on them, either. Please tell me I didn't indirectly refer to Scott as "my man," she begged of herself.
But it was obviously not a hallucination, judging by the smug smirk of satisfaction Vanessa's face had contorted into, and the bewildered expression on Gordo's face. Lizzie couldn't even bear to look at Scott.
"Get away from me, you freak!"
Miranda was running out of the ocean at top speed, Jeremy right behind her.
Gordo sighed. "What now?"
"He's trying to kill me!" Miranda shrieked, grabbing onto the closest available person, Scott for cover.
"Aww, jeez, how dramatic can you get? I was just showing her a crab for God's sake!"
"A crab? Yeah, right! Nice story. But that was no crab, that was most definitely a leech! And he was trying to put it on my neck."
Jeremy held out the tiny orange crab as proof. "Does this look like a leech to you?" he asked Lizzie.
She frowned, desperately wanting to take Miranda's side. "Um...not really?"
Miranda stepped forward a bit. "That's what you were holding the entire time?"
Jeremy nodded.
"Yeah...well...he tried to pull down my bikini bottoms!"
Jeremy grinned then. "Yeah, I won't even try to deny that." They all sighed in disgust. "Come on, she looks hot, what am I supposed to do?"
For a moment Miranda seemed as if she honestly didn't know whether to be flattered or angry, but then Scott whacked Jeremy upside the head and turned the attention away from her.
"You're supposed to control yourself, moron."
"Who you callin' a moron, buttmunch?"
That set off a wrestling match between the two.
"I'd say the game's over," Gordo said to Lizzie. "And guess what? We win!" He and Vanessa slapped five.
"What? You two were so totally cheating!" Lizzie complained.
"Prove it," Vanessa challenged.
"Yeah, and I don't think *being better* constitutes as cheating anyway," Gordo added.
Vanessa looked at her boyfriend and shrugged. "Some people are just such sore losers."
Gordo nodded. "What a shame."
Lizzie scoffed. "Sore loser this!" She kicked a bunch of sand in their direction.
"She did not just do that," Gordo said. "I'm giving you till three. One..."
Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest. He was totally bluffing.
"Two..."
Was his foot twitching? No way. Gordo wouldn't. Still, her arms uncrossed and she glanced at Miranda.
"Two and a half..."
Lizzie began backing away. "Okay, let's not–"
Without warning, Gordo lunged for her. She screamed and ducked out of his grasp, taking off down the beach. He caught up with her in less than five seconds. When did Gordo get so fast? She always used to beat him at races. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he literally lifted her off the ground.
"What the hell?" Lizzie couldn't keep that comment in. Gordo could actually *pick her up*. But he had absolutely no muscle! At least not the last time she checked. When had that been anyway?
"Apologize," Gordo ordered, starting to drag her over to the edge of the water.
"For what?" Lizzie demanded.
"For accusing Vanessa and me of cheating! For being a sore loser! For kicking sand at me!"
"Never!" Lizzie screamed, laughing at the way his fingers were tickling her sides. "You deserved it all."
"I'm sorry, what was that? It didn't sound like an apology!" He had waded into the Pacific up to his waist and angled Lizzie so her head would be the first to hit the water.
Her arm trailed down to the water, then she promptly jerked it back. "It's so cold! Gordo, come on, put me down. Please!"
"Okay. Right after you say sorry."
Lizzie crossed her arms. "Nope. I can stay like this all day."
"Well I can't."
With that, Gordo dumped her into the water. Her yell was silenced by the splash and she stood up, spewing and gagging on the salt water.
"That was low! Even for you!"
Gordo was grinning. "I know, I loved every second of it."
"Just as I will love this."
Grabbing him by the back of the neck, she dunked his head under water, putting her weight on her arms so he couldn't come up. What she didn't count on was his hands trailing slowly, almost sensuously up her legs to rest on her hips and squeezing them a bit. She jumped back, clearly startled, and that gave him the perfect opportunity to straighten up.
Lizzie stared at him oddly, but he was still just laughing. "You are way too easy, McGuire."
She rolled her eyes. "And you're just way too annoying, Gordon." Her foot bumped into something, and she realized it was Scott's glasses. She fished them up with her toes and examined them to make sure they were okay. Still intact.
"You know you love me." He took her hand and began pulling her back towards shore.
"I don't think I even have a choice at this point."
It was turning into a weird day at the beach, that was for sure. But Lizzie had no idea exactly how weird it was gonna get.
–*–