"I'm going to Ro-ome; I'm going to Ro-ome!" I sang.

"Oh please, stop it!" Matt yelped.

"Rome, Rome, Ro-ome!"

I was meeting the chaperone at the airport. I couldn't wait! It was going to be totally awesome!

"We're here!" Dad announced.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I squealed. "I'm in Rome!"

"No, dimwit. You are at the airport." Matt rolled his eyes.

"What's the difference?" I said as I skipped into the airport.

"No, Lizzie!" I heard a voice call. "You're not graceful enough to-"

I tripped, landing face-first on concrete. Ow!

"-skip." Gordo finished. He rushed over to me. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking concerned.

I giggled and got up. "Gordo! I've fallen about a thousand times this month and you're worried about me every time. Let me tell you, I'm fine!"

He sighed in relief. "Okay, I know. Sorry. I was just worried."

"Whatever. Let's go inside before we miss our flight!" I started skipping again.

"But our flight is not for and hour!"

"What?" I spin around and fall again.

Animated Lizzie: Okay, I'm never going to skip again.

Gordo POV

I sighed. Every time she fell, it scared me. What if she really got hurt? I didn't want that to happen to her.

Okay, can you tell? I liked her. I wasn't sure that I loved her, probably not. It was just that I liked her more than friend. She made me so nervous when I was around her. But I couldn't tell her, that would completely ruin our friendship. And what if she didn't like me? That would be a huge mess. I didn't have the guts to tell her, anyway. So I kept quiet about it.

Good idea or not?

You decide.

See, with Miranda gone to Mexico and all, it's really a mess. She kissed me on the cheek! She really did. But we discussed it, and she said it was a friendship kiss. I really hoped that wasn't the truth. But it was. I never finished what I wrote in her yearbook, and I'm still praying she hasn't read it. It'd be too embarrassing.

I rolled my eyes like a best friend would. "Lizzie!"

She smiled sheepishly. "Okay, so skipping isn't my best sport."

We went inside the airport, and I was nervous. Leaving my parents for two months? In a foreign country? With Kate and Ethan? Okay, so there was an upside. Being with Lizzie, finding more things to videotape and make a documentary into. things like that. I had been on a plane before, but Lizzie hadn't. And she was freaking out.

"What if it crashes? Or if I barf in front of Ethan? Or on Ethan?"

I laughed to myself on that thought.

"It's gonna sink, I know it. And we're all gonna die!"

I had to calm her down. "Think about Rome, not about the plane." I said.

"Huh?"

"Think about how much fun you're going to have at Rome instead of the plane." I repeated.

"Okay-but what if we get lost?"

"We won't." I patted her on the back.

"Are you sure?" She asked suspiciously. She glanced at her family and saw Matt taping this moment. "Augh! Matt! Get that thing out of my face!" She screamed.

"Ha, ha, ha! Can't catch me!" He started dodging between the parents' legs, and then ran all over the airport, with Lizzie following his every move.

"Flight 172 is boarding early in five minutes." An announcer said.

I guess our flight time was changed. "Bye mom, dad." I said and hugged them.

"Bye, David. And be good."

I had to roll my eyes at that. "I will." I said, fighting the urge to add 'mommy' to the sentence. I was old enough to take care of myself.

I glanced at Lizzie, who was still tackling her brother. "Lizzie, let's go!" I said.

She ran to her mother and hugged her. Mrs. McGuire did a great deal of hugging back.

"Mom-uh.mom!" Lizzie tried to catch her mother's attention.

"Honey, honey." Sam said. "She can't breathe."

Mrs. McGuire released Lizzie from her grasp.

Lizzie hugged her dad, smirked at Matt, and took hold of my hand. My heart started to beat faster. "Come on!" She said as she tugged me towards the plane.

I was melting. "Okay." I said as we head into the plane together.
We were on the plane, about to lift off and Lizzie was scared to death.

"I'm scared!" She whispered.

I smiled to myself. This was a perfect opportunity to make her closer to me.

"Remember what I said." I replied and put my arm around her shoulders and squeezed her against me.

"Hey, yo, Lizzie!" Ethan calls from the seat behind her.

She turns around, which meant that I had to put my hands back in my lap.

"Yeah?" She asked, probably hoping that he'd ask her out.

"Do you spell 'Rome' with two o's or three?"

I snorted.

"I think it's one." She said gently and slumped down in her seat.

"Why can't he see that I like him?" She mumbled.

"Because he's too dumb to think." I said. Not to say that you're dumb because you can't see that I like you. I added silently.

"Gordo!" She exclaimed.

"Ooh, sorry. I forgot our rule. 'No dissing Ethan.'"

She nods.

"Ten seconds 'til liftoff!" The pilot announced.

That was random.

Lizzie started freaking out again. "What do I do?"

"Put your seatbelt and chew gum and stay-"

I was going to say 'close to me', but I was interrupted by the plane moving.

She put her head against me and squeezed her eyes shut. I gripped her hand.

And soon we were in the air. Two minutes later, I noticed something.

Lizzie was asleep on my shoulder.

I didn't know what to do. So I decided to keep her on my shoulder, while I watched the featured movie. I hope she didn't wake up soon, because I liked the feeling of her breathing on my neck.

Was I going crazy?

Or was I falling in love?

I'll take crazy.