Meanwhile, Elizabeth shrilled, "What the hell does onna-mata-topia mean?"

"That's not how you say it," Gordie said, not looking up from the comic he was reading in between watching out his bedroom window. "Onomatopoeia. It describes a sound."

"I hate that word," she grumbled. "It should be shot. And stuff."

"Yeeeeep," he said, glancing at her and smiling. "So when do you use a semi-colon?"

"How the hell should I know? I'm not a scientist."

"Hmm. Alright."

Flinging her book down to the floor in anger, she crossed the room over to Gordie, making sure she stepped on the stupid book on her way. "Gordie," she said. "You're not being a very good teacher this afternoon."

"No?"

"Nope." She frowned pitifully. "You don't seem to care about your student."

"Sure I do," he protested, hugging her. "I'm just thinking."

"About ME?" she cried, laughing.

"You I don't think about ever." He poked her on the nose playfully. "I'm thinking about Chris, actually."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "I feel bad because he feels left out sometimes."

"He does?"

"I think so," Gordie said carefully. "That's what I pick up on anyway. And I'm also kinda worried because his dad's on a mean streak I guess."

"Dang," Elizabeth muttered. "Is he okay?"

"I should have made him come over," Gordie said. "I feel like a really shitty friend."

"Hey, you care about him," she reminded him. "And he knows that. He can't say that about very many people."

He grinned at her. "You're like cookies."

"I raise your cholesterol?"

"No, you're sweet and you make me feel happy."

Beaming, she giggled. "Sigh!"

"Why did you just say 'sigh'?"

"Because I wanted to express my speechlessness so I said 'sigh,'"

"You could have just said nothing."

"Kiss my ass."

"I'm not allowed. Your father would string me up from a street lamp by my ankles."

"Speaking of Chris," she said.

"No one spoke of Chris."

"Yes, well, I'm changing the subject." She smiled at the baffled expression on his face. "I think he and Ren would make an interesting couple."

"Keep dreaming," he scoffed. "He can't stand her."

"Well, I know," she said sadly. "But she seems to like him. Maybe she'd be willing to fix some of her stupid clique-y faults for him. And then if she did that, he'd be all 'She really likes me!' and then he'd be all 'Yay!' and then he'd be all 'Let's hold hands and sing tra-la-la-la!'"

"Okay, I'm not going to comment on the likeliness of Chris saying 'tra-la-la-la,' because I can't even picture it. But Ellie, she's hot. She's not a saint. She's not going to change for anyone. And not to put down my best friend, but there aren't very many people in this town who would support her changing for him."

"Yeah, that's because they're dickheads."

"Yep."

[AN: sorry for the shortness of this. Could I get some feedback on what you think of elizabeth and ren? Because I don't know how much I like them, and so I don't know if it's just me or if they annoy everyone, and if I need to change some things. Thanks!]