Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.
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The Sweetness: Life's Not A Race
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"So, Gordo, do you want to come over for dinner?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, sure," Gordo said. Lizzie smiled at him. This was easy so far. They stood up, and started across the park. "So what are you going to do tomorrow?" Gordo asked. "First day of vacation."
"I already told you, I'd hang out with you tomorrow," Lizzie said.
"You know, you don't have to hang out with me just because you feel obligated," Gordo said.
"Are you kidding? I hang out with you because I want to, Gordo. You're fun and you're funny and you're smart and you're the best friend a person could hope for. That's why I hang out with you." Lizzie grinned at him. "And that's why I'm going out with you." Going out with Gordo. It was weird to say, weird to think. But it made sense in its own way.
"You really mean that?" Gordo said.
Lizzie was stunned. How could Gordo --Gordo, king of confidence-- not know how cool he was? "Of course I mean that! You're one of the most awesome people I know."
Gordo laughed and shook his head. "Lizzie, you rock. Don't ever change."
"Right back at you," Lizzie said, laughing. Out of the millions of times she'd written that, and the millions of times she'd received it, only one of those had ever meant anything.
As they started down onto Lizzie's street, Gordo reached for her hand. Lizzie blushed in the dark, but squeezed his hand briefly. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face. This was good. This was nice.
"Your parents won't be weirded out?" Gordo asked.
"My mom sort of encouraged it," Lizzie admitted. "That was the weird Mom stuff I was telling you about. Dad might be a bit freaked out, but it's not like we're going to be totally mushy at the table or anything."
"Or ever," Gordo said.
"Not a mushy person, Gordo?" Lizzie teased.
"You know me," he shrugged.
"This is my door," Lizzie observed. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Gordo said. Glancing at each other, the simultaneously let go of each other's hand, grinning embarrassedly. Facing the McGuire clan would be bad enough without the hand-holding factor. "Um, Lizzie? I just wanted you to know that I'm...really happy now. Really happy."
Lizzie smiled, and nearly blushed again. Gordo was so sweet and caring. He made Ronny look like the world's biggest chump. Seriously, shoelaces? Even Tudgeman, sweet in his own bizarre, Tudge-y way, could take a page out of Gordo's book. Because even when Gordo was talking about himself, right now he made Lizzie feel like the most important person in the world. "Me, too."
~~~~~
Under the table, Gordo kicked Lizzie. Lizzie tried her best to hide a squeal and kick him back without alerting her parents to it. It was a game they played a lot at dinners, seeing who could go the longest without being caught. Jo McGuire kept looking at the two of them and smiling, which made their game even more of a challenge. Of course, Jo thought that their spontaneous giggles were because of young love, and not under the table kickfests. Matt whined that Gordo got to stay over for dinner, but Lanny had had to go home. Sam McGuire, like his son, was clueless.
"So, how was the last day of school, kids?" Jo asked.
Lizzie kicked Gordo quite fiercely, all the while maintaining an innocent expression, and said, "Pretty good. It kind of sucked without Miranda there, though."
"Oh, I'm sure you two made do," Jo said with a fond, motherly smile. It was all Lizzie could do to refrain from rolling her eyes. "How was your day, Matt?" her mother asked, looking at the youngest McGuire, and at that moment, Gordo retaliated with a sharp kick. Lizzie squeaked, and her mother turned to glare sharply at her. Lizzie flashed a quick smile. "Hiccups," she explained. "Mom, Gordo and I are both done with dinner, can we be excused?"
"Sure," Jo said slowly, giving her a suspicious look.
Lizzie jumped from her seat and almost fell over from the sharp pain in her leg. She smiled awkwardly.
Gordo got up and began to clear his plate. "Gordo, that's not necessary," Lizzie hissed, grabbing his arm. "Let's go."
"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. McGuire, it was great," Gordo said, and Lizzie all but dragged him out of the room.
Once out of her parents' sight, Lizzie put her weight on her good leg and limped to the back porch. "Geez, Gordo, you could have killed me!"
"Well, you deserved it!" Gordo said as they both collapsed weakly to the ground. "That last kick of yours is going to leave me black and blue."
"So I win," Lizzie said.
"No way! You kept...squeaking. And your mom totally knew something was up. I win."
"You so don't win!" Lizzie said, but had no argument to back it up, just a stern, 'you better not cross me' look.
"Fine," Gordo consented, "we'll call it a draw."
"It's not a draw! I win!"
"You don't win, I got in the last kick."
"A rematch, then!" Lizzie said, desperate to win.
"No way," Gordo said quickly, rubbing his leg. "I'm going to be sore for weeks."
"I'll race you, then," Lizzie said. "Whoever wins is declared table kicking champion."
"Are you insane? Don't your legs hurt?"
"Burning with pain," she said cheerfully. "All the more reason why the winner is declared champion, because they won through their suffering."
"Fine," Gordo said, throwing up his hands in defeat. "You're completely insane. You won't let me win, even though I so obviously did, so we'll try this little 'contest' of yours, okay?"
Lizzie allowed herself a triumphant grin. "Sweet."
"From the fence to the tree, around, and back," Gordo said, mapping their track out in the air with his finger. The two teenagers got slowly to their feet, hobbled over to the fence, and assumed runner's stances.
"On your mark," Lizzie said, "get set...GO!"
They took off, hobbling quickly, with Gordo in the lead. As they ambled around the tree, though, he lost his footing slightly on a small rock, and fell back a step. Lizzie actually felt some of the pain ebbing from her leg, and her cramp was starting to feel good enough that she got a second wind, and made it to the fence a good five seconds before Gordo. Grinning, laughing, she slid down to the grass. "I win!" she called triumphantly to the night, and Gordo sat next to her.
"I can't believe that first you kick me to death, then you make me race you, and now I have to walk home," Gordo complained, rubbing his leg.
"My mom can probably drive you home," Lizzie said, breathing slightly heavily. They sat in silence awhile, the only sound being some crickets, and maybe an owl, and their labored breathing.
"I should go," Gordo said, and it sounded like a shout in the stillness.
"Mmm. Yeah," Lizzie said, beginning to feel pretty tired. Between racing in the backyard, the last day of school, pot throwing, and a lot of relationship drama, she was long overdue for a nap. With a heavy sigh, she leaned over and rest her head on Gordo's shoulder. She was just *tired*.
Gordo knew he was going to get in trouble if he stayed much later. His parents had been gone when he'd first left for the park, and when he'd gotten to Lizzie's he'd called and left a message saying where he was. But even though tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation, they'd still get a little upset. Problem was, he didn't really want to leave. He was having fun, a lot of fun, and now Lizzie was leaning up against him, she liked him, she liked him back, she was his *girlfriend*, and he didn't want to leave.
"Gordo?" It was Mrs. McGuire, coming out onto the back porch. Lizzie sat up immediately, and tried to look like she hadn't been almost asleep on Gordo. "Your parents called; I'm going to give you a ride home, okay?"
"Sure, Mrs. McGuire," Gordo said, getting to his feet and pretending like his leg still didn't hurt. He took Lizzie's hand and helped her up for the second time that day, and he remembered when he helped her up that morning, back when they were still just friends, and god, how much had changed in the course of one day?
"Can I come, Mom?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be in the car in a second." Mrs. McGuire disappeared into the house, Gordo and Lizzie smiled sheepishly at each other and went to the car. Gordo was still holding her hand loosely.
They sat in the backseat, cracking jokes and acting like they always did, because they were friends first. Unbeknownst to them, Jo McGuire would glance in the rearview mirror and smile at the two of them. "Here we are," she announced, pulling up to the curb in front of the Gordon house.
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. McGuire," Gordo said, unlocking his seatbelt and opening the door.
"No problem," she said cheerfully. "I take it we'll be seeing you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," he said, looking over his shoulder and smiling at Lizzie. "See you tomorrow," he said.
"Bye, Gordo," Lizzie said softly. Gordo waved, got out of the car, and walked up to his house. Lizzie watched until he got inside, then jumped out of the backseat and ran around the car to climb in the front.
"Happy, much, Lizzie?" Jo McGuire teased.
"Mom, please," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes. But she was still smiling.
"I'm so happy for you two."
"How'd you know?" Lizzie asked suddenly. "Mom intuition?"
"Something like that. I thought you were worried it'd be all 'weird.'"
"Well, so far it isn't. But when Miranda comes back home it might get weird."
"Maybe you should call her and warn her," Jo suggested.
"She's going to hate me," Lizzie moaned, burying her head in her hands.
"Well, unless she really liked Gordo herself, and I never saw any evidence to that, don't worry," Jo added quickly, seeing the panicked look on her daughter's face, "I don't think she will. Just call her, Lizzie. She's your best friend; she'll understand."
Lizzie nodded and stared out the window.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
The Sweetness: Life's Not A Race
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
"So, Gordo, do you want to come over for dinner?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, sure," Gordo said. Lizzie smiled at him. This was easy so far. They stood up, and started across the park. "So what are you going to do tomorrow?" Gordo asked. "First day of vacation."
"I already told you, I'd hang out with you tomorrow," Lizzie said.
"You know, you don't have to hang out with me just because you feel obligated," Gordo said.
"Are you kidding? I hang out with you because I want to, Gordo. You're fun and you're funny and you're smart and you're the best friend a person could hope for. That's why I hang out with you." Lizzie grinned at him. "And that's why I'm going out with you." Going out with Gordo. It was weird to say, weird to think. But it made sense in its own way.
"You really mean that?" Gordo said.
Lizzie was stunned. How could Gordo --Gordo, king of confidence-- not know how cool he was? "Of course I mean that! You're one of the most awesome people I know."
Gordo laughed and shook his head. "Lizzie, you rock. Don't ever change."
"Right back at you," Lizzie said, laughing. Out of the millions of times she'd written that, and the millions of times she'd received it, only one of those had ever meant anything.
As they started down onto Lizzie's street, Gordo reached for her hand. Lizzie blushed in the dark, but squeezed his hand briefly. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face. This was good. This was nice.
"Your parents won't be weirded out?" Gordo asked.
"My mom sort of encouraged it," Lizzie admitted. "That was the weird Mom stuff I was telling you about. Dad might be a bit freaked out, but it's not like we're going to be totally mushy at the table or anything."
"Or ever," Gordo said.
"Not a mushy person, Gordo?" Lizzie teased.
"You know me," he shrugged.
"This is my door," Lizzie observed. "Ready?"
"Yeah," Gordo said. Glancing at each other, the simultaneously let go of each other's hand, grinning embarrassedly. Facing the McGuire clan would be bad enough without the hand-holding factor. "Um, Lizzie? I just wanted you to know that I'm...really happy now. Really happy."
Lizzie smiled, and nearly blushed again. Gordo was so sweet and caring. He made Ronny look like the world's biggest chump. Seriously, shoelaces? Even Tudgeman, sweet in his own bizarre, Tudge-y way, could take a page out of Gordo's book. Because even when Gordo was talking about himself, right now he made Lizzie feel like the most important person in the world. "Me, too."
~~~~~
Under the table, Gordo kicked Lizzie. Lizzie tried her best to hide a squeal and kick him back without alerting her parents to it. It was a game they played a lot at dinners, seeing who could go the longest without being caught. Jo McGuire kept looking at the two of them and smiling, which made their game even more of a challenge. Of course, Jo thought that their spontaneous giggles were because of young love, and not under the table kickfests. Matt whined that Gordo got to stay over for dinner, but Lanny had had to go home. Sam McGuire, like his son, was clueless.
"So, how was the last day of school, kids?" Jo asked.
Lizzie kicked Gordo quite fiercely, all the while maintaining an innocent expression, and said, "Pretty good. It kind of sucked without Miranda there, though."
"Oh, I'm sure you two made do," Jo said with a fond, motherly smile. It was all Lizzie could do to refrain from rolling her eyes. "How was your day, Matt?" her mother asked, looking at the youngest McGuire, and at that moment, Gordo retaliated with a sharp kick. Lizzie squeaked, and her mother turned to glare sharply at her. Lizzie flashed a quick smile. "Hiccups," she explained. "Mom, Gordo and I are both done with dinner, can we be excused?"
"Sure," Jo said slowly, giving her a suspicious look.
Lizzie jumped from her seat and almost fell over from the sharp pain in her leg. She smiled awkwardly.
Gordo got up and began to clear his plate. "Gordo, that's not necessary," Lizzie hissed, grabbing his arm. "Let's go."
"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. McGuire, it was great," Gordo said, and Lizzie all but dragged him out of the room.
Once out of her parents' sight, Lizzie put her weight on her good leg and limped to the back porch. "Geez, Gordo, you could have killed me!"
"Well, you deserved it!" Gordo said as they both collapsed weakly to the ground. "That last kick of yours is going to leave me black and blue."
"So I win," Lizzie said.
"No way! You kept...squeaking. And your mom totally knew something was up. I win."
"You so don't win!" Lizzie said, but had no argument to back it up, just a stern, 'you better not cross me' look.
"Fine," Gordo consented, "we'll call it a draw."
"It's not a draw! I win!"
"You don't win, I got in the last kick."
"A rematch, then!" Lizzie said, desperate to win.
"No way," Gordo said quickly, rubbing his leg. "I'm going to be sore for weeks."
"I'll race you, then," Lizzie said. "Whoever wins is declared table kicking champion."
"Are you insane? Don't your legs hurt?"
"Burning with pain," she said cheerfully. "All the more reason why the winner is declared champion, because they won through their suffering."
"Fine," Gordo said, throwing up his hands in defeat. "You're completely insane. You won't let me win, even though I so obviously did, so we'll try this little 'contest' of yours, okay?"
Lizzie allowed herself a triumphant grin. "Sweet."
"From the fence to the tree, around, and back," Gordo said, mapping their track out in the air with his finger. The two teenagers got slowly to their feet, hobbled over to the fence, and assumed runner's stances.
"On your mark," Lizzie said, "get set...GO!"
They took off, hobbling quickly, with Gordo in the lead. As they ambled around the tree, though, he lost his footing slightly on a small rock, and fell back a step. Lizzie actually felt some of the pain ebbing from her leg, and her cramp was starting to feel good enough that she got a second wind, and made it to the fence a good five seconds before Gordo. Grinning, laughing, she slid down to the grass. "I win!" she called triumphantly to the night, and Gordo sat next to her.
"I can't believe that first you kick me to death, then you make me race you, and now I have to walk home," Gordo complained, rubbing his leg.
"My mom can probably drive you home," Lizzie said, breathing slightly heavily. They sat in silence awhile, the only sound being some crickets, and maybe an owl, and their labored breathing.
"I should go," Gordo said, and it sounded like a shout in the stillness.
"Mmm. Yeah," Lizzie said, beginning to feel pretty tired. Between racing in the backyard, the last day of school, pot throwing, and a lot of relationship drama, she was long overdue for a nap. With a heavy sigh, she leaned over and rest her head on Gordo's shoulder. She was just *tired*.
Gordo knew he was going to get in trouble if he stayed much later. His parents had been gone when he'd first left for the park, and when he'd gotten to Lizzie's he'd called and left a message saying where he was. But even though tomorrow was the first day of summer vacation, they'd still get a little upset. Problem was, he didn't really want to leave. He was having fun, a lot of fun, and now Lizzie was leaning up against him, she liked him, she liked him back, she was his *girlfriend*, and he didn't want to leave.
"Gordo?" It was Mrs. McGuire, coming out onto the back porch. Lizzie sat up immediately, and tried to look like she hadn't been almost asleep on Gordo. "Your parents called; I'm going to give you a ride home, okay?"
"Sure, Mrs. McGuire," Gordo said, getting to his feet and pretending like his leg still didn't hurt. He took Lizzie's hand and helped her up for the second time that day, and he remembered when he helped her up that morning, back when they were still just friends, and god, how much had changed in the course of one day?
"Can I come, Mom?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be in the car in a second." Mrs. McGuire disappeared into the house, Gordo and Lizzie smiled sheepishly at each other and went to the car. Gordo was still holding her hand loosely.
They sat in the backseat, cracking jokes and acting like they always did, because they were friends first. Unbeknownst to them, Jo McGuire would glance in the rearview mirror and smile at the two of them. "Here we are," she announced, pulling up to the curb in front of the Gordon house.
"Thanks for the ride, Mrs. McGuire," Gordo said, unlocking his seatbelt and opening the door.
"No problem," she said cheerfully. "I take it we'll be seeing you tomorrow?"
"Yeah," he said, looking over his shoulder and smiling at Lizzie. "See you tomorrow," he said.
"Bye, Gordo," Lizzie said softly. Gordo waved, got out of the car, and walked up to his house. Lizzie watched until he got inside, then jumped out of the backseat and ran around the car to climb in the front.
"Happy, much, Lizzie?" Jo McGuire teased.
"Mom, please," Lizzie said, rolling her eyes. But she was still smiling.
"I'm so happy for you two."
"How'd you know?" Lizzie asked suddenly. "Mom intuition?"
"Something like that. I thought you were worried it'd be all 'weird.'"
"Well, so far it isn't. But when Miranda comes back home it might get weird."
"Maybe you should call her and warn her," Jo suggested.
"She's going to hate me," Lizzie moaned, burying her head in her hands.
"Well, unless she really liked Gordo herself, and I never saw any evidence to that, don't worry," Jo added quickly, seeing the panicked look on her daughter's face, "I don't think she will. Just call her, Lizzie. She's your best friend; she'll understand."
Lizzie nodded and stared out the window.