Chapter two

I woke up and yawned, stretching my arms out over the length of my bed. It was a beautiful morning, and the sun shone over my face. My heart gave a little flutter as I remembered that we were going on the field trip today. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and scratched my head, breathing heavily. Just thinking about her practically made me melt down into a pile of jello.

I wasn't really excited about the field trip itself, nor the fact that there was a nice lagoon to swim in near our cabins that reside deep in the woods.

Maybe, finally, I could confess my feelings towards Lizzie. I've buried them deep inside myself long enough. I could just imagine Lizzie, her hair wet and tangled after a swim in the lagoon, her face red and laughing from the heat of the sun. She is the coolest, prettiest best friend a guy could possibly want to have. She was perfect, and I desired to tell her so.

Running a hand through my mop of brown curls, I stood up and brushed my teeth, not concentrating fully on what I was doing. Everything was jumbled, and the world seemed to be spinning. Suddenly, I tasted the bitter metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. Scrunching up my face, I spit out the blood and rubbed my gums with my tongue to soothe the sharp pain. I sighed. I was a mess.

"David? David, are you awake?" I heard my mom call from downstairs. Heaving a sigh, I threw on some clean clothes and ran a brush through my hair. I looked at myself in the mirror.

"Today's the day, Gordo," I said aloud. Shaking my head, I walked down the stairs, toothbrush in hand. My mom was waiting for me. Handing me my backpack, my mom jerked her head towards the open door.

"Lizzie and Miranda are outside." Suddenly, tears were in her eyes.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, looking at my mom with a concerned expression. She smiled, and wiped away a tear.

"Nothing, David. It's just, you… you're going to be gone on that field trip until Sunday…"

"I know, Mom. Two days seem like a lot." I said, patting her arm. She pulled me into a bone-crunching hug and wouldn't let go. Over my mom's shoulder, I saw Lizzie and Miranda waiting on the doorstep, nodding their heads. I gave them a pathetic thumbs-up, and they stifled a laugh.

"Okay," my mom said, letting go of me and shoving a rolled up sleeping bag, a white pillow, and a duffel bag into my outstretched hands, "here's what you packed last night. You have your toothbrush, right?" I nodded and held up my toothbrush. Mom stuffed it into my duffel bag, sniffing away more tears, "good." She stood up and hugged me again.

"Be careful now, David. Remember, your dad and I will be home, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to call. Well, I think that's it…" I began to turn away, but my mom put a hand on my shoulder.

"One more thing – have fun!" My mom said reluctantly. She kissed me on my forehead and pushed me out the door, "I love you."

"I love you to, Mom." I said, smiling, "don't worry. I'll be fine."

Turning to Miranda and Lizzie, they nodded their heads. We walked along, hunched over with the weight and size of our bags and pillows.

"We got the exact same reaction." Lizzie said, glancing at my mom waving in the doorstep, "you'd think we were going to war or something, the way they're acting."

"Yeah," Miranda added, laughing, "and they've known about the trip for weeks in advance!"

I shrugged and continued walking, looking at my feet, "uh-huh."

We walked along in an awkward silence. My mind desperately searched for something to say, but I couldn't talk. I felt like I had my mouth taped shut, and someone had poured salt and sand down my throat. I pried my mouth open, only to emit a cough.

Now this is uncomfortable…

Suddenly, we were standing in front of Hillridge Jr. high School. I saw Lizzie and Miranda grin at each other. Miranda turned to look at me and giggled frantically.

"Hey Gordo -," she started, looking like a balloon about to burst. Lizzie sprang in front of her and smiled at me, causing me to lose all sense of everything. I just gave her a goofy, lopsided grin. We stared into each other's eyes for a minute. I moved closer to her, still gazing deep into her hazel eyes.

"Hey Lizz-ay!" A voice cried out, breaking me out of my trance. I groaned as I looked up at Ethan, trailed by Kate and her posse. Lizzie looked at Miranda out of the corner of her eye.

"Backstabber!" she hissed, glaring at my other best friend.

"Ethan!" Lizzie said, smiling once more at me and turning to face him. Kate and Claire rolled their eyes at the same time. Sometimes, I wonder if they can read each other's minds.

"Ethan, are you really going to waste your precious time on these dorks?" Claire asked, waving her hand as if to shoo us away. Ethan ignored her, and Claire gave a frustrated yell, and stomped off with Kate at her heels. Ethan looked at me, nodding his head and grinning.

"What?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Ethan laughed and held up his hand for a high-five. I complied reluctantly, still confused on what I did to deserve his total and complete attention.

"Dude!" he yelled, "Gor-don! What did you do with your hair? It looks so, retro and you." Feeling embarrassed and exasperated at the same time, I shook my head and smiled apathetically.

"I brushed it." I said sardonically, feeling better when I heard my friend's muffled laughs from behind me – namely Lizzie's. Ethan looked bemused. Scratching his head, he glanced down at my hair again.

"Cool. Uh, peeps, I gotta go. The bus, it's calling me." Ethan shuffled off, hands in his pockets. I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Does he even know what sarcasm means?" I asked, staring after him in disbelief. Miranda and Lizzie chuckled again.

"Probably not," Miranda said, fixing her hair with one hand and making hand motions with the other, "but hey, why does he need brains when he's got looks?"

I sighed and held up my hands in defeat, "no appreciation. None at all."

"Mr. Dig's six period class please board the bus now. Mr. Dig's six period class please board the bus!" A voice yelled from inside a megaphone. Everybody covered their ears as a shrill, high-pitched note rang through the bus lot following the announcement.

"I guess that's us." Lizzie said, pulling Miranda and me towards the yellow-colored bus parked near the curb. I laughed at the determined expression plastered on Lizzie's face.

"What?" she asked, looking back at me and shielding her eyes from the sun. She pulled on my shirt harder and I just chuckled. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"It's okay Gordo," Miranda said, sighing with mock regret, "Lizzie's got to have her blonde moments."

Laughing, Lizzie loosened her steel grip on my shirt and grabbed Miranda's by the collar. Miranda just laughed and shoved Lizzie's hand away.

"Hurry up, you three," I heard Mr. Dig say as he herded his students onto the bus. He grinned at us and pointed the nearly filled bus, "got here a little late, eh?"

"Mr. Gordon, Ms. McGuire – go sit there." We sat down in one of the front rows of the bus (all the backseats were taken). Miranda gave us a pitiful look. Mr. Dig scanned the bus again, scratching his stubby chin. Finally, he pointed to a row near the middle of the bus.

"And you, Ms. Sanchez… you can be Mr. Trudgeman's seatmate!" Miranda glanced at us again mouthing, 'you owe me. You owe me big time.' Lizzie nodded, stifling a laugh. 'He's okay, really.' She mouthed back. Miranda rolled her eyes and sat rather reluctantly next to Trudgeman.

"We've got a long ride ahead of us," Lizzie said, turning to beam at me after the driver had taken her seat. I just nodded and smiled back, falling in love all over again.

"Yeah."

If you've read my other LM story's new chapter, I explained why I'm not going to be updating as much for the next couple of days. If you want the details about my fabulous and infamous mishap, please read my other story. Thank you.

*hehe*

I know, I know. The story is not really that interesting yet. But I promise – promise this time – it will get better in the rest of the chapters and throughout this whole story. It's angst, ya know.

I pinkie swear. (Pinkie swears! HAHA!)

Ahem. Now go away.

No, just kidding! PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE REVIEWS! ^_^

I love to type. And write stories. Yep, that was hard to decipher.

Tic-Tac  ^_~