In the past week, icy reality had frozen Gordo's home into a stand still. He and his father had stopped talking completely, on those rare occasions when they actually saw each other. When Saturday night rolled around, Gordo left for Lizzie's house without even asking permission. His father- at whatever late hour he got home from the bar- would never even notice he was gone. Making absolutely sure he was wearing a jacket, to cover any obvious marks. Then, checking to make sure the door to his room was shut, Gordo headed out the front door.

He reached Lizzie's house around seven o'clock. A dim blanket of blue had settled over the earth, as the last bit of sun, set down beneath the homes and trees. Gordo rang Lizzie's doorbell, even though he would usually just walk in. It had just been so long since he'd been over there. It felt foreign. Strange. It was Lizzie who answered the door, with her brother Matt, buzzing up behind her.
"Oh," he said, disappointed. "It's just you."
Lizzie turned around to her brother. "Uh, go away!"
"Well, I feel very welcome," Gordo said sarcastically.
"He's waiting for Melena, his girlfriend." The last part was said loudly and enunciated, in a sing song kind of voice.
Another voice, shouting from across the house could also be heard. "Shut up!"
"Come on," Lizzie said, leading the way up to her room. Once there she gently shut the door behind them. There seemed to be something on her mind, as she made akward, nervous movements, walking into the room. "My parents are gone. At a football game. They should be gone a while."
"Oh. Cool."
"Okay, Gordo, listen, I know what you've been doing."
"What are you talking about?" Gordo said, uneasily.
"Gordo, why didn't you tell me? I mean, geez, if something was wrong- I mean, I'm your best friend, you should of- Gordo, why didn't you just confide in me, I could have helped you. I mean, I can help you."
"I- I, don't know, what you mea-"
"Gordo, stop it. Don't lie to me. I mean, do you really think I'm that stupid?"
"No, I just-"
"Or that I don't care about you?"
"No-"
"Well, Gordo then why didn't you just tell me you were upset about something, or that there was something wrong with your life?"
"I was scared," he said, his voice laden with more honesty than he'd felt in months.
"Gordo, we're best friends. You don't have to be scared around me."
"How did you find out anyway?"
"Well, I didn't buy the, "I'm just nervous about my exams" line. And then I just got way too tired of hearing you reason away your cuts with excuses like, "I fell", or "A cat scratched me". Gordo, you don't even have a cat." Before he could retort, she continued. "Anyway, you'd been avoiding me and I needed to talk to you. I knew you were the last one out of the locker rooms, because you waited until everyone else left to change- "
"Hey, who want's to change with thirty other guys watching them?"
Lizzie gave him a serious look. He shrugged and looked back at his shoe laces. "Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you but then I saw you. Before I could call out to you, to tell you to come talk to me, but then, you took off your shirt." Gordo gave an uncomfortable wince, still staring at his shoe laces, which had never been quite so interesting to him before now. "I just want to help you, Gordo," Lizzie said, the first signs of tears appearing in her eyes. Then, her tone growing angrier she said, "But damn it, Gordo, why didn't you tell me? Don't you trust me?"
"You don't understand. I was, embarrassed."
"Embarrassed about what? I've known you since you were two. I've seen you pick your nose. What are you embarrassed about?"
"I just," he paused, slamming his eyes shut tight trying to wish himself to another place and time. "I thought you would hate me."
"Gordo," Lizzie said, almost disappointed, her voice growing very sad and concerned. "Gordo, I could never hate you. Especially not over this. I just want to make you feel better. Help you stop hurting yourself."
It sounded so wrong the way she said it. If he was hurting himself so much, then why did it feel so good? Why did it feel like an answer. A solution. He kept his eyes locked to the floor in defiance. "You don't understand."
"What don't I understand Gordo? Tell me. I'm listening."
Gordo hesitated. He looked up at her for the first time. "I feel-," he started. "I just wanted to tell you I li-", he stopped. "Nevermind," he said, walking over to her bed and sitting on the corner.
"No, Gordo," Lizzie said, her tone growing strong and menacing again. "You've been trying to tell me something for months, now tell me!"
"I-I, just-"
"Hey you guys," Miranda said, walking in with a smile. She stopped, seeing Lizzie standing in the middle of the room, her arms crossed and face downcast, and Gordo, sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes also glued to the floor. Miranda could feel the silence building. "Am I interrupting something?"
Quickly, Gordo found his way out of telling Lizzie. "No, nothing. Let's watch some movies." He half smiled and then his face drifted back to the floor.
Miranda, dared to take one step into the room. Her face was a mixture of fear and confusion. "So what movie are we gonna watch first," she said, after a moment of sitting in the hot silence. No one spoke. Miranda stepped back to her original spot. "You guys wanna get started?" Still, no one spoke. "Okay, I'm gonna go make some popcorn," she said, exiting as quickly as she could. The room stood still in time for at least five minutes. Miranda took as long as was humanly possible fixing the popcorn. No one deserved to walk in on that kind of tension. Lizzie was the first to speak.
"Gordo," was all she said.
He stood up and walke to her, stepping in front of her so they were face to face. "Look, this is hard for me to tell you."
"Just say what's on your mind."
"You don't understand. What I'm going to tell you could have a huge impact on our friendship and, I'm scared it will be bad."
"Our friendship's survived this long, I'm sure-"
At that moment, Gordo leaned in quickly, pursing his lips into hers. Immediately following the lip lock, his arms moved slowly up her back, pulling her in close to him. He could feel her entire body melt under his grasp. Moving one hand up through her silky hair, he kept the other working to hold her into him as he drank in her kiss, letting the moment seep into his pores. At that moment, Miranda walked casually into the room, holding a white ceramic bowl filled to the brim with popcorn. Standing there for a moment in amazement, she then got bored with the fact that no one even noticed her departure or arrival, tossed a handfull of popcorn into her mouth and carefully shut the door. Lizzie and Gordo, both with closed eyes, managed to make their way to the bed. The layed down on it, still kissing for another ten minutes. Then, as if the planned it, they stopped. Lying there, facing eachother in the middle of Lizzie's bed. They were staring into eachother's eyes, seemingly mesmorized, trying to feel what the other one was thinking. No words were uttered. There was no need. The only thing between them were their hands that were clutched together. They stayed like that for almost an hour. Watching eachother. Listening to the other one breathe. Then they both fell asleep- Lizzie first. Gordo stayed there all night, holding Lizzie's soft hand, breathing her in, still tasting her in his dreams. In the morning when Lizzie woke, he was gone, but as she lifted herself up, she saw a slip of paper on the pillow next to her. Scribbled on the paper, in smudgy black ink, seemed to be a poem.

The modest rose puts forth a thorn
The humble sheep a threatening horn
While my Lizzie white, shall in love delight
Nor a thorn, nor threat stain her beauty bright.

Smiling and blushing, she folding the small piece of paper and pressed it between two pages in her diary that lay in her top desk drawer. Smiling even wider now, she made her way back to bed, and lied down, too excited to move.