* Chapter eighteen – Gordo *
"AGENDAS!" Mr. Dig yelled. As I lifted my head off of my desk, I yawned; the noise adding to the murmur of groans that was emitted from the students around me. I pulled the paper from my face - stuck there probably because of drool - and rubbed my eyes, looking at Mr. Dig. The only people still working were Kate, Claire, Ethan, and – I looked around the classroom – Miranda? I blinked my eyes. Hard. Miranda never takes very long with tests… she may be a perfume-wearing, eccentric mall-rat, but she does get tests done. I looked back at Lizzie, but she had her head in her arms, seemingly fast asleep. Then, through all the sleepy weariness, a hand was raised.
"Yes, Mr. Craft?" Mr. Dig asked, going into his 'less-than-intelligent' voice. Ethan scratched his head, looking even more confused than usual.
"Yo, Mr. Dig, I thought I remembered, uh, you saying we had until 2:00 for the test." I rolled my eyes, but kept my mouth shut.
Mr. Dig smiled a smile that plainly showed that he was humoring Ethan. "I said that the test was 200 points, Mr. Craft. As for the time, it's only 12:00. Class period will be over by 2:00." A few snickers echoed throughout the classroom. "Would you like more time?"
Ethan however, by this time, was not listening. He was waving his pencil around and watching it stupidly, seemingly amazed. I saw him lean forward to show Kate. "Look! It's rubber!" he exclaimed. Mr. Dig chose to ignore him. Instead, he rapped a meter stick on his desk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lizzie stir at the noise.
"Okay, before we start: who needs more time for the test?" Kate, Claire, and Ethan raised their hands (Ethan only after Kate slapped his arm to get his attention). Miranda released a sigh and pushed her paper to the front of her desk to show it was done. "Those people please stay after school and finish. Thank you." Mr. Dig clapped his hands together. "All right then. Now that we've got everything settled, I would like to make an announcement."
I yawned, and propped my head up on my hand. Mr. Dig looked around expectantly. "You guys have the everlasting honor of setting up the dance tonight." Twenty heads sprung up from the desks, suddenly excited. "You will – under my supervision – be in charge of decorations, tables, music, etcetera. For example, right now we will choose the music for the dance. All good? But, those people that didn't finish the test today will have to finish their tests after school quickly, or they won't be able to help with any decorating. Now… any questions?"
Involuntarily, I looked back at Lizzie. She was wearing a thoughtful expression, and was staring intently at the front of the room. I smiled softly. This was how I imagined her: not trying to impress anyone, not trying to be the center of attention… just focusing on the task at hand, and getting it done right. Lizzie ###### her head and looked at me, smiling secretly, and I grinned back, my face growing hot. I felt cold sweat trickle down the drape of my neck. Nervously, I rubbed my hand along the back of my head. Swiftly, Lizzie turned her attention to Mr. Dig.
I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand.
**********~**********
"Isn't that awesome?!" Lizzie exclaimed as she sat down between Miranda and me. I nodded my head, but Miranda was wearing a disgusted expression, staring at the cafeteria food that was supposedly "meatloaf". Lizzie followed her gaze to the foam plate and cringed also.
"Eww…" she wailed, plugging her nose. "They call this atrocious substance food?"
I shrugged and stabbed at my salad. "At least the greens are okay. There's not much you can do to salad." Miranda stifled a laugh and grabbed a leaf from my plate, holding it between her fingers.
"Amen." Lizzie giggled and sighed, clearly trying to change the subject back to the dance.
"Anyways, I think it's cute what they're doing with the dance. You know, the whole fifties and sixties thing. It's really romantic." She smiled dreamily. "I know exactly what I'll wear." Without meaning to, I began to think of the possibilities… romantic, eh?
I rolled my eyes at myself. What am I thinking? Lizzie McGuire is going with Ethan Craft. And that was that.
I winced – it felt like a stab in my heart. No matter how nonchalant I acted, I couldn't cover this up. This, this was sheer torture. There was no escape… I could choose death of crushing, starvation, dehydration, decapitation, or suffocation. There were no "life lines" that would help me on this one. I smiled despondently at the thought. But still, Lizzie had kissed me, not Ethan. My face split into a lopsided grin.
"I wonder what songs they'll play," Miranda mused, taking a small sip of her chocolate milk. "I've heard a lot of those oldies, and they are really romantic. Maybe I should suggest a few to the DJ, whoever that is." She looked thoughtful. I gazed at her, a sudden thought accruing in my mind.
"Who are you going to the dance with, Randa?" I asked, looking out over my cold muffin.
"You'll see. Actually, you'll probably be too busy to notice." I raised my eyebrows, and tore off a piece of the bread.
"Oh… sounds rebellious," I scoffed sarcastically. "What would I be doing that would make me totally oblivious to everything around me?" She grinned. Sighing, I decided to drop the subject. I couldn't wrench anything out of Miranda – she either had to tell me, or tell Lizzie. But, as I looked at Lizzie for help, she turned away, and thrust her fork into the meatloaf.
**********~**********
Panting loudly, I lugged another large box from the storage room. "Is this enough?" Kate turned around, and rolled her eyes.
"Were you addressing me, Gor-dork?" she said, sliding the lip-gloss across her blood-red lips. I sighed.
"No, actually, I wasn't." I stood on my tiptoes to look over her shoulder, but Kate moved in front of my view, towering over me. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
"When you talk to me, geek, you either say, Your Highness, or Your Majesty." Kate laughed, and it signaled the rest of her horde to laugh along with her; the mindless drones that they are. I just stepped aside to go past her, but she held out a hand threateningly, grinning evilly. I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists in annoyance. Suddenly, a tall figure stood beside her.
"Kate," Ethan said, yawning and running a hand through his annoyingly wavy hair. "Hey. 'Sup Gordon? Dudetts – and dude – don't fight. I'm all for the whole 'peace is good' thing. You know, that one Asian guy that lived in India? He was fresh. That's what I call physics."
I just stared at him, mouth open slightly. I shook my head, blinked my eyes, grabbed my box, and walked past Kate and her posse, still confused. I just left them to goggle all over Ethan. Well, I thought as my muscles strained from the box's weight, at least Lizzie wasn't drooling all over the guy.
Speaking of Lizzie…
"Hey Gordo," Lizzie said, smiling quickly. "I was just tying these balloons together…" She gritted her teeth and emitted a sort of growl as the strings undid themselves. I dropped the box and stood next to her, watching her fingers attempt to intertwine the string.
"Do you need help?" I asked. Lizzie smiled hastily. I could tell she was gritting her teeth.
"Would you?" Shakily, I placed my hands over hers. Immediately, a current of electricity shot through my body, almost making me jump back in surprise. I could tell that Lizzie felt it too, because her eyes were wide. I gulped inaudibly and guided her fingers tenderly, helping her make a knot. My heart was beating at a machine-gun pace, and my mouth went dry as I felt her smooth hands beneath my fingertips.
"You see?" I asked, trying to ignore the sparks between us. "That's all you have to do." I smiled, and Lizzie looked down at our hands, her face shining.
"Yeah. Thanks Gordo."
We stared at each other. She was so close… I could almost smell her shampoo. My lips curled into a smile as I took in her features, for what had to be the millionth time. She really was beautiful – inside and out. Everything about her was heavenly, and I wished right then, right now I could hold her tight, feel her vulnerable shoulders under my arms… Right then, I wanted nothing, except to whisper in her ear, and tell her everything that was bundled up inside…
And then, suddenly, unexpectedly, we were leaning forward…
"Mr. Gordon! Ms. McGuire!" came a loud voice. Startled out of my daze, I jumped back. Lizzie looked at me with wide, fearful eyes. What were we doing? Hadn't I promised that nothing would be different? Gulping, I looked up at Mr. Dig. He grinned, but otherwise, he showed no knowledge of our near-kiss.
"Those balloons done yet?" he asked, his eyes traveling to our interlaced hands. We pulled apart quickly, blushing crimson.
"We're done," Lizzie replied, holding out the balloons. Mr. Dig smiled quickly.
"Good. Because, you have another ten to do." He motioned to a corner of the gym, where there was a bunch of balloons held down to the floor with a weight. Lizzie grinned sheepishly and laughed shortly.
"Oh. Got to get to work then. Thanks again, Gordo." With that, she rushed to the side of the gym and began to work on tying the balloons together. I shut my eyes and turned around, feeling faint.
What was I getting myself into?
A/N: Sorry it's been so long! Please forgive me! *hehe* anyways, this is going to get interesting, I promise. It's actually going to be fun to write (lol – all chapters are… at least for me…) ^_^
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, and I'm glad you are enjoying this story. Soon, I'm going to start a new story (L/G of course…awww…), so, look forward to that, k? Unless you totally hate my stories; then, you can just ignore them. *sigh* Yay?
Keep enjoying, and please review! The longer the better! Lol
Toodles ~
Tic-Tac ^_~
