Go download "Learning to Breathe" by Switchfoot RIGHT NOW! it's a good song AND it'll help with this chapter...
Keep review guys!
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.Chapter 10 - Reunited, at last.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Gordo gave one last look at Lina walking away, with mud and grass stains on her jeans, and shut the door behind Lizzie. Lizzie stood nervously, staring at her flipflops and shifting her weight between her feet.
"What's up?" Gordo said, finally breaking the ice after a few seconds of uneasy silence.
"Well..." she didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say to someone with unrequited feelings for you and someone who you've avoided for almost a month? "How's Danielle?"
"The doctors say she's in stable condition. They still need to run some tests and check up on her every once in awhile. She regained feeling in her legs, so that's a good sign..." he faded off. "Why are you really here?" he said with more curiousity than with spite.
"I..." she stuttered and continued her glare at the floor. She could feel Gordo's eyes on her. Lizzie met his gaze and, with a hint of sadness in her voice, she manged to say something. "I need my best friend back..." She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She won't.
Gordo felt what she felt. "Oh Lizzie," He embraced her and held her head to his chest (he had grown notably since freshman year). "I'm sorry I put you through that. I didn't mean to and honestly I would take it back. It was stupid and selfish. Sorry."
She pushed him back a little. "Gordo, it wasn't your fault. I know you know it wasn't. It was totally mine. I don't know how to handle stress well. And... I just came to apologize. And among everything, I'm just sorry that it took so long to finally talk."
"Lizzie..." He motioned her to sit on the stairs with him. She nodded and sat next to him on the third step of the staircase. "I want to put this behind us. I hope we're out of the woods with this and with a little time, we'll just be stronger friends." Gordo said reassuringly. Lizzie leaned her head on his left shoulder. "Do you wanna do something?" He suggested changing the subject to something lighter.
"How 'bout a movie?" Lizzie answered. Whether either of them wanted to admit it or not, they still weren't okay. A cloud of uncomfortableness still loomed ominously over their heads. Movie was an ideal situation. A dark room and no need to force a conversation.
"Sounds good to me. I know of a new theater they built about twenty minutes from here. It's supposed to be way bigger than the one near here."
"Great. And there's a new Adam Sandler movie out. It looks good." Lizzie said. 'Good... comedy to lighten the mood.' she thought.
"Alright, let me get my coat and I'll drive. You can get in the car if you want."
In a minute, they were fully loaded in his relatively new Honda Civic. After a pulling out from his driveway, he turned on the radio.
*FLASHBACK*
Gordo carefully led a blindfolded Lizzie. There was a beautifully early June blue sky with fluffy clouds, almost calling out the soon coming of summer.
She stumbled while coming off her porch. "Woah watch it." Gordo said as he led Lizzie to the driveway.
"Seriously Gordo, what's this about? I swear, if Matt is at the end of this with water balloons, you'll be sitting in the emergency room thinking back on the times where you could walk."
Gordo laughed. "No, McGuire. Nothing like that. Okay... stop" He pulled off her blindfold, reavealing the brand new white car in the McGuire driveway. "TaDa!"
"AHHHHH! Oh my gosh!!" she shrieked. She ran to the side of the car and admired. He just stood at the top of the driveway, smiling, and looking content with himself.
"You seem more excited than I was." he smirked, walking down to meet Lizzie, who had jumped in the driver seat.
"You are so lucky. I can't believe your parents actually gave you a car for your birthday. I wish I got one..."
"So, where do you wanna go?" he asked happiliy.
"AHH! Anywhere, if I can drive." she asked and pouted.
"You got it, Liz." She jumped in her seat with excitement and her excitement only seemed to grow when she turned on the ignition, and shifted gears, and pulled out of the driveway...
After about ten minutes, they were on the open road. Lizzie was bopping along to a Jennifer Lopez song. Gordo just stared at her tenderly as she sang expressively. The wind roared through the small car and blew Lizzie's long hair into her face, but after a few wrestles with her hair, she gave up and just let her hair fly wildly around her head.
After the song, she pulled over to the confusion of Gordo. "Your turn." she smiled.
Gordo got out of the car and Lizzie slid over to the passenger side. Gordo pulled out and noticed Lizzie taking off her shoes.
"What are you doing?" he said over the sound of blustering wind.
"Calm down," she said peeling off her socks. She then crossed her bare, pedicured feet on the top of the dashboard.
"*Must* you do that?"
"Consider yourself lucky, Gordon." she said.
"Why's that?" The wind was still blowing hard.
"You know how many guys would want to have these feet," she wiggled her toes, "on *their* dashboard?" she joked. "And anyways, you should be proud I'm comfortable enough to reveal my feet in front of you." She laughed and continued to mouth the words of "Senorita", which was playing over the speakers.
Gordo looked over from the road, and smiled at a totally relaxed Lizzie.
"Whatever you say, McGuire." If there was any doubt in his mind on whether he loved Lizzie, it was extinguished by that look she gave him on that sunny June day.
*END FLASHBACK*
(Cue Switchfoot music, readers!)
It was dark out, and a full moon lit up the increasingly darkening heavens. It was relatively cool out. Gordo tapped the outside of the door along to the sound of the guitars that started to play. Lizzie just stared blankly to the passing houses, mentally debating when would be the most opportune moment to tell Gordo about Jeremy.
*Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?*
Both seemed in their own little worlds. Gordo's window was completely open and Lizzie's was half open, so a light breeze filled the gaping silence along with the sounds of acoustics on the radio.
*I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new*
The song continued to play for a few seconds. Gordo looked like he was about to say something, but stopped. What's left to say?
*So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way, This is the way,
that I'm Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive,
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies*
The lead singer's voice continued to fill the void. Neither Gordo or Lizzie seemed to catch the lyrics and how close they actually were to the situation they themselves are in.
*Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way, This is the way,
that I'm Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive,
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way, that I say I love You
This is the way, that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way...*
The song continued for a little longer.
"We're here." he said as he pulled into the pretty mostly empty parking lot in a shopping center. It was afterall, a Tuesday night.
She shivered almost imperceptibly as she exited the car. Gordo seemed to notice and took off his jean jacket as they were heading for the entrance. Lizzie walked a little ahead of Gordo, so he tapped her shoulder and handed it to Lizzie.
"You sure? I'm really not that cold." Lizzie said.
"I'm sure. I don't need it. Plus, it would be un-chivalrous of me to not give it to you." he beamed.
Still a little hesitant, she took the jacket and put it on.
"You know," he said, walking side-by-side with Lizzie. They stopped and Lizzie muttered a 'MmHmm'. She tried to aviod eye contact. He noticed and he was a little hurt, but didn't force anything. He understood, for the most part. "When we weren't talking, I was so unhappy. Without you there, I felt a little piece of me leave. You should understand how much our friendship means to me. I don't want to ruin that. Not for anything."
"I know what you mean," she agreed. "I just hope we'll make it... you know through this."
"Don't worry about that. We will," Gordo said lifting up her head with is hand. A smile grew on his face. "And if we don't then Miranda will make us." She laughed. 'Is this the right time?' she thought.
"Now let's go watch a movie!" she said grabbing Gordo's arm and dragging him across the parking lot to the entrance.
'Later, I'll tell him later,' she thought. 'Yeah, later,' as if trying to convince herself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sorry if the song parts were really long. I know when I read I usually skip over those parts.. but hopefully it turned out ok.
Keep review guys!
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.Chapter 10 - Reunited, at last.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Gordo gave one last look at Lina walking away, with mud and grass stains on her jeans, and shut the door behind Lizzie. Lizzie stood nervously, staring at her flipflops and shifting her weight between her feet.
"What's up?" Gordo said, finally breaking the ice after a few seconds of uneasy silence.
"Well..." she didn't know what to say. What was she supposed to say to someone with unrequited feelings for you and someone who you've avoided for almost a month? "How's Danielle?"
"The doctors say she's in stable condition. They still need to run some tests and check up on her every once in awhile. She regained feeling in her legs, so that's a good sign..." he faded off. "Why are you really here?" he said with more curiousity than with spite.
"I..." she stuttered and continued her glare at the floor. She could feel Gordo's eyes on her. Lizzie met his gaze and, with a hint of sadness in her voice, she manged to say something. "I need my best friend back..." She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She won't.
Gordo felt what she felt. "Oh Lizzie," He embraced her and held her head to his chest (he had grown notably since freshman year). "I'm sorry I put you through that. I didn't mean to and honestly I would take it back. It was stupid and selfish. Sorry."
She pushed him back a little. "Gordo, it wasn't your fault. I know you know it wasn't. It was totally mine. I don't know how to handle stress well. And... I just came to apologize. And among everything, I'm just sorry that it took so long to finally talk."
"Lizzie..." He motioned her to sit on the stairs with him. She nodded and sat next to him on the third step of the staircase. "I want to put this behind us. I hope we're out of the woods with this and with a little time, we'll just be stronger friends." Gordo said reassuringly. Lizzie leaned her head on his left shoulder. "Do you wanna do something?" He suggested changing the subject to something lighter.
"How 'bout a movie?" Lizzie answered. Whether either of them wanted to admit it or not, they still weren't okay. A cloud of uncomfortableness still loomed ominously over their heads. Movie was an ideal situation. A dark room and no need to force a conversation.
"Sounds good to me. I know of a new theater they built about twenty minutes from here. It's supposed to be way bigger than the one near here."
"Great. And there's a new Adam Sandler movie out. It looks good." Lizzie said. 'Good... comedy to lighten the mood.' she thought.
"Alright, let me get my coat and I'll drive. You can get in the car if you want."
In a minute, they were fully loaded in his relatively new Honda Civic. After a pulling out from his driveway, he turned on the radio.
*FLASHBACK*
Gordo carefully led a blindfolded Lizzie. There was a beautifully early June blue sky with fluffy clouds, almost calling out the soon coming of summer.
She stumbled while coming off her porch. "Woah watch it." Gordo said as he led Lizzie to the driveway.
"Seriously Gordo, what's this about? I swear, if Matt is at the end of this with water balloons, you'll be sitting in the emergency room thinking back on the times where you could walk."
Gordo laughed. "No, McGuire. Nothing like that. Okay... stop" He pulled off her blindfold, reavealing the brand new white car in the McGuire driveway. "TaDa!"
"AHHHHH! Oh my gosh!!" she shrieked. She ran to the side of the car and admired. He just stood at the top of the driveway, smiling, and looking content with himself.
"You seem more excited than I was." he smirked, walking down to meet Lizzie, who had jumped in the driver seat.
"You are so lucky. I can't believe your parents actually gave you a car for your birthday. I wish I got one..."
"So, where do you wanna go?" he asked happiliy.
"AHH! Anywhere, if I can drive." she asked and pouted.
"You got it, Liz." She jumped in her seat with excitement and her excitement only seemed to grow when she turned on the ignition, and shifted gears, and pulled out of the driveway...
After about ten minutes, they were on the open road. Lizzie was bopping along to a Jennifer Lopez song. Gordo just stared at her tenderly as she sang expressively. The wind roared through the small car and blew Lizzie's long hair into her face, but after a few wrestles with her hair, she gave up and just let her hair fly wildly around her head.
After the song, she pulled over to the confusion of Gordo. "Your turn." she smiled.
Gordo got out of the car and Lizzie slid over to the passenger side. Gordo pulled out and noticed Lizzie taking off her shoes.
"What are you doing?" he said over the sound of blustering wind.
"Calm down," she said peeling off her socks. She then crossed her bare, pedicured feet on the top of the dashboard.
"*Must* you do that?"
"Consider yourself lucky, Gordon." she said.
"Why's that?" The wind was still blowing hard.
"You know how many guys would want to have these feet," she wiggled her toes, "on *their* dashboard?" she joked. "And anyways, you should be proud I'm comfortable enough to reveal my feet in front of you." She laughed and continued to mouth the words of "Senorita", which was playing over the speakers.
Gordo looked over from the road, and smiled at a totally relaxed Lizzie.
"Whatever you say, McGuire." If there was any doubt in his mind on whether he loved Lizzie, it was extinguished by that look she gave him on that sunny June day.
*END FLASHBACK*
(Cue Switchfoot music, readers!)
It was dark out, and a full moon lit up the increasingly darkening heavens. It was relatively cool out. Gordo tapped the outside of the door along to the sound of the guitars that started to play. Lizzie just stared blankly to the passing houses, mentally debating when would be the most opportune moment to tell Gordo about Jeremy.
*Hello, good morning, how you do?
What makes your rising sun so new?*
Both seemed in their own little worlds. Gordo's window was completely open and Lizzie's was half open, so a light breeze filled the gaping silence along with the sounds of acoustics on the radio.
*I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new*
The song continued to play for a few seconds. Gordo looked like he was about to say something, but stopped. What's left to say?
*So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way, This is the way,
that I'm Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive,
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies*
The lead singer's voice continued to fill the void. Neither Gordo or Lizzie seemed to catch the lyrics and how close they actually were to the situation they themselves are in.
*Hello, good morning, how you been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never, never thought that
I would fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad
So this is the way that I say I need You
This is the way, This is the way,
that I'm Learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive,
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
So this is the way I say I need You
This is the way, that I say I love You
This is the way, that I say I'm Yours
This is the way, this is the way...*
The song continued for a little longer.
"We're here." he said as he pulled into the pretty mostly empty parking lot in a shopping center. It was afterall, a Tuesday night.
She shivered almost imperceptibly as she exited the car. Gordo seemed to notice and took off his jean jacket as they were heading for the entrance. Lizzie walked a little ahead of Gordo, so he tapped her shoulder and handed it to Lizzie.
"You sure? I'm really not that cold." Lizzie said.
"I'm sure. I don't need it. Plus, it would be un-chivalrous of me to not give it to you." he beamed.
Still a little hesitant, she took the jacket and put it on.
"You know," he said, walking side-by-side with Lizzie. They stopped and Lizzie muttered a 'MmHmm'. She tried to aviod eye contact. He noticed and he was a little hurt, but didn't force anything. He understood, for the most part. "When we weren't talking, I was so unhappy. Without you there, I felt a little piece of me leave. You should understand how much our friendship means to me. I don't want to ruin that. Not for anything."
"I know what you mean," she agreed. "I just hope we'll make it... you know through this."
"Don't worry about that. We will," Gordo said lifting up her head with is hand. A smile grew on his face. "And if we don't then Miranda will make us." She laughed. 'Is this the right time?' she thought.
"Now let's go watch a movie!" she said grabbing Gordo's arm and dragging him across the parking lot to the entrance.
'Later, I'll tell him later,' she thought. 'Yeah, later,' as if trying to convince herself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sorry if the song parts were really long. I know when I read I usually skip over those parts.. but hopefully it turned out ok.