My Fair Larry
Chapter Two: Talking about…..'things'
POV: Gordo
*** I can't believe it, she kissed him. Miranda kissed Larry Tudgeman….. I mean 'Lawrence'. Man she is going to go mental when she finds out! And guess who gets to break the news to her? Me! What a surprise! Lizzie chickens out at the first sign of danger! Plus she's too busy flirting with Ethan Craft. The things I do for my best friends. I wouldn't do it if I wasn't in love with one of them, but then that's how life goes. You can never fall for someone you have a chance with, just the ones who are hooked on someone else and/or happen to be one of your best mates! Well Miranda's disappeared upstairs to 'reapply her make up', I'll take this as an opportunity to tell her about the real Lawrence. Maybe she'll be really grossed out and hate Larry forever then realise her feelings for me that she's been denying all of this time! Wait, like that'll ever happen. Okay I didn't mean that, I don't like her like that! Well maybe I do but she's my friend and now she likes 'Lawrence' and she's Miranda and…. and….. Here goes nothing…..***
I jumped up the stairs two at a time and looked down the hallway, I heard someone humming. I followed it to the bathroom and recognised the voice as Miranda's, the tune filled my head and I smiled as she began to sing softly to herself. Not wanting to embarrass her, I waited until she had stopped before knocking on the door.
"Hello?" a muffled voice spoke quickly from inside.
"Hey Randa, it's me, Gordo. I need to talk to you about…… things." The door opened and Miranda's 're-applied' face appeared, I struggled to stop my jaw from dropping. She had gone for a more natural effect, her hair swept away from her face in a rough bun and her makeup only just noticeable. Part of me hoped that if I ever saw her with no or very little makeup it wouldn't be a nice site, then I'd have one point on my list of 'reasons I can find that make me not like Miranda as more than a friend'. But this proved to me that she was naturally beautiful.
"What's wrong hun?" she asked, her face wrinkled in concern. I watched her eyes skip from one of mine to the other as I tried to figure out where to start. I began to click my fingers, a bad habit I had when I was anxious. Miranda saw this and smiled, "there must be something very wrong. I haven't seen you click your fingers that bad since you were waiting to watch your film debut at school!" She led me into the bathroom where I walked across and sat on the edge of the bath. Gazing at my shoes I felt Miranda sit next to me, her bare arm brushed up against mine and I twitched nervously. I glanced up at the door which was slightly ajar and I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.
"I dunno Miranda, I'm not sure I can talk about it here." I said, my eyes still fixed on the door. She followed my stare and smiled,
"You want more privacy?" I nodded. "I'll give you more privacy!" She jumped up and shut the bathroom door, then hitching up her skirt she jumped over the side of the bath and sat down inside it cross-legged, pulling her skirt back over her knees and flattening out the creases. Giggling she pulled me down opposite her; I banged my head on the side and fell awkwardly. She drew the shower curtain around the side of the bath and beamed. "Better?" I rubbed my head and gave her an eyebrow raise.
"Oh my gosh. Are you okay? I heard a thud but guessed it was your foot!" She leant over me and placed her hand against the back of my head, her fingers lightly touching mine. As she moved closer to try and see where I'd hit my head I bit my lip and closed my eyes to stop my hormones taking over and becoming unable to resist looking down her top! I quickly pulled her hand off and told her that I was fine, although my head throbbed every time I tried to think. Miranda threw me a puzzled look, "So what 'things' did you want to talk about?"
***It would have been easier just to tell her then. Tell her everything and explain what had been going on beginning to end. But I couldn't bring myself to do it and things got complicated…..***
"Okay, I have two 'things' I need to talk about. One involves you directly and is something I need to tell you. The other I need your advice on" I looked down as I said this and I crossed my arms to stop them from shaking. "You choose which you want first!" I smiled, trying to fool myself into thinking I was happy in the situation.
"Well I'm not brilliant at advice, so let's get that one out of the way!" Miranda grinned back. My stomach rose and I began to feel very sick. I took a deep breath as I prepared to start explaining.
"Okay….. I like a girl." I flinched as I waited for a response.
"Really? Oh my gosh who is it?" she asked excitedly, her head tilted forwards as if we were sharing a big secret.
"It's not as simple as that." I murmured, "If she were to find out, I'm not saying that I don't trust you to not tell her, it would ruin everything I have with her."
"Okay fair enough. But if I guess the right person, will you admit to it?" she smiled in a pleading way. It was useless I couldn't say no to her so I agreed and continued to tell my 'thing'.
"Well I've known her a while, well a long time. We've always been kinda close and she's a good mate. But recently, I dunno, I guess I've been seeing her in a different light." Miranda chewed her lip listening to my clumsy expression, her eyes widening as I said the last sentence. That was it, I was screwed, she'd figured it out, she knew I liked her.
"Anyway…." I added, realising I hadn't spoken for over a minute, "If I told her I liked her and she didn't feel the same way back it would completely muck up the relationship we have and I don't want to lose that." I sighed, "Plus she was all over another guy this evening."
"That was just harmless flirting." Miranda spoke up. My mouth opened in a silent gasp.
"Harmless flirting? I'm not so sure. From where I was standing it looked like it meant something." My voice started to rise slightly.
"Yeah well from where I was standing he's the one of the nicest, possibly the nicest guy at school. Who isn't all over him?" She shot back. By now I was confused, since when was Larry Tudgeman 'the nicest guy in school', and since when is kissing someone 'harmless flirting'? I stumbled for a response and quickly tried to vaguely change the topic.
"So should I tell her how I feel?"
Miranda thought for a bit before replying, "Might as well, it's kinda obvious and I think she already knows. You should go for it, I'm pretty certain that she likes you back." She said with a wink. I almost jumped out of the bath. She knew I liked her and she liked me back, the hints may have been subtle but I got them. I was totally unscrewed!
"Well…." Miranda added. "She definitely likes you more than Ethan! I know that for sure."
"Ethan?" I spluttered, almost laughing.
"Yes Ethan. I said before it was 'harmless flirting'. You were there, you saw it." She frowned.
It was like one of those comedy films, where the music record whirs to a halt and the whole room freezes around the central character who has just been put into a downward spiral of emotions and events. Unaware of the look of horror on my face, Miranda continued to talk. "You know Gordo. Everybody knows that you're in love with Lizzie. I'm glad you've finally admitted it to yourself!..... Gordo?..... Are you okay?"
***Am I okay? AM I OKAY? What the hell does she think? The girl I am in love with thinks I love her best friend. I should have just told Miranda that it was her I like all along. I've dropped enough hints over the last couple of months, I even held her hand at the cinema the other day, the moment felt right. But when questioned on what I was doing I blurted "I was scared". We were watching 'The Cat in the Hat' for Pete's sake. What kind of an idiot gets scared in 'The Cat in the Hat'?!?!?! The kind of idiot who gets himself into a situation like mine I guess!***
"So now that's out of the way," Miranda grinned, "What's the 'thing' that involves me directly?"…………
