A/N: Hi y'all! Sooo sorry that I took so long, but I *finally* finished
this chapter, and I think you will all like it!
OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but I just have to say it: I WENT TO THE HILARY DUFF CONCERT!!! It was really fun, but very short. Even so, my friend Chelsae and I had a fabulous time, and we would *definitely* go again.
OK, now for the moment you've all been waiting for...
Read the chapter!!! -Jules ;-)
Chapter 5: The Storm
Gordo's POV
If it were not for music, I probably wouldn't have gotten through that plane ride. We'd only been on the plane for a couple of hours, and I had already been through every song on at least two or three different CDs. And I soon realized that even just watching the other passengers on the plane could be really, really interesting.
I grabbed my camera out of the overhead compartment and started snapping pictures. There really was a lot to see: Ethan was struggling over a word in some book... Candice Appleby was so engrossed in the movie that she was crying... Jamal Jenkins was about to put a spitball down Maria Quintanilla's back... Jeremy Nguyen appeared to be having an intense conversation with a leprechaun in his sleep...
And then, there was Lizzie.
She was so... I couldn't think of a word to describe her. Pretty? No, that wasn't good enough. Beautiful? Oh come on, who am I kidding? Beautiful is *nothing* compared to Lizzie's smile. Maybe "ravishing" would do...
It was at that moment that I realized what I was doing. Trying to put how good I thought Lizzie looked into one word? I could never do that.
But the way I feel about her... the way I long to feel her fingers on my face... the way her brilliant facet flashes before me in my sleep at night... there was only one word to describe it.
Love.
Now *that's* scary.
Lizzie's POV
I couldn't stop giggling as Gordo took snapshots of everyone on the plane. It was hard to decide what was funnier - what our fellow students were doing, or Gordo's running commentary. Either way, it was hilarious.
Gordo had just taken a picture of himself when I saw a flash of light outside. "Whoa," I said. "Was that lightning?"
"Guess so," said Gordo. "Maybe there's a storm coming in."
"I h-hope not!" I stammered. "A storm means wind, and wind means turbulence, and turbulence means death!" I was on the verge of tears. Plane crashes were my biggest fear - I'd been scared of them since I was a little girl. The movie I watched where an entire airplane slammed right into a mountain is the most likely cause.
Gordo's expression remained serene. "You don't have to be afraid, Lizzie," he told me softly. "The pilot can handle any turbulence. Plus, the storm can't be too close, since we would have heard the thunder by n..."
His last word was cut off by a loud, Earth-quaking crash.
"Well, it still took a while for the thunder to come at all," he said, voice shaking as he spoke. That one thunderclap was louder than anything I'd heard in my life - even the reunion concert for "Midnight Sam and the Love Patrol" that my dad forced me to attend when I was nine.
"Um, yeah. Right," I said nervously.
Gordo's face grew somber. "Lizzie..."
A long streak of lightning cut through the night sky suddenly, soon followed by roaring thunder.
"Uh, Gordo?" I squeaked. "I-I-I think that the s-s-s-storm is g-g-getting c-closer."
"You've got that right," he answered.
I was ready to *totally* freak out when the aircraft started to lurch wildly from side to side.
"TURBULENCE!!!!!!!" I shouted. Under ordinary circumstances, everyone would have turned to look at the girl who cried turbulence, but these were most certainly not ordinary circumstances.
The plane continued its violent rocking as I searched desperately for something good and solid to grab onto. I was so disoriented that it took me a minute to realize that *everything* on the airplane, solid or not, was moving.
"Gordo!" I cried, grabbing onto his arm and digging my nails into it. I lay my head on his shoulder and started to whimper.
Gordo whispered in my ear: "Shhh, it's alright, shhh, it's OK, shhh, it's going to be OK..." But I just couldn't believe him. If I let my guard down, we'd probably end up spinning upside-down and plunging into the Atlantic Ocean!
I don't know how long I just sat there, clinging to Gordo's arm and crying. The turbulence went on and on, so much that I thought I would be seasick. I clamped my eyes shut, hoping that if I couldn't see all that commotion, it might go away. All I wanted was to get off of that plane, crawl under my bedcovers, and curl up with Mr. Snuggles.
All of a sudden, this... this *feeling* came over me. It washed over my body and made me feel warm and safe, like a security blanket. Even though the plane hadn't stopped its tumbling and turning, it felt as if I was suddenly still; like there was calm amidst the chaos.
Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. And when I looked up, all I saw was Gordo's face staring back at me, and he appeared to be just as calm as I felt. For a moment, we sat there, his arms around me, my head on his shoulder, and we stared at each other, forgetting the turmoil surrounding us.
That's when the lights went out.
Gordo's POV
For about a split second, it seemed like nothing had happened, or maybe no one had noticed what had happened. A hush fell over the crowd of passengers; you probably could have heard a pin drop. All of the shouting and screaming had abruptly vanished, and all I could hear was the thumping of my heart, and I realized that I could feel Lizzie's pulse on my fingertips. I completely forgot about the fact that we had just lost power and were probably going to start diving towards the ground any minute now. All I could think of was the fact that Lizzie was in my arms, and *she wanted to be there* .
It didn't take long for the silence to disappear just as quickly as it had come. Lizzie let out a tiny cry, and pretty soon, everyone was screaming at the tops of their lungs. 'Was this what the people felt like on that plane on September 11th?' I wondered. One thing's for sure - there was probably the same amount of panic on that plane then as their was on our plane now.
A/N: Cliffhanger, I know! Don't ya just love it? Alright, so I'm probably the only one who thinks so, but I just can't write any more today without going totally bonkers, so I'll just drive *you* crazy instead and make you wait! See ya later! ;-) -Jules
OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with the story, but I just have to say it: I WENT TO THE HILARY DUFF CONCERT!!! It was really fun, but very short. Even so, my friend Chelsae and I had a fabulous time, and we would *definitely* go again.
OK, now for the moment you've all been waiting for...
Read the chapter!!! -Jules ;-)
Chapter 5: The Storm
Gordo's POV
If it were not for music, I probably wouldn't have gotten through that plane ride. We'd only been on the plane for a couple of hours, and I had already been through every song on at least two or three different CDs. And I soon realized that even just watching the other passengers on the plane could be really, really interesting.
I grabbed my camera out of the overhead compartment and started snapping pictures. There really was a lot to see: Ethan was struggling over a word in some book... Candice Appleby was so engrossed in the movie that she was crying... Jamal Jenkins was about to put a spitball down Maria Quintanilla's back... Jeremy Nguyen appeared to be having an intense conversation with a leprechaun in his sleep...
And then, there was Lizzie.
She was so... I couldn't think of a word to describe her. Pretty? No, that wasn't good enough. Beautiful? Oh come on, who am I kidding? Beautiful is *nothing* compared to Lizzie's smile. Maybe "ravishing" would do...
It was at that moment that I realized what I was doing. Trying to put how good I thought Lizzie looked into one word? I could never do that.
But the way I feel about her... the way I long to feel her fingers on my face... the way her brilliant facet flashes before me in my sleep at night... there was only one word to describe it.
Love.
Now *that's* scary.
Lizzie's POV
I couldn't stop giggling as Gordo took snapshots of everyone on the plane. It was hard to decide what was funnier - what our fellow students were doing, or Gordo's running commentary. Either way, it was hilarious.
Gordo had just taken a picture of himself when I saw a flash of light outside. "Whoa," I said. "Was that lightning?"
"Guess so," said Gordo. "Maybe there's a storm coming in."
"I h-hope not!" I stammered. "A storm means wind, and wind means turbulence, and turbulence means death!" I was on the verge of tears. Plane crashes were my biggest fear - I'd been scared of them since I was a little girl. The movie I watched where an entire airplane slammed right into a mountain is the most likely cause.
Gordo's expression remained serene. "You don't have to be afraid, Lizzie," he told me softly. "The pilot can handle any turbulence. Plus, the storm can't be too close, since we would have heard the thunder by n..."
His last word was cut off by a loud, Earth-quaking crash.
"Well, it still took a while for the thunder to come at all," he said, voice shaking as he spoke. That one thunderclap was louder than anything I'd heard in my life - even the reunion concert for "Midnight Sam and the Love Patrol" that my dad forced me to attend when I was nine.
"Um, yeah. Right," I said nervously.
Gordo's face grew somber. "Lizzie..."
A long streak of lightning cut through the night sky suddenly, soon followed by roaring thunder.
"Uh, Gordo?" I squeaked. "I-I-I think that the s-s-s-storm is g-g-getting c-closer."
"You've got that right," he answered.
I was ready to *totally* freak out when the aircraft started to lurch wildly from side to side.
"TURBULENCE!!!!!!!" I shouted. Under ordinary circumstances, everyone would have turned to look at the girl who cried turbulence, but these were most certainly not ordinary circumstances.
The plane continued its violent rocking as I searched desperately for something good and solid to grab onto. I was so disoriented that it took me a minute to realize that *everything* on the airplane, solid or not, was moving.
"Gordo!" I cried, grabbing onto his arm and digging my nails into it. I lay my head on his shoulder and started to whimper.
Gordo whispered in my ear: "Shhh, it's alright, shhh, it's OK, shhh, it's going to be OK..." But I just couldn't believe him. If I let my guard down, we'd probably end up spinning upside-down and plunging into the Atlantic Ocean!
I don't know how long I just sat there, clinging to Gordo's arm and crying. The turbulence went on and on, so much that I thought I would be seasick. I clamped my eyes shut, hoping that if I couldn't see all that commotion, it might go away. All I wanted was to get off of that plane, crawl under my bedcovers, and curl up with Mr. Snuggles.
All of a sudden, this... this *feeling* came over me. It washed over my body and made me feel warm and safe, like a security blanket. Even though the plane hadn't stopped its tumbling and turning, it felt as if I was suddenly still; like there was calm amidst the chaos.
Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. And when I looked up, all I saw was Gordo's face staring back at me, and he appeared to be just as calm as I felt. For a moment, we sat there, his arms around me, my head on his shoulder, and we stared at each other, forgetting the turmoil surrounding us.
That's when the lights went out.
Gordo's POV
For about a split second, it seemed like nothing had happened, or maybe no one had noticed what had happened. A hush fell over the crowd of passengers; you probably could have heard a pin drop. All of the shouting and screaming had abruptly vanished, and all I could hear was the thumping of my heart, and I realized that I could feel Lizzie's pulse on my fingertips. I completely forgot about the fact that we had just lost power and were probably going to start diving towards the ground any minute now. All I could think of was the fact that Lizzie was in my arms, and *she wanted to be there* .
It didn't take long for the silence to disappear just as quickly as it had come. Lizzie let out a tiny cry, and pretty soon, everyone was screaming at the tops of their lungs. 'Was this what the people felt like on that plane on September 11th?' I wondered. One thing's for sure - there was probably the same amount of panic on that plane then as their was on our plane now.
A/N: Cliffhanger, I know! Don't ya just love it? Alright, so I'm probably the only one who thinks so, but I just can't write any more today without going totally bonkers, so I'll just drive *you* crazy instead and make you wait! See ya later! ;-) -Jules