A/N I wrote this chapter like a whole month after I wrote the first chapter/author's note... And it took like about another month to write this.
Disclaimer- I do not work for Disney or Ren Mar Studios, so I don't have anything to do with Lizzie McGuire other than being a very big fan
On to Chapter 1...
Chapter 1
Ok, now what? They approached the elevator, and he reached out, and hit the 'Down' button. His instincts told him to run, but he just couldn't. After all, this was what he'd always wanted. Wasn't it? A sign that Lizzie might like him back? He wrestled with his inner demons, as the elevator arrived. He opened the doors, and backed up, letting her in first.
Slowly, numbly, he entered the cage a half step behind his lady love, and swiftly closed the doors. He pressed the 'down' button again, this time from the inside. He turned to look at her. God, she was beautiful. Of course, she could be wearing a potato sack, and she'd still be the most beautiful thing in the world.
She flashed him one of her million dollar smiles, and he quickly averted his gaze. He hoped she wouldn't realize that he had been staring. A sickening thought just hit him. She had kissed him, and he hadn't kissed back! A golden opportunity ruined! Ugh. He felt faint. He bent his head forward, and began to breathe deeply. He would NOT hyperventilate with Lizzie here. He glanced around him. The space inside the very small room was well, very small.
Oh no! Now he was feeling claustrophobic as well. The elevator was taking what seemed like hours to reach the first floor. Just a few more seconds, he could make it. But then, he'd have to face ten of his classmates, and the other three members of the McGuire clan. No way was he strong enough for this.
Air, he needed air. Wouldn't the elevator EVER reach bottom? He silently urged it along, as he tried to control his breathing...
Lizzie had walked just ahead of Gordo to the elevator. She had thought the kiss at the picture was something, but this, this was just incredible. But what did it mean? It most definitely was not just a crush, but then what was it? She entered the elevator without even knowing it. She stood across from Gordo, thinking, contemplating. She turned and smiled at him, then turned quickly back. She didn't know what to do. The silence was deafening. She waited a few seconds, took a deep breath, and turned back once again to him.
He was bent over, almost as if in pain, in the opposite corner. She'd heard the expression plenty of times, but this was the first time she'd ever seen someone actually 'looking green''. Her voice broke the silence. "Gordo? A-are you ok?"
He straightened up as quickly as possible, to avoid showing her how seriously sick he was feeling. He moved a little too quickly, and stumbled, and fell at her feet. He looked up at her angelic face, which seemed so full of concern. He could look at her all day and still want more.
Her voice must have surprised him, for the next thing she knew, he was down on the ground in front of her. He looked at her, and tried to smile, but she knew something was up. Why did he always feel that he had to put on an "it's ok" act for her? She reached out her hand, and he accepted it, and she helped him try to stand. He ended up leaning part of his weight on her, with his hand on her shoulder. Strange, but it felt like it belonged there. His weight wasn't a bother to her, but rather a comfort.
For a brief second, their eyes met, and suddenly he realized the position they were in. He quickly apologized, and backed up a few steps, just as the elevator finally hit bottom. His momentum, and the unexpected stopping of the elevator carried him backwards, and into the doors.. Smiling sheepishly, he rubbed at his side, and opened the elevator.
She gave him a half-smile. She was usually the clumsy one, it surprised her to see him in this position. He stood just outside the elevator, waiting for her to follow. She took a deep breath, and moved forward. She walked past him a few steps, then turned to look back. He hadn't moved away from the elevator's doors. The car was still open.
"Gordo?" He seemed frozen. She tried calling him again, a little louder this time. "Gordo!" Still no reponse. He didn't look so good. She walked over to him, and waved her hand in front of his face. He blinked, and turned to her, still in a daze. He shook his head, as if he was shaking away the cobwebs from his mind. His curls bounced and landed differently. Boy, his hair was getting thick and bushy! If she could just run her fingers through it once, and... No! She shook her own head, to erase the thought, and as she did, her hair flipped and almost hit him.
He let out a barely audible sigh. She just didn't KNOW what a simple hair flip did to him. Lucky for him, as usual, she didn't notice. "Lizzie? Uh, I don't feel so good, and I have to unpack my stuff, maybe I should go back upstairs, and put my stuff back, then rest."
"I'll go with you and help!" She took a step forward, but he reached out and stopped her.
"No, I'll be fine. Like you said, you can't afford any more trouble. You better get back before they miss you."
"Miss me? What about you?"
"I'll be fine," he repeated. "No one will miss me. Go, Lizzie." He quickly entered the elevator, and closed the doors. Before she could argue any further, it was making its way back up. "Wait!" she thought, "I'LL miss you!" Too late, he was gone. Stunned, she turned, and walked back to the hotel lobby. Surprisingly, her brother was the first person she encountered.
"Hi, Matt!" It was probably a trick, but it almost looked as if he had been crying. He was staring into the fountain. He didn't respond to her, so she kept going.
She walked back into the lobby and tried to remain nonchalant. She walked over and took a half sandwich from one tray, a cookie from another. She selected a chair close enough to everyone so that nothing would seem out of the ordinary, yet far enough that she wouldn't have to deal with them just now. Everyone seemed so happy. She should be happy as well, shouldn't she? She wasn't quite sure. After a minute or two, she heard Ms. Ungermeyer's unmistakable voice.
"Attention all students! Please gather in front of the check-in area. NOW!"
Same old Ungermeyer, still yelling, but at least this time, she had said 'Please'. Lizzie joined the rest of her classmates by the front desk, and all of them stayed standing, except Ethan. He looked rather annoyed that this meeting had been called, and in his hand, he held a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. He sat down to finish the last few bites. Lizzie's father stood in the back of the crowd, just listening.
"All right, where is Mr. Gordon?" Ten people shook their heads, and/or shrugged. Lizzie tried to make herself invisible. "Ms. McGuire. Perhaps you can tell us what happened to Mr. Gordon?" She stared at her, waiting for an answer.
"He, uh, uh," she cleared her throat, and tried again. "He didn't feel so good, and he has to unpack his suitcase now that he's back, so he went up to his room to take it easy."
Ms. Ungermeyer thought a minute. "I hope, that for your sake, that you are telling me the truth. I'm sure you realize by now, that if you tell me lies, I WILL find out." She paused. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter right now. Mr. Gordon can be filled in later on what I am about to say. Oh, Sergei? Will you please come here?" She montioned to the large man, who was quietly standing off to the side. "For anyone who doesn't know, this is Sergei. He's out of work right now, so I offered him a little job. Please introduce yourself to the children."
He took off his sunglasses, and smiled. "I, am Sergei." He put his sunglasses back on, and stood next to Ms. Ungermeyer.
"Yes... you are," she said, as she resumed her speech to her class. "Tonight, I have learned that there was a little deception taking place the last few days, with one particular student. And three of you knew about it, and kept the secret. So, this is mainly for Mr. Gordon, and the three of you." She pointed at Lizzie, Kate, and Ethan. "We have five days left in Rome, and Sergei will move into Mr. Craft and Mr. Gordon's room, and I will move into Ms. Sanders and Ms. McGuire's room. This will be so we can keep an eye on you at ALL times." She let this sit with the perpetrators for a bit, then continued. "Since my room will now be empty, Mr. and Mrs. McGuire, and their son Matthew will stay there until the end of our trip, when they will accompany us home."
"Wait, you don't have to do that, we'll just go sleep in the lobby at the airport. There should be a plane back home in the morning." Sam McGuire protested to no avail. He had wondered what the meeting was about, but had stayed out, that is, until he was mentioned.
"Mr. McGuire. Zip it. Take the room." Shocked, he nodded, and went off to find his wife and son. Once again, Ms. Ungermeyer had the floor. "Alright, now where was I? Oh, yeah. The last few days here in Rome were supposed to be 'free' days for all of you, but that's not going to happen. Ms. McGuire, since you missed so many points of interest, and Sergei has spent his whole life here, he is going to take you for a tour of all the places we've been, while you've been off doing whatever it is you've been doing. And since Mr. Gordon helped in your plans, he will be joining you. He's quite knowledgable, so he'll be able to help you learn things in half the time he did. And Ms. Sanders, Mr. Craft. You will be joining them. Mr. Craft, it can only do you good to revisit what you've seen, and Ms. Sanders, I'm sure you can reinforce what the other three already know."
Lizzie and Kate looked at her, not believing what they just heard. Ethan, as usual, was in his own little world. Presently, he was licking the remains of the sauce from the plate that had held his spaghetti dinner. Amazingly, Ms. Ungermeyer STILL wasn't through.
"As for the rest of you, you will come with me, again on the bus, but this time to do what YOU want. Shop, re-visit places we've been, explore places we didn't see. Your choice. Now, scram, all of ya!" She turned, and motioned for Sergei to follow, and they both left the room. The group disbanded, and Lizzie left to find her parents.
She found them sitting on a long bench, her mother sitting next to Matt, while trying to console him. Her father was on the opposite end, going through what looked to be a briefcase. Wait, that was Matt's writing on that junk. She saw her name on a few of the items, and in the corner of the case, a familar pink pig. She quickly grabbed it, and turned to her brother. "I don't know WHAT else you have there, and I really, really do NOT care. But this, this is mine, and I'll thank you not to steal my stuff!" She walked away in a huff, while examining the toy.
It was slightly dirty. She walked over to the fountain, and splashed a little water on her friend, then went to get a cloth napkin from the dining tables to dry him. She sat down, and did a quick cleaning job on the stuffed animal. Didn't help, it needed a good wash. How many secrets had she told this pig? She held it carefully, as she told it another. "Oh, Mr. Snuggles, what am I supposed to do now? I think I like Gordo, but isn't that wrong? How can I like my best friend like that? I thought he liked me, but how can I be totally sure?" She began to cry and she hugged her pal closer, and let the tears fall.
A/N Ok, I really pondered over what to do here, the book doesn't give any clue as to how long it was from 'the kiss' to the plane ride home. And seeing six or seven 'checkpoints' a day, when they were there for two full weeks sounded a little much. So they have extra days left...
This chapter took a long time, because I didn't write it in the same manner as I did chapters in my other story. Also most days, I got to 'doing other stuff' and didn't write more than a sentence or two... I'll try to write the next faster. Sorry!
Review if you like, or email at JP5683@msn.com or IM me (AOL JP five 683 Yahoo JP5683 MSN JP5683@msn.com) All email will be replied to, anyone leaving a review with an email attached will be contacted, unless you instruct me otherwise.
Thanks!
JP
July 26, 2003