I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Thank you for the support. This story is somewhat of a challenge for me personally, but it's helpful to know that people hear it. I'm not trying to change anyone's life or tell you not to drink at all, I'm just trying to give you readers a different point of view. Instead of telling how it affected the family of the victim; it's how it affected the offender's family.
Chapter Four: And Let the Truth Be Told
Lizzie spoke nothing of the incident to Gordo, and was ever so grateful that he wasn't pushing her to tell him anything, although she knew he deserved to give him some explanation. But not now, not while she was trying to understand the whole thing herself.
"So," Gordo said, as they reached Lizzie's house. They had walked around the neighborhood and were back where they started. On Lizzie's front porch. Gordo looked at Lizzie with worry in his eyes. This while time, he could tell that she was vulnerable right now and probably could be easily pushed to tears, "Are you sure you are going to be okay?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders, which caused her to look at him.
Lizzie took a deep breath and nodded. She was trying really hard to be strong and show that this wouldn't hurt her. In fact she should feel lucky. Her father could have been hurt or even killed. But no, she didn't feel lucky. She felt betrayed by her parents and felt like everything she learned up to this point was useless. She no longer felt safe, "I'll be okay," she lied.
Gordo looked into her eyes as if he was uncertain with her words and her eyes looked back at his and it hurt him to see the pain. He pulled his friend into a tight hug and she gave in to her strength and hugged him back, releasing the tears onto Gordo's shoulders. "Aw, Lizzie," he said, softly into her ears as he stoked her back softly, "It'll be okay. Trust me, whatever it is that happened will all work out in the end. I promise."
"Gordo," Lizzie said, pulling away and looking into his eyes, she was still crying and shaking her head as she spoke, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
Lizzie let go of Gordo completely and opened her front door as Gordo stood there, watching her. Lizzie didn't look back as she closed her door, but once it was closed, she leaned against it and cried harder than she did before. It was hard for her, it happened so quickly and now all the sudden her father was a criminal.
After standing there for a few more seconds, she ran upstairs into her room, shut the door and went to the window. She watched Gordo as was slowly walked home, kicking the pavement as he went along. Lizzie felt bad about Gordo, wishing she told him the truth, because that way she would have a friend to talk about it. She knew Gordo would always be there for her if she needed him and now was a time she needed a friend more than ever. But it was too late. She shut him off, and the way she did it sounded rude.
But it was true. She knew her parents drank on occasion, but thought they were responsible about it. She thought they were invincible and did everything right, but her father had proven them wrong. Sure, he never promised that he was perfect and did everything right, but he was a parent and some things with parents were just a given. They were supposed to set examples for their kids by being responsible, not destructive.
Lizzie stared out the window and saw cars pass and found herself wishing that she were with them. It was better being anyone than her right now. She saw her mom's car into the street and watched it was it turned into the driveway. She didn't wave to her parents or watch them get out of the car…no…they didn't deserve a wave. She ignored the sound of the back door opening and continued to look out the window. She felt like she was waiting for something, but she didn't know what. A car, perhaps, to take her away? A tree to fall down on her house? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything.
"Damn this world," Lizzie mumbled as she finally jerked herself away from the window, "This life sucks," she dropped to her bed and lay on her stomach, thinking of ways to deal with this…ways to escape this life she so desperately wanted to get away from.
She heard a small tap on her door, but ignored it, not feeling like conversing with the enemy.
Her mother poked her head in a few seconds later. Sure her mother wasn't the enemy, but Lizzie did decide that her mom was not on her side. As of now, her mom was on no one's side.
"Hey, Lizzie," her mom said, softly, inviting herself to sit on Lizzie's bed, "How are you holding up?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. Luckily, her mom couldn't see her, "I'm fine," she mumbled into her bedspread.
Jo frowned with sympathy for her daughter as she rubbed Lizzie's back, "Lizzie, I know this is hard to deal with. I am sorry this had to happen, but it did, Lizzie, and we can't take back the past. People make mistakes and have to pay for their consequences."
"Oh, yeah," Lizzie said, turning to her mother, "I don't see dad coming here and saying that!" and she turned back to her covers, crying even harder.
"Your father is going through a hard time right now. It's hard for him to believe that he did this and he is more than ashamed."
"So?" Lizzie said, feeling no sympathy for her father, "That doesn't mean he shouldn't fess up and claim responsibility for his actions!"
"I know," Jo said, "I know, sweet heart, just give it time."
"How long?"
Jo shrugged, "As long as it takes. Have you talked to Gordo about this?"
Lizzie sniffed, "Not yet."
"Maybe you should," Jo suggested, "Maybe talking to a friend about it would make it easier to deal with."
Lizzie cried even harder. She knew Jo had a point, "I will talk to him about it. But not now."
"Just promise me, Lizzie," Jo said, "That you'll talk to someone, okay?" Jo was immensely concerned for her daughter, knowing that she wasn't the best at expressing herself and instead, bottled up her anger.
"Okay," Lizzie sighed. She was admittedly confused by all of this. What all started the day before was blowing up inside her brain at the moment.
Jo left the room after asking Lizzie is she was hungry, which Lizzie replied that she wasn't hungry, she didn't eat. All she wanted to do was be left alone and figure things out, like how in the world was she going to tell Gordo, who often envied her family, that her family wasn't so perfect after all?
Also, this was a small town. People were bound to hear about this somehow and what would she say when she came back to school and people wanted to know her side? She didn't know if she could handle that pressure. As much as she was willing to stick up for her family, she still had her brain to sort out and see how she personally felt. While part of her was angry, there was a whole other side to her that felt sorry for her father and wanted so badly to forgive him.
But it was hard, forgiving, because forgiving to the fourteen-year-old meant accepting what happened, and she wasn't sure if she could accept it. Not all at once, at least.
~~~
~The Next Day
After a night of broken sleep, Saturday finally came. It was the weekend of a very life-altering week for the McGuire's. Sam McGuire got a raise and fired in one day and went to jail that night. He would later have to face a court and then probably go to jail.
It was unbelievable. How could someone's life be so affected by all of this? If Lizzie felt like this, she wondered, how did the victim's family feel about it all? Thankfully, Lizzie didn't know the family and the family didn't have any children Lizzie or Matt's age. It was sad that it was one of the few positives coming out of the tragedy, but it was a part of life.
Lizzie stayed in bed for another hour after she woke up, knowing that her parents and younger brother were probably downstairs eating breakfast as if nothing happened, yet again. That's not the way Lizzie wanted it, though. She wanted someone else to acknowledge that something was going on that could very well split the family apart…financially and verbally. That, Lizzie decided, was not something Lizzie wanted.
When Lizzie finally got out of bed, took a shower and got dressed, she went downstairs, reluctant to deal with whatever stupidity that her parents had to talk about today. Yes, in Lizzie's eyes, anything but dealing with what was happening to them was stupidity, especially since it affected everyone in her family as well as a lot of other people.
"Hi," Sam said. He was still at the table, sipping coffee.
"Hi," Lizzie said, sitting down across from him.
"What do you have planned to do today, sweetheart?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. Her mom was busy dealing with the dishes and Lizzie didn't really care what Matt was doing at the moment, "I don't know. I thought I would go hang out with Gordo."
"That's cool," he said, as he took hold of the paper, "You know, I heard a great movie came out yesterday. I think Gordo would be particularly interested in it…"
"Dad?" Lizzie said, "May I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he said, looking at his daughter and smiling.
"Dad," Lizzie started, trying to think of how to word this, "Are you ever going to visit the guy you hurt at the hospital?"
Sam's smile dropped immediately as he was obviously taken aback by this seemingly easy question, "I don't think so, Lizzie."
That was all he said before going back to the paper. Lizzie tilted her head, not understanding anything her father was doing, "But dad," Lizzie said, "You hurt him pretty badly. Don't you think he would like to be visited?"
"He's in a coma," Sam said, still looking at the paper.
"So?" Lizzie said, getting really frustrated, "don't you think his family would appreciate it?"
"Probably not," Sam said.
"But…" Lizzie started, but was interrupted by her mom.
"Lizzie," Jo said, sounding a little flustered herself, "the family of the man your father hit is suing us. I don't think right now is the best time to visit him, okay?"
Lizzie looked at her mom and could see that her mom seemed to have some bottled up emotions as well. She seemed just as frustrated as Lizzie, only Jo knew more about what was going on and what was happening with her father. "Okay," Lizzie mumbled, going back upstairs. She didn't even eat anything.
Lizzie grabbed her purse and went back downstairs, with the intention of leaving her house and going to Gordo's house. Before leaving she called to her parents to tell them what she was doing. She didn't know when she would be back. She didn't even know if she wanted to come back. Not if they were going to sit there as if nothing happened.
Lizzie walked to Gordo's house, trying to come up with how to tell him. It shouldn't have been that hard, right? Things like this probably happen to a lot of people every day. Why would it be hard to do something as simple as telling someone what was going on.
Oh yeah. Because she was ashamed and confused. She wanted Gordo to think that she was nearly perfect, despite her trips and falls. She wanted him only to think good things of her and rarely show her dark side.
She reached the Gordon's house and rang the doorbell. It suddenly occurred to her that maybe Mr. and Mrs. Gordon knew what was going on. Maybe her parents told them, thinking they might be able to help the McGuire family cope. Mrs. Gordon answered the door, but she was on the phone, so she motioned for Lizzie to come in. Mrs. Gordon didn't act like she knew something. Maybe they didn't know anything after all.
Lizzie went upstairs and knocked on Gordo's door.
"Come in," he said.
Lizzie entered, seeing that Gordo was on his computer. He turned to see who was at the door and let go of the mouse, "Lizzie," he said, "hi."
"Hi," Lizzie said, closing the door behind her as she went to sit on his bed. Gordo shut down the computer, giving Lizzie his undivided attention.
"So," he said, looking at her. She hardly looked better then she was the day before, "You're here early," he noted.
"Yeah," Lizzie said, "I hope you don't mind."
Gordo shook his head, "No, no, I don't mind. I was getting bored on the computer anyway."
Lizzie looked down, "Oh."
"So," Gordo said, trying to come up with a topic of discussion, "What do you want to do today."
"I don't know," Lizzie said, but she looked up into Gordo's eyes, "But before we do anything, there is something I need to tell you."
"Okay," Gordo said, having a feeling that whatever she was going to tell her was big. He also suspected that what she was going to say was bad news.
Lizzie sniffed as she thought of what was happening. She hadn't even told him yet.
"Lizzie," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You can tell me."
Lizzie wiped her eyes and nodded, "I know. It's just hard."
"Well, I have all day. Take your time."
Lizzie sighed, "Gordo," she said, "on Thursday night, my father went to jail."
"What?" Gordo said, not expecting what she just said, "H-how?"
Lizzie laughed, but it wasn't the kind of laugh that showed happiness, "He was a drunk driver and hit someone on his way home."
"Is he okay?"
"The guy is in the hospital. He's in a coma."
"Wow," Gordo said, "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I didn't know."
"It's okay," Lizzie said, "My dad is out of jail for now."
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah, I guess," Lizzie shrugged, "But he'll have to go back once the hearing starts."
"You mean he was sued?"
"Yeah," Lizzie said, and couldn't take it any longer. She broke down and cried harder as she let the tears flow out of her face.
Gordo frowned as he pulled Lizzie into a hug, "It'll be okay. At least your dad is okay. At least he isn't hurt."
"My father is a drunk. He was drunk when he hit the guy."
Gordo didn't know what to make of this. He never had to deal with anything like this before. He sighed, still hugging Lizzie, "Are you mad at him?"
Lizzie sniffed as she nodded her head, "Yeah, I think I am."
"Well," Gordo said, "It's okay to be mad at him, you know."
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him!"
"Lizzie," Gordo said, pulling away from the hug, "I know he made a huge mistake, but don't you think you should forgive him? Knowing your father, he's probably really sorry for what he did."
"Oh yeah?" Lizzie said, with a little bit of anger in her tone, "Then why can't he come out and say so? He won't even talk about what he did."
Gordo sighed. He understood how hard this would be for Lizzie, "Maybe you should give him some time. He's probably really worried right now and he probably has his own way of dealing with this."
"I'm worried, too, Gordo. What if this breaks my family? What if my dad has to go to jail?"
Gordo felt horrible, "Lizzie, whatever happened, just know that you'll always have me as a friend."
"I know."
"And I will be there with you as a friend if you need one."
"Thanks, Gordo," Lizzie said, calming down a little.
"It hurts me to see you cry, Lizzie," Gordo said, "but what hurts me even more is the reason you are crying. Everything will be okay, though, just give it time. Something positive will come out of this."
"I know," Lizzie said, "but it helps to hear it from someone else."
Lizzie and Gordo exchanged one last hug and while Lizzie would have vented the whole day about what was going on, Gordo wouldn't hear it. He insisted that they go out and do something with the day. He knew that Lizzie needed comfort, but she also needed some life brought back to her. He treated her to lunch and miniature golf and while he could tell that her thoughts were probably elsewhere, occasionally she would smile and laugh at her own stupidity or even Gordo's, as neither of them was very good at miniature golf.
He helped convince her that life goes on after a tragedy and while it affects many people, it shouldn't let it overtake her life.
If she remembered this as time went on, the rest of her high school years would have worked out perfectly. That would end this story.
But, sometimes she forgot what she learned, and thusly, began her story.
~~~
I will update as soon as possible, but like I said, this story will jump a little until it leaves them in senior year. This will eventually be an L/G, but it will take time, and with this story, friendship will always come first between the two of them.
Oh, and in case you are curious, I named this story "Simplicity," because before the accident, her life seemed so simple because she knew what to worry about with school, but then after the accident, it because complicated because her path to growing up was disrupted and no longer as simple and now, she wishes she had only the simple things to worry about in life. Does that make sense? I was originally going to title this, "Amazing Grace," because Gordo was eventually going to help her find herself again, but then I thought Simplicity would be more appropriate.
Chapter Four: And Let the Truth Be Told
Lizzie spoke nothing of the incident to Gordo, and was ever so grateful that he wasn't pushing her to tell him anything, although she knew he deserved to give him some explanation. But not now, not while she was trying to understand the whole thing herself.
"So," Gordo said, as they reached Lizzie's house. They had walked around the neighborhood and were back where they started. On Lizzie's front porch. Gordo looked at Lizzie with worry in his eyes. This while time, he could tell that she was vulnerable right now and probably could be easily pushed to tears, "Are you sure you are going to be okay?" he asked, putting his hands on her shoulders, which caused her to look at him.
Lizzie took a deep breath and nodded. She was trying really hard to be strong and show that this wouldn't hurt her. In fact she should feel lucky. Her father could have been hurt or even killed. But no, she didn't feel lucky. She felt betrayed by her parents and felt like everything she learned up to this point was useless. She no longer felt safe, "I'll be okay," she lied.
Gordo looked into her eyes as if he was uncertain with her words and her eyes looked back at his and it hurt him to see the pain. He pulled his friend into a tight hug and she gave in to her strength and hugged him back, releasing the tears onto Gordo's shoulders. "Aw, Lizzie," he said, softly into her ears as he stoked her back softly, "It'll be okay. Trust me, whatever it is that happened will all work out in the end. I promise."
"Gordo," Lizzie said, pulling away and looking into his eyes, she was still crying and shaking her head as she spoke, "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."
Lizzie let go of Gordo completely and opened her front door as Gordo stood there, watching her. Lizzie didn't look back as she closed her door, but once it was closed, she leaned against it and cried harder than she did before. It was hard for her, it happened so quickly and now all the sudden her father was a criminal.
After standing there for a few more seconds, she ran upstairs into her room, shut the door and went to the window. She watched Gordo as was slowly walked home, kicking the pavement as he went along. Lizzie felt bad about Gordo, wishing she told him the truth, because that way she would have a friend to talk about it. She knew Gordo would always be there for her if she needed him and now was a time she needed a friend more than ever. But it was too late. She shut him off, and the way she did it sounded rude.
But it was true. She knew her parents drank on occasion, but thought they were responsible about it. She thought they were invincible and did everything right, but her father had proven them wrong. Sure, he never promised that he was perfect and did everything right, but he was a parent and some things with parents were just a given. They were supposed to set examples for their kids by being responsible, not destructive.
Lizzie stared out the window and saw cars pass and found herself wishing that she were with them. It was better being anyone than her right now. She saw her mom's car into the street and watched it was it turned into the driveway. She didn't wave to her parents or watch them get out of the car…no…they didn't deserve a wave. She ignored the sound of the back door opening and continued to look out the window. She felt like she was waiting for something, but she didn't know what. A car, perhaps, to take her away? A tree to fall down on her house? She wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of anything.
"Damn this world," Lizzie mumbled as she finally jerked herself away from the window, "This life sucks," she dropped to her bed and lay on her stomach, thinking of ways to deal with this…ways to escape this life she so desperately wanted to get away from.
She heard a small tap on her door, but ignored it, not feeling like conversing with the enemy.
Her mother poked her head in a few seconds later. Sure her mother wasn't the enemy, but Lizzie did decide that her mom was not on her side. As of now, her mom was on no one's side.
"Hey, Lizzie," her mom said, softly, inviting herself to sit on Lizzie's bed, "How are you holding up?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. Luckily, her mom couldn't see her, "I'm fine," she mumbled into her bedspread.
Jo frowned with sympathy for her daughter as she rubbed Lizzie's back, "Lizzie, I know this is hard to deal with. I am sorry this had to happen, but it did, Lizzie, and we can't take back the past. People make mistakes and have to pay for their consequences."
"Oh, yeah," Lizzie said, turning to her mother, "I don't see dad coming here and saying that!" and she turned back to her covers, crying even harder.
"Your father is going through a hard time right now. It's hard for him to believe that he did this and he is more than ashamed."
"So?" Lizzie said, feeling no sympathy for her father, "That doesn't mean he shouldn't fess up and claim responsibility for his actions!"
"I know," Jo said, "I know, sweet heart, just give it time."
"How long?"
Jo shrugged, "As long as it takes. Have you talked to Gordo about this?"
Lizzie sniffed, "Not yet."
"Maybe you should," Jo suggested, "Maybe talking to a friend about it would make it easier to deal with."
Lizzie cried even harder. She knew Jo had a point, "I will talk to him about it. But not now."
"Just promise me, Lizzie," Jo said, "That you'll talk to someone, okay?" Jo was immensely concerned for her daughter, knowing that she wasn't the best at expressing herself and instead, bottled up her anger.
"Okay," Lizzie sighed. She was admittedly confused by all of this. What all started the day before was blowing up inside her brain at the moment.
Jo left the room after asking Lizzie is she was hungry, which Lizzie replied that she wasn't hungry, she didn't eat. All she wanted to do was be left alone and figure things out, like how in the world was she going to tell Gordo, who often envied her family, that her family wasn't so perfect after all?
Also, this was a small town. People were bound to hear about this somehow and what would she say when she came back to school and people wanted to know her side? She didn't know if she could handle that pressure. As much as she was willing to stick up for her family, she still had her brain to sort out and see how she personally felt. While part of her was angry, there was a whole other side to her that felt sorry for her father and wanted so badly to forgive him.
But it was hard, forgiving, because forgiving to the fourteen-year-old meant accepting what happened, and she wasn't sure if she could accept it. Not all at once, at least.
~~~
~The Next Day
After a night of broken sleep, Saturday finally came. It was the weekend of a very life-altering week for the McGuire's. Sam McGuire got a raise and fired in one day and went to jail that night. He would later have to face a court and then probably go to jail.
It was unbelievable. How could someone's life be so affected by all of this? If Lizzie felt like this, she wondered, how did the victim's family feel about it all? Thankfully, Lizzie didn't know the family and the family didn't have any children Lizzie or Matt's age. It was sad that it was one of the few positives coming out of the tragedy, but it was a part of life.
Lizzie stayed in bed for another hour after she woke up, knowing that her parents and younger brother were probably downstairs eating breakfast as if nothing happened, yet again. That's not the way Lizzie wanted it, though. She wanted someone else to acknowledge that something was going on that could very well split the family apart…financially and verbally. That, Lizzie decided, was not something Lizzie wanted.
When Lizzie finally got out of bed, took a shower and got dressed, she went downstairs, reluctant to deal with whatever stupidity that her parents had to talk about today. Yes, in Lizzie's eyes, anything but dealing with what was happening to them was stupidity, especially since it affected everyone in her family as well as a lot of other people.
"Hi," Sam said. He was still at the table, sipping coffee.
"Hi," Lizzie said, sitting down across from him.
"What do you have planned to do today, sweetheart?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. Her mom was busy dealing with the dishes and Lizzie didn't really care what Matt was doing at the moment, "I don't know. I thought I would go hang out with Gordo."
"That's cool," he said, as he took hold of the paper, "You know, I heard a great movie came out yesterday. I think Gordo would be particularly interested in it…"
"Dad?" Lizzie said, "May I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he said, looking at his daughter and smiling.
"Dad," Lizzie started, trying to think of how to word this, "Are you ever going to visit the guy you hurt at the hospital?"
Sam's smile dropped immediately as he was obviously taken aback by this seemingly easy question, "I don't think so, Lizzie."
That was all he said before going back to the paper. Lizzie tilted her head, not understanding anything her father was doing, "But dad," Lizzie said, "You hurt him pretty badly. Don't you think he would like to be visited?"
"He's in a coma," Sam said, still looking at the paper.
"So?" Lizzie said, getting really frustrated, "don't you think his family would appreciate it?"
"Probably not," Sam said.
"But…" Lizzie started, but was interrupted by her mom.
"Lizzie," Jo said, sounding a little flustered herself, "the family of the man your father hit is suing us. I don't think right now is the best time to visit him, okay?"
Lizzie looked at her mom and could see that her mom seemed to have some bottled up emotions as well. She seemed just as frustrated as Lizzie, only Jo knew more about what was going on and what was happening with her father. "Okay," Lizzie mumbled, going back upstairs. She didn't even eat anything.
Lizzie grabbed her purse and went back downstairs, with the intention of leaving her house and going to Gordo's house. Before leaving she called to her parents to tell them what she was doing. She didn't know when she would be back. She didn't even know if she wanted to come back. Not if they were going to sit there as if nothing happened.
Lizzie walked to Gordo's house, trying to come up with how to tell him. It shouldn't have been that hard, right? Things like this probably happen to a lot of people every day. Why would it be hard to do something as simple as telling someone what was going on.
Oh yeah. Because she was ashamed and confused. She wanted Gordo to think that she was nearly perfect, despite her trips and falls. She wanted him only to think good things of her and rarely show her dark side.
She reached the Gordon's house and rang the doorbell. It suddenly occurred to her that maybe Mr. and Mrs. Gordon knew what was going on. Maybe her parents told them, thinking they might be able to help the McGuire family cope. Mrs. Gordon answered the door, but she was on the phone, so she motioned for Lizzie to come in. Mrs. Gordon didn't act like she knew something. Maybe they didn't know anything after all.
Lizzie went upstairs and knocked on Gordo's door.
"Come in," he said.
Lizzie entered, seeing that Gordo was on his computer. He turned to see who was at the door and let go of the mouse, "Lizzie," he said, "hi."
"Hi," Lizzie said, closing the door behind her as she went to sit on his bed. Gordo shut down the computer, giving Lizzie his undivided attention.
"So," he said, looking at her. She hardly looked better then she was the day before, "You're here early," he noted.
"Yeah," Lizzie said, "I hope you don't mind."
Gordo shook his head, "No, no, I don't mind. I was getting bored on the computer anyway."
Lizzie looked down, "Oh."
"So," Gordo said, trying to come up with a topic of discussion, "What do you want to do today."
"I don't know," Lizzie said, but she looked up into Gordo's eyes, "But before we do anything, there is something I need to tell you."
"Okay," Gordo said, having a feeling that whatever she was going to tell her was big. He also suspected that what she was going to say was bad news.
Lizzie sniffed as she thought of what was happening. She hadn't even told him yet.
"Lizzie," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder, "You can tell me."
Lizzie wiped her eyes and nodded, "I know. It's just hard."
"Well, I have all day. Take your time."
Lizzie sighed, "Gordo," she said, "on Thursday night, my father went to jail."
"What?" Gordo said, not expecting what she just said, "H-how?"
Lizzie laughed, but it wasn't the kind of laugh that showed happiness, "He was a drunk driver and hit someone on his way home."
"Is he okay?"
"The guy is in the hospital. He's in a coma."
"Wow," Gordo said, "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I didn't know."
"It's okay," Lizzie said, "My dad is out of jail for now."
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah, I guess," Lizzie shrugged, "But he'll have to go back once the hearing starts."
"You mean he was sued?"
"Yeah," Lizzie said, and couldn't take it any longer. She broke down and cried harder as she let the tears flow out of her face.
Gordo frowned as he pulled Lizzie into a hug, "It'll be okay. At least your dad is okay. At least he isn't hurt."
"My father is a drunk. He was drunk when he hit the guy."
Gordo didn't know what to make of this. He never had to deal with anything like this before. He sighed, still hugging Lizzie, "Are you mad at him?"
Lizzie sniffed as she nodded her head, "Yeah, I think I am."
"Well," Gordo said, "It's okay to be mad at him, you know."
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him!"
"Lizzie," Gordo said, pulling away from the hug, "I know he made a huge mistake, but don't you think you should forgive him? Knowing your father, he's probably really sorry for what he did."
"Oh yeah?" Lizzie said, with a little bit of anger in her tone, "Then why can't he come out and say so? He won't even talk about what he did."
Gordo sighed. He understood how hard this would be for Lizzie, "Maybe you should give him some time. He's probably really worried right now and he probably has his own way of dealing with this."
"I'm worried, too, Gordo. What if this breaks my family? What if my dad has to go to jail?"
Gordo felt horrible, "Lizzie, whatever happened, just know that you'll always have me as a friend."
"I know."
"And I will be there with you as a friend if you need one."
"Thanks, Gordo," Lizzie said, calming down a little.
"It hurts me to see you cry, Lizzie," Gordo said, "but what hurts me even more is the reason you are crying. Everything will be okay, though, just give it time. Something positive will come out of this."
"I know," Lizzie said, "but it helps to hear it from someone else."
Lizzie and Gordo exchanged one last hug and while Lizzie would have vented the whole day about what was going on, Gordo wouldn't hear it. He insisted that they go out and do something with the day. He knew that Lizzie needed comfort, but she also needed some life brought back to her. He treated her to lunch and miniature golf and while he could tell that her thoughts were probably elsewhere, occasionally she would smile and laugh at her own stupidity or even Gordo's, as neither of them was very good at miniature golf.
He helped convince her that life goes on after a tragedy and while it affects many people, it shouldn't let it overtake her life.
If she remembered this as time went on, the rest of her high school years would have worked out perfectly. That would end this story.
But, sometimes she forgot what she learned, and thusly, began her story.
~~~
I will update as soon as possible, but like I said, this story will jump a little until it leaves them in senior year. This will eventually be an L/G, but it will take time, and with this story, friendship will always come first between the two of them.
Oh, and in case you are curious, I named this story "Simplicity," because before the accident, her life seemed so simple because she knew what to worry about with school, but then after the accident, it because complicated because her path to growing up was disrupted and no longer as simple and now, she wishes she had only the simple things to worry about in life. Does that make sense? I was originally going to title this, "Amazing Grace," because Gordo was eventually going to help her find herself again, but then I thought Simplicity would be more appropriate.