Author's Note: Thank you all for your amazing reviews! I'm glad you all
want this story to continue. Just a note, when I wrote the last couple of
chapters, the song and music video that kept going through my head was
Coldplay's beautifully melancholic song, "The Scientist." The feel and
emotion of that song has definitely been an inspiration as I've been
writing this story.
Anyway, here's chapter 10. Please read and review! hm
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Gordo waited with baited breath as the car came nearer. The car headlights were staring straight into his eyes, making it hard to see anything except a bright blinding flashing. He squinted his eyes, hoping to be able to see who was in the car. The car was now only a few dozen yards away from him. He could finally see that the car was of a familiar make and model.
The car was now 10 yards from him. His eyes lit up as he was now able to recognize the driver inside the car . . . it was his best friend, Elizabeth Brooke McGuire. . . .
He watched as Lizzie's car crept closer to him. She was driving only five or ten miles per hour, and his heart began beating rapidly as he expected Lizzie to stop where he was standing.
He was wrong.
Lizzie kept on driving past him without acknowledging Gordo's presence. It was as if he wasn't there at all.
"Lizzie! Wait!" yelled Gordo, as he turned to watch the car head back towards the McGuire house. I hope she's just driving back home, muttered Gordo. He wiped away the drenching rain away from his face with both of his hands, gulped down some air, then began chasing Lizzie's car down the other end of the street.
As Gordo trekked closer to Lizzie's car, he gazed upward at the violent night sky, noticing that the clouds were still quite visibly upset, as it continued to throw sheets and sheets of dark, angry rain down to the ground. His clothes were now completely soaked through with water, his once light sky blue shirt turned a deep somber blue. As the adrenaline was beginning to drain out of his body, he could start to feel the damp chill of the wet fabric on his back and on his chest, and as he was running, he could feel his feet squishing and swimming around in his soggy socks.
As he was twenty yards from the McGuire's house, Gordo could see Lizzie's car stop, on the street, right in front of her house. Her head lights and brake lights were still on, the engine was still running, and Lizzie made no motion to stop the car and get out. The car just sat there, in idle, as if Lizzie was waiting, waiting for him. . . .
Oh please Lizzie just don't move, don't go anywhere just stay there, please!
Even though it felt like an eternity, he finally reached Lizzie's car. Okay, if I have to, I'm going to stand in front of the car to make sure Lizzie doesn't drive off unless it's over my dead body.
Gordo stood right next to Lizzie's driver side window, put his face up against the window and peered in. He saw Lizzie, sitting in her car, her hair dripping little droplets of water all over her car seat, staring blankly out the front of the car. She looks like a ghost, gasped Gordo. Ohmigod I hope she's okay, I hope she's okay.
Gordo knocked on the car window and in a loud but gentle voice said, "Lizzie! Lizzie, can you hear me, are you okay?"
Lizzie didn't move a single inch of her body. Gordo's pulse raced with deep concern for his best friend.
"Lizzie! Can you hear me? Say something! Tell me you're okay! Please get out of the car and let's go back inside the house!"
Still no response.
"Lizzie!!!" screamed Gordo, as he began pounding furiously on the window. He tried to shake the car door open but it remained firmly locked. "Wake up, Lizzie! Please don't scare me like this, just let me know you're okay! Please don't do this to me!" Desperation and frustration penetrated each of his words, as he wasn't sure if Lizzie couldn't get out of the car, or whether she didn't want to get out of the car.
Lizzie finally responded. She closed her eyes, then slowly turned her head to face Gordo.
Gordo was taken aback by the expression on Lizzie's face. It was an odd expression, something he had never seen on Lizzie's face before. She looked bone weary, as if she was 150 years old and ready for eternal slumber. She had strands of wet, darkened blonde hair dangling in front of her face and her puffy, reddish-stained eyes. She was also wearing a quizzical, forlorn smile on her face, a smile radiating feelings of deep sadness, confusion, love, hate, and . . .betrayal.
Gordo's desperation and frustration subsided, as the look on Lizzie's face started calming him down. He stopped pounding on the window as pangs of sadness and regret started attacking him. Oh god, you look so beautiful, whispered Gordo. The raw, melancholy emotions on Lizzie's face only made the purity of her natural beauty shine through, and he began welling up with tears as he wanted to do nothing else right now than to hold onto Lizzie with all of his strength and to kiss her and to tell her that everything is going to be okay. . . .
Although Lizzie couldn't tell for sure, it looked like to her that Gordo was . . . crying. That's odd, mused Lizzie, I've never seen Gordo cry before. As she continued to gaze curiously at her friend, she could feel his emotions penetrating the window and taking up residence in her heart. She felt a slight jolt of electricity course and flow through her entire body, and she was awoken from her semi-trance state. Oh Gordo . . . . her heart wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but then she began to remember everything that had transpired on this night. Her head started to swirl as a flood of emotions overwhelmed her entire being.
Her emotions finally broke Lizzie's will. She buried her face deep in her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. Her body began to convulse and shake, and then it began to rhythmically rock back and forth, back and forth.
Gordo could only watch, stunned, helpless. He wanted to console her, yet he knew he was the last person she wanted to turn to right now for comfort, since he had been the one to cause her the pain and hurt that was besieging Lizzie as this moment. So, he just stood there, outside of her car, as the rain kept pelting his body, and waited patiently as he watched his friend grieve.
After a few minutes, Gordo could tell that Lizzie was starting to calm down, as her rocking was slowing down and her body was shaking less and less. She took her face out of her hands and turned to look at him once more. Her teary eyes met his anxious, worried eyes. She rolled her eyes as if in exasperation and defeat, then brought her forehead to a rest on the steering wheel. With her head firmly planted on the steering wheel, she slowly took her left arm and turned off the car headlights. Then, slowly with her right arm, she put up the emergency brakes and turned off the car's ignition.
The car's rumbling came to an abrupt stop, and the only noise that Lizzie and Gordo could hear now was the sound of the night rain still steadily and persistently beating down on car and on Gordo. But, to Gordo and Lizzie, they might as well have been standing in a vaccum, because for them, it felt like the night was suddenly overcome with an eerie silence.
Gordo waited with anxious anticipation as Lizzie unlocked her car door and slowly flung it open. She paused for a second, then cautiously carried her self out of the car and into the open night.
She felt so very unsure of herself as she stood there, only a foot away from Gordo. She didn't know how to be around him right now, as she felt completely lost within herself. It was as if she was standing right next to a complete stranger, raw, naked, her emotions completely exposed. She had no idea what to do, whether to say something, whether to just keep standing there and let the rain wash away her sorrow, whether to just go on inside the house, or whether to get back in her car and go for that drive once again. She just didn't know what to do. . . .
Awash in uncertainty and ambiguity, Lizzie closed the car door, and just stood there, waiting, hoping, that she would soon be able to figure out what to do next.
Gordo met Lizzie's uncertainty with his own feelings of not knowing what to do next. He couldn't help but fix his gaze on Lizzie's face, and he couldn't help but to keep muttering in his head how absolutely beautiful she is, how absolutely beautiful she is, and that she was still *alive!* She's not dead, she's not dead, Lizzie's alive, Lizzie's alive!!
With the confidence of a baby making its first upright steps, he inched closer to Lizzie. He did so very slowly, hoping not to scare her away and back into her car.
Lizzie didn't move away. But nor did she give Gordo any signal that she wanted him to come closer.
Gordo thought momentarily about stopping himself and taking a step back, but it was too late, he was already close enough to Lizzie to feel her breath on his face. Then instinct and desire took over and Gordo whispered, "Lizzie, I'm so sorry," as he wrapped his around his arms tightly around Lizzie and let his emotions flow from deep inside of his being and straight into her heart. Try as hard as he could, he couldn't stop himself from sobbing as he held on tightly to Lizzie. As he held her and his face brushed against Lizzie's soft, wet cheeks, he kept whispering "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" into Lizzie's ear.
Lizzie initially was taken aback by Gordo's embrace. Her first thought was to shake him off of her, to tell him to get away from her. Her body didn't return his embrace, and she just stood there, dumbfounded, as he continued to hold her and weep. But, the raw power of his emotions started breaking through her anger and resentment, and slowly she began to open itself up. Tears started to flow down her cheeks as her heart finally relented to its desires and she put her arms around him and held onto him as tightly as she could. "Oh Gordo. . . ." she gently whispered into his ears. "It'll be alright, it'll be alright."
As Lizzie and Gordo continued to hold on to each other as if their lives depended on it, the rain finally began to loosen up, and it started coming down at a much slower, leisurely pace.
As Gordo's sobbing started to diminish, Lizzie took her face off of his shoulders, and as he kept holding onto her, she took her hands, curled them into fists, and then began softly pounding them on his chest. With a look of deep hurt and muted anger, she looked into his eyes and said, "how could you say those things to me? How could you? Ohmigod, yo-you hurt me so much tonight, Gordo!" She buried her face into Gordo's chest and began sobbing.
Gordo held onto her even more tightly, began to gently rock her and just kept whispering to her how sorry he was, how sorry he was, how sorry he was . . . .
As Lizzie's crying began to subside, Gordo said, "c'mon Lizzie, let's go back inside, okay?"
Lizzie peered up at Gordo and nodded in agreement. Gordo held onto Lizzie with his right arm as the two slowly and gingerly made there way back into the McGuire's residence.
As they reached the front door, Gordo released his grip on Lizzie and let her in first. As he was about to take his step inside, he first glanced at his wristwatch. It read 9:25 p.m. David had told him that Lizzie's car had crashed around 10:00 p.m. Even though he wasn't going to be absolutely certain of anything until it was way past 10:00 p.m., he knew deep down that he had done it, that he had prevented Lizzie's death on this night. He gazed up into the sky and smiled a sigh of relief. I did it. Lizzie's going to live, oh my god, Lizzie's going to live! His heavy heart began to soar with delight and relief. We did it David, we did it . . . .
"Gordo, are you coming in?" asked Lizzie, as she watched him standing in front of the doorway, gazing up intently at the night.
"Yeah, Lizzie, I'm coming." As Gordo crossed the doorway, he suddenly heard a voice telling him, "It's not over yet, Gordo, it's not over yet." And as the house greeted Gordo with its warmth and bright, cozy lights, a feeling of dread suddenly crept inside of his heart and mind. Oh, no, whispered Gordo, as he closed the door behind him, it isn't over yet, not just yet. . . .
Anyway, here's chapter 10. Please read and review! hm
___________________________________________________________________
Gordo waited with baited breath as the car came nearer. The car headlights were staring straight into his eyes, making it hard to see anything except a bright blinding flashing. He squinted his eyes, hoping to be able to see who was in the car. The car was now only a few dozen yards away from him. He could finally see that the car was of a familiar make and model.
The car was now 10 yards from him. His eyes lit up as he was now able to recognize the driver inside the car . . . it was his best friend, Elizabeth Brooke McGuire. . . .
He watched as Lizzie's car crept closer to him. She was driving only five or ten miles per hour, and his heart began beating rapidly as he expected Lizzie to stop where he was standing.
He was wrong.
Lizzie kept on driving past him without acknowledging Gordo's presence. It was as if he wasn't there at all.
"Lizzie! Wait!" yelled Gordo, as he turned to watch the car head back towards the McGuire house. I hope she's just driving back home, muttered Gordo. He wiped away the drenching rain away from his face with both of his hands, gulped down some air, then began chasing Lizzie's car down the other end of the street.
As Gordo trekked closer to Lizzie's car, he gazed upward at the violent night sky, noticing that the clouds were still quite visibly upset, as it continued to throw sheets and sheets of dark, angry rain down to the ground. His clothes were now completely soaked through with water, his once light sky blue shirt turned a deep somber blue. As the adrenaline was beginning to drain out of his body, he could start to feel the damp chill of the wet fabric on his back and on his chest, and as he was running, he could feel his feet squishing and swimming around in his soggy socks.
As he was twenty yards from the McGuire's house, Gordo could see Lizzie's car stop, on the street, right in front of her house. Her head lights and brake lights were still on, the engine was still running, and Lizzie made no motion to stop the car and get out. The car just sat there, in idle, as if Lizzie was waiting, waiting for him. . . .
Oh please Lizzie just don't move, don't go anywhere just stay there, please!
Even though it felt like an eternity, he finally reached Lizzie's car. Okay, if I have to, I'm going to stand in front of the car to make sure Lizzie doesn't drive off unless it's over my dead body.
Gordo stood right next to Lizzie's driver side window, put his face up against the window and peered in. He saw Lizzie, sitting in her car, her hair dripping little droplets of water all over her car seat, staring blankly out the front of the car. She looks like a ghost, gasped Gordo. Ohmigod I hope she's okay, I hope she's okay.
Gordo knocked on the car window and in a loud but gentle voice said, "Lizzie! Lizzie, can you hear me, are you okay?"
Lizzie didn't move a single inch of her body. Gordo's pulse raced with deep concern for his best friend.
"Lizzie! Can you hear me? Say something! Tell me you're okay! Please get out of the car and let's go back inside the house!"
Still no response.
"Lizzie!!!" screamed Gordo, as he began pounding furiously on the window. He tried to shake the car door open but it remained firmly locked. "Wake up, Lizzie! Please don't scare me like this, just let me know you're okay! Please don't do this to me!" Desperation and frustration penetrated each of his words, as he wasn't sure if Lizzie couldn't get out of the car, or whether she didn't want to get out of the car.
Lizzie finally responded. She closed her eyes, then slowly turned her head to face Gordo.
Gordo was taken aback by the expression on Lizzie's face. It was an odd expression, something he had never seen on Lizzie's face before. She looked bone weary, as if she was 150 years old and ready for eternal slumber. She had strands of wet, darkened blonde hair dangling in front of her face and her puffy, reddish-stained eyes. She was also wearing a quizzical, forlorn smile on her face, a smile radiating feelings of deep sadness, confusion, love, hate, and . . .betrayal.
Gordo's desperation and frustration subsided, as the look on Lizzie's face started calming him down. He stopped pounding on the window as pangs of sadness and regret started attacking him. Oh god, you look so beautiful, whispered Gordo. The raw, melancholy emotions on Lizzie's face only made the purity of her natural beauty shine through, and he began welling up with tears as he wanted to do nothing else right now than to hold onto Lizzie with all of his strength and to kiss her and to tell her that everything is going to be okay. . . .
Although Lizzie couldn't tell for sure, it looked like to her that Gordo was . . . crying. That's odd, mused Lizzie, I've never seen Gordo cry before. As she continued to gaze curiously at her friend, she could feel his emotions penetrating the window and taking up residence in her heart. She felt a slight jolt of electricity course and flow through her entire body, and she was awoken from her semi-trance state. Oh Gordo . . . . her heart wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but then she began to remember everything that had transpired on this night. Her head started to swirl as a flood of emotions overwhelmed her entire being.
Her emotions finally broke Lizzie's will. She buried her face deep in her hands and started sobbing uncontrollably. Her body began to convulse and shake, and then it began to rhythmically rock back and forth, back and forth.
Gordo could only watch, stunned, helpless. He wanted to console her, yet he knew he was the last person she wanted to turn to right now for comfort, since he had been the one to cause her the pain and hurt that was besieging Lizzie as this moment. So, he just stood there, outside of her car, as the rain kept pelting his body, and waited patiently as he watched his friend grieve.
After a few minutes, Gordo could tell that Lizzie was starting to calm down, as her rocking was slowing down and her body was shaking less and less. She took her face out of her hands and turned to look at him once more. Her teary eyes met his anxious, worried eyes. She rolled her eyes as if in exasperation and defeat, then brought her forehead to a rest on the steering wheel. With her head firmly planted on the steering wheel, she slowly took her left arm and turned off the car headlights. Then, slowly with her right arm, she put up the emergency brakes and turned off the car's ignition.
The car's rumbling came to an abrupt stop, and the only noise that Lizzie and Gordo could hear now was the sound of the night rain still steadily and persistently beating down on car and on Gordo. But, to Gordo and Lizzie, they might as well have been standing in a vaccum, because for them, it felt like the night was suddenly overcome with an eerie silence.
Gordo waited with anxious anticipation as Lizzie unlocked her car door and slowly flung it open. She paused for a second, then cautiously carried her self out of the car and into the open night.
She felt so very unsure of herself as she stood there, only a foot away from Gordo. She didn't know how to be around him right now, as she felt completely lost within herself. It was as if she was standing right next to a complete stranger, raw, naked, her emotions completely exposed. She had no idea what to do, whether to say something, whether to just keep standing there and let the rain wash away her sorrow, whether to just go on inside the house, or whether to get back in her car and go for that drive once again. She just didn't know what to do. . . .
Awash in uncertainty and ambiguity, Lizzie closed the car door, and just stood there, waiting, hoping, that she would soon be able to figure out what to do next.
Gordo met Lizzie's uncertainty with his own feelings of not knowing what to do next. He couldn't help but fix his gaze on Lizzie's face, and he couldn't help but to keep muttering in his head how absolutely beautiful she is, how absolutely beautiful she is, and that she was still *alive!* She's not dead, she's not dead, Lizzie's alive, Lizzie's alive!!
With the confidence of a baby making its first upright steps, he inched closer to Lizzie. He did so very slowly, hoping not to scare her away and back into her car.
Lizzie didn't move away. But nor did she give Gordo any signal that she wanted him to come closer.
Gordo thought momentarily about stopping himself and taking a step back, but it was too late, he was already close enough to Lizzie to feel her breath on his face. Then instinct and desire took over and Gordo whispered, "Lizzie, I'm so sorry," as he wrapped his around his arms tightly around Lizzie and let his emotions flow from deep inside of his being and straight into her heart. Try as hard as he could, he couldn't stop himself from sobbing as he held on tightly to Lizzie. As he held her and his face brushed against Lizzie's soft, wet cheeks, he kept whispering "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" into Lizzie's ear.
Lizzie initially was taken aback by Gordo's embrace. Her first thought was to shake him off of her, to tell him to get away from her. Her body didn't return his embrace, and she just stood there, dumbfounded, as he continued to hold her and weep. But, the raw power of his emotions started breaking through her anger and resentment, and slowly she began to open itself up. Tears started to flow down her cheeks as her heart finally relented to its desires and she put her arms around him and held onto him as tightly as she could. "Oh Gordo. . . ." she gently whispered into his ears. "It'll be alright, it'll be alright."
As Lizzie and Gordo continued to hold on to each other as if their lives depended on it, the rain finally began to loosen up, and it started coming down at a much slower, leisurely pace.
As Gordo's sobbing started to diminish, Lizzie took her face off of his shoulders, and as he kept holding onto her, she took her hands, curled them into fists, and then began softly pounding them on his chest. With a look of deep hurt and muted anger, she looked into his eyes and said, "how could you say those things to me? How could you? Ohmigod, yo-you hurt me so much tonight, Gordo!" She buried her face into Gordo's chest and began sobbing.
Gordo held onto her even more tightly, began to gently rock her and just kept whispering to her how sorry he was, how sorry he was, how sorry he was . . . .
As Lizzie's crying began to subside, Gordo said, "c'mon Lizzie, let's go back inside, okay?"
Lizzie peered up at Gordo and nodded in agreement. Gordo held onto Lizzie with his right arm as the two slowly and gingerly made there way back into the McGuire's residence.
As they reached the front door, Gordo released his grip on Lizzie and let her in first. As he was about to take his step inside, he first glanced at his wristwatch. It read 9:25 p.m. David had told him that Lizzie's car had crashed around 10:00 p.m. Even though he wasn't going to be absolutely certain of anything until it was way past 10:00 p.m., he knew deep down that he had done it, that he had prevented Lizzie's death on this night. He gazed up into the sky and smiled a sigh of relief. I did it. Lizzie's going to live, oh my god, Lizzie's going to live! His heavy heart began to soar with delight and relief. We did it David, we did it . . . .
"Gordo, are you coming in?" asked Lizzie, as she watched him standing in front of the doorway, gazing up intently at the night.
"Yeah, Lizzie, I'm coming." As Gordo crossed the doorway, he suddenly heard a voice telling him, "It's not over yet, Gordo, it's not over yet." And as the house greeted Gordo with its warmth and bright, cozy lights, a feeling of dread suddenly crept inside of his heart and mind. Oh, no, whispered Gordo, as he closed the door behind him, it isn't over yet, not just yet. . . .