A Second Chance Chapter 25

This Chapter takes place from Lizzie's and Gordo's POV. It takes place right when they lose contact with David on the ham radio. This chapter is only half of the chapter I had originally planned to write, but I decided to post what I've written so that you all will have something to read! Think of it as a transition chapter to the climax of the story. Anyway, read and review! HM

Lizzie's and Gordo's POV

As she waited for David to respond, suddenly, the ham radio began spewing out loud, caustic static.

Startled, she jumped back in her seat, then quickly covered her ears, trying to block out the noise. She gave a worried look to Gordo, wondering if he knew what was happening with the radio.

He returned her gaze with a stern grimace, a look that told her that he had no idea what was going on. All he knew right now was that the static from the radio was unbelievably loud, and so he reached out with his right hand and turned down the volume.

As the noise quickly died down to a manageable level, she breathed a sigh of relief, dropped her hands from her hears, then grabbed the microphone.

"David? Are you there?" She asked. "If you're there, answer me!"

There was no answer, as static continued to pour out of the ham radio.

She anxiously turned to Gordo again. "Do you know what's wrong with the radio?"

"Let me try tinkering with it. I'm hoping we've just lost his frequency temporarily, because of the weather ."

He got up from his chair, put his elbows on the desk, and then began twisting a few knobs and adjusted some of the frequency settings.

Nothing worked. The room continued to fill up with static.

He kept adjusting the settings, but he had a slow, sinking feeling that, in all likelihood, they had lost the connection with David.

"David's gone," he murmured, as he slumped back in his chair, resigned, lost and dejected.

He felt intensely depressed, not just because they had lost the connection, but, more so, because of everything he had just heard Lizzie say to David.

The entire time they were talking, he sat back, silent for the most part, just trying to make sense of what was going on. With each word spoken, he desperately hoped that he would hear from her the words he longed to hear – that she was in love with him and that she too realized that they were meant to be together.

But, when she told David that she was unsure of everything and was unsure about her feelings for Gordo, what she said hit him and hurt him hard and deep.

In truth, though, Lizzie had not rejected out of hand the idea of being together with Gordo. However, in his sensitive mind and heart, what he heard her say was that she didn't want to be with him.

She . . . she doesn't love me, does she? He kept thinking to himself, over and over. I – I knew it, I just knew it was too good to be true. Face it, Gordo, you're just not good enough for her, she deserves someone better than you . . . .

Immersed in his painful feelings of rejection and humiliation, he never felt so embarrassed and ashamed in his life. And right now, he felt too embarassed to even make eye contact with her anymore.

He had been so scared for all of these years of telling her how he felt, because he didn't know if he could stand the thought of rejection, the thought of having his love unreciprocated.

And now, in his mind, his worst fears had been realized. She didn't want to be with him, he thought, and that belief was turning him inside and out, making him want to crawl out of his skin and disappear forever into the obscure darkness of night.

What was worse, now he didn't even have David's help to help him through his inner crisis. Right now more than ever he felt like he could use the guidance and counsel of his older, wiser, self, and he began to feel angry at the way he had abandoned him in such a time of need . . . .

As the radio kept bombarding them with static, they just sat there, at the desk, quiet, helpless, waiting for something to happen, hoping that they would hear David's voice once again over the radio.

Their silent prayers went unanswered.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finally broke the uneasy silence. "Gordo, is he – gone? Did we lose him?"

"I – I'm not sure. I—think so. I mean, it was such a freak thing to be able to talk to him in the first place, I'm not sure we'll be able to get the connection back," he replied.

Silence.

"What should we do now?" She asked, with deep concern etched on her face.

He didn't answer. He turned away to look mindlessly at some paintings on the wall. He didn't know what to do or say to her.

She gently placed her hand on his leg, and asked, "Gordo, is – everything okay?"

"Uh- yeah, I'm fine. Totally," he replied. "I'm just tired, you know? Man, it's been a long night. But, anyway, I think we should turn off the radio. We can try him again in a little while, but I really don't think we'll get him back."

"Oh—okay," she said, taken a little aback by the hollow tone in his voice. There's something definitely wrong with him, she thought.

She wanted to reach over and give him a reassuring hug, but, she wasn't sure that was something he wanted right now.

Instead, she just mindlessly stared at the ham radio and listened to the rain as it continued to relentlessly batter the house.

The sound of the rhythmic, beating rain was hypnotic, and she felt herself falling into a slight trance-like state. She was starting to feel more and more relaxed, as her anxiety and worry started to melt away, at least for the moment.

She was still thinking about David, and wondering how he was doing. As she continued to gaze intently at the ham radio, she tried to imagine what he looked like . . . what Gordo looked like all grown up.

I . . . miss him. I miss David . . .

She then turned to Gordo, who looked back at her with a sad, introspective face.

But, he's not really gone, he's right here, with me. David is Gordo, Gordo is David, remember?

With that reassuring thought, she closed her eyes and let herself smile. Then, she opened her eyes and gazed tenderly at Gordo.

He could feel her inquisitive gaze, and he tried desperately to avoid looking straight into her eyes. But, he couldn't help himself, as his eyes inexorably turned to meet her eyes. I just can't take my eyes off you, Lizzie McGuire, he thought to himself, no matter how hard I try.

She could sense that his emotional walls were slowly coming down. Good! My Gordo's coming back to me, she thought.

Feeling great tenderness toward him, she started to reach with her hand to give his hand a loving caress. But, out of the blue, she was suddenly hit with an intense feeling of claustrophobia.

Oh!! she cried silently. She sat up in her chair and started to gently rub her neck, as it felt like the air around her was choking her. Ohmigosh, we've been sitting in this office for so long, I need to get some air . . .

She gently pulled herself up from her chair and started to walk out the door. "Gordo, I'm going to go out on the porch and get some air, it's so stuffy and hot in here."

"Oh, okay. Sure, Lizzie," he replied as he sat in his chair, hit with another wave of dejection. He assumed that she wanted to be on the porch by herself, away from him.

She was almost out the door when she stopped, turned around, and looked to see Gordo still sitting in the chair. His head was hanging and his hands were nervously preoccupied with a paper clip.

"Gordo?" She said, in a soft, tentative voice.

"Hmm?"

"Are – aren't you going to come outside with me?"

He looked at her, puzzled. "Oh . . . . I – I thought you wanted to go out by yourself," he said. "Do you – do you really want me to come out there with you?"

"Of course," she whispered forcefully. "Why wouldn't I want you with me?"

"Oh, uh, no reason, I just thought, you know, you might want to be by yourself right now," he replied.

She looked at him with a mix of empathy and sadness. Oh, poor Gordo, she thought to herself, there is something wrong with him. It must have been some of the things I said to David . . . .

She nervously played with her hair, took a contemplative sigh, then slowly walked over to where he was sitting. She gently placed her right hand on his left shoulder, then extended her left hand towards him.

"C'mon, Gordo, come outside with me . . . I want to talk to you about a few things, okay? There are some things I want to tell you, to explain to you, and some things I need you to help me understand," she said in a soft, soothing, voice.

He looked up at her over his left shoulder, smiled softly, then reached out to hold her extended hand.

She smiled back at him, then gently pulled him up out of his chair. They were now standing face to face, only a few inches separating them, and they both stood there, silently, just gazing into each other's eyes.

They exchanged no words, yet standing there, together, holding each other's hands, they spoke volumes to each other.

They both knew, that in the next few moments, something significant was going to occur between them. In the next few moments, they knew that they would be mapping out their future and shaping the very course of their lives.

His hands and legs started to tremble as he slowly began to understand the magnitude of the present moment.

She could feel his sense of unease and trepidation, and so she started to softly stroke his hand with her thumb as she gave him a reassuring kiss on his cheeks, as if to tell him that everything would turn out alright, that everything in the end would make sense.

Then, finally, she broke their silent conversation as she whispered into his ears, "C'mon, Gordo, let's go outside, okay? I want you to come outside with me."

"Okay," he nodded and then two, still holding hands, began their slow, quiet, and peaceful walk to the back porch.

TO BE CONTINUED