A/N: I do not own the song "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks.

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Chapter Thirteen: Landslide

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Sing.

Isabella Parigi had called Lizzie up on the phone and asked her to come to Rome.

To sing.

Lizzie sat in her room, thinking. What would she do? She promised Isabella she'd think about it, but that seemed useless. Thinking didn't always help Elizabeth Brooke McGuire. Her thoughts could get so scrambled sometimes that the pressure of it was almost unbearable. After hanging up with Isabella, she felt like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

-I took my love and I took it down. I climbed a mountain and I turned around-

Did she want to go? She did miss Rome. Everything about that city made her feel magical, and she wanted to be able to be a part of it again. But wanting to go back was not a good enough reason to say yes to a full- fledge singing career.

Did she want a singing career? Sort of. This was an opportunity most people only dreamed about, and here it was, being offered to her on a silver platter. Isabella told her that big European executives had seen Lizzie sing and were interested. They wanted her to come over to Italy and do a tour in August with Isabella.

A big part of Lizzie was saying, 'Yes. Go.' But a whole other part was saying, 'No way. If you do this, you'll never have a normal life again. You'll always be chased by Paparazzi and landing on the covers of tabloids. Is it really worth it?'

And what about Gordo? How could she possibly spend the rest of the summer away form him? They were a couple now, and she really, truly cared about him. What would she do? She couldn't just go away just as their relationship began. It was crazy, selfish, and awful.

But what could she do? This was the opportunity of a lifetime.

'First I have to talk to my parents,' Lizzie thought. 'Then I'll talk to Gordo.'

Lizzie got up off her bed and went to open her door, when it slowly opened from the other side. Matt leaned against the doorway, a sly, mischievous grin on his face.

Lizzie was annoyed. She didn't have time for him. "What do you want, flee-bitten worm?"

"Oh, nothing at all, my darling sister," Matt said, pushing his way into the room slowly. "You've given me all the information I need."

Lizzie knew something was up. "What did you do?" She grabbed him by collar and pulled his face to hers.

"There's no need to tell mom and dad about your little long-distance phone conversation," Matt said, ignoring her question. His grin grew eviler. "They already know."

At first, Lizzie didn't know what he was talking about. Then it hit her. She released him abruptly.

"How do they..." she shouted. Her mouth stayed open for a moment. "You listened to my phone conversation! You little weasel!"

"Lizzie!" shouted her mother, walking into the room, her husband behind her. "Leave Matt alone." Jo McGuire took a long, hard look at her daughter. "Were you going to tell us about this?"

"Yes!" Lizzie answered angrily. "It only happened, like, five minutes ago!"

"Lizzie," said Sam in his fatherly (but clueless) voice, "calm down. Just tell us exactly what happened."

Behind their parents, Matt was slinking out of the room, laughing hysterically without making a sound. That didn't help, though, because Jo knew her son better.

"Hold it, Matt," she said without turning around.

He immediately stopped, but then ran out of the room after a second. Sam and Jo just sighed.

"Now, honey," said Jo in her nurturing voice, sitting down on Lizzie's bed, "tell us what happened."

Lizzie joined her mother on the bed, but as she had her mouth open to say something, Matt poked his head back in the room and said in a phony Italian accent, "Isabella made her an offer she couldn't refuse."

"Out Matt!" the other three shouted at the same time, and Matt ran again.

"Okay," Lizzie began, taking a deep breath, ready to spill everything, "Isabella just called me and told about this tour in Europe in August. These record company guys are interested in me and want me to duet with her on it."

Sam seemed confused. "And that's it? That's all they want you for?"

"Well, not exactly," Lizzie continued. "She mentioned this little thing about a record deal if it all goes well."

Lizzie waited for the worst then. She waited for her parents to unleash their wrath and spew 'no's' all over the place. She still wasn't sure if she wanted to go, but they would say no no matter what.

-And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills, a landslide brought me down-

To Lizzie's surprise though, Jo just gave a somewhat shocked smile and said, "Well, that's interesting."

"Huh?"

"Well, honey, do you want to do it?" Sam asked.

Lizzie just sat there for a moment, mouth opened, unable to say anything. All she could think was, 'Who are you and what have you done with my parents?'

"Um, I don't know," she finally got out. "I mean, it really is a big deal. If I got a record deal, that would mean no normal high school, no normal life... no normal anything." Lizzie sighed. "That's a lot to think about."

"Well, of course it is sweetie," said Jo, putting her arms around her daughter. "It's a big decision. It's a step into the adult world at age fourteen."

"I know," Lizzie replied, pulling away. "That's why I don't know what I'm going to do yet."

-Oh, mirror in the sky... what is love? Can the child in my heart rise above?-

"When does Isabella need an answer?" Sam asked.

"By this Friday," Lizzie answered, looking down at the floor.

"Well, you think about it hun," said Jo comfortingly, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "And then we'll talk about it more."

"Okay," said Lizzie, feeling a little better. She stood up. "I have to go talk to Gordo."

"You two have certainly been seeing a lot of each other lately," Jo commented as Lizzie exited the room.

"He's my best friend, mom," Lizzie called back as she rushed down the stairs, glad her lying had gotten superbly better while in Rome. She might have been ready to take on the music world, but she wasn't ready to tell her parents about her and Gordo.

'No way,' she thought as she walked down in the street in the early afternoon sun.

-Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?-

It was a warm day. The birds flew over Lizzie's head and in the direction she was going. Her heartbeat was normal, but she could almost hear it in her ears. What would she tell him? That encouraging talk with her folks had kind of made her excited to say yes. It would be cool, after all, going on tour in Italy with Isabella, greeting thousands of screaming fans every night, visiting fabulous and beautiful cities. By the time she got to Gordo's house, she had a big smile on her face just thinking about it.

'Maybe I already made my decision,' she thought. She walked across the Gordons' perfectly-cut lawn. 'And after all, I could say no to the record deal after the tour. I have a lot of time to think about that aspect.' She rang the doorbell of the modern home.

Her decision seemed made, but how would she tell Gordo. Would he be supportive? He always had, but they were a couple now. She wanted to be with him, too.

-Well, I've been afraid of changing 'cause I build my life around you-

Gordo opened the door. When he saw Lizzie, he smiled. "Hey," he said cheerfully. "C'mon in."

Lizzie smile back at him. The distinctive smell of the Gordon house greeted her as she walked in.

"What's up?" Gordo asked as they walked into the living room, so different from Lizzie's.

Lizzie sat down on the couch. Now she was nervous. She looked at Gordo.

"Um, there's something I gotta talk to you about."

"What?" he asked, sitting down next to her.

Lizzie didn't know how to say it. How would he react? Would he be upset? She hoped not. She was upset herself. She had known Gordo forever. He had always been her best friend, and now he was more.

-Time makes you bolder. Children get older. I'm getting older, too-

"Well," she began, "Isabella called today..." and she told him the whole story. Once it was all explained, she sat back, took a breath, and waited for her boyfriend's (A/N: sounds weird, don't it? Her boyfriend, Gordo. Heehee... anyway...) response.

"Wow," said Gordo in an emotionless voice. "That's really... cool, I guess."

Lizzie's face fell. "You don't want me to go, do you?"

"Well, yes," he said, not much happier. "You should definitely go. It's the chance of a lifetime."

"That's what I keep telling myself."

"Than go."

"But you don't want me to."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"Of course I do."

"But you don't sound very supportive."

"I am supportive."

"You don't sound it."

"But I am."

"But you don't sound it."

"But I am."

Lizzie finally gave up. This was pointless. She stood up. "You don't have to get angry, you know."

"I'm not!" Gordo shouted, frustrated. "I just want you to know that I'm supportive."

Lizzie crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We'll be apart for the rest of the summer." She looked down, sad. "You said we'd have a great summer together. You promised."

Gordo looked down too. "I did, didn't I?"

Lizzie sat back down again, suddenly very sad. "Yea."

-Well, I've been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you-

"Wait a minute!" Lizzie shouted. "Maybe you could come, too! You could make a documentary! Wouldn't that be great! We could be together!"

Gordo did not share in her joy. He just kept his eyes down.

"There's something you have to tell me, isn't there?" Lizzie asked quietly.

Gordo nodded.

-Time makes you bolder, even children get older. I'm getting older, too... Oh, I'm getting older, too-

"My grandma just called," he said, still unable to look up. "When she was here to visit, we had talked about this trip across America during my summer vacation. Well, now it is summer vacation, and she wants us to go."

A pain shot through Lizzie's heart. "Oh."

"So I'd be going away," he said.

"Wait," said Lizzie. "You told her yes already. You didn't say 'I'll get back to you'? You do have a girlfriend, you know, one you promised you spend the summer with."

Gordo shot his eyes back up. "Wait, it's okay for you to have a place to go in summer, but not me?"

"No," she answered angrily. "But at least I told Isabella I didn't have an answer yet."

"And why's that?" he asked. "Because it might interfere with your precious start-over plan for high school?"

Lizzie gasped. Had Gordo really said that to her? That had really stung. Gordo closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie," he said quickly. "I didn't mean..."

"I'll stop you right there, Gordo," she said, standing up and backing out of the room slowly. "In fact, I'll stop us right there." She shook her head. "The one real reason I told Isabella maybe is because I wanted to wait and see what you said about it. But you just said a mouthful." She sighed. "Maybe this just can't work out. Maybe it never was supposed to."

Gordo couldn't believe what he was hearing. His heart was breaking inside. It was over? After one day? That was it?

'Good job, Gordo,' he thought to himself. 'Real smooth.'

"You know what," Lizzie said, an edge in her voice, "I'm going with Isabella. Have a nice summer."

She turned and ran, tears welling up in her eyes. She ran out of the house and down the street. Gordo called after her. She ignored him. How selfish could he be? She had considered his feelings, so why didn't he consider hers?

As she turned onto her street, Lizzie suddenly realized something.

She had dumped Gordo.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, hands over mouth. She stood there for a moment, shell-shocked.

'I have to get home,' she thought, beginning to run again. 'I have to tell mom and dad what I'm doing and lie under my covers with Mr. Snuggles. That's it. Then I'll call Isabella back and give her my answer. I'll forget all about that stupid Gordo and his stupid summer plans. I'll forget all about this tiny fling and about kissing him. It never happened. I never, ever kissed David Zephyr Gordon and he never kissed me. That's that."

-Take my love and take it down. Climb a mountain and turn around. And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills, will a landslide bring you down? And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills, a landslide bring you down? Oh, a landslide bring you down...-



Hey! Sorry about the two-week delay, but I was on vacation. Now I'm back. YAY! Anyway, I know that chapter fully lacks any good writing skill, but my shoulder is KILLING me and I just want to get the typing over with. Also, you may have noticed that last chapter, Gordo said Lizzie looked perfect and then when he kissed her, I said she used the word he had used, which I thought was amazing, but it wasn't. Oops. Even goddesses make mistakes I guess.

Oh, one last tidbit: does anyone like Meat Loaf (the singer, not the food)? Just wondering, because I think Bat Out of Hell is an ingenious album. Oh crud. I'm rambling on again. Just like You've Got Mail (or "Just like Pootytang", if anyone saw Scary Movie 3). Ahhh! I must stop myself.

NPR!!!!!

Peace flower children.

Keep it heavenly,

Goddess4LiFe