A/N: Wow! Thank you for all the amazing reviews! They really are inspiring
and I appreciate that. Oh, and just to warn you, this chapter took a life of its
own.
Credit to VampAmber for her idea on Day Four. That idea will show up in this chapter as well as another chapter.
Chapter Fourteen
The next day, they were woken up for their production meeting and didn't say anything to each other while they got ready.
This production meeting had to be the strangest yet because everyone was seated before the three producers came it.
Gracie, Ted, and Greg finally came in and Ted, who entered first, was holding a huge stack of paper and waited until everyone was seated until he screamed, "Scandal! We need scandal! Ugh! That way, Aaron Spelling will finally give me the detention I deserve!" He mumbled that last part before he looked around at all the people in the room, "Gracie, hand me that file," he said, pointing to a file that was in front of Gracie.
Gracie did what she was told and Ted took it and opened it up. He kept looking around the room, "Okay, you," he said, pointing to Thomas, "How are things going for you?"
"Um, okay, sir," he said.
"You getting along with Jane?"
Thomas shrugged, "I guess so."
Ted nodded his head and looked around the room again and stopped at Elizabeth, "How are you doing today?" he asked.
"Fine, sir," Elizabeth answered.
"And things with James are good?"
"I guess so."
"What happened to you yesterday?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, James was flirting with Jane yesterday. Aren't you upset?"
"Seriously?"
"No, for the camera."
"I guess so."
"Good. You and Thomas should start to notice this and run away from the group at some point and talk and perhaps flirt with each other."
Elizabeth and Thomas glanced at each other.
"And tonight. . . I want …Elizabeth and Jane to have a total catfight with claws and everything…in the woods and have Thomas and James follow them to calm them down, leaving Mary, George, Tory, and Daniel just sitting there wondering what is going on because they don't know anything. You four act as if nothing has changed from yesterday.
They all listened intently. Lizzie was just thankful that they asked nothing specifically of her and Gordo because she knew she wasn't up to doing anything specific, but she could handle the task given to her.
They all left the production meeting and waited for their interviews. Gordo really wanted to talk to Lizzie about everything, and was determined not to go down the path they went the night before. He wanted to make sure they were on the same page with their feelings. He wanted to make sure there was absolutely no hope for them after this was over. He wanted to know if the book about them was finished or if there was a chance for future chapters. He hadn't given up quite yet, but he was lost as to where Lizzie was going with this.
After the interviews were over, they went back to their homes and were given free time before the actual day started.
While Lizzie dreaded this, Gordo decided that he would make something clear.
After they were safely in the home, Lizzie went to the bedroom and Gordo followed. "Lizzie," he said, nervously. He was ready to make a total fool out of himself.
"Hmm?" She asked.
"What would you say if I still loved you?"
Lizzie froze. She slowly turned around and looked at Gordo, deciding if he was kidding or being serious, but she couldn't tell, "Are you serious?" she finally asked.
Gordo laughed. To him, this was like proposing to someone and them responding the same way Lizzie did. It hurt him deep down, but he responded with laughter to cover up the embarrassment.
Before he could say yes, though, she did what was even worse than asking if he was serious. She began to laugh with him!
"It's a good thing you weren't serious Gordo. Because if you were, I don't know what I would do."
Bang! It was like someone had just shot him…after torturing him…and tying him up. She took his laugh to mean that he was joking. And her response…hurt him. And while it hurt him…it still didn't answer his question.
After that, there was an eerie silence in the room as they waited for someone to knock on the door and tell them it was time for competition.
While Gordo kept replaying what Lizzie said in his mind over and over again and tried to come up with what she was trying to say, Lizzie couldn't help but wonder if their was any inch of truth in the root of that question. He laughed, so she took it to mean that he was joking, but he also looked somewhat hurt with what she said. She was thankful, however, if it was a joke, that he ended when he did because if he had taken it any farther, Lizzie was pretty sure that she would have told him how she felt, and what she felt was still the strong connection that they had when they were together in high school. Yeah, had she said that to him, he would have gotten a kick out of it all and the laughter would have been at her expense.
Little did she know that the laughter was at someone's expense. It was at Gordo's expense.
What seemed like hours later, someone finally came to their door and told them it was time for the daily challenge.
Today's challenge was actually the boys against the girls. The object was for each group to come up with a dance routine and present it in front of a group of "celebrity judges" in about two hours from now.
The groups separated and the four girls went off to another section, thinking this would be an easy win because, well, they were girls, and well, girls stereotypically are better dancers than boys. Besides, it helped that Jane took ballet, jazz, tap, alternative, gymnastics, and even interpretive dance throughout her young and teenage years. Jane took the lead as she choreographed a dance for the girls within a half an hour. The rest of the time they spent gossiping and it was harmless, so Lizzie was enjoying herself, until the tables turned a little bit. In fact, the tables didn't just turn, they toppled over. . .right on her.
In the meantime, the guys had a more difficult time with their coordination. If they weren't trying to play macho with this whole competition, they just didn't have enough rhythm to save their souls. Gordo tried to act low key about this whole thing. Afterall, it wasn't like he memorized the steps on Dirty Dancing and Justin Timberlake had nothing on him. Also, his mind was elsewhere. It didn't take much time for any of them to realize that they were totally going to bust this competition. It was in the girls' hands completely.
Why did the producers decide to split the sexes anyway? What was their prerogative behind all of this? The girls obviously were better fit and how would factoring in who won relate to their relationship? Also, why couldn't they pick a neutral sport or activity? Like Bowling or even cooking would be more appropriate. All throughout his college years, Gordo was very aware that he was no gourmet chef, however, he could make a mean grilled cheese and became very creative with his George Foreman Grill. Seriously, anything but dancing would be a better alternative.
But, like any person involved in Broadway or live shows, or in this case, fake reality TV, the show must go on. That's right. The guys would just have to get over the humility and somehow come together to create some sort of dance.
They did it. It was crazy and they almost didn't make the time limit, but the male competitors finally choreographed their masterpiece and were ready to go on and get the performance over with.
If only Gordo had any idea of what the girls were saying…
After the girls finished their dance, they had approximately an hour and a half to go before their time was up. They decided to use this time to take a break and get to know each other, as they hadn't really had some "just the girls" time. The would practice the dance in the end.
So, there all four of them were, sitting in the grass in a circle and talking . Lizzie wasn't saying much, as she didn't really know what to say. She watched as the other three engaged in a conversation about their past relationships. Lizzie occasionally made small comments, but didn't say much knowing that this was a part of the show and, as Tory, Lizzie had no real past in relationships.
It was all going fine and working out great for Lizzie until there came a moment that truly tested Lizzie. What could she possible say, as Tory, that would be believable?
Mary had just finished telling a story about how one of her old boyfriends had stolen her car in college one night and ran a stop light, and since the stop light now has cameras that take pictures of license plates of cars that run it, she was mailed a ticket and when she confronted the boyfriend, he said that she should pay for it because it was her car.
This story got the girls talking about stupidity of exes and stupid arguments. This is where Jane innocently threw out the question, "What is the stupidest argument you ever had with a boyfriend?"
Everyone told a story and then they turned to Lizzie, "What about you, Tory? Ever had a stupid argument?" Jane asked.
Lizzie thought about this. Had she ever had a stupid argument with Gordo? Had she and Gordo really ever had an argument until the end. Well, at the end, it was pretty intense. Lizzie swallowed, "Yeah. In high school, I went out for this guy for a few years and this one night, "Lizzie said, as she remembered that night, "Senior year, about a month before we were going to graduate, another friend of mine asked me to go to the hospital and so I couldn't go to this party with my boyfriend. He had to go because it was a school sponsored event and he was in the Student Association," Lizzie swallowed again, because remembering this, she felt stupid, "Anyway, I was over at my boyfriend's house before I went to the hospital to meet my friend, and I guess I was jealous and we were having a few issues to begin with, but he was wearing this shirt I bought him for his eighteenth birthday. For some reason, I got upset because I wouldn't be with him so I asked him to wear another shirt," Tears started forming in Lizzie's eyes as the other girls glanced at each other as they listened, "We ended up arguing for a good ten minutes about the shirt and I left to be with me friend," and at this point, Lizzie lost it, "That night, my friend's father died. Not four hours earlier, I was arguing about a stupid shirt."
Lizzie sat there, weeping silently as the other girls comforted her. What was supposed to be harmless and humorous chattering turned sad and gloomy. Lizzie was only trying to think of a stupid argument. She wasn't trying to emotionally fall apart.
Lizzie pulled herself together and tried to laugh, to release the uncomfortable tension in the atmosphere, "Anyway, it took me a while to realize that I was never really angry about the shirt."
"There is always something else," Jane agreed.
"Yeah," Mary nodded, "It may take you years to find out what it really was, but in the end, its all a part of life."
Sorry to end on a sad note, but like I said, that chapter took a life of its own.
Here's the next question:
Lizzie or Gordo is going to receive a call from home. Instead of using multiple choice, you chose the following: Who it should be, why that person is calling, who picks up, who is the person calling, and does the other person find out why that person is calling? Be creative, but logical.
Either answer by review or e-mail me at tabbag7yahoo.com. I will either use all or parts of the ideas and might even mix a few of them up.
Also, start thinking about the end. I told you in the beginning that this was going to be somewhat controlled by readers, and I think that should include the ending as well. This story is maybe halfway over at this point, but if you have a really creative idea for the ending or just any idea, e-mail me. (DO NOT review because I want their to be some element of mystery) Again, I may use all or part of your idea and I may e-mail you back and we can discuss it further. E-mail me if you are interested. The ending idea won't be closed until I close it, which probably won't be for a while.
In the mean time, please review and tell me what you think. I will update as soon as possible.
Credit to VampAmber for her idea on Day Four. That idea will show up in this chapter as well as another chapter.
Chapter Fourteen
The next day, they were woken up for their production meeting and didn't say anything to each other while they got ready.
This production meeting had to be the strangest yet because everyone was seated before the three producers came it.
Gracie, Ted, and Greg finally came in and Ted, who entered first, was holding a huge stack of paper and waited until everyone was seated until he screamed, "Scandal! We need scandal! Ugh! That way, Aaron Spelling will finally give me the detention I deserve!" He mumbled that last part before he looked around at all the people in the room, "Gracie, hand me that file," he said, pointing to a file that was in front of Gracie.
Gracie did what she was told and Ted took it and opened it up. He kept looking around the room, "Okay, you," he said, pointing to Thomas, "How are things going for you?"
"Um, okay, sir," he said.
"You getting along with Jane?"
Thomas shrugged, "I guess so."
Ted nodded his head and looked around the room again and stopped at Elizabeth, "How are you doing today?" he asked.
"Fine, sir," Elizabeth answered.
"And things with James are good?"
"I guess so."
"What happened to you yesterday?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, James was flirting with Jane yesterday. Aren't you upset?"
"Seriously?"
"No, for the camera."
"I guess so."
"Good. You and Thomas should start to notice this and run away from the group at some point and talk and perhaps flirt with each other."
Elizabeth and Thomas glanced at each other.
"And tonight. . . I want …Elizabeth and Jane to have a total catfight with claws and everything…in the woods and have Thomas and James follow them to calm them down, leaving Mary, George, Tory, and Daniel just sitting there wondering what is going on because they don't know anything. You four act as if nothing has changed from yesterday.
They all listened intently. Lizzie was just thankful that they asked nothing specifically of her and Gordo because she knew she wasn't up to doing anything specific, but she could handle the task given to her.
They all left the production meeting and waited for their interviews. Gordo really wanted to talk to Lizzie about everything, and was determined not to go down the path they went the night before. He wanted to make sure they were on the same page with their feelings. He wanted to make sure there was absolutely no hope for them after this was over. He wanted to know if the book about them was finished or if there was a chance for future chapters. He hadn't given up quite yet, but he was lost as to where Lizzie was going with this.
After the interviews were over, they went back to their homes and were given free time before the actual day started.
While Lizzie dreaded this, Gordo decided that he would make something clear.
After they were safely in the home, Lizzie went to the bedroom and Gordo followed. "Lizzie," he said, nervously. He was ready to make a total fool out of himself.
"Hmm?" She asked.
"What would you say if I still loved you?"
Lizzie froze. She slowly turned around and looked at Gordo, deciding if he was kidding or being serious, but she couldn't tell, "Are you serious?" she finally asked.
Gordo laughed. To him, this was like proposing to someone and them responding the same way Lizzie did. It hurt him deep down, but he responded with laughter to cover up the embarrassment.
Before he could say yes, though, she did what was even worse than asking if he was serious. She began to laugh with him!
"It's a good thing you weren't serious Gordo. Because if you were, I don't know what I would do."
Bang! It was like someone had just shot him…after torturing him…and tying him up. She took his laugh to mean that he was joking. And her response…hurt him. And while it hurt him…it still didn't answer his question.
After that, there was an eerie silence in the room as they waited for someone to knock on the door and tell them it was time for competition.
While Gordo kept replaying what Lizzie said in his mind over and over again and tried to come up with what she was trying to say, Lizzie couldn't help but wonder if their was any inch of truth in the root of that question. He laughed, so she took it to mean that he was joking, but he also looked somewhat hurt with what she said. She was thankful, however, if it was a joke, that he ended when he did because if he had taken it any farther, Lizzie was pretty sure that she would have told him how she felt, and what she felt was still the strong connection that they had when they were together in high school. Yeah, had she said that to him, he would have gotten a kick out of it all and the laughter would have been at her expense.
Little did she know that the laughter was at someone's expense. It was at Gordo's expense.
What seemed like hours later, someone finally came to their door and told them it was time for the daily challenge.
Today's challenge was actually the boys against the girls. The object was for each group to come up with a dance routine and present it in front of a group of "celebrity judges" in about two hours from now.
The groups separated and the four girls went off to another section, thinking this would be an easy win because, well, they were girls, and well, girls stereotypically are better dancers than boys. Besides, it helped that Jane took ballet, jazz, tap, alternative, gymnastics, and even interpretive dance throughout her young and teenage years. Jane took the lead as she choreographed a dance for the girls within a half an hour. The rest of the time they spent gossiping and it was harmless, so Lizzie was enjoying herself, until the tables turned a little bit. In fact, the tables didn't just turn, they toppled over. . .right on her.
In the meantime, the guys had a more difficult time with their coordination. If they weren't trying to play macho with this whole competition, they just didn't have enough rhythm to save their souls. Gordo tried to act low key about this whole thing. Afterall, it wasn't like he memorized the steps on Dirty Dancing and Justin Timberlake had nothing on him. Also, his mind was elsewhere. It didn't take much time for any of them to realize that they were totally going to bust this competition. It was in the girls' hands completely.
Why did the producers decide to split the sexes anyway? What was their prerogative behind all of this? The girls obviously were better fit and how would factoring in who won relate to their relationship? Also, why couldn't they pick a neutral sport or activity? Like Bowling or even cooking would be more appropriate. All throughout his college years, Gordo was very aware that he was no gourmet chef, however, he could make a mean grilled cheese and became very creative with his George Foreman Grill. Seriously, anything but dancing would be a better alternative.
But, like any person involved in Broadway or live shows, or in this case, fake reality TV, the show must go on. That's right. The guys would just have to get over the humility and somehow come together to create some sort of dance.
They did it. It was crazy and they almost didn't make the time limit, but the male competitors finally choreographed their masterpiece and were ready to go on and get the performance over with.
If only Gordo had any idea of what the girls were saying…
After the girls finished their dance, they had approximately an hour and a half to go before their time was up. They decided to use this time to take a break and get to know each other, as they hadn't really had some "just the girls" time. The would practice the dance in the end.
So, there all four of them were, sitting in the grass in a circle and talking . Lizzie wasn't saying much, as she didn't really know what to say. She watched as the other three engaged in a conversation about their past relationships. Lizzie occasionally made small comments, but didn't say much knowing that this was a part of the show and, as Tory, Lizzie had no real past in relationships.
It was all going fine and working out great for Lizzie until there came a moment that truly tested Lizzie. What could she possible say, as Tory, that would be believable?
Mary had just finished telling a story about how one of her old boyfriends had stolen her car in college one night and ran a stop light, and since the stop light now has cameras that take pictures of license plates of cars that run it, she was mailed a ticket and when she confronted the boyfriend, he said that she should pay for it because it was her car.
This story got the girls talking about stupidity of exes and stupid arguments. This is where Jane innocently threw out the question, "What is the stupidest argument you ever had with a boyfriend?"
Everyone told a story and then they turned to Lizzie, "What about you, Tory? Ever had a stupid argument?" Jane asked.
Lizzie thought about this. Had she ever had a stupid argument with Gordo? Had she and Gordo really ever had an argument until the end. Well, at the end, it was pretty intense. Lizzie swallowed, "Yeah. In high school, I went out for this guy for a few years and this one night, "Lizzie said, as she remembered that night, "Senior year, about a month before we were going to graduate, another friend of mine asked me to go to the hospital and so I couldn't go to this party with my boyfriend. He had to go because it was a school sponsored event and he was in the Student Association," Lizzie swallowed again, because remembering this, she felt stupid, "Anyway, I was over at my boyfriend's house before I went to the hospital to meet my friend, and I guess I was jealous and we were having a few issues to begin with, but he was wearing this shirt I bought him for his eighteenth birthday. For some reason, I got upset because I wouldn't be with him so I asked him to wear another shirt," Tears started forming in Lizzie's eyes as the other girls glanced at each other as they listened, "We ended up arguing for a good ten minutes about the shirt and I left to be with me friend," and at this point, Lizzie lost it, "That night, my friend's father died. Not four hours earlier, I was arguing about a stupid shirt."
Lizzie sat there, weeping silently as the other girls comforted her. What was supposed to be harmless and humorous chattering turned sad and gloomy. Lizzie was only trying to think of a stupid argument. She wasn't trying to emotionally fall apart.
Lizzie pulled herself together and tried to laugh, to release the uncomfortable tension in the atmosphere, "Anyway, it took me a while to realize that I was never really angry about the shirt."
"There is always something else," Jane agreed.
"Yeah," Mary nodded, "It may take you years to find out what it really was, but in the end, its all a part of life."
Sorry to end on a sad note, but like I said, that chapter took a life of its own.
Here's the next question:
Lizzie or Gordo is going to receive a call from home. Instead of using multiple choice, you chose the following: Who it should be, why that person is calling, who picks up, who is the person calling, and does the other person find out why that person is calling? Be creative, but logical.
Either answer by review or e-mail me at tabbag7yahoo.com. I will either use all or parts of the ideas and might even mix a few of them up.
Also, start thinking about the end. I told you in the beginning that this was going to be somewhat controlled by readers, and I think that should include the ending as well. This story is maybe halfway over at this point, but if you have a really creative idea for the ending or just any idea, e-mail me. (DO NOT review because I want their to be some element of mystery) Again, I may use all or part of your idea and I may e-mail you back and we can discuss it further. E-mail me if you are interested. The ending idea won't be closed until I close it, which probably won't be for a while.
In the mean time, please review and tell me what you think. I will update as soon as possible.