What can I say? I'm the secret creature. I'm cool. I'm inconsistent. I'm secret.

Chapter Seven

An hour later, Gordo came out of the bathroom clothed and yawning. The TV was off and Lizzie was sitting on the couch, munching on some Wheat Thins as she appeared to be reading a book. Gordo was dying to say something like, "Gee, Lizzie, I didn't know you read BOOKS," but then he remembered that he celebrated his tenth birthday almost five years ago. Instead, he asked, "what are you reading?"

"A book," Lizzie said, without looking up.

Gordo rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, what book?"

Lizzie moved a little so he could see the cover. It read, "The Viscount Who Loved Me," and had a picture of a woman in the arms of a man with no shirt on and they were leaning against a tree. Since when did Lizzie start reading romance novels? Weren't those supposed to be, like, porn without the pictures?

A minute later, Lizzie looked up and said tiredly, "here, Gordo, I like to be quiet when I read, so I found another book. Lizzie handed him a book titled, "The Duke and I." Instead of rolling his eyes and scoffing, to Lizzie's surprise, he actually took the book. Like Lizzie's, it had a similar cover, although this time, the couple was standing on a balcony as they gazed maddeningly into each others eyes and held each other.

After Gordo read the back cover and examined the front cover, Gordo put it back next to Lizzie and sighed as he walked around the room. He looked through the multitudes of CDs that were there and tried not to appear bored. It was still hot, but it didn't seem as hot as it was before. Lizzie must have decided that it was too hot.

If Gordo were in his own home, at this moment, he'd probably be watching some black and white movie that he picked out. And yes, he decided at that moment, that if he were in his own home he would watch the commercials and not change the damn channels so much.

Gordo looked over at Lizzie as she looked perfectly content reading her porn novel. Okay, Gordo relented it wasn't completely porn. There was some plot and consistency in those novels, but still…there wasn't much one could gain from reading chick lit. Gordo only knew this because recently, when his mom and him went on a trip to visit his aunt, she had one of those novels on CD, so she listened to it while he listened to his CD player. Unfortunately, Gordo's batteries died, so he was forced to listen to the book. It wasn't something he would ever do again, or ever admit to listening to out loud, but it wasn't horrible.

After going through the CDs a few times, Gordo headed for the mini bar and grabbed a Dr. Pepper. He looked at his watch. It was after nine o' clock. Maybe they could go to bed soon. Gordo wasn't terribly tired, but it would be an excuse to wrap things up for the day and pretend one was unconscious. It suddenly occurred to him that he would be sleeping in the same room as Lizzie. It dawned on him that other than the floor, the couch was the only place that on could practically sleep. Yeah, he'd get the floor. If Lizzie liked him, she might offer him the couch, but Lizzie hated him. Sure, there was always the bathroom, but if Lizzie needed the bathroom, it would be a problem. Besides, it wasn't as if the bathroom was exactly "practical," as it was actually really cramped, but it was more private than anything.

Gordo sighed again. It was only a little after nine. There was no way either of them would get to sleep for at least another three hours. They were teenagers. They had needs. For weekends and summer, teenagers NEEDED to go to sleep after midnight and wake up anywhere from eight to twelve hours later.

Only a few yards away, Lizzie sat on the couch and read. She could pay attention to the book fine…until Gordo sighed five billion times. Okay, yeah, he was bored, and yeah, Lizzie wasn't really being Ms. Agreeable, but loud sighs distracted Lizzie. Gordo was obviously bored and Lizzie could be a little nicer and more…well, less bitchy. Lizzie cleared her throat, marked her chapter, and looked up at Gordo, "Are you okay over there, Gordo?"

Gordo paused for a minute and turned to look at her, a little surprised that she cared, "Yeah," he answered simply, "I'm fine."

"Okay," Lizzie said, although she could tell that something was bothering Gordo. She could always tell when Gordo was perplexed over something. Of course, it didn't take a genius to realize that both of them were uncomfortable with this whole situation and nothing could be done about that. Not really.

Lizzie tried to turn her attention back to the novel, but couldn't seem to hold the same concentration. Something inside of Lizzie told her that Gordo and her needed to have a conversation. They'd been friends for years and something like this should not ruin their friendship. That's what something inside of her told her, anyway. Right now, she just wanted to relish hating Gordo, but if they were going to be stuck there for two nights, maybe she really should try to discuss the situation…or not. She'd have to sleep on it. Speaking of sleep, she wondered about how they were going to do that. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to take the couch, but what about Gordo? The floor of the basement, although carpeted, really freaked Lizzie out. Lizzie had seen a few roaches and spider crickets down here in her time and the idea of them crawling on anyone—even Gordo—disgusted her.

Maybe he would prefer a chair…

Lizzie looked over at Gordo again and he still looked bored. Lizzie hated when people were bored in her company. Maybe she should turn the TV back on or something. That's exactly what she did. She turned it on and settled on some VH1 countdown, vowing to herself that no matter what, she would keep it on this channel.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Gordo was sitting at the chair adjacent to the couch, watching TV with her. Silently, for the next few hours, they watched TV. Eventually, Lizzie fell asleep and Gordo, a little tired himself, turned off the TV and found a spot on the floor and it wasn't too long before he was asleep himself.

In his mind, Gordo wanted to believe that the next day could only be better, but it didn't take a ninny to decide that the next day was undecided.