Chapter 8 – After school (Ok so I'm finally writing again. I'm so sorry to have been gone for so long. My life is a mess. My aunt finally got to where we knew she was going to be ok and my grandmother fell and hurt herself very bad. She broke her arm, her wrist, her hip, and cracked her fibula. She made it through her surgeries ok but now she is in a nursing home and is getting mistreated badly. Also someone very special to me, my sweetie, my future wife Emily has had a major setback in her life. You all know her by her penname: MissEmmy. Her grandfather had a stroke and we just don't know if he is going to make it. You guys are always so great but now I must ask you to pray for Emily's and mine families again. On a positive note, I have started my original story and if you would like to read it just provide me with email information and I'll be happy to send it to you. Ok now finally on with the story.)
Gordo sat across from Matt at the Digital Bean. It had been a long stressful day and he had barely slept the night before. Now he was sitting there in the booth forcing his eyes open. Matt had ordered him a flavored coffee but it had yet to arrive.
He barely noticed when the waitress placed it, along with Matt's coke in front of him. He had just been staring blanking out in front of him when Matt tired of the silence.
"Aren't you going to drink your coffee?" Matt inquired trying to get his attention.
"Huh? Oh, sorry Matt. I was just zoning out." Gordo replied honestly.
"I noticed. Come on Gordo talk to me. It's boring just sitting here. If I wanted to be around someone who didn't wanna talk to me I'd go be around Lizzie." Matt informed Gordo light-heartedly.
Gordo couldn't help but laugh at the last comment made by the young boy. As he laughed, Matt smiled at him and nudged to coffee cup towards him. The young man picked up on the hint and began sipping the drink Matt had ordered for him several minutes earlier.
"Mmm, this is good. What is it? Gordo wondered.
"I dunno. I just told her that you had had a hard day and to pick something good for you." he informed his 'older brother'.
"Oh." he answered not really knowing what to say.
"You didn't catch any of that?" he questioned.
"No, I was zoning then too." Gordo answered.
"I figured. Why don't you go talk to the waitress and ask her what flavor of coffee she picked for you?" the youngest McGuire suggested.
"Naw, that's ok. I don't think Lizzie would like that very much." he informed Matt.
"Why would she...? Oh, Gordo it's bad enough that you are her friend. Why would you want her to be your girlfriend?" Matt asked confused.
"One day you will understand Matt, one day." he told the boy with laugh and a smile.
"I don't think I wanna know anymore about that," Matt responded with a shake of his head.
"Speak of the devil, there they are." Gordo voiced as he spotted Lizzie and Miranda walking into the Digital Bean.
The boys waved to get the girls attention. The girls soon noticed the waving and joined the duo in their booth. Miranda sat next to Matt and Lizzie placed herself beside Gordo. He exchanged several glances with the blonde before he noticed Miranda had a big smile on her face.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Gordo questioned his friend.
"I was just thinking." Miranda replied.
"Thinking about?" he inquired wanting Miranda to explain it further.
"I was just thinking about this whole thing with our parents." she started.
Gordo just stared back at her wanting her to keep going. "Its just that, yeah this whole thing sucks really bad but it could be worse. At least they are all alive. It could be a lot worse. Nobody died or had a stroke or broke any bones. Everybody is still healthy and we should be thankful for that." she finished.
"You know I hadn't thought about it like that. That's a really good way to look at it." Gordo agreed.
"Yeah, I mean it still hurts and it's going to hurt for a while but when you think about it like that it really puts it in perspective." Miranda admitted.
"I'm gonna have to remember that. Thanks Miranda," Gordo told his Latina friend.
"Anytime. I mean I still have my friends who care about me, and even my ex, Matt here cares about me." She continued with a smile.
"Wait...Wait...WHAT?!" Lizzie shouted clearly confused. The trio of Matt, Miranda and Gordo burst into laughter and Gordo took the opportunity to lean against Lizzie and put his arm around as he continued laugh at her expense.
"You mean you guys never told her?" Matt inquired.
"No they never told me. What is this about Matt being your ex Miranda?" Lizzie demanded as she playfully shoved Gordo, who was still in his giggle fit, against the wall.
"Well you remember the week you were the busboy here right? Well I ended up giving Matt some advice about girls. Matt mistook it as me liking him and developed a crush on me." She began.
"Which I found most amusing. Matt made buttons and sent her balloons, it was great," He added.
"What can I say I was young and stupid," Matt added his two cents.
"Hey!!" Miranda protested as she smacked Matt hard on the back of his head. By now all four were giggling uncontrollably. They regained their composure after several minutes. Gordo remembered his coffee and began to drink it again. He noticed Lizzie looking at him curiously.
"Want some?" he asked.
"Sure," Lizzie replied. "Hey this is good. What is it?" she wondered as she sipped the coffee.
"I don't know, Matt ordered it for me. We were discussing it when you got here." Gordo admitted.
"Ok....Oh hey there's mom. Let's go," Lizzie informed the group as she saw Jo enter the Digital Bean. The group eased out of their booth and prepared to make their way home.