"Why don't you just spend the night at my house tonight?" Kate offered. "I can't let you face the humiliation of explaining this to your family." Lizzie nodded as she stared out of the window of Kate's car.
"I just can't believe he was drunk," Lizzie muttered. "And at a school function!" Kate turned the Escalade onto Bridgecrest Hills Court, the most exclusive street in Hillridge, and parked her car in the large circular driveway of her home.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you," she said as she put the car in park. Lizzie tried to smile. A night relaxing at Kate's estate might relax her. They could float in the lazy river behind Kate's house and watch movies in the home theater until Lizzie had completely forgotten about Gordo. But Lizzie couldn't help feeling sorry for herself. She had suffered so much humiliation in the past two weeks. Kate's cell phone started to ring. Lizzie liked the Sex and the City ringtone. She reminded herself to ask Kate if they could watch Kate's complete collection of Sex and the City DVDs. Kate answered and Lizzie could tell that whoever was on the other end was saying something that Kate thought was pretty important.
"Oh my God," Kate was saying in a hushed voice. "Are you fucking kidding me? I knew it!" Lizzie tilted her head curiously.
"What are they saying?" she mouthed to Kate, straining to overhear the conversation.
"That little bitch. I knew it. HA. Are you kidding me! Oh my God, I have to tell Lizzie everything. Thank you sooo much for calling me babe. Okay, I'll call you tomorrow. Ciao!" She flipped the phone shut and threw it into her purse.
"I have to talk to you NOW," she said, grabbing Lizzie's arm and rushing her into the house.
As Lizzie sat on Kate's canopy bed she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Apparently, some freshman saw Molly Parker spike the punch and told a chaperone. They called her parents," Kate explained. Lizzie leaned back onto some of Kate's big fluffy pillows.
"So that's why he was drunk," she said, rolling her eyes. "Well, he still kissed her." Kate pursed her lips.
"I just think you need to talk to him about it. I'm driving you over there in the morning," Kate said.
"I can't… I don't want to talk to him yet. He made me look like a fool in front of everyone. I was homecoming queen. This was supposed to be my night, and I ended up being like the joke of the whole dance!" Lizzie felt embarrassed just remembering the disastrous night.
"Lizzie, it wasn't like that at all. He was so drunk. I mean, do you really think he even knew what he was doing? I know you've done some stupid things when you've been drunk. And Claire told me that she heard something… Molly told him she was you or something. I don't remember word for word what she said, and I don't want to get the story wrong, so I think you should talk to Gordo about it. Just give him a chance to explain."
Lizzie brushed her hands through her long blonde hair, thinking about it.
"And what if he tells me that he did know? That he kissed her on purpose?" Lizzie demanded.
"Lizzie! He won't say that!" Kate shouted.
"Fine. We'll go over there in the morning and I'll talk to him about it," Lizzie agreed, throwing up her hands in defeat. Kate smiled, obviously pleased with herself.
Gordo winced as Lizzie stepped into his bedroom, pouring light from the hallway into his dark, cool bedroom. He looked over at the bucket next to his bed and bit his lip as he fought back another wave of nausea. He'd thrown up so many times last night and this morning that he didn't even know if he was capable of doing it again.
"Hey Gordo," Lizzie said quietly. Gordo smiled.
"McGuire. Listen, I'm so sorry about everything," he said. His head was throbbing and he closed his eyes gingerly.
"Hangovers suck, don't they?" Lizzie joked. "I bet you regret all of that Everclear now, don't you?" As soon as the word "everclear" came out of her mouth, Gordo heaved into his bucket. After several minutes, he sank back onto his pillow.
"Just what I thought," he said weakly. "Nothing left." Lizzie had to admit, he looked pretty pathetic. She got up and went into his bathroom, taking a washcloth out of his cabinet and running cool water over it, then ringing it out. She returned to his room and sat on the side of his bed.
"See if this makes you feel any better," she said softly, brushing back his hair and gently putting the rag on his forehead.
"Thanks McGuire," Gordo said. He took her hand in his and looked up at her. "Listen, last night, I thought she was you. And by the time I realized it wasn't she had already grabbed me and was kissing—" Lizzie smiled at him.
"Shh. It's okay. You don't have to explain," Lizzie said. She secretly wondered why she was so quick to forgive him. But it was Gordo, and as mad and humiliated as she had been, she knew that he would never do that to her on purpose. "Just please, don't talk to her again. It would just be leading her on, and—"
"I don't think you have to worry about that," Kate interrupted from the doorway. "I just talked to Claire. Molly's expelled." Lizzie tried to hide her smile. She normally didn't like to laugh at other people's misfortune, but she despised Molly Parker.
"Okay! Time to celebrate!" she exclaimed. She looked at Gordo.
"Are you up for it?" she teased.
"Nice try, McGuire," he said, laughing. "Oh, and I'm really sorry about your dress. I'll pay for it," he offered. Lizzie waved her hand in the air.
"Don't even worry about it. You know I could never wear the same formal twice," she said. "We'll come back tonight and check on you." She gave Gordo a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried after Kate.