Chapter 3

The four remained tangled together, refusing to budge from their present physical situation. Letting go of one another meant that they were letting in the world outside; something none of them were willing to do. On the outside their mom was sick; on the outside their wife was in pain; on the outside their life would never be the same. So they kept the world outside, drinking in the peaceful silence around them. Each content with the rhythmic breathing of one another.

However, this silence was quickly violated from the sound of one wrapping on the door. First resisting it, Matt finally gave in and gingerly lifted his body from the couch. Quickly gliding across the carpet, he slowly opened the front door. As the door became ajar, Lizzie looked up to see Gordo standing on her front porch. Reacting quickly, she leapt from the sofa and went to greet her friend.

"Gordo?"

"Lizzie," he shifted his glance from the doorman, and looked upon Lizzie, "Um, you left your civics book in my car…is everything ok, Lizzie? Have you been crying?"

"Um…Gordo, yeah, um…do you think I could maybe call you back later. This is kind of a bad…"

"Lizzie," Lizzie felt a soft hand on her shoulder, turning to face the source of the touch, she found her mother standing behind her. "why don't you go for a walk with Gordo. Let him know what is going on. Besides, I was about to kick your dad out to get something for dinner."

"Mom, I'm not hungry and I want to stay with you!" Lizzie fought back.

"A few minutes away from me will be ok, Sweetie, but that's very sweet of you. And you and your brother will eat something. I'm not going to have you starve yourself over me."

Knowing she would not win, she gave in. "Ok, but just for you. I love you, Mom." She said as she embraced her mother.

"I love you, too." Mrs. McGuire said as she kissed her daughter's forehead.

Then, stepping onto her front porch, Lizzie quietly shut the door behind her. The two teenagers began their pursuit to no particular destination. They were silent for several moments. Lizzie knew with little doubt, that Gordo was screaming inside to know what had just conspired in front of his eyes, but was far to polite to intrude without an invitation. That is what she had always loved about him, he would give you all the space you needed, and when it came time, he would always listen.

After passing several houses, she opened her mouth to begin. But quickly, she shut it. What was she going to say? How do you tell your best friend, possibly someone who is more than just a friend, that your mom had breast cancer and you were scared out of your mind? Oh, by the way, my mom has cancer and I can barely stand up right now. It just wasn't that easy. And Lizzie still felt that if she didn't say it out loud, it wasn't true. If no one said it, it just couldn't be true, it just couldn't.

But she knew she was fooling herself. She had to realize that it was real, it was really happening and there was nothing she could do to change this. So, she had to deal. So, not knowing what to say, but knowing she had to, she opened her mouth and let it pour out, "Gordo, my mom has breast cancer!" she let out in one breath.

The two had stopped suddenly in front of a neighbor's house. It had always been Lizzie's favorite house. For as long as Lizzie could remember, it had been painted a baby-blue and had a cute picket white fence and balcony in front, but the owners had recently repainted the old house. It now shown a bright, new white. Lizzie grimaced at this change. They had even taken down the white fence. Why did things have to change? Why couldn't things just stay the same?

Gordo's face had gone suddenly pale. "C-c-cancer?" he stammered, "Lizzie, I'm, I'm, I'm so sorry…"

Suddenly all the strength Lizzie had mustered up, or had faked, whichever it was, left her body. She fell into Gordo's broad, strong arms. "I'm so scared," she murmured through sobs.

Reacting quickly, he wrapped his arms around her slender body. "Lizzie, I'm so sorry. Shhhh, it's ok. I'm so sorry. Shhh, shhhhh."

The two remained in this position for several minutes. Neighbors looked out at them, wondering what the two were doing, but they were completely oblivious, and simply didn't care. Lizzie needed to be held, and Gordo just wanted to hold her. She felt like her world was spinning out of control, and Gordo had this amazing ability to shield her from the spinning twister outside.