Dis: not mine!
"Gordo…" Miranda started over the phone.
"You're bored," he finished for her.
"Yup," she grinned, loving the collective consciousness between them.
"And you called me, because…"
"I want you to make me un-bored," she stated, giggling.
"So I take it right now, you're twirling in your desk chair and talking on the phone?"
'Okay collective consciousness getting kind of creepy' Miranda thought stopping the chair abruptly with her toe, almost falling off.
"Pretty much," Miranda said. "Though you forgot 'trying not to fall.'"
"I was getting to that," he chuckled.
"Of course," she humored him.
"Duh!"
"How could I ever doubt you?"
"I was wondering the same thing…So how about we meet at the park in…"
"…ten minutes?"
"By the…"
"…duck pond!" Miranda squealed excitedly. 'Those ducks know serious fun.'
"You got it."
Miranda sat by the pond, feeding the ducks some bread pieces. When it finally ran out, she got up and dusted herself off, but one particularly large bird started squawking at her.
"Yeah, well you too," she answered the offending animal.
Gordo approached the pond with camera in hand as usual, but just as he spotted Miranda he heard her arguing with a large bird. He watched in amusement as the events unfolded, readily video taping the exchange.
Miranda's attempt to show the bird that she didn't have any more food went sour as the bird snatched away her purse, and proceeded to peck at her! Startled by this, Miranda broke into a sprint, the animal tailing her.
Then, spotting Gordo, she ran behind him, deciding to use him as a shield. "Vicious bird!'" she yelled, safely behind Gordo.
The bird squawked in response, which Miranda took to mean 'I'll eat him to get to you!'
"Gordo…" But before she could finish, he threw his hackysack at it.
After mangling the hackysack, and deciding it was inedible, the duck gave up and waddled away.
"Let's go somewhere else," Miranda pouted, at the realization that ducks, particularly big ducks were mean.
"What about your purse?"
"I'm not going back there! Ducks are mean!"
Gordo chuckled, going to retrieve the nearby bag. "I know the bird did a number on you, but you can't blame the ducks," he said handing her the purse.
"What? Why not?" she asked, snatching it away, annoyed he wasn't siding with her.
"Because, that was a goose!" Gordo smirked, going to hunt for the discarded hackysack as she Miranda squeaked indignantly in his general direction.
"Hey, loved this game!" Gordo stated amused, sitting down.
"OOooo! Merry go round!" Miranda agreed, taking hold of one of the handles and giving it momentum. Once it was spinning fast enough she jumped on, almost landing on top of Gordo.
Once it stopped and both felt sick, so after walking around for a bit to calm their stomachs, they decided to grab a bite at Subway.
"So when does Lizzie get back?" Miranda asked between bites of her Italian B.M.T.
"Next week, just before school."
"Wow, that's cutting it close, but then again…hello record deal! I'd do the same," she laughed.
"About that, you never sang me that song you wrote."
Miranda shifted in her seat. "Which one?"
"Any of them."
"Oh, um… oops?" she shrugged, willing him to let it go. "So tonight we're…?"
"Oh, I can't. My parents are having some relatives over, so I guess it's just you and Fredrick, and me and weird relatives."
"Bummer. Fredrick always beats me in staring contests," she grinned.
"Miranda?" her mom asked, concerned. She hadn't said a word since she heard the news. She merely sat there, clutching Fredrick for dear life, with a blank stare.
Then finally, she blinked. "When do we go?"
"Two days."
To her shocked expression, her dad quickly added, "but I'm sure you could visit…"
"Oh, mi'ja…" Her mom said at the same time.
"Gotta go!" Miranda cut them both off before they made things worse by trying to comfort her.
Miranda sprinted to the Gordons' with Fredrick in tow. Swinging open the front door and letting herself in as usual, she stopped in her tracks when she noticed the crowd in the living room, all turning to look at her.
"Oops, sorry!" she said immediately starting to back out.
"Miranda?" Gordo turned from the group he was talking to, just in time to see her walk out. Excusing himself, he went after her.
"Miranda?"
He found her sitting on the curb, holding Freddy. "What's up?" he asked sitting next to her.
"Sorry, I should…I…"
"Don't worry; I'd lost my 'Get out Of Jail Free' card any way." He smiled.
After a moment Miranda broke the silence, "We are friends, right?" she asked looking at him, her eyes pleading.
"We're best friends," he told her with a weak smile. Something was up, but he knew Miranda too well to pry. Better to play along and allow her to come at her own pace.
She looked down before asking, "How long?"
"For?"
"How long'll we be friends?" she whispered.
"Well, I had my sight set on forever…unless you have other plans."
"I'm going back to Mexico."
"What happened? Is your grandmother okay? Is something else wrong? What about school?"
She looked at him for a moment then hugged Fredrick tighter, looking away. "She's fine, well…older, but that's not it. And school wont be a problem, because…I'm moving." She whispered the final two words, her voice cracking, as she buried her face in Fredrick.
Gordo didn't say a word. He didn't know what to say, this was all too sudden. So instinctively he wrapped his arms around Miranda, pulling her towards him.
"What if…I…never…come back? What if…" she started between sobs.
"Then I'll go visit you. It'll all work out," he reassured, letting he cry in his arms.
AN: thanks again Christy!
My sister is SOO Gordo it's scary!