CHAPTER 14: EVERYBODY'S ON THE SAME PAGE

Adam reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a can. "Pepsi okay?"

"Sure."

Adam popped the can and handed it to Miranda. Then he leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her drink. After a moment he popped a soft drink for himself and said, "Thanks for coming over. I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving him like this."

"Leaving him? Where are you going?" Miranda asked.

"I've gotta get back to school."

Miranda looked at him. "So. When are you leaving?"

"Tonight. Uncle Howie's driving me to the airport. Then a quick flight back to Berkley."

"I see," Miranda said, obviously impressed. "College man, huh? BMOC?"

Adam shrugged. "Well…I'm just a freshman, so…just MOC."

Miranda nodded. "Yeah! But…UCB? MOC? OK by me!"

Adam laughed. "I like a girl with a sense of humor."

Miranda gave him a sly look. Picking up her Pepsi, she peered at him over the rim of the can, finishing up with "LOL!"

After this light bit of flirting, they stood quietly in the kitchen together drinking their sodas for a few moments and couldn't help overhearing the soft sounds of the phone conversation in the next room. Suddenly Adam shifted uncomfortably and said, "So. What is it with Lizzie, anyway?"

"You know about Lizzie?" Miranda questioned, her eyes getting big.

Adam let out a deep breath. "I know all about Lizzie."

"Then tell me this," Miranda said. "Is Gordo still hung up on her? I mean…after what happened between them..."

"You know about that?"

"I know everything," Miranda said. "Well…almost everything. It's been sort of a busy week, so I'm not really sure how Gordo feels about Lizzie at this very moment. Is she still an issue?"

Adam thought for a moment, then said, "He's still mad at her. He's still conflicted. But I think it's going to get better. Especially now, with this Nicole in the picture. Is she gonna be good for him?"

"Oh, yeah," Miranda nodded. "She's gonna be very good for him."

"Good," Adam said. "Because he deserves that."

"He does," Miranda agreed simply.

They stood silently for a few more moments. They could still hear Gordo talking on the phone. They couldn't make out what he was saying, but it didn't sound stressful or dramatic. They happened to look at each other at the same moment, and both smiled.

"This is a good sign," Miranda whispered.

"Davey's lucky to have a friend like you," Adam said.

Miranda widened her grin. "I know."

Adam laughed. "Davey is definitely in good hands."

Oh please, please, please let Nicole answer the phone and not her bratty little brother or senile old grandma, Gordo thought as he listened to the phone ring once, twice, thrice…Please, please, pl—

"Hello?"

He coughed. "Hi!...Nicole?"

"Dave!" It was her, and she recognized his voice immediately. "Dave!" she said again, sounding so relieved.

"Nicole, I tried to call you," he said. "In fact, I called twice—"

"Yes, I know. I just got it out of my brother. I had to bribe him with an offer to do his chores. He wouldn't tell me on his own, the little brat."

Gordo smiled. So she was willing to do her brother's chores, just to find out that he had called? That had to be a good sign.

Gordo coughed again, then said, "I…I'm sick…"

"I can hear it!" Nicole said. "You don't sound good. Poor baby! Will you be in school tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow."

"Well, if you need the notes, you can copy mine. Just like you did for me when I was sick. That was so sweet! We could have lunch on Tuesday and I'll explain the notes to you…in case you can't read my handwriting or something."

"Sure, that would be nice," Gordo agreed. "Let's do that."

"Do you think you'll be in school Tuesday?"

"Yeah, probably by Tuesday," Gordo agreed, coughing again.

"Poor baby!" Nicole repeated. Gordo felt he should have been annoyed by the way she kept calling him a poor baby, but strangely it made him feel really good.

"Listen," Nicole said. "I'm not going to keep you on the phone while you're sick and all. I just wanted to hear your voice and know you're okay…I mean, know that everything is going to be okay…I mean…"

"It's okay," Gordo said. "I know what you mean."

There was a quiet moment during which they both felt there was so much that needed to be said, yet they both realized it didn't need to be said right now. There would be plenty of time for everything. There was no need to rush.

"Well then," Nicole said. "I hope you feel better, Dave. And I'll see you in class on Tuesday. And I'll have the notes. And I'll save you a seat. Okay?"

"Okay," he said, smiling.

An hour had passed since Adam first opened the front door for Miranda, and now he ushered her out that same door, closing it behind her. He came back into the living room, and looked at his cousin, still lying on the couch, but appearing less pale.

"Woo!" Adam exclaimed, suddenly shaking his shoulders. "I feel all tingly inside!"

Gordo gave Adam a strange look, not because he didn't know what he was talking about, but because he knew precisely what he was talking about. "All tingly inside" was Adam's phrase for explaining his attraction to the opposite sex. It was a phrase Gordo himself had used on occasion. But was Adam really saying this about Miranda?

"Adam," Gordo said plainly. "There's a legal term for what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking that," Adam said, sounding a little perturbed.

"You'd better not be," Gordo warned.

Adam looked at Gordo, noting the protective tone in his voice, but also noting there was not even a hint of jealousy. He had an idea…

"Well, you know me," Adam said. "I like them dark…and exotic."

Now Gordo gave him an even stranger look. "Miranda? Exotic?"

"Sure!" Adam said. "She's got that Hispanic thing going on with the big brown eyes, and that thick, gorgeous hair…with so many beautiful highlights…"

Gordo almost laughed. "And let's not forget she's fourteen years old…"

"I'm just saying that if I were a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy living in this town, I would go for her."

Gordo "p-shaw"ed and rolled his eyes at the same time.

"What?" Adam insisted. "I'm not crazy. Miranda's cool. Don't you think she's cool? You should go for her. Why don't you go for her, Davey?"

"Yes, you are crazy!" Gordo replied. "I'm not interested in Miranda like that. She's my friend, one of my best friends. She has been for the longest time. For crying out loud, she's practically a—"

Gordo stopped and listened to himself.

"Practically what?" Adam asked, but cousin Davey had rendered himself speechless. So Adam picked up for him. "She's practically a sister to you. Isn't that what you were about to say? The same way Lizzie said she thought of you as a brother?"

Gordo crossed his arms, his eyebrows knit together in annoyance. "Shut up," he said.

"No, I won't shut up," Adam said, sitting down on the other couch. "You have to think this through to its logical conclusion, Davey. You can't help the way you feel about Miranda any more than Lizzie can help the way she feels about you. We don't get to pick and choose who we like and who we don't like, who we're attracted to and who we're not. You can't blame someone for that, you can't be mad at them for that. You have to stop being mad at Lizzie for not loving you like that."

"I'm not mad at Lizzie," Gordo said.

"I think you are. Still. A little, anyway. It's okay. I know you were hurt, but you've got to move past it. It will be good for you, and it will be good for her."

"You've been spending too much time with my parents, the psychiatrists," Gordo sighed heavily.

"Maybe. But you know everything I'm saying is true, don't you? You're gonna be starting something new now, Davey, with this girl Nicole. It's gonna be a beautiful thing. Don't let it be soured by any leftover bad feelings about Lizzie. Forgive and forget. Live and let live."

"Now you sound like a corny self-help book," Gordo said. "Cut it out already! I get the point, okay?"

"Do you?"

Gordo lay back on the couch, taking a deep breath. Hey! He could breathe through his nose again! He took another deep breath.

"Yeah," he said. "I think I do. I think I get the point."