Have you always wondered why Miranda was not in the Lizzie McGuire Movie and six episodes of the show (which were actually the last six that were made)? Did you think that "being on vacation in Mexico" and "being sick" were poor excuses? I know I did. That's why in this story, I will give my view on where Miranda was and why.
Although this is a story about Miranda, its main focus will be on Lizzie gradually finding out what's going on with her best friend.
Just one more note from me: this story may turn a little bit sad as the plot unfolds – don't worry; it won't be completely depressing or anything, as I shall try not to deviate too far from the show's tone. It just won't be another sugar-coated little love story like the one-shot I wrote a while ago.
Will this be a story you like? Well, I guess there's only one way for you to find out… so please read and review.
MathLeft
Miranda against the world
"I can't believe it's really you!" Lizzie squealed.
"I can't believe it either," Gordo said, not as loudly, but equally excited. "I was afraid you'd never come back."
They were standing in the McGuires' front yard, facing their best friend Miranda, who had come running through the pouring rain to be reunited with her two best friends. She had been away for over two months, but now she was pulling them into one big hug.
"I've missed you guys so much," she whispered in a cracked voice.
It wasn't long until tears of happiness were running down each of the three amigos' cheeks – of course Gordo dismissed his as raindrops. Neither Lizzie nor Gordo had expected to be embracing their badly missed Miranda in the evening of what had started as such an ordinary summer day.
Lizzie and Gordo had spent the whole day hanging out at Lizzie's house, just taking it easy and enjoying the sunshine. It was the summer after graduating from Hillridge Middle School and the soon to be high school students had returned from their trip to Rome a few weeks ago. They had been full of their adventures in Italy when they came back. In fact, it was all they could talk about or even think of for at least a week, but now the excitement was gradually wearing off. Of course, their adventures had certainly not been forgotten.
The only one who had not been talking about Rome was Lizzie. After all, she had been grounded for the rest of the summer for sneaking away during her Italian vacation. It is needless to say that Lizzie tried everything she could to get out of it. It wasn't too long until her father could no longer say no to the 'sad eyes' and caved in, much to her mother's dismay. Going out was still strictly forbidden, but Lizzie was allowed to have some friends over now. She used this bit of freedom to spend almost every day together with Gordo. Their range of activities was rather limited though, as the 'parental units' held a close eye on Lizzie at all times. And so it came that also that day, Lizzie and Gordo spent most of the day sunbathing in the backyard and when they got tired of that, they watched a movie that Gordo had brought with him. Run Lola Run was Gordo's movie of the day. According to him, it was famous for its intense visual style, but after watching it, Lizzie didn't share his opinion. "I think it looks just like a normal day of my life…" was what she said.
Lizzie and Gordo had so much time on their hands this summer that they even helped Mr. McGuire to paint his lawn gnomes.
Towards the end of the day, when the sun was gradually approaching the horizon, the two of them were hanging out in Lizzie's room together. Gordo had pulled up a chair and was letting his feet rest on the bed, where Lizzie was seated. They were just sitting there and talking, like they had done so many times before, but, underneath the surface, something had been different lately. Lizzie was the first one to address this feeling.
"It's been a pretty weird summer, wouldn't you say?"
Gordo looked up from his chair and said: "What's so strange about it? Don't we always hang out together? Aren't you enjoying yourself?"
"Sure, I am," Lizzie smiled, "but what I mean is: usually Miranda's here too. It's been different without her…"
Gordo realized that she was right. "I know. The tree amigos are feeling incomplete…
"I mean, not that I don't enjoy our time together, because I do," he added and they exchanged a smile. "It's just… different. I'm sure you miss spending time with her too. You know I'm no good for girl talk…"
"Yeah. I wonder how she's doing…" Lizzie said, as she stared out the window, as if she could see all the way to Mexico from here. "You know, we haven't heard from her ever since she left so suddenly near the end of the school year. It's nothing like her not to stay in touch."
"Well, maybe she's been busy or something. I'm sure she would have called us if she could," Gordo said in an effort to comfort her.
"Yeah… maybe she doesn't have access to a phone there…"
"Lizzie, it's Mexico, not the middle of nowhere. I'm pretty sure they have phones in Mexico."
"I know that! But her parents may have forbidden her to call. You know, after sneaking away to see some cute Mexican guy, tall and muscled with…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture," Gordo interrupted, "but then she should have used the 'sad eyes' on the parents. That always seems to work with you."
"You know about that?"
"Of course I know about the sad eyes; everybody does."
"And yet no-one can resist them…"
They continued their conversation without much else to worry about. When the sun disappeared to make room for a refreshing summer shower, Lizzie and Gordo went to sit on the steps of the front porch and silently watched the cooling rain fall down together.
Suddenly they heard a pair of feet spurting through the wet streets.
"Who would go jogging in this weather?" Lizzie wondered.
"Who would go jogging in any kind of weather?" Gordo remarked. "Oh, wait a minute, there's a girl at the end of the street. There, with dark brown hair and…"
"But wait a minute, isn't that…?"
"I can't be…"
"Yes it is! It's her!"
Both Lizzie and Gordo jumped up and started running towards her to pull their best friend Miranda into said hug.
After having stood there for a while, almost squeezing each other, they realized how hard it was raining and went inside the house. Lizzie and Gordo stepped through the door first and when Mrs. McGuire saw the two drenched teenagers, she exclaimed: "Why would you two be standing in the rain. Look at your clothes and oh…"
At that moment she saw who was coming in behind them. "Miranda! You're back!" she said and she gave her a hug as only mothers do.
Mr. McGuire and Matt also came to the door, as they heard all the commotion.
"Hey there, Miranda. Good to see you again," Mr. McGuire said cheerfully as he patted her on the head.
Matt wasn't sure how to respond, after all Miranda was one of his sisters friends, but she pulled him close and ran her hand playfully through his spiky hair.
"Um, thanks…" Matt stammered, readjusting his spikes.
"So, how've you been?" Mrs. McGuire spoke to Miranda. "Did you just get back from Mexico? That's a long trip. You must be hungry. Sam, get the girl something to eat."
"No, no, I'm fine, thanks," Miranda said. "We already stopped at a diner on our way back and let me tell you: when us Sanchezes have dinner, we order enough for a whole orphanage."
"Mom, is it all right if we go upstairs now?" Lizzie asked.
"All right then," Mrs. McGuire smiled. "I'm sure the three of you have got a lot of catching up to do."
And they did. When they got to Lizzie's room, Miranda wanted to know all about what happened the last two months, at school and of course on their trip to Rome. Lizzie and Gordo filled her in on recent events, from the murder mystery party to their Roman adventures, with Lizzie having to share a room with Kate and her sneaking away to pose as an Italian pop singer, not leaving out any details. Well, except maybe for a certain kiss on a certain rooftop that neither of them dared to mention.
"…and then my parents came to Rome," Lizzie told. "Of course they found out about everything and do you know what they did? They grounded me. For the entire summer! They were so overreacting. Luckily I managed to get some time off. Actually, I will be 'released' the day after tomorrow.
"But enough about Gordo and me," she continued. "Tell me what you've been up to, Miranda!"
"Oh, nothing spectacular," Miranda said. "Just here and there… hanging out…"
"Nothing spectacular?!" Gordo exclaimed. "You've just spent two months in Mexico. We've never been there; you've got to tell us what it was like."
"Well, lots of sombreros and cactuses. You know, just the usual," Miranda said and she turned away to look out the window. "I didn't get much time to check the surroundings, anyway."
"Oh, so you got stuck with your family the whole time?" Lizzie said. "I know what that's like. So how's your family doing? Didn't you mention you were visiting your aunt?"
Miranda sighed. "I'm sure they're doing all right. And my aunt too…"
"Don't you have like lots of stories to tell?" Lizzie asked and she wondered why Miranda would tell them so little about everything. Perhaps she should try a different approach to get her talking. She got up to join Miranda by the open bedroom window. "How about those Mexican guys? Met any hotties out there?" she asked, playfully poking her in the side with her elbow.
"Not exactly," Miranda said, still staring into the nothingness outside. "Really, there's not much to tell."
"That's nothing like the Miranda I know," said Gordo, who had joined them at the window. "Normally you always have a million stories to tell, especially when it's about boys. Believe me, I can tell."
She cautiously looked over her shoulder to where Gordo and Lizzie were standing and said in a small voice: "Maybe I'm not like the Miranda you know." She turned back and sighed: "Everything is just so different now…"
"What's different now? Is something wrong?" Lizzie tried to ask, but at that moment the bedroom door swung open and Lizzie's mother stormed in hysterically, shouting: "Miranda! Didn't you forget something? Like maybe letting your parents know where you are?"
"I… um," Miranda stammered.
"They just called me, worried sick, because you suddenly ran off, without telling anyone where you were going! How can you do that?!"
Miranda sighed deeply. "Well, sorry…" she said, but she was rolling her eyes and the tone of her voice had gone from timid to agitated and that didn't make her apology sound very sincere.
For a moment it sounded as if Mrs. McGuire was going to start an argument, but she probably realized that this was not the right time and Miranda not her child to discipline. Instead she merely informed them that Miranda's father was on his way to pick her up and left the room.
"You just ran off?!" Gordo called out in disbelief the moment Mrs. McGuire was gone.
"Why would you lie about it to your parents?" Lizzie said. "What has come over you?!"
"I didn't lie," Miranda hissed, "it's just none of their damn business!"
"What happened?"
"Are you in a fight with your parents?"
"About what?"
"Is that what's different now?" Lizzie and Gordo asked, shooting a million questions an hour.
"Stop giving me a third degree!" Miranda snapped. "Jeez! You're just like my parents, you know that?! Always sticking their nose into my business. Always trying to control every little thing I do! They have no idea what's best for me! How could they send me to that …place in New Mexico! Why has everybody gone so freaking insane?!"
At this point, Miranda broke out in tears, but she had already said enough to startle Lizzie and Gordo.
"New Mexico?!" they called out in unison.
Miranda looked up worried, as if she had just been found out.
"We didn't know you were going there…" Gordo said.
"Oh, Mexico, New Mexico… Whatever difference does that make?" Miranda said, trying to wave it away as a slip of the tongue.
"And your mom and dad sent you?" Lizzie asked. "Did you go on your own?"
"What were you doing there?" Gordo asked simultaneously.
"Nothing!" Miranda yelled.
"Nothing?! Why won't you tell us what happened?!" Gordo called out indignantly.
"Yeah, what are you hiding from us?!" Lizzie asked, backing him up.
"Shut up! Just shut up, will you?!" Miranda cried out, bursting out in a whole new set of tears.
At that moment, the door swung open for the second time that evening. This time it was Mr. Sanchez who stormed in. He yelled something to Miranda in Spanish – and even though Lizzie and Gordo didn't know any Spanish, it was clear that it couldn't be any good.
Mr. Sanchez grabbed Miranda by the arm and dragged her out of the room, out of the house, without exchanging a single word to the rest, without even a single look.
Before Lizzie and Gordo knew it, Miranda had disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived earlier that evening. Lizzie and Gordo were left behind, overwhelmed by everything. They couldn't really make sense out of what had happened, but they both realized that something was very, very wrong…
Please leave me a review. Don't hesitate and let me know what you think; I really want to know, good or bad.
(posted on July 25, 2008)