Gordo was on his way to hang out at Lizzie's. He, Lizzie, and Miranda probably spent as much time at each other's houses as they did at their own. From Lizzie's house, Gordo could go home, get his camcorder, and be back in ten minutes.

Because of the lay of the land in the neighborhood, Gordo could see the McGuires' driveway before anyone on the driveway could see him. As the driveway came into view, Gordo saw something that nearly stopped him in his tracks.

A blond girl was working on her free throws and outside shots. Her back was to Gordo as she faced the basket, so he couldn't see her face. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, held in place by a scrunchie. She wore athletic shorts and a tank top, and moved gracefully around the driveway barefoot.

She made most of the shots Gordo saw. She obviously knew what she was doing with a basketball; Gordo was impressed. One shot got away from her somehow, hit hard off the rim, and bounced down the driveway to the street.

"Here, I've got it," Gordo said as the ball bounced to him.

"Thanks. Gordo?" The girl slowed to a stop a few steps from him.

"Yeah. Heather?"

"That's me." She smiled. "How are you?"

"Great. I didn't know you were in town."

Heather was Lizzie's cousin. When Lizzie wanted Gordo to help her clean out the janitor's utility room for Fright Night in 7th grade, he wasn't keen on helping her do what Kate Sanders wanted until Lizzie said she'd get Heather to go out with Gordo when she visited in the summer. Gordo's reaction was, "Quit your yappin'. We've got work to do."

"We got in last night, kind of late," Heather explained. "Shall we go inside? The gang's all here."

"Okay." Gordo and Heather walked side by side, bounce-passing the basketball back and forth. Even though Gordo was short, he was a pretty good basketball player. Parker McKenzie could testify to both.

"Hey, everybody, Gordo's here," Heather announced to the group in the living room, who greeted him warmly. Miranda was sprawled on the couch, and Matt shared a big recliner chair with Melina.

"Where's Lizzie?" Gordo asked.

"In the kitchen, baking," Miranda answered.

"She kicked us out," Melina muttered.

"What did you do to her?" Gordo asked in mock anger.

"Nothing," Matt and Melina replied, almost in unison.

"Seriously, nobody did anything, Gordo," Miranda explained. "Lizzie's just a little weird about baking sometimes."

"Yeah, she it," Gordo said as he joined Miranda and Heather on the couch. "The end results are always worth waiting for, though."

"Made any movies lately, Gordo?" Heather asked.

"Not for a while, why?"

"Just curious. Lizzie showed me some of that sci-fi movie you used a credit card for."

"Oh boy," Gordo said, rolling his eyes. "That was a nightmare. You were in Mexico, Miranda, so you missed it. I expect you've heard at least some of the story from Lizzie."

"Yeah. You got that credit card in the mail and charged everything for your sci-fi movie on it, she got worried that you were in over your head, you took that as her being not supportive and got mad, then when you apologized to her, she thought she should have been the one apologizing to you."

"That's about it, all in one sentence," Gordo said.

"Oh--everything came screeching to a halt when the pizza delivery guy cut your card in two. I forgot that part," said Miranda. Turning to Heather, Miranda continued, "That was before the apologizing part."

"Ah. Right," Heather said, nodding conspiratorially.

"Wow. Compared to that, the kung fu movie we made was a piece of cake," said Matt.

"Kung fu movie?" Melina asked Matt. "Why wasn't I in on this?"

"I don't think I knew you yet. They were having a contest to be Jet Li's sidekick in a movie. Dad wanted me to write an essay, but you could make a movie too. I think there was something else they'd accept, but I forget what. Anyway, Gordo was uninvited to go shopping for--"

"School supplies!" Gordo blurted.

"It's okay, Gordo. Heather's heard the bra-shopping story," Miranda said.