Miranda's Time
Disclaimer: Lizzie McGuire and all characters belong to Disney. I am just using them in my own plot. I do not own the rights to American Idol either. Please read and review.
Chapter 1: Kate's Words
Miranda Sanchez bolted off the school bus and continued to run home despite hearing her name called behind her. She raced to her house as fast as her legs would carry her, trying hard to forget about what had transpired at lunch that day. When she arrived at her house, she pulled out her key to unlock the front door. She was so shaken up she had trouble fitting the key in the lock. Finally, she was able to enter her house. She slammed the door shut behind her and clunked up to the stairs to her bedroom; her safe haven. Miranda slammed that door shut behind her hoping her thoughts would stop at the door. She threw her book bag in the corner and flounced onto her bed. She rolled over, covering herself with her quilt. She squeezed her eyes shut as Kate's words repeated them over and over again in her head.
"You'll always be Lizzie's shadow."
She could hear Kate's obnoxious laugh in her head as the words swirled in her mind. The phone rang at that moment, not surprising her. By this time she knew both Lizzie and Gordo would be home and one of them was calling her. She picked up the phone to see which one of her best friends dialed her number first. She was honestly hoping for Gordo first.
"Miranda…Kate's a bitch." Lizzie greeted her.
"Lizzie…" Miranda started with a groan.
"Seriously, I don't know why she said that. I mean whatever. You're on the best dressed list at school. That proves you're not in anyone's shadow." Lizzie continued.
"True…" Miranda trailed off making a mental note of Lizzie's good point.
"She's just jealous that we're such good friends still." Lizzie analyzed.
"Hey, Lizzie, my call waiting is beeping. I'll call you back. It's probably Gordo." Miranda told Lizzie before clicking over to the other line.
"Hello?" Miranda answered.
"Hey, Mir, you ok?" Gordo asked.
"I guess. I don't know why Kate got to me so much today. I'm starting to think what she said was true." Miranda admitted.
"You? In the shadows? No way." Gordo dismissed the thought.
"But Gordo, have you ever noticed how when people come up to us like in the halls and stuff they always say hi to Lizzie first. I mean, why can't they say hi to me first?" Miranda began to nitpick.
"Maybe they like to address people in alphabetical order?" Gordo suggested.
"Gordo…" Miranda groaned.
"Alright, alright it was a bad joke. Sue me." Gordo admitted.
"Maybe I need to get more involved in clubs and stuff. It's still close to the start of the year. I'm sure it's not too late." Miranda brainstormed.
"That might be cool. I was thinking about joining a few myself: the Mathletes, Young Scientists Club, and maybe the Chess Club."
"Those are the clubs that I will not be joining." Miranda rolled her eyes thinking about the many dorks Gordo would meet.
"Well, I hear that Ms. Roman is putting together a dance team that will perform at all the football games. You've got moves, maybe you should try out for that." Gordo suggested.
"Yeah, I was thinking about trying out for chorus too." Miranda added.
"Well, I have to go. Gotta start the homework pile." Gordo sighed.
"Yeah, me too. Thanks for calling, Gordo." Miranda smiled.
"Anytime." Gordo parted.
Miranda dropped her cordless phone on her bed and sighed. She felt better after talking with Gordo. Sometimes Lizzie just didn't understand things, but it was times like these that Gordo would know exactly what to say. Miranda loved Lizzie all the same because there were plenty of problems that Lizzie could help her with that Gordo couldn't. She unwound herself from her blankets and retrieved her book bag from the corner. Her phone rang. She listened for the ring as she searched through her bed covers to find it.
"You were supposed to call me back." Lizzie teased when Miranda finally got to the phone.
"Well, I was…I just wanted to get some homework started first." Miranda leaned the phone against her shoulder and struggled to get out her math book.
"Guess who just called me?" Lizzie asked excitedly into the phone.
"Who?" Miranda asked.
"ETHAN CRAFT!" Lizzie squealed.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ETHAN KRAFT? WHAT DID HE SAY?" Miranda jumped up from her bed, spilling the contents of her book bag on the floor.
"He was just reminding me that choir tryouts were tomorrow." Lizzie dished.
"Ethan Kraft knows what a choir is?" Miranda asked in disbelief.
"I don't know. He said 'See ya there'. So I guess he is trying out." Lizzie answered.
"Wow…I still can't get over that Ethan knows what a choir is." Miranda repeated.
"Mir-an-da…." Lizzie drew out her name in exasperation.
"Lizzie, I agree with you that Ethan is the hottest guy at Hillridge, but you and I both know you can see the sunset through his ears." Miranda reminded her.
"Speaking of sunsets, wouldn't it be great to watch one with Ethan?" Lizzie sighed into the phone.
"Yeah, it would. Listen, I really have to start my homework. I'll call you later, ok?" Miranda smiled at the thought of dating Ethan Kraft.
"No problemo. Ta ta!" Lizzie hung up. Miranda clicked her phone off and started to pick up the books that fell on the floor. Then it hit her: Lizzie was trying out for choir. She was going to try too. Would people think that Miranda followed Lizzie to choir try-outs? What if Lizzie made it and she didn't? What if she made it and Lizzie didn't? Too many questions flooded her mind, all of which had consequences that formed a rock in her stomach. Miranda took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before having an anxiety attack. She had been known to have them in the past. Her most recent one was she stopped eating because her whole life seemed to be dictated for her and eating was the only thing she had control over.
"Calm down," she scolded herself, "It's only a school club, not like I am auditioning for American Idol. Don't think of the 'what ifs?'". She took a few more deep breaths and returned to her homework with thoughts of tomorrow drifting away.