What You Didn't Expect
Chapter 1
"Gordo's going to be home for the weekend, you know."
Twenty-two-year-old Lizzie McGuire looked at her best friend Miranda Sanchez, and her eyes lit up.
"So it'll be us three, all over again! Just like the old days!" Lizzie said, and Miranda nodded.
Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda had gone their separate ways after graduating high school. Gordo went off to film school in New York, an aspiring director. Miranda had gone to California State University on a music scholarship, and Lizzie...
After a summer of fun, she'd cried through the entire flight to Florida, where she had gotten accepted to University of Florida. Today, however, she'd cried all the way home from Florida, trying to think of a way to break the news to Miranda that she wasn't moving back to California now that she'd graduated with a marketing degree. She'd been offered a job in Orlando that she just could not turn down.
"I haven't talked to Gordo in ages... I mean, we email each other every once in a while, but I got so caught up in college life, and now that I've graduated, I've been thinking about how much I miss it back here." Lizzie motioned to the area they were driving through, the old neighborhood where they all lived as children.
Lizzie's thoughts went back to their middle school and high school days, and how the three had always been inseparable, no matter what. Sure, there had been some little ups and downs here and there, but for the most part, they stuck together through thick and thin. Miranda had always been her best girl friend, her sister, and Gordo had always been... well... Gordo. She'd known him since they were in diapers, and it was really hard to pin a title on him.
Miranda pulled into the driveway at the McGuire house and shut off the Jeep. "You know, Lizzie... it's been so depressing... the past four years have been so boring, so lonely, without you and Gordo here... I'm so glad you guys are coming home again."
Lizzie felt her heart drop into her stomach when Miranda said that. "Yeah, um... Randa? About that... um... I'm not exactly... um..." How could she say it? "I'mNotMovingBackToCalifornia." There, it was out.
Miranda's head shot up and she looked at her best friend. "What?! Lizzie, what are you talking about? You've always planned on coming home!"
"I know, but... I was offered a job in Orlando, that I just can't turn down... it's too good of an offer."
"But... but, Lizzie! Whatever happened to me, you, and Gordo growing up and getting old together, and being friends forever?"
"Miranda... you know you'll always be my sister, my best friend, and just because I live in Florida, doesn't mean I don't love you just as much as always! Besides... I'll visit frequently," Lizzie said.
Miranda was silent as she helped Lizzie carry her bags into the house. Sam and Jo McGuire were in the kitchen, and Lizzie cautiously poked her head around the corner. They weren't exactly expecting her. Well, that wasn't true. They knew she was coming home... just not two days earlier than scheduled.
"Mom? Dad?" Jo was peeling potatoes, and Sam was cutting up some carrots to cook with dinner.
"Lizzie!" They both dropped what they were doing and hurried over to welcome their daughter home.
"Oh, it's so good to see you, honey!" Jo said, squeezing Lizzie until she thought she might die from lack of oxygen.
"Mom... um... I kinda can't breathe," Lizzie managed to choke out.
Jo let her go, and smiled. "You're early!"
"Yeah... um... yeah. I decided to up my flight a couple days so I could get a little more time in with everyone here, before I have to go back to Florida..."
"I thought..." Lizzie cut her mom off, shaking her head.
"I got offered a job in Orlando... I'm sorry... but I'm staying in Florida."
Her parents were upset and surprised, but took it much better than she had expected. Lizzie turned to ask Miranda if she'd like to hit the Digital Bean for a trip down memory lane, but Miranda wasn't there. Lizzie wandered over to the front window, and saw that the Jeep was no longer in the driveway. She let the curtain fall over the window again, and turned away, her heart suddenly very heavy.
Chapter 1
"Gordo's going to be home for the weekend, you know."
Twenty-two-year-old Lizzie McGuire looked at her best friend Miranda Sanchez, and her eyes lit up.
"So it'll be us three, all over again! Just like the old days!" Lizzie said, and Miranda nodded.
Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda had gone their separate ways after graduating high school. Gordo went off to film school in New York, an aspiring director. Miranda had gone to California State University on a music scholarship, and Lizzie...
After a summer of fun, she'd cried through the entire flight to Florida, where she had gotten accepted to University of Florida. Today, however, she'd cried all the way home from Florida, trying to think of a way to break the news to Miranda that she wasn't moving back to California now that she'd graduated with a marketing degree. She'd been offered a job in Orlando that she just could not turn down.
"I haven't talked to Gordo in ages... I mean, we email each other every once in a while, but I got so caught up in college life, and now that I've graduated, I've been thinking about how much I miss it back here." Lizzie motioned to the area they were driving through, the old neighborhood where they all lived as children.
Lizzie's thoughts went back to their middle school and high school days, and how the three had always been inseparable, no matter what. Sure, there had been some little ups and downs here and there, but for the most part, they stuck together through thick and thin. Miranda had always been her best girl friend, her sister, and Gordo had always been... well... Gordo. She'd known him since they were in diapers, and it was really hard to pin a title on him.
Miranda pulled into the driveway at the McGuire house and shut off the Jeep. "You know, Lizzie... it's been so depressing... the past four years have been so boring, so lonely, without you and Gordo here... I'm so glad you guys are coming home again."
Lizzie felt her heart drop into her stomach when Miranda said that. "Yeah, um... Randa? About that... um... I'm not exactly... um..." How could she say it? "I'mNotMovingBackToCalifornia." There, it was out.
Miranda's head shot up and she looked at her best friend. "What?! Lizzie, what are you talking about? You've always planned on coming home!"
"I know, but... I was offered a job in Orlando, that I just can't turn down... it's too good of an offer."
"But... but, Lizzie! Whatever happened to me, you, and Gordo growing up and getting old together, and being friends forever?"
"Miranda... you know you'll always be my sister, my best friend, and just because I live in Florida, doesn't mean I don't love you just as much as always! Besides... I'll visit frequently," Lizzie said.
Miranda was silent as she helped Lizzie carry her bags into the house. Sam and Jo McGuire were in the kitchen, and Lizzie cautiously poked her head around the corner. They weren't exactly expecting her. Well, that wasn't true. They knew she was coming home... just not two days earlier than scheduled.
"Mom? Dad?" Jo was peeling potatoes, and Sam was cutting up some carrots to cook with dinner.
"Lizzie!" They both dropped what they were doing and hurried over to welcome their daughter home.
"Oh, it's so good to see you, honey!" Jo said, squeezing Lizzie until she thought she might die from lack of oxygen.
"Mom... um... I kinda can't breathe," Lizzie managed to choke out.
Jo let her go, and smiled. "You're early!"
"Yeah... um... yeah. I decided to up my flight a couple days so I could get a little more time in with everyone here, before I have to go back to Florida..."
"I thought..." Lizzie cut her mom off, shaking her head.
"I got offered a job in Orlando... I'm sorry... but I'm staying in Florida."
Her parents were upset and surprised, but took it much better than she had expected. Lizzie turned to ask Miranda if she'd like to hit the Digital Bean for a trip down memory lane, but Miranda wasn't there. Lizzie wandered over to the front window, and saw that the Jeep was no longer in the driveway. She let the curtain fall over the window again, and turned away, her heart suddenly very heavy.