Title: Spring Fling Drama (A Night to Remember)
Summary: The dance is tonight. Will Lizzie deal, or skip the entire thing?
Archive: Want it?
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Comments: kimmie@quincymail.com




Lizzie struggled to reach the corner of the cafeteria, even from her perch on a table. The streamers she was hanging reached all the way from one wall to another, twisted green and blue crepe trailing down the walls. Pink, yellow, and white flowers decorated the walls, and fake grass and other plants were set up in random places. Miranda was kneeling at the stage, fastening some of her paper lanterns along the edge. "Need some help?" Gordo asked, reaching for the edge.
"Yeah. Thanks." She handed him the twisted ends, and he taped them down.
"Did you ever make up your mind about the dance?" Lizzie squirmed a little, feeling really guilty and foolish all at once.
"I'm still not really sure. If I feel like it, I guess I will. If I'm not there, I hope you guys have fun."

'I really do want them to have fun. I guess I'll never know what could've been. If I really am coping so well, why do I still feel so bad?'

"Yeah." Gordo and Lizzie climbed off the table, and folded it back up against the wall.
The bell rang, and Miranda ran over to them, dusting off her knees. "Wow! This place looks great. I can't wait to see it with all the lights. I'm really glad we got a professional DJ. This is like, the first serious dance of the year!" Lizzie smiled weakly at her friend.
"Yeah, it really was cool of the teachers to pitch in and help pay." The three of them left the building, heading for the buses.
"Oh, I almost forgot. My mom's giving me a ride home because I still need some shoes to match my outfit. See you guys tonight!" Miranda waved and ran off, leaving Lizzie along with Gordo, someone she wasn't really looking forward to talking to at the moment.

'Great. Now what, a herd of elephants stampeding my way? A flash flood racing down the road? I really wish this dance was already over. Then we could all go back to being best friends, instead of Miranda and Gordo, and Lizzie, a.k.a. the Third Wheel!'

"Are you ok, Lizzie? You look like you're going to cry. Or throw up, I'm still not sure." Gordo climbed into a seat after her.
"I just want to go home and sleep. This week has been one terrible even after another." Gordo looked at her.
"Really? Like what? I thought you were happy about the whole Ian thing." Lizzie turned her head to look at him.
"I thought I really liked Ian, but I've been thinking, and I found someone way better. Someone who's kind-of taken in a big way. I don't want to break him away from the girl he likes, but I really want him to know how I feel. It's just been really trying." Lizzie turned red as she spilled her guts.
The bus ground to a stop, and kids clamored off. "Why don't you just tell him? I'm pretty sure he'll give you a chance." Lizzie smiled, not feeling the joy behind the gesture.
"I can't do that to him, it'd make things way to complicated." The bus lurched again as it stopped by Lizzie's house.
Gordo stood up, getting off with her. "How can you be sure what he thinks?" Lizzie sighed, tugging at the strap on her backpack.
"I just don't want to mess things up. I can wait for a turn, I guess." Lizzie turned up her driveway. "Thanks for listening to me, Gordo. I'll see you later, ok?" Gordo nodded, and stood at the foot of the drive thoughtfully for a second before walking off to his own home, convinced he would never understand Lizzie McGuire.

'To get dressed, or not to get dressed? I guess I can't stand Ian up. I owe him that much, right?'

Lizzie trudged down the stairs, a frown on her face. She plucked at the frill hem of her off-the shoulder floral dress with disdain. A paisley pattern of pink, blue, purple, and yellow dance over it, and she has white slides on. Lizzie glanced in the mirror, staring at her reflection. Her own lethargy made her leave her hair down, simply curling the ends into ringlets. Sparkly bobby pins hold back the sides of her hair. Mrs. McGuire smiled at her. "Say cheese, honey!" Lizzie mutters the word, smiling as genuinely as she could.
"You look gorgeous, Lizzie. Have fun!" Lizzie smiled at her mom, and got into the car, feeling her hear sink just thinking about where she was headed.


"Lizzie!" Miranda cried as she saw her, you look great!" Miranda's short, silver skirt and black halter top with gems in the shape of a butterfly made her own outfit look juvenile.
Miranda's hair was twisted back in four sections, and the parts were crimped. Her smiled was radiant. "Where's Ian?"
"I haven't seen him." Lizzie yelled back over the music. "Where's Gordo?"
"Getting something to drink. Oh, wait, there he is. Is that Ian over there?" Lizzie bit her lip as he approached.
"Yeah. Suddenly I feel sick." Miranda looked at her with alarm.
"You can't go home! You only just got here!" Gordo came up behind them, carrying a cup of Sprite.
"Lizzie, hey. You look nice." She smiled at him, her heart stopping as Ian stood to her side. "Are you ok? I thought I wanted this, but you need it more." Gordo put the cup of soda into her hand.
"Thanks." She muttered, turning to Ian. "Hi."
"Hey. Want to dance?"

'Yes! Yes, I want to dance, more than anything, just not with you.'

"Yeah, sure." Lizzie quickly took a sip of her pop before setting it down on a table.
Ian led her off among the couples as a slow song started. Lizzie frowned over his shoulder at his utter stupidity, at her own stupidity for having been so happy over his asking her to the dance. She watched Gordo and Miranda sway to the song, and felt her eyes fill. As the song finally ended, Lizzie bolted from the cafeteria into the bathroom.
"Did you just see that?" Gordo asked, watching Lizzie's escape, and the confusion on her date's face.
"What?" Miranda asked as Gordo stepped back.
"Lizzie, she just ran out. She looked kind of upset. Do you know what's bothering her?" Miranda looked back.
"No. She hasn't even told me anything for the past week. It's like she doesn't want to be friends anymore."
"Maybe you should go after her." Miranda looked at Ian, who was waiting by the entrance for Lizzie.
"What if she wants to be alone?"
"Then you'll come back." Gordo sighed as she finally left.
This night was turning out to be a disaster.

'This night has got to be the worst of my life. First, I have to watch Gordo and Miranda having a great time, and now I'm all upset and ready to cry off this makeup.'

"Lizzie?" Miranda called, poking her head into the bathroom. "What are you doing in here?"
"I just needed to cool off." Lizzie said, turning away from the door. "Is Gordo out there?"
Miranda stepped inside. "No. He's back-"
"Here." The girls looked at him standing in the doorway. "I figured we needed to talk."
Lizzie bit her lip, and turned back to her friends. "I know I've been acting really weird this past week, but believe me, I've got a good excuse." Miranda crossed her arms.
"I'd like to hear it. Lizzie, I love you, but you've been acting like we're not good enough to tell what's bugging you." Lizzie looked at Gordo, who shrugged.
"I just want to know what's going on. Maybe we can help you." Lizzie shook her head.
"I just want you guys to know, since it has a lot to do with you. Ok, when Ian asked me to go to the dance with him, I was really excited, because I thought I liked him. The only thing that was keeping me from being completely happy was that Gordo wasn't even going to go, and you didn't have a date. When you told me you were going to ask Gordo, I had some second thoughts about everything. I guess it really got me thinking about how cool Gordo was, and I got jealous. I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to ruin things for either of you." Lizzie looked at her friends guiltily.
"So you figured you liked Gordo, but you couldn't tell me? I'd have swapped you dates." Miranda turned to Gordo. "No offense." Gordo looked at her, smiling gently.
"None taken." Lizzie colored at her story being put into simple words.
"Yeah, I guess that sums it up. I was trying to think of a way to get out of going, but I couldn't just tell Ian I changed my mind. Even now, what am I going to do, he's probably out there, waiting for me." Miranda smiled sweetly.
"We can probably take care of that. Are you ready to make another entrance, Liz?" Lizzie took a deep breath, smiling back at her two best friends.
"Yeah. I think I am."

'That wasn't so bad. I don't think our relationship is going to be the same, at least not mine and Gordo's, but maybe we can work something out.'

"Ian! Um, I was thinking maybe-" Miranda grabbed Ian's hand, pulling him out to the dance floor.
"Come on, Ian! You don't want to miss this song, do you?" Lizzie smiled at her eager friend, and sat by the refreshments, watching them dance.
Gordo sat down next to her, and Lizzie turned to him, a hesitant look on her face. "Do you think you can forgive me for ruining your night?"
"Who said you ruined my night? After that first dance, it couldn't have gotten worse. Miranda doesn't really understand me, and I know I don't understand her. We're friends, but it was really weird coming here with her." Lizzie nodded.
"Is that your idea of letting me down easy?" Gordo laughed, and stood up.
"You don't really want to sit here all night, do you?" Lizzie shook her head, smiling
"Want to dance with me, then?" Lizzie acted like she was thinking.
"Well ok. If you insist." They went out onto the floor, and began to dance to the slow rhythm of "I Drive Myself Crazy."
Miranda gave Lizzie a thumbs-up from her dance with Ian, and Lizzie grinned back, letting herself enjoy the rest of the song. As the last strains disappeared and people began to file out of the cafeteria, Gordo pulled her back. "Gordo, the dance is over."
"I know. I wanted to tell you something." Lizzie looked at him.
"What?" The empty cafeteria seemed to ring with silence as Gordo leaned forward and kissed Lizzie.
The kiss was soft, and brief, and pretty nice as second kisses go. Lizzie couldn't keep a smile of joy from her face as they left the cafeteria, hand in hand.

'I don't know where I'm supposed to go from here, but then again, I don't really care! Gordo likes me! And he kissed me! This has been the best night of my life.'