Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire, people, places, etc…don't sue me. I do own characters you don't recognize…i.e. Brenna, Carissa, and Ethan's family and Kate's family.
Hmmm…
I know the story has gotten a little slow, but we're getting towards the end now, so things with start to pick up and come together…I hope….
Lizzie stood in front of her mirror and straightened her dress. She and her mom had enjoyed shopping at the after-holiday sales and Lizzie had found a dress for the Sanders' party. It was knee-length and made of a silver material, not shiny, but it slightly shimmered in the light. When Lizzie tried it on at the store, Jo told her she looked like an angel. Lizzie smiled at her reflection. While her mother may be biased and exaggerate a bit, she liked the way she looked in the dress.
Lizzie checked her hair and make-up, grabbed her purse and the black dress coat her mother had lent her and went downstairs to wait for her family. Matt was already downstairs, watching TV, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Matt had been less enthusiastic about the party than the rest of his family, particularly about the semi-formal dress, and had opted to spend New Year's Eve at Lanny's house. He had mentioned something about a horror movie marathon.
Lizzie's parents joined their kids, dressed for the party and they headed for the family car. Lizzie and her parents dropped Matt off at Lanny's and shortly after arrived at the Sanders' house. Kate's mother welcomed them and took their coats at the door. Lizzie began wandering the immense house in search of Gordo and Miranda. She quickly got lost and found herself in the kitchen. She knew Kate's parents had bought a new house just after Kate graduated high school, and it looked like the Sanders had come into some money before they bought the house. The few rooms that Lizzie had seen were immense and lavishly decorated. Lizzie continued her wandering in search of her friends when she heard the name Craft. Instinctively, she paused and listened, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"…and their lawyer convinced them to follow through with the law suit and with all those hospital bills…" A commotion came from an adjoining room and Lizzie lost the voice.
Lawsuit? What lawsuit? Lizzie wondered. She strained to find it again, but was interrupted by Mr. Sanchez.
"Well, hello Lizzie." He grinned at her. "Are you looking for Miranda and Gordo? They're downstairs with the other kids."
Lizzie nodded her thanks, realizing she'd lost her opportunity for eavesdropping for good, and set out to find her friends. It took her several more minutes, but she finally found the stairs leading to the basement.
As she walked down the stairs, her jaw dropped in awe. It was unlike any basement she had ever seen, another enormous extravagantly decorated room. Off to one side was a big screen TV playing a movie with the volume low. Next to it sat a complicated looking stereo set up, playing music close to full volume. Several plush looking chairs and a matching couch were occupied by several kids Lizzie's age; she recognized a couple from high school. Across the room was a brand new pool table, looking slightly out of place in the room. Lizzie recovered from her shock and scanned the room for Gordo and Miranda.
Gordo had spotted Lizzie just as she walked down the stairs. He felt his jaw drop when he saw her; she looked amazing. He quickly recovered before Lizzie spotted him, so she missed his expression, but Miranda saw it. She elbowed him in the ribs with a grin and waved Lizzie over to where they were talking to Parker McKenzie.
"Hey Lizzie." Miranda greeted her. "Can you believe how crazy this place is?"
"No kidding." Lizzie agreed. "I got lost trying to find you guys."
"Forget that." Parker interjected. "I could get lost in here."
Lizzie looked around and realized the room was much bigger than it appeared when she was standing on the stairs. The room extended beyond the pool table and back behind the stairs, where furniture had been moved out of the way and people were dancing.
"Wow." Lizzie shook her head in disbelief.
"Yeah. C'mon, let's shoot some pool." Miranda gestured to the now vacant pool table.
Lizzie spent the rest of the party shooting pool or dancing and catching up with friends from high school and at midnight, the entire party watched the ball drop and toasted to the new year with champagne. The party slowly wound down after midnight, but most people seemed reluctant to leave and lingered in the front room talking with friends.
Lizzie had noticed that Gordo seemed a little preoccupied during most lf the party. She meant to ask him about it several times that night, but was either cut off or distracted. She lost track of him after the toast and meandered through groups of people looking for him and Miranda, who had also disappeared. She spotted Miranda talking, surprisingly enough, to Claire. Miranda spotted Lizzie, quickly finished her conversation with Claire and came over to where Lizzie was standing, shaking her head in confusion.
"That was weird." She said, looking back at Claire's retreating form. "She wanted to know if I knew anything about Kate." Miranda observed Lizzie's perplexed expression. "Exactly." She agreed.
Lizzie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find Gordo in front of her. "Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving." Lizzie saw his parents by the door, coats in hand, waiting for him.
Lizzie nodded. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked quickly.
Gordo looked confused. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"Because you seemed a little distracted tonight. Is something going on?" she asked.
"Oh." Gordo nodded and didn't say anything else, so Lizzie knew something was going on in his head. "Give me a call tomorrow." She said, giving him a quick hug. He nodded again, said goodbye to Miranda and left.
Lizzie stared after him for several seconds until her mother appeared behind her.
"You ready to go?" her mother asked her, looking exhausted.
Lizzie nodded, hugged Miranda goodbye, found her coat and followed her parents to their car.