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, Ethan's family, Kate's family and all medical personnel mentioned in the articles.  And I don't own Peter Weir.

To everyone who reviewed…a great big Thanks!!!  Keep reading!

This chapter has been a long time in coming…I know it's been forever since I've updated…I'm sorry!!!  I'm trying to get through final exams right now, and all that junk, so if anyone knows anything about E1/Sn1 and E2/Sn2 reactions in organic chemistry…let me know and I'd probably be able to get the next chapter up sooner.  But thanks for being so patient with me and this story…I hope y'all still like it!

Now Playing…Chapter 18!

            Lizzie spent the entire afternoon talking to her mother.  Jo had read the newspaper articles and been as shocked at the news as Lizzie had been.  After explaining everything to her mother and telling her about her plans for the next semester and the rest of school, Jo was beaming.  "I'm so proud of you!" she exclaimed.  "You have no idea how happy I am to hear you wanting to help people!  Look at you…my baby's gonna change the world!"

Lizzie grinned.  She could always count on her mother to get emotional when it counted.

"Mom, I'm probably not going to be changing the world," she said with a smile.  "But if I can make sure stuff like this doesn't happen again, for at least one person, then I'll be happy with that."  She insisted, trying to keep her mom realistic.  But at the same time, she was thrilled with her mom's excitement.  Lizzie didn't expect her mom to be against the idea; her parents had always supported her in almost everything she wanted to do, she just wasn't expecting her mother to be so enthusiastic.  Lizzie was glad she was though, cause truth be told, Lizzie was starting to get excited herself.  She tried to calm down and reminded herself that she had a long way to go before she got where she wanted to be.

Lizzie and her mother talked their way through the afternoon and as they prepared dinner.  Sam and Matt joined the conversation during dinner and had similar reactions to Jo.

After dinner, Lizzie climbed the stairs to her room in high spirits.  She sat down at her computer and pulled up her university's web page.  "Thank God for technology." She muttered, logging on to her university account.  From there she dropped the Animal Anatomy class from her schedule and registered for Human Gross Anatomy.  After that Lizzie emailed her advisor, letting her know of her change in plans. 

Not sure what to do next, Lizzie opened her buddy list to see who was online.  Neither Miranda nor Gordo were online, but Brenna was.

"Of course!" Lizzie exclaimed.  Brenna was pre-med, she'd be able to help her.

Lizzee:  Hey Bren, I've got some news and something I need your help with…

Brenny0:  hey, Liz, what's up?  I'm all ears

Lizzee:  I decided to go pre-med…

Brenny0:  What?!?  What brought this on?  Oh…the Ethan issue, right?

Lizzee:  right, I'll fill you in on the rest of the details later, but what do I need to know?

Brenny0:  well, I'm no expert, but I don't think it's that different than pre-vet.  Obviously, the anatomy stuff is gonna be different, but other than that, everything will be fairly similar…

Lizzee:  what about med school?  what do I have to do to get into one?

Brenny0:  it's pretty much like getting into vet school.  I've actually heard from a couple people that getting into med school is easier than getting into vet school, but it's still not easy.  Good grades, obviously, a good MCAT score, some work experience in a medical setting…I think you job at the vet may even pass for that…and volunteer work.  That's all I can think of right now.

Lizzee:  volunteer work?

Brenny0: yeah, like helping with Habitat for Humanity, or volunteering at a hospital or school or something…basically the schools want to see that you care about people…they don't want doctors who don't care about who they're working with

Lizzee:  good point

            Miranda sighed impatiently as she hung up the phone.  This was the third time in forty minutes she'd gotten the McGuire's answering machine, so she knew someone was online.  Why did the McGuire's never get a second line?  It was never an issue before, but now Miranda was stuck at home, watching her little sister, again.  So she was stuck in the house, not able to get a hold of Lizzie and Gordo was leaving in less than twenty-four hours.  Miranda was beginning to get panicky.  What if Gordo really did leave?  Lizzie and Gordo couldn't be together if he left.  She knew he was getting impatient and irritated with himself for never being able to tell her and with Lizzie for giving him such mixed signals.  They were constantly talking and knew almost everything about each other; a fact Miranda had finally come to terms with.  But then Lizzie would get go off and get distracted by some guy…and always the wrong one.  Miranda shook her head, remembering the used car salesman story.

            Miranda grabbed the phone and dialed Lizzie's number again.  Again the answering machine picked up.  She nearly threw the receiver back onto the handset.  This was getting ridiculous.  She had less than twenty-four hours to convince Lizzie of her feelings for Gordo and to stop Gordo from leaving.  She needed a plan.