"Um, hi," Lizzie said, biting her lip nervously. She wanted to kick herself. "Um, hi," was the best thing she could manage? Why was it that she could always think of the perfect thing to say after it was too late? Suddenly, she felt very self-conscious.like the way she felt around Ethan Craft, but somehow.different. Never the way she had felt previously when she was with Gordo.

Gordo acknowledged his best friend with a quick nod of his head and became very absorbed in the sidewalk.

"Hey! Lizzie! Gordo!" It was Miranda, cheerfully running down the sidewalk, talking a mile a minute. "How are you guys? I missed you so much. Oh, cute shirt, Lizzie. Oh my gosh, I don't know what I would have done if I missed the last day of school. I would have just died."

When she stopped talking, she looked over at Lizzie and knew instantly that something was wrong. "Lizzie, what's the matter? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Gordo poked Miranda in the arm. "Hey, Chatty Cathy. Sidebar, please?" He dragged Miranda over to the side when Lizzie couldn't hear their conversation.

"What's wrong?" Miranda demanded to know. "Why are you guys acting so weird?"

"I can't believe Lizzie hasn't told you yet," Gordo sighed, letting go of her arm. "Well, yesterday, she kinda kissed me, and..we could use a moment."

Miranda squealed loudly and began jumping up and down in a circle like a kid who's eaten too much candy.

Gordo clasped his hand over her mouth. "Can I trust you to stand over here quietly while we talk? Lizzie's gonna tell you everything that happens anyway, so you can wait a couple minutes." With that, he joined Lizzie at the bus stop, leaving Miranda behind. "So."

Lizzie nodded and took a deep breath. "I guess we should talk about, um, what happened yesterday, huh?"

Now it was Gordo's turn to nod. "Yeah. That would be a good idea."

"So. I like you, and..you like me," Lizzie said slowly, as if she were putting the pieces of a puzzle together to see if they fit. "All we have to do is figure out what happens next."

"Well," Gordo began. "I guess we could try.you know, if we-"

"Promise we'll always be friends, no matter what happens," Lizzie finished for him affirmatively. "So. Do you wanna give it a shot?"

Gordo nodded. "Girlfriend?" he asked, sticking out his hand to Lizzie.

She smiled and took his hand. "And best friends." They walked over to where Gordo had left Miranda before. Lizzie held up their hands, which were still locked together and grinned. Miranda squealed again and the three best friends had a big group hug. "Best friends first and forever," Lizzie promised. "And, Miranda- when it's the three of us, it's always gonna be how it always was."

The bus pulled up to the stop. Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda linked arms and got on together. As usual, they all squeezed into one seat together.

That day they walked into school together with one visible change- Gordo and Lizzie were holding hands. The first person to notice the connection between them was also the first person to cross their paths with (Miranda was no longer with them; she had already gone to talk to Cody Pearson about something). This person was their faithful friend and favorite substitute teacher, Mr. Dig.

"Ah! Mr. Gordon, Ms. McGuire," he said cheerfully. "I see you've found one girl who doesn't care about how you appear."

Gordo nodded. "I don't know what I was ever thinking, wanting to go our with Parker. What a loser."

The next person they met was Kate Sanders. She pulled Lizzie aside for a minute to talk to her.

"So. You took my advice," she told Lizzie proudly. "Now you can pay attention to Gordo, and, well, I can pay attention to Ethan, of course."

"Looks like it," Lizzie responded just as proudly. "Kate, I have to hand it to you. You can be a pretty cool person when you want to be."

"Yeah. I guess so," Kate said with a smile. She held out her pinky. "Temporary truce?"

"Temporary truce," Lizzie repeated, linking pinkies with Kate.

Then, Kate surprised her. She gave Lizzie a quick hug. "Good luck," she whispered in her ear. Then she ran off to rejoin her friends.

Lizzie walked back over to where she'd left Gordo standing. "What was that all about?" Gordo questioned her. "Kate seemed to be acting.well, nice."

"She's cool," Lizzie promised happily. "You just have to know exactly how to deal with her."

Lizzie and Gordo met up with Miranda again at Lizzie's locker. "Guess what!" Miranda cried at the top of her lungs. "Cody asked me out!"

Lizzie instantly let go of Gordo's hand and grabbed both of Miranda's. The two of them screeched and jumped around in a circle. Gordo grumbled something about "dumb girls."

While Lizzie and Miranda were endlessly chattering about Cody Pearson, Larry Tudgeman approached Gordo. "So, you're going out with Lizzie now? She's some dame. A hot chick. I should know. Be careful. She's a heartbreaker."

"Yeah. Um, thanks, Tudgeman," Gordo replied. "When I need your advice, I'll ask you for it."

"Good. I've got Kate, my fair maiden, to court now," Larry suddenly announced in a bad fake British accent. "Farewell, Sir Gordo."

Gordo just shook his head and laughed. "Tudgeman."

Okay. Even though this sounds like the end of the story, it's not. So just please review and I'll continue! Thanks! (