Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.
Unexpected
Chapter Two: Another Day on Alderaan
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
"Okay, kids, here goes. This is Economics, a class focused entirely on your favorite subject and mine -- money."
The teacher was Mr. McIntire, who preferred to be called Mr. Mack, a short guy with hair even curlier than Gordo's, and a thick beard. He looked like a high school drama coach, and Lizzie liked him already.
"My objective in this class is to teach you guys a little bit about the national economy, and also to help you a little in your own lives as far as money and finances are concerned. Later in the semester, I'm going to pair you up for a real life study, in which you'll have three months to practice different elements of the quote-unquote 'real world.' But between you and me, while that stuff is all well and good for the future, high school is just as much the real world as the rest of it."
Lizzie smirked ruefully. Wasn't that the truth. The absolutely sucking truth.
"But luckily for you guys, this first week will be spent watching fun money-related movies, such as the Charlie Sheen vehicle Wall Street, and the movie Boiler Room." Lizzie and Gordo applauded with the rest of the class. The real way to win over a class was to show movies.
"Mr. Mack is totally cool," Lizzie whispered to Gordo, having forgotten for a moment that she currently hated his guts. But as Gordo turned to smile his agreement, she had a flashback, and remembered Miranda kissing his cheek.
Gordo had liked *her* first. Lizzie. Not Miranda!
Lizzie abruptly faced forward again, pissed beyond belief at their betrayal. And how dare Gordo get over her so quickly? Was there something terminally wrong with the Lizzie McGuire package that she'd missed?
By the time class was over, Lizzie had been stewing so much steam was practically coming out of her ears. She flew out of the room without bothering to say goodbye to Gordo. Fortunately she had the rigors of chemistry, and a psychotic, sadistic teacher to boot. She would be working her butt off nightly if she ever wanted to pass, and science definitely wasn't her strong point. She debated asking Gordo for help, since he was a genius practically, but the thought of being anywhere near Gordo made her want to curl up in a corner and die. Miranda, too, for that matter. How could they have done this to her? What had she done in a former life to warrant this sort of turmoil?
Lizzie didn't speak to Miranda in math, having carefully timed herself to rush into the room just before the bell, and with any luck, not finding an empty seat anywhere near Miranda. No one in high school saved seats. The plan had miraculously worked. Miranda was sitting dead center in the room, and the only free seat for Lizzie was in the upper left corner of the room. Lizzie kept her head down to avoid the teacher's gaze, for fear that it was smoldering, and to avoid looking at Miranda at all, which fortunately she didn't have to do for the entire class. Once class was over, Lizzie rushed out like she had on Gordo.
By lunch, however, Lizzie had calmed down considerably, and decided to brave eating with them. She made a silent promise to herself that if she made it through lunch without bursting into tears or throttling either of her best friends, she would stop by the Digital Bean after school and treat herself to two espresso brownies.
Lizzie got out of the lunch line and scanned the bustling cafeteria. High school was madness. There was no pleasant openness of a courtyard caf, just an enormous square room crammed full of tables, uncomfortable little plastic chairs, and high schoolers. Finally she spotted Gordo and Miranda, just barely holding down a small, round table in the far corner. She hurried over, afraid that they could lose it at any moment.
"Hey, guys."
They looked up from their lunches, concern apparent in their eyes. "Um, hey," Miranda said uncertainly.
Gordo was less tactful. "You're upset, aren't you."
**That's the understatement of the year.**
Lizzie sat down and studied her orange tray with a glob of yellow in the middle. It may have been macaroni and cheese, but there was really no telling for certain.
"I mean, you walked out on me after Econ class, and Miranda said you did the same thing to her after math. Lizzie, if you're upset, you should just tell us. We're still your friends."
"Do they have salad dressing around here somewhere?" Lizzie blurted. "This lettuce needs some life injected into it."
Gordo and Miranda sighed loudly, and Miranda pointed across the cafeteria to the condiments bank. "There should be little dressing packets there."
"Back in a sec," Lizzie said, pushing away from the table. Okay, so much for being cool about the whole thing. But really now, how could they not know how completely and totally devastated she was?
Lizzie managed to weave through the crowd, and fetch her dressing without spilling anything or tripping over anything. But halfway back to their table, she smacked into Larry Tudgeman. "Lizzie McGuire," Tudgeman declared, and Lizzie smiled slightly, unsure.
"Hey, Larry, what's up?"
"Trying --rather unsuccessfully-- to find a table," Larry admitted.
"Want to come sit with us?" Lizzie asked suddenly. Larry couldn't hide his surprise, and Lizzie couldn't help but being surprised herself, but she only smiled. Normally she wouldn't want to be seen anywhere near Larry Tudgeman, for fear of damaging her social reputation, but the only people who'd paid any attention to her today were Miranda and Gordo. Besides, Larry was a nice guy, albeit a little weird, and maybe if he sat with them, Miranda and Gordo wouldn't try to play the concerned friend card, therefore lessening Lizzie's pain only slightly.
"Well, I--" Larry started, then smiled gratefully. "Sure, thanks."
Lizzie made her way back to the table, Tudgeman in tow. "Look who I found, guys," she said, and Miranda and Gordo, who had been involved in conversation, looked up. There was no masking the shock on their faces.
"Um, hi, guys," Larry said, waving slightly.
Miranda swallowed. "Tudgeman."
"Mind if I sit down?" Miranda's rude stare was clearly making him nervous. Gordo gestured elaborately at the empty seat between Lizzie and Miranda. "Go nuts."
Larry smiled. "Thanks."
"So, how are you guys liking the first day so far?" Lizzie asked brightly. Asking Tudgeman to join them had been a stroke of genius. Miranda and Gordo were too confused to do anything but glance over at Tudgeman as if he was some sort of alien species -- which meant they were leaving her alone.
Larry swallowed a large bite of the yellow globby stuff, and seemed completely undisturbed that it was an alien life form. "Great. I have physics first period, then Shakespeare."
"Physics? First period?" Lizzie repeated incredulously. She shook her head and began to squirt ranch dressing on her flat salad. "Larry, you are totally insane."
"I get that a lot," Larry said good-naturedly.
When the bell rang at the end of lunch, Lizzie found that she'd actually had a good time. Larry was fun to talk to, sort of, and Miranda and Gordo hadn't even so much as touched. "You're going to join us tomorrow, right Larry?" Lizzie asked cheerfully.
"Looking forward to it," Larry said, waving at them, and heading off to class.
Lizzie shouldered her bookbag, feeling much better than she had that morning.
"Are you sick or something, Lizzie?" Miranda asked.
"What, because I asked Larry to join us? He didn't have anyone else to hang out with," Lizzie said.
"Well, how about his weird, geeky Star Wars friends?" Miranda said. "I don't see why he has to hang out with us."
"Miranda, could you be any more shallow?" Lizzie said, annoyed. "Larry's a good guy. He's smart, he's sweet, he's just a little weird, that's all. Like you didn't have a good time at lunch."
Miranda only huffed. "This is stupid. I'll see you guys later." She stalked off.
"She's not mad, is she?" Lizzie asked, but she wasn't terribly worried. Miranda would get over it in a few days.
"Just confused," Gordo answered. "Lizzie, you never answered my question. Are you upset? About me and Miranda?"
**Of COURSE I'm upset, you idiot!**
Lizzie said nothing.
Gordo sighed. "You are upset. I'm sorry, okay? I never meant for this to happen, you know..." He paused, and Lizzie wondered if he was going to say something else, about last year, about maybe liking her. But he shook his head. "I'll see you after school."
"Yeah," Lizzie said, and stood in the middle of the hallway, watching him go.
Unexpected
Chapter Two: Another Day on Alderaan
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
"Okay, kids, here goes. This is Economics, a class focused entirely on your favorite subject and mine -- money."
The teacher was Mr. McIntire, who preferred to be called Mr. Mack, a short guy with hair even curlier than Gordo's, and a thick beard. He looked like a high school drama coach, and Lizzie liked him already.
"My objective in this class is to teach you guys a little bit about the national economy, and also to help you a little in your own lives as far as money and finances are concerned. Later in the semester, I'm going to pair you up for a real life study, in which you'll have three months to practice different elements of the quote-unquote 'real world.' But between you and me, while that stuff is all well and good for the future, high school is just as much the real world as the rest of it."
Lizzie smirked ruefully. Wasn't that the truth. The absolutely sucking truth.
"But luckily for you guys, this first week will be spent watching fun money-related movies, such as the Charlie Sheen vehicle Wall Street, and the movie Boiler Room." Lizzie and Gordo applauded with the rest of the class. The real way to win over a class was to show movies.
"Mr. Mack is totally cool," Lizzie whispered to Gordo, having forgotten for a moment that she currently hated his guts. But as Gordo turned to smile his agreement, she had a flashback, and remembered Miranda kissing his cheek.
Gordo had liked *her* first. Lizzie. Not Miranda!
Lizzie abruptly faced forward again, pissed beyond belief at their betrayal. And how dare Gordo get over her so quickly? Was there something terminally wrong with the Lizzie McGuire package that she'd missed?
By the time class was over, Lizzie had been stewing so much steam was practically coming out of her ears. She flew out of the room without bothering to say goodbye to Gordo. Fortunately she had the rigors of chemistry, and a psychotic, sadistic teacher to boot. She would be working her butt off nightly if she ever wanted to pass, and science definitely wasn't her strong point. She debated asking Gordo for help, since he was a genius practically, but the thought of being anywhere near Gordo made her want to curl up in a corner and die. Miranda, too, for that matter. How could they have done this to her? What had she done in a former life to warrant this sort of turmoil?
Lizzie didn't speak to Miranda in math, having carefully timed herself to rush into the room just before the bell, and with any luck, not finding an empty seat anywhere near Miranda. No one in high school saved seats. The plan had miraculously worked. Miranda was sitting dead center in the room, and the only free seat for Lizzie was in the upper left corner of the room. Lizzie kept her head down to avoid the teacher's gaze, for fear that it was smoldering, and to avoid looking at Miranda at all, which fortunately she didn't have to do for the entire class. Once class was over, Lizzie rushed out like she had on Gordo.
By lunch, however, Lizzie had calmed down considerably, and decided to brave eating with them. She made a silent promise to herself that if she made it through lunch without bursting into tears or throttling either of her best friends, she would stop by the Digital Bean after school and treat herself to two espresso brownies.
Lizzie got out of the lunch line and scanned the bustling cafeteria. High school was madness. There was no pleasant openness of a courtyard caf, just an enormous square room crammed full of tables, uncomfortable little plastic chairs, and high schoolers. Finally she spotted Gordo and Miranda, just barely holding down a small, round table in the far corner. She hurried over, afraid that they could lose it at any moment.
"Hey, guys."
They looked up from their lunches, concern apparent in their eyes. "Um, hey," Miranda said uncertainly.
Gordo was less tactful. "You're upset, aren't you."
**That's the understatement of the year.**
Lizzie sat down and studied her orange tray with a glob of yellow in the middle. It may have been macaroni and cheese, but there was really no telling for certain.
"I mean, you walked out on me after Econ class, and Miranda said you did the same thing to her after math. Lizzie, if you're upset, you should just tell us. We're still your friends."
"Do they have salad dressing around here somewhere?" Lizzie blurted. "This lettuce needs some life injected into it."
Gordo and Miranda sighed loudly, and Miranda pointed across the cafeteria to the condiments bank. "There should be little dressing packets there."
"Back in a sec," Lizzie said, pushing away from the table. Okay, so much for being cool about the whole thing. But really now, how could they not know how completely and totally devastated she was?
Lizzie managed to weave through the crowd, and fetch her dressing without spilling anything or tripping over anything. But halfway back to their table, she smacked into Larry Tudgeman. "Lizzie McGuire," Tudgeman declared, and Lizzie smiled slightly, unsure.
"Hey, Larry, what's up?"
"Trying --rather unsuccessfully-- to find a table," Larry admitted.
"Want to come sit with us?" Lizzie asked suddenly. Larry couldn't hide his surprise, and Lizzie couldn't help but being surprised herself, but she only smiled. Normally she wouldn't want to be seen anywhere near Larry Tudgeman, for fear of damaging her social reputation, but the only people who'd paid any attention to her today were Miranda and Gordo. Besides, Larry was a nice guy, albeit a little weird, and maybe if he sat with them, Miranda and Gordo wouldn't try to play the concerned friend card, therefore lessening Lizzie's pain only slightly.
"Well, I--" Larry started, then smiled gratefully. "Sure, thanks."
Lizzie made her way back to the table, Tudgeman in tow. "Look who I found, guys," she said, and Miranda and Gordo, who had been involved in conversation, looked up. There was no masking the shock on their faces.
"Um, hi, guys," Larry said, waving slightly.
Miranda swallowed. "Tudgeman."
"Mind if I sit down?" Miranda's rude stare was clearly making him nervous. Gordo gestured elaborately at the empty seat between Lizzie and Miranda. "Go nuts."
Larry smiled. "Thanks."
"So, how are you guys liking the first day so far?" Lizzie asked brightly. Asking Tudgeman to join them had been a stroke of genius. Miranda and Gordo were too confused to do anything but glance over at Tudgeman as if he was some sort of alien species -- which meant they were leaving her alone.
Larry swallowed a large bite of the yellow globby stuff, and seemed completely undisturbed that it was an alien life form. "Great. I have physics first period, then Shakespeare."
"Physics? First period?" Lizzie repeated incredulously. She shook her head and began to squirt ranch dressing on her flat salad. "Larry, you are totally insane."
"I get that a lot," Larry said good-naturedly.
When the bell rang at the end of lunch, Lizzie found that she'd actually had a good time. Larry was fun to talk to, sort of, and Miranda and Gordo hadn't even so much as touched. "You're going to join us tomorrow, right Larry?" Lizzie asked cheerfully.
"Looking forward to it," Larry said, waving at them, and heading off to class.
Lizzie shouldered her bookbag, feeling much better than she had that morning.
"Are you sick or something, Lizzie?" Miranda asked.
"What, because I asked Larry to join us? He didn't have anyone else to hang out with," Lizzie said.
"Well, how about his weird, geeky Star Wars friends?" Miranda said. "I don't see why he has to hang out with us."
"Miranda, could you be any more shallow?" Lizzie said, annoyed. "Larry's a good guy. He's smart, he's sweet, he's just a little weird, that's all. Like you didn't have a good time at lunch."
Miranda only huffed. "This is stupid. I'll see you guys later." She stalked off.
"She's not mad, is she?" Lizzie asked, but she wasn't terribly worried. Miranda would get over it in a few days.
"Just confused," Gordo answered. "Lizzie, you never answered my question. Are you upset? About me and Miranda?"
**Of COURSE I'm upset, you idiot!**
Lizzie said nothing.
Gordo sighed. "You are upset. I'm sorry, okay? I never meant for this to happen, you know..." He paused, and Lizzie wondered if he was going to say something else, about last year, about maybe liking her. But he shook his head. "I'll see you after school."
"Yeah," Lizzie said, and stood in the middle of the hallway, watching him go.