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Life was good, Lizzie McGuire had to admit. It was summer, she was basking in the warm sunshine with her best friends, sipping on fresh lemonade and bobbing her head to the latest Justin Timberlake hit. As always, she and Miranda had managed to outvote Gordo in the music department. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd would have to be put off for another day. And if Lizzie and Miranda had their way, that day would be...never.

"What are you all happy about?"

Prying open an eye, Lizzie turned to Gordo, who was looking at her curiously. She shrugged, but her smile remained firmly in place. "Nothing. I'm just in a good mood."

"And why shouldn't she be?" Miranda piped up, slurping the last of her lemonade loudly. "We have three months of freedom, fun, and sun to look forward to!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Lizzie grinned, reaching over to slap Miranda a high-five. "Seriously, you guys, we have to make the most of this summer," she urged, sitting up in the lounge chair and pushing her big black sunglasses atop her head. "I mean, think about it. This could be our last chance to fully and completely relax. Next year we're seniors. We have to start worrying about which college to go to, what we want to be, what to do with the rest of our lives! Can we say panic attack?"

"Alright, calm down. You're starting to give me a panic attack," Gordo joked.

Lizzie laughed. "Sorry. But I just want to make sure we have as much fun as possible."

"And we will!" Miranda assured her. "Starting with tonight. What should we do?"

"Well, actually..." Lizzie trailed off for a moment, lowering her eyes. "I was thinking we could practice our driving skills. It's been only a month since I got my license, I'm still kind of shaky."

Gordo nodded. "Yeah, sure, why not. It's not exactly action-packed, but, hey, at least–"

"Gordo, hang on a sec," Miranda cut him off, eyeing Lizzie suspiciously. "I don't think she's quite done yet."

Lizzie let out a nervous little laugh, then looked back up at her friends. "Well, I think it would be really good practice to drive out to...Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles? Are you kidding? That's over two hours away. My parents would never let me go. And you, driving in LA traffic? I'm sorry, I actually want to live to see senior year."

"Gee, thanks, Gordo, I appreciate the vote of confidence," she scoffed. "What about you, Miranda? You're up for it, right?"

Miranda crinkled her nose. "Yeah, I see why you think I'd be your best bet...but no. Sorry. No way."

"Really? Well, okay then." Lizzie slid her sunglasses down over her eyes again and leaned back in her lounge calmly. "I guess not even the fact that Ethan is going to be there can change your mind?"

"What? Ethan? Ethan Craft? Where? When? Why? Spill!"

Gordo winced, bringing his hands to his ears. "Miranda, please, calm down. You're going supersonic."

But Miranda was way too hyped to even pay attention to him. She jumped off her lounge onto Lizzie's and grabbed the other girl's arm. "I'm serious, tell me! Why would Ethan Craft be in Los Angeles, and how would you even know that?"

Lizzie laughed, but before she could answer, another voice rang out. "I believe I know the answer to those very questions."

The three whipped around to look at the tall teenage girl that had appeared at the back door, and grinned.

"Vanessa! Hey, we were wondering when you'd get here," Lizzie greeted her.

Vanessa Sanders was the most recent addition to their close circle of friends, and definitely the most unlikely. She had moved to the tiny town of Hillridge only a few months earlier from New York City, and as Kate Sanders' cousin, had guaranteed herself the reputation as one of the popular jerks right from the start. But it didn't take long for everyone to realize how much the cousins despised each other and how completely different they were. Vanessa's pink streaked hair and multiple facial piercings were only the tip of the iceberg. And Gordo was immediately attracted to the intelligent, quirky beauty. After that it wasn't long before Lizzie and Miranda's doubts wore off completely, too.

"Sorry, got a bit delayed," Vanessa explained, walking over and plopping down next to Gordo, giving her a boyfriend a quick kiss. "Unexpected, and very unfortunate, encounter with the evil one."

Lizzie sighed. "Ugh. What did Kate do this time?"

"Forget Kate! What about Ethan?" Miranda demanded.

"The little princess did happen to drop this." Vanessa produced a neon green flyer from her purse. 'RABID SKUNKS TAKE OVER THE OASIS' was scrawled across the top in dark print.

Gordo leaned over Vanessa's shoulder to read it, then frowned in disgust. "Please, don't tell me that's–"

"Ethan's band!" Lizzie and Miranda squealed, simultaneously grabbing the flyer from Vanessa's hands. They struggled over it for a few seconds, then just held it between them and took in the content eagerly.

"See, he's playing at The Oasis," Lizzie pointed out. "Only the hottest teen club in LA! Are we gonna be there?" She turned her big pleading eyes toward Miranda, but it was obviously completely unnecessary.

"We are so gonna be there!" Miranda assented without hesitation.

Lizzie let out another squeal of delight and hugged her friend, causing them both to nearly go toppling off the chair. They laughed as they disentangled themselves and straightened up. "I wanted it to be a surprise, but you just had to need some major convincing."

"Wait, but how did you know about it?" Gordo asked.

"Actually, I ran into Ethan at the mall yesterday."

Miranda's face lit up. "Oh my God! Ethan invited you personally?"

Lizzie beamed. "Not exactly. See, when I say ran into it was kind of more like spotted from a distance."

"And then followed around for the entire afternoon, right?" Gordo shook his head. "Were you eavesdropping again, too?"

"No! I really wasn't! Seriously! I just happened to be in the food court at the same time." Gordo, Miranda, and Vanessa all shot her skeptical looks. "Hiding behind the garbage can near his table, but whatever, same thing! So...you guys wanna go?" she asked Gordo and Vanessa.

"To hear the defected weasels? I think I'll pass."

"Rabid Skunks!" Lizzie and Miranda screamed.

Gordo rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, whatever, I'm sorry. Don't hurt me!"

"Come on, Gordo, Ethan is an amazing guitar player! Even you admitted that," Miranda reminded him.

"Yeah, too bad he sounds like a dying cat when he tries to sing," Gordo quipped.

"He does not!" Lizzie protested. "He just has a really...soulful voice. All raspy, and deep, and enchanting, and so unbelievably sexy–"

"Okay, okay, we get it," Vanessa laughed. "Tame those hormones, McGuire. At least when you're out in public."

Lizzie flushed a little, but laughed it off. "Alright, so are you guys in or what?"

"I'm up for it," Vanessa nodded.

Gordo sighed and reluctantly agreed, too. "Fine. But if they stink, I'm gonna be booing and throwing things along with the rest of the crowd," he warned.

Miranda smiled at him sweetly. "You do, and I'll throw you."

"This obsession has to end!" Gordo groaned. "It's going on, what, four years now?" Before Lizzie and Miranda could calculate the exact time, down to the last second, he stood. "And as much as I'd love to sit here and get into a deep intellectual discussion about what kind of screeching cat Ethan exactly sounds like, I promised Jeremy I'd go skating with him."

"Ooh, Jeremy." Lizzie shot Miranda a sly glance. "Speaking of hotties, huh?"

"Shut up!" Miranda cried, but her face visibly reddened. "I do not like that loser!"

"Hey, come on, be nice. He is my friend," Gordo reminded her. "And I'm inviting him and Scott to come with us tonight. I'm gonna be on estrogen overdrive otherwise."

Miranda opened her mouth to retort to that, but Vanessa jumped in. "Alright, I'll give you a call later then."

"Sounds good." Bending down, he gave her a tender kiss, all the while Miranda and Lizzie exchanging mushy looks behind their backs, waved at the other two girls, and walked into Lizzie's house. They heard him yell out, "Bye, Mrs. McGuire, thanks!"

Vanessa watched Gordo walk off with a smile, then turned back to Lizzie and Miranda. "So, what time are we leaving? How we gonna get there? Give me the details!"

"Uh, hello! How about the most important question of them all?" Miranda cried. "What are we gonna wear?"

--*--


Less than an hour later Lizzie, Miranda, and Vanessa were tearing apart the racks at Bebe after having already ransacked Forever 21, Bang Bang, and Hot Topic. Yet all three girls were still empty-handed.

"No. No. No. Eww, no!" Lizzie sighed in frustration, stepping back from the rack. "This is hopeless! Everything is just so...blah. Nothing here is Ethan-worthy."

"Tell me about it," Miranda agreed, putting back the red velvet pants she had been momentarily considering. "We should be shopping at, like, Chanel or Gucci or something."

Lizzie nodded emphatically. "Ethan is definitely designer material!"

Vanessa had to laugh at her friend's antics. "Guys, I love you, really, but sometimes...I really don't get you. I mean, Ethan is a cool guy, as far as conceited, popular jocks go, I guess, but... I don't know, don't you think he's a bit...dim?"

Lizzie and Miranda's jaws dropped.

"What?"

"Ethan?"

"Conceited?"

"Dim?"

"No way!" they both cried.

"Maybe just the fact that my cousin is into him is what bugs me. Anyone who she likes is usually...not good, to put it nicely," Vanessa continued.

"But Ethan's not like that," Lizzie said firmly. "He's a good guy. It's not his fault he's athletic and gorgeous. He's always been so nice to Miranda, Gordo, and me."

"Yeah, and it's not like he really likes Kate in that way," Miranda pointed out. "They're friends and all, I know–"

"Well, they hang out with the same crowd at least," Lizzie interjected. That definitely sounded better, and much less intimate.

"Right. But I think he just humors her when she basically throws herself at him."

Vanessa shrugged. "I'm just saying, there are a lot of other guys at Hillridge besides Ethan Craft. You two could do better."

"Not possible," Lizzie laughed. "But you and Gordo exaggerate. It's not like Miranda and I are saving ourselves for Ethan or anything."

"Yeah, we have had boyfriends. Kind of." Miranda frowned at the thought of her two exs, Jake Peterson and Brandon Diego. Neither "relationship" had lasted longer than a month and consisted mainly of late-night IM conversations and the occasional group date to the movies. Of course it had been better than Lizzie's ten days with Michael Palmer. That had ended in disaster when it was discovered that he had been cheating on Lizzie...with Matt's girlfriend.

"Oh come on! You turn down half the guys that ask you out because that's the week that Ethan happens to be single and you want to be available for him," Vanessa countered.

"Well, hopefully he'll be single tonight," Miranda said with a saucy wink. "And we need to get back on track! We only have, eek, four hours!"

Lizzie whimpered. "That's it? Okay, time to power shop! Miranda, you sure you don't want the velvet pants? 'Cause I think I'm gonna try them on," she said, grabbing a pair in her size.

"You know what would look really hot with those? This," Vanessa suggested, holding up a black lacy corset top. It was see-through, cropped, low-cut, and something Lizzie couldn't see herelf wearing in a million years.

"Are you kidding? I could never pull that off!"

"What are you talking about?" Miranda asked, taking the top closer to examine it. "This would look amazing on you! Girl, if you don't take it, I will!" she laughed.

"I don't know, it's just–"

She was cut off by a set of high-pitched giggles coming from the fitting rooms. They would recognize that cackle anywhere. Peering over the rows of clothes, they saw Kate Sanders wearing a set of hot pink rags and twirling idiotically in front of the mirror, her little group of lackeys surrounding her.

Vanessa's eyes darkened. "Great, twice in one day. I feel so blessed. Let's go."

"No," Miranda objected. "I'm not letting Kate scare us away. Come on, Lizzie, what do you want to try with those pants?"

Lizzie looked around and took a conservative white wrap-front blouse. "This...I guess. But, Miranda, don't start a scene," she warned.

"Scene? Who's gonna start a scene?" Miranda shrugged innocently, leading the way over to the fitting rooms.

Kate was still prancing around in front of the mirror, posing and admiring herself, and her cleavage. "Oh my God, Ethan is gonna just die when he sees me in this!" She caught Lizzie, Miranda, and Vanessa's reflection then and spun around. "Oh, look who it is. Did you losers take a wrong turn on the way to K-Mart?"

"Did your big butt rip that dress when you were trying to squeeze into it?" Miranda shot back.

Kate's eyes narrowed, and her friends immediately sprang to attention, ready to gang up on Miranda at Kate's command. But instead she turned her attention towards Lizzie. "Great outfit, Liz. I'm sure you'll get a lot of use from it, going to the Digital Bean and then the mall and then the Digital Bean again and then home. I understand, for a life as dull as yours, clothes must be the only bright spot. And plus side, Mommy will definitely approve!" With that, she flounced back into her fitting room, her friends smirking with satisfaction.

"She... I... Ugh!" Lizzie took a few breaths to calm herself. "Miranda, give me that corset please." She took the tiny top and went into her own fitting room, slamming the door behind her.

--*--


"Come on, Lizzie, it can't be that bad! Come out!" Miranda called through the door of the McGuire's bathroom.

Lizzie bit her lip, staring at her reflection in the mirror. What had she done to herself? The outfit hadn't looked that over the top in the store, even she had admitted that. But now, paired with Vanessa's stilettos, wild crimped hair, and the tiniest swipes of black eyeliner, she looked... Well, different definitely sprang to mind. "Alright," she finally agreed, tugging on the red velvet pants. Had they been that low when she tried them on? "But you can't laugh. Promise!"

"Of course we're not gonna laugh," Vanessa assured her, leaning against the banister of the stairs. "We already saw you in the outfit anyway, remember?"

"But it looks...different now."

Miranda stifled a laugh. "Yeah, you know how a bathroom can do that sometimes, magically alter clothes," she joked. "Get your skanky butt out here McGuire. And I mean now!"

Slowly, the knob turned and the door was pulled back to reveal a very apprehensive-looking Lizzie. She glanced between Miranda and Vanessa. "So...?"

"Wow," was all Vanessa could come up with.

Miranda nodded as if in agreement. "I didn't realize how accurate the skanky part would be."

"That's it, I'm changing," Lizzie declared, whirling around.

"No, no, no!" Miranda cried, and both she and Vanessa grabbed the blonde's arms. "I was just kidding, I swear! Do you have any idea how amazing you look?"

"Cut to the chase, Miranda, she looks hot," Vanessa encouraged.

"Sexy mama in the house tonight," Miranda teased with a grin. "I think I wanna change, actually. One look at you and Ethan's gonna be as good as sprung."

"Shut up," Lizzie rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. "You sure it's okay?"

"It's better than okay," Vanessa replied truthfully.

"Girls? You up there?" Jo McGuire called from the base of the stairs before taking her first step.

Lizzie, Miranda, and Vanessa all looked at each other in panic for a split second, then the latter two shoved Lizzie back in the bathroom and leaned against the door protectively. "Yeah!" they chorused, then shot one another stern looks to calm down.

Reaching the top, Mrs. McGuire smiled at them. "Well, don't you two look great!" she commented. "Off to a raging party or something?"

Exchanging nervous glances, they began to laugh as if it was the most absurd idea ever.

"Us? A raging party?" Miranda threw her head back, letting out a louder chuckle. "Please, Mrs. McGuire, that is so not our style."

"Yep, just another night of quiet fun at the Digital Bean. Very quiet."

"And very fun!" Miranda added. Vanessa nodded emphatically.

Mrs. McGuire eyed them oddly. "Okay... So where's Lizzie?"

"Lizzie?" Miranda pretended to think hard. "Well, Vanessa, you saw her last, right?"

Sending Miranda daggers with her piercing blue eyes, Vanessa smiled at Mrs. McGuire. "Yeah, right, I did. Lizzie is–"

"In here, Mom!" Lizzie yelled through the bathroom door.

Mrs. McGuire stared expectantly at her daughter's friends, and they finally got the hint and moved aside, their nervous giggles back. Vanessa pinched Miranda on the arm, and she let out a little yelp and elbowed her back. This earned them another confused glance from Lizzie's mom, but thankfully she didn't dwell on it.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah, sure! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Okay. Well, your father and I promised your brother we'd take him to get a new bike, so we're gonna be gone for a couple of hours, okay?"

Lizzie's face split into a grin. Perfect. "Yeah. I'm gonna leave soon anyway."

"We're taking your father's car, so do you want mine? I don't want you girls walking around at night, even if it is only from the Digital Bean. You never know what could happen."

Miranda and Vanessa gripped each other's hands excitedly, trying to hold back their squeals of delight. That had been one of their main concerns, whose car they were going to use. Now it had worked itself out for them.

Lizzie's reaction was pretty much the equivalent of her two friends, but she had to remain sounding calm. "Okay, Mom, thanks."

"Keep your phone on," Mrs. McGuire reminded in that way only a mother could say it and make it sound completely annoying. "And be back by midnight."

"Mo-om, I'm sixteen," Lizzie complained.

Mrs. McGuire sighed, but relented. "Twelve-thirty. And not a second later!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

She waited for a moment. "Aren't you going to come out and give me a kiss good-bye?"

Lizzie froze. "I...um...I can't. I had a really bad burrito before at the mall."

Miranda and Vanessa wrinkled their nose up in disgust at that thought, even though they knew perfectly well it was a lie. Still, the visual was enough.

"Oh, okay," Mrs. McGuire said, wincing. "My car keys are on the kitchen counter."

"Mom, come on, the store's gonna close soon!" thirteen-year-old Matt McGuire called obnoxiously from the front door, which he was already holding open and shoving his father through.

"Have fun, girls," Mrs. McGuire said in farewell. She gave them one last smile before descending the steps.

"Bye!" Lizzie waited until she heard the front door close and the engine to the car start. Then she threw open the door and came bounding out. The three girls erupted in screams and laughter, jumping up and down, hugging each other.

"No way! That was just too easy!" Miranda exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.

"Who cares, don't knock it!" Vanessa said with a grin, unclipping her cell phone from the waist of her black pants. "I'm gonna call Gordo and tell him to get over here."

Lizzie let out the happy squeal she had been suppressing. Suddenly the outfit seemed perfect and she couldn't wait to show it off. Maybe it was finally time that things started changing and working in her favor for once. For all she knew, Miranda could be right. By the end of the night, something could happen with Ethan! "Ladies, we are officially on our way!"

--*--