–4–


"So who all is meeting us?"

Gordo shoved a pizza pie in the big oven before turning to Scott. He had to bite his lip to keep from smirking. Didn't the guy realize how obvious he was? "Um, Vanessa, Miranda, maybe Jeremy if he remembers."

"Oh."

"And Lizzie, of course."

Scott immediately sat up straighter. "Oh yeah? Cool. That's cool."

Gordo couldn't help it, he burst out laughing.

"What?" Scott looked at him suspiciously.

"Why don't you just ask her out already?"

"Ask who out?"

Gordo sighed. "Oh stop, it's just pathetic now. You obviously like Lizzie, and my guess is you have for a long time."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," Scott protested.

Gordo just raised an eyebrow. "Right And I'm also seeing things, too, now, right? I noticed the way you guys were all over each other last night."

"We were not all over each other!" Yet his face flushed deeply. He looked down at the marble counter top and took a large gulp of his root beer. "It was just a dance."

"A dance? Try, like, five dances. In a row."

"What, were you keeping tabs on us?"

"Someone had to," Gordo quipped. "Seriously, do you like her? I won't say anything."

Scott remained silent for a few moments. He was about to answer when the little bell above the door went off and a few customers entered the pizzeria. Gordo dutifully took their orders and served the drinks before returning to Scott. By that time Vanessa had showed up and taken occupancy of the stool next to Scott.

"Hey," Vanessa grinned when she saw him and leaned over the counter to give him a kiss. "Did I ever tell you that you look really hot in an apron?" she teased.

"Only every day," Gordo joked, going in for another kiss.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Get a room."

"Don't tempt me. I think Vinnie forgot to lock the storage closet."

Vanessa's eyes widened. "Really. Now that's interesting." She glanced around. "How come you're the only one working? That's not fair!"

"Vinnie and Russ went to pick up some more pizza dough, and Patty's downstairs doing inventory. But my shifts almost over."

"You said that half an hour ago," Scott grumbled, draining his glass.

"What's up with the Gloomy Gus act?" Vanessa asked with a frown, throwing her arms around Scott's neck from behind. "Perk up, Scotty! It's summer!"

"Yeah, perfect time for a little romance," Gordo said over his shoulder, taking the pizza out of the oven and slicing it into equal slices.

Vanessa caught Gordo's eye and knew they were both thinking the same thing. "I'm seeing blonde, cute, and sweet. Gee, where could we find someone like that?"

"Gee. Let me think."

Scott groaned and stood up, brushing Vanessa off. "I gotta pee," he said, walking off toward the back.

Vanessa sat on his stool with a laugh. "Denial is such a sad thing," she sighed. "You do know he likes Lizzie, right?"

"Does 'duh' mean anything to you?"

"So the question is..."

"What are we gonna do about it?" Gordo finished with a grin. He spread some pepperoni on one slice, a few mushrooms on the other, and extra cheese on two more. "Why don't you mull that over while I go deliver these. Did you want something, by the way?" he asked, walking around the counter towards the booths.

"Oh, I'll just help myself to a little something."

Gordo stopped to look at her. "Last time you said that you cleared us out of ham and pineapple. Don't touch anything, I'll be right back."

"I resent that," Vanessa said to his retreating back, then quickly reached over the counter, grabbed a few slices of pepperoni, and shoved them into her mouth.

"I saw that," Lizzie said in a sing-song voice. She had just walked into the pizzeria, Miranda on her heels. "And all I gotta say is, good thinking." She took a slice, then passed one to Miranda.

"Where is everyone?" Miranda asked, going behind the counter and pouring herself a glass of orange soda.

"Gordo's off playing waiter and Scott's in the bathroom. Or somewhere else. Hiding."

"Oh. Scott." Miranda shot Lizzie a look, not unnoticed by Vanessa. Lizzie shot back a look, but of a much different kind, and Miranda promptly dropped her smile.

"Hey, Vanessa, there was something I had to actually talk to you about," Lizzie said. "Ugh, this is gonna be so hard, I hate this."

Vanessa frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Okay, see, my mom just told me that my grandparents borrowed a beach house and they invited us there, but I can only bring two friends and..." Lizzie bit her lip, not knowing quite how to get the last part out. But it turned out she didn't have to. Vanessa got the message loud and clear.

"And you wanna invite Miranda and Gordo," she finished for Lizzie, nodding.

"I'm so sorry! But Matt's probably bringing Melina and Lanny and there's not enough room and–"

"Lizzie, chill," Vanessa interrupted her with a laugh. "It's cool. I understand."

"No you don't, you're just saying that," Lizzie sighed.

"No I'm not! Trust me. When have you known me to not speak my mind? Ever?"

Lizzie smiled, slightly relieved. "Good point."

Gordo returned then, and sighed when he saw Miranda behind the counter, as usual. "You girls are gonna eat me out of a job, I swear!"

"I was just leaving," Miranda swore, scurrying back to Lizzie and Vanessa before Gordo could get to her. "Hey, Lizzie's got some awesome news!"

"Oh yeah? What's up?"

Lizzie grinned at him. "What would you think of spending a week in a Malibu beach house?"

"I'd think I was dreaming," Gordo said, but a smile formed on his face. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"We're spending a week in a Malibu beach house!" Miranda shrieked, earning quite a few odd looks from the customers. Of course she didn't even blink an eye.

"You're kidding. That's great! When do we leave?"

"Not for another two weeks," Lizzie replied. "My mom just told me today. We're gonna be staying at my grandparent's friend's place."

"Did I ever tell you I love your grandparents!" he announced, grabbing Vanessa's hand. "It's gonna be so much fun."

Vanessa smiled tightly. "Yeah, it will...for you guys."

"Mom said I could only bring two friends..."

Gordo's face fell as he locked eyes with Vanessa. "Oh..."

"Bring two friends where?" Scott asked, finally emerging again.

"To spend a week in Malibu," Miranda told him happily. Obviously she was too excited to be the least bit fazed about leaving some of their friends behind. "Lizzie invited me and Gordo."

The pizzeria door opened and the owner Vinnie and his son Russell walked in, each wheeling in a few big boxes.

"Hey, Gordo. Thanks for watching the place for us, but you can take off now," Vinnie said. "Is Patty still here?"

"Yeah, she's downstairs," Gordo answered, undoing his apron and hooking it on the basement door. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Vinnie and Russ nodded at him as he and his friends filed out of the pizzeria.

Gordo checked his watch. It wasn't even 7:30 yet. "So where are we going?"

"Anybody wanna see the new Brad Pitt and Colin Farrell movie?" Miranda asked eagerly. Scott and Gordo exchanged smirks and Miranda rolled her eyes. "It was just a suggestion."

"We could grab some food and go to the park," Lizzie said with a shrug. "At least until we think of something better to do. And besides, I'm starving!"

"I want ice cream!" Miranda cried.

"I want pie," Vanessa said.

"I want fries," Lizzie put in.

Scott turned to Gordo. "And then they say guys are pigs."

All three girls froze and turned to look at him, their most evil eye in place. "Excuse me?"

He cleared his throat and stepped back cautiously, glancing at Gordo for support. And protection. "Um... Nothing."

Vanessa smirked. "I think dessert should be on Scott. All agree say I."

A chorus of "I's" rang out.

"Gordo! You just turned on me? Man, that's not right!"

–*–


A few hours later, the group was happily lounging around in the grass of the local park. It was supposed to have been a preamble to the night's events, but once they had all actually gotten there, no one felt like leaving. They didn't know where else to go, and they really were having fun just hanging out. Jeremy had joined them a short while ago, too, and was now terrorizing Lizzie and Miranda by flipping his eyelids inside out.

"Are you sure you're all right with this Malibu thing?" Gordo asked Vanessa. The two had separated themselves from the others a bit and were leaning back-to-chest against a tree.

"Sure," Vanessa said with a shrug. "It's just a week. I'm a big girl, I think I can manage."

"Still... It sucks."

She laughed a little. "Not gonna argue there. But I totally get it. I've only known you guys for a few months. Of course she's gonna ask you and Miranda over me."

"I'm sure she feels really bad about it, though."

"Oh yeah, she definitely does," Vanessa agreed. "She was apologizing like crazy before."

"We'll be back before you know it," Gordo assured her, running his hand down her arm and intertwining his fingers through hers, pulling her back closer against him.

Vanessa smiled. She always got shivers when he did that. It was something so casual, yet affectionate at the same time.

There were definitely not a lot of guys out there like Gordo, especially back in New York. If she had known about him, she probably wouldn't have made such a big deal over moving. Of course there wee a few things New York had that she could never replace with anything in Hillridge. Her friends, for one.

As nice as Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo had been, it would never be the same as if they had grown up together. They had special once-in-a-lifetime memories and inside jokes to bond them. And she really did understand, because she had friends like that, too. The only problem was, they were about three thousand miles away at the moment.

A pang of homesickness swept over her, and it had been quite a while since she had really experienced that. Ever since she and Gordo had started dating, she'd been so happy she hadn't had any reason to dwell on it. But now that he was going to be gone for a week, that they were all going to be gone for a week, well, she'd have plenty of time to catch up on that.

Then there was her whole crazy-jealous-paranoia thing concerning Gordo and Lizzie. A few weeks ago the girls had randomly decided to ransack Lizzie's room for pictures of her first boyfriend, Ronnie something or other, and they had come across all their junior high albums. Of course Vanessa pleaded for them to take a trip down memory lane and share any and all embarrassing geeky Gordo moments. Apparently that had excited the Lizzie and Miranda because, as Miranda put it, they could "talk about that all day!"

What she hadn't counted on was Miranda suddenly teasing Lizzie about her and Gordo's "infatuation" with each other.

**FLASHBACK**

"Don't even try to deny it. You guys were so into each other! It was completely obvious," Miranda insisted to Vanessa.

"Yeah, right!" Lizzie protested, but her face did look a bit flushed and she wasn't raising her eyes from the pictures.

Vanessa laughed along with Miranda, but she was definitely shocked. Lizzie and Gordo? She had never heard about this before. Truth be told, when she had first come to Hillridge and noticed Gordo, she had briefly wondered if Lizzie and him were dating. They just seemed so comfortable around each other. But then he clearly began expressing interest in her and by the time she and Lizzie were introduced, it was blatantly clear that there was nothing but friendship between the trio. Vanessa just assumed that it had always been that way.

"Really? We'll see about that. Hey, Lizzie, where's your eighth grade class picture?"

Lizzie's head snapped up at that. "You wouldn't! Miranda, shut up!"

"What?" Vanessa asked, trying to keep her voice light and airy. "What's wrong with a class picture?"

Miranda shrugged mischievously. "It's a very *special* picture," she added elusively. "Not your typical school shot at all."

"Miranda, stop."

Vanessa laughed at Lizzie's nervousness. "No, come on, I wanna know! How bad can it be?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't think it was *so* bad if there was a picture of me and the guy I liked making out floating around, but, hey, I'm not Lizzie, so–"

"I can't believe you!" Lizzie cried, her face bright red right now. "And 'making out'? Please! It was a kiss on the cheek."

"So you admit it," Miranda said triumphantly.

"It was in the eighth grade, Miranda. Grow up. I don't have that thing anymore."

"I'm sure Gordo does. It was probably the highlight of his entire existence," Miranda said in between fits of laughter. "He said such a crush on her. It was too cute."

"He did not! He did not," Lizzie said to Vanessa. "Miranda here likes to think she knows everything about everything."

"Not everything. I'd still like to know exactly what happened between the two of you in Rome that summer."

If it was possible, Lizzie's face reddened even more. She buried her head in her hands. "Nothing happened," was the muffled reply.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "Are you still trying to pull that?" she asked dubiously. "I come back from Mexico and the two of you can barely look one another in the eye. You guys wouldn't talk to each other, neither of you would talk to me. I thought the whole friendship was gonna be ruined for sure!"

"So what happened?" Vanessa piped up. Had they forgotten that she, Gordo's girlfriend, was in the room.

"Nothing happened," Lizzie said quickly. "We just kind of grew apart that summer. And there was nothing to talk about! But then freshman year started and things went back to normal. End of perfectly normal, perfectly boring non-story." She shot Miranda an evil eye.

Which the brunette readily ignored. "You know he was gonna ask you out. That night you were on your front porch, when you told me your dad interrupted? Even you noticed he was being weird, Miss Oblivious herself."

It seemed even Lizzie didn't know what to say about that. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room, and Miranda and Lizzie both glanced at Vanessa. She was idly picking at the blanket on Lizzie's bed. They both seemed to realize their mistake.

"Oh my God!" Miranda exclaimed, reaching into the large box of knick-knacks. Is this what I think it is? I thought you said you burned these!"

Lizzie groaned, but let out a little laugh, taking the dirty shoelaces from her friend. "I know, I lied. I couldn't do it."

Vanessa crinkled her nose. "For the love of God, why not?"

Lizzie let out a dreamy sigh. "They were Ronnie's."

All three burst out int laughter.

"He gave you shoelaces?" Vanessa howled. "I can definitely see why you dumped him!"

Miranda laughed even harder. "He dumped her!"

"Thanks a lot," Lizzie yelled, shoving Miranda practically off the bed. She just rolled off onto the floor, clutching her side. "Let's forget this. Who cares anymore? It's all ancient history." Lizzie looked at Vanessa meaningfully, almost as if to assure her that if there had been anything between she and Gordo, it meant nothing now.

Miranda finally caught her breath and sat up, straightening her hair. "You know what they say about history..."

**END OF FLASHBACK**

Vanessa would never admit it to anyone, but Miranda's innocent statement had caused her a lot of mental grief over the next few days. And she couldn't help thinking about that right now. If Lizzie and Gordo really had some unresolved romantic issues between them, what better time to solve them than a week alone on the beach?

–*–