This chapter, along with the previous five, and any beyond, are what I MADE UP about what happens after Bye, Bye, Hillridge Junior High. Disregard the fact that you know the movie prevents ANY of this from happening!
Wow! Can't believe that! No flames! Thought for sure I'd get some for four or five different things... I can't figure you guys out, unless everyone who read the chapter, but didn't review, hated it.
I hope not, but if so,
WHATEVER!
Yes, I AM my own worst critic. When I said I read too much between the lines, I was referring both to the fact that I was anticipating some negative feedback, and that some of you might wonder where I came up with parts of what I wrote.
Okay, here's one chapter a lot of you have been waiting for, "What's Up With Miranda". I have NOTHING against LaLaine or the character of Miranda. I just thought maybe there was a bigger reason for her being gone for a few episodes than "She's sick", "She's out of town", etc.
I did NOT wait to post this just to keep you interested, or to make anyone mad. If I wanted to, I could have made an entire story from Miranda's point of view. I waited because I wanted to tell all of the story here, at once, and to show that things were better now than they had been.
It took me a long time to find a lyric to use for the chapter title here...
Since everyone else seems to be doing it, I'll follow the crowd. I'm working on a list of my favorite Lizzie stories. Don't want to leave any out, so I'm not posting it just yet.
To Reviewers:
Thanks, thanks, thanks. In a story, I feel that you have to describe a lot of the 'action', because you have to be able to 'see' the characters, and typos and grammatical errors really bug me. Use of slang is ok, but I want things to be just so. Not that it's 100% perfect, by any means.
As for all the songs, I really did do quite a bit of research, and I'm still adding to my list, close to two hundred songs I'd like to use, but this story's almost over... If you can't find any one of these online, I have all of these on MP3's, just email and ask me.
For everyone that says "Please email me when you update!", or "When are you going to update?" I'm registered with 'Support Services', if you want, on the button where you review, there is an option for "Author Alert", which will let you know automatically the SECOND I update.
Answers to two questions no one has asked yet about Chapter 17 (16)...
1) the Simpsons episode Gordo refers to is "New Kid On The Block", which I also used to write the chapter title for chapter 7 (6) "Hertz Donut"
2) The movie from which Gordo re-enacts a scene, is "Forever Young" starring Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Elijah Wood.
Just in case anyone wanted to know...
I'm sure that this story will fall off the 'recently updated' list rather quickly, as most stories here are updated on Fridays and/or Saturdays, but since there is no 'new' Lizzie episode tonight, here goes...
Disclaimer - Don't work for/with Disney/Ren-Mar, don't own the characters of Lizzie McGuire.
All songs/lyrics used are property of the respective arists, labels, agents, writers, etc. and ASCAP/BMI.
On to Chapter 18
Chapter 18
"Wait. First, you said it STARTED at Christmas, and now you say it STARTED the first day of eighth grade. Which is it?"
He sighed. This wouldn't be easy to explain. "Well, I have to go back a little, for it to make sense. Just hear me out, and if you don't follow, let me know, alright?"
"Alright."
"Before I start again, what do you know?"
"You mean, what did she tell me? Not much. She just said she knew what was going on around here, I asked her how she knew, and she said you'd told her, and beyond that, she said I'd find out."
"Well, I've been keeping her up to date with stuff. I really wish she had told you SOMETHING, but I guess that means I'm free to tell the story the way I want. Remember all those times you got upset that I wasn't online? I was, and I was helping Miranda. I found out most of the story after Miranda left. It's all related."
"You mean, Miranda didn't go on vacation to Mexico?"
"I wouldn't call it a vacation. If they wanted to take a vacation, you think they coulda waited a week or so. But she is in Mexico." He stopped. "Now you're making me get ahead of myself. Major stuff happened at the end of last year, but it had been building up since September. Remember all the stuff that happened the first week of school?"
"Yeah, you went to high school, and I got a clone." She shuddered involuntarily, remembering the experience. She intentionally left out the part about her first real kiss, since they'd already discussed it.
"Well, I guess she wanted one too, and that kinda made her a little depressed that no one was following her around like Andie was following you..." He remembered how much Andie had imitated Lizzie, she almost became her double, but her 'becoming' Lizzie was just a mirage.
She noticed the way he trailed off, and called him on it. "Gordo, did you like Andie?"
He suddenly became flustered. "Well, I don't know, uh, yes, and no, well, not really, uh..."
"You liked her when she tried to be me, didn't you?" He didn't know what to say. He was looking at the ground.
"I-I thought it was great when she started to be more like you, I could have the best of two worlds, a Lizzie to go out with, and a Lizzie to be friends with. That sounds dumb, but that's what I was thinking."
"But I got so mad you were paying so much attention to her, that I asked why you would ask her out, and not me, and you didn't want to ask me. Why not?"
He had to ponder that a minute. It was like when someone said, "I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew", or whatever THEY said. Who were THEY anyways? "Y-You wanted me to ask you out? What would you have said?"
"I didn't want you to, I was just upset that you'd pick her over me. Wait, would you have asked me?"
"I don't think I would have had the guts then... I DID ask you once later, remember?"
She couldn't recall. She looked at him, puzzled. He filled her in. "Remember when Parker turned me down? I asked you to go with me to the dance, and you made some lame excuse about not dating blue-eyed boys. Then what do you do? Go out with Frankie Muniz, who has big stupid blue eyes!" He was getting himself worked up. He paused and took a small drink of his water. Since Lizzie had wasted hers, he offered some to her, but she shook her head.
"I had no idea you were serious! Why didn't you tell me?"
He laughed. "And how was I to make you understand? We've always gone to school events together. And if you COULDN'T go, I WOULDN'T go."
She thought for a second. He was right. "Gordo, I'm sorry. In the future, I'll try to better determine when you are joking and when you are serious." She suddenly remembered they were supposed to be discussing Miranda.
"This isn't what we are supposed to be talking about here", said Gordo, as if he could read her thoughts...
"Sorry. Are you stalling?"
"Well, no, well, maybe... How 'bout if I just skip ahead a little?"
She nodded. "Okay, so here we were, it was the first week of school, and yadda, yadda, yadda. You go nuts when I leave, I come back even though I didn't have to, etc. etc. Anyways, this and that, and then came the music video you guys did..."
She had missed him terribly when he'd left. She understood now why she did. As for the video, that was lots of fun. She loved it... "Gordo, why don't you use your camera much anymore?" She'd wanted to ask for sometime, but didn't want to pry...
He sighed. "Okay, real quick, I'll tell you, then, on to Miranda's story? Please?"
She waited, as yet another secret became known. "I felt I was misusing my camera. I mean, I love filming stuff, but when we did that video, I had a terrible time keeping it focused on other things besides you." He blushed, and dropped his head yet again. "It was getting too much for me... You know how many hours of tape I've got stored from all the projects I've done? She shook her head. And how much footage is of you?" Oops, maybe he shouldn't have said all that.
She was flattered and embarrassed at the same time. "Sometime, show a little to me. As long as I'm not too klutzy, or you didn't focus just on, you know, 'certain' parts of me, it's ok, really."
Whoa. He wouldn't have had the nerve to just focus on part of Lizzie, besides, he liked to see all of her. "No, no, nothing like that... Now can I continue with my story?"
"Sorry, go ahead."
"Anyways, while we were making that video, Miranda went on that weird crash diet thing, and we both freaked, remember? She said she was okay, but I guess it was just temporary."
??? What did he mean, temporary? "Well, I guess everything continued to weigh on her, and she just couldn't stand it... You got a boyfriend before she did, and the only one after her was Tudgeman. She tried to get Ryan what's-his-name interested in her last year, but that didn't work. You keep trying to help Kate, and she can't. All three of us get in a big fight, and she gets paired in a class project with who? Tudgeman."
"You keep saying 'Tudgeman' like he's something bad, he's just different."
"I know that, you know that, but that's not the point. I think she sees Larry like Ethan sees you, just a friend. Let me finish, please."
He waited, and she was silent, so he continued... "Anyways, it was a couple of days before Christmas. Miranda was kinda depressed, thought she needed more friends. Not different friends, but just needed to expand her 'circle' a little. She was absent the few days before vacation. You were busy with your float for the parade, and I wanted to help, but it was kinda awkward for me being near you without Miranda around."
"Is that why you didn't come around much during Christmas break? You felt weird hanging around me without Miranda?"
"Yes! Now, please! Let me tell you!" She apologized. It wasn't like her to be interrupting like this. Of course, it wasn't every day that she heard stories like she was hearing today. She made a motion of running her thumb and finger across her lips like a zipper.
"Okay, anyways, we were both busy or preoccupied, or whatever you want to call it. For some reason, neither of us called her or went to see her to find out if she was really sick, how she was doing, if she needed anything or whatever. You know that dance club downtown?"
She nodded. If she opened her mouth, she'd probably babble. A nod was safe. There was more than one club in the area, it was better to say she understood...
He knew her better than that. "The one that opened last fall." Suddenly, she knew where he was referring to. She was a little embarassed at him catching her in a half-lie. It was like he could see inside her brain, right to her thoughts.
This was taking longer than he thought. He'd have to try to sum things up as much as possible, or they'd be here all day. "Anyways, they had only been open like a month or something, and school was letting out for the holidays, and they had this promotion thing where instead of letting just those over eighteen inside, they dropped the minimum to sixteen. Even though she was barely fourteen, somehow Miranda made it in, I don't know exactly how. Nobody seemed to question that she wasn't supposed to be there, so she just let loose and had a good 'ol time..." He stopped himself this time, without any interruption from Lizzie, and swallowed hard. This was one of the parts he dreaded revealing. "I guess they didn't have enough people watching to make sure that the party was 'under control' and someone spiked the punch they were serving, and Miranda had a cup, not knowing anything was wrong."
"Wait, you don't mean?" He said it had started at the beginning of the school year, and the year was now over. She calculated the time from beginning to end of the school year, and the time from Christmas to now, and she suddenly imagined the worst..
She could be thinking of a few different things, but which? Just tell her what happened, and she'll know she guessed wrong. "No, all that happened was she started to feel a little sleepy, and she left to go home."
Lizzie exhaled sharply. She didn't realize she had been holding her breath.
"I guess it whatever it was it really took effect, because she said the next thing she remembered was waking up at Mr. Dig's house."
"Huh? What does Mr. D--" He held up his hand to cut her off. She had to let him explain.
"Seems being a substitute teacher doesn't pay all the bills. So he took a second job, some kind of security thing. He was on his way home, when he passed by a bus stop, and there was Miranda, asleep on the bench. Of course, he knew something was wrong. When he tried to wake her, she mumbled at him, but didn't want to wake up. He didn't know her address, so he took her to his home. From there, he looked up her number, and called her parents. When she got home, and told them what happened, they thought it best to keep her inside the house awhile, so they could watch her. Remember that blue car you didn't recognize that was outside her house when you went to visit on Christmas Day?"
Wait, how could he know that? Duh, he'd visited Miranda like thirty minutes later. Again she nodded. She still had a hundred things she wanted to say, but they could wait.
"That was her aunt's car. Her aunt is a psychiatrist, just like my parents. Basically, she came to ask Miranda why she did what she did. And when we showed up to visit, she partially blamed us for what happened, like if we had been better friends, one of us might have been with Miranda, and she wouldn't have gone to the club. Her mother convinced her it wasn't our fault, and that's how we got in to see her."
"Then why didn't she tell me what was going on? She said she was fine!"
"But she wasn't. You accepted her answer, and I didn't. We used to be able to sense things about each other. I sensed there was a problem, you just started telling her your dream."
The dream. Had Miranda told him what she'd dreamed? She knew now what the Gordo in her dreams was trying to say.... "No, she didn't tell me what the dream was about, just that it was silly. See, what I mean? You didn't say a word, yet I knew what you were thinking..."
It was eerie. Was she that transparent? Appearantly, her friends could see through her, but not the other way around. She'd been oblivious to both Gordo's feelings, and Miranda's problem... "So, she stayed at home during Christmas vacation. She seemed fine when she returned. What happened then?"
"Well, she guessed then what I felt for you, and she encouraged me to act on it. I tried, but after the bomb she dropped on me, I couldn't. If you remember I acted a little odd on Christmas Day..."
Boy, did he ever... She had to ask him one more question before he continued. "Gordo, what was with all the stuff you gave me for Christmas?" He sighed, she'd interrupted him again. "Just tell me real quick, then you can get back to the story?" She looked at him, with those sad eyes, and he just melted. Oh well, he'd kept Miranda's story a secret for months now, he could wait a couple more minutes.
"I wanted to give you everything you wanted. I always have. I don't know what it is with you and sweaters." He thought back a little.. "Remember 'class picture day' in seventh grade?" She did, and it brought a smile to her face. Yet another time when he had come through for her."Anyways, you wanted that sweater so much. You look good in sweaters. I saved some money on it, it was kinda on sale, so I bought the other stuff for you too." He suddenly realized one of his remarks could be taken in an inappropriate manner, and he apologized if it had sounded dirty to her.
"Don't worry Gordo. I didn't think anyone was paying attention to how I looked, you know, in THAT way." She started to laugh. He was very uncomfortable now, and she thought it was hilarious. She wasn't even TRYING to flirt with him. What would he do if she did?
"Well, uh, getting back to the story of Miranda...." He tried to compose himself. He couldn't look directly at Lizzie when he talked, she threw off his train of thought. "...I'll try to tell you just a few highlights before I get to the recent stuff." Once again, he made like Mike Fetters.
"When school started up in January, she promised to let me tell you how I felt, by myself, but she was trying to give me a little help here, and there, and none of it was working. She got a date to the Spring Fling, but after she asked him to go to your house instead, he didn't want to go out with her again. A couple of months later, she finally accepted a 'date' from Larry, due mainly to the fact you said he was fun, and harmless, and she actually had a good time. Then, she started to think how he had gone after you at first, and it made her feel second best, like he couldn't have the gold medal, so he had to settle for the silver."
She had no idea. She thought Larry and Miranda might be a good match. So Miranda had thought she was 'second best'? Interesting how she had, in a way, jumped to the same conclusion, thinking she was 'second best' to Miranda, when Gordo had told her of his 'first' kiss. Did that mean that Tudgeman felt the same about Miranda that Gordo felt for her?
"She was kinda upset at me, said I wasn't trying hard enough. When Frankie visited Hillridge, she encouraged you to go out with him. She was a little upset I had encouraged you to try for Ethan. I knew you weren't going to change Ethan's mind, I had no idea what to think about Frankie. Then I realized you weren't going with him just because he was famous, and he turned out to be a pretty nice guy."
"He was a little insecure, but it's hard to be in the spotlight, then go back to being a regular person. I wonder how he's doing?"
"Fine. His show's going strong. I actually gave him copies of a couple of the tapes I made, and he's put a good word in for me with some TV execs, so if I want, I might get some sort of scholarship in a few years."
How odd. A former flame of hers keeping in contact with a 'spark' trying to be a flame. No, that wasn't quite right. Gordo wanted to be more than just a 'flame', he was seriously head over heels for her. But why couldn't she return the feeling back to him just as strong? He'd stopped talking once again. Either he didn't want to tell her anymore, or he sensed that she was deep in thought. She waved her hand in front of his face, to snap him out of it.
"Uh, anyways... Miranda had me set up that chat area a few months before, because once, we were IM'ing each other, and you jumped online, and I almost sent you a message meant for her. So with alternate handles, you couldn't stumble onto the conversation. We really didn't use it a whole lot until Miranda left town." Whew. He was almost to the interesting part.
"It seems that one day, on the way home from school, she ran into some guy that used to go to school at Hillridge Jr. High, but he graduated last year. They hit it off, and he said his brother had his own apartment, since his brother was in college. They went to his brother's place, and..."
She gasped. "No!"
He wished she'd stop jumping the gun. "Cut that out!" She was visibly shaken. "He wanted to do more than she did, and she just left."
Relief poured over her. Why did she keep envisioning these horrible things happening to Miranda? She mumbled a quick "I'm sorry", to Gordo for her outburst.
"She went home, and she was confused. Here some guy seems to like her, and she rejects his 'advances'. Even though she didn't want to do what he did, she was upset that she had lost another potential suitor. She printed up some kind of phony ID thing on her computer, dressed up to look as 'old' as she could, and went out. She found herself at a different club than before, and amazingly, the ID worked. She wanted to show that she could take chances and win over any guy she wanted. This club served alcohol, and she found a couple of abandoned drinks, and downed them, thinking maybe they'd give her some courage, or something like it."
He paused. He tried to remember things as Miranda had told him they had happened, but he hadn't been there, he was just trying to paint a better picture for Lizzie. "She must have felt real brave or something, after those drinks. She walked up to some guy she thought was cute, and, who was there WITH his girlfriend, and asked him out. Not just to dance, but on a date. In front of his girlfriend! He basically told her to go away, but she wouldn't. The girlfriend kept getting more and more upset, and they started to fight, and all three of them were kicked out of the club. The fight continued a little into the parking lot, but the girl left her alone when Miranda stopped fighting back. She was feeling woozy from the drinks, but she knew what she was doing was wrong. She knew she shouldn't be there, and she should have told you what was going on the whole time. She left the club, planning to go to your house, but she was SO out of it, she couldn't FIND your house."
He started to cough. He was talking a LOT. He took a small sip of water. It was almost gone. He'd have to ration what remained, or they'd have to leave soon. He started his explanation again. He shouldn't have cut off his story there, Lizzie's eyes were bugged out, while she was trying to think of what happened to Miranda next. "She almost made it, but basically, what happened next was pretty close to what happened once before. She fell asleep on the same bus bench, and was again rescued by Mr. Dig. This time, he knew where she lived, but hadn't heard the story of her problems before. Later, she told him part of it, and that I was helping her. He asked me to stay after school one day, and I told him a lot of what was going on, and if nothing else, he was an ear for me to talk to." He laughed. "Yes, I also told him a little of things that were going on between you and I. I had asked him for advice when the whole 'Parker' incident happened, but I didn't tell him who I was talking about then, and he thought YOU called me short, and stuff. I told him that wasn't so, and he's also been a great help, convincing me that my feelings for you were a good thing, and giving me tips on what I should do."
"God bless Mr. Dig. I'm going to miss him next year. Even though he's not a regular teacher, he's always been my favorite. I wonder if any teacher in high school will be as 'interesting' and understanding as he was."
"Don't worry, he'll still be around." He smiled. He knew something she didn't. "Seems it's too expensive for Hillridge Junior High to keep two subs on the payroll. Mrs. Dew is paid at a lower rate, than he is. so they decided to let him go. He applied at the high school, and he hasn't heard back from them yet on his application, but the fact that there are four grades there instead of two, and he can teach most any subject, he might even become a real teacher next year, having the same class every day for a change."
Mr. Dig a real teacher? At least one thing in high school could be fun. Two, if she and Gordo could pull off their new 'friendship' or whatever they would eventually settle for.
"What happened to Miranda, right? I'm getting to it... She did leave to go visit her aunt, but because she was sick, not her aunt. She was a little more understanding of Miranda's problems this time, and told her repeatedly that she was just fourteen, it was okay for her to be without a boyfriend at this time, just to be a teenager for now, don't rush to grow up so fast. She was sent to Mexico to be with her extended family, to try to help her. Her grandparents have a HUGE house, and there are lots of relatives always there, more coming in and out all the time. She hasn't been allowed out alone, unless it's with a chaperone. But she is doing her school assigments, much as we have been doing. Even though she won't be at the graduation exercises, she'll still graduate. She'll be a little late in doing so, but if all goes according to plan, she'll be starting high school with us next year, right on schedule."
"So, she's doing good?"
"Yes. If everything continues to fall into place, she'll return about a week before school starts. Being with her family has helped quite a bit. Since there are so many people in the house, she usually doesn't get to use the computer except for late nights. She has a one-and-a-half year old cousin that she's been taking care of the past month or so, while the mother is finishing school herself, seeing how she just turned seventeen last month."
He let her do the math in her head, then went on. "Yes, she was just about Miranda's age when she found out she was pregnant. Like Miranda, she thought she should 'grow up' a little, and she jumped ahead real fast. The guy cut out, left town, and her parents sent her to Mexico, so her neighbors wouldn't gossip about a pregnant fourteen year old being around. Of course, her leaving so abruptly made them talk anyways. She's doing much better now. She's allowed to come back to her home in the United States when she turns eighteen. She met another guy, who geniunely loves her, and knows her complete story. He plans to come back home with her, and they are talking of marriage. Miranda said it showed her that her life the way it is, or was, is alright after all."
"But, why did she push you so much to tell me how you felt?"
"Because she felt it wasn't healthy to keep my feelings a secret, like maybe I'd get sick keeping them hidden. Not sick physically, but mentally. We might have continued to pair ourselves up with other people, only to see our efforts fail, and that would be only hurting us even more, and I HATE to see you in pain." He laughed at how Miranda had explained the next part to him. "She said just because 'Mr. Right' hadn't popped up in her life yet, was no reason it couldn't happen in her friend's life. But she's even thinking of giving Tudgeman another chance, to see if he's serious about her or not. Believe me, Miranda is genuinely happy for us, And she will remain our friend no matter what. She'll be the glue that holds us together. If things don't work out, and we fight, we'll probably still talk to her, and she'll figure out a way to get us back together, or die trying. She told me everything that happened, because she knew she could count on me."
"That's it!"
"Huh? What?"
"I've had a song stuck in my head all day. That's the song!" Seeing how he still looked lost, she started to sing softly.
Count on me through thick and thin
A friendship that will never end
When you are weak, I will be strong
Helping you to carry on
Call on me, I will be there
Don't be afraid
Please believe me when I say
Count on...
She stopped. She didn't know the first verse. She was surprised she remembered the complete opening... She couldn't help smiling, from 'ear to ear', was the expression she'd heard often, but not understood completely until now... She looked at Gordo, and he was giving her those 'puppy dog' eyes. He quickly turned away.
His turning from her broke the spell, and she explained what the song meant to her. "If only I could have told Miranda what that song says, no matter what trouble she gets into, I'll be there for her." She paused. "Just like you said you'll always be there for me, and I will always be there for you as well."
Oh boy. He wanted her to be there for him, always, and forever. He also loved to hear her sing, and then there was that smile. It couldn't be described as anything other than perfect. It was much more, but it was definitely perfect. He suddenly had those other, much stronger feelings again toward her, but he worked hard to control them. He was also stiff from sitting so long. He got up and stretched. He'd told Lizzie a LOT of what he wanted to say, but not everything. Did he have enough courage to continue to open up to her?
Lizzie watched as Gordo stood up, and decided she should also get a little more comfortable. She stretched her legs out, and then, threw out her arms, stretching them in a similar manner. When she realized he wasn't making an attempt to sit down again, she stood as well. So many secrets and repressed feelings had been discussed in such a short time. He'd said so much, yet, she knew there had to be more. All of a sudden, he seemed so restless, and she assumed he still had more to say, but was afraid. Afraid? After all he'd told her? That was crazy. "Um, so is there anything else you want to tell me or ask me right now?" They each had the other's complete and total attention, might as well find out if he was holding anything back or not.
He muttered, "No, nothing else", and started to walk off... The last time he said it was 'nothing' was after the murder mystery party. She had to find out what, if anything, he'd hadn't said yet. She stepped in front of him, and refused to let him walk any further.
"Hey, come on! It's getting late!" He stepped off to the right, so did she. He stepped to the left, she followed.
"No! Tell me what else is on your mind!"
He sighed. Could he tell her? He had such a problem saying things like this out loud. He'd give it his best try. He opened his mouth and...
A/N Cliffhangers are fun!
This is the second longest chapter I've posted, but a few more words, and it would be #1.
Okay, now you can:
1) flame me
OR
2) (I hope) tell me that it was good, and somewhat believable.
Sorry if you think I used too many ' ( single quotes) in this part. Next chapter will be up by this time next week.
It's the other chapter you've been waiting for, (maybe), which will be (maybe), L/G to the max.
As always, reviews are appreciated, but, are not required. You can also email me at JP5683@msn.com or JP5683@webtv.net
All emails will be replied to, and anyone leaving an email in a review will be contacted unless you instruct me not to.
Thanks,
JP
Song in this chapter:
Whitney Houston & CeCe Winans - Count On Me
April 11, 2003