Gordo awoke suddenly around 10:15 that night to the sound of a ringing telephone. His brain had been so racked with stressful, dubious questions that he fell asleep around 9 o'clock. Out of habit, he wobbled out of bed and picked up the phone.
"Helloooo?" he said, dragging his o' out due to his own sluggishness.
"Hi, Gordo." Miranda. "How are you?" Why is she acting like nothing happened?
"Tired." He decided to play along with the happy camouflage that hid their mutual indifference. "And you?"
"I'm" She hesitated. "Fine."
There was at least 20 seconds of dead silence, until Gordo spoke again.
"So, any particular reason you called me?" he asked, hoping that she wanted to resolve things between them. On one level, it was likeIt's just Miranda. She's no Lizzie. But on another level, it was likeShe's still my friend. I still like her. His eyes bulged. I mean I like her, not like her. Not like I like Lizzie. He chuckled nervously. Why am I getting so jumpy? I know what I mean, even though others may not. Liking Miranda He laughed. That's so farfetched, I couldn't even begin to think about what it would be like. Another idea popped into his head. What if Miranda liked me? Oh God, then Miranda would like me, I'd like Lizzie, Lizzie would likeEthan. My life is hellish enough as is, and now I'm thinking about a potential love triangle? I never want to have to deal with that, especially with my two best friends.
"You okay, there, Gordo?" Miranda said, actually sounding concerned, for once. "You keep laughing to yourselfand it's kinda creeping me out."
"You never answered my question," he said defensively.
She paused a second before responding.
"Listen, Gordo, I'm a pretty straightforward kinda gal, so I'm just gonna come right out and say this" Pause. "You've been acting like an absolute jerk for the past 6 days. And Lizzie and I are kind of having a hard time adjustingyou're not a jerk. You're Gordo and you're the nicest guy in our grade. We are both so lucky to have you as a friendbut we're not sure we really want to keep hanging out if you're gonna continue acting like this. It'sit's not you, Gordo. We miss having you around. You know, the guy with all the answers. The guy with the shoulder to cry on. That's the Gordo we like." She paused to inhale. "Do you remember that time in 7th grade, when that director guy came to our school?"
"Stan Jansen," he said flatly.
"Yeah. And you started being mean to everyone, and you got Lizzie and me into a big fight?"
"Yeah..." And I found out that Lizzie had a crush on me in the 4th grade. He bit his lower lip to keep from smiling too hard.
"And we ignored you until you told the guy off?"
"I remember it well."
"We don't want to have to get to that point. We don't want to have to start ignoring you in the hallways and in class and at lunch."
"You and Carly seemed to have already mastered the art of ignoring me. What about that?"
"Oh." She gulped. "I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what came over meit's like she brainwashed me into hating you, even though she never said one negative thing about you. I--I can't explain it." Pause. "The point is, Lizzie and I wanted you to know that even though we don't like the way you've been actingwe're still here for you, if you need someone to talk to."
"Thanks, Miranda," he said graciously.
"You're welcome," she said back, smiling. "Oops, gotta go, my mom's telling me to go to bed. See you tomorrow."
"Bye."
He hung up the phone and crawled back underneath his light bedsheets.
Lizzie and Miranda seemed to have made up. And now Miranda and I have made up. Everything's okay between the three amigos.
But what about Carly?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gordo swaggered into Hillridge High School the next morning with a rejuvenated feeling in his bonesmuch like yesterday. Except yesterday didn't go quite as smooth as he'd planned. He practically sprinted down the hall to his locker, finding Lizzie and Miranda standing next to theirs nearby, chatting away, as usual.
"Hey," he said, joining them.
"Hey, Gordo," Lizzie said in this breathy sort of way.
"Lizzie and I were just talking about you." Gordo noticed Miranda smirk slightly in Lizzie's direction. "Weren't we, Lizzie?"
"Um" she swallowed a lump in her throat and moved around nervously. "YeahI guessa little"
"Well, I was thinking last night about what you said on the phone, Miranda. And I completely agree with you," he said, nodding.
"Remember this dateGordo just agreed with me!" Miranda said in awe.
"You're hilarious,," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna try my best not to be an absolute dirk."
"Well, you're off to a good start," Lizzie said, smiling, sending a tingle down his spine, causing a nervous twitch in his hands.
"So," Miranda began. "Has the thing that caused all these mood swings passed?" She smirked. "Or are you just pushing it aside?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordo looked at Lizzie. Did this mean he had to push his feelings for Lizzie aside? Was it all Lizzie's fault that he had turned into a jerk? Did these newfound feelings screw up everything? Or was it something else
"I don't even know."
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[A/N: So it's a little short. Whaddya gonna do, cry about it? Rofl.
First off, lemme say that the movie ROCKED. I know I already wrote about it an author's note in QU, but I think more people read this one.
AND just as a note, if you ever want to know what I'm updating when and where and whatnot, just check my directory listing. I update it a lot. (Right now, though, it's kinda blank. But I'll get to it once school ends on May 30.)
Lemme know what you think: please review! THANKS!]