Joshua, I don't like this. I'm not comfortable eating dinner with Mr. Stewart. I barely know that man, Lizzie sighed as she fidgeted around in her booth, across from her son.

Mom, it's just dinner. It's not like I'm asking you to marry him, Josh replied. She looked horrified.

I'm a married woman and I could never even think about loving a man other than your father.

Even after 18 years? How is that possible?!

His mother turned serious.

Joshua, I learned the hard way that you need to learn to appreciate the ones right next to you. They'll be the ones that matter. Something about that statement struck a nerve with him, but he didn't understand exactly why.

It was then that Stewart ran into the restaurant by herself, and quickly found Josh and his mom. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, My dad brought his girlfriend.

Your dad has a GIRLFRIEND? he said, all too loudly. He could hear his mom sigh, obviously disappointed with the fact that this had turned from a personal dinner between mother and son to a public forum.

I guess there's no point in whispering now. She sighed sadly. Yes, my dad has a girlfriend. And I'll tell you, she's a real bi--- She looked over at Josh's mom and smiled nervously. Witch. I meant witch.

How long have they been going out?! Josh asked, still weirded out by the whole situation. If my dad was a single, would he be dating? I shudder to think...

Well, my dad only told me about 3 weeks ago. They've been going out practically every night. She looked towards the door. Here they come! She sat down quickly.

Her dad looked the same as usual: he looked young and fairly attractive, but unshaven and a little heftier than before. He carried behind him a woman, attached to his wrist, but with her blonde hair falling her face so that she was invisible to most of the people in the room.

I'll introduce her, Stewart whispered to Josh and his mom.

They approached the table.

Hey, Aimee... Josh snickered. Stewart hit him in the back of the head. Why you gotta run off like that? The Stewarts were originally from Philadelphia, so they all had strong accents to begin with. The only difference was that Stewart's faded away eventually. We was---er, were worried. Josh was always tempted to ask him to say just for the amusement.

Well, sorr-ee! Stewart said, sticking out her tongue.

Anyway...'ello Josh. ello Lizzie.

Hi, Mr. Stewart.



Mr. Stewart's girlfriend still hadn't said a word, so Stewart took the pause as an oppurtunity for introduction.

Mrs. Gordon, I'd like you to meet my father's girlfriend, Ms. Kate Craft, Stewart said, cheerily.

The woman finally looked up.

Lizzie McGuire?! she screeched.

Kate Sanders?! Lizzie also screeched, equally astonished.

They sat in silence with their mouths agape. Okay, what's going on here? Didn't Stewart just say Kate CRAFT, not Kate SANDERS? And why was she using my mom's maiden name? She hasn't gone by that since her freshman year of college.

This is just a guess here, Stewart said, as if she were reading Josh's mind, but do you guys know each other?

I guess you could say that, Kate said bitterly.

Oh, get over it, Kate! It's been almost 20 years since we graduated from high school. Josh had never seen his mom so angry at someone. Even at himself.



Kate, why are you mad at me? It's not like I did anything to deserve this hate.

Right, you didn't do anything! You're just a perfect little angel!

I know I'm not perfect, but there is nothing that I did that could make you hate me. On the other hand, there's lots of reasons for me to hate you.

Whatever, I don't want to hear them.

Fine, I can't even name them all anyway. She paused. And what's up with your last name? You got what you wanted all along, now. Ethan Craft. Kate smiled evilly.

I knew you'd be jealous. But no, we just got divorced. But I don't know what's worse: getting divorced from Ethan or getting married to Gordo. I wonder if he even knows that he's second-best. That he's just a patsy until you can finally win over Ethan'. He probably doesn't. He's probably in his own little fantasy world where you actually love him.

That's not true. I love him, and he loves me, and you know it. And I don't even care about Ethan. I got over him in 10th grade, and you know it. You're just making up lies to make yourself feel better now. You've been avoiding the real world your whole life. You're going to have to face reality sooner or later. Wow, Josh thought. Just...wow.

Ugh, I can do whatever I want with my life, McGuire. She grabbed Chuck's hand. I can't stand this anymore. We're leaving.

Mr. Stewart leaned over and whispered, I'm sorry it had to end like this. Then, he said aloud, Grab your coat, Aimee. We're leaving. Again, Josh couldn't help but laugh at , but she ignored it this time.

I'm staying here, she said quietly. Her father would've protested, but it's not like he wanted to lug around his daughter on another one of his dates.

Fine. Be home by midnight, he said as he and his girlfriend swiftly walked out the door.

As soon as they were out of sight, Josh spoke up.

Okay, mom, explain, he said, plainly.

Stewart added.

I don't want to talk about it. It's...personal, she said, dispiritedly.

Okay, then just...tell me how you know her, he pleaded.

I really don't want to talk about it, Joshua, she said through gritted teeth. In fact, I think I'm going to home now. You can stay here for a while, if you'd like.

Thanks, mom.

Thanks, Mrs. Gordon.

She smiled and walked out the door.

Stewart frowned.

What was that all about? she said.

I have no clue. It was hard to tell whether they were at once friends, or at once enemies, he responded.

Maybe both, she said, unhappily.



So what's been up with you lately?

Oh, well, Cyrus and I are uh, I guess, officially going out. Tonight was supposed to be our first date.

Her face looked sour.

That's..cool. I guess.

Do you hate her, or something? If you do...let me know. Because if you don't like her, I could...you know...break up with her, or something. WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?! I don't care who hates Cyrus, I would never dump her for that reason. Please say you like her....

she brightened up a little bit. She inhaled. No. I um...think she's great. She's nice, and funny, and kinda cool, too.

He knew she was lying. But why would she lie? Stewart always wanted her way. And now she had a chance to get it once again, but she refused. The question was: why?

~~~~~~~

The two friends walked down the suburban sidewalks. It had suddenly gotten fairly cold. At least, as cold as it can get in September in California. Josh noticed Stewart's silent shivering.

Do you want my coat? I don't want you to freeze to death. She smiled, but shook her head no.

I don't want you to freeze to death either. But Josh threw the jacket over her shoulders anyway.

Believe me, Stewart, I've got enough blubber to live in the Arctic in the winter. She laughed at his little joke, but it wasn't true. Yet still, he felt rude not giving her his coat, especially since he was the one walking her home.

They walked for a few minutes in silence before reaching her house. It was a dainty little house, kind of messy on the outside, but inside, it was the most beautiful house in the neighborhood.

They stood on the porch for over a minute, again in silence. Stewart was nodding her head and looking around, waiting for Josh to say . Someone had to take the initiative. Josh decided to.

I guess I'll see you tomorrow? he sort of said, sort of asked.

Most likely.

Silence.

You know, Josh, I....really like you. Josh froze in his spot. Like? She...she likes me?! She can't like me! I have all this stuff with Cyrus and she's so beautiful! But Stewart? Maybe I could consider Stewart. She isn't horrible-looking. What am I saying? Oh my god, she likes me. Did she have to tell me now? Oh god, oh god, what should I say? Should I admit to it? What AM I SAYING? I don't have feelings for Stewart. Or do I? Oh god, oh god... More than Teddy, you know? You just understand me. Wait, she likes Teddy, too? Whoa, whoa, this is so screwed up. I can't deal with this... You're my best friend, Josh. What? Th....that kind of like? That kind of like.

Oh.


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[A/N: So here's where I ended on my account. This story won't be put into regular rotation with the other 2...sorry, heh. I put it on this account because I'd really like to know what more people think of it. So please review. And here goes the famous part...

GASP! Does Josh really like Stewart? Who the heck is Kate Sanders? And since when did all Philadelphians have accents? Find out next chapter...on Joshua Gordon.]