Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

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Matt hid out in Gordo's room. He'd been dropped off by Miranda's mom, and had run into Mrs. Gordon on his way in. He followed Gordo's plan, claiming a stomachache due to a weird smoothie he'd drank. "Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?"

"No, it's just a bug," Matt insisted, using his best sick-faking skills. It didn't work on his own mom, but maybe it would work on Gordo's. "I don't think those strawberries were quite ripe. Last time I ever let Matt make smoothies."

Mrs. Gordon frowned. "I thought you were going to see Lizzie."

"Oh, she wasn't in, so I watched Iron Chef with Matt."

"I'm glad to see you making new friends, honey. I mean, I adore Lizzie and Miranda, but your father and I believe you'd be better suited with more male friends. Sometimes we worry about you becoming emasculated, which could result in a backlash, and violent tendencies later in life...or it could go the other way and end up with you being--"

Matt held up his hand, cutting her off. "No offense or anything, but I really wanna just lie down, okay?"

"Okay, dear. Should I call you for dinner?"

Small talk with Lizzie's best friend's parents? No way. "Nah, I might just go to bed early," he said. "Night."

Matt ran up the stairs as fast as he could while still pretending to be sick.

In the safety of Gordo's bedroom, he wasn't sure what to do. He looked around. There was a poster for Bonelicker II: Chew the Marrow on the wall, which made Matt shudder involuntarily at the unpleasant memory. There was also a poster of Frank Sinatra, and a poster for Lord of the Rings. Matt frowned; he'd thought for sure that the aversion therapy worked in curbing Gordo's elfin obsession. There was a stuffed bookcase, lots of floor space, a biggish bed with a lot more bounce than Matt's own, and a desk with a computer, printer, scanner, webcam, the works. Matt didn't want to turn it on, because he was afraid that he'd break something and destroy one of Gordo's movies -- which could or could not result in death. He didn't particularly want to find out.

Even so, he was still drawn in the direction of the computer...particularly to a photo taped on the edge of the large monitor. Matt peered at it. It was his sister.

There were lots of pictures of Lizzie around. They were all on the bulletin board, shots of Gordo, Lizzie, and Miranda at school functions, at the beach, at amusement parks. Gordo had Lizzie and Miranda's school pictures from seventh and eighth grade up there, too.

But this photo was different. It was a single shot of Lizzie, not professionally done, but definitely high-quality for amateur photography. Matt couldn't quite believe it, but his sister looked...pretty. Even...beautiful?

Okay, yeah, that was a weird direction to go in. But if Matt could admit that Lizzie looked really special in that shot, he could only imagine what Gordo thought of it.

Then it occurred to him. Gordo...and Lizzie? No way.

Still, the guy was always over at the house. And Lizzie was constantly talking to him on the phone.

But...Lizzie. Ew. Gordo was such a cool guy, and he liked Matt's Dorkerella sister?

Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

He was re-testing the springiness of the bedsprings when the phone rang. Matt instantly dove for the receiver. "Hello?"

"Matt?" he heard his own voice say.

"Gordo?"

"Okay, so you made it over there, good. Were there any complications?"

"Well, your mom started spouting some crazy psychobabble..."

"Yeah, she does that a lot. My dad, too. But it's late enough in the game that they won't bug you for the rest of the night, I'd say."

"Okay. So what now?"

Gordo paused. "Um, I don't know. You said this happened before, right?"

"Yeah, with me and Lizzie. Try being a girl for a day!" Matt shook his head. Being Lizzie had only been the most uncomfortable experience of his life.

"It only lasted a day, then? So maybe that's what it'll take for us."

"You think?"

"I dunno. It feels like one of those sitcom stock plots, with the body switching. You know, Freaky Friday. Walking a mile in another man's shoes and all that."

Matt stared blankly at the wall. Sometimes he didn't understand a word Gordo was saying. "What?"

Gordo sighed on the other end of the line. "Never mind. Just...I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Um, no you won't. You're Matt. You have to go to elementary." Sweet! That meant that Matt would be going to middle school again.

"What? No way. I'm not going to elementary school. I refuse. As it is, middle school is too easy for me. I don't want to lower my IQ."

"If middle school's too easy for you, why aren't you in high school, then?" Matt asked. "Didn't Lizzie say you could skip ahead?"

There was a pause. "Yeah, well, I could, but I stayed. I have my reasons."

Matt glanced over at the picture of Lizzie on the monitor. "Like, what?"

"What business is it of yours?" Gordo said sourly.

"Like, a girl, maybe?" Matt pressed. His skill for being the most annoying person within a five-mile radius had been unused pretty much all day, considering he was stuck in this body. Suddenly he found himself absolutely having to know about Gordo's personal life, and how it concerned Matt's future. Which, if Gordo really did like Lizzie, it did.

"What makes you say that?" Gordo said, but he sounded strained.

"I'm in your room, aren't I?"

"Listen, Matt, I'm not enjoying this anymore than you are. Just...know your boundaries, okay?"

Matt had definitely touched a sore spot.

"Yeah, yeah, okay," he said. "Listen, I'll see you at the bus stop tomorrow."

They hung up, and Matt started snooping.