Chapter Three: Surprises

I didn't even have to write down the street address. I knew where her house was. I took a bus to Hillridge. I walked down Rhaine Avenue, Bane Street, and Elk Drive. And there it was. Lizzie's old house, 287 Forest Drive. Wow.

I looked next to it.

*That* was Beth's house.

There was a doorbell, but it was broken, so I knocked. No one answered, but the door slowly creaked open. Well, this was a surprise. Beth left her door unlocked!

I stepped inside, feeling like a total moron. "Beth?" I whispered. "Beth?"

No answer. But what would you expect would happen when your whispering?

I walked around, looking in rooms and opening doors. She wasn't anywhere. I felt like one of those kids in TV shows that gets pushed into a store to steal something by bullies and doesn't know what to do. I was so nervous that my knees were actually knocking. I hoped she wouldn't come out of nowhere, smashing my head with a broom under the impression that I was some robber. But there was no one there, period.

Then I heard humming.

I followed the sound into Beth's kitchen. And there, was a blonde, humming and cooking something on the stove... with only a towel on!

She looked freakishly familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had definitely seen her before.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

The girl whirled around and gasped. "Oh, god. Ahhhhh!" She shrieked, running into the nearest bathroom and shutting the door tight.

I knocked on the bathroom door. "I'm sorry, but do you happen to know where Beth is?"

"She's in the bathroom." Came a reply.

*That* was Beth? The girl cooking was *Beth*? Wow. I had imagined her as a brunette for some reason. She was gorgeous to be a supermodel. And her face... it looked so familiar.

Beth came out of the bathroom, now fully dressed. "I'm sorry. I just got freaked out when I saw you. You know, I've never had a guy see me wrapped in a towel before, Gordo."

WHAT did she just say?

"Gordo? Where have you heard that? Only one person calls me that."

Beth sighed and walked to the living room. She sat down on a couch, and I sat next to her. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get *what*? What are you talking about?" I was utterly confused.

"You were always so smart, Gordo. When did you become so clueless?" Beth laughed.

There it was again. Gordo. And how did she know that I was smart before? This was creeping me out.

"Did it occur to you that you don't know my last name?"

I shook my head. "It never came to mind, but now that you-"

"It's McGuire."

I gasped. "McGuire?" I squeaked. This was scary. It made no sense. It couldn't be...

"ElizaBETH McGuire."