A/N: I don't own any of this.

Yet.

After you read it, make sure to leave me a nice review! ^_^

"LIZZIE!"

"Huh?"

Lizzie blearily opened her eyes to discover Miranda standing over her bed with a huge grin on her face. Still jetlagged, Lizzie almost rolled over and went back to sleep before she remembered how excited she was to see her best friend.

"Hey, Miranda. How was Mexico City?" Lizzie asked, sitting up.

"It was okay, but who cares? What was Rome like?" It was beyond Lizzie how anyone could be that excited at this hour of the morning. Wait… she checked her clock. It was 2:06 in the afternoon. Stupid time change.

"What?" Lizzie yawned. She hadn't quite heard Miranda's question in her thoughts.

"Rome! Tell me all about it!"

That woke Lizzie up. More like a thousand volt wire to her head, actually.

"Oh… Rome… yeah, it was… um… pretty good!" She cursed her voice for being unnaturally high as she said this. Lizzie never considered herself much of an actress.

Miranda laughed. "You can tell me more about it when you're more awake." She paused suddenly, and she grinned. "Oh my God! I forgot to tell you! Rome's in Italy, isn't it? Did you ever hear of Paolo and Isabella there?"

"P-Paolo and Isabella?" Lizzie tried desperately to stay calm and smiled weakly. "Um, I think we—I mean, I, not we—I think I might have heard those names be-before, but I don't really remember!" Once again she kicked herself mentally and prayed her best friend would buy it.

Fortunately, Miranda did. "Well, they're this pop duo singing thing and they're big in Mexico, but oh my God Lizzie, it's so freaky, Isabella looks exactly like you!"

"R-Really?"

"Totally! I thought she was you for a second! I wanted to call you in Rome but my mom wouldn't let me do long distance!"

"Well, uh, you're t-talking to me now, r-right?" Lizzie tried a smile. Stupid, stupid, she cursed herself, please try to keep it together! "Where exactly d-did you see them?"

"See who?" Gordo popped his head in the doorway. "Hey, you guys. Lizzie's mom said you were here, Miranda, so I just figured I'd come on up."

"Gordo!" Lizzie cried, nearly falling off her bed.

Miranda looked back and forth at her two best friends, confused. "I saw Paolo and Isabella on tabloids and stuff," she said slowly. "I heard some of their music, and it's not bad for, like, driving around in your car loving life sorta thing. I wanted to watch them on the IMVA's—" when she said "IMVA's" Gordo and Lizzie exchanged panicked glances "—but we went out with my grandparents that night, so I taped it!" She grinned and held up a tape that Lizzie hadn't noticed before. "You guys wanna watch it with me? It was in Rome while you were there, I think." Miranda finished and grinned beseechingly at her friends.

Lizzie spoke up. "Um, maybe now's not the best—"

"Let's watch," Gordo interrupted with an imploring look at Lizzie. She sighed and nodded, and the three trooped downstairs to the McGuire living room.

Miranda put the tape in. "They're the opening act," she said, flopping down on the couch with her friends. Gordo looked for some form of communication from Lizzie, but his friend's eyes were riveted to the screen. She sat defenseless as she watched herself and Paolo walk out onstage.

"Isn't it a pretty song?" Miranda gushed, mistaking Lizzie's smile for enjoyment of the music.

"Y-yeah," Lizzie said.

"Wow, that girl looks exactly like you," Miranda said again.

Lizzie watched Paolo lip sync the first line of the song. He was really good at that, she thought to herself.

"Isabella's voice is so pretty," Miranda breathed as the blonde girl in the purple dress opened her mouth. Neither Lizzie nor Gordo replied. "What is with you guys?" Their friend asked.

On the television, Paolo started to sing his next part. Lizzie and Gordo cringed at least three words before the mic actually came on. Miranda heard Paolo's sudden lack of talent and stared at the screen, disgusted. "What? Is he lip synching?" Her two friends made no effort to reply as Isabella walked onstage before them. "Huh? There's two of her? What's going on?" Miranda looked at her friends. "Why don't you guys looked confused....?" She asked, more as a statement than a question. Neither Lizzie nor Gordo looked at Miranda as Paolo's fraud was completely exposed before them.

As Paolo got offstage on the tape, Lizzie looked suddenly at her best friend. "Listen, Miranda, we should have told you this first thing this morning—"

"Say hello to my new American friend, Lizzie McGuire!" Isabella said to the crowd in her slight Italian accent.

"—that's me on the IMVA's," Lizzie finished halfheartedly, though the truth had already been exposed.

Miranda's jaw dropped. She stared at the screen, then at Lizzie, then at Gordo, and back to the screen again. She didn't say anything. Presumably (hopefully, Lizzie thought) she was in too much shock.

"Would you like to hear sing?" Isabella said cutely. The crowd on the tape went wild. Miranda was still apparently dumbfounded. Lizzie watched the screen somewhat eagerly, excited to finally see her own performance. Gordo settled his hands behind his head and made himself comfortable.

While the Lizzie on the screen was singing, Mrs. McGuire wandered into the room. "Hey kids! Oh, is this the IMVA's?" She leaned on the back of the couch. "Lizzie, you were great up there. You looked so beautiful!" She tousled her daughter's hair and continued out of the room. Miranda stared after, still gaping, then looked at Lizzie as the performance ended. "Wha-What just happened?" She sputtered. "What—who—why—how—"

"Why don't we go back upstairs and explain everything there," Gordo suggested.

Miranda nodded blankly. "Okay, okay, just start at the beginning and tell me everything," she insisted as she and Lizzie started off towards the stairs.

"Can we leave out the stuff about the after party for now?" Gordo asked, hurrying after them.