* Chapter five *

After some more talking with the McGuire's, Lizzie, Gordo, and I decided to go up to Lizzie's room. We wanted to have some fun, and even though the McGuire's are very cool parents, we wanted to have some alone time. Matt still hadn't returned from his room yet.

"Are you sure you don't want food?" Jo asked us again.

"No thanks, Mom." Lizzie replied, glancing apologetically at Gordo and me.

"Don't you want to watch a movie? Or some T.V.?" I smiled at Jo.

"It's okay Mrs. McGuire. We can talk." I said, grinning. I saw Lizzie roll her eyes at her mom. Jo gave her a stern look. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sam interrupted.

"Jo, I think they're fine. They can take care of themselves." He said. Gordo nodded reassuringly and Jo held out her hands, "okay, I understand. You kids have some fun, and if you need anything…anything at all…"

"Mom!" Lizzie said, "don't start again, please! For our sake."

Jo laughed and Sam came over and put an arm around her shoulders. Lizzie, Gordo and I grinned at each other. We each expressed the same thought, 'parents!' You can't live with them, and you can't live without them.

"C'mon honey… let's watch a movie." Sam steered Jo out of the room, and we climbed the stairs. When we passed Matt's room, he stuck his head out. He grinned at us.

"Prepare to get Mattolized!" He screamed at us. He glared at Lizzie and gave Gordo the thumbs up sign. Then, he smiled at me.

"Of course, if you don't want me to, Miranda…" he said, still smiling warmly at me. Lizzie looked disgusted and Gordo stifled a laugh. I glared at him. Then I looked at Matt and raised my eyebrows.

"Um… okay…" I forced a grin at him and turned away. I motioned to Lizzie and Gordo frantically.

"Let's go, you guys." I said, eyeing Matt. He smiled at me and blinked, hands behind his back. I walked passed him, Gordo behind me, thoroughly disgusted. Just then, I heard a laugh and a scream.

"Matt! You freak!" I heard Lizzie yell. I turned sharply around and saw Lizzie covered in a white, liquid paste. My eyes widened. That looked like it would never come out! I hurried to her side. Matt stuck a finger into the bowl of dripping paste and brought it out. Clutching his stomach in laughter, he licked off his finger and stuck out his tongue at Lizzie.

"Yumm…" he said dreamily, "liquefied marshmallow!"

Still glaring at Matt, Lizzie opened her eyes wide.

"Matt! This could never get cleaned!" She yelled, holding out her shirt. Now her hands were covered in the marshmallow paste, and it was already starting to dry. It looked really sticky. Matt laughed.

"I was making rice crispy treats at Lanny's…" I looked at him, shaking my head. Lizzie glared, and Gordo looked like he was caught between laughing and helping Lizzie. The corner of his mouth was twitching in amusement.

"… and I decided to use the extra melted marshmallows to make my sister's life miserable!"

Clutching her fists, Lizzie turned around and walked to her room. When we got inside, she closed the door and pointed at her shirt. It was covered in the white paste. She curled her lip.

"Look what he did! Look what Matt did! He ruined my shirt!" Lizzie screamed, stamping her foot. Gordo and I shrunk back and Lizzie pointed at the bed.

"Sit! I need to change." Lizzie was about to go, when Gordo put a hand on her arm. I expected her to lunge and strangle him, but, actually, she took it quite well.

"Just a sec, Lizzie." Gordo said, hiding a grin. Lizzie's expression softened and she sighed, only halfway exasperated. I rolled my eyes. She would've gotten mad at me!

"What?"

Laughing, Gordo stuck out a finger and got some marshmallow paste from Lizzie's shirt. He licked it off, grinning.

"This is… really… good…" He said, heaving a dramatic sigh. Lizzie chuckled and punched his shoulder. I got up behind him and hit him with one of the pillows.

"Hey!" He said, turning around to face me, "two against one! No fair!" I just laughed.

"Too bad, Gordo my man!" I hit him again and he stood up. Reaching for another pillow, he found it gone. Lizzie had grabbed it instead. She grinned and whacked him with it. Doubling over with laughter, I tried to hit Gordo again. No such luck. Gordo blocked my attempt and grabbed the pillow, trying to wrench it out of my grasp. I pulled the pillow and Gordo pulled. Not wanting to ruin Lizzie's pillow, I let go, and Gordo fell backwards, knocking over Lizzie in his path. My two friends fell backward and hit the wall, which stopped their rearward travel. Gordo and Lizzie slid down, side-by-side, laughing and glaring at me at the same time.

Breathing heavily, they sat on the floor, shoulder's touching. For a while, they just sat there together. Then, to my and Gordo's surprise, Lizzie laid her head down on Gordo's shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes. I laughed at Gordo's expression. Lizzie's eyes fluttered as she heard my voice and then she sat up, rubbed her eyes, and stared at Gordo. Then, Gordo and Lizzie both stood up very quickly and took a step away from each other.

"Sorry," they both muttered. Gordo turned red. Lizzie smiled at him and laughed self-consciously, running a hand through her hair.

If this was going to happen every time they saw each other, it was going to be a long night.

That is, if we were going to spend the night.

As if on cue, Lizzie's mom yelled from downstairs, announcing that she had called Gordo's parents and my parents, and that we could stay the night. Lizzie and I jumped up and down and squealed. Gordo covered his ears and waited patiently for us to stop, occasionally glancing at his watch. I felt so happy! I even forgave Gordo for a moment and gave him a big hug.

"Miranda… can't… breathe…" Gordo gasped. I let him go and squealed again. Gordo rubbed the back of his neck and I laughed. Gordo sighed.

"Girls." He said, rolling his eyes. I hit the back of his head with my hand, and we laughed. Lizzie and Gordo smiled at each other.

Just then ----

"Lizzie! Your dad and I need your help!" We looked up as Jo's shrill voice echoed up the stairs. Lizzie sighed.

"Guys, I'll be right back. Coming Mom!" Lizzie ran out of her room and two pairs of eyes followed her retreating back. I glanced at Gordo and grinned. I was going to get the truth out of him. I walked over to the door and closed it. Raising my eyebrows, I turned to face Gordo, who looked like a little kid who was caught doing something wrong.

Poor Gordo. Let's all hug Gordo.

I put on a serious face and narrowed my eyes, "Gordo, do you have something to tell me?" He got up.

"I, uh, need to go to the bathroom, Miranda." He tried to walk past me. I held up a disdainful hand and pushed him down again, leaning close to him.

"Don't you?" I asked. Gordo looked at his hands.

"No."

I sighed and sat next to him. I smiled and laughed graciously.

"Oh, Gordo. You're so obvious." I said. Gordo looked up quickly.

"W-what are you talking about, Miranda?" He said, tripping on his words. He grinned innocently and looked back at his hands.

"You know." I said.

"No, I don't." His voice was dripping with guilt. I just sighed and stood up. Just then, Lizzie came in again, covered now not only in melted marshmallow, but in dust and soot. The grime was sticking in her hair and clothing, making me sneeze. Gordo looked Lizzie up and down.

"What'd you do?" He asked, "clean out the fireplace?" Lizzie sighed.

"Close enough. I helped carry in some boxes from the garage." She said, disgusted. Gordo pulled an old spider web from her hair and she waved her hands around in antipathy, yelling and shuddering. Gordo tried the best he could to calm her down.

"Eww! Eww! Gordo, get it off!" She screamed. I laughed and sneezed again. Lizzie looked a mess.

Somehow, Gordo got the entire web out of her tangled, sweaty hair. Lizzie was still freaking out, so we just let her on her way.

To the shower, that is. She needed it.