I don't own it.

Tia is Miranda's baby sister. I don't remember if this came from the series, or if I made it up...well, I made up the name, at the least. Whichever.

===Voices Carry===

The next day, Miranda was earlier than even Gordo, sitting in homeroom stoically, staring at the blackboard. Lizzie sat next to her and offered a cheerful hello. To her surprise, Miranda actually smiled back.

"You're in a good mood," Gordo observed, taking the seat behind Lizzie.

"Am I?" Miranda said, flipping open her notebook to a clean page, and therefore avoiding her best friends' eyes.

"Compared to yesterday, you are," he said. "Everything's okay now?"

"Of course," Miranda said, jotting the date at the top of the page. Still she didn't look at them.

Lizzie frowned slightly. "You're positive?"

Miranda glanced at her, a smile fixed on her face. "Of course," she repeated. "Everything's good, Lizzie. I was just a little...under the weather yesterday. You know?"

"Oh, sure," Gordo said, nodding emphatically. "Something's going around."

"Yeah, totally. My mom got it, and so I had to take care of Tia, and I guess I got a little germy, too, so I wasn't really up to going to classes and stuff, you know? So I spent yesterday in the nurse's office."

Something didn't quite click with Miranda's story, Lizzie thought. "You had to take care of Tia? What about your dad?"

"My...dad?" Miranda choked, her eyes widening. "Uh! I mean, my dad was kinda, y'know, sick. He was sick, too. So I had to take care of Tia."

"Oh," Lizzie said, and forced herself to smile. There was something really off with all of this, but it seemed important to Miranda that they believe her, so Lizzie nodded. Fortunately, they were saved from the awkwardness when the teacher walked in the room and the announcements started.

Lizzie frantically scribbled a note, tucked her arm behind her back, and dropped it on Gordo's desk. 'Gordo, I don't think Miranda's telling the truth. She looks a lot better than she did yesterday, but I'm way worried. -Lizzie'

A few minutes later, Gordo's had tapped her shoulder and she angled herself to accept his note. 'Lizzie, I agree. I think this time we should talk to her, though. -Gordo'

Lizzie nodded to show that she agreed, and when the final homeroom bell rang, while Miranda went for the door like the rest of the class, Lizzie jumped in front of her. "Lizzie, what the heck?" Miranda said almost irritably. "We're gonna be late."

"We're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on," Lizzie said firmly.

Miranda shook her head with a disbelieving smile on her face. "You're kidding, right?" She turned to Gordo. "She's kidding, right?"

"We're not kidding, Miranda. Something's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong! I told you that. I was just a little sick."

"You're not sick."

"What are you, a doctor?"

"No, I'm your best friend. And I *know* when something is wrong. So just spill it already, and the sooner we can go about fixing it," Lizzie said. She frowned, hoping that Miranda would just agree to it. They were trying to help her, but they couldn't help if they didn't know the problem.

Miranda stared at her for a long time while Gordo lurked in the background. Fire leapt in the brunette's eyes, and she said venomously, "You're insane." She looked to Gordo again. "You're *both* insane. I'm out of here."

"Miranda, wait. I--" Lizzie started to say, reaching out for Miranda's arm, but her best friend brushed past her angrily, almost viciously. The door slammed shut behind her so forcefully that Lizzie jolted. She looked worriedly to Gordo. "I messed everything up, didn't I, Gordo."

She'd only been trying to help, and now Miranda hated her and they *still* didn't know what was going on. Lizzie felt tears brimming in her eyes. She was just so confused, and so scared...

As they started to spill over, Lizzie found herself being wrapped in Gordo's arms. "I'm terrified, Gordo," she admitted, sobbing into his shoulder. He rubbed her back gently. "I know, I know," he said softly. "It'll be okay, Lizzie, I promise. It's all gonna be okay again."

She felt so safe in that hug, and it was enough to make her believe that everything really *would* be okay again. "Gordo..." Lizzie whispered.

Just then, the door opened and people started to file in. Embarrassed, Lizzie and Gordo jumped away from each other. "Gotta get to class," they said in unison, and instead of smiling at each other like they always did in those moments where they thought alike, they looked to the ground as they got their stuff together, and ran out of the room.