"Miranda?" A tentative voice was barely heard over the girlish chatter. Miranda turned around. Larry was standing there. Miranda sighed and rolled her eyes.
"What, Tudgeman?"
Larry winced at the stinging tone of her voice. But he decided that he was going to do this.
"Can I talk to you...privately?"
Lizzie shrugged at Miranda and whisked away before Miranda could utter a word. 'Great. Now I'm stuck with him.' Miranda thought to herself, 'Note to self - kill Lizzie.'
Larry cleared his throat. She was so unnerving. And so pretty. She made his mouth dry. "I...uh...well..."
Miranda was starting to get impatient. They were going to late for rehearsal. "Well?" she asked rather impatiently.
"Do you like Star Wars?" Larry blurted out. DUMB! It was the first thing that came to his mind. She just made him so nervous! God, his palms were sweating up a storm!
Miranda was a tad confused. "Uh, yeah. I like Star Wars. Return of the Jedi is my favorite. Why?" She was shocked - he wasn't being all creepy and stalker-like. He was just making conversation. Tudgeman was acting normal - well, normal for Tudgeman.
"Return of the Jedi? Oh no. I'm more of a The Empire Strikes Back kinda guy," Larry found himself saying.
"Uh...cool. We should get to rehearsal, Larry. We're gonna be late."
Larry snapped back into reality. "Oh. Yeah! Let's go."
Gordo walked into the auditorium. He scanned the room and found Lizzie, sitting by herself, looking around the room.
GORDO V.O.
Probably looking for Ethan. C'mon, Gordo. Run, Gordo, run! Get there before Ethan does!!!
END OF GORDO'S V.O.
Just as Gordo started to make his way towards Lizzie, Ethan strolled up to her, gave Gordo the thumbs up, and sat down next to her.
"Hey Lizzay!"
Lizzie looked up. Ethan was towering over her, blocking her view of the auditorium.
::Cartoon Lizzie:: Weird. I didn't get those butterflies I usually get around Ethan.
"Hey Ethan. Ready for rehearsal?"
"Uh...yeah...all those words...I'm ready." Ethan suddenly realized he had nothing to say. Whoa. Dude. That's about it. "Umm...see you onstage."
Lizzie watched Ethan hurry away from her.
::Cartoon Lizzie:: Is it me or have things gotten super weird since this play started?
"Gor-don! I totally choked! Dude, I was suffocating like a fish under water! I need you, man!"
Gordo decided to let the last comment slide. The dilemma at hand was of much more importance. Help Ethan Craft win Lizzie's heart? It was what he feared would happen for so long. Because, of course, there was no question that Ethan would do it. Unless Gordo sabotaged him. But that damn nagging voice in his head wouldn't leave him alone. 'Gordo, you know you'd do anything to make her happy. Just one smile -'
"Dude?" Ethan interrupted Gordo's train of thought. Gordo realized he must have asked him a question.
"What?"
"Bro, what should I say to her? I mean, she totally is beyond me."
'You can say that again.' Gordo thought. He sighed, then heard himself saying, "Talk about music. Lizzie loves Britney Spears. She thinks she's an awesome dancer. And Avril Lavigne. She loves her songs. Lizzie's a really good singer herself, you know. Music's really important to her."
"Really, dude? I never knew that!"
"Yeah, well, most people don't." Gordo looked over at Lizzie. Her and Miranda were talking up a storm. Miranda's mouth was going a mile a minute. Then, almost as an act of God, Lizzie turned her head and caught Gordo's eye. She gave him a smile that made him want to dissolve into the ground. He felt his knees go weak and his stomach flip flopped. Then she turned back to Miranda.
"Thanks Gor-don! You're a pal."
"So you keep telling me."
Lizzie tried to listen to Miranda. She really did. But she couldn't help but wonder what Gordo and Ethan had been talking about for the past half an hour. She looked over to look at them. Gordo was running his hand through his mop of hair. Lizzie had to smile. She loved his unruly hair. Only it hid his blue eyes sometimes. She had developed a habit of brushing his hair out of his face so she could look him in the eye. Then, almost as if Gordo had heard her thoughts, he turned and looked at Lizzie. Their eyes locked for a moment. Lizzie couldn't help the goofy grin that spread across her face.
"Lizzie!"
Lizzie turned back to her other best friend. "Sorry, Miranda. What were you saying?"
Miranda looked to where Lizzie had been staring and a sly smile crept onto her face.
"What, Lizzie? Staring at Ethan again?" knowing that it wasn't true.
Lizzie blushed. "Uh...yeah. I'm just wondering what him and Gordo have had to talk about, that's all. They don't really have that much in common. You know?"
Miranda had to agree. "Yeah, I'm curious, too. "
Lizzie smiled, glad to have distracted Miranda from her original train of thought. "Yeah. We'll have to grill Gordo when he comes over here."
What was Miranda talking to Lizzie about? What will Ethan do to win Lizzie's heart? Will Gordo survive the matchmaking? What happened to Matt's revenge on Kate? More to come! R/R please!!!
