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[I don't own the Lizzie McGuire characters, Avril Lavigne, or any of William Shakespeare's work.]
Chapter 13
"So, how amazing was the concert?" Miranda asked impatiently.
Lizzie smiled. "Pretty amazing. She's incredible live."
"And the date?" Miranda pressed.
Lizzie sighed happily. "Ethan was...wonderful. Absolutely wonderful...how was your night? What did you and Gordo end up doing?"
Just then, Gordo walked over to the girls. "Hey guys," he mumbled, barely looking up, "How was the concert, McGuire?"
"Pretty awesome, actually. She's mind-blowing. I can't get over how cool she is. And her voice - wow. Amazing. I've given up on wanting to be Britney and now I'm striving to be Avril Lavigne," Lizzie rambled quickly.
Gordo shifted uncomfortably. "What about your...date?" He spit out the word "date" as if it were poison.
"It was...fine." Lizzie giggled uneasily.
Miranda's eyebrows shot up. Fine? It was wonderful two minutes ago.
"Okay people, let's get started! Miss Sanders, we're starting with your monologue on page 20. Let's go people!" Mr. Dig was trying to get everyone to settle down. Ethan strode past Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo and flashed a pearly white smile at Lizzie and a not-so-subtle thumbs up to Gordo. Miranda looked at Gordo, puzzled, but Gordo just gave her one of those "don't ask" looks. Lizzie was, as usual, completely oblivious.
Mr. Dig looked around, annoyed. "Miss San-"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Every head in the auditorium turned towards the scream.
"Miss Sanders?"
Kate had thrown her script across the room. "There's a squished slug in my script!!!!" She then burst into tears and ran out of the auditorium, with Mr. Dig chasing her, "You shouldn't be using your script anymore, anyway!"
Backstage, Matt and Lanny were laughing quietly. Then Matt turned to Lanny and shook his head. "Oh no, Lanny. That wasn't my revenge. That was just a "get ready 'cause the revenge is coming" present.
Back in the seats, Miranda and Lizzie were gabbing away, while Gordo sat, uninterested, looking around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tudgeman furiously writing away. Gordo turned to watch him. Tudgeman had apparently finished writing whatever it was he was writing and put it in an envelope. He looked really nerv-
"Gordo!"
Gordo turned back to his best friends. "Huh?"
Miranda sighed. "We've been calling your name for, like, 5 minutes! What's with you lately?"
Lizzie looked confused. "What do you mean, lately, Miranda? Gordo, is something wrong with you? Do you need to talk about someth-"
"Arrrgh!" Gordo grunted, frustrated, "I'm fine! And Miranda, give it up, will you? I'll see you later. I've got work to do." And with that, he huffed off.
Miranda sat back in her chair and sighed again. Lizzie turned to her. "What did you mean, lately? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Lizzie."
Lizzie stood up. "I'm gonna go talk to him. Make sure he's okay."
As she walked away, Miranda muttered under her breath, "Yeah. Good luck."
LARRY'S POV
Finally. She's alone. Do I...no. Not now. She has no idea. And I don't think she'd even...Larry, get real. You know she's too good for you. She knows it, too. She's like - she's looking at me! What do I do???
END OF LARRY'S POV
Miranda looked around the room. Mr. Dig had convinced Kate to come back into the room. Ethan was staring at - what was he staring at? Parker was showing a few of the younger kids a dance step. Claire was putting on lipstick. Then she saw Tudgeman sitting a few rows behind her. He looked at her like a deer caught in headlights. Then he gave her a smile that looked like he was about to throw up, but was trying really hard to keep it down and half-heartedly waved at her. Miranda shrugged, then got up to go to the bathroom before she had to go on.
"Gordo?" Gordo heard a tentative voice say. He stopped hammering and turned around. Lizzie was standing there, looking really disturbed. "What's up?" he said, trying really hard to control the shaking in his voice.
"Gordo, what happened back there? Are you mad at me?"
GORDO POV
Why did I flip out like that? And at her? It's not her fault. She has no idea. And it's not her fault that Ethan likes her, now...it's mine. I'm just tense. But I...I just can't handle all of this. Tell her you need space. Tell her you need a break from the girl talk. Tell her you think her and...and...and Ethan make a great couple. Tell her -
END OF GORDO'S POV
"I'm fine. I'm not mad at you."
Lizzie heaved a huge sigh of relief, then regained the serious expression on her face. "Gordo, I'm glad you're okay. You're probably just having a bad day...But I have something else I wanna talk to you about, too."
Gordo waited. Lizzie wasn't saying anything. "Well?"
"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly, "I was just trying to figure out how to word this. It might sound a little strange, but...didyouhelpEthantrytogetmetogooutonadatewithhim?" she rushed.
Gordo's eyes bulged. That was the last thing he was expecting her to say. "Uhh...yeah. I knew it would make you happy." 'God, this is killing me,' he thought.
Lizzie blinked. He had helped Ethan. "Oh."
The two stood there for a minute till Lizzie heard Mr. Dig yelling for her.
"You better go," Gordo said, "Don't wanna keep Romeo waiting."
"Demetrius, Gordo. Not Romeo."
"Same thing."
"Okay, folks. There's only two weeks before the show goes up. I want you all to go home tonight and read over your lines, because tomorrow, NO ONE is to be using their scripts. That's all for today." Mr. Dig then raised his arms over his head and announced, "La pratique est finie pour le jour."
"Huh?" Ethan said.
Mr. Dig sighed. "Practice is over. Go."
Everybody ran to get there stuff. Miranda picked up her bag and an envelope fell to the floor. "What's this?" she wondered out loud, then put it in her pocket. Lizzie and Gordo caught up with her, and the three left. Little did she know, a pair of eyes was following Miranda the entire time.
