[A/N]: I apologize for the bad writing ahead of time, and for the 8 times I used the word bagel and the 18 times I used look. The very first part was written a year ago (which means it boring and badly written), the rest is recent. I doubled the chapter since I haven't updated in a long while.

# = Toon Lizzie

Chapter 7

Lizzie walked into the kitchen and took the bagels out of the bread cabinet. She opened them and tried to reach her hand to the bottom of the bag to get the last one. After not succeeding, she tried to force her hand back out of the bag and dumped all them all on the kitchen counter.

"Lizzie, do you need help?" Mrs. McGuire was watching Lizzie's every move. Lizzie then stuffed all the bagels back into the bag and couldn't get the tie back on. "Here let me do it."

Mrs. McGuire took the bag from Lizzie and tied it back up. "I don't get it, why do all the companies put the best bagel in the bottom of the bag?" Lizzie started ranting. "They leave the small and discolored ones on the top, knowing that in order to get a decent bagel they have to dump the entire bag all out, then stuff them back in! Why can't they just put the best ones on the top? I mean, who would want to even eat it after all that?" Lizzie was now yelling.

Mrs. McGuire looked on the floor and picked up a bagel that Lizzie seemed to drop. "Certainly not me." She whispered under her breath. "Honey, why do I have a feeling that this isn't about bagels?" Mrs. McGuire directed Lizzie to the kitchen table where they sat down.

Lizzie took a deep breath. "Mom, everything's just-"

Mrs. McGuire cut her off. "Wait, let me guess, everything's just going totally wrong the day before your prom?"

Lizzie paused and stared at her mom. "How do you know these things? Did you read my diary?" Mrs. McGuire slightly laughed.

"Of course I didn't. How many times do I have to tell you? I'm a cool mom, I just know."

#What ever happened to 'Lying is not accepted in this house, young lady'? If I can't lie, neither can she.#

Mr. McGuire walked into the kitchen and saw the bagel that Mrs. McGuire picked up off the floor. He kissed her on the cheek and grabbed it off the counter. "Thanks honey."

"Um, no, Sam." Mrs. McGuire tried to stop him from eating it but he had already placed it in his mouth.

"What?" He looked like a little puppy with a chew toy.

"Oh nothing." She shook it off and looked at Lizzie who seemed as though she had a headache.

"Mom, what am I going to do? Gordo won't talk to Miranda and me for some reason. I can't get a hold of Ronny to tell him about the change of plans. I have an algebra test in three hours. Matt put honey all on my bathroom floor causing me to fall flat on my back, and to top it all off, I can't even get a decent breakfast around here." Lizzie finished is a sigh. She placed her hand on her head.

Mrs. McGuire smiled a small smile, then took her hand and brushed Lizzie's hair out of her face. "When something big like this is going on, it just seems worse than it is." Mrs. McGuire paused to think; Lizzie noticed. "Wait, Matt put honey on your floor?" Lizzie nodded her head, too busy worrying what she should do about the situation she was in. "Matt!" Jo yelled. Matt came running down the stairs with an I-didn't-do-it grin on his face.

He blinked his eyes innocently. "Yes mother?"

Matt trying to act innocent didn't get passed Mrs. McGuire. "Matt did you put honey on your sisters floor?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Wow, will you look at the time. I can't be late for school now can I?" He smiled at his mom, and flew out the door.

Sam McGuire took the bagel out of his mouth and directed his words towards his wife. "He forgot that I take him to school. I'll ground him in the car." He kissed his wife and Lizzie good-bye and walked out of the door.

Jo pointed her attention back at Lizzie and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry honey, where were we?"

"It's okay Mom." Lizzie tried to get a smile out. "I'll try to figure it out on my own."

They both got up from the table and hugged. "You just have to remember that things can be worse. If you ever need to talk to someone-" She began.

"I'll come to you Mom." Lizzie finished. They pulled away from the hug and Mrs. McGuire spotted a loose string hanging from Lizzie's dress. She pulled it to break it off, when a thought popped in her head.

"Oh Lizzie, your dress; I need to take it to the Dry Cleaners this afternoon, so it'll be ready for tomorrow night."

"Thanks Mom. Well I better get going before I miss the bus." Lizzie grabbed her bag off the counter and walked towards the door.

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"Talked to Gordo yet?" Lizzie asked. She had just arrived at school and spotted Miranda at her locker emptying her book bag into it.

Miranda gave a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, no luck." She watched Lizzie sigh, and gave a questioning look at the tired form of her face. "Are you okay?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders slightly and released another drained sigh. "I don't know anymore."

She thought about telling Miranda about everything that was on her mind at the moment, but she stopped herself in fear that they would be late for class. She really didn't know what to think anymore. She was so frustrated with everything that was going on. But knowing that Gordo was avoiding her because of something she didn't even know she did, was the worse part.

Miranda placed her arm around Lizzie's shoulders to give an assuring hug. "Cheer up Lizzie," she said with a smile. "I'm sure Gordo will come around. Plus, there's only one more day until the dance, and this whole crazy mess with be over with."

#She's right. I just need to think positive. Soon the dance will be over with, and… Gordo could still be avoiding me!#

As much as Lizzie wanted Miranda to be right about everything- "I just can't relax until I know why Gordo isn't talking to me… to us." Both girls still stood by Miranda's locker talking. Miranda nodded her head.

She took a deep breath. "I know what you mean. One of us needs to find him and talk to him. We need to find out what's he so bothered about, and who the heck lied to him."

Lizzie shook her head. "I'll see what I can do."

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It seemed as though every class Lizzie and Miranda had with Gordo that day, he didn't bother making eye contact with them. Whenever one of the girls tried to get his attention when the teacher wasn't paying attention, he would make comments ("No, I'm not giving you the answer to number twelve.") out loudly so they wouldn't try and talk to him again. It seemed to work, because by the time the lunch bell rang neither had managed to get anything accomplished, except for a teacher moving Miranda away from Gordo's seat because she was 'trying to cheat' during an assignment.

"I give up!" Miranda halfway yelled in the lunch line. "I give up! If he doesn't want to talk to us that badly, I'm not going to make him do it."

Lizzie had a feeling she was right, but she still wished Gordo would just say something to them, besides the comments he made during class. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Miranda assured her. "If we did something that bad, how are we supposed to apologize for it, if he won't even tell us what we did wrong?"

They both got their lunch and made their way to the courtyard outside where they normally ate lunch, and where they would normally find Gordo already eating, except, he wasn't there. They sat down anyways, and Miranda started eating. Lizzie was busy scanning the other tables around them for a familiar head full of brown curls; Miranda couldn't help but notice.

"Lizzie, what are you doing?" Miranda asked in a confused tone. Lizzie's neck stretched further than it normally did as she continued to gaze over the other tables in the courtyard.

Lizzie hesitated before realizing what she was doing was pretty obvious. "I…uh… I was following a fly? You know, making sure it didn't get on our food."

Miranda smiled weakly. "I don't have STUPID written on my face Lizzie. I know you're looking for Gordo."

Lizzie pulled her head back down to the table and turned to Miranda, when she spotted Gordo in the corner of her eye. She took a quick glance over and saw him sitting with Larry and his gang by the trashcans. Miranda saw her quick movements and glanced over as well. "This is what we're going to do." Miranda said looking back at Lizzie.

"What do you mean, this is what we're going to do?" Lizzie asked quickly.

Miranda ignored her comment. "We're going to try this for the last time; if he still avoids us, then we'll just have to wait until he comes around and is ready to talk to us."

"Right, so what's the plan?"

"We go over there and I'll tell Gordo that we need to talk to him." Miranda started.

Lizzie interrupted. "And if that doesn't work?"

Miranda continued. "If that doesn't work, knowing Gordo, he'll probably ignore us, and most likely try to leave… that's when you corner him." Lizzie gave a simple right to let her know she was listening and for her to continue, but Miranda paused. "Yeah, that's all I've got."

#Force is a little harsh, but in situations like this, you gotta play dirty!#

"Well, let's go." Lizzie and Miranda left their lunches on the table and got up from their seats. They walked over towards the trashcans with Miranda in the front leading the way, and Lizzie cowering behind her. They walked up from behind Gordo, who, by the looks of it, wasn't too keen about the sitting arrangements, and looked quite bored. Miranda turned around and nodded at Lizzie indicating for her to go stand by the staircase just in case he tried to leave. She did as she was told and watched Miranda walk up to the table Gordo sat at.

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"How do you do madam?" Larry was the first to notice Miranda's appearance. Before she could protest Larry had grabbed her hand and lifted it towards his mouth and placed a kiss on it. Lizzie jolted from surprise and made an unusual face from disgust. Miranda, smiled slightly, but as soon as she realized what happened, made the same face as Lizzie and pulled her hand away from Larry. She laughed hesitantly.

"Um…" Miranda said, somewhat distracted from her mission. "Hey Larry." Larry smiled at her, but Miranda didn't smile back. She placed her attention on Gordo. She was sure he had witnessed what had just happened, but as soon as she looked at him, he acted as though she was never there, and started to play with his lunch. "Hey Gordo…" He didn't answer her.

Miranda turned her head at Lizzie by the staircase and gave her a piercing glance. Lizzie gave a nod of reassurance, and Miranda tried again. "Gordo!" He still didn't look up, until she called his name for a third time.

He looked up and faced Larry as if he still was unaware of Miranda's presence. "Larry, I'll talk to you later about going to see Space Warriors tomorrow." Miranda looked at him awkwardly. Tomorrow was the prom. How could he go see Space Warriors tomorrow, and go to the prom at the same time? That's when it hit her; he's not going to the prom after all.

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Lizzie saw Gordo start to get up as he spoke to Larry "Larry, I'll talk to you later about going to see Space Warriors tomorrow." The same thoughts that rose in Miranda's mind about not going to the prom also came into Lizzie's. Lizzie saw Miranda nod promptly, for her to block him when he came around. Miranda was right, knowing Gordo, he did in fact try to leave, but didn't see Lizzie guarding the staircase. He accidentally bumped into her and when he gathered his things that were once in his hands, it was then when he noticed Lizzie.

Although he was staring right at her, he pretended she wasn't there and tried to walk up the stairs for the second time, with no prevail. Lizzie couldn't help herself. "Wait Gordo." He finally looked up at her and into her eyes, waiting for her to continue. "You're not going to the prom?"

He replied right after her question, as though he was in a rush to go someone. "Does it matter?" He said punctually. Lizzie didn't understand why he was acting the way he was. He never talked to her in an attitude like this one.

"Yes! It matters!" She answered back. Before he could reply she spoke again. "Why are you acting like that?"

He looked at her irritably. "Like what?" He questioned.

"Sulky!" She replied.

He continued to look at her, but as he did the sight of annoyance on his face started to fade away, and a look of uncertainty appeared.

"Gordo, I don't understand why you won't just talk to us." Dullness filled her voice, as she waited for him to speak.

"And I don't understand why you broke your promise." The same dullness in Lizzie's voice was also present in Gordo's. She stood there in confusion, not knowing what he was talking about.

"What? What promise?"

He hesitated for a moment. "You promised me you wouldn't go back out with him, after you two broke up. Yet, you're going to the prom with him, and didn't even bother to tell me." Gordo's voice became stronger than before.

#How… how did he know?#

It was as though he read Lizzie's mind. "I heard you and Miranda talking about it at the mall."

Lizzie swallowed hard. She had forgotten all about the promise she made Gordo, and forgot all about telling him. Her emotions went haywire as she thought of what to say. The only thing that would come out of her mouth was the last thing she wanted to. "Why does it even matter to you who I go to the dance with? It's not like you like me."

Lizzie was caught up with the words that came out of her mouth, that she didn't notice Miranda in the background watching their every move.

Gordo shook his head. "One day Lizzie, you'll realize that it's not always about you."

With that, he moved her hand away from the staircase and walked up it leaving Lizzie stunned.

#Wait. What just happened?#

She was confused. She felt guilty about the situation, yet at the same time she was angry, sad, and overwhelmed about it. She slowly slid down to the last step of the stairs and swallowed again, as she sat there and thought about what just happened.

Miranda came over and laid Lizzie's head on her shoulders for a brief second with a look of sympathy in her eyes.

#Maybe force was a bad idea#

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[A/N]: Once again, I apologize for the poor writing. I felt I had to update when people e-mailed me about this fic. I didn't think anyone cared if I did or not, but obviously some did. Well now you have it. I'd say two more chapters and this could be finished with. I'd appreciate it if you reviewed. Thanks.