Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lizzie McGuire characters.

Chapter 5

NO POV:

"What do I think of Gordo?" asked Miranda aloud to herself that night. She really thought that he was a great guy. The most important thing was that he was himself. He didn't try to fit in. Except for the time that he was sad because he felt short. Miranda had sometimes thought about Gordo, but never really gave much thought, because she suspected that he had liked Lizzie. Her heart was struck from her conversation with Lizzie. Not only did she start contemplating her feelings for Gordo, but it was apparent to Miranda that Lizzie did not show any signs of affection for Gordo.

"Maybe I'm wrong," she thought, "but Lizzie just doesn't see Gordo as more than a friend." Miranda picked up a pillow and threw it at a wall. She was frustrated and confused.

"Miranda!" yelled her mom. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," responded Miranda.

Everything seemed so confusing to her. Miranda picked up a photo album from her closet and opened it. She scrolled through the pictures of the three amigos. Happy, fun times they had together. Whether it had been at an amusement park, or just hanging out at the mall, they had always had a great time. "Dang!" thought Miranda while looking at a picture of Gordo. "He has a great smile...and a fine personality to go along with it." She couldn't understand why Lizzie didn't see anything extraordinary in him. Or, maybe she did, but Miranda couldn't sense it. She needed to sort out her feelings.

"Mom," said Miranda opening the front door, "I'm going to go on a walk."

"Now?" asked her mom. Miranda nodded. "Ok, but just be back before dark. It's getting late."

Miranda walked outside. She decided to take a visit to the park. She walked around on the path for a while, and then decided to just go sit down on the play equipment. She spotted a small teeter-totter on the ground and she sat on it. Her legs were almost up to her knees. "Wow, have things gotten smaller since I was little," she thought. She gave a laugh and started going up and down by herself. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Why couldn't things be less complicated like when I was small enough to actually fit on this teeter-totter!" she yelled quite loudly. Then she felt it get easier to go up and down, like someone was on the other side. She quickly opened her eyes and blinked a few times...it was Gordo.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey, Gordo," she replied.

"So, what is it you were saying?" he asked.

"Oh-oh, n-nothing," stuttered Miranda. When was it that she stuttered around Gordo? Oh yeah, she was thinking about her possible feelings for him.

"So...what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Just walking around and thinking about life," she said. "What about you?"

"The same. If life could just be as simple as when I was a kid, then it would be so cool," he said.

"That's just what I was thinking," said Miranda.

"Why isn't it? I'm not sure," said Gordo.

"Well! Isn't that a surprise? You, David Gordon, not sure about something? Tell me you're kidding!" exclaimed Miranda while laughing.

Gordo shook his head. "I guess it could be contributed to that we're in our adolescent years, and things change. Feelings change, etcetera."

"Man, is that right," mumbled Miranda. "Why couldn't we just find some way to skip these years? If I could skip high school and college, that would be cool."

"We just learn more through these years," said Gordo. "Gosh, I can't believe Lizzie's going after all this time."

"Yeah, you've known each other for such a long time," Miranda said.

"I'm gonna miss her," said Gordo.

"You know what? You've got to tell her that. You should let her know. She'd appreciate it," said Miranda, not even thinking that Gordo might not know that Miranda knows who "the girl" he likes is.

"Thanks. I'll do that. It's just going to be the two of us," said Gordo, "after Lizzie's gone."

"Yeah, the two amigos. I can't believe it. At least we'll be able to see her once in a while. It's not like we'll never see her again. She doesn't live half away across the globe. I guess what really bothers me though, is that we can't hang out over the weekends or anything. If I have a problem, I can't just run to her house," said Miranda.

"She's always been here. It's weird to think that she won't be," mumbled Gordo.

"But she'll be here in spirit, and right here in our hearts," said Miranda.

"Wow, that was kind of poetic almost," laughed Gordo.

Miranda shrugged. "I miss her already."

"At least we'll have each other," said Gordo.

Miranda felt herself blush a little, but wasn't sure why. "Yeah," she replied.

Then things were silent for a few minutes. It was a silence that felt awkward for Miranda.

"Well," said Gordo, "I'd better go now, it's getting to be dinner time." Then, after he got of the teeter-totter, he began to walk away.

"Wait, Gordo!" exclaimed Miranda rising from the teeter-totter. He turned around. "You're such a great guy, Gordo. No matter what happens, don't ever change yourself to suit other people. You rock just the way you are."

"Thanks," he said smiling. Then he waved and left.

"Bye," whispered Miranda. She didn't know exactly why she decided to tell him that, but she felt that he needed to hear it. He was a really great guy, and she thought that too many people tried to be someone they weren't. She liked Gordo just the way he is, maybe even if he didn't quite meet other people's expectations.

Maybe she did like Gordo more than a friend. Maybe Miranda had some feelings that were there all along that she just discovered. She brushed some hair from her face and started walking home. She felt sad. She thought that maybe she liked Gordo, but she was sure Gordo didn't feel the same way about her. Gordo liked Lizzie, but Lizzie didn't appear to like Gordo the same way. Miranda felt like punching a wall. But, she thought that there was only one thing that she could do: she would brush off her feelings, and get Lizzie to think more about Gordo. She was sure that if Lizzie would think more about Gordo, then she would fall in love with him. Miranda would play matchmaker, and get the two together. The only problem was, that she only had less than a summer to do it.

A/N: And I forgot to apologize that if there are mistakes, please forgive me. Here's the 5th chapter and I'm gonna upload more now. Maybe you'll see the newly written chapter 11 today! In the mean time, please drop me a lone and let me know what you think so far. Thanks!