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

Chapter 10

NO POV:

Lizzie McGuire stepped outside of her door to notice a package labeled in her name. She wondered whom it was from, since it had no return address. She rolled her eyes; "It's probably Grandma sending some childish item again." She went up to her room, closed the door and opened the package with some scissors. Inside she found various items that were different memories. She pulled out many pictures and cards, slowly looking at each one. Then she pulled out Gordo's note and read it aloud:

Lizzie,

I don't know what happened, and I don't know what's wrong with me. Here is a gift of all the memories we have had in the past. I can't live with memories that hurt too much. I don't understand how you could just throw our friendship away. Now I can't live with these memories.

Gordo

"Oh my gosh," said Lizzie. "I had no idea that he felt this way." Tears filled her eyes, and for once, she almost started to think about Gordo's feelings. But, she didn't want to swallow her pride. There was something inside of her that still made her angry with Gordo and Miranda. She put everything back in the brown box and shoved it into her closet. "I can shut memories away too," thought Lizzie.

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Miranda walked to Gordo's house and rang on the doorbell. Gordo's mom answered. "Hi, Miranda," she said, "Gordo's in his room. He hasn't come out very much though. He says that he's not feeling very well. I give him tea and medicine, but it doesn't seem to help."

"Thanks, Mrs. Gordon," said Miranda. She stepped inside the house and went to Gordo's bedroom. She gently knocked on the door.

"Come in, it's open," mumbled a voice that was almost inaudible. She slowly opened the door and quietly walked in. She saw Gordo lying on his side on his bed, facing the window. Miranda noticed many changes to his room. Many items were gone that had been there at her previous visits....pictures and small mementoes of various times in his life were all gone.

"Gordo," said Miranda, "it's me. I tried to call you yesterday, but no one answered. I was wondering if you were ok."

"I'm fine," said Gordo in a stern voice. Miranda sat next to Gordo on his bed, and laid her head next to his.

"I'm sorry that things didn't go as planned," said Miranda quietly.

"Yeah," said Gordo. Miranda just laid by him, silent for a while, waiting for him to say something. Minutes later, Gordo said, "Don't worry about it, Miranda. It was just a stupid dream. I knew it wouldn't happen and you knew it wouldn't happen. You're just too nice to accept that as a fact. You didn't want to give up hope that wasn't there in the first place. I don't know what I was thinking. I screwed up big time."

"You're not upset with me?" asked Miranda unsurely.

"No, Miranda, I'm not upset with you. How could I be upset with you? You, being one of my best friends. Lizzie...I'm not upset with her either. I'm just sad that I even was so dumb in the first place," said Gordo.

"What do you mean? How were you dumb? Cuz right here before me, I don't see a dumb person. There is not one part of you, Gordo, that's dumb. You're one of the smartest, nicest, and the most fun person I know. I love to be around you. People who don't aren't worth it. So tell me, Gordo. How are you dumb?" asked Miranda.

"Everything Lizzie said about it being wrong that I might've wanted her as my girlfriend. She was right. I was in the wrong. I should've never done this...it just wrecked our friendship," said Gordo. He rolled over and sighed. Miranda could see that he had been crying. She saw it in his face. But he was crying internally more than externally.

"No, Gordo. That's where you are wrong. You weren't wrong...Lizzie is. Listen: there is nothing in the whole wide world with loving your best friend. What better person to marry than someone you're best friends with?" asked Miranda. "I don't want to hear anything otherwise from you, Gordo. Don't put yourself down like this! I never want to see you put yourself down. When you put yourself down, Gordo, you kill me. Do you want to kill me inside, Gordo?" Miranda looked Gordo dead in the eyes. A look of sorrow crept into Gordo's as he thought about what he had done to Miranda by saying something that hurt her.

"No, Miranda. I'd never want to hurt you...never in my whole life. I'm sorry, please forgive me," said Gordo meaningfully.

"Of course I forgive you. Just never talk that way about yourself again," said Miranda. She hated seeing her friend so down and glum. She wished that there was something more that she could do to make him feel worlds better.

They spent the whole rest of the afternoon just sitting there in each other's presence. Saying some words, but mostly keeping things silent. They just enjoyed being together with someone who cared.

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"Lizzie?" asked Mrs. McGuire one day while she was washing the dishes with Lizzie. Mrs. McGuire soaped and rinsed them, while Lizzie would dry them and carefully place them into their proper places in the cabinets.

"Yes, mom," responded Lizzie.

"How come you don't spend much time with Miranda and Gordo lately? You usually spend heaps of time with them, especially during the summer," said Mrs. McGuire.

"Well...they're on summer vacation," said Lizzie. Mrs. McGuire eyed Lizzie suspiciously.

"Hmm, that's really interesting! Because I saw Miranda's mom today at the super market. Wouldn't you know about that? Going on vacation without their parents?" asked Mrs. McGuire.

"Oh...yeah, they must've gotten back. Oh yeah, I forgot. They've been back. They've just been really busy with camp and all," lied Lizzie.

"Oh, camp...that's interesting. Miranda's mom told me different. It seems to me that they have no plans for the summer," said Mrs. McGuire.

"She must've forgotten, mom," said Lizzie rolling her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure that's it. I'm sure the fact that you two haven't had much contact for a while can't be due to the fact that you two haven't been getting along very well, right?" asked Mrs. McGuire.

"Right," said Lizzie, not knowing what trap her mom had laid for her.

"Ah, so it is as I suspect. Honey, you know that you can talk with me any time! If you and your friends aren't getting along, I'm here to talk about it!" exclaimed Mrs. McGuire. "You don't have to hide anything from me. I'm your mother you know. Sooner or later I will find out what you've been up to."

"Ok, mom. We had a little fight. No big deal," said Lizzie.

"Then why haven't you seen them?" asked Mrs. McGuire.

"Oh, I dunno," said Lizzie. Mrs. McGuire nodded her head while thinking that her daughter had something that she wasn't going to tell her just yet.

"I hope this move isn't going to be too hard on you and your brother," said Mrs. McGuire.

"Just think," said Lizzie, "this might be the last time that we wash these dishes for a while. Pretty soon these will have to be packed up too."

"I'm going to miss this house. You spent most of your childhood running through these rooms," said Mrs. McGuire, her voice saddened. "And then the Gordons'...they've been our neighbors forever. You and Gordo grew up together. You became instant best friends from the moment you met. I always hoped that maybe you'd live near each other forever. But, your dad just couldn't turn down this job in Colorado. It's nice to think though, that you and Gordo will be friends your whole life. You have this...this special bond. I don't know what it is, but you two seem happy around each other all the time. It's always been that way."

Lizzie thought for a second and then rolled her eyes. "Well, it used to be that way, until he had to go and ruin it by going on a date with me," she thought.

"I have a lot of things in my room packed up," said Lizzie changing the subject. "Almost everything is safe and secure in a box. Are we going to go out and visit the new house any at all?"

"Well, your dad is going to. We all can't afford to go see it right now though. When we move, we'll be surprised. I heard it's a nice house though. Lizzie, if it would help any, soon after we get there and get some things organized, you could invite Miranda and Gordo to come spend a few days. You two can paint your room any color, and do whatever you want with it," said Mrs. McGuire. She wanted to do all that she could to make the move an easier transition for Lizzie.

"Maybe," said Lizzie. "But don't you think that would be near impossible?"

"No," said Mrs. McGuire. "I can talk to their parents if you want."

"Why don't we wait for a while?" asked Lizzie.

"If you want. I was just thinking that it would be nicer for you if you had your friends," said Mrs. McGuire thoughtfully.

"I can do without them," thought Lizzie. "I'll just make some new friends."

Lizzie spent time after time, day after day, throughout the whole summer, ignoring Miranda and Gordo whenever possible. During family get togethers, Lizzie would become "sick" and have to go to bed. Mrs. McGuire became suspicious after a while, and thought about talking to Lizzie about it. But Lizzie avoided any conversation on that matter when she could.