Author's note / disclaimer / etc. : ya'll know I still don't anything, right? LOL…because I think by now, it must be obvious! But, just in case you haven't gotten the point--I don't own anything! Now, I'm glad I cleared that up. Anyway…here is chapter three. I'm so very thankful for all your reviews. I must say, ya'll are some cool ass people! I love you all! Do you even understand how sweet you guys are? I hope you know that! :-) Now go! Read and review! LOL :-D

Chapter 03: Kate's Party

The party at Kate's was well underway by the time that Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo made it to the party. Miranda had insisted to her best friends that the only way to show up to a party is to be there fashionably late. Therefore, they were not to show up anytime before nine.

It was nine-thirty when they got there, and Kate's place was just about packed. The first person to great them was after entering the party was, of course, Kate--the hostess.

"Oh Lizzie, you're finally here! C'mon, I have to introduce you to this guy Jake," she told the other blonde, while holding a red cup in her right hand and grabbing Lizzie's wrist with her other. "He's so cute, and so your type!"

Lizzie giggled as she was dragged off and waved to her best friends. "I-I'll see you guys in a bit!" Next thing they knew she had disappeared into the crowd.

Miranda and Gordo simply just looked at each other, shook their heads, and then laughed. They knew that if Lizzie said 'I'll see you later' it most likely meant that they'll end up seeing her again at the end of the party. So, they knew to only take her words lightly.

Both decided to make their way through the crowd and see what the party had to offer. The Sanders' place was huge, so the two had a lot of "sight-seeing" to do of the house. They both had been there many times before, accompanying Lizzie to the latest "Kate-party" that she had to be at, but the house seemed to change every time. The family would always seem to get some new "toy" or redecorate the house one more time.

"Oh! I hear music," said Miranda as they pushed through the crowd. "C'mon Gordo!" She pulled him by the wrist and dragged him over to where she heard the music.

He nodded his head, as his best friend dragged him to the back of the house, groaning, "yeah…yeah…"

The back of the house consisted of the den where many of the kids were hanging around listening to music and conversating. The mood of the den was a bit different than that of the rest of the house. Everyone there seemed to be a lot more mellow and not so focused on typical teenage anarchy while partying. Gordo showed his appreciation by smiling as he entered the space.

"Oh, this is much better!" Miranda remarked as she bounced to the beat of the music. "I like this…"

"Oh, finally! Chair!" Gordo said upon spotting the first empty seat in the house. Just as he was about to sit, the brunette grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, no, no! Gordo, this is a party! I can't have you sitting the whole time!" she insisted. "Come on and dance!"

He frowned at her and rolled his eyes. "Miranda…I don't dance."

"Oh please Gordo, everyone can dance! I've seen you dance before!"

"No--Miranda…I mean it. I. Can't. Dance," he told her firmly. He lowered his body to finally sit down, until his best friend once again grabbed his arm.

"Well Gordo…I'm not going to have you sitting there all night, so…" She pulled him up and told him, "C'mon Mr. 'I can't dance,' you're going to learn how."

"Miranda…" he groaned.

"Shut up, and go along with it."

"Okay…okay…"

After those words, Gordo began what he thought was a simulation of actual dance moves. Miranda didn't move, she just simply stood there, watching her best friend try his best at something that he wasn't exactly good at. One would think someone as smart as him would be able to figure out the "art of dance."

"Um…" Miranda didn't exactly have encouraging words for her best friend.

Gordo glared at her with a blank expression. "What?"

"I…think you're in need of more help than I thought…"

"I told you Miranda…this isn't my thing. This isn't my music. I can't exactly get into it," he explained.

"No…no, no. Okay. Come…come. It isn't that hard," she told him, "you just need a little, guidance…that's all."

"A lot of guidance…"

"Gordo, shut up, and just listen to me," she told him firmly. He just shook his head and watched Miranda. "Okay…you're the guy, so it isn't that hard. There isn't much you have to do." Gordo looked at her with disagreement. "No, seriously… Okay. Look over there. You see Will over there? Rodriguez? He's not doing anything, he's just basically swaying from side to side…moving with the beat. And the girl…Sam, she's basically doing all the work! Simple as that."

"And I'm suppose to just do that? Stand around looking dumb, moving my shoulders side to side, while a girl shakes herself in front of me?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, yeah."

"Hmm. I could live with that…" he said while nodding his head. Miranda hit him lightly on the shoulder as she laughed.

"So now, care to dance?"

"Yeah, sure…why not," he laughed. She grabbed his hands and took him aside to where many of the other party-goers were dancing.

She stood in front of him, her back to him, and began shaking her hips to the beat. Moving them from side to side and thrusting slightly back and forth, she could tell that Gordo was still not quite sure what he was suppose to be doing.

"Put your hands on my waist Gordo," she told him, grabbing his hands and placing them just above her hips. "Now just move along with me. I have the beat."

His body began to tense up a bit as she began to slip her arms around his neck. All he could let out was a simple, "ah, um…" He was soon getting into the groove, but his brain was still lacking a response as to what to do.

Next thing either of them knew, a familiar voice interrupted their dancing. "Oh my God! Gordo, you're--dancing?" Lizzie exclaimed, surprised by what she saw her best friends doing.

The two stopped dancing and Miranda laughed, "wow Lizzie. Didn't think we'd see you back so soon! I was just teaching Gordo here how to get his 'groove' on."

Gordo laughed with a bit of embarrassment, having had to admit that he actually needed help in something. He stood there with his hands suddenly in his pockets, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah…"

"So guys…how are you all enjoying the party?" Lizzie asked.

Miranda folded her lips and took a quick look around the den and replied, "um, fun…"

"Whoa…Lizzie…is that beer?" Gordo asked, referring to the red cup in her right hand.

"Oh, this?" Lizzie laughed. "No…no. It's Coke. And I poured it myself. I don't exactly trust what gets put into these cups if I don't do it myself."

"What happened to that guy Kate wanted you to meet?" Miranda inquired.

Lizzie shook her head. "Jake? He was cute…but so not my type! I was upstairs with Kate, Ethan, and him…they were drinking beer, and I wasn't. Then they were smoking weed, and I, well, wasn't going to. So, I told them that I'll see them later."

"Sorry 'bout Jake," Gordo told her.

"Oh, it's okay. Trust me, there are plenty of other cute guys at this party," Lizzie giggled.

"I'll be right back guys, I think I'm going to get something to drink," Miranda said. "Gordo, want anything?" He shook his head. "Lizzie, refill?" She too shook her head. "Okay, I'll be back." She then slipped her way out of the den and tried her best to find her way to the kitchen through the crowd.

"Seems like you're having fun, huh Gordo?" commented Lizzie, while waiting for her other best friend to return.

"Yeah," he half-smiled. "It isn't as bad I thought it'd be." They both laughed.

"So, you wanna try out your new moves?" the blonde laughed.

Gordo shook his head. "I'm not really sure I'm quite that good yet Lizzie."

"Chicken!"

"No arguments there…" he laughed.

Suddenly their attention was turned to Miranda as she returned back from the kitchen. "Miranda…a beer?"

"One beer, no biggie," she told them. Both her best friends glared at her in disbelief. "Don't worry. I'm going to drink it slowly. You can't get drunk that way."

"Miranda…are you sure you want to be drinking? You drove here…" Gordo reminded her.

"C'mon guys. It's one beer. Lighten up," she told them. "You should go to the kitchen and get some Jell-O. They have a lot of it in these little cups…I had like six of them!"

Gordo and Lizzie looked at each other for a slight second and realized that Miranda was in for more than she bargained for. If she kept up at this rate, her night was going to end pretty soon, and she would join the many people who would inevitably wake up on the Sanders' lawn in the morning.

"Miranda--I don't think you understand that the Jell-O--"

Gordo was interrupted by a guy who slipped next to Miranda, putting his arm around her shoulder and telling her, "c'mon, let's dance…I'll get ya another beer…"

"Sure," Miranda responded as she stepped away from the group.

"Miranda--I don't think you should--"

Gordo was once again interrupted, this time by Miranda. "Lighten up Gordo!" she told him as she walked away with the random guy.

By midnight, Miranda had officially reached the prime status that many of the other party-goers were aiming for; she was drunk. But, of course, being drunk, she didn't realize what state she was in. She just seemed to have found herself having a better time than usual. She couldn't explain what her sudden change in attitude was, but her best friends knew exactly what had caused it.

"Whoa there Miranda…I-I really think you've had enough of that," Gordo told her as he took away her beer bottle and placed it on the floor. "Sit down…I'll get you out of here in just a bit…"

"Gordo, shut up, I'm fine… Now, give me back my drink," she told him, a bit irritated at the fact that he was trying to have her "fun" come to a halt.

Lizzie spoke up. "Miranda, you're drunk…and there are a lot of guys here who aren't exactly in their right of mind right now either…we're just trying to look out for you."

"We don't want anything to happen to you."

"Ha," Miranda laughed. "What would you care…Gordo? You don't care about me, all you care about is Lizzie…"

"Don't say that," Lizzie insisted. "You know that's not true."

"God Lizzie," Miranda said with a sarcastic laugh. "Are you too blind to see? It's you. It's always you. Ever since I could remember I've watched Gordo fawn over you. And it took you so long to even realize what had been right in front of you. And all this time…I've wished…I've wished…I've wished it was me. I've wished it was me that he would look the way he looks at you. Do you even know what it's like to be invisible to someone? That's what I've been…invisible. No matter, how much, I pray that he would look my way…I know it's not going to happen! I mean, last night…he kissed me! And he was probably thinking of you. Of you! God…I can't take being the 'third wheel' or that 'other friend' anymore! I hate it!" By that point, Miranda's face was cupped in her hands and he face was completely red. Tears were streaming down her face, and she couldn't control her emotions at all by then. It was then obvious that her emotions got the best of her with the help of the alcohol. "God…I can't take this anymore…I'm leaving…I-I-I got to get out of here…now…" She pushed through the crows of people and tried to make her way out the door.

"What's her problem?" Kate asked as Miranda pushed by her, not having witnessed the "event."

Gordo took a deep breath and tried to keep in mind that his best friend was drunk, and most likely did not know what she was talking about. He then turned to Lizzie and told her, "c'mon, we have to catch Miranda before she gets in her car and something happens to her."

She agreed and they made their way to the exit, pushing through a crowd of teenagers trying their best to party while having no actual room to move. When they reached the door they found Miranda sitting on the porch steps, with her head against the framing.

"Miranda?" Lizzie questioned as her and Gordo got closer to her. She got no response. "Miranda?" Again, there was no response. By the time they were facing her, they realized why she wouldn't respond. "She's out…"

"Take the keys, I'm gonna get her into the car," Gordo told the blonde. She grabbed the keys while he lifted his best friend off the porch steps. He carried her into the car and settled her into the front seat. He then got into the car himself, having Lizzie already in the backseat. "Lizzie, let me borrow your cell-phone."

"Who are you going to call at this time?" she asked as she handed him the small silver flip-phone.

"Miranda's parents…" Lizzie gave him an unsure look, but didn't say anything because she knew that he most likely knew what he was doing. "Hey…Mr. Sanchez? Yeah, it's me, Gordo….I'm fine…I'm just calling because I didn't want you guys to get worried… After the party Miranda came over and fell asleep on the couch…Oh, she's fine, she was just really tired…Yeah, I understand…I'm just calling because I didn't want you and Mrs. Sanchez to worry…Yeah…Okay…No problem…Bye…" He hung up and passed the phone over to Lizzie once again. "Thanks."

"I can't believe this night…" she remarked as her head hit the head-rest.

The drive was made in silence. Emotions were still running high from the entire day, and neither knew what to say to make the other to feel better. Gordo dropped Lizzie off at her house and then brought Miranda into his living room and settled her in on the couch. For awhile, he watched her sleep, making sure that she wouldn't wake up and become alarmed. But, soon enough, he fell asleep himself with many memories of the day running through his mind.

Soon the morning came and Miranda was hit with a headache to compliment her night. She looked around for a few minutes, trying to take a grasp as to where she was. She then noticed Gordo sitting across from her fully awake.

"Oh God…Gordo…did I say, or do, or really say anything stupid last night?" was the first thing she asked upon running the many possibilities of what could have happened in her head.

He just smiled at her and said, "no. No. Nothing at all."