Gordo opened the front door to reveal a very loud and very crowded house. People were packed in from wall to wall, standing shoulder to shoulder, talking and drinking from plastic red cups.

"Guys, I know this sounds stupid, but what are we supposed to do once we get in there?" asked Miranda. "I mean, it's too loud to talk, and too crowded to dance."

Gordo looked at Miranda and laughed. "Well, we go in there and do what everyone else is doing." Miranda looked at him expectantly. "You know, we just...chill."

Lizzie laughed. "Just 'chill'?" she asked, making quote marks in the air with her fingers. "Better lay off the slang, Gordo, you might hurt yourself.

"Hey Gordon, what's up!"

The three turned around. Paul – tall and handsome with straight brown hair, wide shoulders and an even wider smile – was walking across the driveway towards them.

"Hey, what's going on, man?" Gordo replied, walking past the girls to greet Paul. He heard Lizzie whisper to Miranda behind him, "he is too cute!" and had to try hard not to scowl.

Paul shook Gordo's hand, and then turned and smiled at Lizzie and Miranda. "Ladies, glad to see you could make it."

Miranda smiled back. "Wouldn't miss it."

Paul looked past the three and through the front door. "Jeez, looks really crowded in there. Why don't you guys come around back to the patio? It's not so crowded or loud back there, so..." He looked at Miranda and smiled. "...We could talk, get to know each other better." Miranda tried in vain not to blush.

"Sounds good," said Gordo, and they followed Paul to the back of the house.

One hour and a dozen cups of very strong-tasting punch had finally helped Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda to loosen up and enjoy the party. The girls had even gone inside to dance to a few of their favorite songs that happened to come on, but for the most part they stayed with Gordo and Paul at the patio table next to the pool, talking. Lizzie had been telling Paul about some of their finer moments in middle school.

"...and Gordo just kept pushing buttons on his brain model thingy, until it finally exploded. He got this nasty brain-gunk everywhere – all over himself, the teacher, everything! It was awful."

Everyone laughed except Gordo, who sat there looking completely distracted. Paul pushed him lightly on the shoulder. "Lighten up, Gordon. Exploding brains happens to the best of us."

Gordo shook his head and looked up. "Huh? What?"

Paul laughed. "Nevermind, man."

Gordo stood up abruptly and looked at Lizzie. "Sorry, I'll be right back. I have to..." He walked away without finishing his sentence.

Paul looked at Gordo as he walked away. "Is he always this weird?"

The girls laughed. "He's not weird," said Lizzie. "He's just...Gordo."

Inside the house, Gordo found his way into the bathroom and closed the door. He leaned against the wall and looked into the mirror. Alright, he thought to himself. Lizzie didn't freak out or anything when you mentioned second chances – she smiled. That means she's up for it. All you have to do is tell her how you feel...

But the thought of pouring his heart out to Lizzie was terrifying, made him queasy. Which was very bad considering how much punch he'd had, and considering he'd never had a drop of alcohol before. So before he could even finish thinking about pouring his heart out to Lizzie, he started pouring his stomach out into the sink.

Back outside, the girls were hanging on Paul's every word. He was telling them about the time he broke is arm snowboarding in Colorado.

"It wasn't too bad. It was only fractured in two places. Healed up in no time." He held out his two brawny arms and flexed them to prove his point.

"How long have you been snowboarding?" asked Miranda.

"I started when I was twelve, so...four years now." Paul picked up his cup to drink, but found it empty. Miranda, who hadn't taken her eyes of Paul for the past two hours, of course noticed.

"Do you want me to get you another drink?"

Paul smiled brightly at her. "Sure."

Miranda smiled back at him, picked up his cup, and walked giddily into the house. As she disappeared within the crowd of people inside, Paul got up and moved into the chair next to Lizzie, where Miranda had been.

"Lizzie, there's something I want to tell you."

"Gordo already told me – but don't tell him I told you. You like Miranda. Don't worry, she totally..."

"I like you, Lizzie," Paul interrupted as he took her hands in his. Lizzie's jaw dropped.

"But I thought..."

"I told Gordo that I like Miranda because I could tell that he likes you, and he wouldn't let you anywhere near me if he knew the truth." Paul let go Lizzie's hands and hung his head a little. "I don't get to talk to you much at school, so this was the only way I could think of to talk to you for more than five minutes – which is something I've really wanted to do for a while."

Despite her shock, Lizzie found Paul's efforts flattering. He'd gone through all this trouble just to talk to her. Wait a minute, she thought. Paul's "efforts" included lying to her two best friends, and making Miranda believe...But her thoughts were disrupted when her breath fell short as she looked up at Paul's face – his very handsome face – and saw the longing in his eyes. He once again took her hands in his.

"Lizzie, when I saw you in the hall on the first day of school, I knew that there never had been and there never would be a girl as beautiful as you at Hillridge High."

And when Paul kissed her, her heart beat so loudly that it drowned out everything: the music, the shouting, and the sound of footsteps as Gordo and Miranda walked back out into the patio.