Abuhin – Your questions will finally be answered, lol.

A/N – "Thoughts"

Chapter 11 – Senior Skip Day

The Friday after Miranda's birthday was Senior Skip Day, so the group decided to spend the day at the beach. Since it was a weekday, the beach was basically deserted with the exception of a few vacationers and some people with small children.

Lizzie and Miranda were sitting on their blankets watching their boyfriends, who were hitting a volleyball back and forth with Ethan and Kate a little ways out in the water. Turning her head, Lizzie looked at Miranda, "You still going with your little surprise?"

"Yea," Miranda said without taking her eyes off the guys, Gordo in particular. "That afternoon, before we get our hair done, I'm gonna drop his car off, saying I'm dropping it off at school, and drop off a change of clothes for both of us in the room. I'm not sure yet but probably right after last dance, I'm gonna surprise him with the room and we'll head up."

"How are you gonna get his clothes?"

"A few days before, I'm gonna go over to his house when he's not there and tell his parents I'm missing something and I think I left it in his room. I'll go up with my bookbag and grab them."

After shaking her head a little, Lizzie grinned at her, "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yea I do," Miranda said looking over at her. "I really think it's time to take the next step. Kate told me its awkward but with the right guy its so worth it. There's no doubt in my mind that Gordo is the right guy."

"So you're gonna make our little Gordo a man," Lizzie joked and they both started cracking up.

Suddenly a loud shriek grabbed their attention and looking over they watched Larry carrying Claire over his shoulder towards the water.

"Put me down Larry!" Claire yelled at her now boyfriend. Lizzie and Miranda were now laughing hysterically.

Larry walked out into the water a little ways, and then when he was deep enough, he just fell forward, sending Claire and him underwater. Immediately, Claire stood up and pulled her wet hair back out of her face. She was angry and an evil smile spread across her face. The second Larry came back up, Claire tackled him and they started wrestling.

Lizzie stood up, "I'm gonna go in the water, you coming?"

"In a minute." Miranda watched Lizzie walk down the beach and Gordo walk out of the water. As they passed each other, Lizzie said something to him and Gordo blushed a little and grinned as he said something back.

"Hey beautiful," Gordo said as he squatted in front of her.

"How's my little fish?" Miranda teased.

Gordo grinned, "He'd be a lot better if you'd come in too."

Miranda nodded and he watched her stand up. She was wearing a dark gray one piece with a light gray waist wrap.

Taking off the wrap from around her waist, she looked at Gordo who was still squatting and looking down at the ground. "You coming Gordo?" she asked walking away a few steps.

"Give me a minute," was all he said, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Miranda looked at him confused for a moment but then suddenly realized what was happening. Walking back to him and bending down behind him, "Did I wake little Gordo up?" she whispered into his ear seductively.

"Not helping," Gordo growled.

Miranda giggled as she leaned in and started to kiss his neck while running her hands across his chest.

Gordo let out a frustrated growl, "Run."

Letting out an excited yell, Miranda literally jumped away from him. She immediately started running towards the water, laughing all the way. Gordo spun around and took off, sprinting full speed after her. Just as they reached the waters edge, Gordo tackled Miranda into the water.

Miranda quickly got back up and tried to get away from Gordo's grasp but he scooped her up, walked a little farther in and then tossed her back into the water.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, playing around on the beach and in the water. On there way back home, they stopped to get ice cream. As they sat around the ice cream shop, the larger group split into smaller groups of two, the couples.

As Gordo sipped his milkshake, he smiled as he watched Miranda devouring her sundae. Glancing a few tables over, he watched Larry and Claire for a few minutes. He grinned a little as he watched the couple. He was really surprised that they were still going out and that they seemed to be happy. Gordo was glad his friend had found somebody and Claire really seemed to care about him.

When they all hung out as a group, Claire really didn't say anything and just kept to herself. But when they were off by themselves, it was really evident that Claire really liked him. She was seriously trying to stop being such a bitch and saying things behind people's backs.

One night after a party, Gordo was giving Claire a ride home when she told him something that really stuck with him. "When I realized I'd fallen for Larry, I couldn't understand it. But someone told me, you can't control who you fall in love with. I knew if I wanted to even have a shot at Larry, I had to try and be nice. At first I thought it was gonna be impossible but I realized that if I had a reason to change, it makes the change a lot easier."

Gordo looked back at Miranda and he tried to fight back a laugh. Miranda was licking her spoon and had a huge smile on her face; she looked like a little girl in complete bliss.

Miranda looked back at him confused, "What?" she asked putting the spoon down

Shaking his head, he laughed, "Nothing." Smiling, he continued to look at her. "Can I ask you something?"

Putting down her spoon, "Of course."

"Uh…How far have you ever, umm, gone…with a guy?" he stumbled over his words. He watched her eyes go wide, like he stumbled into something, but she quickly wiped the look off of her face.

"Umm, the farthest I've gone is second base," Miranda said, as she talked her voice cracked slightly. "I've only really had one other serious boyfriend and there's no way in hell, I'm doing something that intimate with someone I'm just casually dating." When Gordo started chuckling under his breath at the image of Miranda and Larry making out, she glared at him and then an evil smile spread across her face. "Ok big shot, what about you?"

Suddenly Gordo started choking for a moment and Miranda watched in amusement as the tips of Gordo's ears turned red. "Well…we…uhh…"

"Come on Romeo. How far did you and Lizzie ever get?" she asked with a smirk playing on her lips.

Letting out a breath, he ran a hand through his hair. "Third base."

While she had teased him and at first was curious, actually hearing it, she wasn't sure weather to smile or throw up. Trying hard to push the mental image aside, "Gordo, if we hadn't gotten interrupted on your birthday, would we have really gone all the way?"

"Truthfully?" Gordo asked and Miranda nodded, "I would love to sleep with you but like I said that night, you call the shots. We'll only go as far as you're ready for."

Miranda leaned over and kissed him. "Promise me one thing."

"Sure."

"We'll never go into detail about our other experiences again, ok?" she said seriously and then quickly added, "I don't think my stomach can handle any of the details of how you and Lizzie got busy."

"Oh, as opposed to you and Tudgeman," he teased back and they both started cracking up.

A little later; as Gordo drove back home with Miranda, he glanced over at her. He grinned as he saw her asleep with her head resting against her seatbelt. "Poor girl wore herself out today," he joked to himself.

He knew Miranda was stressing over her college acceptances and he tried to get her mind off it, if just for a day. In addition to getting accepted, they were both worried about what would happen to them. Especially if they did end up going to school on opposite coasts.

Gordo knew it be hard but he was also very willing to at least try and make it work. He cared about Miranda and their relationship too much to just give up on her and it. There'd be no one he could ever met that would relate to him like she did.

His love for her wasn't some teenager lust but the real thing. He wasn't really sure if he was in love with Lizzie, he defiantly cared deeply for her but he wasn't sure if he'd call it real love. But with Miranda, he knew. "Love isn't so much about age but the people involved."