I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE.

Chapter Three

That Friday afternoon, Kelly's boyfriend, Matt, who could drive, took Kelly and Hailey to the Digital Bean for something refreshing after they saw a movie. While Kelly and Matt were being all lovey-dovey towards each other while they were waiting for their non fat latte (Kelly) and Mocha Freeze (Matt), Hailey looked around to see if she saw anyone she knew. It had been three days since she talked to Gordo about the whole carpooling thing, and Hailey had been fairly unsuccessful in her search. Not only did most of the upperclassmen intimidate her, but also everyone else seemed to already "be taken."

It looked like it would be another year on the bus, or at least until she found someone in one of her classes.

As soon as she got her drink, Hailey went to her favorite table in the place…near the window next to the entrance. She wasn't paying much attention as she was fishing through her purse as she headed for the table when oops! Hailey ran into someone, and this caused her to spill her hot chocolate all over her white shirt.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the person that ran into her said. She noticed it was a guy she'd never seen before as he hurried and handed her a few paper napkins.

Hailey, a little mad because of the embarrassment factor, shook her head as she accepted the napkins, "It's okay," she started wiping the shirt. She held the shirt away from her, as the hot chocolate was, by definition, HOT.

"Um," the guy asked, trying to figure out if there was anything to do to help her, as the napkins didn't do much, "Andrew, you got your soccer jersey today, didn't you?"

It was then that Hailey noticed that the guy wasn't alone. With the guy was a younger guy, who Hailey assumed was his brother, who, although he didn't seemed too thrilled with what he knew was about to happen, said, "Yeah. Give me your keys."

"I'm fine," Hailey insisted, "I'm going home soon, anyway."

The guy shook his head as he dug into his pockets for his keys and handed them to his brother, "No, it's fine," he said, as Andrew went out the door, "Believe me, you'll be miserable holding that shirt like that after five minutes. Besides, the kid has a brand new shirt that he won't need for another three or four weeks. He can afford to give it up for a few days."

Hailey smiled, "Thanks." She noticed his accent, which revealed that he wasn't from around here…he had sort of this southern-meets-city accent that wasn't too heavy, but it was enough to be noticeable.

A moment later, Andrew reappeared, holding a gray jersey with black lettering. He presented the shirt to Hailey and said that he was going to go ahead and order. Hailey accepted the shirt, disappeared into the bathroom, and reappeared two minutes later with the new shirt. It fit her perfectly. Andrew's hormones hadn't quite kicked in and he wore a medium shirt size. On the front of the jersey, it read, "North Hill Ridge Youth League," and the back displayed his number and "WEST" printed above the number.

When she reappeared, she noticed the guy and his brother were waiting for whatever they ordered. Before she could walk up to him to ask him how to return it, Kelly appeared, "Hey! Where'd you go?" she asked and then looked at Hailey's wardrobe, "hey, were you wearing that shirt when we came in?"

"No, I had to change," Hailey said, then she explained what happened, "I guess that's what I get for wanting to drink hot chocolate in the summer."

"Do you want the rest of mine? I mean, I won't drink it all," Kelly offered.

"No, I'm good," Hailey said, peering over to make sure that the owner of the shirt was still there, "This isn't my shirt and I don't want to take any chances and ruin the poor guy's soccer uniform."

Kelly shrugged, "Well, come on! Let's sit down! I only have an hour until my mom wants me to come. I have to finish up some reading."

"I'll be there in a minute," Hailey said, "I need to find out how to give this guy his shirt back."

"Okay."

Kelly sat down with Matt while Hailey went to the counter, where the brothers were just now getting their drinks and cookies. The only guy turned and when he saw Hailey again he said, "Whoa! I almost ran into you again!"

Hailey smiled, "Thank you for the shirt. How can I get it back to you?"

"Um…" he said, thinking about it, "where do you live? If I could get it from you tomorrow or Sunday or sometime next week, that would be great."

"Okay," Hailey said, and she gave him her address and phone number.

"I'm Hailey, by the way," she said, "you know, just in case when you call, someone else picks up. Ask for Hailey."

The guy nodded, then he realized he'd not introduced himself, "I'm Jake."

"And I'm Andrew," Andrew said, feeling a little awkward. This was his shirt they were dealing with, after all.

Hailey smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"I'll see you in a few days," Jake said, waving as he and Andrew started for the exit.

Once they were safely outside, Andrew proceeded to speak up, "Who do you think you are? You can't just offer some random girl MY brand NEW shirt just because SHE ran into YOU."

"I'm sorry, but what did you want me to do? I knew we had an extra shirt and that hers was messed up. She's going to give it back."

"Yeah, well why couldn't you have just offered her your own shirt if you were so determined to help?"

"Because I've been wearing this shirt since last night. Besides, that would leave me without a shirt."

Andrew sighed as Jake unlocked the door to his Jeep and he let himself in on the passenger side, "If something happens to the shirt, you're paying for it."

"Okay, fine," Jake said, "I'll be responsible."

Jake started the car and they were on their way home.

In the meantime, Hailey walked back to her friends and sat down. "Did you know that guy?" Kelly asked.

"No," Hailey said, "Why? Did you?"

"I've never seen him before in my life. He must be new," Kelly said, then she shrugged, "the older one is kind of cute. I don't know if I'd accept a shirt from a stranger, but at least he looks normal."

"Okay…" Hailey said, not knowing what else she could say. Kelly had been known to say things that which the only appropriate response was along the same lines as what she just said.

After they finished with their drinks, they left the Digital Bean. Hailey was dropped off first and when she went inside, the first person she saw was Gordo, who was in the living room, watching TV. "Hey! How was the movie?" He called, after he heard the door open."

"It was okay," she called back, and then went to him to see what he was up to.

"Nothing spectacular? Just okay? Three out of five stars? One thumb up?" Gordo mused, as he always did when it came to movies.

"Well, it was nothing you'd be interested in, as it was a chick flick. I thought it was cute, but nothing too special."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yep."

"Are you ready for the test tomorrow?"

Hailey nodded, "I was born to be ready."

"Awesome. I'm getting you up at seven. I don't want to leave a minute after eight. It's California. It's hot. I may love you, but I really don't want to be at the DMV half the day."

"Fine," She walked into the room more to see what he was watching, "What is this?"

"Oh, some Lifetime movie a friend of mine produced. You can change it if you want. Here, get the remote."

Hailey walked over to the bookshelf next to the TV to get the remote.

"Is that a new shirt?" Gordo asked.

"No, It's not mine. I had to borrow it because I spilled coffee all over my other shirt," Hailey said and she handed him the remote.

"Who is this 'West' kid?" Gordo asked, recognizing the name, although he wasn't sure how. Besides, "West" is a fairly popular name.

"A guy who was in the Digital Bean when I was there. I think they just moved here."

Gordo raised his eyebrow, "A guy, huh? Should I be worried?"

Hailey smirked, "I don't know. Does it worry you that I borrow a shirt from a kid that couldn't be older than thirteen?"

Gordo relaxed a little, "I'm not going to receive a random call tonight from some crazed mother demanding his son's shirt after she sees he's come home shirtless, am I?"

Hailey laughed, "I doubt it. He wasn't wearing it at the time. It was in his brother's car. His brother is the one who offered it to me. He's the one I bumped into."

Gordo shook his head disbelievingly, "I don't think I'll ever understand teenagers. I didn't understand them when I was one, and I don't think I'm about to try. If its not drugs, its drinking, and if its not drinking, its boys, and if its not boys…its…taking a shirt from a random stranger. I'm perplexed…"

"Well, while you deal with your perplexity, I'm going to be upstairs. Call me when dinner is ready," she said, and she headed towards her room.

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That Sunday, the day after Hailey took and PASSED her written test, thus giving her a permit, Hailey was working out her wardrobe for the next day when the phone rang. She picked it up and so did Aunt Roberta. "Hi. May I please speak to Hailey?" a Jake asked.

"I got it," she said, referring to her Aunt. She waited until she heard a click before she spoke up, "Hey. I was wondering when you were going to call. The jersey is ready."

"Awesome. We told my mom that it was coming next practice and I didn't realize that his next practice is this afternoon."

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling bad, "I didn't want you to lie about it."

"No, its okay. I'll come by after I drop Andrew off at practice. Give me time, though, because I haven't lived here that long and I don't know the roads that well."

"I could drop it off," she offered, "Where do you live?"

"No, no. It's not a problem. Really---I think you live really close to me, actually. I'll be there in about a half an hour."

"Okay. The shirt will be waiting."

"Thanks."

She hung up the phone. A little over a half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Hailey started hopping down the stairs, but unfortunately, Gordo beat her to the door. Once it was opened, he asked the young man who was at the other side, "may I help you?"

"Uhh," he said, looking around, feeling a little uncomfortable, "Does Hailey live here?"

"I got it," Hailey said, appearing next to Gordo. She smiled at Jake, "hey."

Gordo didn't go anywhere, though. Hailey looked at him questioningly and he just shrugged, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Hailey blushed and then rolled her eyes, realizing the only clean way to get out of this was to go ahead and introduce the guy, "Okay. Uncle David, this is Jake. Jake, this is my Uncle David." Jake held out his hand and impressed, Gordo shook the young man's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jake," Gordo said.

Before they had a chance to get too chummy, Hailey handed him the jersey, which was neatly folded on the stairs, "Here you go. It's washed and just like new. Thank you."

It was then that Gordo realized what was going on as Jake took the shirt, "Thanks," he said. Nonetheless, Gordo was still curious. For reasons he couldn't explain, Jake made him a little nervous. It was something about his face…something about the way he talked. It was something…

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I hope you still enjoy this…I should be updating sometime within the next seven days. Exams are this week, though, so we'll see…review…