Miranda's POV
"I'll have to say, college boys are highly overrated."
I was sitting in the diner with Brynn, and we were the first to get there after Lizzie called both of us and told us the plan.
"Half the time they worry about what their friends are going to think," I remarked, even though I had never had a college boyfriend.
"One time I asked him if I could go to his dorm room, Chris told me that his room had the exterminator in it," Brynn said. "Turns out he lived in the homosexual fraternity."
"You're kidding me," I said. "They actually have those?"
Brynn did not say anything in return, she just smiled with her tongue in her cheek.
Lizzie and Shana burst through the door, with Lizzie holding her cell phone to her ear. She flipped it shut with a very disappointed look on her face.
"Madison won't come. She thinks Nora might be here," Lizzie said. "That's not what she said, though. She said she and Jay needed to go over band stuff."
"What about Gordo?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.
"Amber won't let him," Shana added, and by the look on Lizzie's face, I just knew that there was something else.
All of the sudden, all eyes were on Lizzie.
"Liz...can I call you Liz?" Shana said in a witchy voice. "You really need to just let Gordo fly on his own, and I think it would be best if you didn't hang out at all anymore."
"Oh no she didn't," I said, probably matching Brynn's reaction as well.
"It's just...everything is so messed up," Lizzie said, and she bit her bottom lip. This only meant one thing-tears. "Madison won't hang out with us cause she thinks Nora will be there, everyone hates each other, Amber is ruining everything, and I am not going to make the cheerleading squad..." She hung her head down and just cried.
"And it's only the first day of school," Shana remarked, and Brynn stomped on her foot to get her to be quiet. "Owww...what did you do that for?"
Shana did not get the picture, so both Brynn and I gave her death glares to get her to shut her mouth.
I put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me. Lizzie looked terrible with her mascara running down her face, and her lip gloss smeared.
"Everything is going to be okay. First of all, you are an awesome gymnast, so you will make it over her. Gordo will get fed up with her, and you two will be friends again. Last of all," I said, holding up a finger. "I can't make any promises."
Lizzie just continued to sob.
"And we are going to be the most awesome high school freshman Hilridge has ever seen," Brynn said.
"Exactly. We kick ass," Shana stated.
"And Amber can't touch that," I remarked, and we finally saw a smile from Lizzie.
"You guys are great," she said, wiping the tears from underneath her eyes. "I love you guys."
"We know," Brynn said, hugging Lizzie. "We are the best."
Shana joined in the hug, and so do I. We had a huge group hug, and we all laughed.
"Still...I wish Madison would come," Lizzie said. "And Gordo, Jay, and Allie-"
"She has practice until four. If she could come, she would be here," Shana interjected.
"I know. And I wish that Kate, Nora, Claire, Ethan, and James could come too and we could all be friends again."
Brynn agreed, nodding her head, but Shana and I just gave each other a look.
"Lizzie, we still have some issues to work out with them. It might be awhile, but we can't forgive them just yet," Shana said, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"I know. But promise me that you guys are working on it?" Lizzie asked, and stuck out her pinky for a pinky promise.
"Promise," I replied, and both Shana and I took turns doing the pinky promise.
"Guys, I can just feel it. This is going to be an awesome year," Brynn remarked, and not a one of us disagreed.
Lizzie's mom gave us all rides home, but as I walked into my kitchen, and heard my parents wrapped up in a screaming match, I knew that I better go somewhere else. I hated when they fought, and I usually avoided going home when one of them was in a bad mood.
I walked up to my room, passing my older sister Maria's room. She was laying on her bed, face up to the ceiling, trying to drown out her thoughts with her iPod.
I walked into the her room, and sat on the bed. I could hear the music blaring, and I knew that she had it so loud that she couldn't hear anything.
"Maria?" I yelled, but I still got no answer from her. "Maria?"
Finally after a couple of attempts, she heard me, and pulled out her headphones.
"Hey, Randy. Are they still going at it?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. They did not even notice when I came home," I answered.
"Oh well...how was your first day of high school?"
Maria was a junior, and we were usually pretty close. Our bond had strengthened by our parents fighting, and we could talk about anything.
"It wasn't that bad. Lizzie was in major freak out mode."
"Why?" Maria asked. She knew most of my friends.
"Number of things. Did you hear about that new girl, Amber?"
"Ugh. I hate that girl."
I smiled. I could always count on Maria for an answer like that.
"She's going out with Gordo, and apparently she won't let the two of them hang out."
"Eek," Maria replied making a face. "Hey, Miranda. I was thinking about going to that bookstore slash coffee shop. Do you want to come?"
"Sure," I replied. Maria was addicted to books, and she spent most of her money on books. I always had joked that she could buy a nicer car if she did not buy books for a month.
While Maria browsed through the new releases, I decided to treat myself to a coffee in the shop.
I stood at the counter waiting, because there was no one there. However, after I looked for awhile, I saw a young boy, probably about my age, sitting off to the side, reading a book. He had longish hair. that fell over his gray eyes, and he was extremely good-looking. I had never seen him at my school.
"Ahem," I said, tired of waiting. He looked up for a moment, and then gestured to the sign hanging by the register.
ON BREAK. BE BACK AT 6:00.
I looked at the clock. 5:58. Two more minutes.
"Can you please just take my order? I'm tired of waiting," I said impatiently.
He did not look up from his book this time, he just held up a finger as if to say, one minute. I looked at the clock, and the time had changed to 5:59.
I sighed loudly and impatiently, but he still did not do anything to even indicate that he heard me.
Finally the clock clicked to 6:00, and the alarm on his watch went off. He put a bookmark in his book, tied his apron around his waist, and took down his sign.
He flashed a smile to me.
"Now...what would you like?"
"Ummm..." I replied looking at the menu. I had been waiting for so long that I had forgotten what I wanted. "Just a second."
"You know, I really don't have time to wait on you to decide."
"I waited a long time on you," I replied. He was cute, and really charming....stop it Miranda. You're supposed to be ordering coffee.
"Sorry about that. I wanted to finish my chapter," he said, holding up his book. The Great Gatsby, the cover read. Great, I thought to myself. A literary type. "It's a great book. Have you ever read it?"
"Yeah...great work of F. Scott Fiztergerald. A great American Masterpiece," I read off the cover.
"You've never read it, have you?" he asked with his adorable smile. Gosh, he has got to quit smiling like that.
"No, I haven't," I admitted, and he laughed.
"Josh Myers," he said, shaking my hand.
"Miranda Sanchez. Where do you go to school?"
"Where do you go to school?"
"Hilridge High School," I answered.
"So do I."
"No way. What grade?"
"Freshman," he answered. "And I went to Milton Middle School, in case you were wondering."
"Ahh, a Milton muskrat," I said, using the nickname we gave them at Hilridge. "I went to Hilridge."
"Oh...a Hilridge...." he said, pausing. "I'm sorry, we didn't really have a nickname for you guys.
"So, how come I have never met you before?" I asked.
"Ummm, we kind of went to different intermediate schools, and I'm kind of a shy person," he answered.
"You shy?" I asked, doubtful.
"Actually...I wouldn't say shy, I would say I'm just a loner."
"Ahhh....I see. Well it was nice meeting you, but I better go find my sister," I said.
I did find my sister, and she had found her boyfriend, Jonathan, and they were "catching up" in the nonfictions. I groaned, watching my sister and her boyfriend. They were both good kids, both on the honor roll, and heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Needless to say, my parents turned a blind eye in the closeness of their relationship.
I walked back into the coffeeshop, and leaned against the counter. Josh was still sitting there, reading his book.
"So my sister is going to be awhile," I said, and he glanced up at me.
"Really," he said, like he could not be any more interested.
"So I guess I'll just hang around here," I said.
"Joy," he said sarcastically, and he actually kept a straight face for a few seconds, and then he burst out laughing. "I'm sorry."
I rolled my eyes.
"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked, putting a bookmark in his book.
"I don't know...what do you want to talk about?" I countered.
"What about...twenty questions?" he suggested.
"Aren't we a little old?" I said.
"Why don't we play truth or dare?" he said. "Minus the dare, cause we are in a coffeeshop."
"Okay. I'll go first. Why do you have a job at such a young age?"
He gulped, and thought about his answer for a little bit.
"My mom had me when she was fifteen, so things have been really hard over the years. We even lived on the streets for some time, but she never gave up on me. This is her bookstore, and I help her run it. It's our main source of income," he told me.
"Wow," I replied.
"I know. It's been really tough over the years. Now it's my turn...what's the deal with your friends-the blonde one, and the curly haired one?"
"Lizzie and Gordo? I thought you didn't know who I was," I said in suprise.
"I saw you at school today, and I was in their geometry class. There are some definite feelings there."
Wow, I thought to myself. This guy is a complete stranger, and he knows about the Lizzie/Gordo saga.
"Well...Gordo has had a big crush on Lizzie forever, he won't admit it but he does, and Lizzie did in the fourth grade, but now she denies it. She's afraid of losing their relationship," I answered. "What kind of question was that? It wasn't even about me."
"I was trying to ease you in to the game, unlike you," he said defensively.
"What?" I asked. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay...you didn't even know me until about fifteen minutes ago."
"Alright," I said when he accepted my apology. "Next question: what is your favorite way to cook your egg?"
He looked at me strangely.
"What kind of question was that?" he joked. "Since when does egg-cooking determine the depths of our personalities?"
"Oh you didn't know that?" I joked back. "Supposedly if you like scrambled eggs, you are a complex person."
"Then I am a complex person," he responded. "My turn: what did you do this summer?"
"I went to Mexico to visit my grandparents with my mom and sister," I answered. Easy question. "What did you do?"
"Worked. My turn again," he said.
"It's not your turn," I said.
"Yes it is. You asked me what I did this summer, and I said that I worked. So now it is my turn."
"I guess you are right," giving him a sigh.
"What are you most afraid of?" he asked. "What is your biggest fear?"
I drew in my breath, and collected my response. I could not believe I was going to tell this to an almost stranger, when I hadn't even told Lizzie.
"My parents getting a divorce. They fight all the time now, and they never stop. I find myself avoiding home, and ever since we got back from Mexico, it's gotten a lot worse. That's kind of the reason we went to Mexico. My mom wanted to leave my dad, so we left for the summer, and in the end we just went back again."
We were both silent again.
"My turn-" and I started my question, but was interrupted by Maria.
"Hey, Miranda...I'll see you in school. And we can continue our game then," Josh said, as I left the coffeeshop.
"See you later, and you still haven't taken my order" I yelled back, and Maria and I walked out the door.
"Did you know that guy?" Maria asked me. "He was cute."
"We actually just met today. He goes to Hilridge."
"Really?" my sister asked, but I could tell she was only thinking about one person: Jonathan.
"I'll have to say, college boys are highly overrated."
I was sitting in the diner with Brynn, and we were the first to get there after Lizzie called both of us and told us the plan.
"Half the time they worry about what their friends are going to think," I remarked, even though I had never had a college boyfriend.
"One time I asked him if I could go to his dorm room, Chris told me that his room had the exterminator in it," Brynn said. "Turns out he lived in the homosexual fraternity."
"You're kidding me," I said. "They actually have those?"
Brynn did not say anything in return, she just smiled with her tongue in her cheek.
Lizzie and Shana burst through the door, with Lizzie holding her cell phone to her ear. She flipped it shut with a very disappointed look on her face.
"Madison won't come. She thinks Nora might be here," Lizzie said. "That's not what she said, though. She said she and Jay needed to go over band stuff."
"What about Gordo?" I asked, but I already knew the answer.
"Amber won't let him," Shana added, and by the look on Lizzie's face, I just knew that there was something else.
All of the sudden, all eyes were on Lizzie.
"Liz...can I call you Liz?" Shana said in a witchy voice. "You really need to just let Gordo fly on his own, and I think it would be best if you didn't hang out at all anymore."
"Oh no she didn't," I said, probably matching Brynn's reaction as well.
"It's just...everything is so messed up," Lizzie said, and she bit her bottom lip. This only meant one thing-tears. "Madison won't hang out with us cause she thinks Nora will be there, everyone hates each other, Amber is ruining everything, and I am not going to make the cheerleading squad..." She hung her head down and just cried.
"And it's only the first day of school," Shana remarked, and Brynn stomped on her foot to get her to be quiet. "Owww...what did you do that for?"
Shana did not get the picture, so both Brynn and I gave her death glares to get her to shut her mouth.
I put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me. Lizzie looked terrible with her mascara running down her face, and her lip gloss smeared.
"Everything is going to be okay. First of all, you are an awesome gymnast, so you will make it over her. Gordo will get fed up with her, and you two will be friends again. Last of all," I said, holding up a finger. "I can't make any promises."
Lizzie just continued to sob.
"And we are going to be the most awesome high school freshman Hilridge has ever seen," Brynn said.
"Exactly. We kick ass," Shana stated.
"And Amber can't touch that," I remarked, and we finally saw a smile from Lizzie.
"You guys are great," she said, wiping the tears from underneath her eyes. "I love you guys."
"We know," Brynn said, hugging Lizzie. "We are the best."
Shana joined in the hug, and so do I. We had a huge group hug, and we all laughed.
"Still...I wish Madison would come," Lizzie said. "And Gordo, Jay, and Allie-"
"She has practice until four. If she could come, she would be here," Shana interjected.
"I know. And I wish that Kate, Nora, Claire, Ethan, and James could come too and we could all be friends again."
Brynn agreed, nodding her head, but Shana and I just gave each other a look.
"Lizzie, we still have some issues to work out with them. It might be awhile, but we can't forgive them just yet," Shana said, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"I know. But promise me that you guys are working on it?" Lizzie asked, and stuck out her pinky for a pinky promise.
"Promise," I replied, and both Shana and I took turns doing the pinky promise.
"Guys, I can just feel it. This is going to be an awesome year," Brynn remarked, and not a one of us disagreed.
Lizzie's mom gave us all rides home, but as I walked into my kitchen, and heard my parents wrapped up in a screaming match, I knew that I better go somewhere else. I hated when they fought, and I usually avoided going home when one of them was in a bad mood.
I walked up to my room, passing my older sister Maria's room. She was laying on her bed, face up to the ceiling, trying to drown out her thoughts with her iPod.
I walked into the her room, and sat on the bed. I could hear the music blaring, and I knew that she had it so loud that she couldn't hear anything.
"Maria?" I yelled, but I still got no answer from her. "Maria?"
Finally after a couple of attempts, she heard me, and pulled out her headphones.
"Hey, Randy. Are they still going at it?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes. They did not even notice when I came home," I answered.
"Oh well...how was your first day of high school?"
Maria was a junior, and we were usually pretty close. Our bond had strengthened by our parents fighting, and we could talk about anything.
"It wasn't that bad. Lizzie was in major freak out mode."
"Why?" Maria asked. She knew most of my friends.
"Number of things. Did you hear about that new girl, Amber?"
"Ugh. I hate that girl."
I smiled. I could always count on Maria for an answer like that.
"She's going out with Gordo, and apparently she won't let the two of them hang out."
"Eek," Maria replied making a face. "Hey, Miranda. I was thinking about going to that bookstore slash coffee shop. Do you want to come?"
"Sure," I replied. Maria was addicted to books, and she spent most of her money on books. I always had joked that she could buy a nicer car if she did not buy books for a month.
While Maria browsed through the new releases, I decided to treat myself to a coffee in the shop.
I stood at the counter waiting, because there was no one there. However, after I looked for awhile, I saw a young boy, probably about my age, sitting off to the side, reading a book. He had longish hair. that fell over his gray eyes, and he was extremely good-looking. I had never seen him at my school.
"Ahem," I said, tired of waiting. He looked up for a moment, and then gestured to the sign hanging by the register.
ON BREAK. BE BACK AT 6:00.
I looked at the clock. 5:58. Two more minutes.
"Can you please just take my order? I'm tired of waiting," I said impatiently.
He did not look up from his book this time, he just held up a finger as if to say, one minute. I looked at the clock, and the time had changed to 5:59.
I sighed loudly and impatiently, but he still did not do anything to even indicate that he heard me.
Finally the clock clicked to 6:00, and the alarm on his watch went off. He put a bookmark in his book, tied his apron around his waist, and took down his sign.
He flashed a smile to me.
"Now...what would you like?"
"Ummm..." I replied looking at the menu. I had been waiting for so long that I had forgotten what I wanted. "Just a second."
"You know, I really don't have time to wait on you to decide."
"I waited a long time on you," I replied. He was cute, and really charming....stop it Miranda. You're supposed to be ordering coffee.
"Sorry about that. I wanted to finish my chapter," he said, holding up his book. The Great Gatsby, the cover read. Great, I thought to myself. A literary type. "It's a great book. Have you ever read it?"
"Yeah...great work of F. Scott Fiztergerald. A great American Masterpiece," I read off the cover.
"You've never read it, have you?" he asked with his adorable smile. Gosh, he has got to quit smiling like that.
"No, I haven't," I admitted, and he laughed.
"Josh Myers," he said, shaking my hand.
"Miranda Sanchez. Where do you go to school?"
"Where do you go to school?"
"Hilridge High School," I answered.
"So do I."
"No way. What grade?"
"Freshman," he answered. "And I went to Milton Middle School, in case you were wondering."
"Ahh, a Milton muskrat," I said, using the nickname we gave them at Hilridge. "I went to Hilridge."
"Oh...a Hilridge...." he said, pausing. "I'm sorry, we didn't really have a nickname for you guys.
"So, how come I have never met you before?" I asked.
"Ummm, we kind of went to different intermediate schools, and I'm kind of a shy person," he answered.
"You shy?" I asked, doubtful.
"Actually...I wouldn't say shy, I would say I'm just a loner."
"Ahhh....I see. Well it was nice meeting you, but I better go find my sister," I said.
I did find my sister, and she had found her boyfriend, Jonathan, and they were "catching up" in the nonfictions. I groaned, watching my sister and her boyfriend. They were both good kids, both on the honor roll, and heavily involved in extracurricular activities. Needless to say, my parents turned a blind eye in the closeness of their relationship.
I walked back into the coffeeshop, and leaned against the counter. Josh was still sitting there, reading his book.
"So my sister is going to be awhile," I said, and he glanced up at me.
"Really," he said, like he could not be any more interested.
"So I guess I'll just hang around here," I said.
"Joy," he said sarcastically, and he actually kept a straight face for a few seconds, and then he burst out laughing. "I'm sorry."
I rolled my eyes.
"So what do you want to talk about?" he asked, putting a bookmark in his book.
"I don't know...what do you want to talk about?" I countered.
"What about...twenty questions?" he suggested.
"Aren't we a little old?" I said.
"Why don't we play truth or dare?" he said. "Minus the dare, cause we are in a coffeeshop."
"Okay. I'll go first. Why do you have a job at such a young age?"
He gulped, and thought about his answer for a little bit.
"My mom had me when she was fifteen, so things have been really hard over the years. We even lived on the streets for some time, but she never gave up on me. This is her bookstore, and I help her run it. It's our main source of income," he told me.
"Wow," I replied.
"I know. It's been really tough over the years. Now it's my turn...what's the deal with your friends-the blonde one, and the curly haired one?"
"Lizzie and Gordo? I thought you didn't know who I was," I said in suprise.
"I saw you at school today, and I was in their geometry class. There are some definite feelings there."
Wow, I thought to myself. This guy is a complete stranger, and he knows about the Lizzie/Gordo saga.
"Well...Gordo has had a big crush on Lizzie forever, he won't admit it but he does, and Lizzie did in the fourth grade, but now she denies it. She's afraid of losing their relationship," I answered. "What kind of question was that? It wasn't even about me."
"I was trying to ease you in to the game, unlike you," he said defensively.
"What?" I asked. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay...you didn't even know me until about fifteen minutes ago."
"Alright," I said when he accepted my apology. "Next question: what is your favorite way to cook your egg?"
He looked at me strangely.
"What kind of question was that?" he joked. "Since when does egg-cooking determine the depths of our personalities?"
"Oh you didn't know that?" I joked back. "Supposedly if you like scrambled eggs, you are a complex person."
"Then I am a complex person," he responded. "My turn: what did you do this summer?"
"I went to Mexico to visit my grandparents with my mom and sister," I answered. Easy question. "What did you do?"
"Worked. My turn again," he said.
"It's not your turn," I said.
"Yes it is. You asked me what I did this summer, and I said that I worked. So now it is my turn."
"I guess you are right," giving him a sigh.
"What are you most afraid of?" he asked. "What is your biggest fear?"
I drew in my breath, and collected my response. I could not believe I was going to tell this to an almost stranger, when I hadn't even told Lizzie.
"My parents getting a divorce. They fight all the time now, and they never stop. I find myself avoiding home, and ever since we got back from Mexico, it's gotten a lot worse. That's kind of the reason we went to Mexico. My mom wanted to leave my dad, so we left for the summer, and in the end we just went back again."
We were both silent again.
"My turn-" and I started my question, but was interrupted by Maria.
"Hey, Miranda...I'll see you in school. And we can continue our game then," Josh said, as I left the coffeeshop.
"See you later, and you still haven't taken my order" I yelled back, and Maria and I walked out the door.
"Did you know that guy?" Maria asked me. "He was cute."
"We actually just met today. He goes to Hilridge."
"Really?" my sister asked, but I could tell she was only thinking about one person: Jonathan.