Chapter 2

I'm so glad it's still the summer vacation for another few weeks – I wouldn't be able to face going to school and seeing Miranda. Seriously, she was SO mean! And unsurprisingly, she hasn't called me, whereas before, she used to nearly every day. It's been a few days now since she dropped by. I thought about stopping by at her house, but I really don't see why I should apologise – I mean, she was the one who was so rude! Yeah, I guess that is slightly immature. But oh yeah – I forgot to mention – even if I DID want to go, I wouldn't be able to since I'm GROUNDED! Yeah, my parents grounded me because of the whole Rome thing. Even though I was technically a star for a few moments of my life. But that's not what's bothering me the most. Neither of my best friends are talking to me, and I really don't know what I've done wrong. I've been stuck at home for the past few days – unless you count hanging out with my parents (which includes doing boring stuff.) And Matt – don't even get me started on him. He's started calling me 'Lonely Lizzie' saying I have no friends! Oh wait, here he comes now…

"Lonely Lizzie is all alone again," he says mockingly.

"Matt, get lost," I snap.

"Leave your sister alone please, Matt," says the familiar voice of Dad, "You okay honey?" he says, looking towards me.

"Yeah I'm fine Dad. Just going to my room – I've got quite a lot to do." I lie miserably, while walking up the stairs towards my room.

Just then I heard the bell ring.

"Lizzie, Miranda's here!" Dad yells.

Uh-oh. I really can't face another confrontation with her.

"Okay I'm coming downstairs," I say reluctantly.

I take my time down the stairs, and see that Miranda's sitting on our sofa, looking like her normal self.

"Miranda," I say in a normal tone, as if nothing had happened, "Hi."

"Hey…Lizzie," says Miranda, getting up, "I…uh…want to apologise for the way I acted a few days ago. I'm really sorry, and I have been feeling really sorry for the last few days…I just didn't have the courage to tell you…"

"Oh!" I'm quite surprised actually. I wasn't expecting an apology – I didn't even know what I was expecting to be honest. "Well…sit down…I think we need to talk."

"Yeah," smiles Miranda gratefully. "It's just…"

But just then the bell rang again.
"LIZZIE! GORDO'S HERE!" exclaims Matt.

"Gordo?" I exclaim. Oh my God, seriously, right now has been the first time ever that I wish Gordo WASN'T here. I mean, it was him we were going to talk about!
But sure enough, he walks over to me and Miranda and gives us a sheepish grin. He looks so cute when he does that! Okay, reality check – I'm forcing myself to stay calm.

"Hey Lizzie…Miranda…" he says. "I guess you're both probably mad at me…"

"Well you guessed right!" says Miranda in a – somewhat – playful tone. She gets up and hits him with the sofa cushion.

"Hey!" exclaims Gordo. "Let me explain…"
"Miranda!" I shout, feeling angry at her – but…why am I feeling angry…normally I'd be laughing. "Stop it!"

There was silence for a second. "Okay…sorry," mutters Miranda.

"I haven't been around the last few days because of a family friend's wedding…he lives about two hours away." says Gordo.

"Well you could have told me!" I shout, "I thought…maybe…what happened in Italy…"

"Huh?" says Gordo, "Oh!" He looks embarrassed. "Lizzie, that was nothing. We're best friends. And that's how I took it. Don't worry, I'm fine about that – I felt nothing." He starts laughing nervously.

How can he SAY that! He felt NOTHING?

"Well…yes, of course," I say, forcing a smile. "I just thought…"

"You don't have to think about that, McGuire," says Gordo. His eyebrows suddenly rise. "Hey…now that Miranda's back and everything, and we've got our Three Musketeers thing going again, why don't we go to The Digital Bean? It's been a while."

"That sounds great!" squeals Miranda, "I'm free for the rest of the day."

"Yeah me too," says Gordo, "Come on Lizzie."

Oh NO. I'm grounded!

"I…can't," I mumble, "I'm…grounded, remember?"

"Oh!" says Gordo. He looks stumped.

"Yeah, so, we'll drop by later," says Miranda. "Gordo, you and me can go – it'll be fun." She gives him a playful nudge.

I am practically raging with jealousy. I can't BELIEVE her! She is going to leave me and go with Gordo? After she kind of already knows that I like him?

Gordo smiles at her, "Sounds great. See you later Lizzie."

Hey…do you like the story so far? Please send me your comments to let me know if I should update. This is my first fanfic…although I am planning on writing some more soon! Love from ME xxxxxx (icemaiden02)