First, many thanks for thoughtful comments, especially for Black Knight 03 pointing out how Lizzie would probably respond. I've been so engrossed in Gordo's POV, I kind of forgot to consider that, but now I've expanded a little in this chapter (almost twice as long!) and I hope all the characters read "true to character."

Also, for anyone who might be waiting for Tudgeman (one of my personal favorites!), he will appear in the next chapter.

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"Gordo! Gordo!"

Gordo cringed. Now who was yelling his name? Why were they always yelling that name? On the plus side, at least they weren't shouting "Shorto!"

Halfway to the bus stop outside the mall, Gordo turned around and saw Miranda running towards him. "Hey, wait up!" she called. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home," Gordo said flatly.

Miranda came to his side and caught her breath. "Are you okay, Gordo? Lizzie asked me to make sure you're okay."

"If Lizzie's so concerned about me, why are you here and not her?" Gordo said bitterly.

"Lizzie wanted to come, but she was too busy giving Brett an intense verbal thrashing."

"A thrashing?" Gordo questioned.

"It's one of my vocabulary words. It means---"

"I know what it means."

"She's telling him off. Big time."

"She is?"

"Yes! You don't think she would let anyone get away with treating you like that, do you?"

"I don't know," Gordo said glumly. "Sometimes I feel like I don't really know Lizzie all that well anymore."

He came to the bus bench and plopped himself down, feeling utterly dejected.

Miranda looked at him. "I'm going with you," she announced. "I'm done here also. It's way too intense for me in there. Would you just wait here a minute, though? I want to run back and tell Lizzie---"

"Wait," Gordo said as he reached in his pocket. "I saw that girl Melissa using a cell phone. Do you know her number? You can call her on this."

"Gordo!" Miranda exclaimed, taking the cell phone from his outstretched hand. "When did you get this? Cool!"

"My parents gave it to me for my birthday last month," Gordo sighed. "They seem to feel I'm responsible enough now to carry a cell phone."

Miranda plopped down on the bench next to him, dialing Melissa's number. "That probably explains why my parents haven't bought one for me yet," she quipped as she waited for the ring tone.

-

-

"It's no big deal!" Brett insisted. "Your little friend is way too sensitive."

"No big deal?" Lizzie yelled back. "Brett! You've been nothing but rude to him since---"

""Hey! Lizzie! Don't you have that backwards? Who's been rude to who?"

"And where do you get off handling me like that? Like I'm some commodity---"

"Commodity?" Brett questioned.

"Vocabulary word," Lizzie shot back impatiently. "It means---"

"I know what it means, and I was not treating you that way. I was just---"

Melissa's cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her purse. Lizzie and Brett continued arguing back and forth till Melissa cut in a few moments late, saying, "Hey, guys. That was Miranda. She found Dave outside and they're heading home together on the bus."

Lizzie looked at Melissa and made a decision. "Can I use your cell phone, Melissa?" she asked, holding back tears. She dialed her home phone number, turned away from the others, and squeaked, "Mom? Can you come pick me up? I'm ready to come home now."

-

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Gordo and Miranda sat next to each other on the nearly empty bus, not talking for many minutes. Gordo looked out the window at the familiar buildings passing by in the dark. Miranda looked at Gordo.

Finally she spoke. "You never answered his question, you know."

Gordo turned his head away from the dark safety of the outside world and faced Miranda. "What question?"

"About Lizzie. About whether or not you want her."

Gordo sighed. "And what would be the sense in answering that question?"

"Not for him," Miranda clarified. "I agree with you that Brett can be kind of a jerk sometimes---"

Gordo smirked. "Kind of? Sometimes?"

"And how you feel about Lizzie is something between you and Lizzie and really has nothing to do with him."

"How can it have nothing to do with him?" Gordo asked. "He's her freakin' boyfriend now---"

"Maybe not for long," Miranda said. "But that's not the point, anyway. You need to answer that question for yourself, Gordo. Do you want Lizzie? You need to answer that, and truthfully, and soon, and do something about it one way or the other."

"What am I going to do about it, Miranda? For some reason I can't explain I can't seem to make myself do anything about it. I'm immobilized. I'm confused. I'm hopelessly pathetic."

"You are not!" Miranda said. "You're just in love, and maybe a little scared of being hurt and rejected."

Gordo blushed deeply and turned back to looking out the window. He hadn't even realized Miranda knew the secret he had tried so hard to hide. But now that it was out in the open, he decided to say, "You know Lizzie pretty good, Miranda. I'm sure you two talk about all kinds of girl stuff. What do you think? Would she reject me?"

Miranda thought for a moment then said, "Difficult to say. Lizzie's pretty confused about you too, I think. She told me how she kissed you in Italy, but then you never said or did anything about it. She was hoping you would."

"She was?" Gordo said, brightening. "She was hoping?"

"She was," Miranda confirmed. "But when you didn't, she thought maybe you didn't like her after all, and she felt foolish for ever kissing you in the first place. At least that's what she told me."

"Oh, man!" Gordo groaned, hating himself for being so stupid. "And how does she feel about me now?"

"Difficult to say," Miranda repeated. "Since Brett came on the scene, he's all I hear about. Look, Gordo. We all knew when we got to high school some things would change, we just didn't know which things and how much. If you really want to know how Lizzie feels about you now, why don't you just ask her?"

"I don't know, Miranda. Why don't I? Maybe I'm a little scared of being hurt and rejected?" Gordo said, throwing Miranda's own words back in her face.

"Gordo---"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," he said, turning away from Miranda as he felt his heart growing as dark as the images that passed by beyond the bus window.

-

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"Our first fight," Brett moaned, shuffling along beside Mike and Melissa through the mall. "And what was it about? That smart-ass Shorto! Shorto Dorko!"

Mike laughed. "Ha ha! Dorko."

"Listen," Melissa said suddenly. "Do you want to be with Lizzie or not? Because if you do, Brett, you've got to stop insulting her friend. Not only that, you need to apologize, not only to Lizzie but also to him."

"I do want to be with Lizzie," Brett said. "And I will apologize to her, if that's what I have to do. But I will never apologize to Shorto Dorko. That kid has it coming to him, and I'm gonna---"

"You're gonna lose Lizzie unless you get yourself under control, " Melissa said wisely. "Don't you know? She and Shor---and Dave have been friends forever, like since the day they were born. That's never going to change. If you want to hang on to Lizzie, you'd better show some respect."

"That's right," Mike nodded. "Show some respect!"

Brett rolled his eyes, but he knew Melissa was right. A big time apology was in order. To Lizzie. Not to Shorto. He would never apologize to that kid.

But he was going to keep a close eye on him.

-

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Jo McGuire pulled the car up to the curb and Lizzie got in the front seat. Nicole has asked Lizzie if she could also have a ride home, since it was on the way, and she also was "done" with the evening.

"Hi, Nicole, honey," Jo said. "Nice to see you again. You live in St. Andrews, right?"

"Yes, Mrs. McGuire. Off the end of the main road. I'll direct you when we get there. Thanks so much for the ride."

"No problem," Jo said. "I'm just wondering why you're all breaking up the party so early. Lizzie, you sounded awful on the phone. What happened?"

"Oh, Mom, it was awful! Brett and I had our first fight. In front of everybody. Well…almost everybody."

"Lizzie!" Jo exclaimed with motherly concern. "What did you fight about?"

"That's the worst part," Lizzie cried. "We fought about Gordo. Brett's jealous. I guess he thinks Gordo likes me."

"But Gordo does like you, honey."

"I mean for some reason Brett thinks he likes me likes me."

"But Gordo does like you like you," Jo insisted. "He's had a little crush on you for ever so long. You know that."

"No, I don't know that!" Lizzie lamented. "I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure. I'm so confused, Mom. Gordo hasn't really been around much lately, and even when he is, I'm not really sure what he's thinking. But Brett is there all the time, and I always know what he's thinking, and I like him so much. I mean I really like him like him…"

"Lizzie," Mom said. "Boys like Brett will come and go in your life. But Gordo will always be there for you."

"Will he?" Lizzie sniffed.

"Oh, honey," Jo said. "I'm so sure of it."

-

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The moment Nicole got into her house, she picked up her phone and dialed Miranda. The bus ride took so much longer than a car ride, however, and it was a half hour before Miranda returned her call.

"Just got in," Miranda said. "What's up?"

"I'm wondering about Dave," Nicole said. "Is he okay?"

"He's kind of down," Miranda answered, "but he'll be okay."

"Oh, I hope so," Nicole said. "Brett can be such a jerk, can't he? Sometimes I don't know what Lizzie sees in him. Sometimes I don't like him at all."

"But I know someone you do like," Miranda teased.

"Who?"

"Someone you met tonight, someone you called to ask me about…"

"Yes," Nicole admitted. "I do like him! He's so cute and funny and smart. Don't you think?"

"Are you gonna go for him?" Miranda asked, excited.

"I don't know. Should I? I think there might be a problem."

"What problem?"

"Well, in the car on the way home, Mrs. McGuire said Dave has had a crush on Lizzie for a long time. Is that true?...Miranda?...Miranda?"

Miranda sighed. "Yes, it's true."

Now Nicole sighed. "Then that's that."

"That's what?" Miranda demanded.

"That's the end of that story," Nicole said. "There's nothing worse than going for someone who's crazy about someone else. It's bad enough when your heart gets broken all on its own. It doesn't make any sense to set yourself up for it."

"But it might not always be that way with Lizzie and Gordo," Miranda said. "Something could change." Of course Lizzie and Gordo were Miranda's two very best friends, and she only wanted what was best for them both, but lately she wasn't sure they were really best for each other any more.

"Well, if something changes," Nicole said, "you'll let me know, won't you? In the meantime, like my mom always says, 'I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.'"

-

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Gordo lay on his bed, in the dark, staring at the ceiling, the Beatles Abbey Road CD playing quietly in the background. Subconsciously he had chosen Beatles music because he and Nicole had been talking about it earlier in the evening. Nicole had gained her appreciation from her hippie grandfather. Gordo, oddly enough, had been turned on to their music by his cousin Adam who, though only four years older than Gordo, enjoyed a quirky interest in classic rock and roll. Gordo envied the way Adam carried off his quirkiness. He always seemed so full of self-confidence.

Gordo had also spent most of his life feeling relatively self-confident, but these first two months of high school had done a lot to turn that around. Tonight had probably done more damage than any other single incident.

He didn't care about Brett calling him Shorto. Brett was an idiot. What did Lizzie see in that guy anyway? He was sure the old cliché about love being blind entered into it somehow.

Lizzie herself was more of the problem. She had been so much a part of his life for so long that he didn't feel like himself anymore now that she seemed to be drifting further and further away. There was a hole in Gordo's heart where the depth of their friendship used to reside, made even worse by the deeper feelings he had for her, which apparently were not reciprocated. He stared at the ceiling and felt a heaviness in his chest.

He heard the phone ring beside his bed but did not move to answer it until his dad yelled up the stairs, "David! Phone!"

"Who is it?" he called.

"I think it's Miranda."

Gordo sighed. He had left Miranda less than an hour ago. She had asked him to come over her house, but he didn't feel like it. She had wondered if she might hang out for a while at his house, but he said he wanted to be alone. He reached for the phone now and said "Miranda, I know you're concerned about me, but---"

"I am concerned about you, Gordo. But I'm not Miranda."

He lay down flat on the bed again, his chest hurting worse than ever as he breathed, "Lizzie…"

"Your dad's losing his touch," Lizzie said. "He used to know my voice every time."

"Well, he hasn't heard it in quite a while." Now why had he said that? Why was he being so mean?

"Ouch," Lizzie said quietly. "I deserved that."

"I'm sorry," Gordo said.

"No, I'm sorry, Gordo. That's why I'm calling. To apologize. What happened tonight, it was awful. But Brett just called me to apologize, and he's so truly sorry for everything he said and did---"

"Wait," Gordo interrupted. "Are you apologizing to me…for Brett?"

"He's really upset about what happened---"

Gordo choked back a laugh. "I'll bet."

"No, he really is!" Lizzie insisted. "If only you could have heard him. It was the sweetest apology in the history of apologies---"

"And you fell for it?"

"Gordo!"

"Lizzie! The guy is…he's…Come on, Lizzie. I thought you were smarter than that."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lizzie asked defensively.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said, apologizing again. "Scratch that from the record. Can we start over?"

"How far back do you want to go?" Lizzie asked. "Back to the part about your dad losing his touch?"

Gordo closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths. The perfect reply had magically occurred to him. In his head, he could hear himself saying, "No, Lizzie. Let's go all the way back to Italy, when you kissed me on the rooftop." If he could make himself say that, how might she respond? Would she go back that far with him? Could he really call "Do Over!" as if their lives were a game of kickball?

"Gordo…?" Lizzie questioned quietly.

"I…I…"

"Are you okay?"

I can't breathe, he thought. I can't do this.

"Gordo…?"

"I…I miss you, Lizzie."

There! He'd said that much. It wasn't what he really wanted to say, but it was a start.

"Oh, Gordo!" Lizzie exclaimed. "That's so sweet. I miss you too. I miss the way you, me and Miranda always used to hang out. We have to find a way to do that again. I'm going to talk to Miranda, we're going to figure something out. I don't want to lose you, Gordo. I don't want to lose our friendship."

"Friendship…" Gordo repeated.

"Three Musketeers and all that."

"Yeah. All that. But…Lizzie, what about Brett?"

"What about him?"

"He hates my guts, I'm sure you've noticed. He's not going to let you hang out with me."

Lizzie gasped. "What do you mean 'not let me'? He doesn't own me. He can't tell me what to do."

"So…like…" Gordo began, feeling encouraged enough to be bold, "what if he were to say---"

He was going to ask, "What if he were to say 'It's him or me, you have to choose'" but before he could get that far, Lizzie suddenly announced, "Oh! I have another call. It must be Brett, I told him to call me back. Talk to you later, Gordo. Bye!"

A moment later the phone lay dead in his hand. He stared at the ceiling and listened to the Beatles, afraid he had the answer to the question he had not been able to ask.