The View From Here

Summary: Lizzie and Gordo are back from Rome, Miranda's back from Mexico and everything is a huge jumble of requited and unrequited love, friendship, fights and everything else that comes with High School.

Miranda

The first thing I noticed when I walked into Lizzie's living room was the awkwardness. It didn't at all seem like the same too people I had hugged goodbye two and a half months ago. They were putting up a wonderful show of friendship but I couldn't help but notice the nervous glances they kept throwing at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking.

"Hey guys," I said but I knew it came out more like a question then a statement. They both looked up at me as if they'd just noticed I was there, before simultaneously looking at each other as if they weren't sure it was me.

"Ohmygosh! Miranda," Lizzie squealed jumping up and running over to me after a moment, as if maybe she was glad to get off the couch her and Gordo had been sharing. She stood on tip toe and threw her arms around me, still squealing just like the old Lizzie I remembered. A smile slid onto my face, glad that she hadn't changed that much in a few months.

Lizzie dragged me onto the couch, and I strategically placed myself in between her and Gordo, who still hadn't said a word.

"Hi Miranda," he finally said.

"Wow, I'm glad you're that excited to see me," I replied, dusting sarcasm over my words, my eye brows raised as if to ask what was going on. He got my message but only shrugged in response, glancing at Lizzie who sat on the other side of me, her gaze fixed on one of her dad's knome lamps.

"So how was Mexico," she asked me after another silence.

"It was great, I got an awesome tan and there were about a million cute guys where we were staying," I told her. It was true, I had had an awesome time but somehow I figured that there was something else going on that I needed to know about. Something important that I'd missed while I'd been suntanning and sipping nonalchoholic cocktails on the beach.

"Wow, you are so taking me with you next time you go. We missed you so much in Rome. I roomed with Kate Sanders, I thought I wouldn't survive but it was actually not that bad," she said. I raised my eyebrows for the second time at the fact that Lizzie had used the words "Kate Sanders" and "not that bad" in the same sentence for the probably the first time since the sixth grade. Those words also made my stomach clench with a strange feeling. Was it jealousy?

"I would've much rather roomed with you though," she added, as if she could read my mind, which sometimes I thought she could. My stomach unclenched a little but there was still this funny feeling there that I couldn't name.

"I ended up rooming with Ethan," Gordo said, smirking.

"Seriously Gordo! Did you like, take a picture of his bed for me or something," I asked, excitedly.

"Uh, Miranda, I am not you. There is no way I would ever be caught dead taking a picture of Ethan's bed. I'm not gay, Lizzie would know-," he suddenly cut himself off and was quiet. I saw Lizzie's eyes widen and her cheeks turn a brilliant shade of pink.

"I'm going to go get some...snacks, yeah, snacks. You guys can just talk about stuff...other then that uh thing...I'll just shut up and go now," Lizzie, her voice high pitched like it always got when she was nervous. She got up, looked pointedly at Gordo and left the room, almost tripping in her hurry to leave.

"Okay, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on or am I going to have to spend all night trying to drag it out of her," I asked pointing at the door that she had just walked through. Gordo just looked at me and shook his head, as if he couldn't find any words.

"I take that as a no then," I said, frustration at my friends seeping into my voice. I had only spent less then an hour with my best friends and already they were driving me insane. I took a deep breath before I spoke again.

"Well if you're not going to tell me can I at least guess," I said finally, my voice nonchalant and casual, as if I wouldn't strangle his scrawny neck if he didn't tell me.

"I guess you can...doesn't mean I'm going to tell you," Gordo said, shrugging, his voice equally calm. Unlike Lizzie he was good at hiding his emotions when he wanted to, almost as good if not better then I was. I took another cleansing breath.

"Does this have anything to do with...what you told me before I left," I asked innocently. His cheeks burned and he glared at me. He didn't say anything, causing me to smile triumphantly. I was right. Then just as quickly as it had appeared the smile dropped off my face. For the first time that I walked into the room and guessed the cause of that awkward tension in the air between my two best friends, I hadn't thought of what it would mean if I was right, which it seemed that I was.

"Miranda, I shouldn't have said anything, Lizzie needs to talk to you...without me here," he said seeing the look on my face. I smiled back weakly.

"Yeah, I'm dying to hear details," I replied pasting on a grin. My voice sounded hollow and the ache in my stomache grew a little stronger. Gordo looked at me curiously, tilting his head to the side as if I was some weird science experiment he was studying. He met my eyes as if to ask if there was something wrong but I just shook my head.

Just then Lizzie walked back into the room, carrying a bowl of chips and three cans of soda. She smiled nervously at both of us and I managed to push the shock to the back of my mind and smile back.

The rest of the afternoon went well. I did my best to ignore the constant looks that they kept giving each other. I managed to talk excitedly about things like Mexico, High School, and boys. I managed to tell myself that nothing had changed and that my two best friends hadn't fallen for each other and were obviously keeping something from me.