DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters here that I didn't make up myself. I don't own Lizzie McGuire, but she's not actually born yet at the time of this story, anyway.

"…wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight, and who will be her lover?
All your life you've never seen a woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven; will you ever win?"

Sam woke up to his clock radio playing a recent Fleetwood Mac song. He pounded on the snooze bar, and ten minutes later the radio came back on again, this time with the morning deejay making some allegedly humorous wisecracks about President Ford, which Sam thought was kind of in bad taste. "Give the guy a break, can't they? He just survived an assassination attempt a few days ago, after all… yeah, I know he gets klutzy sometimes, but so do I, and I wish people would stop teasing me about it."

He finally managed to drag himself out of bed, and a little later he was having breakfast, where his father asked him about the activities he was participating in at school.

"Well, it's pretty much my usual stuff… I signed up for the chess club, the Mathlete team, the audio-visual club… I think there's also a quiz bowl team I might get into too," said Sam.

"You're not playing any sports?", said his dad. "All of those things you're doing involve just sitting around.. that sounds boring. When I was your age, I played baseball and football.. now, that's real activity, fun and good for your health too!"

"I like watching sports, but I just never got into playing them. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the same stuff as you," said Sam.

"Nonsense… you can be just like me, if you try a little harder!", said his dad.

His mother interjected at this point, "Now, hold on… I think you should encourage Sam to be himself, instead of just raising him as an imitation of yourself."

"Thanks, Mom," said Sam.

"On the other hand, you could use a little more exercise," said his mother.

"Well," said Sam, "I could be going to that new roller-disco place, like all the other teens do on Saturday night… that's a bit of a workout… except that I'd look really silly going there without a date, and I don't see that happening any time soon."

"You'll find somebody to roller-disco with soon… I know it.", said his mother.

"And then, Dad, someday when I grow up, I'll find a company softball league to play in… promise!", added Sam.

"And, dear, you forgot to get milk again!", added his father.

After getting to school, Sam made another attempt to find his locker. "OK… my slip says it's locker number 503. It seems like that should be out around here… you've got number 499 at the end of this hall, and then there's an intersection, and then the lockers seem to resume just past that trophy case. But that's one of the halls I'm not supposed to go into, according to the flyer from the upperclassmen." Sam looked carefully around, and saw nobody looking that way. "All right… here goes!" Sam rushed into the empty hallway.

Jo's parents were arguing about something pointless all morning, so neither of them had one word for her. "So, what was this that Mom was saying about how perfect romance is when you find the right person?" Well, actually, the argument didn't seem genuinely bitter or anything, but it did seem to consume their energy. "Maybe arguing is just a recreational activity for them," thought Jo. "Whatever turns you on… not really my style, though."

At school, she took another look at her locker slip. "Locker number 504. Let's think this out logically… I know that this hallway ends at locker 601, and then the lockers continue, counting downward, after this intersection and the janitor's closet. Maybe I'm not remembering that silly flyer right, but I certainly thought that was one of the halls that freshmen aren't supposed to go on. Well, nobody seems to be watching now, so I'll just see if my locker isn't down at the other end of the hall there, by the trophy case. On my mark, get set… Go!" She hurried down the hall.

As usual, Steve Sanders was boasting to the kids in his "posse" about all the great achievements of his family. "OK… before class I've got to show you this… my dad was the quarterback of the state championship Hillridge football team in 1951, and there's a huge trophy with his name on it. Come here… the trophy case is right on the way to our first class."