A/N: Well, originally I was going with my cheer squad to watch our JV squad at a competition, but it didn't work out. So, I decided, I should spend my newly found time writing another chapter for this story. Thanks for the reviews, enjoy!
Hillridge Senior High"Honey, wake up. You'll be late for school." Lizzie felt her mom gently nudging her back.
Lizzie pulled the covers more tightly over herself. "Five more minutes."
"Lizzie, it's time to get up. I've got breakfast ready downstairs. I'll give you three minutes."
Her eyes still closed, Lizzie heard her mother's footsteps walking out of the room and disappearing down the stairs. Lizzie's first intention was to stay in bed all day. But then, another thought struck her.
I'm going to high school today.
Lizzie's eyes opened wide. She sat up straight in bed and stared directly ahead at her closet.
"I'm going to high school today."
Her sleepiness slowly faded away as she swung her legs over the side of her bed and stepped onto the cold floor. She had, of course, picked out her outfit a week ago. It had been lying neatly folded on her desk chair since then, and as Lizzie carefully picked it up, her excitement increased.
She slowly pulled on a knee-length black denim skirt, and a light purple top with a V-lined neck, which had an attached white tank top underneath. Next, Lizzie stuck her feet into tan-colored clogs and walked over to her mirror. She carefully combed her blonde hair and added a matching purple headband to the ensemble.
She sighed happily. "Perfect."
After applying some makeup, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where her parents and brother were settled around the table, either reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, or stuffing his face with fresh pancakes.
"Here you go, sweetie," Mrs. McGuire said, setting a plate of pancakes in front of her daughter.
"Thanks, Mom," Lizzie replied, her stomach suddenly growling.
But the second she put a piece of pancake into her mouth, Lizzie suddenly felt a feeling of nausea creep through her body. It became harder and harder to eat her food.
"What's wrong, honey?" Mrs. McGuire asked, noticing that Lizzie was now barely touching her breakfast.
"Um, I'm not very hungry," Lizzie said, pushing her plate away from her. She was now eyeing her brother, who was stuffing forkfuls of pancakes into his mouth.
"Oh, it's probably just nerves," Mrs. McGuire told her, pushing the plate back in front of her. "And you've gotta eat. You don't want to get hungry during class."
So Lizzie reluctantly stuck most of the remainder of food in her mouth and washed it all down with a glass of orange juice. As her brother had just served himself a third helping of pancakes, Lizzie stood up and quickly ran back up the stairs to her bathroom, where she quickly washed up. After she was finished, she grabbed her backpack full of new school supplies from her room and walked slowly back down the stairs.
"Ready to go?" Mrs. McGuire called from the kitchen. "The bus should be here any minute."
"Yeah," Lizzie said, walking over to where her mother stood. She gave her a big hug and kissed her mom's cheek. "I guess I'll see you when I see you."
"Have fun!" Mrs. McGuire called as Lizzie walked out the front door. "And just relax. It'll be great!"
Lizzie gave her mom one last smile, and then shut the door behind her. Her nerves seemed to calm when she stepped off of the porch, walked down the lawn, and onto the sidewalk. As she made her way to the bus stop, she felt her excitement soar to new heights at the thought of seeing Miranda again. Miranda had called her after dinner the night before to let her know she was home, and now, Lizzie would finally get to talk to her in person.
Lizzie saw a small group of kids waiting at her new bus stop, among them a tall, black-haired girl wearing a bright red blouse. Lizzie recognized her immediately.
"Miranda!"
The girl turned around, and her face brightened at the sight of her. "Lizzie! Oh my god!"
She ran as fast as she could in flip-flops to Lizzie, and they embraced each other in a tight hug.
"How are you?" Miranda asked her when they broke apart.
"I'm great!" Lizzie replied. "You grew!"
"Yeah," Miranda smiled. "Two-and-a-half inches."
"I don't know how much I grew," Lizzie said, "but that's beside the point. I know I asked you before, but how was Mexico City?"
"It was so much fun!" Miranda replied. "We went shopping in so many different areas. And I got this new red blouse for only six bucks! You could say I'm a pretty good negotiator."
"I love it," Lizzie said, admiring Miranda's new clothes.
"Good," Miranda said, "because I got you one in blue."
Lizzie could only smile as she wrapped her best friend in another hug.
"Now, onto more important business," Miranda said as they made their way back to the group of kids. "How's the boyfriend?"
Lizzie actually felt herself blush. "Oh, you know, it's Gordo."
"But I've never seen you and Gordo actually…you know…"
"Hey, Miranda!"
The girls whipped around to see Gordo running toward them. He stopped to catch his breath before continuing, "Sorry, I was running late."
"You? Running late?" Miranda asked. "On the first day of high school? I find that hard to believe."
"Gordo's just not used to us being earlier than him," Lizzie said. "You're not late, Gordo. The bus isn't even here yet."
"Okay, I just got lost trying to find my way to this bus stop," Gordo confessed, after exchanging a few words with Miranda about her trip.
"Hey, did you guys get my postcards?" Miranda asked as the school bus pulled up to the stop.
"Every last one of them," Lizzie said cheerfully as they waited in line to board the bus.
"So, are you guys excited?" Miranda asked when they were seated toward the back of the bus.
"Anxious, I would say," Gordo said, smiling at Lizzie.
"Yeah, definitely," Lizzie agreed.
The conversation on the bus went from details of Miranda's long trip, to their schedules, and then to the thought of seeing Ms. Ungermyer every day for the rest of the school year. By the time they reached Hillridge Senior High School, they were still in the midst of an in-depth conversation.
Lizzie's heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the big school looming over her. "Wow," was all she could say.
Tons of students poured into the school, among them people Lizzie recognized immediately: Larry Tudgeman, Kate, Claire, Ethan, and Parker. But most of the people there Lizzie didn't know. Some older-looking boys had beards. A lot of students were pulling up in their own cars and walking toward the school in large groups of people.
Lizzie held onto Gordo's hand as they continued up the steps and through the front door. Miranda stayed on Lizzie's other side. There were flyers posted all over the school: cheerleading tryouts, football, basketball, debate, glee club, etc. Lizzie had promised to share a locker with Miranda this year, so they found their names posted on a long list in the front hallway.
"Locker number 386," Lizzie read. "Gordo, you're number 416. I guess you'll be near us."
"I'm so excited!" Miranda squeaked, grasping Lizzie's arm. "And the best part is, we have French together right after homeroom!"
"It's too bad you don't have homeroom with me and Gordo," Lizzie said sadly. "But we do have a lot of other classes together. I think we'll survive."
Miranda smiled. "Hey—where is Gordo?"
"Sorry, I'm right here," Gordo called to them from about four feet away. "I forgot how hard it is to move around in these hallways!"
Just as he was about to reach Lizzie, someone stepped right in front of him, nearly causing him to fall over his own feet. Lizzie saw that it was Parker.
"Hey, Gordo," she said sweetly. "How was your summer?"
"Um, fine, Parker," Gordo said, staring over her shoulder at Lizzie, who wore a confused look on her face.
"That's good. I hear you have chemistry third hour. So do I. Wanna sit together?"
"Well, we'll have to see," Gordo said impatiently. "I have to go now."
"Oh, okay, later!" she quickly stepped out of his way and disappeared down the hall.
"What was that all about?" Lizzie asked Gordo when he got to them.
"I don't know," Gordo said, staring at the hall Parker had just walked down.
"She knows we're going out, doesn't she?" Lizzie asked, a hint of anger in her voice.
"I don't know, but I'll let her know in chemistry class."
"Good," Lizzie said under her breath, so Gordo could barely hear her above the noise of the hallway.
"Hey, we had better find our homerooms," Miranda said, changing the subject.
"Yeah, it's about time for the bell—"
"Hey, freshmen!" they heard a familiar voice boom down the hall. "Welcome to Hillridge Senior High! Now get to class!"
"Ms. Ungermyer," Lizzie said.
Almost as quickly as they heard her voice, she appeared right in front of them. "David Gordon! Miss McGuire. Good to see you!"
"You too, Ms. Ungermyer," Lizzie replied.
"Excited for the school year?"
"Oh, definitely!" Gordo said immediately.
Ms. Ungermyer gave him a nod of approval. Then she caught sight of Miranda. "And you are?"
"Miranda Sanchez," Miranda answered politely.
"Miranda Sanchez," Ms. Ungermyer repeated. "That's Spanish isn't it? So you know Spanish?"
"Um, a little," Miranda said hesitantly. "But I'm taking French."
"Oh, that's good, too!" Ms. Ungermyer replied cheerfully. "Well, ayez une bonne journée! Nice to meet you, Miss Sanchez."
Miranda smiled as Ms. Ungermyer walked away. "Well, she didn't seem that bad."
"You just wait," Gordo said as they made their way down the hall. "Well, I think I see our homeroom, Lizzie."
"I guess I'll see you guys later," Miranda said. "I'm gonna go check out our locker real quick."
She gave Lizzie's arm another squeeze and then walked quickly down the hallway, immediately disappearing in the crowd of people.
"Shall we?" Gordo asked, holding their classroom door open for Lizzie.
"Yes," Lizzie answered quietly, and stepped inside the room.
A/N: I'm glad I got this chapter up quickly. I'm going to do as much of this story as possible during the remainder of the summer. Thanks for reading!