A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter three.
The First ClassesLizzie tried as best she could to pay attention to Mr. Daniels, her homeroom teacher, but she found it hard to concentrate to all the introductions, on account of Parker's moving in on Gordo. She remembered on how Parker had turned Gordo down when he invited her to a school dance on account of his being short, and she figured that Parker had regretted it. Now Parker wanted him back. That had to be it.
Lizzie snapped back to reality when Gordo nudged her elbow. Mr. Daniels, a middle aged, balding man had stopped right in front of her desk.
"Is there a problem, Miss…um…"
"McGuire."
"Ah, yes," Mr. Daniels said, checking his clipboard. "Lizzie McGuire."
"No, sorry," Lizzie said.
"Well, it's the first day. I know you're all still in summer mode, but that's okay. I'll let it slide for the time being, but not for long. Now, back to what I was saying."
But Lizzie felt herself zoning out again; not on Parker, though, but on the rest of the opportunities that high school held open. For a portion of the summer Lizzie had considered trying out for the cheerleading squad again, but then decided that it just wasn't right for her. She had no idea what she could do during the year. She had tried so many things in middle school.
It was then she realized that Mr. Daniels was talking about extra curricular activities. She leaned in and listened more intently to what he was saying.
"There are a number of sports to try out for, for both boys and girls. Basketball, softball, tennis, lacrosse…then there's cheerleading and the dance team, school plays, choir, band, orchestra. We'll be handing out an entire booklet of activities to try out for and join. But there will also be a lot of academic things, too: math club, reading, science fairs, and much more. Just wait and you'll see."
"Now that's what I'm talking about," Gordo whispered to Lizzie, who let out a small laugh and forgot her concerns for that moment.
Surprisingly, the rest of her first ever class of high school went by fairly quickly. The 45-minute period didn't seem like one at all. But then Lizzie reasoned that it was probably because of her zoning out. Either way, class was over and she had French with Miranda next. The downside: Gordo wouldn't be with her.
As the class filed out of the room, Gordo asked Lizzie, "Are you all right? You were even less focused than usual."
Lizzie smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm fine."
"Okay, I'll see you at lunch!" He gave her a quick hug and then walked quickly down the hall, looking at each room number he passed.
Lizzie remembered pretty clearly where her French class was, on account of orientation the day before. She walked halfway across the school, passing by people she didn't recognize at all, and some people she was acquainted with from middle school.
"Lizzie!"
Lizzie looked ahead and saw Miranda running toward her, grasping her backpack in her hands. "I totally hooked our locker up. We've got shelves, a mirror, pictures…and it's full length! Not one of those half lockers where everyone had to kill each other for the top one."
Lizzie smiled. "Cool. Too bad we'll barely ever use it. We can carry our backpacks now."
"Yeah, I noticed," Miranda said sadly, holding up her backpack. "I'd almost rather put this ten-pound thing in our locker, but I can't go running to it after every class."
"It's okay, you'll get used to it," Lizzie told her. "But anyway, we've got two minutes to find our French class. I know you weren't here for orientation, but I think it's just around this corner. Room 413?"
Miranda looked down at her schedule. "Yeah, it should be right here."
They walked quickly around the corner they had been standing at, and immediately came face to face with room 413.
"Bingo." Lizzie opened the door and followed Miranda inside.
The second they set foot in the classroom, their mouths dropped open. Kate and Claire were sitting in the second row, sitting up superiorly in their seats, talking loudly with each other. The class was fairly filled already, so Lizzie and Miranda's only option was to either sit at the two-person desk next to Kate and Claire, or sit at the one in front of them.
Lizzie and Miranda looked at each other awkwardly, then silently communicated their decision. They took the seats next to them.
Lizzie tried not to lock eye contact with Kate as she sat down, but was forced to when Kate said, "Um, hey, Lizzie."
Lizzie looked up from her books. "Oh, hey, Kate."
Miranda merely smiled. Claire wore a disgruntled expression on her face, until Kate nudged her and she added, "Hey, guys."
There wasn't any more time for talking, for their teacher had come into the room and was quickly shushing the class.
"Bonjour, classe! Bienvenue au premier Français d'année. Can anyone tell me what that means?"
The class looked around uneasily at each other until Claire's hand shot up in the air.
"Yes?"
"It means, 'Good morning class! Welcome to first year French'."
"Right you are!" the teacher said.
"I took a couple lessons over the summer," Claire said proudly.
"Very good. Now, as I introduced myself yesterday, I am Mme. Rosewood. Although, I have no French background, I have studied the language for years. We are going to be covering a lot in class this year, so I hope you are all ready to enter the world of France! We will learn about their culture, etiquette, language of course, and a lot of other things as well. I trust you have all heard about the trip we take to Paris in your junior year over spring break."
"Hope I don't look like any pop divas there," Lizzie whispered to Miranda, who giggled in reply.
"Ah, Miss McGuire!" Mme. Rosewood. "I forgot to mention yesterday, I saw you on the news during your trip to Rome."
The class began talking quietly to one another at this statement.
"Oh," Lizzie said. "You did?"
"Yes, and I trust that Mlle. Ungermyer has talked to you about that already?"
"Um, no," Lizzie answered, surprised. "I don't think so."
"Oh!" Mme. Rosewood said. "Then, never mind that! Let's get back to the lesson."
Surprising, French went by fairly quickly as well, now that Lizzie was caught in thought about her potential conversation with the principal. What was that all about? She also figured that Mme. Rosewood was just trying to be friendly when she said that, just acknowledging one of her new students. But still, what did she know that Lizzie didn't? She didn't remember Miss Ungermyer really talking to her about something like that at the end of the Rome trip. She thought she had gotten off easy, just with the grounding.
At the end of class, Lizzie and Miranda walked out of the classroom together, Lizzie needing to have Miranda repeat the homework for her as they made their way to drama class. Meanwhile…
Gordo was making his way to Advanced Chemistry class, where he met up with a couple guys he knew from middle school who had also shared his interest in mathematics and science. When he walked in, he saw Parker sitting alone at one of the desks, an open chair next to her. Unfortunately, he was in a group of five, so the other four boys filled two other desks, leaving him with only Parker to sit next to if he wanted to be near them.
"Hey, Gordo!" she said brightly, motioning for him to sit down. "Sorry I had to go so quickly earlier. You know Mr. Fonder, our science teacher, said that we'll need to have a buddy in this class to call if we're not here one day, you know, to fill us in on what we missed. So I was wondering, do you want to be my buddy?"
"Um, I don't know," Gordo said.
"It would be fun!" Parker told him. "And we could even have a little study group, since we have so many classes together. We could go to other places, too, we wouldn't have to just stay home. We could even do it over dinner. Obviously we know a lot of people in our advanced classes. It could be fun."
"Wait—are you talking about a date?" Gordo asked dumbfounded.
"Well...yeah, I guess," Parker replied softly.
"Parker, you know that Lizzie and I are going out, don't you?"
To Gordo, it looked as though Parker's mouth had nearly dropped open. She even turned bright red. "Oh! I'm sorry, I had no idea. Forget I mentioned it, then."
Gordo couldn't help but feel sorry for Parker, but he knew that he liked Lizzie more than anyone else in this school, and that wouldn't change.
"Sorry, Parker."
"It's fine," she said quietly.
Gordo couldn't say anything more, for Mr. Fonder had just started his lesson. He dazed off a bit, thinking about what Lizzie was doing now…
In drama class, Lizzie and Miranda were sitting on the floor next to Ethan, listening to their teacher, Miss Pierce, explain to them her three most important rules of acting.
"Number one, if you can see the audience backstage, they can see you!"
Lizzie had heard that rule a dozen times in middle school, and now she couldn't help but miss Hillridge Junior High. She had also learned today that the seniors didn't want to have anything to do with the freshmen, and the flyers they had left on their lockers in middle school had just been to psych them out.
Now Lizzie didn't want to zone out in class again, so she forced herself to pay attention to was Miss Pierce was saying.
"So, your first in-class assignment will be to put together a short skit, in which you create a problem and solve it. You have 20 minutes to prepare, and then we will perform them. Afterward, we'll write down ways to improve our own skits, and then perform them again tomorrow. Then, we'll learn some vocabulary for the stage. You will work in groups of three or four. Go!'
Lizzie, Miranda, and Ethan decided to work together, so they began trying to think up a skit.
"How about being nervous for high school?" Miranda suggested. "It even sends a message that there's nothing to be afraid of, as we've realized. Ethan, you can be the teacher, I can be the mom trying to calm her daughter, and Lizzie you can be the scared, defenseless, student."
"Hey!" Lizzie exclaimed.
Miranda smiled gleefully.
"You know me oh too well," Lizzie said playfully, and then they began practicing their skit.
It was especially funny when Ethan tried to imitate a teacher. It was even entertaining. When it came time to perform, their skit actually had turned out pretty well, and Miss Pierce was very content with their performance. Still, she had some suggestions for them to consider.
After class, Lizzie's stomach was growling. "Only one more class until lunch. What is it? Oh, PE."
"At least we get to burn some calories before eating," Miranda said optimistically.
Lizzie smiled. "Leave it to you to brighten the moment."
"Hey, what else am I good for?"
Lizzie laughed. "Come on, I think the locker room's this way."
As they walked further down the hall and turned a corner, they had unknowingly passed the line of offices, one of which was the principal's, where Ms. Ungermyer sat with the window shades down, talking with a few people from the board of directors.
"Yes, I know it was a serious violation of the rules during our trip to Rome," Ms. Ungermyer was saying. "And I believe your final decision is very appropriate, therefore, I am content with it. I'll tell her the second I can. We'll start it as soon as possible. Thank you."
A/N: I guess that's a good spot to stop. I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible. Thanks!