A/N: I'm here again with yet another chapter. I really appreciate your nice reviews. I'm so glad you like the story! Hope you enjoy this next post!
Ms. Ungermyer's Sentence"That was the most disgusting, gruesome, sickening thing I have ever been involved with!" Miranda exclaimed as the girls left the PE locker room, making their way toward lunch.
"It's just girls' gym class," Lizzie said, "and I thought you were the optimist."
"After spending a summer in Mexico City I thought I could handle the heat of outdoor gym, but no. I didn't have to run a mile, do 50 jumping jacks and push ups, and play flag football just to find a necklace in an outdoor market!"
"Hey, flag football's not that bad," Lizzie reasoned. "Remember when I used to play it after school?"
"Well, you're a more athletic girl. I'm just…me." Miranda said. "And I'm ready for some lunch. I've probably burned more calories than I have in me."
"You know that's not true," Lizzie said, smiling. "Let's drop off the books that we've already used at our lockers so we have a lighter load."
"Good idea," Miranda said. "Then we can find the cafeteria and down 20 cartons of lemonade."
"I'm for that," Lizzie agreed.
When Lizzie saw her and Miranda's locker for the first time, she stopped and admired it for a moment. "I like what you've done with the place! And I had never even seen it before. How did you do this so fast?"
"I put everything together the night before," Miranda replied. "So all I had to do was stick it in."
"How'd you fit it in your backpack?"
"My little secret," Miranda told her. "But you can just assume that I'm amazing."
Lizzie laughed and linked arms with her. "Let's get down to the cafeteria. I'm about to chew off my own hand!"
Miranda smiled as they one-handedly threw their books into their lockers (neatly, on Miranda's behalf), and then started back down the hall to where they thought the lunchroom should be.
"Um, didn't we pass the cafeteria on our way down here?" Lizzie asked, confused, as she looked around.
"I thought so," Miranda said, "unless it was a gym."
"Um, let's try around this corner," Lizzie said, motioning down the hall.
Miranda nodded and they ran quickly and rounded the corner, only to come face to face at a dead end, the custodian's closet.
"Okay, that's not right," Lizzie said.
The girls wheeled around and stared at the empty halls around them.
"Maybe it's further down the hall," Miranda suggested. "And up the stairs."
"Worth a shot," Lizzie agreed, and the girls made a left and continuing running until they had run up the flight of stairs, only to see identical hallways as the floor below, and no sign of chatting students nearby.
"Okay, I think we're lost." Miranda stated.
"Hey, do you guys need some help?" a voice from behind them said.
They turned around, and immediately spotted a tall, dark-haired boy walking up the steps they had just come up.
"Uh, yeah," Lizzie said, while Miranda stared blankly at the cute boy that had just addressed them. "Can you tell us where the cafeteria is?"
"Oh sure, but you're completely on the wrong side of the building," the boy laughed. "Walk down the stairs and make a right and go straight until you get to another turn. Make a left there, keep walking, and you should see it up ahead. But I should warn you, it's a long hallway until you get there."
Miranda let out a girlish laugh, then immediately turned red and looked away from the boy.
"I'm Jeremy by the way," the boy said, smiling at Miranda. "Are you guys freshmen?"
"Yeah," Lizzie answered.
"Thought so," Jeremy said, grinning again. "I'm a sophomore, but I do some extra work in the departments up here."
"That's cool," Lizzie said. "Oh, and I'm Lizzie, and this is Miranda."
Miranda smiled. "H-h-hi."
"Nice to meet you guys," Jeremy said. "But I gotta run. I guess I'll see you around!"
"Okay, bye, and thanks for your help!" Lizzie called to him as he rushed past them and hurried down a hall.
As they began making their way back down the steps, Miranda grasped Lizzie's arm and whispered loudly to her, "He is so, so…cute!"
Lizzie had a feeling that Miranda had wanted to say 'hot' instead, but was probably afraid that Jeremy was still within earshot. "Yeah, he seemed pretty nice."
"Do you think I have a chance with him?" Miranda asked her. "Be honest. Oh gosh, I hope he doesn't have a girlfriend!"
"Miranda, you just met him!" Lizzie said as they reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to walk down the hall. "You'll see him around school plenty of times, and it'll probably be easy to see if he has a girlfriend or not."
"Wow, could you even imagine what Kate and Claire would say if I started dating a sophomore?" Miranda asked dreamily. "They would be so jealous."
"I think you're getting ahead of yourself," Lizzie told her. "I think you should get to know him before he asks you out. He said he works on the second floor. Maybe you could get a job there too."
"No, you probably have to be 16 to work up there."
"That's for a regular job, Miranda. This is school. And you're already 15 anyway! I'm sure Jeremy would love to get to know you."
"You think?" Miranda asked.
Lizzie nodded, and wrapped her arm around Miranda shoulders. They continued down the hallway talking about other things unrelated to Jeremy, until they finally found the cafeteria. Since they had gotten there so late, the lunch lines were pretty much empty, so they got their food fairly quickly and found Gordo saving them a seat at a table.
"You're lucky I was able to keep these open for you," Gordo told them as they sat down. "You have to get here really early if you want to get a table. Good thing my English literature class is right down the hall. Where were you guys anyway?"
"We got lost," Lizzie told him after taking a bite out of her pizza. "But luckily we ran into someone that helped us."
"Jeremy," Miranda said, dazed for a moment. "A sophomore."
"Uh oh, I don't like where this is going," Gordo said testily. "Am I going to have to hear about more cute boys at lunch all over again?"
Lizzie tuned out Gordo's minor rant as she scanned the lunch crowd for some familiar faces. After looking around the tables and stairs full of people eating on the floor, her eyes settled on Parker, who was eating at another table nearby, with a group of girls and some boys. Lizzie looked more closely. Parker was staring intently at someone. Lizzie followed her line of vision until it stopped at Gordo.
Lizzie felt her heart sink. She had a feeling that this was going to be a problem.
"Hey, Gordo," she said, interrupting Gordo still going on about their boy craziness. "Did you talk to Parker about us?"
"Oh yeah!" Gordo said. "She's cool with it. You've got nothing to worry about."
Lizzie looked unsurely at Parker, who still had her eyes on Gordo, and then turned back to him and said, "Okay."
Lunch went by pretty quickly, on account of them only having about ten minutes to eat after getting there. The rest of school went by pretty fast as well, and soon Lizzie found herself riding the bus home with Gordo and Miranda, recapping their exciting first day of high school.
"To be truthful, I can't wait to go back tomorrow," Lizzie said as the bus pulled up to their stop. "No parents, tons of cute guys—of course, no one as cute as Gordo!" she added reassuringly when Gordo stared at her, amused. "And a lot of nice people. I think I was worried for nothing."
"Yeah," Gordo agreed, putting her arm around her shoulders. "I think we all were."
Lizzie sighed. "But now I have to bring back every waking moment from the time I left the house to the time I got home for my parents."
"Oh, I hate that part," Miranda said as they stepped off the bus. "Well, let's get to it!"
They said their last goodbyes and then went their separate ways to their own homes. Lizzie's mom was waiting eagerly on the front lawn when Lizzie got to the house.
"So?" Mrs. McGuire asked, running down the grass to hug her daughter. "How'd it go?"
Lizzie smiled. "Great!"
"So, tell me all about it? How was it? Who'd you see? What did you do? How are your teachers?"
"Fine, Mom, fine!" Lizzie said, but unfortunately during dinner that night, she didn't escape with a 'Just fine' response. She had to recount the entire day for her family.
Matt unfortunately, had to endure the wrath of his parents from the prank he had been planning all summer.
"You printed out imitations of new schedules for everyone?" Mrs. McGuire screamed. "So it took a whole class period to sort it out? How could you? On the first day of school, I get a phone call an hour into the day!"
Matt's first violation of the rules of the world that school year saved Lizzie from talking more about her day. She went on with dinner quietly as Mr. and Mrs. McGuire scolded and punished her younger brother.
Lizzie spent the rest of the evening finishing up her homework and talking to Gordo and Miranda on the phone. By the time she finally lie down to sleep, she was exhausted. Before she knew it, it was morning.
>>>>
"So, did you understand the French homework last night?" Lizzie asked Miranda as they got off the bus and walked up the steps to the school with Gordo the next day.
"Yeah, it was totally simple!" Miranda replied. "Find an object in your home that is of French significance and describe it in one paragraph!"
"Oh, I thought you said yesterday to 'fry a French fry' and write why it's important," Lizzie said. "I thought it was more of a cultural food thing."
"French fries aren't even French!" Miranda laughed.
"I guess I'll have some explaining to do," Lizzie sighed. "Way to start the school year."
"It'll be okay," Miranda assured her. "I think the assignment's due Monday, or that could just be when Mme. Rosewood said we would be hearing about etiquette and language from her French friend or something."
"Oh, I'm doomed," Lizzie said, throwing her head back. "Why couldn't we have study hall in the morning, after homeroom?"
"It's the way life goes," Miranda said as they made their way down the halls.
"Miss McGuire!" a voice boomed from out of nowhere. "Just the person I wanted to see!"
Lizzie turned around quickly, nearly dropping her books as Ms. Ungermyer walked heavily toward her. "May I speak with you alone, Lizzie? Don't worry, I'll give you a late pass to homeroom."
"Um, okay," Lizzie said, nervously waving goodbye to Gordo and Miranda, and then following Ms. Ungermyer down the hall to her office.
"Have a seat, Miss McGuire," Ms. Ungermyer said, motioning to one of the seats in front of her desk. When Lizzie had sat down, she continued. "I had a meeting with the board of directors yesterday, and you have probably already realized that you have yet to make up for your gallivanting all over Rome this past summer."
All Lizzie could do was nod.
"So," Ms. Ungermyer said, folding her hands across her desk and staring Lizzie straight in the eye. "They have come up with an appropriate punishment for you to carry out for the first semester of the school year."
"Why didn't they have me do something over the summer?" Lizzie found herself asking.
"It's summer, Miss McGuire!" Ms. Ungermyer exclaimed. "You students aren't the only ones who take a vacation after school ends. Besides, we believe it's more fitting for you to do it during the school year. Because of this, we were able to come up with a very good punishment."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"You, Miss McGuire, until the end of first semester, will serve as our main hall monitor after school, every weekday. You may have to give up some Saturdays when after-school clubs meet at the school, to make sure everything is in tip-top shape."
"But that's not fair!" Lizzie objected. "What if I have plans after school?"
"Well, you're just gonna have to make it work!" Ms. Ungermyer shot at her. "I know you were deceived by this Paolo fellow, but you were still wrong to leave the group in the first place. Therefore, you will learn to respect the rules of our school sponsored activities by manning the hallways after school to make sure that no one disregards them."
Lizzie was staring blankly at Ms. Ungermyer, but had taken in everything she was saying.
"You will stay for one full hour directly after school," Ms. Ungermyer instructed. "If you have any conflicts, come see me and we'll schedule a makeup assignment. Oh, and speaking of assignments, I still want those reports on the rise and decline of the Roman Empire."
Lizzie's mouth opened but no words came out.
"Are we clear, Miss McGuire?"
Lizzie felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"I said, are we clear, Miss McGuire?" Ms. Ungermyer raised her voice slightly.
"Yes."
"Thank you," Ms. Ungermyer said, taking a pass out of her desk drawer and filling it out. She handed it to Lizzie. "That will be all. Have a nice day."
Lizzie managed a weak smile, and then turned slowly and walked out of the office.
A/N: Well, I guess we'll have to see the outcome of this…