A/N: Sorry I didn't update as fast. This week is going to be a bit busier since I'm starting high school on Thursday. I'll do my best to post more ASAP. But for now, enjoy!

Moments of Doubt

"Hall monitor?" Miranda had repeated when Lizzie told her Ms. Ungermyer's sentencing. "I can't believe it! The whole first semester?"

Now Lizzie was sitting with Miranda and Gordo on the stairs of the cafeteria (they hadn't been fortunate enough to claim a table).

"You know what this means, don't you?" Gordo asked.

"What?" Lizzie said hesitantly.

"We can't hang out after school. We can't take the bus together, you can't do any extra curriculars that are right after school—"

"I get it, Gordo," Lizzie said quietly.

"But you can still try out for the school musical," Miranda told her. "They don't have rehearsals until 5:00. The show choir needs the theatre until then. That's where I'll be!"

"Good luck with those auditions," Lizzie said with a small smile. "I know you'll do great."

"Aw, cheer up, Lizzie!" Miranda said. "We're going to make this hall monitor thing go by in a flash! Think about it this way: our homework load seems manageable so far, and you have study hall every single day for 45 minutes. You'll be fine in that area. Then you only have hall monitor duty until 4:00. You'll have an hour to do whatever, and then you can work on the school play."

"But I don't even know if I'll make the musical," Lizzie said.

"Everybody knows that you can sing now," Gordo cut in. "You'll do great, and you'll definitely land a role."

Lizzie smiled, a real one this time. "Thanks, guys."

"Any time." Miranda put her arm around Lizzie.

"So, hall monitor duty starts Monday," Lizzie said, opening her bag of potato chips. "Which means I've still got today after school and the entire weekend to hang out with you guys. Got any ideas?"

"We can go see that new action movie that came out last week," Miranda suggested.

"Actually I already saw it," Lizzie said. "My mom made me take Matt and his weirdo friends to see it because they couldn't. It wasn't all that good anyway, but then again, I was distracted by his rude noises."

Miranda laughed. "That's okay. And you've already been to the movies once this week. How about the mall?"

"That sounds good," Lizzie said.

"Yeah," Gordo agreed, "but you should also get your Roman reports done this weekend, too, so you can get them out of the way."

"Same old Gordo," Lizzie smiled.

"And don't worry, I'll help you with it," Gordo told her. "I know some great Roman websites. Remember that packet I put together for Ms. Ungermyer before we left on the plane?"

"Yeah, that was your infamous introduction to her. But thanks, Gordo," Lizzie said, squeezing his hand.

Before, it was on a very rare occasion when Gordo gave Lizzie extra help on her homework. She guessed now it was just one of those advantages of being his girlfriend. Of course, that's not why she was going out with him! But Lizzie smiled at the thought.

"Well, it's about time to leave," Gordo said, gathering up his lunch and standing up. "I've got to get to history class and get a seat with one of the guys before Parker gets there. Yesterday it was like she left 15 minutes early from lunch to get in there."

At the sound of Parker's name Lizzie felt her sudden build of self-esteem decrease. "She's not, you know…"

"Flirting with you." Miranda finished Lizzie's sentence for her.

"In a sense she is," Gordo said, "but don't worry, I'm making sure that nothing happens. But I still think that she's fine with us going out."

"What, do we need her permission?" Lizzie asked before she could stop herself.

Gordo looked at her, a puzzled expression on her face. "I didn't mean that."

"I know," Lizzie said, staring down at her feet. "Sorry."

"Lizzie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lizzie said. "Let's go Miranda. I want to finish our French homework in study hall."

She grabbed Miranda by the arm and proceeded to dragging her to the door of the cafeteria, leaving behind a confused, yet concerned, Gordo.

>>>>

"Hall monitor for the entire semester?" Mrs. McGuire asked when Lizzie came home that day. "Well, I don't know what to say. It's an appropriate punishment, I guess, but to deprive you of your first hour after school!"

Lizzie sat at the kitchen table, eating a quick snack of cereal and milk, while her mother debated openly over whether or not Ms. Ungermyer had made a mistake.

"Mom, it's fine," Lizzie said. "I deserved it."

"Honey, you spent the rest of the summer before your freshmen year in the house, doing practically nothing, and now you're losing time after school too?" Mrs. McGuire said. "I don't know what to think. You know what? I'm going to call Ms. Ungermyer and see if we can come up with an alternative punishment."

"Mom, no!" Lizzie shouted as her mother reached for the phone. "That'll only make things worse. You know Ms. Ungermyer."

Mrs. McGuire stared at the phone, then at her daughter, at the phone, then at her daughter, and then finally put it down. "You're probably right. I'm sorry, Lizzie."

"It's fine, Mom," Lizzie said, standing up to put her bowl in the sink. "I'm gonna get started on the rest of my homework."

"Okay, sweetie," Mrs. McGuire said, giving her daughter a quick rub on the shoulder before she walked quickly to the stairs.

Lizzie ran up the steps two at a time. She had to get into the peace and quiet of her bedroom. For some reason, she just wanted to be alone.

Contrary to doing homework, she just laid herself out on her bed and stared up at her ceiling fan.

"I thought high school was going to be the greatest," she said to herself. "Now Parker's trying to get with Gordo and I have to do this stupid hall monitor job. What now?"

Suddenly, her phone rang, making Lizzie jump nearly a foot in the air. She regained her composure before reaching over and picking her phone up off her nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Lizzie, it's me," came Miranda's voice. "I saw him! I was at that new bookstore with my mom after school, and he was working there!"

"Wait," Lizzie asked, confused. "Who?"

"Jeremy!" Miranda shouted into the phone, excited. "He works at the cash register!"

"Cool," Lizzie said, not feeling excitement at all.

Miranda didn't seem to notice her current mood. "I was ready to grab anything off the shelf and go buy it from him, but we were only there for a minute. My mom just wanted to check to see if they had gotten the Peruvian cookbook she was looking for."

"Oh well," Lizzie said. "I'm sure you'll see him again."

"You know, he probably doesn't even remember me," Miranda went on. "I mean he's 16. He drives. Why would he want to go out with me?"

"Miranda, can we not talk about boys for the moment?" Lizzie asked.

"Why? What's wrong? Did something happen with Gordo?" Miranda asked, suddenly worried.

"No, no," Lizzie said. "I just don't feel like discussing guys right now."

"Oh, okay," Miranda said. "Sorry. So…what are you up to?"

"Nothing, really," Lizzie replied. "I was going to get started on my homework, but it's kind of hard to concentrate on it."

"Lizzie, I have to ask you something." Miranda's voice was suddenly serious.

"Sure, anything," Lizzie said.

"Do you want me to talk to Parker?"

Lizzie was silent for a moment before answering, "Huh?"

"I said, do you want me to talk to Parker for you?"

"Why would you do that?" Lizzie asked, trying to hide her true feelings.

"I know you're feeling queasy about Parker and Gordo," Miranda said. "Just say the word, and I'll tell her to buzz off."

"No, Miranda, I don't want to be rude to her," Lizzie insisted. "I just want to be happy with Gordo and not have to worry about her butting in."

"Lizzie, you don't have to worry about her," Miranda reassured her. "Gordo's crazy about you! There's nothing Parker could do to change that."

Lizzie smiled when Miranda said that. "Really?"

"Yeah," Miranda said, and Lizzie could tell she was grinning as well. "He told me plenty of times while I was in Mexico. He's practically in love with you. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," Lizzie said.

It was then she realized it: Miranda must have known that Gordo liked her since way before he ever admitted it. And she knew that Miranda always knew what she was talking about—most of the time. But she definitely trusted her on this.

"Thanks, Miranda," Lizzie said again.

"No problem," Miranda said. "So, once you finish your work, call me and we'll make a plan with Gordo. I don't have that much stuff to do besides math, so I should be finished pretty soon."

"Yeah, same here," Lizzie said. "Oh, and remember to tell Gordo about what happened in drama class!"

When they had performed their skit again in drama class, Ethan was hilarious. He had been acting dumbfounded the entire time, and then all of a sudden quoted William Shakespeare in a situation totally unrelated to the scene. The class had burst out laughing.

"Ethan's like our dads," Miranda said. "Some times you think they're clueless, and then they surprise you."

"Oh, definitely," Lizzie said. "It's that way with Gordo, too."

Miranda laughed. "I guess so."

"Well, I'll talk to you soon," Lizzie said, feeling much better about the whole Parker situation.

"Okay. Bye!"

Lizzie hung up the phone, and then reached into her backpack for her math notebook. As she began to work on problems out of her textbook, the thought of hall monitor duty lurked back into her mind. She sighed. As better as she felt now, she could tell: it was going to be a long semester.

A/N: That's it for now. I'll try to get the next chapter out within the next couple of days. Tomorrow will be busy, but I'll do my best. Thanks!