"Are you serious?"

I really wasn't enjoying this. At all. Seeing as how it was a Saturday night, I should be relaxing and enjoying the leisure time away from school's back-breaking work. And no, I wasn't exaggerating.

She never had reason or opportunity to patronize me. But now that she finally had her opportunity, Lizzie was giving it a go. And I could tell she was immensely enjoying herself. Miranda had called Lizzie's house that night while she and I were hanging out. She was on her way home from a party with Denisse when Denisse's car broke down. They couldn't go back to the party cause they were already too far out. Plus, neither had enough money on them to hail a cab. So, it was Lizzie to the rescue.

Without any hesitation we were on our way to pick up Miranda and Denisse. On the way over I asked Lizzie random questions about her acquiring her driver's license and who taught her to drive. Yada yada yada. Eventually she asked me about my own situation with driving and the such. I admitted that I had absolutely no experience behind the wheel and that's where that question came into play:

"Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why?"

"Think about it, Lizzie. New York City. Cabs. Hardly anyone drives. I figured it'd be a waste of time, not to mention money. I just thought, why bother?"

She actually laughed in my face. "I'm sorry, but I just can't believe it. For once, I know more about something than you do."

"Yeah, rub it in."

"That's what I intend to do."

I shook my head and turned up the radio.

"Oh my gosh, thank you guys so much for coming!"

"Don't worry about it, Randa." Lizzie moved to the popped open hood. "So what happened?"

Miranda threw up her hands. "We have no idea. The damn thing, no offense Denisse, just stalled out on us and neither of us know jack about cars."

Denisse looked away sheepishly. Gordo offered her an encouraging smile. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'm a guy, and I hardly know anything about cars."

Lizzie grinned mischievously. "Yeah, not to mention lack of experience behind the wheel. And that's just the tip of the iceberg of what you don't know."

Gordo shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Your not by any chance gonna let this go, are you?"

"Not anytime soon" she replied as she flipped her golden locks back.

Even though he was getting irritated, he couldn't help but smile a little at her teasing antics.

"So what do we do?" Denisse finally said.

"Well..." Lizzie sighed. "You're going to have to call a tow truck because none of us seems to know just what the heck happened. You have your phone, Denisse?"

"My dad never lets me out of the house without it" she responded as she pulled it out of her beige purse.

Miranda smiled. "Now we know why."

"We'll wait and drive you both home...?" Gordo looked to Lizzie for confirmation.

She only grinned back with her right hand placed haughtily on her hip. "Well, I'll drive you both home. Someone just doesn't seem to know how to operate a vehicle."

He tried his hardest to suppress a grin and only shook his head back at his (at the moment) annoying blonde headed friend.

Just then, Miranda decided to join in the banter. "What?" she feigned shock. "Gordo is clueless in an area thatLizzie is such an expert at? I didn't think that it was possible. My, my." she turned to face Lizzie and proceeded to bow down. "Grasshopper, you astound us all."

Lizzie laughed and took a bow.

Miranda suddenly reached out and swatted Denisse's arm. "C'mon girl, you too."

"Hey, this is between you three," she laughed.

"Ah" Gordo patted Denisse's shoulder. "My only friend."

"I think you've hit rock bottom when you say your only friend is someone you've only known for three weeks." she responded.

Lizzie and Miranda howled with laughter and held on to each other, so as to not hit the ground from laughing so hard.

If it had been anyone else, Gordo would have been aggravated. But he had taken such a liking to Denisse since he'd first met her. She was the shyest person he had ever encountered, more so than even Danielle. Yet that's what had made her undeniably cute.

"Oh, I see how it is." he stepped back from the trio of girls. "If this Gordo-bashing-day? Did I miss the memo?"

Lizzie swatted his chest playfully. "Oh come on, it's all good. Listen, Denisse make the call so we could all get outta here sooner."

She suddenly remembered the phone at hand and quickly began dialing.

"Ugh!" Miranda leaned against Denisse's Lexus and ran her hands through her dark hair. "I knew we should've stayed longer. That party was getting good."

Lizzie sat on the hood of the car next to her friend. "So why'd you guys leave?"

"Meh, her dad gave her a curfew."

The blonde checked her watch. "It's barely after 12."

Miranda smiled. "Blows, huh?"

"Why didn't you just catch a ride with someone else?" Gordo asked.

"I was thinking about it but Denisse doesn't like to drive alone at night."

"Considering what happened tonight I don't blame her."

Denisse joined the three in front of her car. "Said they'll be here within 30 minutes." She blew a loose strand of red hair out of her face. "Great, my father is going to be super pissed."

"Look on the bright side," Miranda offered. "You get to stay out longer."

"Yeah and with us. It doesn't get much better than this." Lizzie grinned.

Gordo laughed and looked to Lizzie. "Conceited much?"

She continued to grin. "When the mood strikes, yes."

Denisse reached into her purse. "Snicker's anyone?"

Gordo immediately accepted, Miranda split one with Denisse and Lizzie declined saying she was still stuffed.

"What'd you eat?" Denisse asked.

She ran her hand through her hair and pointed to Gordo. "Virgin driver over here took me to a hot dog joint. Good stuff but it sticks with you for a good while."

"Yeah it just opened up last Friday. A couple of miles from the high school but it's worth the drive." Gordo included.

"I haven't even heard of any hot dog places around here." Denisse said. "What's it called?"

"Harold's Hot Dogs."

Miranda smiled. "How original."

"It may not have the most creative name, but it's a great place to hang out." Gordo stated.

Lizzie nodded in agreement. "You guys should come next time. It's pretty chill."

"Count me in," Denisse said.

"If there isn't a party going on, I'm there." Miranda asserted. She then took a moment. "Or if I don't have a date."

Gordo pondered her statement for a second then checked his watch. "So that'd be two weeks from never, right?"

Miranda appeared surprised. "I'll just take that as a compliment."

He pretended to be offended. "What other way could you take it?"

She narrowed her gaze. "Don't tempt me, boy."

Gordo laughed and stood behind Lizzie. When she questioned him about his action he claimed he needed protection from the beast. The Sanchez temper flared and she reached for him. He'd been expecting this and reacted quickly. His present position gave him his biggest advantage: him standing directly behind Lizzie. His arms encircled her and he seized both her wrists so he had absolute control of her hands. He playfully swatted and Miranda with Lizzie's hands.

Denisse watched with great amusement. She hopped on her car to get a more comfortable view of the spectacle.

"Back off, Sanchez." The more she lunged for him the more he used Lizzie as his own armor. Miranda tried going around but he just kept turning Lizzie to face her. To Denisse it looked as if the three were in the middle of some type of unusual dance. Lizzie laughed and allowed herself to be put in the middle.

"C'mon Miranda, he's just joking."

Miranda growled and stomped toward Denisse in frustration. The redhead was laughing so hard that she began choking on her Snicker's bar. That only added to the hilarity of it and Lizzie began laughing even harder. Miranda eased a bit after seeing Denisse choke on her chocolate bar. It was a funny sight, she had to admit.

After Denisse stopped coughing she shoved Miranda who was seated next to her. "I could've died!"

"Oh please, you're perfectly fine." she then shook her finger in fun of her friend's face. "That's what you get for not helping me attack The Virgin Driver."

Nothing could deter Gordo's good mood. Goofing around with his friends was exactly what he needed. School had been hectic and this was a sweet release of some of the stress he'd been experiencing as of late. Plus, having a gorgeous blonde in your arms didn't hurt matters either. After Miranda had stalked off in defeat he wrapped her arms around her middle. And since he hadn't yet released her wrists, his arms were wrapped around her middle as well. It felt strange. But a good kind of strange.

A/N: Hey kiddies. Thanks to those of you that have stuck around so far. For the impatient ones...uh, yeah. Sorry! But this story still has a ways to go. Everything that has happened so far was just to set the stage for what's about to take place. Heh ;) Drop me a line if your in a giving mood. Take care all. Peace.