Disclaimer: I realized that I had forgotten to add a disclaimer to the previous chapter, so here it is both chapters 2 and 3. Disney owns the Lizzie McGuire show, The Lizzie McGuire movie, the characters, the plot and some of the dialogue. If I had owned any of it, I wouldn't be writing this; I would have made it into a movie.
A/N: I am so sorry that I took so long over this chapter. I've been buried under mounds of work, and then my computer gave up on me. Things are back to normal now, and hopefully I should have the next few chapters up quite quickly. I'd also like to thank all those who left their wonderful reviews, it was the encouragement I needed. And now without further ado, I present to you chapter 3…
Enter the tall, dark and handsome stranger
The next morning, their first full day in Rome, saw them gazing in awe at the visually stunning Trevi fountain, as Miss Ungermeyer gave them the guff on the history behind the fountain itself, which wasn't really gripping the class. Most of them had read the bit about it being lucky to throw a coin into the fountain, and so the treasure at the bottom of the fountain had been considerably increased with the addition of several lire (and a nickel, courtesy Ethan Craft, who couldn't tell the difference).
Miranda had been one of the first to throw in a coin, though as Gordo pointed out; it wasn't likely to bring her much luck as she hadn't thrown it over her right shoulder, and she had hit Neptune with her coin, which was unlikely to make him feel very benevolent towards her. As Lizzie was rummaging through her purse for a coin to throw in, Miss Ungermeyer noticed this reckless scattering of wealth and felt that she had to put a stop to it.
"Many believe that to throw a coin into the fountain is to bring on good luck. Let me tell you, those people are suckers," she said, disdain in every word, "You've gotta make your own luck in this world.
That served as a dampener on the spirits of the touring party, and thus, many lire were saved from a dunking in the fountain. Rome had, however, brought out a rebellious streak in Lizzie and she was determined to go against Miss Ungermeyer, at least once. It did help that Miss Ungermeyer was, at that moment, engaged in preventing Ethan from landing himself in the fountain, and at the same time negating Kate's attempted sneak away to the nearby shops, and she was therefore not in a position to observe Lizzie's show of defiance.
"Forget what she says," Lizzie stated, and she handed a coin to Gordo, "Make a wish."
"Yeah Gordo, go on, make a wish," Miranda nudged him from the other side, winking knowingly at him.
"I'm in Rome with my best friends. I'm good," Gordo replied diplomatically, and he gave the coin back to Lizzie, "You make one."
Miranda rolled her eyes at this latest display of mutton-headedness by Gordo. Lizzie, in the meantime, thought for a moment, and then threw the coin using the proper technique, with her right hand over her right shoulder.
The speed at which a particular person's wish is fulfilled varies considerably. Most often it will take so long, that by the time it is fulfilled, the person forgets what he or she wished for in the first place. But on some rare occasions, it can reach fruition at a speed that takes one's breath away. And sometimes, one may find that, though they do not get what they wished for, what they do get is good enough to be going on with.
When Lizzie threw the coin in, and then opened her eyes, she found herself the object of an intense scrutiny by a stranger, who seemed to have been built according to the specifications of romance novelists around the world.
"Isabella?" asked the Adonis, setting the seal on Lizzie's confusion and bringing with it a hint of disappointment. The guy had been staring at her as if he had he finally found his soul-mate, and then had proceeded to call her someone else's name.
"Huh?" asked Lizzie, intending to convey that she was definitely not abreast of this rush of events.
The man collected himself and smiled. "I'm sorry but you look an awful lot like a friend of mine," he explained. He seemed to be about to throw more light on his strange behaviour, when a giant materialized next to him, and informed him that they had to leave for a photo-shoot. At the same moment, Gordo caught sight of the rest of their party moving off without them, and he urgently whispered to Lizzie, "We need to get going."
It proved to be rather more difficult to get Miranda to agree to leaving, as she was frantically searching for another coin to throw in. "I'm not leaving until I get a guy like that," she stated firmly, and it took all of Gordo and Lizzie's strength to drag her away.
Miss Ungermeyer, showing an unusual respect for the well-being of the students, had decided to take a short break to allow the party to refresh itself with some Italian ice-cream before they headed over to the next monument. She went further to remind them that Italian ice-creams have twice the sugar as American ice-creams, which made the group that much more eager to get at them. Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda lagged behind the rest, just taking in the sights and sounds of Rome, when they were arrested by one particular sight, that of the same guy from the fountain following them, with his pet giant in tow. When he saw them looking at him, he seemed to recollect his manners and walked up to them, smiling widely.
"Excuse me," he began, "I don't mean to bother you. I'm Paolo, Paolo Valisarri."
"Oh, I'm Lizzie McGuire and this is Gordo and Miranda," Lizzie introduced them, as Gordo waved and Miranda blushed at him.
Paolo nodded to them in turn, then gesturing to the incredible hulk standing behind him he said, "This is my friend Sergei. Sergei, doesn't she look exactly like…"
He was interrupted by an excited scream, and there was sudden rush towards them. Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda instinctively took a step back, wondering if they had unconsciously violated some Italian code of ethics to cause this sudden attack by a mob of young men and women yelling "Isabella, Isabella!"
The next few moments were the strangest in Lizzie's life, and though she had had some strange experiences before, this one took the cake. The group of young people, who had rushed them, proceeded to fawn on her, repeatedly calling her Isabella, and taking photographs of her. If that weren't confusing enough, a lady handed her a large chunk of cheese talking in rapid Italian, which left Lizzie completely fogged, as to what the lady meant. When Lizzie finally managed to disentangle her tongue for the roof of her mouth, she found utterance.
"What was all that about?" she queried frantically. Before Paolo could answer, Gordo nudged her and pointed upwards. Lizzie and Miranda followed the line of his finger and then their eyes widened in shock.
Up in the skies, above them, loomed a massive billboard with an image of this Paolo Valissari and a brunette. That in itself was not cause for surprise except for the fact that the brunette was the spitting image of Lizzie.
"Wow," was all Lizzie could say, once she had managed to hitch up her jaw that had dropped earthwards.
"She looks exactly like you. Except for the hair, you could be her twin," Miranda stated, quite unnecessarily as this fact had not escaped anyone's notice.
"Did you have a twin that your parents forgot to tell you about?" asked Gordo, looking dazed. Lizzie did not answer, and she couldn't have even if she had wanted to. Knowing that one looks exactly like a famous singing sensation is something few people experience and she, for one, had no idea how one reacted to such startling news.
"Isabella is my singing partner," Paolo explained, "And you're like her sister, like… two pods in a pea."
That snapped Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda out of their trance and they all giggled at Paolo's faux pas. They were, however, still rather dazed. Luckily for them, they were all saved the need to think of something to say to break the awkward silence, thanks to a yell from inside.
"Gordon, McGuire, Sanchez, did you not hear me say 'head check'?" Miss Ungermeyer huffed. "Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen… who are you?" she asked, catching sight of Paolo.
Blissfully unaware that the woman he faced was the sort from whom Jezebel and Lady Macbeth could have taken lessons, Paolo flashed his dazzling smile and said, "I'm Paolo Valissari, pleased to meet you."
Miss Ungermeyer fixed him with an eye like a gimlet, then turning to Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda, said, "Keep your money in your front pockets," showing once again, the rather unfortunate, but all too common, mistrust that aliens have for their hosts. Having had her say, Miss Ungermeyer vanished into the confines of the shop, presumably to imbibe the heavily sweetened ice creams that they proudly sold.
"She makes me very scared," Paolo said, looking shaken. He had faced mobs of screaming fans and demanding music directors, but like Giorgio before him, he had never been hit by the force that was Miss Ungermeyer. It made him feel quite faint.
"Join the club," Gordo remarked dryly.
With an effort, Paolo managed to put aside the overpowering effect of Miss Ungermeyer and he spoke once again. "Lizzie can I see you again, maybe tomorrow? Please?" he pleaded.
He wants to see me again? Did he just say he wants to see me again? What's the word for yes in Italian? Ah, Si, Lizzie thought, wondering if she had heard right. Then, she looked around at Miranda and Gordo, and though it tore her up inside, she said what she had to.
"No, I'm…," she began regretfully.
"It's ok. I can cover for you," Gordo said surprisingly, causing Miranda's jaw to drop for the second time in five minutes. Gordo glared at her, and she quickly shut her mouth.
"Erm… yeah, you should go," Miranda said too, casting an uncertain glance at Gordo.
"I'm sorry, but I'm here with my school so I can't," Lizzie said firmly.
"Forgive me if I embarrass you, but it's just that some people when they come to Rome, they want to find adventure," Paolo said, clearly implying that those who didn't were missing something special.
This had the effect of silencing Lizzie, since it was the same notion that she'd had. "No, it's ok. I've got some cool cheese," she said finally, causing Gordo and Miranda to blink.
"Did she just say 'cool cheese'?" Miranda whispered to Gordo, who merely nodded in wonder.
Did I just say 'cool cheese'?, Lizzie thought to herself, feeling that perhaps she need to go back to the Trevi fountain, and wish to be able to think before she spoke.
Sergei, the man-giant, broke into this dead-lock, informing Paolo once again that they had to go. Paolo nodded and then turning to Lizzie, he said, "Lizzie, if you change your mind, I will meet you at the Trevi fountain at 9 o'clock."
Unsure of what to do, Lizzie turned to follow Gordo and Miranda who had already entered the shop, when Paolo addressed her in Italian.
"What does that mean?" Lizzie inquired, finding herself falling in love with the Italian language when spoken by good-looking Italian guys.
"We will see each other," he replied, and then, in the great European tradition, he kissed Lizzie's hand and walked away. Lizzie watched his retreating back, unaware that Gordo and Miranda had also witnessed the last exchange. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, though they had no way of knowing that all their thoughts were interconnected.
Later that day, after cramming as much culture into their heads as possible, they returned to the hotel. Lizzie had managed to get her hands on a Paolo and Isabella CD and was listening to it. Miranda was refreshing herself with a nice cold drink. Gordo was seated in the restaurant of the Hotel Cambini and he was… well, he was being himself and was writing a précis on all the monuments they had visited that day.
Shortly, he was joined by the two girls who sat down on either side of him. Miranda rolled her eyes when she saw what he was up to. Lizzie, however, didn't notice.
"Hey! You know this Paolo and Isabella CD isn't so bad," she remarked to Gordo and Miranda, "I mean if you're into the Alanis Morissette-y alternative, dark, like brooding, I-never-go-out-into-the-sunshine-and-my-life's-a-miserable-black-hole-of-depression kinda thing, then you'd think they stink. But I mean for a like driving-around-in-the-car-with-the-top-down-putting-on-your-lip-gloss-loving-life kinda thing, they're good! Here, listen..."
Gordo and Miranda leaned in to listen to the strains of a ballad that they could hear emanating from the Lizzie head-phones.
"Not bad," was Miranda's opinion.
Gordo didn't answer immediately due to the fact that Miranda's jostling him had caused him to nearly break his nose on the top of Lizzie's head. He had barely managed to avoid a nasty injury and had inhaled deeply. The smell that had risen up his nostrils at that moment, had momentarily unmanned him.
It is necessary at this point to digress for a few moments, and take a closer look at the mind of David Zephyr Gordon. Gordo had always prided himself on being in control of every situation. Even people like Ethan and Kate, who felt that Gordo was probably on the lowest rung of the social ladder, grudgingly respected the fact that he was one of a kind, and that in many ways; he was miles ahead of them. He did well in school, and usually tied with Larry Tudgeman to be top of the class. He had a certain sophistication about him, and his maturity was greater than is expected from one of his age. But even great men have their weaknesses; every Napoleon has his Waterloo. So did David Gordon. His best friend, Lizzie McGuire, for whom he had secretly harbored deeper feelings for quite a while, was his weakness. And so Gordo, the one who prided himself on always knowing the right thing to say, now faltered and proceeded to firmly put his foot in his mouth.
"You use scented soap, huh?" Gordo said, dreamily looking at the opposite wall.
Miranda almost spilt her drink all over Gordo's notes, while Lizzie nearly got whiplash in trying to turn her head around to look at Gordo.
"What?" she asked, looking at Gordo inquiringly.
"Uh… n-never mind," Gordo said, sitting back down very quickly and averting his face to hide the colour that was rising up in his cheeks.
Lizzie giggled uncertainly and became very interested in adjusting her hair. Miranda, on the other hand, leaned across and whispered in Gordo's ear, "Smooth move, Casanova."
"Shut up," Gordo whispered back angrily, wishing that he wasn't blushing so furiously.
"So anyway, Paolo wants to meet me at the Trevi fountain tomorrow morning at nine," Lizzie told the other two. Miranda nodded, and then her eyes nearly popped out of her head when Gordo spoke up.
"So go," he said.
"What?" The one word exploded from both Lizzie and Miranda's mouths and collided in mid-air.
"I can't go. That would mean I would have to sneak away from the group," Lizzie said.
"So?"
"So I'm like physically incapable of sneaking," Lizzie explained impatiently.
"Lizzie, weren't you the one who said we were going to have adventures on this trip?" Gordo reminded her.
"Yeah, Gordo, we… we would look for adventure," Lizzie replied, trying to drive home her point that she did not wish to abandon her friends.
"And we will. It just so happens that you have dibs on the first one," Gordo said, inwardly wondering why, in the name of all things wonderful, he was encouraging her.
"Well, ok," Lizzie agreed slowly, "Just as long as we don't do anything that would get us tossed on a plane by Miss Ungermeyer."
It is to be noticed that Miranda had played no part in the previous exchange. The reason was that she was listening to her two best friends talking, and she was getting more and more surprised. She couldn't understand why Gordo was trying to encourage this rather foolhardy venture. She knew that Gordo thought of Lizzie as more than a friend. She had noticed it ever since the Ronnie incident, realizing for the first time, that Gordo was actually jealous of Lizzie's boyfriend. Yet, even though Ronnie Jacobs had shown his true colours and had dumped Lizzie, Gordo had held back. He hadn't told Lizzie how he felt, though it seemed that he had been on the verge of doing so several times. And now, he was encouraging Lizzie to meet an attractive Italian boy.
And then it hit her; Gordo was being, what some would call 'noble'. Miranda, being the sort of girl who called a spade a spade, thought he was being an idiot; and her estimation was probably closer to the truth. Slowly, she shook her head, trying to clear it of these rather heavy thoughts that she'd been thinking and was surprised to see Gordo put a hand to Lizzie's forehead.
"Lizzie, are you feeling ok?" she heard him ask.
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Miranda asked with concern.
"You seem to be sick," Gordo said, smirking at Lizzie. And realization dawned on the girls; he was giving Lizzie a way to get out of the trip. Little did Gordo know that his well meant intentions would end up having such far-reaching consequences.
