Title: Unaffected (1/2)
Rating: G
Summary: Of what could been, and what could be. But what never is.
Type of fic: Vignettes
Disclaimer: Miranda, Gordo, and all Lizzie McGuire related stuff belongs to Disney and…whoever else has rights to them.
Author's notes: Just a little ditty. You gotta love the possibilities of "fanfiction". Also, I read somewhere that Miranda actually came into the picture much earlier than third grade, but for some reason I'm thinking third grade.
AN repost: Because I am a total idiot, I have decided to repost the fic with the correct spelling of Ethan's last name. I realise I added the second chapter to this and still had the old spelling. I blame five hours of sleep in almost two days.

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Miranda

The first time I saw him, I knew that I loved him. It was my first day in third grade at a new school, and I was assigned the desk beside him. I looked at the boy the teacher pointed to ("You can sit over there, next to David"), and he smiled at me. Though we had been living in Hillridge for over three months by then, that moment was the first time I felt at home.

It was at lunchtime when Lizzie McGuire asked me to join her and her friends. Eager to make new friends on my first day, I had happily agreed. And so I met Kate. And I met David. He told me to call him "Gordo", because it was what all of his friends called him. I met Gordo. And I loved him in that innocent and unreserved way an eight-year-old loves.

It didn't take long for Lizzie and I to become bestfriends. I treasured that word - "bestfriend". It made me feel special. And I had other friends. There was Kate, and there was Gordo. The four of us were always together, always on the same team.

And then came junior high, and four became three. Kate found that, with two bumpy things on her chest, came social status. It was strange at first. Lizzie and I considered the other our bestfriend, and Gordo was always referred to as "friend". I realised that Gordo and I never really developed a friendship that was just ours alone. It was the three of us; or Gordo and Lizzie; or Lizzie and Miranda. It was never Gordo and Miranda.

That knowledge made me sad, and I vowed that I would change it. The problem was that I did not know Gordo. I knew the Gordo that was the boy Lizzie had known since she was a day old, but not David Gordon. And so as our first year of junior high progressed I made an effort to get to know this boy I loved for so long.

And that was when I fell in love. Quirky became adorable. Annoyances became endearments. And friend became…

That was when I discovered that Gordo was in love with Lizzie.

And so I made myself believe that it wasn't to be. Hard as it was, I made myself forget. Instead, I teased him about Lizzie. And I encouraged him. The pleasure of being Gordo's friend was enough for me. I was happy with the fact that I was able to call Gordo, talk to Gordo, hang with Gordo, without Lizzie to bind us.

And then came high school, and three became two. Gordo finally admitted his feelings for Lizzie, and they became the quintessential couple. As hard as we all tried to fight it, the Three Musketeers eventually broke down. They included me as much as they could but I was the inescapable third wheel. They even tried setting me up on dates so that we could double date. It never seemed to work out.

By the end of our freshman year, I drifted from the couple. We still greeted each other in the hallway, we even occasionally had lunch together. But it was never the same again. That summer break I returned to Mexico. I called Lizzie once, and Gordo called me once. Both calls were in the first week. I didn't talk to either of them again until the start of our sophomore year. I found new friends. It was never quite the same.

Directly after high school I left Hillridge for New York. The bright lights and the joie de vivre of the city beckoned with promise of new opportunities. And a new start.

The last person I ever expected to bump into was Ethan Craft.

The Ethan Craft. Part-time model, part-time artist. It seems Ethan's gift was discovered in junior year. A wonderful ability to create extraordinary beauty on canvas. Not that any of us had known of it. Ethan left Hillridge after our sophomore year. He had left, and barely an eyebrow was raised. Though Ethan was the man in junior high, he became only one of countless in high school. Halfway through our first month as juniors, I suddenly became aware that Ethan had disappeared. And that had been that.

Until New York. An impulsive afternoon coffee with Ethan soon turned into another. And another. And another. Finally, a date.

The weeks, the months, flew by in a flurry of roses, champagne, dinners. Romance. With each passing day Ethan taught me a little more about life, about laughter. About living with both arms wide open. About not regretting lost chances but seizing new opportunities.

Then, one day, it dawned on me. The sun had risen, had set, had risen once more – and Gordo had not crossed my mind.

I found that it was possible to fall in love again.

end part one.