I sincerely apologize for the 8-month delay between chapters 4 and 5. Life got in the way of my progress, but I am writing again and have the next few chapters fairly well plotted out. So without further ado… let's jump back into the story!


Downstairs, Jo McGuire was setting out wine glasses, silverware and some light appetizers she had prepared the night before for entertaining. She and Sam had invited Miranda, Gordo and Larry's parents to stay for dinner after they had seen their kids off for the night's prom festivities.

Larry had arrived at the McGuire house alongside his mom, Janice.

Miranda's heart skipped a beat upon seeing Larry waiting at the front door in his tux with his hair expertly slicked back and a corsage that matched her dress tucked in his hand. He looked incredibly dashing.

"Lar! You look amazing!" Miranda exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug. Larry was staring wordlessly at her, mouth agape as they pulled apart. She shrunk a bit in embarrassment.

"Yeahh...sorry, we're not quite ready yet and I know I look like a hot mess right now-" she started apologetically.

"A mess? Miranda...you're exquisite." he said as he continued taking her in with his eyes.

"Oh…you think?" She smoothed out the bodice of her dress and made doe eyes at him.

"Affirmative." he said. He took her hand and gave her a playful twirl.

Larry didn't care that there were big fuzzy leopard-print slippers on her feet, or that there was a curler still tucked in her bangs, or that so far she only had eyeshadow and mascara on one eye. To Larry, Miranda was the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on; flawless and perfect in every way.

"So, do you mind chilling down here for a bit while we finish getting ready? It shouldn't take much longer." she said, guiding him toward the McGuire's living room.

"Why of course, princess." With Miranda's hand still entwined with his, he lifted it to his lips and kissed it gently as their eyes locked onto each other. Miranda's breath hitched in her chest as they stood there transfixed in the moment.

"-Uhm...s-so I'll see you again in a little bit?"

Larry winked at her in agreement and she turned on her heel to head up the stairs. Almost forgetting, Miranda quickly spun back around.

"Oh! And if Gordo gets here before we're ready, just stall him for a bit. Okay?"

"Roger that." said Larry, parking himself on the McGuire's living room sofa.

With Larry holding down the fort downstairs, Miranda jogged back upstairs to find Lizzie sitting in front of her vanity again, re-applying the mascara that had been running down her face just moments before.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're getting ready again!" said Miranda, rushing over to her best friend. She smoothed Lizzie's flyaways and untwisted one of the spaghetti straps of her dress. They caught eyes through the mirror and Miranda gave her a supportive squeeze on the shoulder.

"Feeling any better about things now?"

Lizzie closed her tube of mascara and set it down on the vanity. "I'm fine, Miranda." she said bluntly. This wasn't very convincing.

"Lizzie, everything is gonna be okay tonight. I promise."

The doorbell rang again with Miranda's parents being next to arrive. They had dropped her younger sister, Stevie, at a friends' house for the evening and had left for the McGuires' as soon as Eduardo had gotten off work. Eduardo and Daniela wouldn't miss seeing their baby girl off to prom for the world.

Hearing the additional commotion downstairs as Jo and Sam greeted Miranda's parents, Lizzie could feel her stomach twisting itself back into knots. She took a deep breath and got up to put on her heels, while Miranda returned to the bathroom to finish her hair and makeup.

When Miranda was done in the bathroom, she came back into the bedroom to quickly put her shoes on as well. In one final attempt to lighten the mood, she grabbed Lizzie's bright red costume feather boa from the coat rack near her closet door and draped it sloppily across her face and neck. She then turned to Lizzie.

"How do I look, mademoiselle?" she asked, knowing she looked utterly ridiculous.

"Like a star!" Lizzie laughed. Miranda was so glad to see her smiling again, if only momentarily. She took off the feather boa and flung it onto Lizzie's bed.

The doorbell rang once again and the two girls immediately locked eyes - it was Gordo. Lizzie's smile started to wane as she and Miranda grabbed their clutches and headed toward the bedroom door. Both girls were now fully put together, but they stopped to do a quick purse check for all the essentials just to be sure. Cellphones? Check. Digital camera for photos? Check. Breath mints? Check. Compact mirror and lip gloss for touch-ups? Check. They were ready.

"Lizzie! Miranda! The Gordons are here!" Jo yelled from the foyer.

"We're on our way down, Mrs. McGuire!" Miranda shouted in response. She turned to Lizzie, giving her a final look-over and pep talk.

"You've got this, and you look amazing. You know Gordo is going to flip his shit when he sees you, McGuire."

Lizzie smiled a bit at the thought. "Sure hope so." she said. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to begin their grand entrance.

Upon hearing Lizzie's bedroom door open, Jo and Sam, who had been patiently waiting and making small talk with the boys and their parents downstairs, quickly ushered everyone back into the foyer to see the girls reveal their prom night ensembles.

Miranda descended the stairs first, excited for Larry to see her now-completed prom night look. Standing next to Gordo in his tux, Larry was grinning like the Chesire cat as Miranda reached the foot of the stairs. He immediately took her hand in his and whispered something in her ear that made her blush. After a quick peck on the cheek, Miranda turned to greet Larry, Lizzie and Gordo's parents. Daniela and Eduardo waited eagerly for their daughter to make her way over to them.

"Oh mija, you look so beautiful!" Eduardo said with tears in his eyes as he and Daniela pulled their daughter in for a tight hug. Miranda was so happy to have her parents there to see her and her friends off for the night. And as her mom kissed her on the cheek, the realization suddenly hit her that this would be one of the last times their families would all be together before summer jobs, family vacations and college road trips pulled them all in different directions.

"I'm so proud of the beautiful young woman you've become, sweetie. And you're gonna have so much fun tonight." Daniela said to her reassuringly, almost as if she could read her daughter's thoughts.

After a brief moment, everyone's attention turned back to the stairs where Lizzie was carefully making her way down the steps so as not to trip over the hem of her dress. She may have outgrown a lot of annoying phases from childhood, but unfortunately her occasional clumsiness was not one of them. For all Gordo knew, however, a literal angel was gliding gracefully toward him. And she was perfect.

Gordo was rendered speechless by Lizzie's beauty. His heart began to pound and his palms started to sweat as he locked eyes with her. Despite having been attached to her at the hip for as long as he could remember and knowing her better than anyone, he still couldn't believe how incredibly lucky he was to be the one taking her to their senior prom...or to be her boyfriend for that matter. How in the world he had managed to pull that one off he still didn't know. But in this moment, all that mattered was Lizzie.

Jo McGuire, who was standing nearby clutching her camera, was trying hard not to cry too much. She had, of course, already seen Lizzie in her dress when they had gone shopping to pick it out, but now that the moment was finally here, she was overcome with emotion. Sam put his arm around her as they admired their daughter with pride - she really was all grown up. And you could say that Jo had been waiting for this moment for just as long as, if not longer than, Lizzie herself.

As soon as Lizzie reached the bottom of the steps, Gordo took her hand. Still captivated, he stumbled over his words. "Lizzie, you look... absolutely incredible." Lizzie blushed at the twinkling sense of wonder she saw in his familiar blue eyes. A bashful smile played across her face. This was the moment she had been dreaming about all week - scratch that, all year. But the butterflies raging in her stomach had returned and just wouldn't let up.

As Gordo leaned in for a kiss, Lizzie suddenly panicked and turned her face away, letting his lips land somewhere on her cheek instead. Not exactly the response she was intending, or he was expecting. Well that was odd, Gordo thought to himself. Jo, who had also noticed this, shared a similar thought. Gordo tried not to dwell on it too much though, figuring maybe it was just prom night jitters. Lizzie played it off and quickly turned her attention to greeting everyone's parents. And after a big bear hug from both parents, she was thankfully able to release herself from her mom's grip before she squeezed her to death.

Gordo and Larry took the corsages out of their boxes and placed them on the girls' wrists.

"Ohh, you kids look so beautiful and so handsome!" Jo said, setting the empty corsage boxes aside and motioning excitedly for them to squeeze together for a group photo.

"Yeah, you kids really do clean up nice, don't you?" Sam echoed, gesturing to Larry. Jo cracked a smile and lightly smacked Sam in the chest. She took a few more photos of each couple for posterity, and then took turns with Roberta Gordon in capturing some family group shots.

"Now David," Sam began, turning his attention to Gordo, "You take care of our Lizzie tonight, okay? Make sure she gets home safe and no funny business. You know the drill." He set a firm hand atop Gordo's shoulder and gave him a pointed look, followed by a reassuring smile.

Gordo smiled to himself, completely unfazed by Sam's fatherly scare tactics. The McGuires had known him long enough to know without a doubt that they could trust him with Lizzie's life.

"Of course, Mr. McGuire." he said, playing along. "We'll be on our best behavior."

Meanwhile, Jo was still feeling a bit sentimental. "You're just… you've all just grown up so fast." she said, squeezing the camera to her chest. "Tonight it's prom tonight. And then it's graduation. And then you'll be off to college. But I swear it feels like just yesterday, Lizzie and Gordo were crawling around our living room floor in their diapers. And then I was taking Lizzie and Miranda to buy their first bras. And then there was Rome, and then you got your licenses, and then-"

Sam cleared his throat loudly. "Jo, I think these kids would probably like to get to prom at some point tonight, no?…" he joked pointedly. Everyone chuckled in unison.

"Right!" she said, quickly composing herself. "Well, you kids have fun, drive safe and you know that if anything goes wrong tonight or if you or any of your friends need a ride home, you can always call us." After one last round of hugs for the evening, Jo ushered the kids toward the door. Larry, Miranda and Gordo waved goodbye to their parents and headed out onto the front porch and into the cool evening breeze.

"See you later, mom!" Lizzie said as she turned to leave. But Jo briefly pulled her daughter aside on the threshold of the door, just out of earshot of her friends.

"Lizzie… you feeling good about tonight? Everything okay with your friends? With Gordo?" she said in a whisper. Lizzie scrunched up her face in embarrassment.

"What? Mom! Yes, I'm fine. We're fine. Everything's fine. Stop worrying!"

"Alright. Well, just take care of yourself tonight, okay honey? Love you." she said, giving Lizzie an extra kiss on the cheek. Lizzie could feel her cheeks burning red hot, mortified at whatever her mom was even implying by that.

"Love you too, Mom." she replied hastily as she slipped out the door to join the rest of the group. How did her mom always know when something was bothering her? Lizzie wondered. Did even her mom assume she'd be having sex that night?

The gang piled into Gordo's car as their parents waved goodbye from the McGuires' front porch. Lizzie sat shotgun while Larry and Miranda settled into the backseat. Gordo started up the car while Lizzie popped a CD labeled "prom night" into the disc changer. As they pulled out of the McGuires' driveway, the sounds of The All-American Rejects' "Dirty Little Secret" began to fill the car.

"Whooooo! Let's do this!" Miranda shouted from the backseat. The gang were all smiles.

Prom night had officially begun.