Something has to happen sometimes, to see how you actually feel about someone.

My So-Called Life – Guns & Gossip
A day in the life of Liberty High includes gunshots in the hallway and a rumor about Angela and Jordan. This ep also marks the shift from "Rickie as Rayanne's friend" to "Rickie as Angela's friend."

“Guns & Gossip” opens in social studies class, where all the girls are passing around a note. Brian goes to the restroom and sees Rickie getting pushed around, but he doesn't see who the tormentor is. Inside "soc" [I thought this was the accepted abbreviation for "Sociology," silly me] Angela sees the note, which says that she and Jordan Catalano had "complete sex" in his car. Outside "soc" a gun goes off, and Brian runs out of the bathroom to see Rickie and the aforementioned bully running in opposite directions, the gun lying on the floor.

A; "Who would write a note like that?"
R: "Everybody writes notes like that. We write notes like that."

Rayanne wants Angela to consider the note a positive thing, as it could help her get to the next level with Jordan – she believes that perhaps Jordan himself started the rumor. [NOTE: Angela refers to the kissing debacle of last episode as "introductory kisses." Is this girl nuts or what? That was one of the worst first-pseudo-dates in TV history!]

Throughout the ep, we see Rickie getting pushed around by various mean-looking dudes. And he gets called "fag" a lot. In "soc" the class talks about the incident, and Rickie says he can understand why someone would bring a gun to school because some people need protection. Meanwhile, the principal wants to talk to Brian about the gun incident, and ends up threatening him to get him to talk. Angela becomes increasingly concerned that Rickie was the one with the gun, and both she and Rayanne are bitches to Brian because of his chats with the principal. The principal threatens to expel Brian if he doesn't talk, and he finally stands up for himself, saying he's told them all he can. And he doesn't mention Rickie.

Patty goes to a meeting at school and admires an outspoken woman, who she later learns is Rayanne's mother Amber … and that Amber knows much more about her daughter's life than she does. She even knows about Jordan Catalano. And she thinks Angela has “complete taste.” [Everything in this ep is “complete” … I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard anyone say that.]

Jordan approaches Angela and oh-so-casually implies that since everyone already thinks they're having sex, they might as well go ahead and do it. She is shocked, the music turns dark, and she says she has to go. And he calls after her, "No pressure or anything." Yeah, Jordan's kind of lame. But I forgive him because I know what's coming.

Angela overhears Sharon saying that Brian is the one who has been telling everyone that she and Jordan had sex. Angela confronts Brian, and sadly he admits that it kind of was his fault. He says, "I didn't lie to her, I just … I can imagine what she did with it. But you lied too, when you said you didn't know about Jordan coming over that night. Because I've thought about it for like 50 hours. You used me." WHY does she not get that this kid likes her?!?!

Finally, in the gut-wrenching finale, Jordan tells Angela that he understands why she's upset ["some girls wouldn't be, but you're not like that"], and that he's sorry, and that he will make it very clear to everyone that he has no real interest in her and that they mean nothing to each other. So, now Angela feels like shit.

Oh, and Rickie admits that the gun isn't his; his cousin brought it and they were arguing about that fact. At the very end of the ep, they come into school for a new day and find that the school has installed metal detectors.