This is my first TMR fanfic in English! Unlike my ever so grand Spanish fics, this one will be multi-chapter, and, like my fanfics for other fandoms, will contain (guess who?!) Lennon, whom we all love so much and were hoping would have a happier life. Well, let's see how Lennon and the Gladers fare in the present era. I hope you enjoy!
Minho Kang sighed as he sat on the bench with his parents. The train was supposed to arrive, like, twenty minutes ago, and it was kind of chilly outside. The sun was already starting to set in the sky, early as usual compared to that train. He wanted to head home soon, where it was nice and warm and there would be no trouble with potential hypothermia and sniffly colds.
Still, he was excited. His cousin Lennon was going to be over for a visit, all the way from Chicago. Minho was used to himself being the one to make visits, which were always fun. But, this time, he would be the host, and he would get to show Lennon around and cause trouble and stuff like that. Also, he would get to introduce Lennon to his friends, who were always a hoot and a holler.
The train finally arrived. Lennon came out, dragging behind him an evergreen suitcase with pink handles and zippers. He smiled at his relatives waiting for him, and walked towards them. They all engulfed him into one big group hug.
"Look how you've grown!" Aunt Gyeong said to him. "You don't get your height from the Kang side of the family, that's for sure."
"It's from my mom's side," Lennon said. "The Schliwinsky's hate the ground, I think."
"How is your family?" Uncle Myeong asked. "Are they doing well?"
"Mom's okay, as always," Lennon replied. "She's now working at a bakery, and she's quite happy there. Jack received a lucrative opportunity to co-lead his organization. Peter hasn't gotten into big trouble in the past few months at all. Whippoorwill, as I'm sure you know, is now engaged. And Harry got fired from the grass seed place, for not being conducive to a happy workplace."
Minho said, "This is nice and all, but can we do our catching up in the car? It's freezing out here."
"It is rather cold," Lennon said. "How long of a drive is it to your house?"
"About thirty minutes," Minho said.
"Sounds about right. When I lived in Pancaketown, that's about how long it took to get to Chicago."
Everyone went over to the car, stuffed Lennon's suitcase into the trunk, and drove up the road, out of Montreal, and northwards to their destination, the little town of Grenouille. They passed a few sheep on the road, I think.
Anyway, they finally reached Grenouille, and they finally reached their destination in Grenouille, which was a small house on the western part of town near the river. The sidewalks were cracked and beat up, and the powerlines were only dimly lit. Next door, there was a house with its Christmas lights on even though it was the wrong time of year, and across the street was an old, creepy church building with a sign on the front saying "Universal Church of Free Use of Recreational Drugs".
"Hmmm…" Lennon said. "Reminds me of Pancaketown."
"Welcome to our home," Aunt Gyeong said, walking towards the small house.
On the inside, the house was warm and cozy, with plump and plush sofas and armchairs in the parlor, and a simple, round wooden table in a kitchen that smelled pleasantly of kimchi and Asian peppers. There were two bedrooms in the house- Minho would have to share his with Lennon, which wouldn't be a problem in the least. Right above the front door, for anyone to see as they left the house, was a small wooden cross.
"My brothers and I were each given one before leaving Korea," Uncle Myeong explained to Lennon. "Have you seen the like in either of their houses?"
"Jack keeps his above his bed," Lennon answered. "I haven't seen Harry keep one around, though. He wouldn't have cared much for it, though, would he?"
After everyone finally got warm to their marrow again, Minho led Lennon into his room. The other day, clothes had been all over the floor, but Minho had been told to clean up his room. Now, the dresser actually was serving its purpose. Also, the bottom bunk would be serving its purpose, instead of waiting in loneliness for someone to sleep on it. Also, somehow Minho had gotten the smell of soy sauce out of the room.
"You can use part of the dresser, if you don't want your clothes to get wrinkled," he offered.
"Thank you," Lennon said. "Still, are you sure there's enough room? Also, could I use the closet, since some clothes will have to be hung up?"
He opened his suitcase. All of his clothes in there were black and white, two colors which made him feel more in his element. When he first met his bio-dad, Jack, he couldn't help but notice that they both dressed in almost exactly the same way.
"Sure," Minho said. "When are you ever gonna add color to your wardrobe?"
"Never," Lennon replied. "There's no need to. Color is too distracting- I don't want to have to stop and think every morning if my red shirt goes with my pink pants, or if my orange blazer with purple scarf will clash."
"So, what're you up for for tonight? I assume you'll want to get settled in and relaxed."
"Of course, of course. I don't want to end up as cranky as you, do I?"
Minho fake punched his cousin.
"Oh, and some of my friends will be coming over tomorrow," he said. "I hope you've brushed up on your French. If you haven't, though, they speak English pretty well."
"We'll see how well I do," Lennon replied. "I haven't been in very many situations where I've had to speak French, though. I mean, I speak Korean and Yiddish at home, English in most other places, Hebrew and Latin for religious services and purposes…"
"Yeah, I really didn't appreciate going to church with you for the first time and not understanding a thing anyone said. And I was totally lost at the synagogue."
"It's perfectly normal for me, so I get along fine in that type of environment. Also, Latin isn't that different from English, so it's easy to get used to, and one-fourth of Yiddish words are Hebrew, I think, so I got a good head start on that."
"Lies. All lies. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably not have passed my English classes and would still say things like, 'I buy from library.'"
Truth be told, Lennon had been practicing his French everyday for months, and was feeling somewhat confident in it. He'd even read The Phantom of the Opera in its original French, and had watched reruns of "Toc Toc Toc". That didn't erase any of his nervousness, though. He simply knew there was going to be a mess-up of some kind in his speech.
The evening went by in quite a wonderful, relaxing manner. Lennon chatted with his cousin, aunt, and uncle, and they got to catch up on all the family drama and family happinesses, simply enjoying not rushing through life like a bunch of maniacal maniacs.
The next day, though, would be a little different…
Page break!
"Come on, Tom!" Teresa said. "You're lagging behind!"
"Sorry," Thomas answered. "I think I got something in my shoe."
Thomas and Teresa were next door neighbors, and had been best friends practically their whole lives. Thomas was Minho's best friend, but Teresa certainly wasn't. Minho had somewhat of a "He's my best friend- you break his heart, I break your face" kind of personality, and he really had a hard time forgiving Teresa after she did some mean things to Thomas a few years back… like standing him up, then humiliating him, then passive-aggressively manipulating him to the point of total intimidation, &tc., &tc. You get the point. Thomas himself had long gotten over Teresa' past young teen immaturity rubbish, and now adored her more than ever.
The two besties reached Minho's house, and knocked on the door. The knock was answered by Aunt Gyeong. (Honestly, everyone called her by that- she would bring cookies to every city council meeting, and always carried around bandages and iodine in case a child skinned her/his knee and she so happened to be passing by).
"Hello, Thomas," she said. "Hello, Thérèse. How are you two doing?"
"We're doing fine," Thomas replied. He noticed Teresa looking somewhat frustrated. Aunt Gyeong, after years of knowing Teresa, still couldn't get her name correct. It wasn't too bad, other than the fact that one of the most hated teachers in the local school would make that mistake, also.
"Come on in, come on in," Aunt Gyeong said. "There are cookies being made at the moment, and I'll bring them into the parlor for everyone once they're ready."
In the parlor, Minho and Lennon were sitting with Newt and Alby, laughing at some dumb joke about "I gotcha where I wantcha, and now I'm gonna eatcha". They noticed the two newcomers immediately.
"Lennon," Minho said, "this is Thomas. He's gotta be one of the awesomest shanks you could ever meet. And this is his… friend who's a girl, Teresa."
"It's wonderful to meet you, Lennon," Teresa said. "We've all heard a lot about you."
"I've heard a lot about you, also," Lennon replied, smiling.
Teresa suddenly looked horrified, frightened.
Everyone continued on talking. Soon, the cookies were brought in, and everyone was munching pensively.
There was another knock at the front door.
"Who else did you invite?" Lennon asked. "You have a lot of friends, Minho."
Into the parlor walked a girl who looked as if she felt out of place.
"Brenda!" Minho said. "Glad you could come! I want you to meet my cousin Lennon."
"Hello, Lennon," the girl, Brenda said. "I heard you're from Illinois, like me. Chicago, is it?"
"Yes," Lennon replied. "And Pancaketown, though I doubt you've heard of it. Which Illinoisan municipality do you lurk from?"
"Oh, I come from Blue Oak Reservation," Brenda said, "across the Sabaidi-Sawatdi River. I lived there until my dad decided he hadn't spend enough time with me as a kid, so he moved me all the way to his new house in Quebec. I've only been here less than a year."
"The Blue Oak Reservation… I've heard of that place. That's where Ella used to live."
"Ella?" Minho asked. "You mean that devil woman who dared to break your heart into a million pieces?!"
"I miss having her as my extra special friend," Lennon mused. "Still, if she's gonna have that attitude and that mean and cruel behavior, I don't think it would have been emotionally and socially healthy for us to stick around together."
Since it's dull to just talk about small talk (though, my fanfiction often specializes in long conversations), I'll just skip to the part where someone suggests they all do something.
"Let's all do something," Alby said. He was getting bored of sitting down and listening to small talk. He was a doer, kind of. Not really. I'm not quite sure.
So, they all piled into Newt's minivan (because he knew how to drive), and they decided to go all the way to the town across the bridge, Les Lunettes, and stop at their super high-class karaoke bar with its own area specifically for throwing your peanut shells on the floor. In one corner was a super hygienic ball pit for the kiddies, and in another was a stand where a woman was selling some news magazine about aliens genetically engineering human babies. There was also a stage in this karaoke bar, with a karaoke machine, for singing.
"Let's order a pizza!" Thomas said. "I'm hungry!"
"You're always thinking about your stomach," Minho said. "Didn't you have enough cookies at my place? We should try out the arcade. I heard there's a new game where you're supposed to be drag racing! That sounds fun!"
A waiter walked up just then. His name tag said "Gally".
"I don't know about the virtual drag racing," he said, "but our karaoke performances are up, and our theme for this whole month is drag shows. What do you say? Wanna impress the audience?"
"What audience?" Lennon asked. "There's barely anyone in here."
"There's that lady over there," Gally the waiter replied. "I bet it's awful boring just sitting there trying to sell magazines. I mean, hockey cards would be different. But alternative news sources? Puh-leaze!"
"You look familiar…"
"Lots of folks say that. It's because I've got an unforgettable face."
"I just now remember! You're Schemsel Respiropesce-Schallamach's youngest child!"
"Don't you dare mention my father's name to me! He thinks he can get away with condescending me in front of countless souls merely because I am the youngest and ugliest!"
"That's total klunk, man," Minho said. "There's always a good reason to publically condescend someone. You should try it some time. And, Lennon, how do you know this guy?"
Lennon replied, "The Respiropesce-Schallamach family was at my mother's class reunion. Apparently, she and Mr. Respiropesce-Schallamach were dating all four years of high school."
"Ew!" Gally said. "My dad and your mom together? I bet they kissed. That's so disgusting!"
"So," Brenda inquired, "you're from Illinois also?"
"Nope," Gally replied. "I was born in Naples. At the age of five, my family moved over to the north part of Yukon, and over here. I hate moving. But, I'm probably gonna be moving to Grenouille next week, because I've got a lucrative job opportunity."
"Really?" Teresa asked. "Where will you be working?"
She thought this Gally guy was kind of cute, and couldn't wait to live in the same town as him. She kind of still liked Thomas, though. Maybe she'd have two boyfriends…
Gally replied, "I'll be ditching my job as a waiter to work as assistant to Dr. Archibald Janson."
Brenda gasped.
"That's my dad!" she exclaimed, with utter shock.
Just then, a cow fell through the roof of the karaoke bar.
"Moo!" it said evilly. It started shooting at Lennon, Minho, their friends, Gally, and the magazine lady with water pistols. Only, instead of water, the pistols contained grape juice, therefore staining their clothes.
"We need to call the police!" Alby shouted. "That cow shouldn't be allowed to ruin our clothes with grape juice!"
"I am not a cow!" the cow said. "I am a human!"
The cow pulled off its "head", which just so happened to be a mask, revealing the head of a pale man with a long, weasley nose and thinning white hair.
"I shall demolish all of your garments, rendering you bait for the flies which I shall cook into a pie to eat tonight!" the man said.
"Dad!" Brenda said, crossly. "Why on earth are you doing this?!"
"So we can have dinner for tonight," the man, Dr. Janson, replied. "Don't you like to eat fly pies?"
"No!" Brenda replied. "I'm a vegan, for goodness' sake! I don't approve of exploiting creatures the way you exploit those flies! And I also don't approve of crashing through roofs and staining people's clothes! I'll never get to wear this blouse ever again!"
"You're such a stick in the mud." Janson shook a disapproving hoof at his daughter. "Someday you'll notice just how fun I am, and you'll want to join my side in the divorce feud."
"I'll always side with Mom on that issue," Brenda replied.
"Come on, fellas," Minho said. "Let's leave this dumb karaoke bar. It hasn't been fun."
"Let's go to the thrift shop next door," Newt suggested. "We need new clothes after that grape juice shooting, and I've got twenty dollars in my pocket. That'll split between all of us, right?"
So everyone, including Gally and the magazine-selling lady, bought a new outfit from the thrift shop.
"How come you girls didn't just take clothes from the back of the stage of the karaoke bar?" Gally asked. "It was all women's clothes, anyway, and my manager wouldn't have cared."
"Because those clothes are all what men think women wear," Brenda replied.
"Believe it or not," Teresa added, "men really don't notice what a woman is wearing. No one on this whole entire planet is attentive. Except my parents. They're always telling me to change into 'something different' before I head to school. They think socks with sandals aren't appropriate or decent fashion choices, even though it's totally in style these days."
The thrift shop clerk was busy typing up the receipt for all the clothes on the thrift shop's new and recently updated typewriter. The price for all the clothes came to about twenty dollars, I think. The clerk kept making faces at Gally, who was laughing uncontrollably.
"That's my friend Ben," he explained to Newt.
"Looks like a slinthead," Newt mused. "Are you sure he's your friend, and not just hanging out with you for your money?"
"I don't have money," Gally said. "That's why I work at karaoke bars and for mad scientists."
"My dad is not a mad scientist!" Brenda said indignantly. "He's a horrifyingly lunatic scientist, that's what he is!"
Just then, someone ran into the thrift shop.
"There's a fire!" she hollered. "A fire, I tell you! A fire!"
"Harriet, what on earth are you talking about?" Alby asked. (He used to date her, but now that they lived in different towns, they decided to postpone their relationship).
"A fire, that's what I'm talking about!" Harriet held up a fire extinguisher, and pressed the extinguishing button. Out shot tons of maple syrup, getting over the clothes that everyone had just bought.
"Someday, Harriet," Thomas said, "you need to actually remember to keep Sonya with you."
"But I don't like her," Harriet replied. "She keeps syringes around just in case she needs to sedate me. She actually has a license to do stuff like that."
Everyone decided to go back to Grenouille. At least they could expect a little less unexpected wildness over there, and maybe not have to worry about getting their clothes dirty.
Suggestions are welcome! Be sure to review and follow! I don't know when the next update will be, so, until then, stay giggley!