It was a beautiful day in Royal Woods Michigan. The sun was shining, kids were basking in the afternoon light, the parents were sitting on the porch laughing, and 10 year-old Leni Loud was getting scolded by her mother. "Totally irresponsible, you could have been hurt, you could have been kidnapped, I expected better from you!". Then she turned her attention to 11 year old Lori Loud. "And you… you should have been keeping an eye on her!". It went on like this for 20 minutes, with Mrs. Loud yelling herself hoarse, and Lori praying for it to end.
Finally, Mrs. Loud paused to take a break, and Lori slipped a word in. "Mom, while you were yelling at me, Leni left". Mrs. Loud looked to where Leni had been standing. She was gone. She looked to the coat rack by the front door. Leni's bike helmet, was also gone. Mrs. Loud sighed. She had to look after 7 kids, and she wasn't getting any younger. "I'll call Ms. Rodriguez" she said, her voice obviously tired. Lori pulled off her bike helmet off the rack. "Mom, do you want me to go get her. Her Moms voice muttered assent. Lori hopped on her bike and took off
Meanwhile, a couple miles away…
Leni Loud sat on the bed of her best friend in the world, Jack Rodriguez. He was smart, funny, told jokes in class, and loved movies. She looked a photo of him hanging on the wall. Missing front tooth, crooked smile, messy black hair, and Green eyes that sparkled into the camera. "She could almost hear his voice. "Ah, Madam Leni… we meet again, how splendid..". Leni giggled to herself. Just yesterday, they went to go see a movie, Stephen Kings, the Shining. Of course, her nobody but her and jack knew, and she wanted to keep it that way.
Suddenly, there was knocking on the door. Leni stared at it transfixed. The door creaked open to reveal… Jack. "Here's Johnny!", he taunted. Leni threw his pillow at him. Jack ducked through the door, dodging the pillow. He did a double take, pretending to notice Leni for the first time. "Ah, Madam Leni…we meet again". Leni giggled it was just how she imagined. He flopped down onto the bed next to her, stretching his legs and yawning. Leni frowned. Something was bugging her, but she couldn't place her finger on it.
Jack looked at her face. He frowned, and looked at her. "What's wrong?", Jack questioned. She remembered, and her eyes started to tear up. "My mom thinks there's something wrong with me, she thinks that I need to go to a new school, because she thinks me spending so much time around boys is unhealthy". It all came flying out of her mouth. Jack frowned, and made a face like he smelled something vile. "There is a stench of stupidity in the air." Leni giggled. He sure loved his book and movie references. Jack face turned back to normal.
"You want me to call the gang over?, we could ride our bikes in the woods." Leni smiled the town royal woods was named after the 100 square mile stretch of woods that covered a huge amount of land. Nobody dared to go in there. Except the blockhead gang. And that, was Leni's friends. Leni nodded. She loved her friends. Downstairs, there was stomping up the stairs. Jacks twin sister, Jackie, stood at the door. Leni got up and hugged Jackie. "Let's get the gang together", Jack told Jackie. Jackie smiled. She turned around and flew towards the stairs.
"Race you to the bikes", Jack challenged. "You're on". Together, they jumped of the bed, flew out of the room, jumped down the stairs, and snatched the bike helmets of the coat rack. They jumped on the bikes, and rode towards the woods, that stood tall on the horizon.