I do not own Rugrats/All Grown Up.

Detention Club

"This is all your fault."

Susie nearly gave herself whiplash by the speed with which she whipped her head around to glare at Angelica, who trailed miserably behind her down the desolate school hallway. "My fault?" she snapped. "You're the one who copied my homework!"

"You said I could!" returned Angelica. "We wouldn't have gotten caught if you were a better lookout. Seriously, how do you not notice Pangborn?"

"I should have known better. My parents and Pangborn are right. You're not going to learn anything if I just give you the answers."

Angelica waved her hand in a dismissive motion. "Life's all about connections and using them to your advantage. Besides, I already knew how to do the work. I just didn't do it."

That was the truth, which was why Susie wasn't as averse to allowing Angelica to copy her homework. Angelica had already done part of it in class and her equations were perfect. The blonde wasn't stupid, just lazy, and Susie had full confidence Angelica would do very well in school if she bothered to work at it. She had merely forgotten to do the rest at home and if she didn't get it handed in it would result in a detention.

Not that it mattered—Angelica had gotten busted by Pangborn for copying someone's work, and Susie was punished for being a willing accomplice.

"But this should be illegal," continued Angelica, a scowl on her features. "Detention at seven-thirty in the morning on a Saturday? For four hours? I copied your math homework, not plagiarized an essay!"

"This isn't your first offense," reminded Susie with a roll of her eyes. "Pangborn doesn't go easy on anyone."

"Except you," said Angelica bitterly. "But you chose to do this stupid detention instead of a regular after-school one. You're supposed to be the smart one."

"The deal was if I did a four-hour detention on a Saturday this wouldn't appear on my school record," said Susie. "It's worth it."

They reached the detention room door and Susie eased it open. The two girls paused in the doorway when they realized they weren't the only ones serving their sentence that day. "You have got to be kidding me," uttered Angelica.

Tommy brightened at the sight of the pair. "Hey, Susie, Angelica! What are you in for?"

"Partners in crime in copying homework," said Susie dryly. "I was the lender. Three guesses as to who was the copier. First two don't count."

Susie went to sit beside Kimi and Angelica took a seat in the very back. "What are you dweebs doing here?" asked Angelica. "Steal chocolate milk from the cafeteria?"

"Nah, nothing cool like that," said Dil, rocking back in his chair. "Phil and I were playing soccer and we broke a window."

"You mean you broke a window," said Phil, resting his chin against his desktop. "You weren't even paying attention."

"I saw a U.F.O.! It was disguised as a blimp."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Or it could've been, you know, a blimp."

"I think I can tell the difference between an alien spacecraft and a blimp, T."

"How'd you land in here?" Susie directed towards Kimi.

"Mr. DesRoches was in the worst mood and he caught us passing notes during class," Kimi answered, gesturing between herself and Lil.

"He's usually really nice—when he's not dealing with an ingrown toenail," remarked Lil.

Angelica gagged. "Ew, I did not need to know that."

"Pangborn caught us shaking the vending machine," spoke Tommy.

"I told you we should have just put money in it," said Chuckie.

"Nothing would have knocked that chocolate bar down, Chuckie. It was stuck tight!"

"Then why did you think shaking it was such a good idea?"

"Shaking a vending machine is stronger and would be way more effective than trying to knock it down with another chocolate bar. I would have had it if Pangborn hadn't nabbed us."

"I was watching that chocolate bar, Tommy. It wasn't moving."

"It was too!"

"Who cares about the stupid candy bar?" snapped Angelica. "You're both in here because you're idiots."

"Then what does that make you?" countered Tommy.

"A tragic victim. Susie is the worst lookout."

"Don't start," warned Susie.

They went silent when the detention door opened and Mr. Dellard walked in. He went over to the desk and fished out a clipboard from one of the drawers. "Sound off when I call your name. Susanna Carmichael."

"Here!"

"Lillian DeVille."

"Here."

"Phillip DeVille."

"Yup!"

"Charles Finster?"

"Here!"

"Kimiko Finster."

"Here."

"Angelica Pickles."

"Yo."

"Dylan Pickles."

"Right here!"

"Thomas Pickles."

"Here!"

Mr. Dellard checked off Tommy's name and set the clipboard back in the drawer. "Your detention ends at eleven-thirty. There will be no talking. You may do your homework, read or sit quietly. I'll be in the staff room across the hall. If you need to use the washroom or if there's an emergency, come get me. I'll be in to check on you later."

Dellard left the room, the door clicking shut behind him. Angelica waited a minute before getting out of her seat and going over to the door. She peeked through the window, a grin curling across her lips. "Ladies and dorks, I am out of here."

"Detention just started," exclaimed Susie. "You think a Saturday detention is bad, just wait until Pangborn finds out you bailed."

"Pangborn isn't going to find out anything, because Dellard is not getting out of his seat for the next four hours."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tommy.

The others crowded near Angelica, peeking through the rectangular slot in the window. The staff room door was open and they could see Dellard sitting in a chair, his back to them, a football game playing on the television hanging on the wall.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely not moving," agreed Phil.

"Where are you going to go?" asked Susie, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm going to catch a movie at the mall. It'll be done with enough time for me to get back."

"Angelica, can't you follow the rules for once in your life?" asked Susie in exasperation.

"I follow the important rules. I break the ones that don't matter. Keeping me here on a Saturday is inhumane." Angelica sauntered over to the window and hoisted it open. "If you want to waste four hours sitting here doing nothing, that's your problem."

"There's plenty of homework to be done," interjected Susie.

"Like I said, wasting away your Saturday," scoffed Angelica.

"Angelica does have a point," said Lil slowly. "I've seen Dellard watch a football game during study period. He didn't look up once and at least three kids walked out and he didn't even notice."

"What if he tries to look through the window to check on us?" countered Chuckie.

"You have so much to learn," sighed Angelica. She lowered the blinds of the classroom windows to prevent anyone from peeking in. She went over to the closet in the back of the room and after some rummaging emerged with black construction paper. She used it to cover the small window in the door and then she grabbed a chair and propped it against the door handle. "Voila."

"How are you going to explain that?" asked Susie flatly.

"Easy. The paper was always there and I'm not sure what's wrong with the doorknob, Mr. Dellard, we tried it from our side but it wouldn't open either."

Phil glanced at his friends. "Arcade, anyone?"

"I'm in," agreed Tommy, high-fiving Phil.

"I almost have enough tickets for the alien slime kit!" said Dil.

"Oh, this is a bad idea," groaned Chuckie.

Lil glanced at Kimi. "Wanna get some ice-cream? There's a diner down the street that serves it all day long."

"Sure." Kimi turned to Susie, who was regarding them with a disapproving expression. "Oh, come on, Susie! We're not ditching class or anything. It's detention, and there's really no reason any of us should be here. Phil and Dil broke that window by accident, Chuckie was going to pay for that candy bar anyway if Tommy managed to get it out and the only reason DesRoches flipped out on Lil and I is because he was in a bad mood. And so you let Angelica copy your homework. It's not like it was a test or a major assignment."

Susie hesitated for a brief moment, but soon relented. "What movie are you going to see, Angelica?"

The blonde grinned. "Courageous Hearts. Jason Moorville is in it and he's a dreamboat."

"Fine. But if we get caught…"

"We won't," said Angelica confidently. "Let's move it."

The kids filed out through the window, stepping to the ground below. Tommy closed the window behind them and turned to his friends. "Last one to the arcade has to pay for the first round!"

"No fair!" protested Chuckie as his friends started sprinting. "You know I can't run very fast! Guys!"

As the boys hurried across the lawn towards the street, Lil and Kimi followed after them at a slower pace. Angelica dug her sunglasses out of her purse and slipped them on, guarding her eyes against the morning sunlight.

"Jason Moorville, here we come."

…

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"We've only been out of detention for ten minutes!" exclaimed Kimi, spooning a portion of her banana split into her mouth. "You can't be chickening out now."

"I'm not chickening out," insisted Lil, stirring her chocolate milkshake with her straw. "I'm just saying there's a chance we'll get into way more trouble if we get caught."

"Trust me Lil, Mr. Dellard isn't moving a muscle until that game is over."

"And here you girls go." Their waitress approached their booth and set two plates down on the scuffed tabletop. One plate held two eggs over-easy, two pieces of toast, bacon, sausage and French toast. The other held a pile of chocolate chip pancakes smothered in whipped cream and maple syrup. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No thanks," the two chorused. The waitress departed and Lil started to tackle her eggs. "This is great! I've never gotten to drink a milkshake with my breakfast before."

"I've never gotten to have ice cream this early in the day," said Kimi, taking a large spoonful of vanilla ice cream along with a bite of her pancakes. "Dad would have a fit if he saw this."

"Despite the fact I'm genuinely terrified of getting busted and facing probably the worst grounding I'd ever get, this might just be worth it," remarked Lil.

"Were your parents upset with you?" asked Kimi, feeling a pang of guilt. "You told them it was my fault, right?"

"I said you passed me a note first, but that I responded. They weren't too upset. I mean, Mom and Dad are old, but everyone in the history of school passed notes in class."

"True. It's the only way to communicate without being overheard by the teacher."

"How about your parents?"

"They weren't happy, but they weren't mad. They gave me the standard lecture about how class is for learning and my time for gabbing is before school, between classes, at lunch and after school." Kimi grinned and continued, "Dad said he knows we have a lot to say, but he thinks we can survive a class period without talking to one another."

"I don't know," said Lil, rubbing her chin in mock-thought. "We probably could, but I don't really want to test it."

The pair spent the next hour and a half chatting and eating. It was around nine when they finished their food and Lil pushed her plate aside. "Ugh, maybe the Supreme Breakfast wasn't a good idea. I feel like I'm going to burst."

"I don't sugar settles well this early in the morning," muttered Kimi, rubbing her stomach.

"Let's talk a walk to the arcade and meet up with the guys," suggested Lil. "We still have some time to kill."

Kimi nodded in agreement and dug into her backpack, searching for her wallet. She frowned when she couldn't find it and then slapped her hand to her forehead in sudden realization. "Oh shoot! I left my wallet at home. Would you mind spotting me today, Lil? I'll pay you back."

"I would if I could." Face turning pale, Lil lowered her bag. "But I can't. I didn't bring my wallet with me because Phil and I were supposed to go straight home after detention."

"So…we have no money," said Kimi slowly.

"Uh-huh."

"And we ate all this food."

"Uh-huh."

It was then their waitress returned, having spotted their empty plates. "Are you guys ready for the bill?"

Exchanging glances, Kimi and Lil could only nod.

"How will you be paying today?"

"Um…I don't suppose we can give you an I.O.U.?" asked Lil meekly. When the waitress' cheery expression turned sharp and severe, Lil flinched. "Didn't think so."

…

Jerking the steering wheel of the racing simulator, Tommy kept his eyes glued to the screen. He scowled when he struck a pothole and crashed. Game Over flashed across the screen in red letters and he crawled out of the car. "Darn it."

He started wandering the aisles in search for another game to play. Dil was deep into a first-person shooter game, battling his way through waves of zombie swarms. Phil was playing a game of Barrel Hop, guiding the pixel frog over rolling barrels, which gained speed which each level. Tommy paused when he spotted Chuckie sitting on one of the lounge chairs, nervously pulling on the end of his jacket.

"What's wrong, Chuckie?" Tommy asked, sitting beside him.

"Nothing. Just imagining the dozen scenarios of how Dad is going to freak if he ever finds out Kimi and I ditched detention," said Chuckie miserably, burying his head in his hands.

"Come on, we're going to be fine!" soothed Tommy, wrapping an arm over his shoulders. "Kimi's right. We're all in detention for bogus reasons. It's not like I was stealing that candy bar. We were going to pay for it. We just wanted to see if we could shake it out."

"I guess," muttered Chuckie. "But I don't think Mom and Dad will understand. Aren't you worried?"

"Nope. I know Angelica. She's the master of deception and being sneaky. If she didn't think she would be able to one-hundred percent get away with this, she wouldn't do it."

Chuckie sent Tommy a dubious look. "Angelica's confident about a lot of things. Like her singing."

Tommy waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, but we know she's bad at it. Is she bad at being sneaky and conniving?"

"Heck no."

"See?" said Tommy. "She knows what she's doing in that department. Come on, let's play a game." Tommy looked around the arcade, which was pretty quiet considering it was still early. "How about skee ball?"

"Okay," agreed Chuckie, standing up. "I need to practice my aim anyway."

They approached the skee ball machine just as Dil finished his game. Tickets churned out and Dil eagerly counted them. "Yes!" he whooped. "That alien slime kit is all mine!"

As he rushed towards the prize station, Chuckie glanced at Tommy. "He carries his arcade tickets around with him?"

Tommy sent Chuckie a pointed look. "Everything Dil does and that surprises you?"

"…fair point."

…

Susie rested her hand against her cheek, watching as Angelica modelled her twentieth pair of shoes in the full-length mirror. "Angelica, we've been shopping forever and it's almost half past nine. We still have to get our tickets."

"The theatre isn't going anywhere."

Susie raised a brow as Angelica executed a twirl. "Why are you trying them on? You can't buy them."

"Why not?" demanded Angelica. "I saw them first!"

"They're three hundred dollars."

Angelica blinked and started at the price stuck onto the shoebox. "Seriously? These are so not worth three hundred dollars. One hundred at the most," she scoffed, slipping off the shoes and shoving them back in the tissue paper. "Okay, let's go."

Angelica started for the exit and Susie sighed, taking a minute to stick the shoes back where the blonde had found them. She caught up and the pair walked to the theatre, where they paid for their tickets and Angelica got some popcorn.

"It's way too early for that stuff," remarked Susie as they filed into the correct theatre.

"When you go to the theatre you get popcorn. That's like, a rule."

"You and your rules," said Susie with a roll of her eyes.

The two settled in the back corner of the theatre, Angelica propping her feet on the empty seat in front of her. The previews began and Susie shifted in place, feeling antsy and agitated. "How do you do it?" she asked.

"I'm afraid perfection is just something you are born with."

"So not what I'm talking about," scoffed Susie, elbowing Angelica's arm. "How can you break the rules and not feel bad about it?"

Angelica shrugged. "I don't know. Why do you always have to follow every single order you're given?"

"Because it's respectful."

"Please. Pangborn did not need to give us a Saturday detention. An after-school detention? Sure. But the punishment he gave us was so unfair."

"Maybe so. But we should still be punished for it."

"I got up at six-thirty in order to be at school on time. That is punishment enough."

The movie started and Susie spent the first thirty minutes anxiously glancing at her watch. But eventually she managed to lose herself in the film (and Jason Moorville's good looks) and relaxed. When the credits rolled and the lights turned back on, Susie glanced at her watch to see that it was ten after eleven.

"And we still have plenty of time to get back to school," said Angelica smugly, dropping her empty popcorn bag to the floor.

"That's if Dellard hasn't broken down the door to see what's up," replied Susie, bending down to pick up Angelica's trash, which she deposited in the bin on their way out of the theatre.

They were just crossing through the main court of the mall when a familiar voice called, "Hold on there, darlin'."

Both girls froze. "Please tell me that's not who I think it is," said Susie in horror.

"You know anyone else that calls me darling?" asked Angelica. "Just keep your lips zipped and leave the talking to me."

The blonde twirled around and put on her brightest smile as Lou walked towards them. "Grandpa! What brings you here?"

"I'm picking up an order for your grandma," said Lou, wrapping an arm around the girl when she went to embrace him. "What are you girls doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just shopping," answered Angelica dismissively. "But Daddy said I should be cutting back on my spending, so if we could just keep this little trip between us, that would be great."

Lou smiled knowingly. "I suppose it wouldn't be too good if your father found out you skipped detention."

"Exactly. Now if you—" Angelica paused when she processed what her grandfather had just said and she scowled. "Wait a minute! How'd you know I was supposed to be in detention?"

"Your father told me yesterday."

"Nothing is sacred anymore," said Angelica in annoyance. "Come on, Grandpa, Daddy doesn't need to know. I shouldn't have been in detention today anyway. It was totally stupid."

"It's your responsibility to complete your own homework," said Lou pointedly. "You won't learn if you don't do it. You were punished and you should have served your punishment with dignity and maturity."

"But I knew how to do it," whined Angelica. "I just didn't do it."

"Laziness isn't going to get you far in life. Your capabilities will spur you forwards, and you are very capable, you just have to be willing to try." Lou glanced at Susie, who smiled sheepishly. "You're good to her, and I know it's not easy, but she needs you to keep her in line."

He winked at her and Susie grinned. "I know. I shouldn't let her convince me into these things. I definitely won't let her copy my homework again. And this is the last time I get detention, period."

Angelica glanced at Lou with a pleading expression. "I'm going to get grounded for life. What do I have to do to keep you from telling Mom and Dad?"

Lou rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Are there any extra credit projects you can do?"

"Yes," said Susie instantly. "A two-thousand-word history essay on the cause and effect of the Great Depression."

"There you go. You do that essay, and you do it right, we'll keep this our little secret."

"Wonderful," said Angelica flatly. "You know, Tommy and Dil are in the arcade right now and they're supposed to be in detention. What will they have to do?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something," said Lou. He tousled Angelica's hair, one of the few who was able to get away with it. "Get back to school, darling. I'll talk to you later."

"All right," muttered Angelica. "Let's go, Susie. Bye Grandpa."

"Bye darling. Love you."

"Love you too."

"I guess you're serving a punishment after all," snickered Susie as the pair started jogging towards the glass entrance doors.

"What about you?" demanded Angelica. "Why didn't he give you an extra credit project to do?"

"I'm already doing all the extra credit I can!" scoffed Susie. "My punishment is going to be whatever my parents give. There's no way I can hold in all this guilt."

"Amateur," sighed Angelica.

…

The guys were already in the detention room when Angelica and Susie arrived. "How'd it go?" asked Susie.

"Great!" said Dil cheerfully. "I got my alien slime kit."

"How was the movie?" asked Tommy.

"It was great until I ran into Grandpa," said Angelica moodily.

"What?" cried Tommy. "What was he doing at the mall?"

"He said he was getting something for Grandma. Now I have to do an extra credit assignment to keep him from telling my folks." Checking her nails, Angelica added, "I don't know what he's going to make you do, but I'm sure he'll be in touch."

"Thanks for covering for us," said Tommy with a scowl.

"Hey, if he wasn't going to find it out from me, he would hear it from Uncle Stu. Dad told him I was in detention."

"Perfect," groaned Tommy, resting his chin against the desktop.

"What about us?" asked Chuckie anxiously. "Does he know we skipped?"

"Don't know, don't care," said Angelica flippantly. "If I'm going down you're all coming with me."

"Grandpa's not a tattler," assured Tommy. "You guys are fine. Even if he does find out, he'll just make us do more school work or chores or something."

At eleven-twenty Kimi and Lil filed in, both of them looking exhausted. "What happened to you?" asked Phil in bemusement.

"We went to the diner down the street but forgot we didn't have money," said Lil, moving to remove the black construction paper from the door before collapsing into her chair. "We had to wash dishes for hours."

"So much for escaping punishment," sighed Kimi, taking the chair from the doorknob and putting it where it belonged. "I guess that's karma for you."

"Don't feel bad. Angelica got busted by Grandpa at the mall and she dragged us down with her," said Tommy. "I guess the only ones who really got off scot-free are Chuckie, Phil and Susie."

"Only if Grandpa Lou doesn't come after us," muttered Phil.

"I'm spilling everything to my parents," vowed Susie. "The guilt is eating up at me."

"I'll probably confess everything later," said Chuckie miserably. "You know I can't keep secrets."

"Well this whole thing was a bust," sighed Lil. "Thanks Angelica."

"Oh please." Angelica rolled her eyes. "I may have to write a boring essay, but I'd rather do that than sit in this room for four hours."

"I guess washing dishes wasn't so bad," admitted Kimi. "And I did get to have ice cream for breakfast."

"True," agreed Lil.

"I have no regrets," said Dil. "This morning was awesome!"

"Yeah, it was awesome having the arcade practically to ourselves," said Phil with a grin.

"My parents will probably ground me forever, but I did have fun," said Susie.

The doorknob jiggled and they hastily quieted when Dellard walked in. "All right, you served your sentence. You can go now."

The kids quickly filed out of the room and Lil shook her head with a laugh. "He really didn't move a muscle that entire time!"

"Told ya," said Angelica with a smirk.

Four cars were idling on the curb, waiting to pick them up. Tommy and Dil quickly piled into their father's car and the twins fought each other for the front seat in Betty's vehicle. Chuckie opened the door for Kimi before climbing into the backseat of his mom's station wagon.

When Susie threw open the front door her dad's car, Randy called out to Angelica, "Your mother called. She had an emergency meeting to go to so she asked me to pick you up."

Angelica nodded and swung herself into the backseat. Randy waited for the girl to buckle herself in before shifting the gear to drive. "How was detention?"

"We, uh, we didn't go," said Susie guiltily, rubbing her arm. "We snuck out to go to the movies."

Randy arched an eyebrow and shot Susie a severe look. "Is that so?"

"It's my fault," spoke Angelica. "I convinced her."

"While I don't doubt that, Susie has the ability to make her own decisions," said Randy sternly. "There are consequences to your actions and you have to face them. What if you had gotten caught? It would go on your transcript and that's exactly what you were meant to avoid by taking this detention."

"I'm sorry," said Susie sincerely. "I really am."

"And you, young lady, need to start respecting authority and discipline," Randy directed at Angelica. "You don't get to ignore the rules you don't like. The world doesn't work that way."

"I know, I know." Placing a hand over her heart, Angelica said, "I solemnly swear not to skip detention ever again."

"And I solemnly swear not to get detention again," added Susie.

"With Angelica as your friend, I don't know how likely that is," said Randy, causing Susie to giggle and Angelica to try and fail to hide her smile. "We'll continue this discussion when we get home. I'm sure I'll think of a suitable punishment for you girls."

Angelica's eyes widened. "I can still come to your place? Even though I'm a bad influence?"

"You wouldn't be in this car if I thought you were a bad influence on Susie," said Randy. "Besides, your parents aren't home and if you think you can spend the afternoon doing whatever you wish after pulling this stunt, you are sorely mistaken."

"But I already got busted!" protested Angelica. "Grandpa caught me at the mall. I have to write an extra credit essay for history."

"A wonderful start."

Angelica scowled and sunk back against her seat. The scowl was replaced with uncertainty and she asked, "Are you going to tell my parents?"

"If you accomplish the punishment I give you without complaint, then I will tell them it's already taken care of."

"Thanks," said Angelica. After a pause, she added, somewhat sheepishly, "I know it's kinda late, but thanks for letting me copy your homework Susie. Sorry it landed you in trouble."

"It's okay. I should have said no. Tell you what. Next time, if you need help, we'll work through it together."

"Deal."

After a beat of silence, Angelica was struck by a sudden thought and she said, "Hey, can I borrow your library card? I lost mine and if I'm going to do that essay, I need books."

Shifting a glance to her father, who gave a nod, Susie said, "Sure, but if you get a single cent of fines on it, I'm coming for your hair with a razor."