Chapter three: How to start the day
The two Simpson kids were attending for the bus, precisely in the sidewalk that was in front of their house. That morning they were unusually early and so far, neither of them had spoken a word.
Lisa stared at her brother with one eye, slightly concerned about him. Bart was very quiet that day. His gaze was looking at an invisible point in front of him, as he were focusing on something. This behavior would have been normal for a person like Lisa, who liked being in quiet to think. But for anyone who knew Bart Simpson, was aware that for him talking was an habit and thinking was instead an option. Not to mention that he wouldn't have missed the opportunity to make one of his usual jokes about nerds, play a trick or simply talk with her.
'Maybe he didn't slept enough...' the girl concluded to herself, even if Bart's expression wasn't sleepy, but absent. It seemed that his mind belonged to another world.
Whatever it was, Lisa needed to break that unknown silence that made them look like two strangers, rather that two siblings. Therefore, after having chosen an ordinary topic of the day before, she murmured, "So... what do you think about dad's new job?"
"Huh?" Bart snapped back to the present and turned to her, confused. "Dad what?" he asked carelessly, showing that he had failed to perceive her question and, above all, that he didn't care to start a conversation.
But Lisa wanted, thus she tried a second attempt. "I asked you what you think about dad's new world..." she said, somewhat annoyed. Was it really so difficult to start a conversation with her brother? She didn't know. He usually was the first to spoke.
Bart looked at her for a moment, then shrugged. "In a week he'll change his job again." He said casually. He was a bit tired of this, especially because the previous evening Homer didn't nothing but talk about hair and how many compliments he had received that day for his extraordinary talent. In addition, even if he didn't have many clients, those few promised that they would recommend him to their friends.
Lisa paused, hoping that her brother began to talk about anything. But he turned his gaze to the left, expecting to behold the bus emerging from down the street. Seeing that the road was empty, he returned to staring at the space, lost in who knows what thoughts.
Her sister observed him better and finally was able to read the expression on her brother's face. He was tumbled What if he was tormented by nagging thoughts, just as she was the day before? It could be. But why? Maybe he had launched a dangerous prank, and now he feared to be in trouble with their parents? Unlikely. The last day he had spent all the time playing video games. Bad grade? Impossible. What else could torment him? A girl? Lisa smirked at the thought, but then she remembered that lately he wasn't particularly attracted to any 'chick'. So what?
"What's wrong, Bart?" Lisa asked suddenly, unable to resist at the curiosity.
Her brother looked up and replied vaguely, "Uh... nothing. Why?"
"You're quite today" she pointed. Then she approached him, staring straight into his eyes, like a detective who is about to seize the guilty red-handed. "Too quite." she added.
For some reason, she expected to see her brother begin to stammer some excuse, or look down and confess what he had done. Instead he showed no trace of guilt. He just frowned, as if she had gone crazy, and replied, "Tell me what's wrong with you. You're always wierd, but I've never investigated on it."
Lisa was pleased that now he was talking with her. "Well... I was... it's just unusual that you're so quite. so I thought maybe something happened and you needed my help..."
He snorted. "All people complain about how rowdy I am. But when finally I'm on my own business, everyone thinks I'm plotting something. Eat your shorts!"
"And who can blame them?" Lisa replied, feeling the typical rhythm of her bickering with him. "It is what you always do, isn't it? Not to mention that today you haven't even teased me..."
Bart raised an eyebrow. "You don't like to be teased..." he said, then he added, "... but if you really want..."
"No, thanks, I'm fine..." she said, realizing the mistake she had made. "Do you know what? You should be so calm more often..." she tried to remedy.
Bart stared at her, perplexed. "What's happening to you? Yesterday you were... well... not you!" he eventually said.
Lisa bit her lips. She didn't believe that her brother could noticed her bad mood, as her mother did. At least she hoped that he didn't find the cause of her condition. She couldn't even admit to herself that Milhouse was the cause.
All the last afternoon, she tried to remove all those obsessive thoughts. Finally, since she couldn't find a good distraction nor on her books nor on her sax, she had decided to face once and for all the, as she called it, Milhouse-problem. In the end, she had drawn these conclusions: after having been rejected, it was natural that he needed a kind soul capable to console him. The fact that the soul was a girl made everything more... worrying, in her eyes. But perhaps neither of them felt real feelings and even if Taffy had gone a little too far in her role of nurse, it wouldn't last forever. Lisa expected that everything would be back to normal.
"Bart..." she replied softly, showing confident, "... Yesterday was yesterday. Today is a new day. And I've never been better." And she had to be convinced about that. That day had to go wonderfully.
Bart nodded. "So... if we're both fine... why we are fussing over nothing?"
Lisa opened her mouth, but she realized she couldn't answer at the question. Meanwhile, down the street, there was the noise of the yellow bus that was arriving. Finally she shrugged imitating her brother's indifference, and just said, "I don't know."
The bus stopped in front of them and the door opened. They immediately heard the shouts and the laughter of the other children coming from the inside. The driver Otto Mann was, as usual, sitting at the wheel. He turned to the children and offered them a semiconscious smile. "Yo, dudes!" he greeted them.
Bart immediately went on the bus, without even greeting Otto. Lisa was stunned. Why her brother was so eager to go to school?
She took a step forward, but something stopped her, as if afraid to face the new day. It was just a moment of weakness. She shook her head. "You're ridiculous." she muttered to herself, "You know that this day'll go wonderfully..."
She forced a smile and, after greeting politely Otto, she turned her eyes to the children sitting on the seats. Many of them were laughing, shouting or throwing paper airplanes the others talking aloud to be heard. All the kids are doing their part to contribute to the enormous confusion.
All, that was, except for a particular pair which Lisa immediately saw.
Milhouse e Taffy, to her surprise, were sitting on the same seat, just a few feet from her. Lisa's eyes widened, as inside her she felt an horrible sensation, that was different from the one of the last day. She felt so whenever she discovered to be wrong. Until a moment ago, she had thought that the two would no longer even spoken to each other. But instead, there they were, still together, still close. Too close. The two were busy talking to each other, ignoring the world around them. The noise of the other children covered their words, which, however, could easily be intuited by their gestures and expressions. Their heads were close, almost touch each other. Milhouse's eyes looked nothing but Taffy exactly - Lisa felt a tinge of grief - in the same way he used to look at the smartest, sweetest, most perfectest girl in the whole world.
It was now that she realized that her brother was beside her, staring at the young couple too. Lisa turned towards him and she finally understood why that morning he was so... not-Bart. He was first tormented by uncertainty and only now had found the answer to what he wanted to know. But he, judging the expression on his face, was disappointed.
Bart took his eyes off from the two lovebirds and sat in the first empty seat he found. Lisa sat near him, wishing to comfort her own brother, although in the same time she wanted to comfort herself.
'This's just the beginning. This day'll go wonderfully...' Lisa repeated mentally.
After a few minutes, Lisa heard Bart mutter something. she approached him and cried, "What?"
He pulled her closer to himself. "Yesterday Milhouse didn't come to help me with my... business. And now I know the why. I'm sure that he didn't even went to the analyst..."
Lisa, who still didn't want Bart to know her worrying feelings, pretended not to know the whole matter. "W-what makes you think it?" she asked a bit uneasy.
"Only Milhouse would prefer a girl over to his best friend!" Bart shouted, even if no one - except for her sister - heard him.
Lisa wanted to point out that also he had almost ignored Milhouse when he was dating a little girl named Jenny. But she remained silent, simply staring at him. In that moment her brother was upset and sad, he wouldn't even listen her.
Bart looked down and began to mumble various phrases under his breath. She didn't understand well what he was saying, but she heard something that sounded like Christian school and Samantha Stankey. Finally, he did something she didn't expect: he covered his face with his hand and began to sob.
Lisa could do nothing but be sorry for him. Bart was afraid of losing his best friend. How many times had she seen him in that state? And why, after all those times, he returned to take Milhouse for granted? She heard a little voice - her conscience? - that told her, 'You may answer at your own question. Now it seems that you're also losing him.'
'It's ridiculous!' Lisa thought, as if she wanted to challenge that voice to a duel, 'I've never considered him as... well, only in some circumstances... but he isn't...'
The bus braked instantly and interrupted her thoughts. Many children gasped. Others, who were standing, staggered and fell to the ground. There was a moment of pause, then Otto murmured, "My fault. Wrong road."
After reversing, he started the engine and drove the bus.
Lisa shifted her gaze to Bart, who was still bend down to sobbing. It seemed that he had not minimally noticed that the bus had braked, or at least he didn't really care at that moment. She reached out her hand, placed it on his shoulder and stroked it gently. Knowing that this wasn't enough to cheer him up, she thought that her brother would have appreciated reassuring speeches, just as he did when Milhouse moved to Capital City for a short time.
"Listen, Bart..." she began, as he raised his head slowly and watched her with bright eyes, "... I don't think he have replaced you. You are important to him, just as he is important to you. Maybe he just needs to..." Lisa paused for find the right words, "... spend his time with a different person. I understand your surprise how he can become attached to a person who barely knows..."
Bart pondered for a moment on the words of her sister. At the end he nodded, even if his eyes were still melancholy. "You're right, Lis." he said slowly, "And then we're talking about Milhouse. I mean, he is willing to accept and hold on any kind of attention he receives. Mostly, what ten year old boy could refuse that kind of attention from a fifth-grade girl?"
"Taffy is a fifth-grader?!" Lisa cried shocked, widening her eyes. Surprises never ended. Before she could just realize her excessive reaction, Bart was already staring at her, confused and suspicious by her behavior. She regained her calm and composure and practically whispered, "I... well, I mean... really? I didn't know."
"Yes, she is." Bart replied, not removing his suspicious gaze from her. "Didn't you know it? Taffy is fairly known at school."
Be known at school could mean three things: you were the biggest dork in the world. Second, you were the most cruel and dangerous prankster. And third...
"Is she popular?" Lisa asked. She was pretending to be not so interested on the thing, although in herself was eager for the answer. She also wondered if her brother understood the reason of all these questions. She hoped not, it would have been too embarrassing for her.
Indeed Bart was intrigued by his sister's interest about the matter, however he simply answered, "Yes, she is."
Lisa was now speechless, even more incredulous than before. At the end, that was: Taffy wasn't just a beautiful, kind and caring creature; but also a popular fifth-grader. When ever a fifth-grader would be interested on a younger kid? Not to mention that the kid concerned was Milhouse. She felt for the second time that there was something wrong.
Her brother stared at her for a second, studying her weird reaction at his reply. He finally gave up, shrugged and said, "Maybe sometimes you should put down your trumpet and inquire more about school's gossip."
Even though she know that Bart had a bad moon that day, those words bothered her a lot. "Thank you for the advice," she replied sarcastically, "and anyway, you know that it's not a trumpet. It's a saxophone!"
"And where's the difference?" Bart asked indifferent, glancing out of the window.
This time she decided not to answer. It would only be a waste of time.
Finally the bus braked again, but this time in front of the huge Springfield Elementary School building. At the entrance there was Principal Skinner, his arms crossed and staring at the yellow bus. The kids were twenty minutes late, again.
The bus doors opened. Otto mumbled a greeting that no one understood, and slumped on the steering wheel with a thud, sounding the horn. All the kids got up and began to exit slowly, glancing worried at the driver.
As the children got off the bus and headed towards the school, the principal approached with a firm step towards the vehicle. The angry expression on his face meant troubles for Otto. Without removing his eyes off him, Skinner said, "Kids, hurry to get to class!" Then, lowering his voice, he added to himself, "While I resolve a few things with your driver!"
Lisa turned to her brother to greet him, but he was too busy to look at Milhouse and Taffy, who were hurrying to get to class, hand in hand, under the prying eyes of some children.
"See you later, Lis..." he eventually said, "... now I have to have a little chat with my best friend." Without adding anything else, he tried to follow them, but failed when the couple disappeared into the crowd of students.
Lisa began to walk, as the thoughts in her mind couldn't leave her alone. Did she just believe that everything would go wonderfully? Well, she was terribly wrong, and all things considered, it wasn't the first time that day. She hadn't crossed the threshold of the school building yet, but she already felt that awful sensation. And now it was useless to deny that Milhouse was the cause. But why? Why her discomfort has started as soon as he had met Taffy?
Anyone, if had bothered to to look closely at every small gesture - her tiny gasp when she heard Milhouse's name and how she wrinkled her nose as she heard Taffy's one - or had simply know her very well, could deduce that she was jealous of Milhouse. Lisa herself, as she was crossing the school building's threshold was brooding on this hypothesis. But she didn't want to accept it. She didn't want to believe it. For her it would have have been an impossible, unimaginable, unreal thing.
Lisa shook her head. "Great." she whispered to herself, with slight irony, "Even the thought I'm passing my time to think about it it's strange. Though these days I'll go out of my mind completely, I wouldn't be surprised. If I already was, I would be relieved. It would be a viable explanation for all this. But I'm not: fools aren't aware to be fools."
"HEY!" Lisa winced, as she heard someone approaching her. She turned and actually saw Nelson Muntz, pointing his finger at someone behind her. However, what he said was directed to her, "Stop talking to yourself! You're scaring the babies!"
Lisa looked around confused and saw Ralph Wiggum, who was indeed scared. He stepped back a little from her, as he didn't recognize the one who had been his classmate for nearly two years.
"Haw-haw!" he laughed and ran away, without giving her any chance to reply. Many children nearby had witnessed the scene, and now some looked confused, others giggled.
Lisa snorted. 'Wasn't enough my humiliation of yesterday? Of course not! I just wonder what else could happen to me!' She thought about the whole journey by bus. Her brother who first acted in a strange way, then gave vent to his emotions. Her conversation with him. What he had told her.
She stopped in front of his locker and opened it. She looked at her school books. Suddenly a mocking smile graced his lips, as a funny thought crossed her mind. 'What other surprises in store for me this day? What else will I ever find out? Who knows. Maybe Taffy is also a vampire.'
She started to walk towards her classroom, as she began to giggle alone. 'A popular vampire, why not? Eh eh. The popular vampire who falls in love with the weak one of the school.' She started to laugh a little more loudly. Fortunately, the hall had emptied quickly and no one could hear her, this time. 'What a nice novel would be! Who knows if someone has already written something like that!'
Lisa stopped and began to laugh hysterically. Then slowly calmed down. At the end she stopped.
"Ok, I promise myself that this'll be the last crazy thought of the day." she swore at herself. She sighed. "Even if I try to play down as much as possible..." she said at the end, before resuming her walk to her class.