Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl.
Gun toten Girly: Really? Well I'm glad it made you laugh then. It's very healthy, you know. Laughing, that is. Thanks for the review!
Tee hee, the LEP game scene was Solelly's idea! Thankies! As for the rest of you, enjoy!
Chapter 7. The LEP Game
It was late afternoon and the whole family and their two guests were in the living room. The Kelp parents were on the sofa, watching a movie on the plasma screen. Gregor was on his mother's lap, drinking milk from a bottle. It seemed to be delicious milk, judging by how fast he was gulping it down. When finished, he started crying.
"Oh, Gregor! What did my little sweetheart do now?" asked Mrs Kelp, picking him up and burping her youngest child.
Evaline was tired of playing games. She, Drefan and Holly had just finished playing hide-and-seek, so she had curled up on the adjacent sofa with one of Drefan's storybooks. The boy, still full of energy, was deciding on a new game to play with Holly.
"Okay," started Trouble, "I am the very famous Commander Root and you, Holly… You can be the rogue troll on the loose."
Holly's 'Are you kidding me?' appeared on her features.
"Wait a minute—no! I want to be the Commander! Yesterday you said it would be my turn!"
"Silly you, Holls! You can't be in the LEP, I already told you."
"But you said so yesterday!" she whined.
"Really? It must have slipped out of my mind." Holly grumbled.
"I still say it's my turn."
"But you're a girl," Drefan sighed. He was tired of telling her that same thing for the umpteenth time. Over and over… She still didn't get it.
"So? Girls can be in the LEP." The boy was about to retort when Holly continued. "Oh, fine! Have it your way. Just pretend that I'm a boy or something…"
"But it still isn't rea… rea-lis-tic! It isn't, you know!"
"I don't care."
"Frond, you are worse than a moody swear toad, Holls!"
"No, no I am not! You just can't admit that girls like me will rock the LEP someday!"
Drefan wasn't listening anymore. He had an idea that might possibly please the both of them.
"Holly! How about I be Commander Root and you could be Commander Vinyáya? Is that okay for you?" he asked hopefully. All he wanted to do was get on with the game already.
"Maybe… Okay, fine, you win. But who's going to be our enemy?"
They both looked at Evie at once. The girl, feeling eyes burn holes through her book, looked up.
"Huh? What? I'm not playing remember? Besides, I was the bad guy yesterday."
"But you were good at it!" encouraged Drefan. "Really goo—ood," he added, lingering on the last word.
"Too ba—ad," Evaline replied with an equal tone to his, and went back to reading her book.
"Oh well, who else could it be?" demanded Holly impatiently.
At that moment, Grub rounded from behind the couch where Mr and Mrs Kelp were sitting and watching television, and came to view. "Grub can be a dangerous mudman!" exclaimed Drefan excitedly. Holly couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes.
"Oh wow, that is very frightening, Drefan…" she started, but it was too late. The boy was already approaching his little brother.
"Stop, mudman! Don't come any closer. This is Commander Root of the LEP, and I command you to drop any weapons you are carrying!"
Yeah, the only weapon probably being the smell coming from his diapers… thought Holly and frowned at that stinky idea. Instead, she said, "If he's a mudman, he doesn't know the LEP, Drefan!"
"Oh no! He's on the move!" Drefan said, completely ignoring her comment. The young elf grabbed the foam swords and his bike helmet, pretending to be starring in a chase scene.
"Hey, wait! Wait! DREFAN YOU HAVE MY FOAM SWORD! That's unfair!" she said, chasing after him into the kitchen as well.
"Isn't that nice," started Bastian. "Wouldn't you like to join them, Evaline?"
"Oh, no, sir. I'm just fine with my book," she replied politely.
"Speaking of books, what are we going to do about you two?" asked Mrs Kelp. Evie felt something horrible turn in her stomach.
Seeing the fear in the young elf's eyes, Calanthe immediately clarified what she had meant.
"About school, dear! I meant about school. So where did you and Holly go?"
"Saint Frond's Elementary School. It's not so far from the orphanage."
"Oh, okay. So, would you and Holly prefer to keep attending there?"
Evaline cringed.
"Or perhaps," started Mrs Kelp, "Would you like to go to Drefan's school? Haven Elementary? It's a very nice place."
"That's very nice of you to offer, Mrs Kelp, but I simply don't know. Me and Holly haven't gone that far in our plan yet. You see, we didn't even know if anybody would take us in."
Both parents looked at each other sympathetically.
"Well, how about this: Tomorrow, I'm not working, so why don't we go to school with Drefan, and we'll ask the principal what we should do. At the same time, you'll both be able to see what the school looks like," suggested Mrs Kelp.
"That'd be awfully nice, and I'd really like that. Holly too, I think." Calanthe smiled.
"So it's settled then. Tomorrow we'll go see the school."
Evie gave an appreciative smile and was about to go back to reading her book when she heard her a voice shout out, "Drefan! What in Frond's name are you doing? That is not a buzz baton, you goof, it's a softnose laser!"
She couldn't help but giggle and shake her head slightly.
Same old Holly...
Short chapter, I know. I'll try to make the next one longer! Smiles, everyone, and have a nice day! Hope your back-to-school was okay! (If you were going back to school, that is...) Oh, and reviewies?
