Disclaimer : I cannot take credit for an '80's movie, any more than I can take credit for the '80's itself. No, my children, because the '80's belonged to The Brat Pack, Hair Bands, John Hughes, and of course the Almighty…Ferris Bueller.
Author's Notes : ….CURTAIN UP!
Chapter 11 : Manual Labor Is For Man
By the time Gus came back into the library, all five teenagers were back at their original desks…except that Nick was doodling on the edge of his desk, Connie was sleeping on top of the same desk, Daf was applying purple polish to her fingernails, Kyle was flipping through a National Geographic and laughing to himself, and Sean was playing with a baseball that he'd been keeping in his jacket pocket, tossing it from one hand to the other.
Gus walked up to Daf's desk and she glanced up at him.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"As a matter, of fact, you can!" he replied, with a little smile, "it's your turn to do some clean up jobs around the school, along with her," Gus gestured to Connie.
Daf grimaced. "I don't like manual labor," she said.
"Well, you should've thought about that before you started screaming at your boyfriend in the school gym!" Gus told her.
Still looking at the magazine, Kyle quirked an eyebrow.
"C'mon, let's go missy," Gus grunted, and Daf got up out of her seat.
Gus then walked towards over to Connie and Nick's desk, rolling his eyes at Connie's sleeping form.
"Harrison," he said, "wake her up."
Nick grinned. "Yes, sir!" he said, standing up. He leaned right over until his face was mere inches away from Connie's, then he glanced over at Kyle.
"What do you think?" he asked "…tongue, or no tongue?"
Connie's eyes flew open and she sat straight up on the desk.
"Ah, damn…!" Nick muttered.
"So, where we goin'?" Connie asked, hopping off the desk.
Gus just nodded toward the door, and the girls followed him out of the library, but not before Connie glanced over her shoulder and glared at Nick on her way out.
Nick replied with an innocent "what did I do?" shrug.
When the door closed behind Connie, Nick glanced over at Kyle.
Kyle caught his friend looking at him. "What?" he asked.
"I thought, that out of the two of us, I was supposed to be the slacker," said Nick.
"You are!" Kyle assured him.
Nick quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he asked, "because for the past hour, I've been sanitizing the latrines, out there," he pointed to the door, "while you've been in here, doing absolutely nothing."
"Hey, I've been doing stuff!" Kyle argued.
"Like what?" Nick asked.
"Well, I've…been annoying Daf, and getting annoyed by Daf, looking through the old yearbook, and…plotting world domination."
"WHAT? You shouldn't be making any domination plans without ME!" Nick was shocked.
"Hey, you've been doing all of the planning since we were ten!" Kyle told him, "I should be doing some if I'm gonna be in on it, besides, I'm smarter!"
"You're smart, but I'm diabolical," Nick told him, "and I'm better looking."
"What do looks have to do with anything?" Kyle asked.
"It means I can charm my way past any female CIA agents we may come across," Nick replied, "plus, any female guards at Interpol." (A/N for those of you who aren't familiar with that term, Interpol is the largest police organization in the world.)
"OK, being charming and being cute are two totally different things," said Kyle.
"Not necessarily," said Nick, "when you're good looking, as I am, the charm comes naturally."
"Oh, that is bull – "
Sean just laid his head down on his desk and let out a tortured moan, wondering about the girls, where they were, and why he couldn't have gone with them.
Gus took the girls to the Art room, that was actually just at the end of the hallway. He unlocked the door and let them inside, flipping the light switch on as he did so.
When the lights came on, the girls really didn't need an explanation from Gus about what they had to do…..the room was a mess.
"The ninth graders were making piñatas this week," Gus explained, with a smug grin on his face.
Connie glanced over at Daf, who looked horrified.
Connie gazed around the room, taking in the mess. The table tops were covered with paint and paper mache, just like the floor, and the counters, and the sinks..
"Oh, this should be fun," Connie grumbled.
"Mr. Dukakis has been getting his class to clean up the room after class all week, except for Friday," said Gus.
"And they couldn't clean it up on Friday because - ?" Daf asked.
"Well, then you wouldn't serve much of a purpose, now, would you?" Gus replied. "Get to work, I'll be back in an hour," he then glanced around the room, "or maybe an hour and a half."
With one last grin, he turned around and headed out of the room, whistling the song "Cinderelly, Cinderelly" as he did so.
"That is one sadistic son of a bitch," Daf muttered.
"Well, with a boss like Vernon, what did you expect?" Connie asked. She then noticed two buckets on the table in the far corner of the room, no doubt, filled with cleaning rags and soapy water.
"C'mon," she said, walking across the room, "let's get to work."
Grabbing the buckets, the two girls went to different tables and started scrubbing them down.
"This has got to be against the Child Labor Laws," Daf grumbled, as she scrubbed the table top.
"You'd think so," Connie replied, "if you've never done chores before."
Daf stopped scrubbing and glared over at Connie. "What's that supposed to mean?" she hissed.
"Nothing," said Connie, still cleaning her table, "it's just that if you're not used to cleaning, or doing any sort of chores, this would be seen as intense physical labor."
"Hey, I've done chores!" said Daf.
"Like what?" Connie asked.
Daf glared at her. "I don't have anything to prove to you! Besides, why do you care?" she asked, her words dripping with venom.
Connie shrugged. "I don't, necessarily, I'm just curious because I've heard you bragging to your friends about how your house is always gleaming, your room always spotless….thanks to your housekeeper."
Daf scowled. "And what chores do you do, Connie?" she asked.
Connie shrugged. "I do the dishes, I dust around the house, everywhere except my room, cuz it's my own personal space and I don't have to change it if I don't want to…"
Daf rolled her eyes.
"…And sometimes I help my dad out around his garage, and he pays me for it," Connie finished.
"Well, aren't you just a good little worker bee!" said Daf, sarcastically. "And for your information, the only reason I don't do more chores is because I'm too busy – "
Daf suddenly stopped talking, she then glanced down and continued to clean, moving on to another table.
"You're too busy doing what?" Connie asked, "going out with your friends? Going on dates? Doing homework?" she waited expectantly, "What are you doing that takes up so much of your time?"
"Nothing," Daf grumbled, "get back to work, we don't have much time left."
Connie gave her a puzzled look, but Daf didn't notice because she wouldn't look at her anymore.
45 minutes later, when Gus came to take the girls back to the library, the room wasn't entirely spotless, but it was still a great improvement.
When Gus dropped them back off at the library, Daf and Connie still hadn't said a word to eachother.
CURTAIN DOWN!
Thanks for being so patient with me, guys! Cuz as you know, we fanfiction writers can get very busy with other stuff in our lives, so we don't always have time to write. And I know this chapter is rather short, but I'm kind of a writing rut at the moment, so please, bare with me
So what's all this mystery surrounding Daf? And which member of the group will she open up to first? Tune in to find out!
NEXT CHAPTER : Prank phone calls!
- Ace's Buddy
