As Luna and Sam listened to a new release from one of their favorite artiste on Sams' IPhone, Luna glanced at her watch and realized it was 1: 45 pm. Her father had changed the time he called Mr. Grouse in the afternoon to 2:00 pm and Lincoln was now taking the bus home.
"Sam, I have to call dad, where's your phone?" she asked Sam.
'It's on my dresser," her friend replied.
Luan and Lynn were engrossed in watching a teenage sitcom while laying on Sam's bed.
"Hey guys turn down the TV, I'm calling dad now," Luna asked. Luan pressed the mute button on the remote control. Luna grabbed Sam's phone and sat on the bed. Luna dialed her father's number then Luan and Lynn Jr. crowded around Luna to hear the conversation.
Lynn Sr. was still on his lunch break at this moment.
"Hello Lynn Sr. speaking," he answered and was taken by surprise upon hearing Luna's voice.
"Hi dad it's me Luna," she told him.
"Where did you get this phone?" he inquired.
"Listen dad, I'm calling from Sam's house Lisa said she wasn't feeling well before we could get on the bus so we went to the nurses office," Luna lied.
"Oh no was it anything serious?" he asked with concern.
"Anyway after the nurse treated Lisa I decided we'd go to Sam's house since she lives across the street from the school instead of taking Lisa all the way to Mr. Grouse," Luna continued.
"That was a smart idea," he replied, then said something unexpected, "Give me Sam's address and I'll pick you up in a few minutes." The sisters glanced at each other fearfully.
"Now what?" Luan whispered.
Luna thought quickly. "But dad you don't have to go through all that trouble, we'll take the bus home when Lisa feels better," Luna said.
"All right, make sure everyone does their homework," Lynn Sr. replied.
"Yes dad but I didn't get homework," she answered which was true.
"See you all later," he continued.
"Bye dad don't worry about us," Luna replied then turned off Sam's phone. Relieved Luna quickly sat on the bed and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness we pulled it off," Lynn Jr. remarked.
Meanwhile their father was talking to Mr. Grouse.
"Hello Bernard listen the girls have to stay behind after school so they won't be coming over," Lynn Jr. reported.
"That's okay Lynn," Mr. Grouse replied. Afterwards Lynn Sr. decided to place a call to Rita on her office phone. Rita occupied a small office beside Dr. Feinstein's and was looking through dental records at her desk.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" she asked.
"Hi Rita listen Luna just called me from Sam's house, she told me Lisa said she wasn't feeling well before they got on the bus," her husband reported.
"Oh my gosh did Luna tell you what happened to Lisa?" his wife asked anxiously.
"No but after Lisa was treated by the school nurse the girls decided they would stay at Sam's house since it's just across the street from the school," Lynn Sr. explained.
"That was good thinking on Luna's part," Rita told him.
"And she told me when Lisa feels better they will take the bus home," he added.
"Well glad to know they are trying to be more independent," Rita said, "Okay honey see you later."
"Bye Rita," Lynn Sr. said. After hanging up, suddenly Rita began wondering why Luna didn't mention what Lisa complained of and started to doubt Luna's story.
"I think I'll call Nurse Patty tomorrow morning and find out," she thought.
At 4:25 p.m. Luna, Luan and Sam were drinking soda and watching TV in Sam's room. Lisa had fallen asleep on Sam's bed. At present Lynn Jr. was outside in the backyard playing basketball alone and the twins were still parked on the sofa watching cartoons while Lucy was finishing her homework sitting on the living room floor. She was the only sister to receive homework.
Sam glanced at the time on her alarm clock and said to Luna, "Luna, it's almost four-thirty."
Luna gasped, "We lost track of time, Luan wake up Lisa while I tell the others we're leaving?"
She reluctantly went downstairs and approached the girls on the sofa.
"Guys we should leave now we have to get home before dinner," Luna said.
The twins both grumbled, "Aww Luna."
"Sorry we can't stay," Luna said before going outside.
"Hey Lynn we're going home," Luna said to her who was resting after shooting hoops for awhile.
When they returned inside, the other sisters were sitting on the sofa with their bags. A sleepy eyed Lisa released a yawn.
"Did you eat your snacks," Luna asked the younger girls.
"Yes we did," Lucy told her.
Sam stood before the sisters on the sofa. "It was nice having you all here," she told them.
"Bye Sam," the younger girls said before rising to their feet.
"Bye Luna it was great seeing you after all these weeks," Sam told her.
Once Luna and her sisters departed, they walked toward the nearest bus stop and in three minutes they were boarding the bus and arrived home twelve minutes later.
The next day once Rita arrived at the dental office, she stowed her handbag into a drawer then scrolled through the contacts of her phone and found the nurse's number at the elementary school and immediately dialed the number.
"Good Morning this is Nurse Patty speaking," Rita heard on the line.
"Good Morning, Nurse Patty, I'm Mrs. Loud, I'd like to know if my daughter Lisa came into your office yesterday? She has unruly brown hair and was accompanied by six other girls," she inquired.
"I don't recall seven girls coming here, Mrs. Loud, but I'll check my records," she replied puzzled.
"Sorry Mrs. Loud but there's no Lisa Loud here," she reported upon her return.
"Thanks that's all I needed to know, have a good day," Rita replied before hanging up. Her face started turning slightly red with anger.
"I can't believe those girls, how can they use Lisa like that?" she fumed. Rita composed herself then looked at her schedule before her first patient arrived.
That evening everyone was almost finished eating dinner when Rita decided to bust her daughters.
"Luna I had a very interesting talk with the school nurse today," she said
Suddenly all the girls became uneasy.
"Nurse Patty told me she didn't remember seven girls coming to see her. She checked her records and found that Lisa's name wasn't there," Rita told the apprehensive girls.
Lincoln, Lori and Leni gave looks of surprise.
Rita continued but with anger in her voice. "Luna, how could you pretend your sister wasn't feeling well just for a few hours of freedom?" she raged.
Luna looked at her regretfully and said, "But I'm tired of going to Mr. Grouse we needed a break."
"Yeah mom it's boring just doing our homework then waiting to go home," Luan complained.
"And mom I can't even play sports when I'm stuck at Mr. Grouse," Lynn Jr. complained.
"That's too bad, we decided you'd stay with him until your father comes home in the afternoons and we're keeping that arrangement," Rita said sternly, "And don't think you're getting away with fooling us, Luna this Saturday you will be doing the laundry by yourself,"
Luna's jaw nearly fell upon hearing her punishment. "But Mom I don't think I have enough experience to handle it on my own," she whined.
Rita then turned to the eldest girl. "Lori you're off duty this Saturday, you can watch TV on my laptop in my room," she said.
"Do I get my phone back?" Lori asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"No," Rita replied, "Luan do you have any parties to prepare for?"
"No mom," Luan answered.
"Then you are cleaning the bathroom. Junior you're mowing the lawn then cleaning the gutters," Lynn Sr. spoke.
"Aww dad," Lynn Jr. replied. The other girls looked fearfully at their mother.
"Don't worry Lisa you're not getting punished since your sisters were using you," Rita told her,
"Lana Lola and Lucy you're off the hook as well."
The younger sisters were relieved upon hearing they wouldn't be punished. There was silence for a few seconds before Lynn Sr. decided to speak.
"Didn't it occur to you that one of us would call Nurse Patty?" he said, which was met with complete silence from the sisters.
"What you girls did was unacceptable. Luna, Luan and Junior you three are on kitchen duty for the next three days starting tonight, you can begin by clearing the table," Lynn Sr. declared, which earned a collective groan from the girls.
The others departed quickly with Lincoln heading into the kitchen to cut a slice of the cherry pie laying on the kitchen counter.
Luna, Luan and Lynn Jr. remained seated for a few seconds before getting up and remained in a solemn mood while they cleared the table.
"Guys we goofed up big time," Luna said regretfully while stacking plates together.
"Where did we go wrong?" Luan opined.
"Now I know how Lincoln must feel when his plans fail," Lynn said.
"I heard that," Lincoln called out sarcastically while putting the slice of the pie on a plate.
"Yeah but at least we got to watch TV at Sam's house," Luan replied.
They entered the kitchen carrying what they could and placed the items beside the sink before returning to finish the job while Lincoln went into his room to eat his pie. Meanwhile Rita began working on her novel in the master bedroom while Lynn Sr. checked his emails on the computer.
Later that night Rita checked on the children upstairs in their beds before joining Lynn Sr. for a discussion at the dining table.
"Honey I was thinking that Leni and Lucy shouldn't be punished any longer," Rita asked.
"I agree," Lynn Sr. replied, "But Lucy cannot stay home alone, she'll still go to summer school. In the afternoons Lincoln can go over to Mr. Grouse and get her."
"That's a good idea,' Rita said then yawned. "Let's go to bed."