snipsa: Thank you so much for reviewing (this and "It's All New"). And I'm glad you like Kimmy. It's always nice when people single out a certain line they liked. It's nice to know a line or piece of dialog you worked so hard to come up with didn't go un-noticed. Thanks! Oh, I also want to say thanks for giving me that idea about a sequel to "It's All New". I never thought about that! It's a wonderful idea and I'm very eager to finish this one so that I can set to work on that sequel! Hopefully within the up-coming weeks, we'll see it here… Must… continue to… type… So many ideas… so little… time Oh, and by the way, you were right. The episode I was speaking of was about the clairvoyant girl, Nikki, in #81; "Gifted".
poe1911: I'm glad you liked chapter 3. Things might be coming along a bit more slowly now though, because I'm still trying to work out "a few bugs". And thanks also for reviewing "It's All New". I know that just because a story doesn't get a review doesn't mean readers don't like it, but I think I had felt a bit insecure about that one, so I wasn't sure what to think. Thanks so much!)
A/N Okay, I've talked long enough; on with the story!
4. Our Very First Day
Later that morning, Stephanie was showing Arianna around the school. As Arianna pretended to be interested, she noticed all the looks she was getting and she thought she knew what everyone was thinking; A newcomer; in the middle of a school year? Arianna agreed with the silent thoughts. As she followed Stephanie out of the gym, she sighed. Why her?
Meanwhile, back at the Tanner home, Gary was searching everywhere possible for the Paper. It just had to be there somewhere! Gary had asked Joey after breakfast if he had seen an orange cat. Joey had said in reply; "You mean like Garfield? Yeah, I saw an orange cat. Danny shooed him off the front porch earlier this morning."
"Was there a paper?" Gary had asked.
"You mean a newspaper? No, I didn't see a paper." Joey had shrugged.
Finally, after hours of desperate searching, Gary recovered the tattered Paper from the kitchen garbage can. Relieved, it didn't matter much to the man that there was smashed banana on one of the pages or that someone beside himself had had to put it there; as a matter of fact, that didn't even come to mind.
It didn't take Gary long to read the headline Hit-and-Run Kills 1 before he slipped into his leather jacket and took off down the street. If he didn't get to Shackmoore Road fast, then there would be one less San Francisco citizen.
"Hey, Tanner," A boy called out during lunch, "Who's your friend?"
"This is Arianna Hobson," Stephanie introduced the two, "She and her dad are staying with us for a while. They're from Chicago. Arianna, this is Eric Kienstar." Then she whispered in the girl's ear, "He's one of the most hottest and popular boys in school." Arianna wrinkled her nose at the thought. She wasn't much into boys, yet. Most of the ones she had met were gross and mean. But, she smiled warmly at the boy anyway.
Eric then sat down across from them at the table and began to unwrap his turkey sandwich. "So how old are you, Arianna?" He asked the girl politely.
"Eleven." Arianna replied, shyly. It made her feel self-conscious to have the supposedly most popular boy at school wanting to talk to her.
He nodded, "I'm twelve. Which one of you is older?" He nodded his head towards the two girls.
"She is;" Stephanie flashed the boy a smile, "By six months. I turned eleven last month."
Eric nodded. "So how long are you going to be around?" He asked Arianna, curiously.
The girl shrugged, "I don't know, yet. But, as long as I'm here, I have to go to school here."
"Great!" Eric exclaimed, smiling, "I hope that means I'll see you tomorrow."
Arianna nodded, "Yeah, I guess it does."
"Good," He said, standing up with his lunch tray, "Then I'll see you tomorrow then."
She smiled slightly and nodded, "Tomorrow."
Eric then flashed her one more smile and went in search of his friends. Arianna watched him go in a bit of awe. That, she could have sworn, was the first boy she had ever met who wasn't gross or rude or anything else like that to her. Well, unless you count Gary, and in this case, she wasn't including her father.
Arianna turned her attention away from Eric and looked at Stephanie, "So, what's our next class?"
Abruptly and without saying a word, Stephanie stood up and began to storm out of the cafeteria.
"Stephanie? Steph," Arianna called after her. When the girl left the room, Arianna's shoulders slumped and she said quietly, "What'd I say?"
As his daughter was experiencing some of life's early lessons, Gary was racing against the clock, trying to find Shackmoore Road. He only had ten to fifteen minutes left. Finally he spotted a man who was just about to cross the street. He was doing it perfectly safe – or he would be, that is – if weren't for the drunk driver who would run the red light.
As he ran to stop the man, Gary was stunned to see that the man was none other than Danny Tanner! Danny was just as stunned and because of that, he stopped stepping off the sidewalk just as a red sports car whizzed past. Sub-consciously, it reminded Gary of the car Chuck had a few years back.
"Danny, what are you doing here?" Gary exclaimed, while seeing that the article was gone.
"You know, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Danny replied, "If you hadn't come along when you did, that red car would've killed me! You saved my life, Gary!"
"Well, it w-was just a right place, r-right time kinda thing." Gary quoted one of his favorite clichés.
"Wow, Gary," Danny was still in awe, "You've saved five members of our family in only three days. You're pretty good at this."
"W-Well, why don't we g-go on back to the h-house." Gary suggested nervously. He didn't like where this conversation was going.
"Oh, I can't," Danny shook his head, "I've got some things I need to pick up at the store. But, I'll see you later. Thanks again." He nearly gave Gary a big hug, but instead, resided to a handshake.
After that, Danny walked across the street and disappeared into the crowds of people. Checking the Paper again, Gary was relieved to see that there was only one more article to take care of; a convenient store robbery. Though nobody was injured, Gary felt that he should at least try to prevent it. But, that was two hours away. So, he took his time and walked slowly toward the store, peering into store windows as he went.
Arianna felt terrible. She didn't know why, but it seemed that Stephanie was angry with her. What had she done? She didn't mean to do anything. After all, they were friends – weren't they?
Later that day, Arianna finally had the chance to talk to Stephanie again. They were walking together on their way home. Neither one of them had said a word to each other since lunch. That was really starting to bother Arianna. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore;
"Stephanie, are you mad at me?" Arianna asked, softly, looking the girl in the eye.
Stephanie didn't say anything for a moment, then stopped and faced Arianna. "Well, what do you think?"
"I, I think y-you are," Arianna said, looking down at her shoes for a moment, "A-And I don't k-know why. Why are you mad at me, Steph?"
Stephanie gave an exasperated sigh, "All school year I've been trying to get Eric Keinstar to notice me. He hasn't given me a second glance. Then you come along and on your very first day, he introduces himself to you and then he says he hopes to see you tomorrow! How do you do it?"
"I, I don't know," Arianna shrugged, "I didn't do anything. I don't even like boys, if it's any consolation."
"Oh, yeah? Well, it's not. Now, that Eric likes you, he won't even remember my name!" And with that, she stormed down the street.
Arianna's shoulders drooped. She hadn't tried to do anything; nothing at all. Now, Stephanie hated her. Arianna felt terrible. Slowly, she started for the Tanner home.
Gary glanced down at the Paper. Yep, the robbery story was still there… unfortunately. He looked ahead of him at the store and began to walk towards it. Maybe, he could get the guy at the counter to– Suddenly, he stopped. No; it couldn't be – could it? Yes, it was. He shook his head as he watched D.J. Tanner and Kimmy Gibbler walk into the store. How accident prone was this family, anyway?
He quickened his pace and began to run towards the building. In the distance, he could see two rough looking teenage boys heading towards the store; that just made him run faster.
Running into the store, out of breath, Gary quickly began to tell the manager that; "Listen, if you don't close this store down, two kids are gonna come in here and rob you of everything you've got in here!" Then he pointed out the window at the approaching would-be-robbers. "Those two!"
Whether it was just a precaution or whether he believed Gary or not, the man at the register began to lock the doors of the store. He had a panicked look on his face as he turned off the bright lights. That's when D.J. and Kimmy noticed Gary in the store.
"Mr. Hobson," D.J. exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
"I was, I was – listen; forget about that, would ya? Here, quick," He led the two girls behind a shelf full of potato chips, "I want you two girls to stay right here – no matter what happens. Don't come out until I tell you, you understand?"
The girls nodded and Gary ran back up to the counter at the front of the store. There were no other customers in the room – just the man at the register, who was hiding behind the counter. After making sure there was no one else in the store, Gary made his way back to D.J. and Kimmy. The girls were still crouched down where he had left them.
He had only crouched down himself, beside them, when he heard someone banging on the locked doors of the store. He could hear to voices speaking to one another, very loudly, outside;
"Open it up, Jason!" The first voice exclaimed.
"I can't, Pete!" The second voice said, with a twinge of tension in it, "I, I think they're closed."
"What? They can't be!" The first replied angrily, "Here; let me try."
"Ya see? It's locked. And look; there's nobody in there."
"Yeah, well, I need that money! There's gotta be a way…" Pete mussed.
"There's not, Pete," Jason urged the other teen, "C'mon, let's go before we get caught."
That was the last thing Gary heard the boys say, for they left the store.
Arianna stared blankly at the math sheet for her homework. She should have been able to do the problems. They were easy. But, her mind wasn't on fractions. As she sat at the kitchen table, she thought about Stephanie.
"Do you need some help, Arianna?"
Arianna looked up. Joey was standing behind her; a concerned look on his face. Silently, she shook her head 'no'.
"Well, you've been sitting her for fifteen minutes and you haven't even made a mark on your math sheet," Joey pulled out a chair and sat down, "Is something bothering you?" He asked gently.
Arianna didn't say anything for a moment. Then she said; "It's Stephanie; she's mad at me."
"Any idea why?"
The girl nodded, "At lunch today, a boy came and sat at our table. Stephanie says he's the most popular guy in school. Anyway, now Stephanie's mad at me because, well, I guess he sort of likes me or something. But I didn't do anything! I don't even like boys, yet!" She wrinkled her nose as if to prove her point.
"Well, have you tried talking to her about it?" Joey asked.
Arianna shrugged, "I tried to talk to her on the way home from school, but she wouldn't listen."
"Well, why don't we go talk to her?" Joey stood up, "You can't get any homework done like this, anyway."
Upstairs, Joey knocked on Stephanie's door, and then poked his head in, "Steph, can we talk?"
She shrugged, "I guess so."
Joey led a reluctant Arianna into the room and they sat down on Michelle's bed. Stephanie looked as if she knew what was coming.
"Stephanie," Joey started, "Arianna told me what was going on between you two."
Neither girl said anything.
"Look, you aren't going to let a boy come between your friendship, are you?" Joey continued, "That's not right. You girls need to talk this out… and listen to each other."
"I guess you're right, Joey." Stephanie sighed.
"Good," Joey replied, "Now, Stephanie; we know your side of this, let's let Arianna do some talking. Arianna…"
"Oh, well, um…" Arianna began, "Listen, Steph, I, I didn't do anything for Eric to like me, or anything. And I'm sorry if he does – I'm sorry for you and him because I'm just not into boys right now. I don't care who they are and, and I hope you can understand that. I, I mean, I won't be here forever. I'll be gone in a few days. Eric will probably forget about me by then anyway." When she finished, she took a deep breath.
Stephanie grinned, "You're right, Arianna. I guess I never really stopped to think… or listen to what you had to say. I'm sorry I was so mean to you and, and I hope we can put this behind us and be friends again. What do you say? Friends?" She held out her hand.
Arianna grinned and shook the other girls hand firmly, "Friends."
"I still can't believe it, Mr. Hobson," D.J. exclaimed enthusiastically, as she, Kimmy, and Gary walked in the Tanners' front door, "You were incredible!"
"Yeah, Mr. H," Kimmy nodded and thumped Gary on the back, "How'd you know what those dudes were planning anyway? Are you a cop?"
Gary gave the teenage girls a small, smile, "No, I'm not a cop. Now, um," He glanced at the clock, "Don't you two have homework to do?"
Kimmy shook her head, "Nah; Mr. Harrell wasn't there today. We had a sub. And she didn't give us any. So, now we get to hang out with you, Mr. H. Isn't that great?"
"Y-Yeah," He replied, "Um, great. Uh, listen, girls; I have some things I need to do. I, I'm going up to my room right now, but I'll see you later, o-okay?"
Soon he was up in his room. He couldn't for the life of him, figure out what was with that girl; Kimmy Gibbler. She's awful strange, he thought.
When Danny walked in the door later, he was immediately bombarded with the latest news of Gary Hobson. He had saved a store from being robbed. And what's more; he knew it was going to happen before it happened. That's when Danny told them about how Gary had saved him. This made everybody even more amazed. As everybody chattered excitedly at the table about the rescues, Arianna glanced over at her father. He looked nervous and a bit worn out and she smiled at him.
Later that night, Danny was at the table, talking to Joey. Joey was amazed at Gary's actions.
"Gary Hobson is awful strange, isn't he?" Danny noted after a few minutes.
Joey didn't look so sure, "Stranger than Kimmy?" He asked.
Later that night, Danny knocked softly on D.J.'s bedroom door. He stuck his head in, "Deej, can I talk to you?"
"Sure, dad," She replied, laying down the book she was reading, "What's up?"
"I wanted to ask you about earlier…" He began, "About Gary."
"Wasn't he incredible, dad?" She asked, still in awe, "I mean; it was just like one of those old John Wayne movies! You know, where he rides in just in time, scares off the bad guys, and saves everybody? How does he do it?"
"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," He said, sitting down ion the desk chair, "Tell me again, without Kimmy's interpretation of some hot, good-looking hero riding in, about what happened at the store." Danny's hook his head as he thought about Kimmy's tale.
"Well, Kimmy and I had just stopped at the Gas 'n Go to grab a soda," The teenage girl began, "I got Coca-Cola by the way. Kimmy got root beer and orange, so she could mix them together…"
Danny motioned for D.J. to get back on topic.
"Oh, right," She shook her head, "Anyway, we hear this voice yell, 'the store's gonna be robbed, lock the doors!', so we turn around and it's Mr. Hobson! It was him! And the guy at the counter was locking up."
"Yeah? Then what happened?"
"Well, then the next thing we know, Mr. Hobson leads us behind a shelf of Doritos and tells us to stay put. And there were guys trying to rob the store, dad, I heard them. But, they couldn't get in. They thought the store was closed. Mr. Hobson saved us, dad," D.J. assured him, "I don't know how, but he did!"
"Yeah, well –" Danny was interrupted, when Stephanie poked her head in the door.
"G'night, Deej; g'night, dad," Stephanie said, and then started to turn away.
"Hey, hey, Steph, come in here." Danny beckoned.
A guilty expression came over the girl's face as Danny pulled her closer, "Dad, it wasn't me," She said, "Michelle chopped your tie in half. I just told her to. I didn't think she would actually do it."
"Wait a minute," Danny interrupted, "You what?
Stephanie just gave a small smile, realizing she just gave everything away.
"Never mind the tie right now," Danny just shook his head, "I just wanted to ask you something."
Stephanie and D.J. looked at him expectantly.
"Don't you two think Gary Hobson is kind of strange?" He asked them.
The girls then questioned him as if to prove a point; "Stranger that Kimmy?"
A/N Well, that's for now! Don't go away – we'll be right back when "Stranger than Kimmy" returns after this (few days) break!