"Okay, how's this?" said Otto, handing a draft of the first scene to Riley.

This is what it said: 'Whoo-hoo! Ride them killer waves. the pilgrims yelled. The Mayflower was being tossed about by a terrible storm at sea. Hang ten, bros! The pilgrims were totally bummed when the storm blew over 'cause they'd been having a gnarly time. They finally ran into a massive rock and almost bit it. This place became known as Plymouth Rock.'

"Looks fine to me," said Lars with a shrug.

"I don't think this is gonna work." said Riley. "News flash, the Pilgrims didn't talk like that."

"How do you know?" Otto challenged. "I say this is perfect and we're moving onto the next scene."

"Who died and put you in charge, Rocket Dork?" said Lars.

"I think we should have a big battle in the next scene between the Pilgrims and the Indians." Otto felt there was nothing to draw the attention of a crowd like a good fight scene.

The prop makers begin to test-fire their bow and arrow sets fashioned from pencils, string, and straws from the cafeteria. The Pilgrims retaliated with a volley of notebook paper musket balls. Conroy flapped his arms to attract the class's attention.

"Now, now, class! This must stop!" he said. "The only arrow hitting anyone in this play will be the arrow in my turkey butt!"

At that moment, the lunch bell rang. The class stampeded out the door towards the cafeteria.

"Miss Perez, you and Mr. Rodriguez need to stay behind and help Otto and Sammy finish writing the play." said Conroy as he left for the teachers' lounge.

"Yes, sir," Riley saluted.

Lars gave her a sharp dig in the ribs with his elbow. "What did you say we'd stay for? We both know the munchkins can't write this thing."

"I said we'd stay because it's our duty as class mentors. Besides, I can't handle these two by myself. We're a team, Lars, remember?" she said sweetly.

Things got even worse as lunch break progressed. Otto and Sam got into a big argument over historical accuracy versus audience interest; Riley couldn't read the draft of the second scene because Otto had used the paper it was written on as a placemat for his sandwich. They managed to get the final scenes written just before the dismissal bell. Riley took the script so she could edit it at home.

-----

Riley's fluffy black kitten, Tesoro, ambled over to where her mistress was lying on the carpet. Tesoro yawned, laid down on the script, and began to groom herself.

"You're no help," Riley grumbled. She turned her head toward the sofa, where the older Rodriguez brother sat. "Lars, get down here and help me."

"I can't help if your stupid cat's in the way." he said.

"Don't call Tesoro stupid!" Riley shrieked.

"Gimme a break, Ry," Lars whined. "I'm not good with words and sentences like you are. Besides, I didn't eat nothin' all day. I'm flippin' hungry."

"But we have to finish rewriting the script by tomorrow morning," said Riley, her eyes swimming with tears. "And I don't know where we should start. I mean, there's so many mistakes that editing it could take all night. Just look at the script, for crying loud!"

Stress finally overcame Riley. She hugged her knees to her chest and began to sob. Lars felt slightly alarmed. He had never seen Riley cry before. He walked toward her and timidly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Please don't cry. I know you can fix this. You're one of the smartest people I know. We're just not thinking straight right now is all." Lars said gently. "Why don't we get some fresh air, pick up something to eat, and come back to work on it later?"

Riley sniffled. "Okay."

---------

Lars and Riley walked down the road in the direction of the Shore Shack, Lars's favorite dining spot. Riley was still crying from stress, so Lars kept an arm around her shoulders. As much as he hated to admit it, comforting someone gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. He felt her sobbing ease up. Catching him completely by surprise, Riley wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," she said in a small voice.

"Don't worry about it," Lars said over the noise of his growling stomach.

They chose side-by-side counter seats at the restaurant. Riley ordered a chocolate milkshake, medium fries, and a double cheeseburger; Lars ordered the same thing. Riley pulled a five-dollar bill out of her pocket to cover her half, but Lars said, "Mmm-mm. I'm paying for this."

After dinner, they bought ice cream cones on the boardwalk before going back to Riley's house to edit the script. It took nearly three hours, but they were able to successfully rework all four scenes.