(Author's Note: Hello everybody. I'm TigerVolcano5000, and welcome to another chapter of Lena Loud! I hope you guys enjoy! :)
Chapter Three: Race Against The Clock
"So Lena, your house is uncharacteristically quiet. What happened to those chaos spawns you call siblings?"
I rolled my eyes, "They all have things to do, Laura. Lori is on a date with Bobby, Leni is at the mall with some friends, Luna is at her band rehearsal, Luan has a job doing some comedy routine at a kid's birthday party, Lynn is at sports practice, Lincoln is hanging out with Clyde, Lucy is having a "séance" at her friend's house, Mom took Lana to a fair because she likes the animals, Dad took Lola to pageant practice, Lisa is teaching a class at the local college, and Lily is with Dad and Lola." In case some of you might not be following, it's a busy day for the loud house with all of my siblings (excluding Lily, for obvious reasons) having stuff to do. Me, on the other hand, not much.
Since my class's big ballet recital a while ago (A/N: CONTINUITY CALLBACK!), we haven't been doing anything of major importance. That's why today I just wanted to hang out with my best friend: Laura. Normally I'd have to go with one of my older siblings or parents since there was no one home and I'm only five, but Laura's mother had volunteered to watch us at my house until one of my parents or older siblings got home.
"Wow, such a big family. Probably why it sounds like a madhouse in here," she muttered the last part, but I could hear her.
I playfully threw a pillow at her, "Shut up."
"Yeah whatever. Geez, could this room be any pinker?"
"Lola," was all I needed to say.
"You can say that again," she muttered, before leaping on Lola's bed and we both heard a "CRACK" sound.
We both paused. It was dead silent until, "Laura?"
"Yes Lena?"
"What exactly did you just sit on?" Slowly, she got off of the bed and we both saw what was underneath her. A broken tiara.
"Lena," seeing the look on my face, she shook my shoulder and handed me a pillow, "If you're to scream, scream into this."
"Thank you," I took the pillow with a kind smile on my face. Then I snatched the pillow from her hands and screamed as loud as I could for about twelve seconds.
"Better?"
"Better? BETTER?! Laura, do you have any idea what you just did?!"
"No?"
"Laura."
"Okay fine! I might, might, have damaged Lola's tiara. Just a little bit."
"A little bit? Laura, ITS COMPELTELY SHATTERED!"
Just then, Laura's mom called us from downstairs, "Girls! What's going on up there?!"
"Nothing mom! Just…playing a game!"
"Okay! Well, you girls be careful now!"
"Okay!" We both called at the same time.
"Laura, do you have any idea what Lola is going to do to us once she finds out?!"
"Wait. If I broke it, why would she be mad at you?"
"She'll probably go along the lines of "You were there. Why didn't you stop her?" Or something like that."
"Okay Lena, I really think that you're overacting. If Lola finds out-."
"WHEN!"
"Fine! When Lola finds out, what's really the worst that can happen?" Then, a single thought came to my head. Lola standing over her busted tiara with slight tears. Then she turns around, glares with glowing red eyes, and then seemingly grows wings, fangs, claws, and spiked tail before pouncing. We both screamed and hugged each other.
"You had the same thought I did?"
"Yep," she said with a slightly freaked out voice.
We separated, "Now you know why we need to fix this. If there's one rule is this house that everyone always follows to the letter its "You don't wanna make Lola mad"."
"That really seems more like a suggestion than an actual rule."
"LAURA!"
"Alright, alright! So, what are we gonna do?"
"We need to find some way to get money so we can buy her a new one."
"Alright, that seems simple enough. How much does it cost?"
"…I think I heard Dad says about…a hundred and eighty-five dollars."
"A HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE DOLLARS?!" I quickly covered her mouth, "Lena, we don't have a hundred and eighty-five dollars."
"Don't you think I know that?"
"Well then, what's your plan?"
"I don't know. Give me a minute to think. Is there any possibility that we could ask your mother?"
"No way. There is no way my mom will spend that much money on a tiara. Especially one that her parents can buy her. Can't we ask your mom and dad?"
"No. Dad is with Lola and Mom won't get here in time to buy a new one and get back before Lola does. We're on our own. We just need to figure out how the heck two five year olds are going to make a hundred and eighty-five dollars in one afternoon."
"Best friend thinking pose?"
"Best friend thinking pose." We both sat down on the floor with crossed legs, crossed our arms, and pouted at the floor. For all who are confused, this is a little thing we came up with around the age of three. We do it whenever we're both thinking of the same thing really hard. Suddenly, it came to me, "I got it! A lemonade stand!"
"Alright, I guess."
"You guess?"
"It just seems kinda cliché, don't you think?"
"LAURA!"
"Alright! Alright!" Taking up one of Lola's tables, we set it outside before decorating it with a sign that we made. Getting some water, sugar, and powder mix, we quickly made ourselves a whole piture of lemonade before bringing up some chairs and setting ourselves up outside.
"I think it's cute how you girls have your whole stand all set up," Mrs. Ferrara was always a warm and caring lady. She had the same tan skin and black hair as Laura, only her hair was a little longer as it reached the middle of her back. She wore a green shirt, white pants, and earrings.
"Thanks Mrs. Ferrara. Just, wanna make some money. It's important, you know?" The smile that I gave her was completely fake. Unlike some of my siblings (whose names shall not be mentioned), I'm not exactly a huge fan of lying. Part of the reason is because I don't like lying to people, but the other part is because I can't lie at all. I'm not joking. My lying is so bad that my parents, Laura, and any of my siblings can always tell when I'm lying because I'm so bad at it. Even now I could see Laura shaking her head disappointedly at my poor attempt.
Lucky for the both of us, her mother didn't know how bad my lying really was and the fake smile didn't tip her off, "I know that's true. People always say that kids can wait until they're older to make an honest dollar, but I suppose you can't start too early. You girls want me to stay outside with you?"
"No mom, we're fine," Laura said in a slightly annoyed tone of voice.
But Mrs. Ferrara just smiled, ruffled her daughter's hair a bit, and kissed her forehead, "Alright, I'll keep an eye on you girls from inside. Come get me if you need anything." And, after that mild interruption, our lemonade business began!
...
...
...
This is not going as well as I would have thought. We've been sitting out here for fifteen minutes and haven't sold any lemonade. And at least a dozen people have past us!
"We might need to think of a new strategy."
Laura then got this wicked smirk on her face which let me know that she was going to do something either stupid, irresponsible, reckless, or a unique combination of all three, "You just let your auntie Laura take care of this."
"What are you talking about? I'm five days older than you."
"HUSH! The master is at work." Rolling my eyes, I closed my eyes as I let out a yawn. Hearing a yelp of surprise, I open them to see Laura pinning some kid to the ground. He almost looked as if he was in high school. Probably a freshman.
"Hey! What are you-GET OFF OF ME!"
"Not until you and I have a little chat. You were just gonna pass my friend and I by, when you can clearly see that we're trying to run a business! It's a hot summer's day, wouldn't you agree?! You're sweating?! You're tired?! Don't you think that it would be smart to quench your thirst with a nice refreshing glass of lemonade?!"
I can see the kid's eyes widen with fear as he was getting really freaked out by Laura, "Alright! Alright! I'll take a glass of lemonade!"
"A GLASS?!"
"ALRIGHT! TWO!"
"That'll be a total of six dollars, please!" The teenager quickly rummaged through his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed Laura six dollars with a shaky hand. Laura quickly swiped up the money, grabbed two cups of lemonade, and handed them in both of his hands, "Thank you for your service sir! My friend and I greatly appreciate it!" The moment Laura got up and walked back to the stand, the guy ran away from us as quickly as his legs would carry him. After he left, I just stared at Laura with wide eyes, "What?"
Realizing that there was no point in arguing, I dropped the subject, "Nothing. Although, I don't think that this lemonade stand is the best way for us to make the money."
"I think you're wrong. We made six dollars in fifteen minutes. If we continue at that pace, I'm pretty sure that we should make the hundred and eighty-five dollars up in close to eight hours."
"Laura. Dad, Lola, and Lily are gonna be back here in four hours. And we still need time to go, buy the tiara, and get back."
"You're right," she started rubbing her hands together with an evil look on her face, "Looks like I'll have to up my game quite a bit."
"NO! You are NOT doing that again!"
"Fine! Then, what do YOU suppose we do to make the remaining hundred and...Eighty-one dollars?"
We both stared at each other before saying, "Best friend thinking pose" at the same time.
We stayed there for about twenty seconds before Laura suddenly jumped up, "I'VE GOT IT! I know exactly how we're going to make up the rest of the money!"
"Are you going to tell me?"
"I think that it'll be best if I didn't."
"...I'm not gonna like this plan, am I?"
"Probably not. But, it'll help. Now, I just have a quick phone call to make." Pulling out her phone, Laura dialed a number and took her call to the other side of the yard. I just knew that I wasn't going to like whatever she had planned at all. Now, some of you might think that I should have more confidence in her since she is my best friend. To you I say "HA"!
If the past is anything to go by, she doesn't come up with the best plans. But if my only choices are to either go along with one of Laura's plans or have to face Lola's wrath, I'd pick one of Laura's plans any day of the week! All I can do is go along with it and try to prevent things from getting out of hand or risk having this whole endeavor turning out like the Halloween of 2015.
...But we do NOT talk about that. EVER!
Laura came back to me about a minute and a half later, "Alright, they're on their way."
"Who's on their way?"
"This kid I know in school is coming here with his older cousin."
"Which kid?" She turned to her side and, suddenly, the ground seemed to be very interesting to her, "Laura."
"Yes?" Whereas she can always tell when I'm lying by how I talk, I can always tell when she did something stupid/irresponsible/reckless by how she talks (also by her facial expressions sometimes).
"Which. Kid?" She muttered under her breath, "What was that?"
"Ryan Martin." Silence. "Lena?"
I could feel my eye twitching dangerously and she took a step back, "D-Did you just say Ryan Martin?"
"Maybe?" I'm sure that you guys all remember Ryan Martin, my former bully (A/N: CONTINUITY CALLBACK!)? After our "little chat" at school, I thought that we would be fine and we might even be friends. That was pretty much shot down the next day where I saw him glaring at me and, although I have no prove, I have a sneaking suspicion that he tried to throw mashed potatoes at me. Needless to say, he and I weren't exactly buddies.
"WHY WOULD YOU INVITE HIM TO MY HOUSE?!"
"BECAUSE, despite your guy's history, he can help us."
"How?!"
"We're all gonna do a little competition."
"Competition?"
"I'll explain when they get here." And so we headed inside and waited for an hour until a blue car pulled near the house.
"Mom!" Laura called her mother, who was currently in the kitchen talking on the phone, "We're going to play with a friend of ours from school."
"Okay dear! Stay near the house!" We both walked outside and I scowled when I saw the familiar spiked dark green hair of Ryan. Accompanying him was a teen who looked about sixteen years old with the same fair skin tone along with brown hair, a red shirt and blue jeans.
He smirked when he saw me, "Hey there Lena."
"Ryan," I all but growled.
"Alright, let's hurry this along. Jack and I have things to do and, frankly, just don't wanna be here."
"Laura. How exactly are they supposed to help us?"
"Ryan and I made a little bet over the phone," Laura explained to me, "A sort of series of contests if you will. If we win, they'll pay us the remaining hundred and eighty-one dollars that we need." While I might not have liked Ryan or this idea, that was actually really good.
But, then a thought came to my mind, "And if we lose?"
"Then you and I will have to be Ryan's "butlers" in school for the rest of the month."
"But the month just started."
"Yeah," she meekly replied.
I sighed, figuring that I could yell at her tomorrow, "Fine. What's the series of contests?" Ryan smirked at me and I suddenly got a bad feeling about this whole thing.
I found out that the series of contests were challenges that Ryan and Laura had talked about and agreed to over the phone. First up, was an eating contest (suggested by Ryan). For that, we used up every popcorn bag in the house. Which, given a family like mine, was a lot. It was us against them. However, we failed pretty badly. I didn't have the stomach for an eating contest and it was obvious that this was something that Ryan and Jack had experience in.
Next, was a wrestling match (suggested by Laura). Seeing as how I didn't have a violent bone in my body and Jack wasn't going to fight five year olds, Laura and Ryan decided that this was a contest that they'd do on their own. It wasn't a fight, it was a stomp. Laura was just a little menace in the match. She used her small size to her advantage, being quick on her feet and leaping on Ryan to hit him and pull at his shirt and hair. Needlessly to say, we took that victory.
Now, it was Ryan and I in the last contest (suggested, surprisingly, by Jack). And boy was it a long/special one. Apparently we had to spin around using a baseball bat (A/N: you guys know what I'm talking about) for thirty seconds, make our way to a large white board on the other side of the lawn (that we borrowed from Mrs. Ferrara in her tutoring days) and solve five math problems, and then run and ring a bell (that Jack had for some reason).
Laura stood at our side, a whistle at the ready while the two of us stood with baseball bats in hand "Okay, are you two ready?"
"Yeah," Ryan said smugly, "Ready to win."
"Yeah!" Jack cheered. I simply nodded to Laura.
"Alright then, Three. Two. One. BEGIN!" She blew the whistle and we were off. Spinning in a circle with the ends up the bats pressed against our foreheads. (Sighs), the things I do for my family. "TIME!" Setting the bats down, we both ran to the boards.
...Or we tried to. Realistically the two of us were swaying and stumbling across the lawn. As I fell to the ground, I saw Ryan place his hand on the house to steady himself as he walked forward. Not wanting to lose to him, I started crawling my way to the boards. After arriving (a few seconds after him), I picked myself up from the ground and got to work. Fortunately, I was always pretty good at math. Ryan, on the other hand, not so much.
Upon completing the last problem, I ran (or did the best I could) over to the bell, picked it up and ringed it as hard as I could.
"NO!" I heard Ryan and Jack exclaiming, the former just barely done with the third problem.
"You did it Lena!" Laura ran over and gave me a hug. Then she turned to the boys, "I believe that you two owe us something." Jack glared at his cousin before grumbling and taking out his wallet. He counted some money and handed the right amount in Laura's hand.
"Come on Ryan, we're leaving." Ryan gave us one last glare before following his cousin.
We had the money, and now we just needed a ride. We looked at each other, thinking the same thing, " !"
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The three of us had just gotten back from the mall, with Lola's new tiara in hand. Dad had texted me that he'd be home with Lola and Lily soon so we knew that we had to hurry. Mrs. Ferrara, on the other hand, kept saying how "You need to follow the speed limit" and stuff like that.
Pulling up into the driveway, I could just vaguely make out Vanzilla in the distance. Eyes wide, I grabbed Laura by her shoulder, "We need to hurry!" Flying upstairs, we quickly placed the new tiara in the place of the one Laura broke before racing again downstairs. We sat on the couch just as my dad and two of my sisters walked in.
"Hello everyone!"
"Hey dad!"
He turned to Laura's mother, "Thank you again Francesca for watching for us."
"Oh, it's not a problem at all Lynn."
After heading upstairs, Lola came back down wearing the tiara that Laura and I had bought her (we'd asked her mother not to say anything about the subject). The two of us were sweating bullets as she walked around the living room in it.
"Guess who won yet another beauty pageant? Oh wait, that's of course me." After realizing that she didn't seem to notice, we let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, a marker flew out of nowhere and knocked the tiara clear off her head to which it shattered. The room was completely silent. The two of us only looked on with shocked and horrified expressions as we all heard Lily's giggle.
Lola slowly turned around at the toddler, "Lily. You are very lucky that I have spare tiaras in my room or you'd be in big trouble young lady," she wagged a finger at the infant.
Our eyes got so wide that we thought that they were going to pop out of our skulls, "WHAT?!"
"What?" Lola asked, slightly flinching at our tone.
"YOU HAD SPARE TIARAS?!" Laura screamed.
"THIS WHOLE TIME?!" My usually quiet voice was just as loud as hers.
"Yeah? Why?" After sharing a glance, we did what we felt anyone would have done in our situation. We fainted.
(Author's Note: And yet another chapter comes to an end. This one in particular was pretty fun to write so I hope you guys enjoyed it. I was thinking of Ryan being in a story as a kind of "antagonist" (and I use the term loosely) of Lena's for a while in the story. Thoughts?
Also, here's a little glance in Laura Ferrara in case any of you that wanted one: She's virtually the polar opposite of Lena. She tomboyish, loud, sarcastic, and tough. The main reason why she and Lena are such good friends is because they're so different. Laura helps Lena learn to be louder and more confident, while Lena helps Laura learn how to be polite and keep her anger in check. This is because she tends to get...a little physical when she's angry. Anyway, review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you guys next time :)
