Chapter 2: What Should I Tell Him?

The Kitchen

It was Saturday morning. Marge was doing the dishes, gritting her teeth at the memory of the horrific film she had watched the previous night. Her mind was so focused on it, she didn't notice her husband entering the room.

"Morning honey!"

The plate slipped out of Marge's hands as she screamed "AHH!"

Not noticing her fearful state, Homer asked "Great movie last night, huh?"

"Well…"

Flashback

Marge thinks back to Homer smiling at the T.V and sipping beer, while she is shaking and holding him tight

Jigsaw: You think it's over just because I am dead. It's not over. The games have just begun.

HOMER: Ha-ha… just gets more romantic.

End of Flashback

Kitchen

Bart and listen began to walk through the room as they listened to Marge ask "Where are you kids off to?"

After hearing the question, Lisa didn't hesitate to reply "It's Saturday, so I'm taking my saxophone over to Grace's place. Finally, I'll be playing with someone who won't be objective to the idea that music should be about freedom of expression."

Knowing Bart was never up to any good, Homer turned towards his son and said "What about you boy?"

"Milhouse and I taped together what we could of our comic. Now we're going to stand behind the comic book store and see how many people we can get to pay for a glimpse of it."

Grace's Home

Lisa arrived with her saxophone at a house the size of Mr. Burns'. "Oh! This place is amazing!"

After ringing the doorbell, Grace quickly answered it to see her new friend waiting to start practice. "Lisa! Great to see you! Come meet the rest of the group."

The ecstatic teen began leading her new friend inside as she explained "I'm so glad we met. Without a sax player, the group's pulled away from Jazz and been more focused on Rock than anything."

While following Grace, Lisa continued to look around and said "You've got a great place here!"

Before approaching the band room, the girls ran into Grace's older brother who appeared to be on the phone.

"I don't care how long they have to tie themselves to those trees! Don't let those people put another shopping mall up!"

Grace happily introduced her new friend to her older sibling after his phone call ended. "Lisa, this is my brother Bruce. He's an environmentalist."

Bruce reached out his hand to shake Lisa's as he said "Pleased to meet you Lisa. Do you have a brother?"

A nervous look formed on her face, not wanting to mention Bart's bad behavior. "Of course…He's also an environmentalist."

Finding that to be a substantial coincidence, Bruce asked "Really? What kind of work does he do?"

The nervous girl began rubbing her neck nervously as she stuttered "Oh, the same as you I'm sure. You know, saving trees, stopping malls, that sort of thing. Right now his biggest concern is paper."

The Android Dungeon

Standing outside the store, the boys held what they were able to tape together of their shredded comic.

"Okay Milhouse, hopefully we can get enough people to be interested in seeing it."

Not feeling confident about the plan, the geeky boy asked "What if they want their money back? You can barely read it!"

"That's why I made this 'No Refunds' sign."

Milhouse then watched his friend hold their poorly assembled comic up and listened to him say "Here it is, the new Radioactive Man! Get a peak on sale while you still can!"

While Bart was attempting to advertise their ruined product, he noticed an unwelcome acquaintance approaching.

"Oh man, what's he doing here?"

Noticing Damian as well, Milhouse said "Don't worry, he can't ruin it much more than it already is."

The devious boy stepped up to the store and asked "Hey guys. How's it going?"

Finding it odd for him to act so friendly, Bart asked "What do you want?"

With an innocent look on his face, Damian replied "I just came to apologize. I was having a bad day. We had to put my dog down that I'd had forever, but didn't have the money to save. Then, seeing you with your money just put me over the edge."

While an unamused look remained on Bart's face, a sympathetic expression on appeared on Milhouse's as he said "That poor dog!"

Feeling he had said all he needed to, Damian waved goodbye "Yeah, well I'll see you at school."

After seeing him disappear around the store, Milhouse said to Bart "I guess we misjudged him."

A scowl remained on Bart's face as he replied "He's still got some serious kissing up to do as far as I'm concerned."

Moments later, the boys looked to see Damian returning with Comic Book Guy.

"There they are, the kids who are trying to undersell you!"

The uptight businessman snatched the earned money from Bart and snapped "Not on my property!"

Not understanding any of this, Bart asked in a frustrating tone "What is your problem man?"

As he was about to leave, Damian felt the need to point out "Hey, you're the one who said it's cool to hurt people."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between being a badass to look cool and being a jackass for no reason."

"Eh, whatever hurts someone works for me."

Grace's Band Room

After hiding the truth about her family, Lisa followed Grace into the band room to meet the rest of her friends. "Here's the band room, and of course the band. This is Tommy, he's our keyboard player. Chris, He's our drummer. Chuck, Our trumpet player. And me, our electric guitar player. We're 'The Clean Slates.'"

Lisa waved at her new group of friends as they anxiously began discussing what this would mean for them.

"All right! Now there's nothing stopping us from playing Lush Life!" Chris shouted.

Shaking his head at the thought, Tommy sighed "I keep telling you Fever is better."

Disagreeing with them both, Chuck added "Then why was Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit listed as number one on 50 Greatest Jazz Hits?"

After seeing the usual rantings already taking place, Grace turned to Lisa and whispered "It can get pretty confrontational in here before deciding on what to play."

Having a thought come to her mind, Lisa said "You know Bleeding Gums Murphy has some great hits."

Bart's Bedroom

"We've got to think of a way to get back at Damian."

Not finding it to be likely, Milhouse asked "But how? We don't know anything about him, except that he may be bipolar."

"He tricks us by pretending to be nice, so maybe we can trick him into falling for something if we act nice."

An eager thought came to the unpopular boy's mind as he suggested "We could say his dog came back to life!"

After rolling his eyes at the thought, Bart said "We'll make that plan B."

Grace's Band Room

After an afternoon spent of playing Bleeding Gums Murphey music, Tommy said "Great music Lisa."

Agreeing with his friend, Chris added "Yeah, this music will kill at the concert tomorrow!"

A perplexed look formed on Lisa's face as she asked "Concert?"

"My brother's passion for environmental work inspired me to find a way for the band to contribute. Every year our band plays at the Springfield Jazz Fest, where we help promote the idea of saving the environment." Grace explained.

"We were thinking of dropping out without a sax player." Chris said.

"Not to mention having trouble agreeing on a song." Chuck added.

With nothing seeming to be standing in the way now, Tommy excitedly shouted "With a new player and a new song, there's no stopping us!"

"So, what do you say Lisa, you interested?" Grace hoped.

The intelligent girl anxiously replied "You bet!"

"Great! Our band's contribution to encourage saving the environment means more this year than it ever has." Grace informed her.

"Why is that?"

"Every year Springfield Jazz Fest takes place at Springfield Forest, but the city wants to tear down the trees and put a mall up instead."

Lisa's eyes widened at Grace's story as she gasped "That's terrible!"

Agreeing with them, Tommy stepped in to say "Yeah, but with our sweet lyrics that will persuade people to save the location, and Bruce's support team, 'The Tree Huggers', that will stop the construction crew from knocking down the trees, we can't lose!"

After hearing their issue, Lisa couldn't help making a suggestion. "While I love the idea of sending an important message through music, there is another way to save the forest."

The band stared blankly unaware of the option until Lisa at last added "Start a petition! Pass it around at the Jazz Fest and get everyone you know to sign it."

Grace placed a hand on her new friend's shoulder and said "Awesome Lisa!"

"That mall is going down!" Chuck said excitedly.

Giving his friend a dull look, Chris pointed out "It's not even up yet man."

"Oh yea…"

Later That Night

Bart's Bedroom

List was on her way to bed when she walked by Bart's bedroom. She entered to see Bart working on a list of revenge ideas. "What's going on?"

Bart excitedly stood from his bed as he said to his sister "I think I found a way to get back at Damian. What's the one thing no one can resist?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Lisa guessed "Social acceptance?"

"TOTAL CONTROL! If I can appear weak to Damian, the last thing he'll be suspecting is that for once, HE is the victim of someone's prank."

Sighing at her brother's useless activity, Lisa muttered "Hmm good night."

Homer's Bedroom

Marge was on edge making the bed when Homer entered from behind. "Well Marge, ready for another exhilarating night?"

A nervous look formed on her face as she replied "Listen Homer, about the movie."

"I know! Wasn't it great?"

Tapping her fingers nervously, Marge began to explain "I think there may be a point reached for how scary a movie can be for it to turn you on."

Not caring to notice his wife's jittery behavior, Homer added "Yeah, you're probebly right...which is why I bought Saw V!"

"AHH!"

Jigsaw: Vengeance changes a person. It can make them realize what they are capable of.

While Marge hid shivering under the covers, Homer smiled and said "Haha...so true."