The next day, the kids prepared for their trip. Arthur was doing some last minute packing
"Let's see, toothbrush, pajamas, some books, my Gameguy, yup, I'm all packed" Arthur said, looking through his suitcase.
Seeing as how he was suitably packed, he headed down the stairs.
"All packed honey?" Mrs. Read asked, as Arthur headed to the door.
"Yup."
"Well you be good, and don't get into any trouble."
"I never do."
"And try to get a few of Mrs. Simpson's recipes. For your father, of course."
"Of course, bye mom" Arthur said.
Arthur's mom blew him a kiss as he headed outside to his dad's catering van. Sue Ellen and Buster were already present, but the other kids had not yet arrived.
"This is going to be so great!" Sue Ellen gushed "I can't wait to see Lisa again! I'm getting excited just thinking about it."
"Things were sure interesting with her family around" Arthur added.
"I brought some stuff I downloaded off the Internet" Buster interrupted "I'm hoping Bart will want to hear about what the government is really doing with radio waves."
"Ever since you stopped believing in aliens and focused on government conspiracies, you've been less fun" Sue Ellen commented.
"I haven't stopped believing in aliens Sue Ellen" Buster explained "how else would I know the government has secretly stolen their technology to create a weapon capable of destroying Iran?"
Before the curly haired girl could utter a reply, Alan, Francine & Fern finally arrived.
"Pardon me for my tardiness, but I needed to pack some brain teasers to amuse me on the ride" Alan explained.
"And I needed to make sure Fern had everything she needed to take pictures."
"All ready to go chief" Fern told Francine.
"You don't have to call me 'chief'" Francine replied "on second thought, go ahead, I kind of like it."
"I hope you all have everything you need and took care of any bathroom business, 'cause I'm not coming back" Mr. Read said from the driver's seat.
After it was confirmed that things were go, the van pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street.
"I can't wait to see this Springfield place" Francine said "if all the people there are anything like Lisa & Bart this article will be my best one yet!"
"Just make sure you're properly supervised" Mr. Read interrupted "this city is new to all of you and there's no telling what kind of troubles you could face. Especially since you're only teenagers."
"Not to worry Mr. Read, Lisa's parents won't let anything happen to us" Francine replied.
"And I'll protect you Sue Ellen" Arthur said.
"Aww that's sweet" Sue Ellen replied "but you don't need to worry, I can handle myself."
"Oh, okay then" Arthur replied.
Meanwhile, at a familiar house, a teenage girl was filled with anticipation.
"I can't wait to see Sue Ellen and Arthur again" Lisa said.
Lisa still had her same hair and pearls, but now wore a pink shirt, blue jeans and white shoes.
"Mom, you made sure everything is clean, right?" she asked.
"Yes Lisa" replied Marge, who hadn't changed much in 5 years "I cleaned the bathroom, washed the kitchen floor, and even tidied up the stairs. The banisters are so clean you could eat off them, although I wouldn't recommend that."
"Relax Lis, your pals already know we live in a crap shack" Bart replied. Now a child of 15, Bart wore a blue short-sleeved jacket, a white tattered T-shirt, and blue shorts and tennis shoes.
"I can't relax Bart, I just want to make sure everything is perfect for their visit. Remember how much fun we had when we moved to their town briefly?"
"I don't remember much about that time" Bart said, straining his memory "although I do recall some lameass bunny superhero. Oh, and starting a food fight, which those babies did not appreciate."
"We have so much catching up to do" Lisa said, ignoring her brother "oh, what's taking her so long?"
Suddenly the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Lisa said with excitement as she ran to the door. "I'm so glad you're here, I've been waiting for what seemed like hours" she added, before she threw open the door.
"I knew you always liked me Lisa."
"Milhouse? What are you doing here?"
Like much of the Simpsons crew, Milhouse hadn't changed much over the last five years. He was still a dink, and still suffered embarrassing incidents and painful injuries on an around-the-clock basis. And of course, despite her being romantically attached, he still held a torch for Lisa.
He had dumped his light purple shirt in favor of a black one, but still wore his trademark red shorts.
"Bart invited me over to meet the freaks" Milhouse replied "are they here yet?"
"No, and they're not freaks" Lisa said "just because they resemble animals doesn't mean they should be treated any differently than you or I."
"I heard one of 'em was an anteater" Milhouse replied "so I brought over some ants for him." He pulled the plastic baggie of ants from his pocket and showed it to a disinterested Lisa.
Lisa sighed and just walked off as Milhouse came in to meet up with Bart.
"So when are the freaks getting here?"
"Soon I hope" Bart said "Lisa's been squirming around all day like somebody put a worm in her dress. Ooh, speaking of which, I need to remember to do that."
"Well kids we just passed the Elwood City limits" Mr. Read said "we should be in Springfield in about an hour."
"I'm so excited" said Alan "a new city to explore, new cultural institutions to partake of. I wonder if they have a science museum? They should, I don't see why a major city wouldn't."
"Sue Ellen, how could you not want me to protect you?" Arthur interrupted.
"Why are you making a big deal out of this?"
"Because, when you said that, it made me feel well…weak" Arthur replied "I mean, what does it say about me if I can't protect my own girlfriend and that she could save me from getting beaten up?"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm not some helpless damsel, I'm a black belt in karate" Sue Ellen replied "and I'm trained to handle armed and unarmed assailants. And if people think you're not strong, then they're fools, because to me, you're the strongest boy around."
"Awww" everyone but Mr. Read replied.
"I guess" Arthur said, although he still sounded unconvinced "anyway, tell me a little about Lisa's boyfriend."
"Well, his name's Colin and he's from Ireland" Sue Ellen said "and he plays a bunch of different instruments. Oh and she said his dad is a musician, but he's not Bono, so we shouldn't ask."
"The U2 guy?" Arthur asked, with Sue Ellen nodding in response.
"Is it all right if we ask if his dad is Angus Young?" Buster asked.
Soon the hour passed and the van pulled up in front of a familiar house.
"Now Arthur, if you have any problems, call me on your cell phone" Mr. Read instructed "and have fun, I'll see you when the weekend's over."
"Thanks dad, bye" Arthur said, waving as his dad pulled off.
After Mr. Read left, the kids went to the door and rang the doorbell.
"I hope it's them this time" Lisa said, jumping off the couch to get to the door. She threw it open and was greeted by a familiar face.
"Sue Ellen!"
"Lisa!"
Both girls quickly embraced. "Oh, I'm so glad you came to visit" Lisa said.
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything" Sue Ellen replied.
"Look at you, you've hardly changed at all" Lisa commented.
"I could say the same about you" Sue Ellen added.
"That's right, just keep hugging a little longer" Bart said from behind.
"Bart, are you filming us?" Lisa asked, breaking the embrace. She noticed Bart holding a handheld video camera on the both of them.
"I just need some new stuff for my website" Bart replied "and you're always a crowd pleaser. That clip of you in the shower had a lot of hits."
"Most of them were from me" Milhouse added.
"Hi Bart, good to see you again" Sue Ellen said, shaking Bart's hand.
"Nice to see you too, I guess" Bart replied "is the Art man with ya?"
"Of course" said Arthur, coming into view. He quickly came over to Bart and shook his hand.
"Artie man, this is my good buddy Milhouse Van Houten" Bart said, introducing the kid.
"Pleasure to meet you, Bart talked about you a lot."
"This is the kid you hung out with in that other city?" Milhouse asked "he's such a dweeb. I mean look at him, with his glasses and his big nose and…oh man!"
"Hey, hope we're not interrupting anything" Francine said, as she and Fern came in.
"Francine, what an… unexpected surprise" Lisa said "um, you do realize I had only invited Sue Ellen and Arthur right?"
"I'm sorry, I should've phoned ahead and told you we were bringing a few more" Sue Ellen said "but when I told them about your message, they were really excited to come, and I thought you'd like to see them too."
"It's not that I'm not glad to see them, I'm just not sure we've got enough room for them to sleep" Lisa explained.
"Not to worry sweetie, we'll find some space for your friends, if they don't mind sleeping in the basement" Marge said.
"Whatever you have will be fine Mrs. Simpson" Francine said.
"Glad to hear it" Marge replied "well, you kids talk amongst yourselves, I've still got some work to do. That toilet won't unclog itself."
"So Arthur, you like ants?" Milhouse asked.
"Not really" Arthur said "I prefer cake or ice cream."
"Ant flavored ice cream?"
"No."
"Okay, if you had some ice cream, and some ants crawled on it…"
"Drop the ant thing Milhouse" Bart said "come on Art man, let's go to my room and let the girls get caught up on their girlie crap."
"I get to come too right?" Milhouse asked, as he followed Bart and Arthur up the stairs.
"So, where's Colin?" Sue Ellen asked.
"He's putting the finishing touches on a care package we're sending to Darfur" Lisa explained "he should be over soon. I can't wait for you to meet him."
"Neither can I" Sue Ellen replied "in your e-mails, you described him as though he were a flawless, godlike figure."
"Meet him and then tell me he isn't one" Lisa replied.
Bart: I gotta say Art, It's good to be hanging out with ya again
Arthur: Thanks, I like hanging out with you too. Your friend Milhouse is really nice, although he seems a little obsessed with ants.
Bart: He's just never met a kid who looks like an aardvark before. Come to think of it, neither has anyone else in the city. Oh man, I can't wait to see what happens when you guys take a tour of the city.
Arthur: Sshh, that's not until later. In our next chapter, we hang out with Bart & Lisa.
Bart: Find out what cool crap we've been up to in the last five years. Oh, and Homeboy puts in an appearance, so, fair warning.
Arthur: And you know the drill.
Both: Read & Review!