Warning: Stitch has coffee in this chapter! Enough said. Plus, I do not own the TV show mentioned in this chapter and I've never had a Hawaiian-style lasagna. I just came up with it at the last minute.
Yippe! I was going over to Lilo's for dinner and a sleepover! As I was packing up my stuff, my mom told me all the basic rule thingamajigs all mothers do before their children go off somewhere.
"Remember, Jessica, when you get there to mind her parents." (Yeah, I know. I still haven't told Mom about the parentless situation going on at Lilo's house, but I'm working on it.)
"Ok, Mom.."
"During dinner, don't ask for anything extra, and I don't care if they serve brains for dinner; be polite and pretend you like it."
"I know, Mom."
"You'll get along nicely with Lilo if you are nice." Gee, Mom made me feel like an ogre or something. And of course I want to get along with Lilo. Duh!
"And the most important thing..."
"Brush my teeth."
"Well, besides that, honey, have fun."
"I will, Mom! Love you!" I kissed my mom on the cheek.
"I love you, too! Have fun!"
"I will! Bye!" I kissed my dad on the way out, too, and patted my beagle Lucy on the head (sorry I forgot to mention her before). I went down the same path I had taken to Lilo's yesterday, and on the way guess who I happened to run into? The Brat Pack. That's right; I'm talking about Myrtle Edmonds and her friends. They came right up to me, and one of them handed me an envelope (with quivering hands I must add). "What's this for?" I asked suspiciously.
Myrtle gulped, "Umm...we were wondering i-if you'd give to L-Lilo for us, since you're her friend, we mean.." I cocked an eyebrow up suspiciously.
"Umm...okay. Sure." As I continued my way to Kaleakahana Drive, I was overly curious about what the envelope could possibly hold. I stuffed it into my pocket and trekked up the path to Lilo's house. My heart leaped in excitement at the sight of her house. I wonder if that dome thing on the roof is her bedroom? I wondered mentally. I guess I'd found out soon enough. Before I even rang the doorbell, though, I was ambushed by a small blue furball: Stitch. At first I didn't know it was him until I rolled onto my back, and he was grinning and panting, saliva dripping onto the wood, until I thought he was going to start foaming at the mouth. His breath smelled like...coffee? What dog drinks coffee? And just when I thought he was crazy enough, Stitch's tongue goes INTO his nose and he picks it. I was terrified he was going to lick me after that.
"Stitch! No!" Thank goodness Lilo came to my rescue. She pulled Stitch off the ground, and scolded him while I got off the ground. "Sorry about that," she said. "He goes crazy when he gets into the coffee. But he's just happy to see you. Be thankful you're not a mailman." A horrific image of saliva and khaki short pieces flying through the air filled my mind just as Aunt Pleakley came by.
"Jessica, darling! It's so wonderful to see you again!" As she said this, she held my head with her long, skinny fingers, and I was afraid she'd pinch my cheeks. But she didn't, and let me go. "Dinner is almost ready, so you can go up to Lilo's room and unload your things."
When she was out of earshot, Lilo whispered, "You're lucky she doesn't kiss you on the cheek." I gagged silently as I imagined me with a humongous fuchsia lip print on my cheek. THE HORROR. Anyways, Lilo led me into the hall and she gave me a small tour. "That leads into the laundry room," she said, "and that's Nani's room. Up the stairs is Uncle Jumba and Aunt Pleakley's room, and that goes to the bathroom. My uncle just came out of there a few minutes ago, so you probably don't want to go in for a while..." (Note from author: Sorry, I just had to write that. lol XD)
"But where is the door to your bedroom?" I asked. Lilo gestured to a small, circular opening in the wall.
"I take the elevator!" With that, she stepped on a small platform, which lifted her up into a room above. I was amazed. Upstairs, Lilo pressed a button to make it go back down again so I could come up. Her small face appeared in the hole. "Come on up, Jess!" I gulped. I was a lot heavier than Lilo, and I was afraid I might break it. Surprisingly, I had no trouble getting up.
"That is so cool!" I cried.
"Yeah, but Uncle Jumba can't get up here, which is ironic because he's the one that built it." I had a hard time imagining her uncle squeezing onto that teensy platform with his massive build, but it fascinated me he had enough technical know-how to actually built a gadget like that. I'd be afraid to test his IQ. Speaking of her uncle, he just happened to be calling us at that time.
"Little Girl! Dinner is ready! Come on down!" And, no, he didn't say Lilo was the next contestant on The Price is Right. LOL
"Your uncle calls you little girl?" I asked.
"Oh, it's just a nickname," Lilo explained.
So Lilo and I piled onto the platform again and descended down to dinner, where Nani, Aunt Pleakley, and Uncle Jumba were already seated. Lilo and I sat at the same side of the table, facing Aunt Pleakley. Uncle Jumba was on our right, and Nani was on our left. Stitch came in at the last minute and seemed surprised there was no room at the table for him. Also, he didn't seem very thrilled when Aunt Pleakley put a bowl of wet dog food in front of him, like when it's still shaped like the can. I think he just wanted the Hawaiian-style lasagna on the table (it's Hawaiian-style because Nani put in bits of pineapple, mango, and taro. It might not sound tasty, but it was actually very good).
Nani started serving slices of the lasagna. "So, Jessica, what school are you attending here?"
"Since my mom worked at a state park back home, she has no current occupation here, so she homeschools me," I replied. Nani nodded knowingly (wow, alliteration again!) Then her eyes widened at Uncle Jumba, who was getting something out that looked like a pen.
"Um, Uncle Jumba, it's not polite to write at the table, remember?" she asked nervously. VERY nervously. It was like he had a poisoned dart in his hand.
Uncle Jumba looked confused for a minute, until he realized what she meant. "Oh yes! Heh, my mistake.." (Note from author: By the way, the "pen" is actually a laser cutter, as seen in the Belle episode. Jumba narrowly missed blowing his cover by using it to cut his food.) It didn't seem too suspicious to me, though, and the conversation continued.
"Our Lilo goes to a very nice hula school!" Aunt Pleakley spoke up. "You should see her dance sometimes!" I looked at Lilo, and she smiled modestly.
"I guess I'm pretty good," she replied.
"Pretty good? Why, you're marvelous, darling!" Aunt Pleakley gushed. "Of course, there was that time at home when your skirt got caught in the va-"
"OKAY, Aunt Pleakley," Nani cautioned, trying to keep her smile. "Let's not embarrass Lilo in front of her friend..." The way she put it, I presumed Lilo didn't have friends over often.
Uncle Jumba said (with a mouth full of food),"Ah, but is very entertaining story, and-" Nani gave him a vicious glare, silencing him. Lilo had gone without having a real human friend for too long, and her "aunt" and "uncle" were NOT going to ruin it for her. The mention of Lilo's school reminded me of the envelope residing in my pocket.
"Ooh, that reminds me," I said. "Lilo, those girls at your school stopped me on the way over here."
"Oh boy, what did they say?" Lilo half-groaned.
"They wanted me to give you something," I replied, pulling the envelope out of my pocket. I placed it in Lilo's small hands, and she opened it. I almost laughed, because the look on Lilo's face was like a hillbilly trying to read hieroglyphics. "What does it say?" I asked.
"Myrtle, Yuki, Elena, and Teresa want to invite me to a tea party after school on Tuesday," Lilo said slowly, not taking her eyes off of the paper.
Nani stopped with her fork about three inches from her mouth. "Those girls at your school are inviting you to do something with them?" she inquired in suprise. Lilo nodded, then grinned like an evil scientist.
"But they're just being nice so Jessica won't kick their butts for me." I almost choked.
"I didn't say I would, though!" I said quickly. I didn't want to get in bad spirits with Nani or her aunt and uncle for threatening four little girls. Luckily, they got my message.
"Is too bad," said Uncle Jumba. "Would be good fun to see evil girls getting tasting of their own medication!" Aunt Pleakley looked at him with an appalled look.
"FUN?" she exclaimed.
Uncle Jumba grinned, "I didn't say it was fun for them!" That did it. Lilo and I started to burst out laughing at the thought, until Nani gave us a questioning look and we settled down.
"Don't think you're 100% off the hook for the pudding battle in the bathroom," Nani warned Lilo.
"Hey, Stitch started it!" Lilo protested. "Besides, we cleaned it up...most of it, anyways." I had to grin. This family got more interesting by the minute. But the big secret was soon to come that night.