He watched carefully as they started converging on his location. He donned the clothes and got into position.
"Where'd the little punk go?" One of the taller teens asked. They all looked around but her was nowhere to be seen. Then one of them saw something rustle in the bushes. He pointed and the others followed. The all snuck up on the figure and on the silent count of three, they pulled the figure from the bushes.
"Oh!" A high pitched Robbie squealed. They looked at him and he back. This was it. He had to be the part they looked at him suspiciously and his eyes widened. "Oh, my! Thank you." A wobbly old woman, hunched over with a cane, replied. "Some young whipper snapper ran me into the bushes. I thought I'd never get out of there."
They looked at the little old woman, knees shaking, as she adjusted her glasses. "Well, which way did he go?" The shorter one with dark hair asked.
"Oh, um, I think he went that way." She pointed towards the school. "No, wait. It was that way." The little old lady thought for a moment. "Yes, definitely that way." She reached in her bag and pulled out a piece of fruit. "Would you like an apple, sonny?"
The leader, annoyed, slapped the apple from her hand. "Come on." He directed the others and the went in the direction away from the school.
As they left from view, Robbie smiled from ear to ear.
"They bought it! They actually bought it!" He stayed in the costume until he got close to school then changed. He went to the tree and found his backpack and headed inside. He was very happy at how well his plan worked. It was the most fun he'd had since he'd arrived. He was even hoping to do it again. He got to class and sat down and had the best day ever.
After classes were done, he set up for the next stage of his plan, getting home. He met with his sister and made sure she took the same way home. He saw the bullies outside in designated spots. They had all his routes covered. He decided the best thing to do was to walk out the front door. "It's disguise time." He said, giddy as he could be. He ducked into the bathroom and donned his next costume.
"When I get my hands on that little squirt he's gonna pay and pay good."
"Yeah! We're gonna tear him from limb from-" the blond one spoke up.
"No! We're not." The leader announced.
"We're not? The blonde one questioned.
"No. We're gonna make an example of him." He smiled broadly.
"We're still gonna have time for tonight with Biff, aren't we? I mean, he's comin back tonight and he wants to do some serious damage to LazyTown. Let everyone know who's boss." The shortest of the three spoke up.
"Yeah, what if we're not ready? We haven't even been able to catch that squirt."
"We'll get him and lay rule to LazyTown."
Robbie looked outside and saw the three kids having some kind of discussion. He was dressed as one of the teachers. He wore plaid pants with a matching jacket, mustache and beard and circular glasses. He had a curly mop of hair atop his head and a briefcase of random papers. He headed out in the general direction of the kids when he was stopped by one of the teachers in the school.
"Oh, excuse me, sir." She reached out and grabbed his arm. "Are you the new gym teacher? I need to give you your papers to sign and the schedule for the week." She looked him over.
"What?" Robbie didn't know what to do. His face began to twitch as he stammered for something to say. "Uhhh, I-I-I have to get to a a an emergency jumping jack meeting." and he started doing jumping jacks. "I'll get in bright and early tomorrow." He ran out hiding behind a pillar and caught his breath. He peered around the pillar and saw the kids looking around. He smiled. He was going to walk right past them. He took a deep breath, hunched over a bit and started in their direction.
The teens were talking and two were pushing each other around. "Will you two stop it! I'm getting really mad that we haven't been able to catch that squirt."
Robbie heard that and smiled. He didn't want to walk into them but he had to make it convincing enough, so as he got closer he walked a few feet away. The looked at him as he got closer. If they were going to buy it, he had to sell it.
"Who are you?"
"Hm? Oh, hehe. I'm the new gym teacher. I don't recall seeing you in class today." He made his voice a bit deeper, more gruff.
"We don't need school."
"Yeah, we get plenty of exercise on our own."
"Everyone needs exercise. You have to build those flabby muscles."
"What?"
"So, you're telling me you're in shape?"
"The best ever."
"Alright, prove it. Drop and give me twenty." He commanded. They all looked at him. "Just as I thought. All talk. Well,-"
"You think we CAN'T do push ups?"
"That's right."
"Oh, yeah?"
Robbie just stood there eyebrows raised. He was enjoying this immensely. After a moment he spoke. "Just as I thought. All talk." He turned to leave when the oldest youth grabbed his arm.
"Just watch this." He turned to the other two. "Let's show him what we're made of." They shrugged and did push-ups. They made it to fifteen and struggled for twenty.
Robbie was containing his joy as best he could. They got up, tired. Maybe he could wear them down.
"See?" He was panting. "Done."
"Well, that was easy. But look at yourselves. Your pooped! You're not in any kind of shape to be outside. You should go home and rest your weary muscles."
"We can do anything you can dish out, old man!"
"Is that a challenge?"
"You bet it is. Whatta ya got?"
Robbie smiled. He had them and he was going to have fun. For the next half hour, Robbie had them running circles doing as many strenuous exercises as he could think of. The last one he had them do was a race but he didn't tell them where the finish line was and they never asked.
"Ready, set, go!" And they took off. As they got out of ear shot he started laughing. He took off his disguise and happily walked home.
When he got home his mother was cleaning and Rikki was playing on the floor. As soon as she saw him she ran in his arms and hugged him. "Robbie!"
"How are you sweety?" His mother asked.
"Great!" He exclaimed. I had a lot of fun today. Can we get more dress up clothes?"
"I think so, dear. Is there anything in particular that you want?"
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here. I made a list."
She cocked her head as she looked at the list. "Hm. I think I can get some of this stuff. I'm glad you're enjoying the clothes, dear."
"Oh, I am." He smiled. "Come on, Rikki. Wanna hear a story?"
"Yes, yes, yes," she jumped up and down. Robbie told her all about how he pulled the wool over those bothersome bullies eyes.
It was the end of the week and the three teens were no closer to finding Robbie and were very angry.
"I'm getting board trying to find that little squirt. I wanna do some damage. We haven't destroyed anything since you've decided to find him."
"Really," the other spoke up. "I wanna break some windows."
The oldest just made a face then got in theirs. He grabbed their collars and pulled them close. "NOT until I find that little brat. Now think!" And he shoved them back. "How is he getting by us?"
"Well, he has to be getting to school somehow. I mean, we see him everyday."
"That's it!" The oldest turned to the other two. "Boys, today we are going to school."
They looked at him for a moment, confused. He waited till they caught up.
"Ohhh." They smiled and followed their fearless leader out there door.
Robbie and Rikki walked to school and saw hide nor hair of the bullies. He walked Rikki to her classroom, still looking around and on his guard. He wasn't sure what was more stressful the hiding from them or not knowing where they were. Well, at least he could enjoy school today. His homework was done and he loved showing off his passing grades. The teacher always made a big deal when he did. He rounded the corner when the unthinkable happened. The bullies were sitting proper, at their desks, in his class. He stopped and looked very worried. They saw him and smiled smugly.
The teacher turned as Robbie stood in the doorway. "Robbie, don't dawdle. Take your seat."
Robbie snapped back to reality and slowly took his seat a couple desks up from them.
"Now, everyone, I'd like you to welcome our new students, Biff, Gruff and Switch."
Everyone was leery about their presence but meekly greeted them.
Robbie had a feeling this was not going to be a good day. He took his seat and did his best to ignore them. They threw crumpled paper at him whenever the teacher wasn't looking, for most of the day. He remained distracted not from that but because he was trying to think of a way to escape their view. They were going to stick to him like glue and he needed to find a way to get to one of his disguises or at best, evade capture.
He had his worst day ever. But the hard part was coming up. The end of the day. He had an idea. He knew they were keeping a close eye on him and knowing when the bell was going to ring for dismissal he positioned himself close to the door. He went to the teachers desk and as soon as the bell rang, he bolted. He had a head start. He could hear the commotion they were causing, pushing students out of their way, to find him. He found his way outside to the back of the school and as he rounded the corner he ran into the oldest one and fell to the ground.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little squirt." He grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up, face to face with him. "I don't know how you managed to keep hiding from us, but now you're in trouble. I'm gonna rearrange that pretty little face of yours." He said as he flicked Robbie's nose.
Robbie watched as he hauled his fist back and tensed his face. This was it there was no way out. Robbie struggled as the bullies fist moved forward. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. He was in trouble and there was no way out.