Chapter 2: Unexpected Meetings
Lisa arrived the next morning in Florida, her eyes blood-shot and her nerves on edge. She hadn't slept much on the plane, partly because she was waiting anxiously for a text from Bart and partly because the man behind her kept snoring loudly. Thankfully Bart had messaged her shortly before her plane landed confirming that all her info has been changed and would now match her new identity. Still maintaining caution, Lisa and her escort made their way swiftly through the airport and into the rental car where the escort was careful to drive the speed limit so they wouldn't run into any law enforcement.
"Here we are Miss, Florida State University."
After less than twenty minutes of driving, Lisa beheld the large open campus of Florida State. Looking out the window, she was met with rolling green fields and tall luscious Palm trees. She also noticed a lot of students out and about enjoying the warm weather, wearing short shorts, playing Frisbee and sunbathing on the campus fountain. It all looked encouraging till Lisa's car passed a group of frat boys spraying each other with hoses.
"Hey there Goldie locks." A dark-haired boy called out to her. "You have a smudge on your car. Don't worry, I'll get it!"
Lisa ducked back into the car and rolled up the window as the boy sprayed the side door with the hose. She grumbled, hoping her dorm wouldn't be located next to any rowdy frat house.
Thankfully it wasn't as her driver pulled up by a lovely brick building that seemed to house art majors, as indicated by the students with brightly colored hair and tattoos as well as musicians that played on the front steps.
"Here you are Miss." Said the driver, hoisting her luggage out of the trunk. "Afraid this is as far as I go. You're on your own from this point."
"That's okay, I can manage." Lisa then gave a tip to the driver who nodded gratefully and got back in the car. As he drove off, Lisa looked at her dorm with a sick uneasy feeling. This was it. Her pre-college career had begun and it would take all her tenacity and intellect to get through it in one piece.
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After receiving her dorm papers, Lisa managed to locate her room on the third floor, amidst a hall filled with brightly colored drawings and splash paintings on its walls. Her room was simple and bare, with two beds, two desks, one couch and a bathroom. Choosing the bed nearest the window, Lisa began unpacking her things which mostly consisted of clothes, toiletries, books and her old saxophone. As she started shelving her books, one particular item caught her attention. An old worn out poetry book with a curly haired man on the cover…
She smiled and opened the book to a random section to begin reading. As she got to the second page of a poem, she heard the door open behind her and a familiar voice speak up.
"Lisa? Is that you?"
Looking up, Lisa gasped in surprise. "Janey!"
The brown haired girl looked at her in surprise and instantly dropped her flower print luggage. "It is you! What a surprise!"
"I'll say!" Lisa said as Janey gave her a hug. "I thought you were going to Parsons in New York for a fashion degree."
"I was, but then my mom divorced my deadbeat dad and now he's refusing to help pay for my tuition." She said bitterly. "Then I heard about the work-study program for Stanford and decided to give it a try instead. If I make it, I could get a scholarship and become a designer like Edith Head or Danny Pitauro."
"Umm, Pitauro isn't a designer-"
"And what about you?" Janey said, ignoring her comment. "I thought for certain you'd been accepted to Stanford from the get go."
"It's kinda a long story, but basically I too hit a snag and now have to enroll in the same work-study as you to get in. I hope that won't create any hostile competitive feelings between us…"
"Of course not." Janey assured her. "I mean there's like ten open spots to compete for-"
"Five, actually." Lisa corrected her with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah whatever. I can totally do it." Janey shrugged off. "So tell me what's been going on with you Lisa. Did your mom finally leave your dad too?"
"What? Of course not. Why would you ask that?"
"Oh, well, I noticed they spelled your name differently on the door is all." She gestured to the paper taped on their door:
'Room 309: Janine Jackson and Lisa Thompson'.
"I thought maybe you took your mom's last name like I did mine. That or the school did a horrible job of spelling it."
"No, no. You're reading it correctly. Unfortunately it ties into why I didn't get accepted to Stanford…" Lisa then went on to give one long explanation about the incident that caused her to be rejected from Stanford, including the schools offer to send her to Florida State, her family's ban from Florida and how Bart used his connections to re-install her old identity so she could attend school.
"So you see, legally I'm not supposed to be here, but I need to be so I have a chance of getting into Stanford. It's really important to me but it's also something I'd rather people not know about…"
"Wow, that's a bummer." Janey said. "Though it does make me see Bart a little more competently now that he has police connections. Is he seeing anyone by the way?"
"Focus Janey please?" Lisa begged. "You're the only person here who knows my true identity and I need you to keep it a secret. For real this time. Please?"
"What do you mean 'for real this time'? I've kept secrets for you before." Janey said folding her arms.
"And you've always had a way of letting them out. Remember when I told you I thought Sherri and Terri's new hairdos looked dumb and the next day they threw their hairpins at me?"
"What, I agreed with you and told them myself. I just used you as a second opinion is all…"
"Or the time I had a crush on the foreign exchange student and he spit on me during lunch?"
"I was trying to put in a good word for you. Some of those words however got grossly mistranslated…"
"Or the time I had really bad eczema on my arms and you screamed at the class not to go near me because I'd bleed on them."
"They were getting too close and I didn't want them scrapping your skin!"
Lisa glared at Janey who eventually looked down in shame. "Okay fine, maybe I'm a bit of a blabbermouth…"
"Which is why it's really, really important you not say anything this time." Lisa said, grabbing her friend's shoulders. "If anyone from the sheriff's department found out I was here, I could be arrested and have to quit school, meaning I'll never get into Stanford. And if I don't get into Stanford, I'll have to go to a second rate college. And if I go to a second rate college, I won't get a good job! And if I don't get a good job, I'll have to settle down with someone like Milhouse and my life will be ruined! Janey I don't want to marry Milhouse!"
"Lise, Lise, calm down." Janey said shaking her a little. "That won't happen, trust me. I promise you, I won't say anything. After all, my uncle was in a similar situation. He got himself banned from Utah when he tried introducing tiger sharks into the lake. I may let some things slip but I know how to keep important secrets like those a secret."
Lisa smiled gratefully. "Thank you Janey. Sorry I overreacted. It's just been a really stressful weekend."
"No problem." She said, lifting her luggage onto the other bed. "Now let's unpack and relax. We have a whole day before classes start and I just bought season thirteen of Game of Crowns. Now I can finally see what that 'Scarlet Baptism' episode is all about. Wanna watch?"
"Sure, I could use a nice distraction." Lisa said as she too started unpacking. "By the way, did you get your schedule yet?"
"Not yet. We should be getting them first thing tomorrow though. I do hope we get some classes together. And I really hope we don't get stuck with any nasty, F-giving teachers…"
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The bell rang early on Monday morning, signaling the start of the new semester. While all the new students were in orientation, the professors had gathered in the teacher's lounge, drinking coffee and preparing their class curriculum's. Suddenly the door burst open and Bob walked in, dripping wet from head to toe while he grumbled angrily to himself.
All the professors stopped what they were doing and watched as he walked into the lounge and sat at a table, taking off his small hat which revealed his large, sopping wet main of curly red hair.
"Why Professor Sullivan, you look dreadful!" said a mustached professor. "I didn't realize the forecast called for heavy rain."
"It didn't" Bob retorted. "Nor did it call for rambunctious, ill-mannered frat boys armed with water hoses spraying everything in sight!"
The mustached professor laughed heartily. "Oh yes, I remember those days. Don't be upset Sullivan, it's merely some freshman hazing, nothing harmful. After all, boys will be boys."
"Yes, boys will indeed be boys Harold." He wrung out water from the dreads in his hair. "And so shall they always and forever be boys. Never men!"
"Oh quit being such a stick in the mud Sullivan, it's just a little water. It won't hurt you." The professor scoffed, smacking him on the back much to Bob's chagrin.
"I happen to agree with Robert."
An attractive woman with short brown hair in a blue suit walked towards the men, a stern look on her face. "It'd be one thing if they hosed down actual freshmen, but to hose down a teacher shows blatant disrespect for authority. I'll see to it their frat gets a stern warning and suspended water privileges."
"Finally, someone who agrees to taking a firm hand with those ruffians!" Bob exclaimed.
"Oh come now you two, it's just a bit of fun-"
"Don't you have a lesson to get ready for Harold?" the woman turned to him. "Or do I need to report you to the dean for failing to properly conduct your class on time again?"
The mustached professor grumbled, grabbed his folders and walked out of the lounge.
"Thank you Tina." Bob said as the woman sat in the seat next to him. "It's nice to have another like-minded individual in this faculty that doesn't encourage such reputable behavior."
"Of course Robert." Tina replied, her expression much warmer. "Someone needs to open the faculty's eyes to what these brats are. Bunch of stupid spoiled pretty boys and girls who think life will be handed to them on a silver platter. But they'll soon learn…oh they will learn…"
"Ah, yes…I'm sure they will…" Robert shifted in his seat, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Oh one last thing Robert." She opened her briefcase and handed him a paper. "I plan on holding a meeting for all the professors next week to review this year's revised curriculum and was wondering if you'd be willing to help me out a bit."
"I'd be happy to Tina. So what I am to do? Serve drinks, hand out curriculums, check off attendance- "
"Actually I was hoping you'd organize the whole thing plus the opening speech and assemble the curriculum outline. I'd do it myself but the Dean is having me and the other department heads attend a very exclusive meeting which will leave me with very little time."
"The whole meet- Are you mad woman!?" Bob exclaimed. "I haven't even started my lessons yet and already you're dumping all these responsibilities on me?"
"Come now Robert, we both know you're the better candidate when it comes to public speaking and organization. Much better than all the other so-called English professors here. I just wouldn't feel comfortable putting my trust in anyone here but you. Besides, I'm trying to impress the Dean so he'll make me his new assistant and future successor. Once he does, I promise I'll make it all your while…"
She then put her hand on his wrist and gazed at him intently. "Please say you'll do it."
Bob glared at her and moved his arm away from her. "I need some time to set a few affairs in order first. You'll have my answer by the end of the day but for now, I must go prepare for my lesson. I'll see you at lunch Professor."
"See you there Prof. Sullivan." Tina said, fluttering her lashes at him. Bob ignored her and hastily made his way out of the lounge.
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Lisa and Janey walked out of orientation with their class schedules in hand, pleased to see they had at least two classes together out of the five they each had.
"Let see, our first class of the day is 'Critical and Literary Theory' and after that, 'Poetic Writing and Composition'." Lisa read off her sheet.
"Ugh, those classes sound boring and hard." Janey complained.
"On the contrary, they sound challenging and highly engaging. Especially the first class. Oh I can't wait to get started! Finally we have some high-level courses to stimulate our minds and intellects! How I've been waiting for this day!"
"Whatever you say Lise." Janey said, clearly uninterested.
The girls made their way down the south wing to the Critical and Literary Theory class and got seats in the front row. As soon as the bell rang, a woman with short brown hair in spiffy blue dress suit entered, setting down her briefcase.
"Greetings class, I'm Prof. Cantwell. I don't like wasting time and neither should all of you. Turn off your phones and have your notebooks and pencils ready by the time I finish writing on the board."
As the students began unpacking their notebooks, Lisa found herself distracted by the Professor who was writing up the curriculum. She was convinced she had seen her somewhere before. The name certainly sounded familiar. But where had she heard it…?
Suddenly the Professor spotted Lisa out of the corner of her eye and glared in her direction. Panicking, Lisa quickly began emptying her bag looking for her notebook.
"Now class, just so we're clear, there is going to be a lot of fast paced writing in this class. I do not slow down for anyone so if you can't keep up, I suggest you drop the class now cause you will be left in the dust. You there!"
Lisa dropped her pencil in surprise and went to grab it when Prof. Cantwell made her way over.
"I thought I told you to have your notebook and pencil ready by the time I finished writing."
"Sorry, I had trouble finding my pencil. Little guy was hiding at the bottom of my pencil case." Lisa said with a nervous laugh as the teacher stared down at her. "But I'm ready now…"
"You should have been ready 5 seconds ago!" Prof. Cantwell snapped at her. "Let it be known to all of you that I have zero tolerance for tardiness and lolly gagging. Especially from pretty little, pearl wearing, blonde girls like you."
She then leaned down and wrote a big fat zero on top of Lisa's blank notebook page.
"A zero!? But why? What for?"
"Because I felt like it, that's why!"
Lisa opened her mouth to object but stopped herself. Suddenly she remembered who Prof. Cantwell was, and the realization horrified her.
Professor Cantwell was none other than her old substitute teacher from back in Springfield Elementary. The same substitute who bullied her and singled her out simply because of how she looked. The same substitute she and Bart had helped get kicked out of school.
"As punishment for delaying class, a 3 page essay on Chapter 1. Have in by next lesson. Everyone else, have your pencils ready. We begin the lesson…now!"
Immediately there was the loud scratching of a dozen pencils while Prof. Cantwell started her lecture. Lisa did her best to keep up but her mind was going a mile a minute. She couldn't believe her old bully and substitute was teaching here. How was she going to get the credits she needed for Stanford when one of her Professors hated her off the bat and would do anything to flunk her?
Luckily it seemed Prof. Cantwell didn't recognize her, which brought Lisa some relief, so she kept a low profile, trying to do whatever it took to pass the class. However, as the class continued, Lisa noticed Prof. Cantwell continued to throw her dirty looks and would purposely walk by her desk, glancing into her notebook as she walked by, as if she were trying to catch Lisa in the act of goofing off so she'd have another excuse to flunk her. Luckily, Lisa retained concentration and ignored Cantwell's piercing glares.
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By the time the bell rang again 2 hours later, Lisa felt like she had just been released from a torture chamber. Her nerves were tightly wound, her wrist was cramping up and her eyes struggled to re-adjust as she had been staring intently at her notebook to avoid Cantwell's loathsome gaze. Gathering her things, she quickly raced out of the classroom and continued to move quickly through the halls till she was in the same hallway as her next class. Behind her, she heard Janey running to keep up with her, gasping for air.
"Lisa, wait up!" Janey said, finally catching up and taking a few deep breaths as she handed her a notebook. "You dropped this. Be careful not to lose it, or Prof. Cantwell will punish you big time. I have a big feeling she has it in for you."
"You're feeling happens to be entirely correct." Lisa said, and went on to explain to Janey who Prof. Cantwell really was.
"That's right! I remember her now!" Janey exclaimed. "Oh man Lise. If she still hates you as much as she did then, you're college career is doomed."
"Tell me about it…" Lisa said, hanging her head in defeat.
Janey put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Come on let's get to our next class. Maybe reading some boring poetry will cheer you up."
Lisa gave her a half-hearted smile and followed her to their next class. Within 15 minutes, the other students had shown up and filled the desks, although the Professor's seat remained vacant. Lisa continued to act despondently despite Janey's best efforts to cheer her up.
"I looked up some reviews on that site that rates professors and a lot of them say that Prof. Sullivan is a pretty good teacher." Janey said, showing Lisa her iPhone. "At least he got much better reviews then Cantwell did. Who know, maybe this class will be better."
"I wouldn't count on it Janey. After everything's that happened, I'm convinced that I must be cursed. Bad enough I got rejected from my dream school, now I'm stuck in Florida with an old bully who hates my guts. How could this get any worse?"
"Hello there class, sorry I'm late."
Lisa froze. That voice…
She and the other students turned to see a tall man wearing glasses, a brown suit and matching bowler hat walk behind the teacher's desk, carrying a large stack of papers and a briefcase in his arms.
"Had to take care of some business before making my grand entrance." He said, putting the stack down on his desk. "Now then, I am your teacher, Prof. Sullivan. And I am here to teach you all the fine art of poetry and poetic composition. My curriculum is straight forward and my rules are simple, as long as you cite your works and complete them on time, you should at least get a passing grade. This is an interactive course so expect lots of reading and writing as well as a daily composition. There will be plenty of opportunity for extra credit as well. Now then, with that out of the way, let's take attendance shall we?"
"He doesn't seem so bad." Janey whispered to Lisa. "At least he's nicer then Cantwell eh Lise?...Lisa?"
But Lisa remained frozen in her seat, her eyes fixed on the professor. He couldn't be who she thought... Yet everything about him seemed almost the same. His build, his voice, she could even spot locks of red hair poking out from beneath his hat.
"Janine Jackson?" Prof. Sullivan read off.
"Here!" Janey said raising her hand.
"Good…Fredrick St. Banks?" Prof. Sullivan called out.
"Fredrick St. Banks the Third." Said a surely voice from the back of the class belonging to the same dark haired boy who had sprayed Lisa's car with a hose. "Also, present and more than accounted for."
"Yes, indeed." Prof Sullivan said curtly, remembering the hooligan who nailed him with the same hose earlier that morning. "And finally, Lisa Thompson…..Lisa Thompson?...Has anyone seen Lisa?"
"She right here!" Janey piped up pointing to Lisa who had snapped out of her petrified state and was now trying to duck away behind one of her books, hoping that he wouldn't recognize her.
"Would you mind speaking up Ms. Thompson? I want to be able to associate your voice with-"
Prof. Sullivan then stopped mid-sentence, a look of horror on his face as he spotted Lisa's slicked back spikey blonde hair and her fearful eyes looking back at him from behind her book. His throat having gone dry, he quickly turned away. "Uh never mind Ms. Thompson, I see you there. Now then, let's get started-"
In his haste, he knocked over his stack of papers which spilled all over the floor. Quickly he came out from behind his desk to pick them up. That's when Lisa spotted his abnormally large shoes…
"AHHH! SIDESHOW B-WOAHH!"
*CRASH*
In her shock, Lisa had jumped to her feet and got caught in the strap of her bag, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards over her chair, crashing hard onto the floor. All the students jumped up and gathered around Lisa, who had become briefly unconscious after her head collided with the floor.
"Lisa! Are you okay?" Janey exclaimed, shaking her friend's shoulders.
Lisa lay on the ground motionless for a moment before slowly opening her eyes. Moaning, she reached for the back of her head which was pounding with pain from where she hit the floor. She tried looking up at the crowd surrounding her but could barely focus as everyone looked like a bunch of fuzzy colored blobs.
"Everyone stand back, give her some air."
Suddenly a large brown blob appeared and seemed to be kneeling beside her. She felt him put his hand under her neck and tenderly lift her into a sitting position. She put a hand over her face to stop the dizziness that occurred as she heard the same voice tell someone to get an ice pack from his desk.
"Here you are Professor!" said Janey's voice.
"Thank you Ms. Jackson. Hold it against her head and help me escort Ms. Thompson to the medical wing."
Lisa then felt herself being hoisted up by the Professor who placed her arm over his shoulder before placing the other over Janey's.
"Everyone please make sure to fix up this room while I'm gone and prepare to write down tonight's homework assignments. I shall be back once I drop off Ms. Thompson."
The class groaned as Lisa, Janey and Prof. Sullivan made their way out of the classroom toward First Aid. It didn't take them long to reach the nurse, who took over carrying Lisa from Prof. Sullivan allowing him to return to class.
However, before he could return, Prof. Sullivan stopped briefly in a nearby bathroom to stop himself from hyperventilating. "Dear god, what is she doing here? Oh this is bad…this is very, very bad…"
Of all the horrible things to happen to him since becoming a professor, this was by far the worst possible thing. Not only had someone from his past shown up at the school, but the person was none other than Lisa Simpson, the sister of his most hated enemy and the number one reason he often wound up back in prison. Even worse, she had clearly recognized him back in class and he knew it was a matter of time before she revealed him as Sideshow Bob, the former insane criminal mastermind.
"Okay Bob calm down…you have some time to think of how to deal with the situation."
Making his way back to class, Bob started developing a plan in his head. It would tough to outwit Lisa given how she was the smart one in the Simpson clan, but Bob knew he had to be smarter in order to keep his secret safe, no matter what the cost.
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Oh my, what diabolic scheme does Bob have up his sleeve this time? What will Lisa say when she comes to? Stay tuned for Chapter 3 coming soon.
Hope you all enjoyed my first two chapters. There will be plenty more to come. Please remember to R&R!