I want to thank my beta reader for his suggestion on this chapter. It helped me a lot and I appreciate it. :)
The Newcomer
An Amazing World of Gumball story
By NeoNimbus
Chapter 4-The Sleepover: Part 1
The next few days of school have been quiet and peaceful, something that Brian doesn't mind for once. Just as she had promised, Tina left Brian alone for the time being, something that wouldn't happened without the intervention of the Watterson kids. Aside from getting to school on time, Miss Simian staring right down at him like a hawk and being asked about his sudden recovery from his so-called "fight" with Tina, the days were pretty much uneventful. He was just glad he could make it through the first week at Elmore Junior High and for good reason: it was Friday and he was looking forward to the weekend.
Once the school bell rang for the last time, Brian, along with the rest of his fellow classmates, headed to their assigned lockers to put away their materials until next week. While making his way to his locker, he spotted Gumball and Darwin at their lockers, already putting their stuff away.
"Hey guys." Brian said to the duo.
"Hey Brian." Gumball and Darwin responded simultaneously.
"Any of you guys have plans for the weekend?" Brian asked his friends
"We're just going to hang out at home, playing games and watch TV." Gumball responded to the purple fox. "What about you, Brian?"
"Nothing at the moment, considering I'm new in town." Brian ponders for a while, hoping something worthwhile would come up in his head. Then, it hit him.
"Say, is it alright if I come over to your house for the weekend? You know, like a sleepover or something?"
Gumball and Darwin stopped dead in their tracks, clearly surprised by this. Taking notice of their reaction, Brian raised his eyebrow with curiosity.
"Are you guys alright? Was it something I said?"
"It's not that, Brian." Darwin began to speak. "It's just we never expect you to ask something like that."
"Not to mention that we never had someone stay over for the weekend." Gumball said to Brian. "Besides, we've only been friends for a few days and we haven't introduced you to our parents yet."
"That's no problem Gumball. Just tell them that you invited me to stop by. I'm sure they'll understand. Of course, I'll have to ask permission from my parents first."
"I don't know, Brian." Gumball said with uncertainty.
"But Gumball…" Darwin began to talk. "Brian's our best friend. We helped prevent Tina from creaming him. It's the least thing we can do."
Gumball looked back at Brian, then to Darwin, then back to the fox. Giving himself a smile, he knows exactly what he has in mind.
"Alright Brian, you can come by at our house for a sleepover. Just come by at nine in the morning. By the way, here's our address." Once Gumball finished writing down the information, he gives the piece of paper to Brian.
"So it's settled then. See you tomorrow." With that, Brian shook the feline's paw before he heads out to the school entrance. Already, he's looking forward to spending some time with his friends and getting to know them much better.
Brian looked at through the window from the back of the car, a bit eager to spend some time with the Watterson kids and to finally get a chance to meet their parents this Saturday morning, while his mother drove him to his destination. He was up all night packing up a few belongings in a suitcase, as well as looking on the internet to find the directions for the Watterson residence; thankfully, it wasn't that far from where he lived.
He also talked his parents into allowing him to spend the weekend with his friends. His mother didn't seem to mind, but his father was another story. When asked further about his new friends, he insisted that they were trustworthy and well-meaning; although a bit suspicious, he eventually gave his approval to his son.
As Brian pondered how his father would have reacted to the kind of people he had befriended, he let that slide for the moment, as he and his mother finally arrived at their destination. Brian looked at the Watterson residence from the car; it was a nice, modest house, neither big nor small compared to the other houses, but it was modest nevertheless. Brian then noticed his mother had turned her attention to him.
"Alright Brian, I want you to be on you best behavior and remember, be safe."
"Don't worry mom, I'll be fine. Besides, I'll be at their house for the entire day."
"I know you can take care of yourself, but I wanted you to be safe."
"I know mom, and I appreciate it."
"Thanks and don't forget, I'll pick you up by Sunday afternoon."
Once those words were exchanged, Brian left the car and waved his goodbyes to his mother, before she drove to the opposite direction, disappearing from his sights. Turning his attention to the house, Brian, carrying his luggage on his side, headed to the front door and proceeded to ring the bell. A few seconds later, the door opens and Brian got a glimpsed of the figure standing right in front of him.
She was an adult, a feline and obviously his friends' mother, who shares similar appearance to her son: blue fur and six whiskers, but smaller. She wore a collared shirt with a rainbow badge on it and a light grey skirt. Noticing the purple fox in front of her, she smiled before she proceeded to talk.
"Hello there. You must be Brian, the new kid that my sons been talking about. Don't worry, they asked for my permission. I'm Nicole Watterson and it's so nice to meet you."
"It's a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Watterson." Brian then shook Mrs. Watterson's paw.
"Well come right in and make yourself at home." Nicole then stepped aside to allow Brian in before she closed the door right behind her.
As Nicole helped Brian put his luggage near the door, the purple fox got a good view inside the house, specifically the living room. It seemed a bit cozy, with the usual items all around: a TV, a few picture frames near the stairs and a couch. He also notice a large, pink bunny sitting on the couch, with short, black whiskers on the side of his face, wearing a white shirt with a black tie and light, brown pants. He didn't seem to notice the purple fox, as he was blissfully flipping channels on the TV with a remote.
"So this must be their father. I wonder what he does for-" Brian's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Nicole spoke to her husband.
"Richard, would you mind taking your eyes off the TV and introduce yourself to our guest?"
"Sure sweetie, just as soon as I find something good to watch." Richard responded to his wife, his eyes remain glued to the TV.
Unimpressed by her husband's answer, Nicole slightly growled before slamming her fist through the wall, causing both Richard and Brian to yelp in fear.
"Whoa! I didn't see that one coming!" Brian didn't expect someone like Nicole to make such a move, but it did prove to be effective, as Brian noticed the fear in Richard's face.
"Y-you know, I s-suddenly don't feel l-like watching." Richard fearfully spoke to his wife before turning the TV off.
"That's more like it. If one of you needs me, I'll be doing some chores." Nicole happily said, before she went upstairs to do her business. Once she was out of their sight, Brian turned his attention to Richard, still a bit shaken from Nicole's action.
"So…my name is Brian and it's nice to meet you, Mr. Watterson." Brian makes his way to Richard and extends his arm to the pink bunny, who stood up and shook his hand in return, albeit slowly.
"Alright, this is becoming rather awkward." Noticing the fox's behavior, Richard scratched his head sheepishly before he started to talk.
"Sorry about that Brian, but I get really nervous whenever she does those things."
"Don't worry about that, Mr. Watterson; I'm just surprised as you are." Brian chuckled, though a bit uncomfortable from what he had seen, prompting him to remind himself.
"Note to self: do NOT make Mrs. Watterson very upset."
"Say, I bet you're wondering where Gumball and Darwin are?"
"Now that you mention it, where are they?" Brian had almost completely forgotten about them and realized that they were nowhere to be found.
"They're back in the backyard, just lying around on the grass." Richard responded.
"Thanks Mr. Watterson." With that, Brian proceeded to head to the backyard, while Richard promptly sat on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping one channel after another.
Out in the backyard, Gumball and Darwin laid around on the grass, looking up at the clouds in the sky; all the while trying to do something fun for today.
"So Darwin…" Gumball started to talk. "You got anything?"
"I've got nothing so far, Gumball. What about you?"
"Still nothing, buddy. However, I do have a nagging feeling that we're forgetting something."
"Hey guys!"
The duo stopped what they were doing and turned to see Brian standing right behind them, causing them to yelp. Gumball then wondered what the purple fox was doing here to begin with. It took about a few seconds for him to realize that he and Darwin had invited Brian to come by at their house for the weekend.
"Sorry Brian, we were just thinking of what to do today that we almost forgot you were coming by today." Gumball said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"That's alright, Gumball. Apology accepted. Anyway, am I interrupting anything?"
"Not really, Brian." Darwin responded. "Gumball and I have been trying to think of something to do all morning and we still got nothing."
Brian pondered for a moment, hoping to help the two to find something to do. Then, it hit him right in the head.
"Say, how about if you two show me the kind of games you normally enjoyed?"
"You know, that may not be such a bad idea after all." Gumball replied, liking Brian's suggestion.
"Hey Gumball, why don't we show him 'I'm the President'?" Darwin asked
"'I'm the President'? What kind of game is that?" Brian was a bit curious, but at the same, intrigued.
"It's simple, really." Gumball started to explain. "I'm the President and you have to do what I have to say." The blue feline then turned to Darwin, who appeared to be ready for instruction.
"Darwin, I want you to bring me a jar of peppers this instance."
"Yes sir, Mr. President, sir!" Darwin said, before he headed into the house. Gumball noticed that Brian just stood there, a bit perplexed by this.
"You're kidding, right?"
"You have to, I'm the President!" Gumball shouted with pride. Brian, however, remained unconvinced.
"But…why should I?"
"Mr. President Sir! I have returned with the item as requested!" Darwin announced his return, carrying with him a jar of peppers. The fish then laid the jar on the ground and opened the lid, releasing a strong smell, prompting the fox to plug his nose, while Gumball took a quick sniff of the odor, causing his eyes to water.
"Hot and spicy, just the way I like it. Darwin, bottoms up." With that, Gumball and his friend proceeded to pick up and drop the pepper into their mouths; a few seconds later, fire spewed out of their mouths, causing the duo to scream in agony and running around in circles for a moment, before they fell flat to the ground and the fire extinguished out of their mouths. Brian just stared at their antic and simply rolled his eyes.
"That was rather dumb."
"That's the whole point of the game." Darwin responded, which made the fox feel rather uneasy.
"Um, is there another game that doesn't involved putting anything dangerous in the mouth?"
Gumball and Darwin thought for a moment, trying to find something he can enjoy. After a moment, they found one that he might like.
"Hang on a second, Brian. We'll be right back." Gumball and Darwin then headed back into the house. After a few seconds, they dashed back out almost immediately, quickly blindfolding Brian's eyes, much to his confusion.
"What does blindfolding me have to something to do with fun?" The fox asked his friends, who are also blindfolded.
"Simple Brian; this is part of a game we like to call extreme hot potato." Gumball responded. Oddly enough, Brian seemed rather intrigued by this game.
"Sounds like a rather interesting game so far. What are the rules?"
"That's simple, Brian…" Darwin began to explain. "One of us holds the "hot potato" in our hands and tries to throw it back to the person without looking. If you don't make the throw or dropped it, you lose."
"I like the sound of that idea. Do you mind if I go first?"
"Sure Brian, go ahead." Gumball said, before throwing the object onto the fox's paws.
Once Brian got the object within his reach, almost immediately he felt something wrong. His paws felt warm, too warm in fact. Also, for some strange reason, he smelled something cooking right in front of him. Did the two just bring him something to eat? It almost smelled like a potato, freshly cooked from the oven and…burning his paws!
Brian screamed in agony upon this realization, running around in circles and juggling the hot potato back and forth all over the backyard, all in an effort to prevent further burning from his paws. Gumball and Darwin also panicked, realizing that this was not how they planned out. After what felt like a long time, Brian finally threw the hot spud as fast as he could, landing right into the sewer. Once he was certain that his paws were no longer holding the hot potato, Brian ripped the blindfold off of his face and angrily confronted the duo, who also removed theirs as well and nervously stared at him.
"What was that about?! When I agreed to play hot potato, I didn't mean literally!"
Gumball and Darwin looked nervously at one another and then to their angry friend. Taking a deep breath, there was only one thing that Gumball and Darwin could do.
"We're sorry about that; we just wanted to have something we can all enjoy." Gumball said to Brian.
"But we just ended up making the day rather awful." Darwin responded.
The anger that was seething out of Brian disappeared, recognizing the guilt on the duo's face. He realized that what they did wasn't on purpose, but their type of fun was rather extreme for him. Still, it was better to forgive than be angry at them for the entire day.
"Apology accepted, but seriously, at least give me a heads up next time."
Gumball and Darwin smiled, a bit relieved that Brian was no longer angry at them. Wanting to change the subject, Darwin eagerly spoke up.
"I know what we should do. Why not check out some of our video games?"
"Best idea I heard all day." Brian said, before him, Gumball and Darwin head back into the house.
For the next several hours, the trio was spending time playing video games, watching a few DVDs and reading a few comics that were hanging around. He even tried out Fruit Ball, which strangely, was the only activity he enjoyed from the duo, aside from getting himself covered in piles of discarded fruits.
After taking a quick shower, he and the duo headed right downstairs for dinner, where everyone was already at the table, including Anais, who was apparently busy in her room studying all day. As Brian, Gumball and Darwin made their way to their seats, they couldn't resist the smell of the aroma from the mash potatoes and oven-baked chicken.
"That's some good food you got there, Mrs. Watterson." Brian said to Nicole.
"Well, I don't like to brag, but I can whip a few dishes every now and then."
"Honey, you always cook the best stuff." said Richard, already stuffing his face with some mash potatoes.
"Richard! Please don't eat like that, especially in front of our guest!" Nicole scolded her husband, prompting to hang his head with shame.
"Anyway…" Brian began to speak, trying to change the subject. "What exactly do you do for a living, Mrs. Watterson?"
"Well, Brian, I worked at the Rainbow Factory as a saleswoman providing services whenever possible. It's not much, but it pays rather well." Brian was a bit perplexed by this answer, especially with a name like the Rainbow Factory
"The name sounds rather unusual, but at least that answers one of my questions so far." Brian then turned his attention to Richard, who was now eating a drumstick in a rather messy fashion.
"So, Mr. Watterson, what kind of work do you do?"
Brian's question prompted Richard to drop his drumstick on the plate, before laughing nervously and scratching his head sheepishly.
"Well…the thing is, I don't actually work at all. I just spend most of the time watching TV, playing games and look after the kids when my wife's off to work. I tried getting a job once, but it got complicated."
Brian was a bit surprised to hear this from Richard, but decided to let it slide. After all, he seemed like a rather nice guy.
"So Brian, do you want to say anything about yourself?" Darwin's question took Brian by complete surprised; that was the last thing he would anticipate.
"You guys want to know about me?"
"Well of course; after all, you've been around for a few days and we wanted to know more about you ever since we met."
"I don't know, you guys. There's nothing special about me."
"Nonsense, Brian…" said Nicole. "I'm sure you have some interesting moments. For example, how was your first day at your new school?"
"It…was rather complicated to begin with, but otherwise, it turned out well." As Brian responded to Nicole's question, Anais glared at Gumball and Darwin about the fight incident, prompting the duo to chuckle nervously. Thankfully, their mom and dad weren't paying any attention to their demeanor at the moment.
"Where do you live before you and your folks arrived in Elmore?" ask Richard.
Brian felt uncomfortable about this, but not wanting to disappoint or upset the family, he took a deep breath and started to explain.
"Well, long story short, we used to live in Folsom for a long while before my dad's job resulted in all of us moving here."
"Speaking of job, what does your mom and dad do for a living?" Anais asked.
"My mom is a new age alternative health therapist and my dad does software engineering for a living."
"Wow! Your dad must have a cool job." Gumball excitedly exclaimed.
"I wish." Brian muttered
"What was that?" Gumball asked
"Nothing." Brian responded to his friend's question, pretending he didn't say anything.
"Well, Brian, I hope you enjoy your stay in Elmore. It can be pretty hectic around here." Nicole said.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Watterson, but thanks, though."
With that, Brian and the rest of the Watterson family resumed eating their meal.
Once everyone was finished for the evening, Nicole had to drive off to work almost right away, with Richard assuring that everything will be fine with him in charge.
Of course, as soon as his wife left the house, he immediately fell right to sleep on the couch, much to Brian's surprise. Then again, this might have been a common occurrence that Gumball, Darwin and Anais were use to. Once Anais went upstairs to her bedroom, he and the duo turned on the TV, each holding a bowl of popcorn, intending to watch a late-night movie, while lowering the volume down to avoid waking up both rabbits that were fast asleep.
"You know Gumball, today didn't turned out so bad after all, despite what happened this morning." Brian said.
"Yeah, but we did have some fun, didn't we?"
"Of course we did; I just wish this day didn't have to end so fast."
"Quiet, you guys. The movie is about to start." Darwin said, prompting the two to be quiet as the movie began.
In the midst of all of this, Gumball, Darwin and Brian failed to notice a figure hiding in the dead of night, waiting for the moment to strike.
Next time on The Newcomer
Chapter 5-The Sleepover: Part 2
When Gumball, Darwin and Brian get an unexpected visitor, the trio must find a way to outwit him before Nicole comes home.
Tidbits
-This chapter proved to be quite challenging then I imagine, but at the same time it did help me to be rather creative.
-Originally, there was going to be a conversation between Brian and Anais, but it felt time consuming, so I have to cut the entire scene out instead.
Once again, I want to thank my beta reader for his suggestion. I did the best as I could for this chapter. Just hope the second part won't take me as long as this one.
Hope you enjoyed reading and see ya next chapter!