Disclaimer: I do not own The Simpsons or it's characters.
Chapter 13,
It was weird to wake up in Jimbo Jones' house. Lisa sighed and looked around her mundane surroundings. She sighed when she realized she had left her saxophone behind. Granted her parents hated her playing it so early in the morning... or at least early for Homer, who likes to sleep until noon on Saturdays. She opened her door and listened for any sign of life in the Jones house. She could smell someone making food and closed her door again. She was starting to feel a little awkward. She was writing about Jimbo being one of the rudest boys in Springfield, and possibly exposing how he became a bully to begin with. Whether or not she uses a nom de plume, Jimbo was still kind to her, and his mother opened their home to her, and his little sister seems to love her... was she taking advantage of them?
"Marie, if you're a vegetarian, can you have buttermilk pancakes?" Lisa heard and she giggled at Sarah. She cracked the door open and Lisa smiled at her.
"Morning Sarah. Buttermilk pancakes are fine for a vegetarian like me." They just don't work well for vegans or people with extreme dietary restrictions on milk and/or wheat-based products." Lisa said and Sarah blinked for a moment.
"Well, that kinda sounded like a yes." Sarah commented and Lisa giggled.
"I like pancakes." Lisa said and Sarah smiled widely.
"Yay! Come on, you can sit next to me!" Sarah said and she grabbed Lisa's hand and dragged her down the steps.
"Oh, Sarah, I should probably get dressed first." Lisa said.
"Nah, we usually eat in our PJ's on Saturday. It's like a tradition." Sarah said, pulling her to the kitchen.
"Oh, well, I told your mother I'd give her the rent this..." Lisa paused when she saw Jimbo at the stove making pancakes and bacon. He wasn't wearing his hat, and he was wearing a simple baby blue shirt, and dark blue sweatpants.
"-morning." Lisa finished her thought softly and Jimbo turned and looked at her. He smiled when they sat at the table.
"Oh, morning." Jimbo said and Lisa chuckled awkwardly.
"How are you doing Jimbo?" Lisa asked.
"Decent." He said, without really thinking of it.
"Marie, are you really spending time with my rotten brother today?" Sarah asked and Jimbo glared at her.
"Excuse me? Rotten? I guess someone doesn't want Krusty-brand candied coated chocolate bits in their pancakes." Jimbo said and Sarah smiled at him.
"I love you big brother." Sarah said in a sweet, yet clearly fake tone. Jimbo placed a finished pancake with chocolate bits on Sarah's plate.
"Well, that's a little better." Jimbo said. He turned and placed some other pancakes on a paper plate along with some bacon. Lisa rose her eyebrow at this action. Including Sarah's plate, the table was set for four individuals. Why make a random extra plate? But given the fact that she was a guest, she decided to stay silent on this matter.
"I was just hoping that Marie might want to hang out with me and my friends. It's Martin's birthday and his parents are wasting all this money on a party at Mt. Splashmore." Sarah said and Lisa smiled.
"As fun as that sounds, I did make a promise to your brother and his friends that I would spend time with them today." Lisa said. At that moment, the phone rang and Jimbo sighed heavily.
"I'll get it!" Lisa heard Mrs. Jones say from upstairs. Jimbo groaned softly, and he ran a hand through his hair.
"Today? Ok, I'll be over soon." Their mother said, and Jimbo rolled his eyes. Lisa watched him pull an empty plate off the table and place it back in the cupboard; and then he took the paper plate he made earlier and set that on the table instead.
"Marie, do you like regular or chocolate bits pancakes?" Jimbo asked half-heartedly and Lisa felt sad, but unsure why.
"Omakase." Lisa said with a smile.
"Huh?" jimbo asked and he twisted his body to look at Lisa with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh... gesundheit?" Jimbo said and Lisa giggled at his adorable behavior.
"It's a Japanese word. It means 'entrust'. People say this to chefs sometimes, telling them that they trust the master in the kitchen to serve them... well..." Lisa paused when she saw Jimbo almost getting more confused; and he looked sad by it.
"Omakase means 'hit me with your best shot'. I trust that you know what's better." Lisa said sweetly, and Jimbo blinked at her.
"Oh." He said, surprised. He turned back at the stove and he was silent for a few minutes, before he looked at some of the breakfast items beside him.
"Well, I did have this... idea... but I've never done it before, so it may not be good." Jimbo hesitated and Lisa bit her lip gently.
"Don't worry Jimbo. I trust you." Lisa said. Jimbo looked at her, trying to figure out if she was joshing him or not. But when he realized that she was being sincere, he smiled at her and got to work. Speaking of work, about that time Jimbo's mother rushed down the stairs.
"Sorry I can't stay. I gotta go see a client." She said, in a rush. Jimbo picked up the paper plate from the table and handed it to his mother.
"Oh, you are such a sweet boy!" She said, taking the plate. She rushed around the room kissing the foreheads of Jimbo, Sarah, and Lisa before walking out again.
"Wet naps are by the door!" Jimbo said angrily as he wiped his forehead.
"Thank you!" She said and she left the house. Jimbo sighed and went back to cooking.
"Sorry mom kissed you like that." He muttered and Lisa chuckled nervously.
"Oh... it's fine. She probably didn't even realize she did it." Lisa said. Jimbo didn't respond, which made Lisa feel bad. She wanted to give him a hug, but he would just push her away since she's still a stranger to him.
"Yeah, mom rushes off like that. You'd think hell was freezing over and she needed to escape using the wings on her ass." Sarah said and Lisa's eyes widened.
"Sarah!" Jimbo yelled and Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Pa-lease! You feel the same way!" Sarah said and Jimbo tossed a glare over his shoulder.
"What makes you so damn sure?" Jimbo asked as he put the final touches on Lisa's breakfast.
"You stopped putting mom's breakfast on a normal plate. You know she's gonna run off, and that's why you just give her paper plates now." Sarah sai, and Jimbo scoffed.
"As if that proves anything." Jimbo stated. He turned off the stove, and grabbed two plates from the counter. He set one in front of Lisa and one by the chair beside her.
"If I really made her to-go breakfasts, I might as well put them in a paper bag or lunchbox instead of a stupid plate. Think before you speak, sis." Jimbo said and he handed Lisa a fork and the syrup before he sat down too. Lisa though, was staring at her plate. For one thing her pancakes were pink and smelled like strawberries, but it had chocolate bits mixed in the pancake. Then Jimbo placed banana slices on the top, and he did a whip cream smiley face for her too.
"Um. If you don't like strawberry we can switch." Jimbo said, and Lisa snapped to attention. She didn't realize thatshe had just been staring at her food.
"No, no, I like strawberries. Strawberries are good. Yum, yum, strawberries." Lisa said and she started eating. Jimbo tried not to laugh at the girl, but he smiled.
"Man, I swear, if you guys didn't hate each other, I'd say that you guys should bite the bullet and fuck each other." Sarah said. Jimbo choked on his orange juice, turned, and spat on the floor.
"Don't (cough) don't you need to get ready (cough, cough) for Splashmore?" Jimbo struggled to say and Sarah smiled, as if this were the proudest moment of her life.
"Ok, I'll scram. Just don't forget to put a tie on the doorknob or something." Sarah said. Jimbo reached for an apple, and Sarah jumped to her feet.
"Get Lost!" Jimbo shouted, throwing the apple at the laughing child.
Jimbo sighed when he heard the sound of her rushing upstairs, and he sat back down again. Of course then his eyes landed on Lisa, and he blushed at the realization that they were suddenly all alone. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to think of something to say.
"Heh... kids..." Jimbo said awkwardly, and he stared down at his plate, almost afraid to look at her again. Lisa was embarrassed by what Sarah had said, but not as badly as Jimbo was. She smiled at him sweetly.
"Kids are often wise, because they notice the simple truths." Lisa said. Part of her was terrified this came out of her mouth. Would she really want to have sex with Jimbo if the opportunity arrived?
"Uh... well, Sarah tends to say junk like that for shock value. Apparently kids think that she's just 'plain and tall' and she wants to change that." Jimbo said, trying to switch subjects as quickly as possible.
Lisa looked away for a moment. She was use to people not understanding her, but this was different. Perhaps it was good that Jimbo didn't realize what she meant. Desires aside, just living in Jimbo's house could have altered their future. Just imagine the drastic changes that could arise from intimate relations with the boy.
As Lisa quietly thought things over, Jimbo noticed her silence and started to feel bad. Damn Sarah being so blunt. It was bad enough that he was head over heels for Marie, he didn't need his little sister announcing it to the world. Marie must be so embarrassed and... wait a minute. Jimbo rose an eyebrow when he realized that Marie didn't look embarrassed; she looked sad. Had he somehow insulted her?
"Are you ok?" Jimbo asked , and Lisa got a little flustered.
"M-me? Why, of course. I mean I have no reason to not be ok, after all." Lisa said awkwardly. She picked up her glass and walked over to the sink to fill it with water. Now there was no doubt in Jimbo's mind that her feelings were hurt. Jimbo had never been in this situation before, and he didn't know what to say.
"Well... you should be ok. Sarah loves getting under my skin like that." Jimbo started and Lisa stood by the sink with her back to him.
"It only makes sense for her to tease about us being in a relationship." Jimbo paused when Lisa sipped her water.
"With someone as naturally beautiful as you, clearly you can choose anyone in town to date. You're too smart to date a guy just because you live with him." Jimbo said. A small gasp escaped Lisa's lips, and she looked at Jimbo was quickly went back to his own plate.
"Just saying." he muttered before stuffing his face with food to shut himself up.
Lisa was surprised. Not only was this a whole new side to Jimbo that she hasn't seen before, but almost no one calls her 'pretty', much less 'beautiful'. Suddenly she was really looking forward to spending the day with Jimbo and his friends. She took a few steps towards Jimbo and bit her lip. She waited for him to finish chewing and swallowed, before she quickly gave his cheek a kiss.
"Thank you Jimbo." She stated sweetly. She smiled at the way Jimbo instantly froze at the act. She walked over to her plate and picked it up.
"I think I'll finish eating in my room while I work on some notes. Then we can walk to the arcade together." Lisa said, and since Jimbo was still frozen, she didn't wait for a reply before she left the room.
Jimbo sat there in disbelief. Did that really just happen? Did Marie really just kiss his cheek? His hand trembled as it rose to touch his face, where her lips had landed. He caressed the area for a moment, and sighed. Jimbo felt hope that he and Marie had a future together. Who knows, maybe Sarah was right. At any rate, Jimbo would be a fool to turn down Marie if she wanted him. He wasn't a complete moron.