This one ended up being longer than I thought, but that's what happens when you bring Darryl into the mix.
So a little bit of knowledge on the Season 3 scripts is useful for context for this chapter. Namely the 'Taking a band stand' and 'Teaching Mr. Pham' scripts, the latter of which is implied to be happening at the same time as this chapter.
It was a beautiful morning. Several students from Brighton Middle School were gathered at the nearby park for the volunteer flower garden planting. One such student was Ollie Chen, working hard with a smile on his face as he carefully placed the rose seeds in the soil.
"I love getting an early start on engoodifying the day!" Ollie wiped his forehead as he completed his section… way ahead of the rest of the kids who were not as used to waking up early like him.
As Ollie walked around seeing how everyone else was doing, he noticed a familiar face among the kids. "Darryl?! I didn't know you were volunteering!"
His girlfriend's brother turned around from his poorly done planting job to address the engoodifier. "Yeah-no. I didn't volunteer for this. I got more detentions than there are days left of the school year. This is my 'community service' sentence." The younger boy was not at all happy to be there.
"Oh…" Ollie awkwardly rubbed his neck. "Well… you're doing a good job at-let me see that." The swoopy-haired one bent down to inspect the seeds Darryl had planted. "You can't just have seeds clumped up in the dirt! They should be planted at a depth of two times the width of the seed!" He quickly demonstrated by replanting one of the seeds Darryl placed.
Seeing an opportunity, Darryl grinned faux-innocently "Sorry, I couldn't see what you did there. Can you do it again?"
Ollie wasn't falling for it. "Yeah, nice try. If you really didn't see it, I'll guide you while you replant them." He made sure to emphasize the 'you' part.
Darryl mumbled something about that usually working on Molly and got back to work, apparently having actually paid attention to how he was supposed to plant the seeds. Ollie gave him a thumbs up and a big smile.
The principal chose this moment to approach the two boys, holding a box carefully in his arms. "Mr. Chen fantastic work as always! Darryl… I'm just glad nothing has exploded so far."
"Good morning Principal O'Conner. What's that box for?" Ollie wondered.
"See for yourself." The man lowered the box to show the boys what it contained. Inside was a young little lemming. "I'd like you to meet Linus the lemming. Brighton Middle School's new mascot!"
Linus instantly gained the admiration of everyone around him. He blinked and tilted his head, not understanding why people were cooing and squealing at him.
"Yes, yes, very adorable isn't he?" The principal shared his students' sentiments. "Darryl, for the next part of your 'community service' I need you to watch Linus until sunset today." He somewhat hesitantly handed the box containing the lemming to the source of his greatest headaches.
Darryl, who hastily finished up planting the seeds, accepted the box and adorable rodent. "But that's all day! Am I supposed to just bring him to all my classes? (Excited Gasp) Do I get to skip class?!" He was suddenly very much into the idea of taking care of the school mascot at the prospect of less school.
Principal O'Conner pinched the bridge between his eyes, here comes that chronic migraine again. "Yes, as long as you stay within the school grounds you can miss class. Once everyone has completed the flower garden, you may go back to school and spend the day with Linus. I am hoping this will teach you a lesson about responsibility." His face grew serious as he leaned in closer to Darryl. "But if anything should happen to this perfect little angel, not only will this and the volunteer work not count towards your detention tally, I will also see to it that you attend summer school detention."
Biting back a gulp, Darryl nodded frantically. Detention during the school year was one thing, but summer school detention would ruin his schemes for the summer! "Got it. I'll take good care of Linus." To sell his sincerity, Darryl gave the lemming a quick kiss on the forehead.
Satisfied with Darryl's response, Principal O'Conner left the students to attend to some urgent business. Some hooligan was stealing all the pencil sharpeners and leaving every pencil dull and unable to write! Ollie left to go check on other stuff and left Darryl and Linus on their own.
-Fifteen minutes later-
Darryl is sitting next to the box with his phone in hand, a new episode of his new favorite reality show was just starting up. "I'm Johnny, the brains of the outfit." "And I'm his twin brother, Randy, the handsome one."
Ollie came walking back by the younger kid. "Hey Darryl, thought I'd say goodbye before going back to school and... where is Linus?"
"Chill my dude, the little guy's right in-" Darryl froze in horror, the box he'd been guarding was empty! "... here?"
"Where's the lemming?!" Ollie whipped his head around hoping to catch sight of the tiny rodent close by. Darryl frantically lifted the box over his head and rummaged through the newly planted garden for the critter. The boys went in circles until the older of the two spotted movement past the nearby sidewalk. "Over there!"
Linus was chilling in the basket of a bicycle belonging to a little girl. The girl didn't notice the extra passenger and pedaled away out of the park. "STOP!" "WAIT!" Ollie and Darryl couldn't get the girl's attention before she left them in the dust. Who knew a pink bike driven by a first-grader could reach 25 mph in only a few seconds?
"This is horrible…" Darryl muttered in disbelief. "I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GO TO SUMMER SCHOOL!" His sister's boyfriend shot him a questioning look. "... oh and Linus is out there too." Darryl's priority motivation was evident.
Unlike Darryl, Ollie's priority was the safety of the new school mascot. "We have to go save that lemming!" Grabbing Darryl by the sleeve, the swoopy-haired boy led them off in the direction the bike went. They had until sunset to get Linus back before anyone finds out about this.
Walking in the opposite direction, Molly and Scratch strolled along on the former's way to school. "I Molly McGee guarantee that by the end of the day, Mr. Pham's love of teaching will be rejuvenated! I got one heck of an inspirational speech prepared, not to mention some inspirational posters and a special surprise that even SMELLS of inspiration!" The overly peppy girl relayed her plans for the episo-day to her BFF.
Scratch feigned interest, too busy filing his non-existent nails. "Uh huh, sounds like a fun day Moll. D'you think my ectoplasm's been a little dull lately? Be honest, cause I heard about this guy who can work wonders on a dead body."
To the duo's surprise, Molly's brother and lover come running past. Molly smiled and waved to them. "HI-"
"No time to talk!" Darryl shouted. "My summer is being cycled away, and it's all reality TV's fault!"
Molly and Scratch were befuddled by the out-of context comment and raised an eyebrow at one another as the boys ran out of sight.
OXOXOXOX
Tired and out of breath, Ollie and Darryl took a breather once their target made a pit stop. The quarter-monthly tri-annual farmer's market morning was in full swing down the streets of Brighton. A full eighteen people showed up to peruse the grand total of five and a half stalls. The boys caught up to the bicycle and could see Linus popping his head out of the basket. "There he is!" Ollie gasped in delight.
An impromptu marching band came between the two Ghost Friends and the Lemming in the bike. It lasted just long enough for Linus to hop out and escape into the crowd. "UGH! Why did a marching band have to show up at this exact moment!?" Darryl complained.
Having lost sight of the rodent, the boys needed a plan. "There has to be a way to track him down. Think Ollie, think…" The older boy racked his brain for ideas. "Lemmings are herbivores, so maybe he went over to the veggie stand for a snack." He reasoned.
Darryl made a 'snirk' sound at Ollie's suggestion. "Yeah, sure, almost all of the veggies they've got are turnips. A guy on the run and free from the shackles of school isn't going to want turnips." He motioned for Ollie to follow his lead, said lead was towards the cookie stand. Darryl leaned against the table and eyed the older lady running the stand. "Good morning miss, have you seen a lemming run by recently?"
"No." The lady curtly answered.
"Oh." The wind knocked out of his sails, Darryl's confidence faltered. "... can I just get a bag of the chocolate chips?"
The stall owner placed a bag of five chocolate chip cookies on the table. "Ten dollars."
Darryl turned to Ollie, giving him a tiny nudge. On instinct Ollie went to hand over the money before coming to his senses. "Wait, why am I paying for this?"
"I'm saving up for a Nintari, I don't have the dough to spare for this dough." Darryl grabbed the slip of paper from Ollie and handed it to the lady in exchange for the cookies. He plopped one in his mouth and offered another to Ollie. The older boy wasn't amused, but accepted the cookie nonetheless. Dang, they were good cookies.
With cookies in hand, the boys continued to search for Linus. Eventually, they spotted the little guy getting a drink over at the fish booth. "On the count of three, we run and grab him." Darryl spoke in a hushed whisper to the older boy.
"I don't think that-"
"Three!" Darryl couldn't wait for Ollie to finish, not even counting the rest of the numbers before diving towards the water-filled bin. Linus saw him coming and ducked under the piles of flopping fish contained in the container. Ollie winced as Darryl belly-flopped into the live fish bin and dug around for Linus. "Ugh, I can't find him with all these fish in here!"
As Ollie approached, Darryl shoved a fish at him. "WOAH-"
"Hold some of these while I look." Darryl tried to get Ollie to grab the writhing freshwater creature.
Ollie's face was turning a sickening green at how close the fish was to him. He shuddered "There has to be another way that doesn't involve-" He tried not to gag "handling fish."
"Uh, what's wrong with fish?" Darryl noticed the pure disgust Ollie exhibited towards the fish.
"Nothing's wrong if you're just looking at them. But touching fish-" Ollie held back the rising feeling coming from his stomach to his throat. "They're just so-so scaley and slimy." He absolutely hated the feeling of touching fish, and staring into its eyes as it gasped for breath was only making it worse.
"It's only for a little bit." Darryl forced several fish into Ollie's arms. "Do it for Linus." The younger boy tried the old 'do it for someone' guilt trip to persuade Ollie to keep his grip on the fish.
Ollie forced back a gag. "Fine-(grrk) f-for Linus." He had to have maybe seven or eight fish in his grasp, it was horrible, some were slapping his neck with their fins. He was going to take a shower the first chance he got.
With the container mostly empty, Linus couldn't hide from Darryl for long. "No getting away this ti-" The water and fish oil made it too slippery to keep hold of the lemming. Linus used Darryl's head as a springboard and ran right under Ollie's legs. If he hadn't been holding up all these future seafood dishes, he could have grabbed Linus, but no, he just HAD to be the guy who held the fish.
"Linus!" Ollie started to lose his balance and dropped the disgusting fish all over him. The fish gasped for water and Ollie gagged and hurriedly threw them back in their container while Darryl climbed out. How this happened without any fish casualties was a miracle. "We've lost the lemming again." The older of the two groaned.
Wringing out his soaked hoodie, Darryl voiced his own gripes. "If I had the whole Chaos Crew with me, we would've bagged that lemming ages ago!"
Ollie recalled hearing that name before, specifically as a chat group his sister was in. "Isn't June part of your group?" Frankly, he was too afraid to ask about some of the schemes his little sibling was contributing to, even before she and Darryl joined the Ghost Friends they got up to their own episodic adventures that necessitated at least two calls to the fire department.
"Yeah, she would be the best person to help with this! She'd already have some sort of jury-rigged trap." Darryl praised the absent Chen sibling. "Actually, the last time she made a trap it got confiscated by Principal O'Conner… OH! What if we stopped by the school and snag it out of the secret safe he uses just for the stuff he confiscated from us!?"
"Darryl, we are not turning this into a heist!" Ollie countered. "For so many reasons."
"Ugh, fine." Darryl huffed. "Why'd June have to be busy on a coding project with Andrea today?"
It took a bit for the two to find Linus again… because apparently someone else found him first. The moment Darryl saw the lemming in the hands of a guy wearing a tight suit and sunglasses, he pulled Ollie back behind a wall. "This is bad. This is really, really bad." The young troublemaker started to sweat and tug at his hair.
"What's the big deal? We just go up and tell that man we've been looking for the lemming he has." Ollie stated what he thought was a simple solution.
"'That man' is Gustavo Roquefort, the biggest cheese wheel dealer in the state!" Darryl enlightened his companion. "He's also an ex-associate of mine. We had a business fallout, and now he's got it out for me!"
How far did Darryl's dealings reach? Ollie believed it would be safer if he never learned the full scope, but he had to pry at this one. "Do I dare ask what happened?"
Darryl bit his lip and avoided any form of eye contact, finding the dirt below much more fascinating to look at while he divulged information. "I may have sold him an invisible satellite…"
"WHAT?! Where would you get-How would you even know-" Ollie's eyes snapped open as he realized what Darryl had done. The boy's unconvincing grin confirmed his belief. "There was no satellite. You sold him literally nothing." He buried his face in his hands, yep Darryl was a dead man.
"In my defense, I had a perfectly valid reason for scamming him… but for your own well-being, I can't elaborate any further." Darryl assured him.
Ollie took a deep breath to relax, this wasn't too bad, there was still a reasonable way to deal with this. "Right. You stay here while I go talk to him by myself-"
"Oh no you don't." The engoodifier was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Roquefort instantly despises any guy better looking than he is."
"Uh… thanks, I guess?"
"The only way we can talk to him is to cater to what he likes. Y'know besides cheese." The raise of a single eyebrow signified the concoction of a scheme in his scheming recently-turned-twelve-year-old mind. "We're going to have to stop by the school after all."
OXOXOXOX
Ollie did not feel right sneaking back into school when he had inadvertently ditched class that morning. Evidently he wore his feelings on his sleeve, as Darryl noticed his attitude change when they entered the building right before lunch. "Relax dude, I've got a contact who'll write up a very convincing doctor's note for a fair price."
"It's June, isn't it?"
"Eeyup. And I can guarantee that it is (cough-mostly-cough) legal."
Their destination was the bleachers at the pool. As Ollie had now learned, there was a hidden compartment where Darryl stashed some emergency supplies. "Now Oll', I can't just have a secret storage out in the open where anyone can find it. I have a key that I've stashed somewhere else for extra safe keeping… although once I show you where it is I'll have to find a new hiding spot." Darryl realized, quietly hitting a balled up fist to his forehead. "Darn, and the music room was the perfect spot! We don't have a music teacher, so there's no reason for anyone to go there!"
Ollie stopped. "Darryl. We have a new music teacher."
The sound of a tire screeching could be heard when Darryl abruptly stopped mid-step. "SINCE WHEN DO WE HAVE A MUSIC TEACHER?!"
"Since Molly raised enough money from her booster club to get Dr. Melody hired." He would've joined the club, but his chairman duties took up his after-school time.
Darryl's voice made some weird sounds out of disbelief. How was he supposed to know?! He wasn't in that scrip-episode! "NO! I specifically picked a room with no teacher so they can't be implicated if something falls apart! I swore I wouldn't get any teachers thrown in prison again!"
"Again?" Nope, he wasn't going to dig deeper into whatever transpired.
Music class wasn't happening this period, but Dr. Melody was still in the classroom getting the next lesson planned out. Ollie and Darryl crouched beside the door, they had to distract her somehow. "Hmm, the fire alarm is too risky, we don't have any bugs to release inside the vents. My drone was also confiscated and is in the safe." The schemer was having trouble scheming. They needed a distraction that wouldn't cause too much attention, he needed something much more mundane and simpler than he could concoct.
Luckily, Ollie knew what to do. "Let me handle this." He ran to his locker and back, bringing along an instrument case. He steeled himself before opening up the case. He had to do this, it was the only way.
Dr. Melody was going over which song she'd teach her talented tuplets in the coming weeks. Then she heard it. The screech of a recorder crying out in pain. "That sounds like a horribly mangled version of the national anthem!" She dropped what she was doing and rushed out the door to find the source of the mangled music. Over by the water fountain, Ollie played the recorder as off-key as he could manage while hastily scanning a music sheet for the national anthem. "Ollie Chen?!"
Ollie pretended to be surprised by her arrival. "Dr. Melody, you've come just in time! I've hit a learning roadblock with this song and I just can't get it to sound right!"
"Let me see that." The music teacher scanned her eyes over the music sheet Ollie was using. "Well, it's no wonder you're having trouble, this sheet is a misprint that was supposed to be discarded!"
"Oh no how did that happen?" Despite Ollie's flat delivery and aside glance at an un-emptied recycling bin (courtesy of cutting back janitor hours), Dr. Melody was none the wiser.
It seemed the teacher knew the correct composition by memory as she guided Ollie on how to properly play this piece. With her distracted, Darryl snuck into her classroom and made a beeline for one of the cabinets. Thankfully, it hadn't been opened, and his box labeled 'Boring financial report' was still there! He retrieved his key from the box and snuck back out, wincing at the sound of the recorder as he made his escape.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ollie saw Darryl give the signal that he was successful and hurriedly removed the recorder from his mouth. "Thank you Dr. Melody, now I can play this, and I have to get going, but I'll see you in class tomorrow!" There was barely a break between his words. Dr. Melody was left wondering what just happened as her best recorder player dashed away.
The boys trekked under the pool bleachers and used the key to Darryl's stash. "Here we go-" The owner of the hidden compartment pulled out some disguises, one of which he passed to Ollie. "These should let us deal with Roquefort without raising suspicion."
"This is a hockey uniform. With a maple leaf on it." Why would a hockey player be less suspicious than a regular teenager?
"The man has a large client base in Canada. Hockey is his third favorite sport, it's important not to go with his number one favorite sport because that would be too convenient." Darryl plopped the hockey helmet onto Ollie. "And the helmet hides your hair and face."
As one put on the rest of the hockey uniform, the other put his disguise on. Darryl had a denim jacket, slim sunglasses, ripped jeans and combat boots, and topped it all off with a very familiar blue wig. "If anyone asks, my name is 'Chilly Chadston' and your name is 'Liam Dodger'."
"Those do not sound like real names." Ollie was losing confidence in this plan. He hoped the kid knew what he was doing. At least no one was in the hallway to see him dressed like this…
"Ollie?"
Standing right outside the teachers' lounge were Molly and Scratch, the latter of whom now wore a tweed jacket with leather patches. Boyfriend and girlfriend made awkward, extended eye contact. "… I can explain later."
Darryl pulled the hockey-dressed boy along with him. "Come on, we gotta go!"
Molly took a closer look at what her brother was wearing as the boys continued on. "Darryl, did you take that wig from my closet?!"
OXOXOXOX
"Hi, we're here to see Mr. Roquefort."
The bouncer looked down at the young duo, much too young to have any dealings with his boss. "Beat it kids, before-wait… are you a hockey player?"
Ollie grinned nervously, hoping the buff man couldn't see how badly he was sweating under the helmet. "U-uh Yep! I'm a hockey player!" He felt Darryl give him a nudge and gesture to the maple leaf insignia on his uniform. "… eh?"
"Hmmm." The bouncer glared intensely, before switching to a casual joyful tone. "What a coincidence! Hockey is Mr. Roquefort's third favorite sport!" He opened the door for the two. "Go right ahead!"
Darryl clicked his tongue and gave finger-guns to the man while he led Ollie inside. It seemed to be a regular cheese shop, but at the back was the man with the tight suit and sunglasses they'd seen back at the market. "Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" He studied the new arrivals carefully.
"I'm Chilly Chadston." Darryl lowered his voice, puberty still hadn't made it to his vocal cords so he did what he could. "And this here is Liam Dodger. We were on our way back from a hockey game when my pet lemming escaped, and we were told that someone matching your description had seen him."
"Oh, this fella' belongs to you, huh?" Roquefort held up Linus, tired from a long day of freedom and nibbling on fine cheeses. "Little guy smelled the Parmesan in my pocket and followed me. Not sure if he should be eating cheese though."
The lemming was exhausted and in their reach, the boys thought they were in the clear. "Thanks for taking care of him. If you give him back we'll buy a nice big mozzarella wheel." Darryl bargained, clearly knowing how to deal with this man and his business.
"Sounds like a good deal to me." Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly. Roquefort handed the lemming to Ollie right as the rodent got a second wind and crawled up the boy's sleeve.
"Eep-Linus!" Ollie flailed around trying to remove the lemming from his shirt. In his panic, he accidentally knocked off his helmet and revealed himself.
Roquefort gasped as he saw the true face of the hockey player. "HEY! YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!"
The angry tone and somewhat compliment confused the one it was directed at. "Um… thanks?"
"Gustavo Roquefort doesn't like guys more beautiful than me!" He grabbed a chunk of cheddar and smashed it in his grasp.
Darryl grabbed Ollie by the arm and hurried him to get out. "So we're really grateful that you found Linus, so we'll just-" In his haste, Darryl forgot to deepen his voice.
"I know that voice!" Roquefort snatched the blue wig off of the younger boy, revealing his natural brunette hair. "DARRYL MCGEE!?"
"We're busted." Darryl's eyes shrank to tiny dots. He jumped up and took back the wig. It was technically on loan from Molly.
The boys scooped up the lemming and tried to escape. The bouncer from earlier blocked the door, the only way in or out. Ollie held up his hands and backed away slowly from the imposing man. "Now I'm sure there's a peaceful way we can work this out…"
"Forget peaceful! Make a break for it!" Darryl grabbed the discarded hockey helmet and tossed it through a window. The glass shattered on contact. "Defenestrate yourself!" Darryl tossed Linus outside before he jumped through himself!
"WHAT!" Ollie wasn't in a position to try and mediate a calm resolution, especially now with the broken window. His options were limited and, ultimately, defenestrating himself was the best option. Miraculously, neither the boys nor the lemming hit any broken glass. That was lucky! But Linus used the seconds before Darryl jumped through to escape down the street. That was unlucky!
While Ollie and Darryl pursued the lemming once more, Roquefort watched them from the broken window. "NOW YOU START BREAKING MY WINDOWS!? THAT'S IT DARRYL MCGEE, YOU'RE GETTING THE BIG WHEEL!" He pressed a button on his phone and a panel opened up on the wall behind him. It was a massive wheel of cheese, Gorgonzola to be precise, with what appeared to be rocket boosters on the sides. Roquefort locked onto Darryl's heat signature with his phone and sent the data to the cheese wheel's homing mechanism. Target locked and thrusters on; the cheese wheel propelled itself forward with the intent of crushing its target… after it crushed the intact window of the store entrance. "NOT MY OTHER WINDOW! WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE ONE THAT WAS ALREADY BROKEN!?"
Linus was making great headway through town, weaving in and out of the way of civilians who his chasers couldn't avoid as easily. "Ollie-" Darryl didn't stop running while he spoke. "You know what we need right now?"
"A soft, biodegradable net that will gently catch Linus without hurting him?" He guessed.
"Nope. We need chase music!" Darryl reached into his pocket and pressed play on his music app.
Wacky saxophone and kazoo chase music accompanied the boys while they chased Linus across town. They hopped over barrels falling out of a truck, they skid across freshly mopped flooring in the grocery store, they scaled ladders leading to rooftops, all to catch the slippery rodent who avoided their capture at every turn. They almost had him at one point before a weird noise filled the air, it was the giant cheese wheel rolling directly towards them. It then became a three-way chase between Linus, Ollie and Darryl, and the rocket-guided wheel of cheese aiming to run them over. Linus ran up a tree in the park while the boys hopped behind the same tree to avoid the cheese wheel. They thought they'd gotten rid of it, but the rockets changed direction and kept barreling after them. The chase scene went through a senior center bingo session, past the marching band that spontaneously occurred that morning, and made a lap around the Root Beer Pub; Ruben and Esther could have sworn they just saw their son run by while being chased by cheese but realized that was very unlikely. Linus got a good several yards ahead of the boys, going in the direction of the school. Ollie and Darryl were more than a little preoccupied with the giant wheel of cheese catching up to them, struggling to keep an eye on the lemming while running out of stamina. Molly and Scratch were walking back home, the school day had already finished, when they witnessed the two running from the cheese wheel. Girl and ghost shared confused glances with each other.
"The school is just around the corner!" Darryl shouted, the wacky chase music finally coming to a close.
"And the sun is starting to set!" Ollie pointed out. Their time was almost up.
Darryl gasped. "I WON'T LET MY SUMMER BE TAKEN BY A LEMMING OR OVERSIZED CHEESE!" Desperate times called for desperate measures. Darryl hit a number on his speed dial and prayed the other line would pick up.
To his relief, the call went through. "Hi, Darryl. Andrea and I just finished-"
"JUNE WE HAVE A CODE SAFFRON!" Darryl shouted into his phone.
They could hear June sigh from the other end of the line. "What are your coordinates?"
"We'll be in front of the school in thirty seconds!"
"Got it!" June ended the call.
Ollie was only mildly surprised to hear his sister on the other end. "What's a code saffron?!"
Darryl didn't say anything, he just pointed up to one of the windows on the second floor of the school. June Chen popped her head out to check the exact location of the target and ducked back down momentarily. She brought up a repurposed goo blaster that had been modified and shot a ray of concentrated heat at the cheese wheel. The red beam melted the Gorgonzola on contact and fried the boosters driving it. June checked down below and waved to the boy giving her a thumbs up and her brother staring dumbfounded. "Hi Ollie! How'd you like my new heat ray?"
"Haha! June ex machina!" Darryl shouted. "Thanks for the save! That ray is so cool!"
"It's a heat ray, it's not meant to be cool. It's very hot." June bluntly explained. "But you're welcome!"
With the cheese problem taken care of, all that was left was to catch Linus. The lemming was startled by the cheese explosion, but took notice of the hot cheese goo coating the pavement and scurried over for a lick. "Oh no you don't!" Ollie picked up the lemming. "You'll burn your tongue! Also, I'm not sure if lemmings can properly digest dairy."
"You caught him Ollie!" Darryl ran up and was given the lemming to hold.
They made it just in time. As soon as they entered the building, Principal O'Conner came out of the teacher's lounge. "Wow, I can't believe Molly McGee reignited Mr. Pham's love of teaching in a single school day. Speaking of McGee's-" He noticed Darryl and Ollie coming over with Linus. They were tired, dressed in denim and a hockey uniform and slightly smelled like melted cheese, but they presented the unharmed and cuddly lemming to the man. "Ah Darryl McGee. I trust you had an uneventful day watching Linus?"
"Pssh! We just chilled all day." Darryl casually fibbed. "Now about my community service?"
"Yes, this counts, and you will be excused for today and this will be counted for your detention tally."
"Fantastic!" Darryl beamed. "I think I learned a lot about responsibility while doing nothing but watching Linus all day. I'm gonna head on home." He relaxed his arms behind his head as he strolled out of the front door. Leaving Ollie and the principal by themselves.
"... He lost the lemming right away, didn't he?"
"Yup."
"You get a pass for today too, then."
OXOXOXOX
After taking a slight detour to store Darryl's disguises back in storage, he and Ollie finally arrived back at the McGee house after the sun had set. Molly and Scratch were in the living room, the latter in the middle of reminiscing about his time as a teacher… which apparently was just this afternoon.
"-and kids these days have no respect for the school faculty! I mean just this week there has been a rampant theft of pencil sharpeners on campus!" Scratch relayed his woes. He'd apparently gotten way too into his new teacher persona.
Molly fondly rolled her eyes at the ghost, then noticed the two who'd just entered the house. "Hey guys! Have fun today?"
Darryl shrugged, "Meh. Pretty tame day." He pulled out the rest of the cookies they'd bought this morning and started snacking on one.
"Woah! Are those home-baked style chocolate chip cookies!?" Scratch sprang over once the scent of cookies wafted into his nostrils.
"Sure are!" Darryl held one up for the ghost to see. It's chocolate chip-y goodness still delicious after a long day.
Scratch latched onto the kid. "Darryl, have I ever mentioned how much I treasure our brotherly bond?" He eyed the remaining two cookies hungrily. They called to him.
"You can have one. But let's get some milk for these bad boys first!" Darryl raced Scratch to the kitchen. Left behind was Ollie, a thousand-yard stare in his eyes and the indescribable feeling of 'what just happened today' stuck in his mind.
His girlfriend knew that haunted look, she'd seen it many times before. "First Darryl shenanigan, huh? Let me go grab something for ya!" She scurried up to her bedroom, finding a box full of the same shirt in various sizes. Picking out one that would fit Ollie, Molly took it back down and handed it over. "TADA! Your 'I just survived my first Darryl shenanigan' commemorative t-shirt!"
Ollie held the shirt up against his chest, it did indeed have 'I just survived my first Darryl shenanigan' embroidered onto it in a fun, whimsical font. Also included were numerous exclamation points and a tiny winking Darryl at the bottom. Ollie knew he did good today, and helping Darryl was his own reward. But he couldn't help but wonder if the whole adventure was worth it for a shirt.
"Thanks for looking out for him." Molly softly smiled at him, leaning in to deliver a smooch on his cheek.
Placing a hand over where he'd just been kissed, Ollie couldn't help the lovestruck smile blooming onto his face. Oh yeah, THAT was worth it.