Lisa Simpson's New Friend

Chapter 29

"Does he play as good as me?" Papa asked as he served his bowl and sat down to eat. "No one can play as good as you, Papa," I said as I got spoons for both of us. "Good to know," Papa said chuckling. After saying grace, we ate. Just as I finished my bowl, I got a text from Elijah.

Author's Note:

Underlined is when Michelle is texting

Bold is when Elijah is texting

Bold with Underline is when Fat Tony is texting

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good, just finishing breakfast with my dad. How about you?"

"Pretty good. I'm gonna be helping my mom and dad with the move. Mainly just helping them with the boxes I can carry. Stuff like that."

"That's nice. Do you know when you'll be registering for school?"

"Yeah, since we moved right as the school year's ending my mom and dad think it's best to wait until we got settled in our new house to get me registered for school next year."

"Oh, I see. So, what's your new house like?"

"Wow! It looks amazing."

"I know right? And get this there's a pool and jacuzzi in the backyard plus a barbeque grill."

"No way!"

"Yes, way! 😱"

"Don't forget to brush your teeth before Mrs. Simpson comes to pick you up, principessa," Papa said already washing our dishes and spoons. "Ok, I'll do that right now," I said before wiping my lips with a napkin. After brushing my teeth, I texted Elijah once more before I left for school.

"Wanna keep talking after school lets out?"

"Sure, talk to you at 3?"

"Sounds like a plan." I texted back as I made sure I had all my schoolbooks in my red backpack.

As usual, school was fine, my teacher Mr. Churchill was giving a lesson on fractions. Mr. Churchill is a middle-aged man with short hair that was styled in a military haircut type of way, he usually wore dress shirts and either jeans or dress pants depending on the day and the weather. He always made a point to wear sneakers, because to him they are what felt the most comfortable. Mr. Churchill is a great teacher; if you don't intentionally cause trouble for the whole class and try your hardest on tests, you will be fine. As he passed us back our science test from the previous week he said, "A lot of you are improving when it comes to understanding photosynthesis, while some unfortunately have a bit more work to do."

I was so happy when I got my test back. Before Lisa started tutoring me all I got were D's. But since then, I have been bringing home nothing but A's. When the lunch bell rang, I grabbed my lunch from my locker and ran over to share in my good news at the cafeteria table we usually sat at. But Lisa wasn't looking like her usual happy self, it seemed like she was depressed. "Hey Lisa, what's wrong?" I asked her as I sat down next to her. "I'm sad because of a dog I couldn't save from the pound. I dreamt that he blamed me for his death because it was apparently "too ugly' to bring back home with me." Lisa said, looking very depressed. I hugged her and said, "I am so sorry that you had to go through that, but you know there are more animals that you can save and help find good homes." "I know I've already thought of giving the rest of them away, but there's still too many," Lisa explained. "I know, how about we go to your house and think about a plan for the other animals and what to do with them?" I asked her. "Ok, sounds like a plan," Lisa said. "Here want a chocolate cupcake? I made too many by accident, so I have two." I offered her. "Sure, thanks," Lisa said as she took the cupcake.

"Hey, check it out," I said as I pulled out my backpack and showed her my Science Test. "Oh, my gosh! I can't believe I helped you get an A!" Lisa exclaimed as she ate her cupcake. "Believe it, girl!" I exclaimed. "I can't wait to show it to my dad. Want to take a selfie with it?" I asked her. "Of course!" Lisa replied giggling. I sent the selfie to my Papa's number.

"Hi Papa, check it out I got an A on my science test!"

"Wow! I'm so proud of you, my little princess. Tell Lisa that if she wants anything for all her hard work to let me know and I'll get it done."

"OK, I'll let her know. Is it ok if I go over to her house after school? I'm going to be helping her out with something."

"Of course, it's ok with me. I'll let Mrs. Simpson know that you'll be going home with Lisa. I'll be picking you up from their house at 8 o'clock ok?"

"Ok, Papa ❤️." After I answered my Papa's text Lisa told me about how she keeps the animals that we're left are currently hiding up in her attic. The only animals left are A Brown bear, a raccoon, a monkey, a dog, a tiger, a bulldog, a sheep, a sheep dog, a possum, and an ostrich. Once school let out, we started talking about how we could get those animals a proper home. "I would suggest the zoo. But that would only work for a few of them. Plus, then the poor things will be kept in cages and never be free." I said as we entered the Simpson house. "Do you want to help me feed the animals?" Lisa asked me as she walked to the kitchen. "Sure, hand me a bowl," I said as I helped her open the bag of food. I helped her carry the rest of the food bowls to the animals outside in the backyard.

"There's gotta be something we can come up with it's just right under our noses," I said thinking out loud. I saw Lisa's sad look on her face, and I put my hand on her shoulder in support, "I promise Lisa I'll do everything in my power to find a solution. Ok?" "Ok, Michelle. Thanks for all your help." She said smiling at my support.

The next day during lunch Lisa told me that I was invited to a benefit concert to help Bart get the surgery he needed to fix his arm. My dad was more than happy to drop me off. I wore a black button-up dress shirt with a red jacket and pant combination and a silk red bolo tie. Me and Lisa sat next to each other as we watched the performers play exquisite jazz music. Once the musicians finished their set, Krusty the clown walked on stage. "Hey, hey! We got more jazz superstars on the way, folks! Gooey Martin, Willie Mimms, Drop Jaws Turner, Sketch Friendly, Tootsie Childs, Sammy Biltmore, No-Talent Jones, Anwar Benitez, Bossy Marmalade, Bad-Check Mazursky, Ray-Ray Takamura, Shaky Premise, Bootsy Croutonne, Richard Sakai, The Pre-Marital Sextet, C.S.I. Miami, D.W. Jitters, The Chubb Group, Cantaloupe St. Pierre, and many, many, more funny names!" he listed as he ended with his iconic laugh.

"And it's all to fix this very talented arm." He said as Bart walked over to him and lifted his injured arm to show the audience. "Ow!" Bart yelped in pain as his arm was tugged. "Oh, right the nerve damage," Krusty said having remembered about Bart's injury. "Here's the benefit money." He said handing Bart $200 from inside his jacket pocket. "Now, I'm gonna go vomit to keep my weight down. That's right. That's how Krusty does it." He said to the audience but his laugh this time was more feeble than before as he walked off stage Bart stepped into the spotlight. "I wanna thank everyone for this special night. Jazz folk may have the smallest apartments, but they also have the biggest hearts." We all cheered as Bart said these kind words. "But the biggest heart I know is in my sister Lisa." I gasped in surprise as a spotlight shone on my best friend.

"Lis, you poured your heart into rescuing society's most vulnerable critters—animals. So, I want all the money we've raised tonight to go to building..." he said as he walked over to something with a sheet covering. "The Lisa Simpson Home for Abandoned Animals!" Bart exclaimed as he pulled the covers off the model of what the animal sanctuary would look like once it was built. Lisa went up on stage to her brother, "Oh, Bart, thank you so, so much!" she said as the siblings hugged having finally reconciled their differences.

I am so happy for Lisa, this way the animals had a safe place to call home. However, I couldn't stop thinking about Bart and his injured arm. It must be hurting him terribly. Once the night was over, I said my goodbyes to the Simpson family and waited for my Papa to pick me up from Jazzy Times.