As the Minutes Go By

Setting Things Up

The next day at school was surprisingly fairly normal. Louise went through her classes without any type of oddity in behavior. Thus meaning that she played practical jokes, turned in late and/or half-assed homework, and made remarks that earned snickers from her classmates.

Conversations between Louise and her friends were as normal as they could be. Talk about what was going on in and outside school grounds was a current and hot topic. Peter Pescedaro had started a rumor that Mr. Dinkler climbed into a UFO and flew off last Thursday, which is why he had been gone for an entire month.

"Teachers are aliens. I just know it!" Rudy shouted, slamming his hand on the lunch table. The asthmatic boy had sat next to Louise and Gene, while Tina sat across from them. "They're not robots, but aliens!"

"I don't think that's right." Tina replied nervously, not wanting to upset her younger friend. "I'm pretty sure they're just people."

"No, they're aliens." Louise replied. "It's the only explanation."

"M'kay." Tina muttered.

The group ate in silence for a bit, calm and happy for the time being. Said calmness and happiness dissipated when a fifth grader sauntered up behind Louise and slapped his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who!"

"The kid who's about to get stabbed!" Louise shouted, easily managing to slip out of Dakota's grasp and using his injury to subdue him.

"OW! OW! OW!" Dakota cried, not even noticing as Louise climbed onto his back.

"Louise! Get off of him!" Rudy yelped, trying to pry his friend off Dakota's back. Gene aided in the attempt, and soon Tina joined the fray.

None of them had enough time to pay attention to Louise's free hand.

—

The restaurant had been experiencing a bit of an unexpected rush, lately. Neither Bob or Linda knew why, but neither of them questioned it. It made the family money, and money is definitely what they needed.

"Come on, Bobby! Speed it up! Speed it up!" Linda urged.

"Okay, okay! I am!" Bob groaned. "Why are we so slammed today?!"

"Hell if I know! But we're getting business, so it's better than nothing!" Linda replied quickly, grabbing a plate that had been placed in the order window. "Good God, this is crazy!"

"Uh, Bobby? Linda? You've got a call coming in!" Mort announced, pointing at the phone near the register.

"Oh, God. Teddy, hand this to table 3." Linda groaned.

"Table 3." Teddy repeated aloud.

"The table with the couple! The one with the woman with the purple hat!" Linda snapped.

"Oh! Okay!" Teddy chimed, rushing to serve the burger.

"Lin! I need free space in the window!" Bob shouted.

"Mort! Grab those burgers and serve them to the tables labeled by the tickets!" Linda ordered, picking up the phone with a sigh. "Bob's Burgers. Son of a bitch… what did Louise do now, Mr. Frond? Hold on, what? No, no, no! That can't be true! Louise wouldn't do that! Ugh… okay. I'll be over there as soon as I can."

"What's wrong, Lin?" Mort asked, humming in confusion as Linda tied her apron around his waist.

"Louise choked another kid out." Linda gruffly replied.

"She choked them out? That doesn't sound like Louise." Mort muttered. "Maybe she was just playing and went too far?"

"If she was "playing" with who I think she was, then that's probably what happened. Linda replied. "Tell Bobby I'll be back."

Mort nods, watching Linda leave with a small frown.

—

Linda arrived at the school with a headache, going straight to Frond's office. She was unsurprised to be met with the sight of two pissed off white collar parents standing next to their fairly unaffected son. Said unaffected son was sticking his tongue out at Louise, who smirked and did the same. Neither of them appeared to be upset with each other.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Linda." Frond sighed. "I hope you understand that this is a very serious issue."

"Why?" Louise asked. "Zeke and Jimmy Jr. wrestle all the time."

"Yes, but that usually doesn't end in either of them nearly passing out." Frond admonished. "What you did was immature, dangerous, reckless, and even-"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah-blah, blah, blah, blah-blah, blah, blah, blah-blah. That's what you sound like." Dakota scoffed, sitting straight with pride when Louise snorted and laughed.

"Dakota! That is not how your mother and I have taught you how to act!" Dakota's father, Evan, scolded. "I have half a mind to punish you right here and now!"

"Go ahead! I can take it!" Dakota replied. He leaned towards Louise and lowered his voice. "I lost the ability to feel pain years ago."

"Oh, really? Because I think I remember you squealing like a pig when I twisted your wrist." Louise replied, a sharp smirk appearing on her face when Dakota blushed.

"I-I was just humoring you!" Dakota squeaked.

The adults in the office shared a look amongst themselves, coming to a collective realization. These two had a crush on each other! That's why they acted like this! Why hadn't anyone recognized the signs sooner?

"Humoring me, hmm? Okay." Louise chuckled, looking up at Frond with an unimpressed expression. "So, what's the punishment? In-school suspension again? Community service? Vegetables?"

"No, Louise." Frond groaned. "You two aren't allowed to be anywhere near each other for an entire week."

"WHAT?!" Both children shrieked.

"That's blasphemy!" Dakota shouted.

"Absolutely horrible!" Louise agreed. "You really are a monster!"

Frond rolled his eyes, unaffected by the words. He'd heard enough of Louise's remarks to be unaffected by their sharpness by now.

"What am I to do without my sweet Louise?" Dakota whined. "Without her harsh words to break down my honestly ridiculous and truthfully unattainable hopes and dreams?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Dakota." Evan sighed. "Alahna, tell your son to grow up."

"Evan, he's ten." Alahna huffed. "Mr. Frond, why not let these sweethearts express their love in their own ways?"

"Love? Uh, ew." Louise snorted.

"Yeah, ew!" Dakota gagged. "We aren't in love!"

"Son, you called her "my sweet Louise." How could you say you're not in love?" Alahna asked.

"I was joking!" Dakota shouted. "Obviously!"

Alahna shared a look with Linda. A silent conversation went on between the mothers before they excused themselves to talk in the hall. They returned minutes later with news that surprised everyone.

Dakota was going to have a sleepover with the Belchers!