Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the weekend was over, Arthur walked his friend, Brain, back to his own house; honestly, he was more than happy to see his friend go cause he acted so perfect towards his family, it made Arthur feel inferior to everyone in his own home. As soon as Arthur and Brain reached the house, they opened the door and went inside.

"I'm home!" Brain announced.

"Welcome home, dear!" His mother and father came in and hugged their son.

Then Arthur dropped the other bag and turned to head out before Brain touched his shoulder.

"Hey Arthur!" Brian asked, "You sure you don't wanna stay for popcorn?"

"I said no! I already told you, I'm going home!" Arthur said quickly.

"What's wrong? You seem upset." He said with concern, "Are you upset with me?"

"Oh I'm upset?" He said in an annoyed and angry tone, "Why would I be upset that my genius friend showed off to make me look lousy in front of my family and have them compare their not so great son to you? It's no wonder why they like you more."

"Like me more? That's ridiculous. I already have two wonderful parents and your parents don't like me more than you." Brian tried to reason with his friend.

"Oh baloney!" Arthur snapped, "Why should I believe you?! All I wanted to do was have fun this weekend but you ruined everything and made me look like an idiot in front of my family!"

"But I-"

"I don't wanna hear it! Only friends are invited at my house on weekends and as of now, I'm not your friend anymore! Good-Bye!"

Arthur stormed off leaving Brain and his family standing in shock, letting Arthur's words sink in.

"What just happened?" asked Brains mother.

"I think...I think I just ruined my friendship with Arthur." Brian said as he look down sadly.

Arthur stomped his way home and didn't stop even after he arrived home and shuts the door; he made his way towards the stairs when his dad came by.

"Hey Arthur!" His dad greeted, "Did Alan make it home safely?"

"Yes." Arthur answered his father bitterly.

"Well I'm glad. Maybe you can invite him over again sometime."

"He's not coming back here, dad. Ever!"

"What?" The man looked at him blankly, "Why not?"

"Cause he's not invited over here anymore." Arthur snapped as he started walking up the stairs, "In fact, I never wanna see him or hear about him ever again! He's nothing but trouble!"

He raced to his room and slammed the door, ignoring his fathers calls to him.

"Arthur? Arthur!"

"What happened?" Jane asked as she walked in.

Her husband look at her and aheigged, "I asked Arthur if Alan made it home and he just said he doesn't want him over anymore."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea but he looked pretty upset."

"Maybe we can try to talk to him later." Jane suggested.

"Good idea." Her husband agreed.

Arthur stayed in room most of the time until it was time for dinner; he didn't say anything most of the time as his parents made conversation.

"I'm so glad I was able to get that catering order done thanks to Alan." David smiled, "He was such a big help."

"He is and he helped me with my computer this weekend too." Jane added.

"Can we please not talk about him?" Arthur said while trying not to yell.

His parents looked at him in confusion but Arthur just ate and not caring whether or not they'll ask him about his attitude.

"So...what else can we talk about?" Dave tried to break the silence.

"Oh! Oh!" DW chimed in, "Brian shown me some cool shows on the smart channel earlier and he even taught me how to read a little! He's so great at board games, he's smart, and cool! No wonder everybody loves him."

That's when Arthur has had enough and stood from his seat and glared at his sister.

"DW!" Arthur yelled, "If you like "Alan" so much, why don't you go live with him?!"

DW made a horrifying gasp before her mother spoke up.

"Arthur! That's no way to talk to your little sister!" Jane scolded.

"Oh! That's rich!" Arthur sarcastically remarked, "Coming from the family who said "Alan" eats better than me, does homework better than me, can play games better than I do, and is a better kid than I ever could be! You kept saying why can't I be more like him the whole weekend! I don't wanna be like anybody! "

Everyone at the table stared in stunned silence; even baby Kate and Pal were quiet.

"Maybe Brain and I should switch families. You all like him better than me anyway." Arthur sadly mumbles as he walked away.

David opened his mouth to say something but Arthur was already out of the kitchen.

"Now what has gotten into him?" Jane asked her husband.

"I have no idea." Dave shook his head, "You think it may have something to do with the sleepover?"

"Or maybe Arthur's brain is just plain rotten." DW gave a smug smirk.

"DW!" both parents scolded.

"What?"

Arthur didn't speak to his parents for the rest of the night; he didn't even say goodnight to his parents or sisters.

The next morning, Arthur skipped breakfast and walked to school with his best friend, Buster Baxter.

"So how'd it go with your weekend?" Buster asked as they walked to school.

"Terrible." Arthur said as he looked down, "My parents still say how great he is and don't care at all about how I feel. I wish I never invited him over to my house!"

As they approached the school, Brain saw them and waved to get their attention.

"Hey Buster and Arthur!" He called out but no answer, "Arthur?"

Buster waved back but Arthur just ignored him and continued to go into the school; Brain looked sad as he watched him go inside while Sue Ellen approached him.

"What's wrong with Arthur?" She asked.

"I think he's still mad at me." He answered, "Yesterday after he walked me home from his house, he yelled at me saying he wasn't my friend anymore and I wanted to talk to him about it but he won't even look at me."

"Why'd he do that?"

"We'll he did say I acted perfect in front of his parents and he said it made him look bad." Brain explained, "But all I was doing is trying be nice as a guest."

"Well, how would you feel if you're parents kept saying you should be more like someone else? Or you felt like your friend was trying to out-do you in your own house?"

Brain had to think got a moment before he realized his friend had a point. He didn't even register Arthur's jealousy until it was too late and now he hates him got what happened.

"I guess you're right. I need to patch things up with Arthur as soon as possible."

But things didn't go as planned all throughout the school day. When Brain tried to sit next to Arthur at lunch, he only glared and moved to a different spot; at recess, Arthur brushed off Brains offer to play any games; and when school finally let out, Arthur went home alone. Brain saw him walk out the door and tried to run to him.

"Arthur wait!" Brain tried to catch up.

"Will you leave me alone already?! I already told you, I'm not your friend anymore so quit bothering me!" Arthur yelled before he ran off.

Brain paused a moment and gave himself a sad sigh.

"What am I going to do? Arthur won't listen to me." He considered giving up but shook those thoughts out, "No! I can't give up now! I have to make things right."

Arthur was already home by the time Brian came over and knocked on the door; Mrs. Read answered the door.

"Oh hello Alan!" She greeted.

"Hello Mrs. Read." He greeted back, "Is Arthur home?"

"Yes he is and I'm so glad you're here. He's been acting strange lately ever since yesterday."

"I know and I was hoping to talk to him." Brain nodded, "May I come in?"

"Of course."

He goes inside and went upstairs to Arthur's room. After thinking carefully on what to say, Brain knocked on the door.

"Arthur, it's me Brain." He said.

"Go away!" Arthur yelled, "I told you to leave me alone!"

"Listen Arthur," he began calmly, "I know you're mad at me about the sleepover and I'm sorry for what I did. But you can't let this go on forever. We need to talk about this but I can't help you if you don't give me a chance. Please Arthur..."

There was a pause of silence before Arthur finally spoke up again.

"Fine...come in..."

He opened the door and saw Arthur laying on his bed but his back was turned towards the door entry.

"Are you okay?" There was no answer for a couple minutes, "I guess you're still upset."

Brain pulls up a chair and sits besides Arthur's bed.

"Arthur, I think I'm starting to see why you've been acting so angry at me lately." Brain explained, "I didn't mean to show off in front of your family and I wasn't trying to take your life away from you. I was only a guest who was trying to be polite to everyone. I guess I might've overdid it a bit and I'm very sorry. The last thing I want to do is unintentionally end a friendship with one of my closest friends."

That made the aardvark think about what happened and how he acted; Arthur realized his friend didn't mean to act so perfect all weekend and felt a little ashamed about how he acted lately.

"Well..." Arthur slowly sat up, "I guess you didn't mean to steal them away. But you made me look bad in front of them cause you're perfect."

"But that's the thing, Arthur, I'm not perfect." Brain pointed out, "I know I seem that way but I'm really not."

"You made it seem that way to everyone." Arthur crosses his arms, "And everyone praised you and compared me to you. It made me feel hurt and unappreciated."

"We didn't mean to, honey."

Arthur looked up and sees both of his parents in the room looking sad and guilty.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Their son asked.

"We came to apologize, Arthur." David said, "We didn't mean to make you feel that way."

"He's right, honey." Jane agreed, "We both love you just the way you are."

"You do? But then why did you keep telling me to be "more like Alan?"."

"That wasn't our intention, Arthur. We wanted to make him feel more welcome at our house but I guess we hurt your feelings in the process." Jane sat beside her son, "No one is perfect but whether you are or not, we both love you very much."

"Your mother is right, son." David did the same, "We promise we won't ever make you feel inferior to anyone else ever again."

Arthur smiled at his parents and hugged them both.

"Thanks mom and dad. I'm also sorry about yelling at everyone last night." Then he looked at his friend, "And I'm sorry I got mad at you Brain. I appreciate you not giving up on me."

"That's okay." He smiled at Arthur, "I'm sorry I made the sleepover into a disaster."

"Well maybe we can try again another time. I mean if you want."

"Sounds good to me. Friends?" Brain bled out his hand.

"Friends." Arthur took it and shook his hand.

"We'll I'm glad everything turned out alright." Jane smiled and stood up, "Anyone want some ice cream?"

"We do!" The boys said.

Everyone went downstairs and had a tasty treat; at school the next day, everyone heard how Arthur and Brain made up and how things were back to normal. And both boys learned that nobody is perfect and one shouldn't try to show off in front of others.

Chapter Text

Muffy Crosswire was having a crummy time at her new school. It was bad enough she had to cheat on the math test but in doing so, she had gotten her new friend, Francine Frensky, in trouble and that act had caused their friendship to end.

She tried to apologize with gifts but in the end, they all just got thrown away in the garbage. And without Francine, the kids have no chance of winning the baseball game against school rivals, Mighty Mountain; the other kids decided to use Muffy as Francine's replacement since she stuck in detention.

Unfortunately, her senseless bragging and lies has caught up to her as her amateur playing is making her look bad to the other team and to her friends. Muffy knew that the team would fail without Francine but she's still in detention for being accused of "cheating".

As soon as Muffy told her friends that she had an idea, she rushed to the classroom of Mr. Marco and even though she hesitated for a moment, she opened the door and saw the teacher grading papers.

"Umm…Mr. Marco?" She asked meekly.

"Yes Muffy?" The teacher looked up from his desk, "Come on in."

Muffy went inside and shuts the door. She knew there's gonna be a punishment waiting for her but knew it was the only way to make things right again.

"What can I do for you?"

"Uh…." She hesitated for a moment, "I need to tell you something. It's important,"

"What's wrong, Muffy?" Mr. Morris spoke with concern, "You can tell me."

After taking a deep breath, Muffy started to tell the truth.

"Well, the truth is….Francine wasn't the one who cheated on the test. I did."

The teacher stared at her in shock for a moment before he spoke again.

"You did? Why?"

"Because…because I didn't study as well as I should've. I'm a Crosswire and didn't want anyone to know that I'm not as smart or athletic as I said I am." She admitted.

"So you copied off of Francines test and let her take the blame?"

"…yes. I knew she studied harder than me but I never wanted her to get into trouble. I guess I let my own pride get in the way of my friendship and now Francine won't even talk to me anymore."

Mr. Marco sighed heavily as he folding his hands on his desk and spoke sternly to his student.

"Muffy Crosswire, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you." He said in a low voice, "Not only did you cheat but you also lied to me and got another student in trouble. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior in my class."

"I know." Muffy hung her head in shame, "I'm really sorry."

"You should be." Mr. Marco said sternly, "Starting today and for two whole weeks, you'll be staying after school in Francine's place."

Muffy opened her mouth to protest her punishment but didn't say anything to upset her teacher further.

"Okay…"

"You will also be doing a remake test next week. And when you go to the detention room, you may tell her she can play in the softball game."

"Really? She can?"

He nods and adds, "I'll be sure to apologize formally to her tomorrow. You may go now."

"Yes sir."

After leaving the classroom, Muffy hurries to the detention room to let Francine know that her name is cleared.

Later, even though Lakewood Elementary lost the game, Francine still got to score and she decided to give Muffy another chance. The rich girl learned a powerful lesson that day: should you get your friend in trouble by cheating, you'll end up having no one to stand by you.

Chapter Text

It's been a rough week for Buster Baxter lately. He created a joke for his King Tut joke and after he told it to his friend, Binky Barnes, the older boy told it to the class with his Columbus report. In the end, Buster ended up getting a D on his report and he's held a grudge against Binky since then; he keeps ranting to his friends about how "Binky stole his joke", much to their annoyance. Then the day of the talent show came and instead of jokes, Buster decided to rant about it again to the whole school.

"Hi, everyone. There's a kid in my class named Binky Barnes." He began, "Nobody has a bad thing to say about Binky, because they don't want to get pounded. Binky wrote a history report about Columbus. Columbus, that's Italian for "Boy, am I lost!" I wrote a report about King Tut and I wrote a good King Tut joke to open my report with, but Binky told my King Tut joke in his Columbus report. Everybody laughed. But you know what the punch line was? He told my joke that I wrote and I got a D!"

No one applauded as Buster sets the microphone back in place and walks off stage; watching from the side, Mr. Ratburn listened carefully to what his student had said and planned on speaking to Buster after the talent show was over. Moments later, George was declared the winner and Buster wasn't too happy about it.

"I can't believe it! I didn't win!" He said in shock, "That's not fair!"

"Buster, all you did was rant about Binky for the millionth time." Arthur finally said, "That wasn't a joke, that was just talking about your problem."

"But I was speaking the truth." Buster tried to defend, "Most people prefer that in comedy."

As the two talked, their teacher we came up to them both and spoke up.

"Buster, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Okay."

The two went to the backstage to talk things out.

"I couldn't help but notice that little rant of yours back there. Is something bothering you, Buster?" Mr Ratburn asked, "You seemed upset at Binky over something."

"I am upset! It's because you gave Binky a better grade than me over a joke that I wrote and it's not fair!" Buster crossed his arms and turned away.

The teacher was shocked at first at his students outburst but then regained his composure so he could talk to his student properly.

"Buster," he said calmly, "I didn't give Binky any extra credit over a little joke. I gave him a B because he actually put in the effort on his report."

"But he stole my joke! I was gonna use it for my report and he took it from me!" Buster said in frustration, "And he used it for a report that wasn't even about King Tut! He stole my joke and I got a bad grade because of him!"

"Buster!" Ratburn spoke firmly, "You hardly did any work on your report. Instead of King Tut, you wrote about eggnog. And even if the joke was funny, it wouldn't have helped your grade one bit.

"I-It wouldn't?"

"Not at all. I only grade based on how much work and research was put into assignments, not over luck and minor things like jokes. I understand it wasn't right for Binky to take your joke without asking, but being upset over something like this won't change anything. It won't change your grade and you're only making yourself look like a fool."

At that moment, Buster started to feel guilty about his behavior for the past week: being angry at Binky, annoying his friends, and making himself look silly to everyone over a silly joke. He now realized that this whole grudge was simply pointless to begin with.

"You're right, Mr. Ratburn." Buster sighed heavily, "I was completely silly. I'm sorry. I did deserve a D after all…"

The teacher felt sympathetic for the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Buster." He spoke softly, "Tell you what, if you redo your report and actually put in the effort, I'll give you a better grade. Sound fair?"

Busters eyes beamed when he heard this and nodded excitedly.

"Sure thing! I'll start it right away!" He agreed.

"Good." Mr Ratburn smiled, "Also I think you should talk to Binky about how you feel. I'm sure he didn't mean to steal your joke."

"Okay I will. Thank you Mr. Ratburn."

After thanking his teacher, Buster went to find Binky and told the truth about what happened. Feeling bad for stealing Buster's joke, he gave him some change, a button, and a sticker as payment and the two rekindled their friendship.

Buster learned a few good lessons that day: always talk to your friends if there's a problem; never hold a grudge over something pointless; and don't always rely on luck when you're doing homework or anything.

Chapter Text

Arthur and his friends were studying bats and getting ready to go on a field trip to the caves in about a few days.
One day, they brought in their diorama’s for their versions of the caves and his friend, Francine, was teasing him again.

“Did Arthur have scary nightmares last night?” Francine said in a baby voice. 

“Cut it out, Francine!” Arthur said angrily, “I mean it! I’m not scared and you need to quit it!”

“Ha! Whatever!”

Mr. Ratburn checked most of the dioramas and when it was Brains turn, you requested that all the lights be shut off because his was has glow in the dark features.

“Don’t worry, Arthur. We’ll have the lights back on soon.” Francine teased again. 

“Stop it!” 

“Francine, enough is enough.” Mr. Ratburn set an a stern voice, “If you don’t stop picking on Arthur this instant, you’re gonna be staying behind from the field trip.”

“What?! But I…”

“No buts. You’ve been taunting Arthur for the past couple days and it’s not right. Being scared sometimes is normal and there are some people who are not. It’s also perfectly natural to be afraid of going into a cave for the first time, but that’s no excuse for bullying. Now be nice or no field trip.”

“Yes sir…” Francine looked down. 

Arthur smiled to himself and the day was normal. 
Later that night, Arthur could hear something coming from his little sisters room. He goes in, opens the closet door, and sees D.W. with fake vampire teeth and jumping out to scare him.

“Arrrrrr!! Scared?” She asked. 

“Nope.” He said while looking unamused. 

“Whooo!”

She ran around and pretended to be a bat, but it didn’t faze him at all.

“Let me guess…. You’re supposed to be a bat, right?”

“Oh, stop faking it!” She stomped her foot, “You're scared out of your underwear from all this caves and bats stuff. Whooooo!”

Arthur knew she had been trying to freak him out after talking to his family about the cases and bats, but he wasn’t scared and was more annoyed than ever.

“I know you’re trying to scare me but it won’t work.” Arthur said casually. 

“That’s cause you’re faking it! Woooo!” She tried to scare him again. 

“D.W., that’s enough!” David said firmly. 

They turned to see their dad coming behind him and he crossed his arms at the small girl. 

“But dad! Arthur is faking not being scared!” D.W. whined.

“D.W., not everyone can be scared and all you’re doing is bothering your brother over and over again. If you don’t stop, I’m gonna have to take away your TV privileges. That means no more Mary Moo Cow or Crazy Bus. Understand?”

D.W.  gasped at the thought of not be able to watch her favorite shows and just ran to her room.

“Thanks dad. That was getting annoying.” Arthur said. 

“No problem. One day she’ll learn it’s not okay to tease someone who’s scared or not.”

Everyone went to bed and even though Arthur had a nightmare, he was ready to go to the caves the next day. 

They went on the field trip and everything was going fine until some of the kids got scared seeing the bats and made them fly around.
Then, Arthur remembered what his dad said about whistling a tune when he’s scared or nervous. Everyone all whistled together and with the help of their guide, they made it out of the cave safely.

“Phew! Forgive me for having that panic attack in front of all of you.” Mr. Ratburn said after calming down, “Arthur, thank you for helping us back there. That was a really good idea.”

As everyone congratulated Arthur, the teasing started to turn to Francine.

“Your were a mess.” Muffy said to her.

“You were so scared!” Buster added. 

“No I wasn’t!” Francine denied, “I wasn’t scared!”

“Yes you were.” Binky said as he pulled out some pictures he took, “See?”

The photos he took showed evidence of her and their teacher screaming in a panic.

“Hey, you get rid of those pictures! I was not scared!”

“Francine!” Everyone said at once.

She sighed in defeat and realized it was karma for how she treated Arthur lately. 

“Okay okay, I guess I was kinda scared. And I’m sorry, Arthur.” 

“It’s okay, Francine.” Arthur said with a comforting smile, “Hopefully you know now that it’s not okay to make fun of others over fear.”

She nodded and they went home with their class. 
Everyone learned a lesson that day that anyone can be scared and it’s perfectly normal.

(To be continued…)

Chapter Text

Arthur was working odd job after odd job to earn money for a new product called the moon boots, which can help you bounce like you’re actually on the moon.

It had been tough, but he’s been saving every penny so he can buy them.

One day while clean out the garage, Ms. Tibble came over and talked to Arthur.

“Arthur, if you’re gonna have a garage sale, you should have a sign up.” she said politely.

Arthur about to say something when she grabbed a small box that was laying on top one of the other bigger boxes.

“I’ll give you five dollars for this.” 

“Oh that’s not for-“ he tried to say.

“Alright. Ten dollars and not a penny more.” Ms. Tibble made a final offer. 

Arthur thought about it, and even though it’ll be more than enough money for his moon boots, his eyes immediately fell to the small label on the box and remembered what it was for.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Tibble.” Arthur said as he gently took the box from her, “It’s not for sale.” 

“What?” She said in confusion, “But ai thought you were-“

“I’m not having a garage sale, I’m just cleaning out the garage. And besides, I can’t give you this because it’s a birthday present for my mom. That’s why I can’t sell it to you.”

“Oh my heavens!” Ms. Tibble said in shock, “I can’t believe I almost bought your mother’s birthday present! I do apologize, Arthur.”

“That’s okay. The truth is I’m doing this chores so I can earn money for moon boots.”

“I see. Well because you’re so honest, I’m willing to give you a job too. How about you come to my house and clean up all the leaves for me? I haven’t been able to do it lately because it’s been hard on my back. Will you be able to help?”

“Sure! I can come over after I finish.” Arthur smile.

“It’s a deal. And I can even bring some milk and cookies.” She smiled back. 

“Wow thanks!” 

Later, Arthur gave the present to his dad for safe keeping and after getting permission from his parents, he went over to Ms. Tibble’s house to get rid of the leaves.

After I was done, she gave him a full ten dollars for all his hard work. He thought it was too much at first, but she said it was because this honesty earlier and for doing such hard work that he earned more than enough.

Arthur thanked her and they both got to enjoy some cookies after.
He couldn’t wait to tell his parents about what happened and to buy his beloved moon boots.

(To be continued…)

Chapter Text

For the past few days, Arthur and his friends  have been feeling neglected by their friend, Buster Baxter. He’s been hanging with a new friend named Mike and he doesn’t seem to want to hang with his friends anymore; Buster forgot to join them in their activities and Arthur had been working on their science project alone.

Things finally came to a head when Arthur told him that he’s done being his project partner all because Buster was spending his time with Mike; and when he couldn’t present a progress report during class, Mr. Ratburn wishes to speak to him later. 

After class and everyone got up to leave, Buster tried to approach his friends.

“Um… do you wanna meet up later?” He asked Arthur nervously.

“Hmph!” Arthur ignored him and walked away.

Buster sighed to himself knowing that he’s losing the trust of his best friend all because he had, unintentionally, neglected them for Mike. 

“It’s your own fault, you know”. Francine told him, “You didn’t help with the project and you kept ignoring him. He even said he waited for you all night last night, but you never came at all. Not to mention, you didn’t keep your promise to help us at the baseball game.”

“But…”

“Or help me pick out a bike!” Muffy glared, “Daddy told me that I had gotten way too many bikes and we had to take them all back to the shop! You’re just lucky we got our money back or I would’ve sued you!”

“Uh..”

“And it’s not fun playing computer games by yourself.” Brain added, “See you later.” 

Buster felt even worse after his friends left the classroom and he realized that he had been a terrible friend to them lately.
Then, he went up to Mr. Ratburn’s desk to receive his lecture.

“Buster, can you please explain to me why you haven’t been contributing to the science project with your partner?” He asked while forming his hands. 

“Umm…well…” Buster struggled to think of the words. 

Unable to delay it any longer, Buster told the truth that he had been hanging out with someone else for some time and he didn’t notice that he was neglecting his friends and project until Arthur told him off earlier. 

“I see. Buster, hanging out with new friends or engaging in an activities is one thing but there’s no reason for you to disregard your schoolwork or to ignore your friends or science project partners. You need to learn to balance things out and not prioritize one over the other.”

“I know..” The boy looked down in regret, “Arthur told me he doesn’t want to work on the project with me anymore and wants to do it on his own. And my friends were all mad at me because I didn’t come to help them.”

“If I were you, I would apologize to your friends and figure out how to balance your time with them and this Mike person you keep mentioning. And from now on, I don’t want you ignoring your schoolwork just because you like to have fun. And I want you to write a report about the importance of teamwork and prioritizing your schoolwork due tomorrow. Understand?”

“Yes sir…”

And so, Buster was allowed to leave. He still felt bad about everything that’s happened and the first thing he was gonna do was apologize to Arthur.
Once their friendship is repaired, he’ll apologize to everyone else as well and he’ll promise to always make time for them and Mike.

(To be continued…)

Chapter Text

After a disagreement, Arthur and his friends decided to make their own clubs of their own likeness and have their own rules.

But things getting out of control such as they can’t interact with other kids if it’s against the club rules or being kicked out over something trivial as being on time.

Francine arrived at Muffy’s clubhouse but she was kicked out because he missed a day when she was sick.

“Get off my property or I’m calling the police!” 

Muffy shut the curtains and turned her back towards her friend. 

“Muffy, you can’t kick me out!” Francine yelled through the window, “You’re being such a rat!”

“How dare you say that to me?!” Muffy yelled back, “You broke the rules and I told you to leave! You’re not longer welcome here!”

“You know what? Forget it! You can keep your stupid club without me! And I don’t care if you’re the only member! I’m gonna make my own club and you’re not invited! Goodbye!” 

Francine stormed off and didn’t look back. 

The next day at school, Arthur tried to talk to his friends during and after school but they all ignored him because of their own clubs rules.

Then before he went home, he saw Sue Ellen walking and reading a book at the same time.

“Oh hey-“ he tried to greet her. 

“Don’t talk to me!” Sue Ellen said without looking up, “This is the meeting of the Reading And Walking Club!”

But as she walked, she failed to notice the stop sign at the end of the sidewalk.

“Sue Ellen! stop!” He called out. 

“I said don’t talk to me!” 

“Stop!”

Arthur grabbed her and pulled her out of the way before a car could hit her when she was about to step onto the road.
She dropped her book and looked up at the boy.

“Hey, what’d you do that for?” Sue Ellen asked.

“You almost got hit by a car because you were watching where you’re going!” Arthur said to her, “You could’ve gotten hurt all because of your stupid club!” 

“Well, I didn’t mean to! I was in a meeting!” 

“Okay that’s it! I had enough of this!” 

Arthur ran back to the school and talked to the principal before he left for the day. 

The day after that, Arthur was waiting in the principals office along with Mr. Ratburn and Mr. Haney and they summoned his friends to join them. 

Francine, Muffy, Buster, Binky, Brain, and Sue Ellen came in and 

“I suppose you’re wondering why I called you all here this morning.” Mr. Haney said, “Arthur has been telling me about the clubs you all have formed this past couple of weeks.”

“And he also said that you’ve been ignoring your friends and school activities for the sake of your own club rules. Like ignoring your teammates during a game.” Mr. Ratburn said and glanced over at Sue Ellen, “Even ignoring your own safety.” 

The young girl looked down and knew it was a dumb idea to walk and read without watching what she was doing. 

“So from now on, any club activities outside of school are not permitted here.” Mr Haney said, “Only school clubs are allowed here but you do not exclude your classmates or friends either way. And no more waking and reading clubs. Understand?” 

“Yes sir..” the kids said as they looked down. 

After school, Arthur met up with his friends at the clubhouse and they all apologized for how they acted.
And they also discontinued their self made clubs and went back to working on their float for the Strawberry Festival Parade 

(To be continued…)