Fanon:PLET

Because of how popular PLET was, I thought I would try and write it into a full novel. Obviously, I am an inexperienced writer, so the story wouldn't be A-grade. I will update this as I write each chapter—enjoy.

1
Peyton stared at the clock as it ticked by the second. The detention room was scorching, despite the air conditioner noisily blasting. It was the last day of school at Golden Peak Middle School. Peyton was given detention for flicking off his science teacher, Mr. Pranava. He happened to be the only person in the room with Peyton.

They were exchanging dirty looks when the detention bell loudly rang. Without saying a word, Peyton snatched his backpack and left the room. He raced across the halls and kicked the door open, only to be met by the blistering sun. However, the sun was the very least of Peyton’s problems. Because of his untimely detention, Peyton was late for the first treehouse meeting of the summer. He hopped on his bicycle and pedaled across the street and into the woods.

Sweat dripped as Peyton furiously pedaled his bike through the forest. He stopped when he spotted the giant tree with a ladder hanging down from its biggest branch. Peyton fell as he got off his bike, and as he tried to get up someone pushed him from behind; it was Henry.

“Where have you been?” he chuckled. Peyton got up and pushed him back.

“I had to go to my grandma’s house to get some stuff,” Peyton lied. They scurried across the dirt path and climbed up the ladder in the treehouse.

“Hey, Peyton,” welcomed Carter. Peyton smiled at him. The treehouse was the headquarters of Peyton’s comic creating club. Peyton and his friends often bragged about the treehouse to their other friends, it was almost like a miniature apartment. There were two tables, four beanbag chairs, a pantry full of snacks, and a cabinet for art supplies. The windows were even made of glass and could open and close. There wasn’t a square inch on the wooden wall that wasn’t covered in drawings and stories.

“Good Oak Comics!” said Jacob happily. “That’s us!”

“Yep!” Peyton responded. In past years, the comics club would sell all their comics at the park. Everyone loved their comics, people would often praise Peyton and his friends for their amazing work. But this year was different. This year, they would open an online store and sell all of their comics there.

“I can’t wait to make some money of my own,” said Suyash. “I’ve been wanting a new phone for so long!”

“Nice! I just finished the website last week!” exclaimed Peyton. He had spent his free time for the past several months coding the website.

Henry and Carter laid some drawings on the table.

“These are some characters we came up with before you arrived,” said Carter as he pushed a drawing toward Peyton. “This guy’s called Joe Moraliste.”

“He’s an ancient warrior who travels through the universe,” Henry added. Peyton nodded as he sat down and got to work. He had a few of his own comic ideas in his mind that he came up with during detention. Suyash looked over and started adding some of his characters to his story. The treehouse swiftly went quiet as everyone started drawing and writing.

A thunderstorm hit just as Henry and Carter finished the cover for Joe Moraliste. Everyone glanced outside; it wasn’t dark, but the rain looked black and inky regardless. The rain noisily tapped the windows, but Suyash went back to work, and Henry did the same. Jacob stared nervously out the window, and Peyton just lay on a beanbag chair munching on potato chips.

“Don’t go,” he said, looking at Jacob. “It’s probably safer in here.” Jacob nodded and lay on the beanbag chair next to Peyton’s.

“Chip?”

“No thanks,” Jacob’s voice was shaky. He trembled loudly on the beanbag chair. Henry looked over and smirked before going back to draw aliens.

Another hour passed, and the storm appeared far from stopping. The sun had set, and the forest was pitch black outside, other than the occasional distant lightning strikes. No one was brave enough to leave. They had all gotten bored and were just playing cards on the rug. Finally, Suyash put on his coat and grabbed his stuff.

“This storm’s probably going to last all night, I should probably go.” He slowly climbed down the ladder and ran into the dense forest. Henry and Carter left shortly after, and only Peyton and Jacob were left in the treehouse.

Peyton was staring at a photo on the back wall. It was his older brother, Travis, who was killed in a fatal car accident last year. Jacob went to comfort him.

“You know,” said Peyton, choking up tears. “Travis was the one that built this treehouse with me; he started this comic club.” Jacob had heard this story countless times, but he didn’t say anything. He put his arm on Peyton’s shoulder.

“Let’s go home,” he suggested quietly. Peyton hesitated, before looking at him and nodding. They both grabbed their stuff and left the treehouse together into the dark woods.

2
The scent of wet wood lingered the next morning in the treehouse. Peyton and Suyash had come in early to deliver supplies. They went to four different stores to buy paper, markers, pens, pencils, and snacks.

“I can’t believe that the grocery store was out of cheese puffs already!” scoffed Suyash. Peyton ignored him as he neatly arranged the snacks alphabetically in the wooden cabinet. “Peyton, how much money did we spend?”

“Sixty dollars,” said Peyton as he shuffled through the receipts. “It shouldn’t be too hard to earn back.” He placed the folders into a folder and put it into the drawer. Peyton was the most organized person in the comic club; he was the reason the treehouse wasn’t a cluttered mess.

“Hey, I left my laptop at home; I’m running back to grab it.” Without waiting for Suyash’s response, Peyton climbed the ladder and ran into the dense woods. Suyash finished organizing the treehouse on his own. He vacuumed the rug, cleaned the tables and chairs, and organized old comics.

“Hi, Suyash!” shouted Carter; Suyash jumped a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Carter chuckled. “Wow, everything’s looking really nice.”

“Thanks.”

“Where are the others?”

“They haven’t arrived yet.” Carter nodded and began brainstorming more ideas on a sheet of lined paper. Jacob arrived at the treehouse moments later; he also complemented Suyash on how nice the treehouse looked.

“Who is that?” asked Jacob looking out the window. Suyash and Carter peeked through the door. It was Henry, but he was with another kid whom nobody could recognize.

“Hey, everyone!” greeted Henry. “This is Pat! He moved into my neighborhood yesterday, and he says that he likes to draw!” Pat was a short kid who looked around the same age as the others. He had blond, curly hair and glasses.

“Hi.” Pat shyly waved at everyone in the treehouse. Suyash and Carter looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

“Welcome,” greeted Carter. “I’m Carter, and I’m one of the main artists here. Nice to meet you, Pat.” Suyash and Jacob also greeted Pat and let him into the treehouse.

“Let me give you the grand tour,” joked Henry. “Over there is the snack cabinet, here is the drawing table, and over there are our cabinets for filing old or discarded comics.” Pat looked around; everyone could tell that he was impressed.

“Hey, everybody, I’m back,” said Peyton as he climbed into the treehouse. “Who’s this?”

“Peyton, this Pat. Pat, this is Peyton.” They shook hands.

“Well, hello Pat. I’m Peyton, and I’m the one in charge here. Every summer, we gather here as much as possible to put all of our artistic ideas on paper. If they’re good, we can sell them. In past years, we’ve sold them at the park, and—”

“I know, Henry told me everything,” said Pat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s good that Henry told you everything about us. So, guys, I’m almost done with the website. I just need to fix some bugs and formatting stuff.”

“Great! I can’t wait to make some good money!”

“Me too, Henry. Let’s first worry about drawing the comics. You guys should get started; every day matters, and summer vacation is too short to slack off.” Everyone got to work except Pat. He just watched Henry and Carter work on Joe Moraliste. Eventually, he started working on his own comics.

“What’s it supposed to be about?” asked Jacob curiously as he looked over at Pat.

“It’s a parody of the American Civil War. I’m really into history and social studies.”

“I hate social studies,” commented Henry.

“That’s cool; we mainly write science fiction and action comics here, but history is fine.”

“History comics are for nerds; the cartoonists of Good Oak Comics are not nerds.”

“You seem like a nerd with all of your website shenanigans.” Peyton stood up fiercely.

“Just because I can code doesn’t mean that I am a nerd. Coding is actually useful in life, unlike history.”

“I feel like you’re too dumb to learn history, and therefore you dislike it.”

“Pat, Peyton, call down,” said Carter calmly. Peyton and Pat both ignored him.

“At least I don’t look like a tiny, pathetic, 8-year-old nerd who got potty-trained last week,” Peyton roared loudly. He slammed the table and kicked a small stool over.

“Peyton, that’s enough!” shouted Suyash. There was a long, awkward silence. Everyone sat down and stared blankly at the wooden table.

“I’m sorry,” mumbled Peyton. Pat nodded, accepting his apology. “I’m going to head home and work on the website.” He took his laptop and slowly climbed down the treehouse ladder. Silence filled the room once again.

“So… how much money did you make last year?” asked Pat, trying to break the ice.

“That’s none of your business,” mumbled Henry.

“Around 2000 dollars,” answered Jacob. Henry shot Jacob an angry look, which Jacob ignored.

“Cool,” said Pat with a soft smile. “I’m going to head home, bye guys.” Pat left the ladder and trotted into the woods. Henry and Jacob spent the rest of the night glaring at each other after Suyash and Carter left.

3
Peyton laid back on his couch and turned on the TV. It was Monday, and the treehouse never drew comics on Monday as “a protest against school,” as Henry would say it. Just as the show ended and went to commercials, someone knocked on Peyton’s door. He slowly sat up and slumped towards the front door. To his surprise, Pat was standing there with a backpack on. He opened the door.

“Good morning, Pat; how was your Sunday night?” Peyton greeted sarcastically. “What do you want?”

“Hi, Peyton. I wanted to apologize for starting that argument with you yesterday. You’re in charge, and if you don’t want history comics then I shouldn’t be drawing them.” Peyton stood there without saying anything. He thought about what happened last night.

“Yeah, I guess I’m sorry too. Wanna come in?” Pat awkwardly stepped into Peyton’s house. “What’s in the bag? Do you have summer school or something?”

“Actually, these are some other comics that I brought. These ones are science fiction and action genres like you asked.” Pat spread the comics on Peyton’s dining table, which Peyton arranged neatly.

“Wow, you drew quite a few.” Peyton flipped through the pages of the comics with enthusiasm. “These are really good!” he completed truthfully. “I love the drawing style, and the background is done really well on every panel! Well done!”

“Actually, I didn’t draw that one, my brother did. I drew the ones over there.” Peyton flipped through some of Pat’s own comics. They weren’t as good as his brother’s but still drawn well nevertheless.

“Is your brother interested in joining us? His art skills are really good; the stories are also well-written, and the plots are really interesting.” Pat looked down with disappointment. He wandered around the dining room without saying anything.

“Pat?” asked Peyton nervously. “Was it something I said?”

“My brother, he—” stuttered Pat. “He has an extreme anxiety disorder. It’s so bad that he can’t even leave our house without having panic attacks.” Pat sat down; Peyton looked around, not knowing what to say.

“Um— I’m sorry to hear that,” said Peyton awkwardly. “What’s your brother’s name?”

“His name is Cameron,” responded Pat. “Those comics that I showed you were drawn a while ago. He loves drawing at home.”

“I see. Well, even if he can’t come to the treehouse, he can still draw comics for us, right?” asked Peyton hopefully.

“That’s a good idea,” agreed Pat. “Yeah, I can bring everything he draws to you. After all our meetings, I could show him what we worked on, and he could continue there.”

“Great!” exclaimed Peyton happily. “I’m so glad Henry found you; you two will make a great addition to Good Oak Comics!” He shook Pat’s hand, and they high-fived. “Anyways, Monday is no workday for us. Henry probably told you already; he’s really serious about it.”

“Yeah, I know. Wanna go outside and do something?”

“Sure, let’s go to Henry, er— you’re neighborhood! I can show you around Golden Peak Middle School, it’s a nice place!” Peyton and Pat left the house and walked to the local middle school. They talked about comics and movies as they walked in the blistering sun.

“So, this is Golden Peak Middle School! Welcome to Hell!” laughed Peyton. “Seriously though, this place sucks. You’re going into 8th grade, right?”

“I’m going into 7th grade.”

“Well, good luck with Mr. Pranava then, he’s terrible. Science is going to be a rough class for you, my friend.” Pat didn’t say anything. He just looked around at the brick walls. “So, how does Cameron go to school? I’m pretty sure it’s against the law to not get educated.”

“My mom homeschools him; she also has a job as a librarian, so she’s really busy.” Peyton nodded. He showed Pat a little more around the school before going home.

“Wanna stop by my house, Peyton?” asked Pat. “I wanna grab some drinks; the sun is scorching today.

“Sure.”

Pat’s house was almost identical to Henry’s in shape; it was just a different color. “Sorry that the house is really empty. We just moved in. I’ll grab some sodas from the garage; you can look around if you’d like.” There wasn’t much for Peyton to look at. The basement was unfinished, and all the rooms were either empty or full of cardboard boxes. Peyton went upstairs, hoping that Pat wouldn’t mind. The bedrooms were just as empty as the downstairs rooms.

“Hey,” said Pat, which startled Peyton; he handed Peyton a can of soda.

“I wouldn’t recommend going into there,” said Pat, pointing to the first door on the left. “That’s the room where Cameron stays; he doesn’t like strangers.”

“Alright, I’ll stay away from there. It must suck to suffer from such bad anxiety.”

“Cameron’s panic attacks scare me, honestly,” responded Pat while sipping his soda loudly. “Anyways, we should head downstairs. By the way, I don’t want to sound greedy, but could Cameron and I earn a share of your guys’ revenue?”

“Absolutely! As long as Cameron keeps drawing those outstanding comics, that is!” said Peyton excitedly. Good Oak Comics never had an excellent artist. Their best cartoonist was Henry, who couldn’t draw noses correctly. Pat was also ecstatic; he had a massive grin on his face as they talked.

“Oop,” muttered Peyton as his phone buzzed; he answered the call. “I have to go,” he mouthed to Pat. Pat waved him goodbye as he went out the door into the hot sun. Peyton had to go home for lunch, but food had no place in his thoughts. He was elated that an artist as amazing as Cameron would be helping Good Oak Comics this summer.

4
Henry was surprised to see Pat back at the treehouse on Tuesday. He had assumed that Pat wouldn’t return after his hostile clash with Peyton.

“Hey, everyone!” welcomed Peyton. “I wanted to apologize for making such a big scene the last time we met.”

“Me too,” added Pat.

“It turns out that Pat’s brother, Cameron, is an outstanding artist! And, he’s planning on helping us with our comics this summer! Isn’t this great?” Peyton and Pat laid some of Cameron’s comics on the wooden table. The others circled the table, all looking impressed.

“They’re so good!” exclaimed Jacob. “I’m speechless!”

“Man, I wish I could draw this well,” groaned Suyash. “Yeah, this summer is going to be awesome.”

“Where is he?” asked Carter, peeking out the door. “Could he not come today?” Pat looked down with dismay.

“Pat’s brother unfortunately has an anxiety disorder. He freaks out at the sight of strangers, according to him.” Peyton tried to comfort Pat as he stared at the ground.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Pat. But look on the bright side, he’s still with us at Good Oak Comics! Welcome to the team!” said Carter happily. Everyone applauded, welcoming their new members.

“Let’s get to work, everyone!” The treehouse quickly went quiet as everyone focused on their work. Carter and Henry had Pat help with Joe Moraliste.

“You can help draw the setting,” suggested Henry as he munched on a cheese doodle.

“No, we should fix Nate’s pants. The shade of green that you’re using looks hideous with his jacket and boots. We need to redo all of it.” Carter and Henry looked at each other. They made facial gestures at each other, trying to convince the other to speak up. Suyash looked over to see what was going on.

“You see, Pat. They’ve already written over 20 pages of it; it’s too late to fix it now.”

“It looks awful,” said Pat in a disgusted tone.

“Are you serious?” Peyton retorted angrily. “It looks fine. Pat, you’re supposed to help draw the setting, so why don’t you focus on that.”

“I refuse to contribute to a comic with such a poorly drawn character.”

“I think he looks fine,” commented Carter. Pat shook his head and pouted. Everyone argued against Pat for several minutes. He still insisted that Nate’s pants looked bad.

“You know what, Pat? WHY DON’T YOU REDRAW THE WHOLE THING IF YOU’RE SO GOOD!” shouted Henry as he threw the comic at Pat. “DO IT! I AM NOT REDRAWING 20 PAGES OF COMICS BECAUSE THE NEW GUY ON OUR TEAM SAYS SO!”

“Henry, chill out,” said Jacob quietly. Henry had done a good job intimidating Pat; he sat down and continued to draw the setting of Joe Moraliste.”

“Peyton, I’d like so speak with you outside right now,” said Henry. Without waiting for an answer, he climbed down the rope ladder and waited at the trunk of the great oak. Peyton looked at the others, who gestured at him to go talk to Henry.

“We can’t have Pat on our team if he’s going to continue arguing with us. It’s a major distraction; plus, he’s barely helping.”

“Come on, Henry,” sighed Peyton.

“He draws so slowly!” hissed Henry. “He even has the audacity to criticize our work when he is contributing nothing to Joe Moraliste!”

“He’s new to the team, Henry. If it makes you feel better, I’ll talk to him about it.”

“You better,” said Henry as he climbed back up the ladder and into the treehouse. Peyton just stood there, thinking about what to do. He didn’t want to risk Pat and Cameron leaving the time; he also didn’t want Henry to hate Pat.

“Why did I bring him here?” Henry mumbled to himself as he sat down. He could tell that Pat was staring at him after he said that.

“Henry, that’s kind of mean,” whispered Carter. Henry rolled his eyes in response and mouthed “whatever.”

Nobody said anything for another half hour. Pat continued to draw the setting like he was told to do. Eventually, Pat stood up to leave.

“I’m heading home, guys.” Pat took his water bottle and climbed down the treehouse ladder. Henry scowled, knowing that Peyton didn’t talk to Pat like he had asked.

“Should we order pizza for lunch?” suggested Jacob.

“Why don’t we go to the Baseball Grill?” chuckled Peyton. Jacob glared at him, but everyone agreed to it.

“Come with us, Jacob!” laughed Henry. Jacob groaned and followed the rest of his friends to his family restaurant. They were greeted by Jacob’s older brother, Zach.

“When are you going to come and work for us?” asked Zach coldly. “We need a new dishwasher; Dad fired the last one.” Jacob mocked Zach and ignored him.

“A table for 5, please,” said Suyash. Zach rolled his eyes and took them to a large round table.

“What would you nerds like to drink?”

Everyone ordered a glass of water except for Henry, who ordered an orange soda.

“Enjoy,” mumbled Zach as he served the beverages. He spat in Jacob’s glass of water before returning to the kitchen.

“Idiot,” groaned Jacob. He dumped the water on the ground. Carter laughed.

“So, what do you guys think of Pat?” asked Peyton. “Look, if you guys don’t want him on the team, then that’s fine.”

“No, he’s a distraction. Guys, I’m sorry for bringing him to the treehouse,” said Henry as he sipped his soda. Carter, Jacob, and Suyash all pondered silently.

“He seems cool,” Carter remarked. “I think he should stay; his brother draws really well.”

“Me too,” added Jacob. “For the same reason, I guess.”

“You guess?” scoffed Henry. “Pat and Cameron are going to be taking almost 30% of our revenue! This is a serious decision. Take it seriously.”

“Yes, I think Pat should stay with us.”

“Suyash? What do you think?” asked Peyton.

“Hm,” he mumbled as he put his hand to his forehead. “Yeah, he seems cool. He can start drama sometimes, but it’s not that big of a deal.” Henry sighed.

“Alright, then it’s settled. Pat and Cameron will be part of Good Oak Comics. Cheers, everyone.” Everyone except Henry clinked their glasses and drank.