Summertime Stands

Summertime Stands is the thirty-eighth episode of Sodor High School: Thomas and Friends Tales.
==Synopsis==
Leo gets his own Summer job, but struggles after his first day.
==Plot==
One Wednesday night at the Splinterson home, Leo's parents talk with him and his younger brother Michelangelo, or "Mikey". With Gordon working at the rubbish dump, Mavis working at the Ffarquhar Quarry, and Rosie having worked at Ulfstead Castle, they suggest their sons get summer jobs. While Leo's fine with it, Mikey isn't too thrilled as he wanted to spend the summer surfing with his friends at the beach, not to mention having jobs would interfere with the brothers' martial arts lessons with their grandfather. Casey and April simply tell Mikey that they've spoken to their grandfather and arranged for the boys' lessons to be moved to the evenings, and that having a job means getting work experience and being paid. At the prospect of earning money, Mikey agrees for the sake of buying anything he likes such as pizza.
Looking over a list provided by both parents of possible places looking to hire, Mikey immediately wants to apply as a delivery boy at the Pizza Palace using his skateboard to get around. Casey soon brings Leo into his private study to talk about working with his friend Bradford within the Ffarquhar area selling hot dogs, revealing that he told Bradford about the time Leo helped out with rescue efforts about the storm that struck the island. Leo likes the idea of selling hot dogs to passengers at the station, and Casey promises to give Bradford a call about the job and schedule a meeting on Friday. Leo returns to his room and gives Thomas a call about him and Mikey getting a summer job, which Thomas notes makes them the fourth and fifth students to do so. Leo explains that he's hoping to get a position selling hot dogs at Ffarquhar station, and Thomas soon has to hang up for the night.
Two days later, April takes Mikey to the Pizza Palace, while Casey drives Leo to Ffarquhar station. Once there, Bradford and Casey greet each other before the former addresses Leo and suggests they put Leo's insistance about being very dependable to the test. Once inside the station, Bradford hands Leo an apron and vendor's cap to put on and shows him what to do. Once the explanation is over, Leo sets to work as Bradford and Casey watch. The first customers to arrive are Thomas and Emily, with the former claiming that when the latter heard Leo plans to work at the station she insisted on coming to see him. Leo feels touched and gives his two friends a hot dog and pointed to the condiments and napkins before they paid him for the food. Once Thomas and Emily leave, Bradford praises Leo for being a quick learner—before playfully teasing the teenage boy about potentially liking Emily more than as a friend.
The rest of the day carries on, with Leo being on his toes and working hard to serve customers coming or going. Bradford is very impressed and gives the tired out Leo the job at the end of the day in addition to a good payment. Bradford tells Leo that work begins at 10:00 in the morning, but should arrive at the station for 9:00 to get everything cleaned up and ready. Later that night during dinner, the Splintersons enjoy a pizza that Mikey and April brought home after the former received the job of delivering pizzas. Before heading to bed, Leo sets his alarm so he would wake up on time to make it to work the next day. In the morning, Leo learns the hard way that he forgot to set the alarm for 7:30 and instead had it set for 9:30, the time he usually woke up during the summer. He grumpily gets up and prepares to take a shower, but finds Mikey hogging the bathroom. Mikey soon finishes, only for Leo to discover that Mikey had not only taken a shower but also sabotaged the hot water system and made it cold water. Taking a quick shower and fixing the system, Leo eats breakfast quickly and goes outside to get his bike, only to realize he forgot to get the front tire repaired.
When he finally arrives, Bradford scolds Leo for being late but forgives him. For the rest of the morning, Leo has a better day. At noon, Bradford has to step out to visit the doctor, asking Leo to keep an eye on things until he returns in a few hours. As Leo is cleaning the stand, Spencer shows up and mocks him for working such an undignified job. Leo barely keeps his cool as Spencer orders two Italian sausages and a can of diet coke—but Spencer deliberately leaves without paying, laughing over getting Leo back for humiliating him near the end of the school year. Leo is left frustrated as Hank and Murdoch eventually arrive and try to cheer him up. Hank then nudges Leo and asks for free samples for him and Murdoch. Leo eventually gives in and gives his two friends a hot dog, a jumbo hot dog, an Italian sausage, and two cans of orange soda. Leo soon takes a lunch break when James and Gordon show up, who heard from Hank and Murdoch that Leo is giving free hot dogs away. Leo tries protesting it, but eventually agrees and gives James and Gordon two chili dogs, two Italian sausages, two cans of diet coke, and two cans of fruit juice.
Bradford returns to the station at 3:30, impressed that Leo had been keeping busy. Spencer then arrives and claims he caught Leo giving away free samples without permission, holding up his phone and showing off pictures of Leo doing it. Leo realizes that Spencer planned for this, but, unable to prove it, admits to Bradford that it's true. Disappointed, Bradford has to remove some of the money from Leo's next paycheck. With the day being over, Leo sadly gets his bike outside when Emily shows up, seeing how sad he looked. Leo tells Emily how bad his day was and how Spencer tricked Hank, Murdoch, Gordon, and James about him giving away free samples, watching through the station window, and snapping pictures for evidence. Leo then leaves for home, and Emily tells Thomas about Spencer's trick before coming up with an idea. At the Splinterson residence, Leo and Mikey are busy with their martial arts training under the guidance of their grandfather, Hamato Yoshi. Once the session is done, they get ready for bed.
Arriving at Ffarquhar station the next day, Leo finds Bradford, Thomas, Emily, Murdoch, Hank, Gordon, and James all waiting for him. Hank apologizes on behalf of himself, Murdoch, James, and Gordon regarding the free samples, James saying they feel awful for accidentally getting Leo into trouble. Gordon explains they're here to confront Spencer about his trick and sure enough, Spencer shows up, not wanting to miss his train, but no one lets him through since it's clear he failed to pay for his meal the other day and lied about free samples to get Leo into trouble. Spencer tries to save face by insisting there's no evidence he did that stuff, but Emily claims they can prove it with security footage. Spencer immediately caves in and admits his guilt, apologizing to Leo and paying for the order. But Bradford has another punishment in-mind for Spencer; he can work at the hot dog stand alongside Leo for the rest of the summer. Spencer refuses, but surrenders and agrees when Gordon threatens to call the Duke and Duchess and tell them what happened.
Leo thanks his friends for helping him, and Thomas claims that Emily is the real hero since it was all her idea. Leo kisses Emily's hand and thanks her for exposing Spencer. Thomas watches and, again, feels jealous and sad when he sees Emily blushing and smiling. James then makes a quick joke about all of them having hot dogs to celebrate, and claims he and everyone else will pay for them. Outside, Thomas tries to strike up a conversation with Emily, but she is busy thinking about Leo, wondering if she was falling in-love with him despite already having feelings for Thomas. She then remembered her nightmare regarding Diesel 10, about if she will pick Thomas or Leo as a possible boyfriend.
==Characters==
* Thomas 
* Emily 
* Leo
* James 
* Gordon 
* Spencer 
* Hank 
* Murdoch
* Bradford (Debut)
* The Splinterson family
** Mikey (Debut)
** Mrs. Splinterson (Debut)
** Mr. Splinterson (Debut)
** Hamato Yoshi (Debut)
* Diesel 10 (voice cameo)
* Rosie (mentioned)
* Sir Topham Hatt (mentioned)
* Mavis (mentioned)
* Lady Hatt (mentioned)
* The Duke and Duchess of Boxford (mentioned)
* Whiff (mentioned)
* Scruff (mentioned)
==Cast==
==Trivia==
* This episode reveals the last name of Leo's family to be Splinterson and officially confirms those of Gordon and Rosie, respectively (Gresley and Vulcan).
* This episode also confirms Gordon and Spencer are cousins and that the Duke and Duchess of Boxford are the former's Uncle and Aunt.
* While taunting Leo, Spencer indirectly references "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", in-which Leo is named after the turtle "Leonardo".
* This episode shows that despite only knowing him for a few months, Emily is developing feelings for Leo despite already having feelings for Thomas. This will cause her some inner conflict in the future (based on her nightmare in "Meet Leonardo").
Category:Thomas and Friends
Category:Sodor High School
Category:Episodes
Category:Fan Fiction