Chase leaned against a wall of the school entryway, watching is sister's locker across the hall. He and Bree were in the middle of a huge prank war that had been going on for three days. It had started out with a Sharpie moustache and progressed to socks and bras full of peanut butter and shaving cream.

Leo came down the stairs and spotted his brother. "Hey, Chase, can you do me a big favo – "

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Chase shushed him. "Just watch first, Bree's about to open her locker." Leo glanced at his sister, who was chatting with her crazy friend Kaitlyn, one hand on her spin-dial lock.

"What did you do this time?"

"You know how her hair gets in the humidity?" Leo nodded. Chase pulled a bottle out of his backpack. "Last night I replaced her shampoo with this. It's a compound that will make the effects three times as bad."

Across the room, Bree's hair was as smooth and shiny as ever. Leo said, "So? We're in the middle of a drought, there's absolutely to moisture in the air to – "

Bree opened her locker, and immediately was engulfed in a large heavy cloud of steam. She slammed it shut and waved away the moisture. Her hair was frizzed out like a giant brown throw pillow behind her head.

Chase and Leo cracked up. The latter said between breaths, "Well, none except for that." Bree's gaze snapped to them with a murderous glare. She stalked over to them.

"Chase!"

"Hey, Bree."

"What. Did you do. To my hair?"

Chase arrogantly tossed the shampoo bottle in the air and caught it. "Just gave it a little more volume."

She got really close to his face and pointed at him. "This is war, braniac."

"Bring it."

Bree walked backwards from the boys, as though saying I've got my eyes on you. She looked absolutely ridiculous with her hair sticking in every direction. Chase looked immensely pleased with himself.

When she was gone, Leo turned to his brother. "You, sir, are a genius. She looks like a lion with an afro."

"Why, thank you," Chase replied with a smirk. "So what was that favor?"

"Yeah, right. Can I borrow fifteen bucks?"

"No." Chase walked out of the school.

Leo followed closely behind. "Please? Saturday's my one-year anniversary with Janelle and I want to get her the perfect present."

Chase replied, "Why don't you just ask Mr. Davenport to make a gift? He could probably slap together something cool for her in ten minutes."

"No, I have something specific in mind. There's this comic book she's been waiting to come out for weeks and it hits stores tomorrow. Bree and Adam blew their money on shoes last week and Big D absolutely refused to give me an advance on my allowance."

"If this is so important, what happened to all of your money?" Chase asked.

"Trent stole my wallet on Monday," Leo told him dejectedly. "I snuck it out of his gym locker later, but all the cash was gone."

Chase sighed. "Fine. I'll give you the money tomorrow after school so Trent can't get to it."

"Thanks, Chase. I owe you one."

"You owe me fifteen dollars. Just be glad I'm not charging interest."

"Tasha!" Bree shouted when she entered the house. She threw her backpack next to the living room table.

"Bree not so loud, I'm trying to think." Bree looked in the direction of the voice, surprised to find the speaker was Adam. He was upside-down on the couch, with his head hanging over the seat and his legs flung over the back.

"Adam, what are you doing?"

"I just told you, I'm trying to think."

"The operative word being 'trying'." Bree muttered. She turned around to the sound of heels clicking hurriedly down the stairs. "Bree, honey, are you okay? What's – oh." Tasha stopped when she caught sight of her step-daughter's hair. "Okay, how did this happen? Were you in a sauna?"

"Chase did this. Can you please lend me your shampoo? I think he replaced mine," Bree pled.

Adam looked at them from the floor. "Why? You look like a giant puff ball with a face. It's so cute." Bree let out a frustrated growl, but Adam continued. "Besides, you're taller than Chase now."

Tasha ignored him. "Don't worry sweetie, give me fifteen minutes and I'll go buy you a new bottle. Trust me, you do not want to use my shampoo. Our hair is very different."

"Fine. Thanks, Tasha." The woman picked up her purse made to leave, but stopped with her hand on the door handle. "And by the way, this prank war has been going on long enough. I want it over before anything explodes or disintegrates." With that she went outside and closed the door.

Bree sat next to her older brother. "Okay, why are you upside-down?"

"Oh, Chase said that people are smarter with more blood in their head," Adam replied. "Figured I'd give it a try. It seems to be working."

Bree bent over so her face was in front of Adam's. The top of her frizz brushed the blue carpet. "What's twenty-seven minus three hundred?"

His face broke into his you're-a-silly-person smile. "Bree, you can't trick me. You can't subtract three hundred from twenty-seven, it's a bigger number."

Bree straightened and patted Adam's belly. "Keep up the cognitive development, bro." She got up to get a banana from the kitchen. "Adam, do you know my friend Sara?"

"The pretty girl the one with the super curly red hair."

Bree swallowed. "Yeah. Well, she's throwing a party this weekend and she asked me to bring you."

Adam looked up at her. "Why?"

"I don't know; I don't care. Just come, will you please? She heavily implied that you're my only ticket in."

"Huh?"

Bree leaned her elbows on the counter and spoke a little slower. "If you don't go, then I can't go."

"And why do I care?"

"Because you have absolutely nothing else to on a Saturday night?"

Adam paused. He said with a shrug, "True. Alright I'll come to your friend Sara's party."