Oops… I just realized I forgot to do a disclaimer for my story. Okay, obviously I am not Eoin Colfer and I do not own any of the characters in this story except Anna-Maria who is my own idea. Anyway, time to read and review!

Anna-Maria scowled at Holly. "May I remind you that the last time I wore a dress that you recommended, I ended up with a bullet in between my stomach and pancreas!"

Holly frowned. "Well, Artemis got the bullet out; besides, Minerva was mind-wiped and is under constant surveillance. There's no chance of her remembering and getting her hands on a gun."

"Yes there is." Anna-Maria replied.

Holly sighed. Of all people, I end up trying to match-make two geniuses…genii I mean. I just mentally corrected myself; I've been spending too much time around Artemis and Anna-Maria. "Look, the odds are a million to one. You can't go to a dance and meet Artemis' parents in your LEP uniform!"

"I never said I would." Anna-Maria took a loose lavender blouse and a pair of white jeans from her closet. "How are these?"

Holly studied them. "Hmm… too formal."

Anna-Maria raised an eyebrow. "Jeans are too formal?"

"White ones are." Holly replied. "Wear something else. Wear a dress."

"I hate dresses." Anna-Maria commented.

"So? You were wearing a sari yesterday –"

"I had a mission in India; it was vital that I blended in." The half-fairy girl replied.

"Weren't you mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress?" Holly asked slyly.

"How was I supposed to know that I strongly resemble Aishwarya Rai? I don't have time to see any of her movies."

"Well, you are meeting Artemis' mother, so…"

"Okay, fine!" Anna-Maria snatched a sparkling green gown from her closet and held it up. "How's this one?"

"Great! Where did you get it?"

Anna-Maria fingered the cloth fondly. "It belonged to my mother, before she died."

Holly took the dress from her and laid it out on the bed. "How did she die?"

"She had a car accident. It was raining hard that night, and she left me at home with a baby-sitter while she went to pick up my grandparents from an airport. The driver of the other car couldn't see and rammed right into Mother's Honda. The police said that she must have died at the moment of impact. She never got to the airport. A group of LEP officers retrieved me a few days later, during Mother's funeral. I was not permitted to go because my grandparents believed that I was too young to see my mother packed away in a coffin and buried under a mound of dirt; I was only six years old after all."

"And then you ended up yelling at Julius." Holly added.

Anna-Maria frowned and raised an eyebrow. "How on Earth was I to know that he yelled at everyone? Besides, it's not exactly the nicest thing when you've just been partially orphaned and find out that you're actually half-fairy. I always knew I was different, you didn't have to be a genius to figure that out, but I never thought that I was half-human and half-elf. Would you want someone yelling at the top of his lungs right in front of you after an experience like that?"

"No, but I still can't believe you actually yelled back at him, and your voice was twice as loud as his had been. Although I suppose it makes sense, after all you are his daughter." Holly responded.

"Maybe, but I still wish that –"

"You know what I wish?" Holly interrupted.

"That I would stop talking and just wear the dress so you can pick out a pair of matching shoes?" Anna-Maria guessed.

"Exactly; we can't have you going to that dance tomorrow looking like a spinach leaf."

"Gee, thanks." Anna-Maria said sarcastically. "I love dressing up and looking like a vegetable. Can we stop talking about articles of clothing now?"

"What would you rather talk about?" Holly asked.

"I was wondering about the chemical structure of –"

Holly slammed the door shut behind her. "You picked the wrong person to talk to on that one."

Well, that was a comical ending. Don't forget to review! Oh, and by the way, Bollywood is Hindi cinema for those who were confused and probably thought it was a typo for "Hollywood".