Fern walked into her bedroom, followed shortly by Brain. Fern opened her closet door, and began digging around through various boxes she had in there.
"What are you looking for?" Brain asked.
"I'm looking for my set of walky talkies..." Fern said.
"How are walky talkies going to help us?" Brain asked.
"Simple..." Fern said, "I'll hide one in my pocket, keeping the speaker button pressed at all times, while you listen on the other end."
"Hmm... it does have a primitive, childlike whimsy to it..." Brain said, "but won't Prunella be suspicious to see you have your hand in your pocket at all times?"
"You may be right..." Fern said, breaking away from her search. "There should be another way you can listen in on the conversation..."
"I think I have the solution..." Brain said.
Moments later, Brain was going through the drawers of his bedroom desk.
"What we need, is more sophisticated technology..." Brain said.
Fern waited patiently, darting her eyes around the room, and holding her hands behind her back, until finally, Brain pulled two small devices out of a drawer.
"Here we go," Brain said, showing Fern one of his inventions, "this is a prototype of a listening device I had been working on in my spare time."
"A listening device?" Fern asked.
"Yes, let me show you..." Brain held out one piece, that looked like a back tooth, but clear and hollow, "this is a cap you place over one of your back teeth, it can pick up, and transmit any audio it senses within a one-mile radius of its location." Brain then held up the other piece, which looked like part of a hearing aid. "This is ear piece that receives the signals the cap picks up, but like the cap, it too can only work within a one-mile radius of it's location."
"Wow, impressive." Fern said, marveling over Brain's listening device.
"You said the best idea was to be subtle about this..." Brain said, "I don't think it can get anymore subtle than this."
"Well, I guess not." Fern said.
"Ready?" Brain asked, handing Fern the cap.
"I think so..." Fern said, as Brain handed her the cap. Fern observed it for a few seconds, before inserting into her mouth, and fitting it over one of her back teeth.
Shortly thereafter, Brain and Fern were walking down the street, heading for Prunella's house, at one point, however, Brain heard a faint 'psst' coming from a nearby bush. He turned around, and saw part of Buster's face emerging from behind the bush.
"Hey, Brain!" Buster said.
"What are you doing, Buster?" Brain asked.
Buster fully emerged from his hiding spot, revealing a long, blond wig on his head. "Does this help?"
"I'm sorry, Buster," Brain said, once again, "but I've already hired Fern for this job... she's just better suited for it... maybe next time."
Brain walked off, to catch up with Fern, while Buster frowned, and pulled his wig off.
"Oh, I knew I should've taken the red wig..." Buster said.
Brain and Fern approached the front porch to Prunella's residence, Brain fixed up his ear piece to listen in on Fern's conversation with Prunella.
"Where will you be?" Fern asked.
"I'm going to find a hiding spot in the backyard," Brain said, "I can meet you at the corner when you're finished."
"Okay." Fern said.
"Is the device ready?" Brain asked.
Fern opened her mouth, wide, and pointed out she slipped the cap over one of her back teeth. "Ready."
"Great, now I should be able to hear everything that's said." Brain said.
"Okay, now you better go hide." Fern suggested.
"Right." Brain said, as he snuck around the side of the house.
Fern straightened up, and rang the doorbell, waiting for a brief moment, before Prunella's Mother answered the door.
"Hello? Oh, hello there, Fern." Prunella's Mother greeted Fern.
"Hello," Fern said, "is Prunella home?"
"She is, she's upstairs in her room." Prunella's Mother said.
Brain hid himself underneath a picnic table in the backyard, listening very carefully to all that was happening.
"Here goes nothing..." Fern whispered through the device to Brain, as she ascended the stairs into Prunella's room.
Once atop the stairs, Fern knocked on the wall of the entrance, while Prunella sat at her little table, looking over some cards she had spread out.
"Prunella?" Fern asked.
"Shh..." Prunella said, "I'm reading the cards..."
Fern walked over closer to the table, "what do they say?"
"It's hard to tell at this point in time..." Prunella said, "either it means the future is looking particularly bright, or I drew a heart flush..."
"Huh?" Fern asked, before looking down, and seeing she was looking over playing cards, rather than tarot cards.
"These things don't work nearly as well..." Prunella said, restacking the cards, and shuffling them. "Want to play a round of go fish?"
"Um, no, actually, Prunella... I was in need of some... well... spiritual advice..." Fern said.
"I see..." Prunella said, wrapping her shawl around her head, "what seems to be troubling you?"
"Well..." Fern began, as she took a seat across the table, "you see... it's... well, kind of foolish really..."
"I'll be the judge of that..." Prunella said, "what is it?"
"Well... I was wondering if there was any chance at getting a certain boy to notice me?" Fern asked.
Prunella paused. "You're right, it's foolish..."
Brain smirked, as he listened to the conversation through his earpiece.
"I mean, no offence, Fern, but you're dull..." Prunella said, "dull as dirt... I doubt any boy out there would be remotely interested in noticing you."
Fern sadly sighed, "I know... I know..."
"Who is it?" Prunella asked.
"Who is it?" Fern replied. "Uh... well... I... I don't really want to say..."
"You don't trust me?" Prunella asked.
"Oh, sure I do," Fern said, "but still... um... well, let's just say, it's... someone in my class..."
"I see..." Prunella said, "well, first of all, let's take a look at your horoscope..." Prunella pulled out the newspaper, and looked for Fern's horoscope, "here we go... 'it is time for a change of pace, try something new in your life, the outcome will be rewarding."
"Hmm... something new in my life..." Fern pondered.
"That's a start," Prunella said, "I think your best bet would be to figure out what this boy you like is interested in, and try to show some interest in it yourself..."
"I could do that," Fern said, "I guess in many cases, science would be alot more interesting than literature anyway."
"Science?" Prunella asked.
"Oh, did I say that?" Fern asked.
"Yeah, you did." Prunella said.
"Silly me." Fern said.
"Well, if this boy is interested in science," Prunella said, "then what I would do, if I were you, is emerse myself in science... that way you'll can develop a bit of familiarity in the subject, you wouldn't want to try to show off interest in it yourself if you don't know anything about it."
"That's very profound." Fern said. "I could even pay regular visits to the science museum as well, that way he could see I'm developing interest."
"He likes to go to the science museum, huh?" Prunella asked.
"I'm sure of it..." Fern said.
"Fern?" Prunella asked, with half a smile, "it's not the Brain, is it?"
"Is what not the Brain?" Fern asked.
"Is Brain the boy you like?" Prunella asked.
"Did I say that?" Fern asked.
"Come on, Fern... he's interested in science, he frequents the science museum... I'm reading you like a novel, Fern, you like Brain!"
"Well... okay... maybe I do..." Fern said.
Prunella snickered a little.
"What?" Fern asked.
Prunella laughed a little louder at this point.
"What's so funny, Prunella?" Fern asked.
"I'm sorry, Fern," Prunella said, "but I don't know if developing an interest in science would be enough to get Brain to notice you!"
"Well, what else could I do?" Fern asked.
Prunella's laugh slowly disappeared. "You seriously like Brain?"
"Well... yes, I do..." Fern said.
"Hmm, let me consult the spirit world about this..." Prunella said, as she gazed into her crystal ball.
Fern tried to look into the crystal ball as well, but all she could see was an eerie glow, from where Prunella had it switched on. Out in the backyard, Brain lightly pushed the earpiece further into his ear to make sure the sounds of birds chirping, and cars passing by outside didn't drown out the sounds from up in Prunella's room.
"What are you doing?" A voice asked Brain.
Brain was confused. That didn't sound like either of Prunella's, nor Fern's voices. Did someone else walk into the room? Brain then saw a pair of feet walk around front of the picnic table. It was Prunella's older sister, Rubella, as she bent over, to make eye contact with Brain.
"What are you doing under our table?" Rubella asked.
"Oh..." Brain said, nervously, "please forgive me, if I am trespassing on your property, I was... um... we were playing hide and seek, and this seemed like a good hiding spot."
Rubella straightened up, and looked around to see if another kid appeared to be looking for somebody, but saw no one else.
"Then, who's it?" Rubella asked.
Silence.
"Hello?" Rubella asked, bending over again, seeing Brain was now gone. "Odd... I haven't summoned an oddball spirit in ages..."
Moments later, Fern was leaving the house, while Prunella saw her off.
"Well, thanks anyway, Prunella." Fern said.
"Sorry, Fern," Prunella said, with a smirk, "but, in all honesty, you're hopeless... completely hopeless.."
"I suppose your right..." Fern said.
"It's not your fault, though," Prunella said, "it takes all kinds of people to make up the world... even dull people... besides, I think if you tried to change your personality, that would be just plain scary."
"I guess so..." Fern said, "well, see you around sometime..."
"Bye." Prunella said, before she walked back into her house, and shut the door.
Fern walked towards the sidewalk, slightly chuckling, as she removed the cap from her tooth, and slipped it into her pocket. Seconds later, Fern approached the corner, where she was to meet Brain, who slipped out from behind a nearby bush.
"Well, that seemed to go smoothly." Fern said.
"I didn't hear much after Prunella mentioned consulting the spirit world..." Brain said, as he pulled his earpiece out, "Rubella caught me under the picnic table in their backyard, and that threw off my concentration."
"Oh, Prunella basically looked into her crystal ball, and told me that there was no way possible I could change myself to get you to notice that would work... apparently I'm too hopeless a case." Fern said.
"So, what do you think?" Brain asked. "I'm not sure myself, she seemed to find it amusing that it was me you were interested in."
"That's very interesting, now that you mention it," Fern said, "perhaps it was a cover up..."
"A cover up?" Brain asked.
"She could have been trying to discourage me..." Fern pondered, "so that I couldn't possibly stand in her way, assuming she really is your secret admirer..."
Brain shook his head in astonishment. "Wow... the ways of the girl world can be quiet perplexing..."
"So, do you want to continue this investigation?" Fern asked.
"Perhaps..." Brain said, "I need to know for sure..."
"Whatever you do, Brain..." Fern began, "you must, must, must be subtle about it."
"You're right..." Brain said, "... very subtle..."
Later that afternoon, Brain was in Prunella's bedroom, asking for advice, himself.
"This is rather a kooky coincidence..." Prunella said.
"It is?" Brain asked, acting confused.
"Yeah... somebody was just here earlier, talking about you..." Prunella said, playfully.
"Let me see if I can guess..." Brain said, leaning back in his seat, "Buster wanting me to know if I'll do his homework for him?"
Prunella chuckled. "Not exactly. It was a girl."
"A girl?" Brain asked, again, acting confused.
"Yeah... I think you might have a secret admirer..." Prunella said.
"You mean... a girl was here earlier... talking about me?" Brain asked.
"Yep!" Prunella said.
"Who was it?" Brain asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Prunella asked.
Brain smirked a little, he couldn't tell if Prunella was teasing him a little about Fern's earlier visit, or if she was teasing him in general. Brain made his next move.
"Actually, I would like to know, you see..." Brain pulled the note from his pocket, "this was in my Valentine's Day mailbox the other day, and I don't know who sent it."
Prunella looked over the note, while Brain observed her, very carefully. The way he saw it, if Prunella really was his secret admirer, she would unknowingly become increasingly nervous about the situation, because she would probably try to make up excuses to cover herself up. It didn't work that way however.
"Gee, whoever wrote this was obviously trying impress you." Prunella said, with a straight voice, as she handed the note back to Brain.
"What do you mean?" Brain asked.
"The poem... it seems a little... 'forced'..." Prunella said.
"Forced?" Brain asked.
"Exactly, like whoever wrote it was trying to express herself in a way that it wouldn't look like something any other ordinary kid would write..." Prunella said, "the well it's written, the words that were used, the fact that it's typed in this fancy font..."
"See, I was under the impression that it was from some... older girl..." Brain said.
"What, you think I sent it?" Prunella asked.
"No!" Brain said, quickly.
"Yeah, look Brain? I'm gonna be honest with you... it wasn't me." Prunella said. "I'm not even in your class."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Brain asked.
"Unless there were no hall monitors on patrol, or if absolutely nobody, not even Mr. Ratburn, was in the room at any moment, I doubt it was somebody outside of your own class of left this for you." Prunella said.
"So..." Brain said, "if it wasn't someone outside of my class... then..."
"Take it from me, Brain," Prunella said, "your secret admirer is definitely from your own class."
"But who?" Brain asked.
"I couldn't tell you that." Prunella said.
"Why not?" Brain asked, suddenly realizing he was letting down his act, so he tried to get it started again. "I mean, who was here earlier?"
"You really wanna know?" Prunella asked.
"Yes." Brain lied.
"Here's a little hint... she's probably the dullest girl in your class..."
"I see..." Brain said, ready to move on.
