"Shh! They're coming."
Everyone hid all around the set. Annie waited excitedly for her best friend to show up. Everyone heard Ellie and Alex's footsteps.
Alex coming up with an excuse, quickly said, "Wow it's dark in here! I'll go turn on the lights." Annie got ready to surprise Ellie. As soon as the lights came up, everyone jumped out.
"Happy Birthday, Ellie!"
Ellie looked around at the set. For her birthday party, everyone had set up the set for The Wizard of Ha's. That was Ellie's favorite show ever! She was so excited that she had time between filming for The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything to watch them do The Wizard of Ha's. Sadly, Ellie did have to miss the chance all the kids got to play. To make it up, Annie thought of setting the set up for Ellie's birthday.
Ellie searched for Annie in the crowd. When she did, Annie just shrugged. Ellie ran over to her friend. "How did you manage to do all this?"
Annie laughed. "You realize that there are only two people that didn't help put this up that are on the show: you and Alex. You because it was for you, and Alex because he was keeping you away."
Archibald, who had agreed to be the Wizard again for the party, came out with his costume on. "Welcome boys and girls to the land of Ha's: Funnest Place on Earth!" With that, all of the kids ran though the gateway to go play. The adults had volunteered to run the different places in shifts. Two of the people on break were Bob and Madame Blueberry.
Madame Blueberry watched as Bob wandered around, not having anywhere to go. Eventually, she went over to him. "Bob?"
Bob turned around and saw the blueberry came over to him. "Yes, Madame."
Madame Blue had a brief panic when she realized she had no reason to talk to Bob. Quickly, she thought of something. "I just wanted to say it was really sweet of you to let Annie do this for her friend."
Bob's cheeks got a little redder. "It was nothing really. The only thing I did different than anyone else was say 'yes'."
Madame Blue laughed a little. She looked at Bob. She felt like she wanted to say more, but she didn't know what else to say. Bob was looking back at her, as if he wanted to say something as well. Out of nowhere, Junior, Annie, Ellie, and Gordon ran by, bumping into Bob. By doing so, Bob bumped into Madame Blueberry. After a lot of apologizing, they both finally stood up and returned to their awkward silence. Eventually Bob broke that silence. With a small bow, he asked, "Would you care for a ride on the Ferris wheel with me?" After a quick and shy yes, they went to wait for an open seat.
Behind the ring toss game, four kids watched. Annie got a huge smile on her face. "Great job, guys! They're on the Ferris wheel together." The other three gave silent cheers.
Junior whispered, "Okay, so do we want to do next?"
Ellie looked at the clock. "It's about time for the adults to change shifts. Anyone think we should try Larry and Petunia?"
Everyone got excited about this new idea. Gordon looked at a map he had of where all of the adults were taking shifts. "We need to figure out as part of our plan how to get them together. Larry is on one side, and Petunia is all the way on the other."
Everyone came up with some idea, but Ellie didn't hear any of them because a plan was forming in her own mind. She saw her brother, and got a brilliant idea. "Hey guys, I have a plan. I'll be right back." She knew everyone would be confused about her saying that she had a plan and leaving, but she needed Alex. She called, and Alex came over to her.
"Well, what else does my little sister want on her birthday?" Alex asked in a teasing, older brother tone.
"I need your help with a plan."
Alex's smile dropped. "Oh, no. The last time we used one of your plans, I ended up cutting parts of my hair off to get the gum out."
Ellie heaved a heavy sigh. "This is not like that plan. That plan was way too confusing and used too many different things. This plan, I just need you because you are a male teenager that I can get to do it."
"And what makes you think I will do it?"
Ellie put on her most innocent little sister face. "Because it's my birthday and you would do anything to make me happy."
Alex stared into her eyes. He finally turned away and gave up. "Fine! What do you need me to do?"
Ellie dragged him over to where everyone was waiting.
/\
"Hey Larry!" Larry turned toward Alex's voice. "I need your advice on something."
Larry just kind of shrugged. "Okay, although I can't say it will be good advice."
Alex somewhat laughed, hoping his acting skills would fool Larry. "You're the best guy I can ask. There's this girl at school that I really like. I think she likes me too, but I'm not sure. How do I know?"
Larry seemed to think deeply about this question as he absent-mindly went with Alex across the amusement park. "I don't know Alex. I honestly never had that much luck with girls myself. My best advice would be to get a girl's opinion."
The timing was perfect, and Alex and Ellie barely kept out of the way of Larry and Petunia bumping into each other. Alex and Ellie looked at each other, winked, and went back to their friends.
There was a few seconds of silence, and then Larry spoke up. "Um, Alex had a question for me that my best answer was that he should ask a girl. Would you mind answering it?"
Petunia smiled. "Sure, I'd be happy to!"
Alex used his best acting skills to pretend that this was a much bigger question to him than it actually was. He took a deep breath. "Well, there's this girl at school that I like, but I'm not sure if she likes me. How can I tell?"
Petunia thought for a second, then answered with a question. "Have you heard the One Direction song "What makes you Beautiful"?"
Alex laughed a little. "Though the wall that connects mine and Ellie's rooms." Ellie gave him a small glare.
Petunia laughed. "It sounds a little cheesy, but the way the guy describes the girl is pretty much it. She will probably seem a little insecure talking to you, probably looking at the ground like she doesn't think she's pretty enough to even look at you."
Alex thought about this for a second. "So, what should I do?"
Petunia seemed prepared for this question. "Make her feel like she is beautiful enough for you and that she can trust you."
Alex thanked her then ran off to enjoy the park with Ellie. As soon as Larry and Petunia could no longer see them, Alex stopped Ellie. "Okay, I did what you asked. Now, what was that supposed to accomplish?" He didn't get an answer because Ellie was watching the cucumber and rhubarb they had just left.
"Wow that was some good advice for Alex." Larry said to Petunia.
Petunia looked downward. "Oh, it was nothing."
Larry smiled. "No, it wasn't nothing. I remember being that age and not having any clue. That meant a lot to him."
Petunia seemed to accept that it was a big deal to Alex, but she still wouldn't look Larry in the eyes. Larry noticed, and thought about the advice Petunia had just given Alex. She was refusing to look at him. Did that really mean she liked him? Not sure of what to do, he invited her to ride the roller coaster with him. She agreed and they went on the ride. Ellie and Alex followed, trying to act inconspicuous.
During the ride, if Petunia seemed to get even a little scared, she would lean into Larry. He didn't say anything. Petunia didn't even notice until the ride was over and she was still leaning on Larry's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." As they got out of the ride, Petunia seemed to try even harder not to look at Larry.
Larry watched her walk ahead of him. Before she was too far gone, he said, "It's okay. You can trust me." Larry didn't even realize what he said until it was out.
Petunia turned around and looked him straight in the eye. She went back over to him. She gave a small nod, and then asked, "Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?"
A couple of yards away, Ellie and Alex watched the whole thing. Alex looked at his little sister. "Way better than your last plan."
Ellie rolled her eyes and looked at her brother. "And we didn't even see any gum."
