The next morning, screams split the otherwise calm morning in two. "AAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! IT'S AN ALIEN!!!!!" shrieked Lilluai, who'd caught sight of her reflection in the window. "AND MY DRESSER IS WRECKED!"

She raced over to the piece of furniture, and, as she was examining the mirror itself, realized something. That alien was her! But... what happened to her last night? Something blue was all over her cheeks, her forehead was a burgundy shade, her chin was purple and shiny, and- was that her best, rose-red lipstick on her nose?

More screaming came from her room, even louder, and more hysterical. Linnelly wasn't sure whether to laugh or go all Stern Sister on either Mirellah or the twins, depending on exactly what was in Lilluai's room.

It wouldn't be too hard to tell which of them did it; all she'd need to find out was what was going on in there. They had very different ideas of what made a good prank, although she wasn't even sure if Adrian and Neil knew something like this was wrong.

She was interrupted in her thoughts as the oldest Connor child ran into the bathroom, allowing Linnelly a good look at what had happened; makeup was all over her face, but it looked more like the kind of makeup applied in a movie to make someone look like an alien. And a rather cheapo movie at that.

Five minutes later, she came out of the bathroom again, still with lipstick on her nose and slightly blue cheeks, but her face was almost back to normal.

"Stop laughing!" she shouted, as the middle sister tried desperately to hide her giant grin. "You wouldn't think it was so funny if those little brats had done this to you!"

"Oh, come on, Lill, they're only three. When you were three you poured an entire pitcher of pink lemonade into Mom's sock drawer!"

"What?!" She crossed her arms and leaned into her sister's face. "How'd you find out about that? You weren't even a year old when it happened!"

"Mom told me! And, anyways, leave the twins alone. They don't know any better."

"Sure they don't." She stomped off.

Linnelly walked into Adrian and Neil's room, only a few minutes after being yelled at by her older sister. "Okay, you two. Did you do... that... to Lilluai?"

"Do what?" Neil looked at her with big innocent eyes.

"You know. Get makeup all over her last night? And her dresser?"

"We kinda did," Adrian said. Neil gave him a look that clearly said 'shut up', which their sister didn't catch. "We thought she'd like it."

"Well, she didn't. Don't do that again, okay?"

"Okay, Linny." Both twins looked sorry.

"Now, it's time for breakfast anyways. Pancakes and orange juice." She picked up the two of them and carried them downstairs.

Later that day, not much happened, except that Lilluai went and rented a few movies but didn't end up watching them. Well, and Linnelly got permission to have a small slumber party, the next night, and started inviting people. The phone was tied up by one or another of them all evening.

But this changed when, after dinner, when everyone else had left the table, Mrs. Connor uttered some of the worst words known to kidkind: "Time for you two to have a bath, I think," she said to Adrian and Neil.

First, they looked shocked and horrified; then the look changed to rebellious. They ran in different directions, Adrian diving under the table, and Neil would have joined his brother if Linnelly hadn't caught him. "Gotcha!"

Mrs. Connor came back out of the kitchen, where she'd been duelling with some dirty dishes. "Thanks, Lin. Can you hold onto him while I get the other one?"

"Sure." Her mother crawled under the table, managing to get Adrian out from under it. "Help me get these two up to the bathroom."

That was an exaggeration; the worst the twins tried to do while being taken upstairs was glare at their captors and attempt to wriggle out of their arms. Finally, Linnelly and her mom deposited them on the bath mat.

After Linnelly left the room, the twins undressed themselves. A little clumsily, but they certainly weren't still wearing anything when they got into the tub, and they hadn't even needed help from their mom (except when one twin got stuck in his shirt).

"Okay, you two, I have something for you." Laurelynne pulled a bag out from behind the tub and turned it upside down. Two brand new, shiny, plastic tugboats fell into the bathtub.

"Those are only for the bathtub, though," she explained hastily, as the boys got delighted looks on their faces. They started pushing the boats around in the water, making various (and remarkably realistic) sounds at the same time.

After just under an hour of this, and trying to get them clean (how on earth did relish end up behind Adrian's left ear?) their mom decided it was time to wash their hair. Maybe then she could get a brush through it once in a while.

When this was announced, though, Adrian and Neil looked completely horrified. They put their hands over their dreadlocks and scrunched themselves up, refusing to budge. "NO wash hair!" they shrieked together.

"But you've got mayonnaise in your hair, look." She held up one of Adrian's dreads, then stopped. "Wait a second. How on earth did you two get mayo in the first place?"

They gave her the same 'you'll-never-get-anything-out-of-me' look Neil had turned on Mrs. Patrinsky. Laurelynne just shrugged, and took the removable showerhead off its perch on the wall.

Adrian, the closer one, got it first. Still scrunched up, with his eyes squeezed shut as if expecting it to hurt, he sat under the streaming water.

Neil was the next under the showerhead. He looked exactly the same as his twin had when Mrs. Connor held it over his head.

By now, Laurelynne realized, it would be nearly impossible to actually wash their hair with anything besides soap and water. The twins wouldn't let her do it, anyways. With a sigh, she turned off the water and pulled the plug out of the bathtub.