A/N: Well, I'm surprised.

Despite the fact that I'm visiting my dad, I've actually managed to keep track of updates pretty well. I can get on the computer on a fairly daily basis and such.

Aaaaannnnnd... wowzers. I managed to get out this chapter right in time for the Fourth of July.

Not that they're celebrating it in this fic. No, that's not going to happen. But consider it my little Fourth of July present from me to you. No matter what country you're in.

There. You had your moment of fluff from me. Now take your dumb present and read it.

Ale's such a perverted pain in the ass in this. Makes it funny, though.

Yes. My bad mouth is at it again--more so than usual. Too bad for you that I don't give a care about the fact that my vocabulary is absorbing all the colors of the rainbow.

Now, like I said: Read.

The end of the school year was approaching fast. No more homework. No more worrying about being late. No more pondering if your overweight language professor really was wearing a wig. It was no mystery that most students were usually cheerful around this time.

But today, the ecstasy and bliss of the nearing last day of school had been put on hold.

Especially for everyone's favorite temperamental blonde female.

All thanks to the ever-rising string of the mercury element rising in the thermometer hanging on the wall parallel to her bed, blatantly showing 97 degrees Fahrenheit on this lovely Saturday afternoon.

Arlene scowled as she fanned herself with the book that had previously been lying on her bedside table. There hadn't been a heat wave like this in years. And to think—it wasn't even to the hottest part of the day yet, seeing as it was only noon!

And of all days for her air conditioning to break down…

Setting down the book, she momentarily lifted up her hair that was sticking to the back of her neck, sweaty and matted. The girl then grabbed a glass of ice water—that the ice had melted out of long since—that was balanced precariously near the foot of the bed, pressing it against her bared neck.

A scowl darkened her face when it didn't provide the relief she'd been hoping for.

Her eyes fairly narrowed like a predator's as she began to scan her room for something—anything, in fact—that would make the heat seem less extreme.

She saw… nothing. Sighing, Arlene grumbled to herself about how positively stupid everything was today.

The sun was stupid… it was choosing to burn extra brightly today, thus making it so dang hot.

The air conditioner was stupid. It had chosen today, of all days to choose from, to break down.

Her parents were stupid for not doing anything to help the air conditioner other than calling someone to fix it.

The person who was supposed to fix the air conditioner was DEFINITELY stupid. Oh, they were coming to fix it. Only a week later from today.

And the heat itself was perhaps the stupidest of all—it was daring to get in her way.

In fact, the only thing she could think of off the top of her head that rivaled the heat for being an idiot was Ale. Yep. He was always stupid, in her opinion.

As she saw the temperature on her thermometer rise another few degrees, she let out a groan. And that's when the idea hit her. She glanced around hurriedly, as though expecting to see hidden cameras in the corners of her bedroom.

Though her window lacked curtains, it did face the backyard of her house, so she certainly didn't expect anyone to look through it…

Hints of a smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth as she stood up, practically yanking off her T-shirt and shorts, stripping down to only her undergarments. It was in the privacy of her own room; she saw nothing wrong with it.

Sitting down in the middle of the floor as her TV blared on some random soap opera—it had been too hot for her to pay attention to whatever crap was playing—Arlene gave a content sigh.

Ah. Much better.

As she closed her eyes, relieved to have escaped from the dreadful heat, she could've sworn she heard a faint tapping noise.

Her smirk was replaced by a frown as her eyes remained closed. She tried to pass off the noise as her imagination. The heat from a few minutes ago had probably made her somewhat delirious.

Tap tap.

No, there it was again. Louder this time, so she was certain that she hadn't imagined it.

Still, Arlene's eyes remained clamped tight. Probably just a bird or squirrel, or… something.

TAP!

A squirrel that was going to end up with a stick shoved up its ass if it didn't quit. That's what it had to be.

Her frown changed once more, this time into a scowl as her eyelids snapped back open. Growling, she vaguely wondered why she couldn't have a peaceful day—just once! She stood back up and faced the window, to see a familiar mass of wild red spikes and a cocky jackass grin, along with pale fingers tapping lazily against the glass.

His grin widened as he saw her notice him, and she could hear his mocking laughter even through the glass.

It took her a minute just to realize what Ale was laughing at exactly. Surely her annoyed reaction about the window tapping hadn't been all that funny? I mean, he saw her annoyed more often than anyone else.

Her eyes widened in horror as she finally grasped what, precisely, he was clutching his sides about: She was still in her undergarments. And he'd been watching the whooooole time.

Immediately, a scream of fury and outrage escaped her lips as she attempted to both grab something to cover herself up with and manage to hit the guffawing red-head right outside her bedroom window at the same time.

Finally, her fumbling hands managed to grasp a bathrobe hanging loosely in her closet. The minute she was certain that nothing was exposed other than her face, arms, and legs, she turned back to the window, glaring daggers at him.

Throwing up the top of the window, she attempted to hurl a punch in his direction, but the boy merely sniggered again and nimbly stepped just out of reach.

"PERVERT!" Arlene screamed at him. "YOU BASTARD!" At this point the blonde let out an intangible stream of steady curses—most of which she'd made up herself, just for the occasion.

Ale merely seemed to be continuing on with his trademark grin as he examined one hand's fingernails with little expressed interest. One would almost think he wasn't listening… save for the fact that with every profane word she threw at him, his grin continued to widen.

It was a freaking miracle that his grin was even fitting onto his face, actually.

As he then moved on to examine the other hand's nails, he finally spoke when she paused her flow of profanity to breathe. Giving a look of mock innocence, he proceeded to act surprised.

"Whaaaaat?" he inquired. "I just didn't feel like using the front door was all! So I came around to the back, and…" His cocky grin widened yet again. "You know, I joked to Demy once about stripping for a little birdie outside my window… but I had no idea you actually did such things literally, Arlene!"

Believe it or not, most of that actually was true. For some reason or other, he just hadn't been in the mood to use the front door, so he'd hopped over the gate to the backyard, and planned on going in through there. But just as he'd passed by her bedroom window, she'd stood up and stripped down to her undergarments.

Thus leading them to their current situation.

The girl's electric blue eyes flashed dangerously. "You… you're…" she seethed.

Ale gave another blink of mock surprise. "I'm what? Enjoying your current outfit?" he finished, snickering at the fact that she was now in a bathrobe. "Why, yes, I am."

"Your outfit isn't exactly right for the weather, either," she sneered, taking note of his black baggy jeans and black medium-sleeve shirt. For a moment, she was startled out of her fury by his choice of clothing. "Aren't you hot?"

"Why thank you! You know most girls do seem to think so…"

"GO AWAY!" she roared, annoyed by such a comment coming from him. Of all the nerve…

The red-head let out another cackle before running the other way, scrambling back over the gate.

---

Arlene slammed her window closed again, every inch of herself loathing that boy more than usual.

So that had been his payback for her bailing on him at the movie theater. Whether or not the happenings had been unintentional, the blonde didn't care. Only one thing mattered at the moment.

She wanted revenge. And damn it, she wanted it now!

As she sat back down on the floor, she dedicated her whole mind to thinking up a fitting plot.

Finally, it came to her. Something that would be worse than the sprinklers going off. A water park. And she'd drag along Demy, as well. Sure, he ticked her off—but Arlene knew he wore on Ale's nerves as well.

She already knew Ale's phone number. Partially because she'd always gone to school with him, ever since Kindergarten. And partially because he was always practically shoving his number at her, just to bug the shit out of her.

Either way, she picked up the phone in her room, biting her lip with pleasure as she waited for him to pick up.

Finally, she heard the phone pick up. First there was a "Hello?", before a crashing sound came, and a distant yelp of pain was in the background.

Arlene snickered. Apparently, the idiot had dropped the phone on his foot.

Finally, the phone was picked back up, and she could hear Ale's chastened voice again. "Hello?" he inquired again.

Arlene grinned to herself, and let her plan unfold.

"Hiiiii, Ale!" she cooed.

When he didn't respond right away, she was positive of his uncertainty. "Who is this? Wait… Arlene, is that you?"

Arlene's eyes narrowed in pleasure as she continued on with her act. "Of course, Silly Willy!" she told him, forcing out a giggle to help sound more convincing. "Look, I had such a great time at the movie with you, that I thought we should go somewhere again!"

"You did? And now… wait… what about… what?"

"Oh, forget that whole window thing. Look—it'll be my treat. Today, we'll go out somewhere—but it'll be a surprise. I'll even walk you there," she continued to purr.

"You're not… uh…" Yup. Arlene was near certain that by this point, he must've been pondering if she'd accidentally shut the window back down on her head and given herself brain damage of some sort.

Finally, he gave an answer. "I guess that'd be great. See you in a bit, babe!" He snorted, before hanging up the phone.

How dare he call her that?

She took a deep breath, calming herself a little. She'd be paying him back soon enough.

---

Ale knew something was up.

In all his memory, NEVER had Arlene talked like that.

And after what had happened by her bedroom window, well… she was definitely planning something.

Grinning, he leaned against the wall. He would play along, for now. Anything that she could throw at him, he was quite positive that he'd throw something right back at her. After all, he'd done so after the sprinkler incident, hadn't he?

For her to be so willing to put on such an act, she had to be planning something excruciatingly diabolic this time, though.

Oh, how he loved a challenge.

A/N: Oh goody. Annoying the shit out of Larxene... Arlene... whatever the heck you want to call her... is always fun.

Yippee for water parks.

Ha. But it looks like I'm letting Reno plan something for retaliation...

Ah. Whatever.

You know I want another five reviews. Shouldn't be too hard, right? That can be YOUR present. Yeeeeeep. It's better to give than to receive. So I'm waiting for the reviews to be given.

Otherwise I won't GIVE another update.

Yeah. Happy Fourth, everyone. Just... don't go around your neighborhood in hopes of coming across a situation like Ale's. It's not polite to do that. So save it for Halloween or something. THAT'S when everyone gets to act stupid and rude.