It was another day like any other at Sunny's Salon, and Sunny and her friends were all taking a break to have some lunch before more customers came in to get their hair and nails done, and Rox had finished her lunch up and was sitting at her desk in the color lab looking at her phone, when Blair came up in the elevator with a waste bin in her hands.
"Hey, Rox", Blair said, "want me to get that trash for you?"
Rox didn't hear Blair, as she was too focuses on her phone.
"Did you hear me, Rox", Blair asked.
Rox still didn't reply, so Blair snapped her fingers loudly, which managed to get the former's attention.
"What, what", Rox asked, "what is it?"
"Are you done with your trash from lunch", Blair asked, "because if you are, I'll collect it from you."
"Oh, yeah, I'm done", Rox said, "it's all yours."
Blair took up the trash from Rox's lunch and put it all in her waste basket while Rox went back to looking at her phone, and after she finished, she decided to ask Rox about something she had become curious about.
"Hey, Rox", Blair said, "what are you looking at that's got you ignoring everything else?"
"It's this article I found about crazy food facts", Rox said.
"Crazy food facts", Blair asked, "what kind of facts to they have listed there?"
"All kinds of facts", Rox said, "for example: it says here that if you swallow chewing gum, it'll take seven years for it to break down and will sit in your stomach for that long."
"That's ridiculous", Blair said, "there's no way a piece of gum can sit in your stomach for that long."
"I don't know", Rox said, "gum's not supposed to be swallowed, so I'm pretty sure it's not a good thing to swallow some."
"It'll be digested like any normal piece of food", Rox said, "you really shouldn't read so many articles with information like that."
"I understand that some online articles aren't always very reliable", Rox said, "but true or not, there are a lot of interesting facts here."
Rox went back to reading her phone, and Blair facepalmed and walked back to the elevator.
"It's crazy what people will believe after reading about it on the internet", Blair thought.
Later that day, the salon was closing, and Rox was getting her stuff together so she could go back to her house for the night.
"What a day", Rox said, "I'll be glad to get back home so I can unwind for the night."
Rox took the elevator down to the ground floor, when she noticed Blair and Sunny talking with one another.
"Thanks for that chewy mint you gave me, Blair", Sunny said, "my breath smells great."
"You're welcome", Blair said, "anything to make sure a friend has fresh breath."
Rox then noticed Sunny picking up her bottle of soda to take a drink from it, and she ran towards her as fast as she could.
"No", Rox shouted.
Rox slapped the bottle out of Sunny's hand, causing its contents to spill all over the floor.
"Rox, what gives", Sunny asked.
"I'm sorry Sunny, but I couldn't let you drink that soda", Rox said, "not after you ate that mint."
"What are you talking about", Sunny asked.
"That candy and that drink are a bad combination", Rox said, "if you drink soda not long after you've eaten a chewy mint, it'll cause an explosion in your stomach, and you'll die."
Blair could tell that Rox had read that off the article she was reading earlier, and was very annoyed.
"Oh, for heaven's sake", Blair said, "that's only a myth."
"Are you sure about that", Rox asked, "I heard that a kid who ate chewy mints and drank soda at the same time died from the chemical reaction between the two not long after consuming them."
"Again, it's a myth", Blair said, "honestly Rox, you're taking that stuff you read way too seriously."
"And how do you know they're not true", Rox asked.
"I don't", Rox said, "but sometimes, I can tell when something might be false or exaggerated."
"Okay, then", Rox said, "if you really believe what I read isn't true, then I guess you wouldn't mind testing one for me."
Rox picked Blair's chewy mints up off her desk and pulled out a can of soda that she (Rox) had in her handbag.
"Here", Rox said, "eat one of your mints and then drink this soda."
"That's it", Blair asked.
"Yes", Rox said.
"Alright, then", Blair said.
Blair put one of the mints in her mouth and chewed it for a bit before swallowing it, then took a drink of the soda Rox had given her.
"Well", Rox asked.
Blair waited a moment, but nothing happened.
"Nothing", Blair said.
"What", Rox asked.
"I don't feel anything", Blair said.
"You don't", Rox asked, "not even stomach pain."
"No", Blair said, "were you hoping that I'd explode?"
"No, of course not", Rox said, "I'm just a little surprised is all."
"I think Blair's right", Sunny said, "you should really stop believing everything you read on the internet."
"Okay, sure, whatever you say", Rox said, "I'm gonna go home now."
Rox walked out of the salon, leaving Sunny and Blair by themselves.
"I never took Rox for the kind of person who'd believe everything she reads online", Sunny said.
"Honestly, I didn't either", Blair said.
The next morning, Rox woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, and after hitting the snooze button, she got up out of bed and went to her kitchen to fix herself some breakfast, and found her younger brother Junior at the table eating some cereal.
"Morning, sis", Junior said, "sleep well?"
"Hey, Junior", Rox said, "yeah, I slept okay."
"That's good", Junior said.
As Rox went to the fridge to get some milk, the news played on the TV in the living room, and the reporter was covering a very interesting story.
"Last night, there was an explosion in a small neighborhood on Snowdon Drive", the reporter said, "nearby residents were awakened by the explosion around 10:02 and reported the incident to the police."
The news story had caught Rox's attention because of one particular detail.
"That's where Blair lives", Rox said.
"The police are still investigating the cause of the explosion", the reporter said, "as for any injuries or casualties caused by the explosion, we are still waiting for updates on that."
The report had frightened Rox so much that she forgot she was pouring herself a glass of milk, resulting in her cup overflowing with milk.
"Rox", Junior said, "your milk is overflowing."
"What", Rox asked.
Rox saw what was going on and quickly stopped pouring her milk.
"Oh, right", Rox said, "whoops."
"Are you okay", Junior asked, "you looked a little worried about something?"
"Me, worried", Rox asked, "of course not."
But Rox was worried, because she thought the explosion in Blair's neighborhood was caused by the latter eating and drinking the mint and soda together, also resulting in her friend's death.
"What have I done", Rox thought.
Meanwhile at the salon, Sunny was going through some boxes of supplies that had been dropped off earlier, and pulled out a spray bottle and sprayed some of the stuff in it out and smelled the air, sighing happily as she did so.
"Ah, strawberries", Sunny said, "I love these new hair scent sprays."
Doodle looked inside the box and pulled out a can.
"What scent is this one", Doodle asked.
"Mint and eucalyptus", Sunny said.
"Sounds interesting", Doodle said.
Doodle tried to spray the hair scent so he could smell it, but nothing happened.
"Something's wrong", Doodle said.
Doodle kept trying to spray the scent, but it still wouldn't work, and Sunny noticed that he was struggling.
"Need any help, Doodle", Sunny asked.
"No thanks", Doodle said, "I..."
Doodle finally managed to spray some hair scent out, but he accidentally sprayed it in Sunny's face.
"Oops", Doodle said, "sorry, Sunny."
"It's okay", Sunny said, "accidents happen."
She then began rubbing her eyes with her hands, as the hair scent had caused them to water, and at that moment, Rox entered the salon and noticed Sunny.
"Morning, Sunny", Rox said.
"Oh, hey, Rox", Sunny said.
Rox was a bit concerned by Sunny rubbing her eyes, because it looked like she was crying.
"Is everything okay", Rox asked.
"Yeah", Sunny said, "everything's fine."
"Okay then", Rox said.
Rox went over to the elevator to go up to the color lab, when Sunny stopped her.
"Oh, Rox", Sunny said, "did you hear what happened on the news?"
"That depends", Rox said, "what happened?"
"There was an explosion in Blair's neighborhood last night", Sunny said, "and it sounded like it was serious."
Rox became increasingly nervous at the mention of the explosion.
"Such a terrible thing to happen", Sunny said.
Sunny went back to wiping here eyes, and Rox, thinking that Sunny was crying over Blair's apparent death, went up to the color lab more nervous than ever.
"This is bad", Rox said, "it's only a matter of time before the cops find out what I did to Blair."
Rox tried not to think about what happened as she did her work, but she couldn't shake the thought of Blair having possibly died because of the explosion, and was nervous all day.
"I don't know how long I can keep this a secret", Rox said, "sooner or later someone's going to find out what I did, and then..."
Rox shuddered in fear, and Doodle walked up behind her.
"Hey, Rox", Doodle said, "what would..."
"I didn't do it", Rox shouted.
Doodle was confused by Rox's sudden exclamation.
"What", Doodle asked.
"I didn't do nothing", Rox said, "you can't pin it on me, no way!"
"Pin what on you", Doodle asked, "what are you talking about?"
Rox suddenly realized what she was doing and quickly snapped out of it.
"Nothing", Rox said, "nothing at all."
"But you just said something about me pinning something on you", Doodle said.
"That's crazy", Rox said, "there's nothing you could pin on me."
Doodle was very confused by Rox's behavior.
"Um, okay", Doodle said, "well, Sunny's going to go make a lunch run at the fast food restaurant and wanted to know if you wanted anything."
"I'll just take a diet soda", Rox said.
"Alright", Doodle said, "I'll go tell her."
Doodle went down to see Sunny, and Rox sat back down at her desk, still worried about the explosion."
"That was close", Rox said, "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
Later, during the lunch break, Rox was eating lunch with Sunny, and the latter decided to talk to her.
"Hey, Rox", Sunny said, "are you okay?"
"Me", Rox asked, "yeah, I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?"
"Doodle told me you were a bit jumpy when he went to talk to you earlier", Sunny said, "is everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine", Rox said, "peachy, even."
"You know, if something's troubling you, you can always talk to your friends about it", Sunny said, "we're here to listen."
"No one in their right mind would talk to their friends about how they caused a person's death", Rox thought.
Then, they heard a knock at the front door.
"Who's that", Rox asked.
"I'll go see who it is", Sunny said.
Sunny got up and went to the front door to see who it was, and as Rox drank her diet soda, she looked and saw who Sunny was talking to and was so surprised that she crushed her cup in her hand, causing her soda to get all over the floor.
"Oh no", Rox said.
Sunny was talking to a pair of police men (who were both adults), and Rox was now more and more afraid.
"Oh no", Rox said, "Sunny's going to rat me out to the police and I'll be sent to jail."
Rox hurried up to the color lab to grab her bag, then went down to the ground floor and exited the salon through the back door.
"I've got to get out of here", Rox said.
As Rox left the salon, Sunny entered the building after she finished talking to the police men and sat back down in her chair.
"So as I was saying, Rox", Sunny said, "if there's ever something you want to get off your chest, don't hesitate to tell me."
She then noticed that Rox's seat was empty, and Rox was nowhere to be seen.
"Rox", Sunny asked, "where'd she go?"
Rox was riding on her skateboard all the way to her house, worrying about the police catching her.
"Maybe I can hide away for a while", Rox said, "I'll just stay inside my house until this whole thing blows over."
But when Rox got to her house, she found something taped to her door that really freaked her out.
"Crud", Rox said.
It was a note from the police that said:
We came by, but no one was home. We'll come back later.
-The Chief of the Friendly Falls Police Department
Rox was now more scared than she had been all day.
"They figured it out", Rox said, "they know what I did."
Rox went inside her house and grabbed a travel bag and began packing it, much to the confusion of her pet rabbit, Violet.
"What are you doing, Rox", Violet asked.
"I'm leaving", Rox said.
"Where", Violet asked, "on a vacation?"
"Nope", Rox said, "I'm going on the run."
As Rox went to the kitchen and fixed a PB&J sandwich for herself, she continued to tell Violet about her current situation.
"I'm a wanted woman, Violet", Rox said, "I can't stay here anymore."
"Where are you going, then", Violet asked.
"As far away from here as possible", Rox said, "probably to Mexico."
"Mexico", Violet asked, "will I ever see you again?"
"Probably not", Rox said, "I can't risk getting sent to the big house."
"There has to be another way", Violet said.
"Sorry", Rox said, "but this is the only option."
Rox put her sandwich in a paper bag, along with an apple, chocolate chip cookie, and a bottle of water, and she picked up her travel bag and hurried to the door.
"Goodbye, Violet", Rox said, "I'll miss you."
As Rox walked away from her house, she bumped into Junior, who had just gotten home from putting on a magic show, and he noticed her travel bag over her shoulder.
"What's with the bag, Rox", Junior asked, "where are you going?"
"There's no time to explain, little bro", Rox said, "just know that I love you, and I'm going to miss you so much."
Rox walked away, leaving behind a very confused Junior.
"What is going on with her today", Junior asked.
Rox was making her way towards the bus station as fast as she could, hoping that she'd be able to get out of town as quickly as she could.
"If I can at least make it out of the state, maybe I'll be able to ditch the cops", Rox said.
But when Rox went inside to try and buy a ticket, she had a nasty surprise waiting for her.
"Oh no", Rox said.
There were long lines at all of the ticket windows, and it was clear that it would be a while before Rox could buy a ticket for herself.
"It could take all day to wait in line here", Rox said, "and by then, the police will have tracked me down."
Rox hurried out of the bus station and began running away from it.
"So much for getting out of town", Rox said, "looks like I'm going to have to come up with something else."
Night soon came, and Rox was walking down a sidewalk wondering what she would do, and decided to sit down on a bench to eat.
"There has to be a way to get as far away from Friendly Falls as possible", Rox said.
Rox continued to think about possible options as she took her sandwich out of her bag and ate it.
"Maybe I could stow away on a ship", Rox said, "or fly away in a hot air balloon."
After eating her sandwich, Rox ate her chocolate chip cookie, and after she took the first bite out of her apple, she heard a familiar voice.
"Rox", the voice asked, "what are you doing here?"
Rox looked in the direction the voice came from and there, standing before her, was Blair.
"Oh no", Rox said.
Rox still believed that she had killed Blair, so she thought her standing in front of her meant only one thing.
"It's a ghost", Rox said.
"Ghost", Blair asked, "what are you talking about?"
"S-Stay away", Rox said, "you're not coming anywhere near me, you evil spirit!"
"What's gotten into you, Rox", Blair asked, "it's me, Blair."
But Rox was scared witless, and she took off running as fast as she could, leaving behind a very confused Blair.
"I was afraid this would happen", Rox said, "Blair's come back to haunt me!"
Rox rounded a corner and checked to see if the coast was clear, and when she looked around, she saw that Blair was nowhere to be seen.
"Phew", Rox said, "I think I lost her."
But as Rox went back on her way, she heard the sound of sirens wailing in the distance.
"That can't be good", Rox said.
Driving down the road in her direction was a police car, much to her worry.
"Oh no", Rox said, "I'm in for it now."
Rox ran away from the police car, but as she went back around the corner, she saw Blair standing in front of her.
"Oh no", Rox said, "it's Blair's ghost again!"
She then took off running in another direction.
"I'm not a ghost, Rox", Blair said.
Rox ran all the way to the salon to escape Blair and the police, and when she went to open the door, she found that it was unlocked.
"Oh, thank goodness", Rox said.
Rox went inside the salon and hid underneath Blair's desk, when suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her.
"W-Who's there", Rox asked.
Rox peeked out from underneath the desk and saw Sunny walking towards her, and when she noticed that the latter was holding a knife, she began to fear the worst.
"Oh no", Rox said, "you're going to avenge Blair by killing me, aren't you?"
"What", Sunny asked, "I'm not going to kill you."
"Y-You're not", Rox asked, "then why do you have a knife?"
"This is a cake knife", Sunny said, "I was cutting myself a slice of carrot cake for dessert."
"You were", Rox asked.
"Yes", Sunny said, "but enough about me, what's all this about avenging Blair?"
"Well, you see", Rox said, "I..."
"There you are", a voice said.
Rox noticed that the police had caught up to her and were now standing at the entrance to the salon.
"Uh oh", Rox said, "looks like the jig's up."
Rox got out from under the desk and went over to the police.
"Okay, officers", Rox said, "you got me."
Rox held her arms up so the police officers could put handcuffs on her.
"What are you waiting for", Rox asked, "aren't you gonna take me to jail now?"
"Take you to jail", one of the police officers asked, "what for?"
"For killing Blair", Rox said, "I made her drink soda right after she ate a chewy mint, and that's what caused the explosion in her neighborhood."
"What do you mean", the other police officer asked, "it was a burst gas main."
Rox was caught off-guard by that revelation.
"What", Rox asked.
"The explosion on Snowdon Drive was caused by a gas main that burst near a stove that was left on by an open window", the first officer said.
"A gas main", Rox asked.
"That's right", the second officer said, "fortunately, no one nearby was seriously hurt, and the one who was inside the house only suffered a broken arm."
"But what about Blair", Rox asked.
"That explosion wasn't anywhere near my house", Blair's voice said.
Rox looked and saw that Blair had caught up to her.
"Blair", Rox said, "I thought you were dead."
"I'm not dead or a ghost", Blair said.
"Then where were you", Rox asked.
"I had the day off today because my parents were visiting me", Blair said, "I thought I told you about this last week."
"Oh, that's right", Rox said, "I must've forgot."
"Did you really think that mint and soda killed me", Blair asked.
"Yes", Rox said, "I thought the police were onto me and wanted to arrest me."
"We're not trying to arrest you", the first officer said, "we've been trying to figure out where you were."
"Your brother called us and said that he heard you were going on the run for some reason", the second officer said, "he sounded really worried."
"I see", Rox said, "but you left that note at my house saying that you'd be back."
"We wanted to know if you had some food you wanted to donate for the food drive we're having", the first officer said.
"That's right", Sunny said, "they were over here earlier to ask if I had anything I wanted to donate."
"Oh", Rox said, "in that case, will you accept this?"
Rox held up the apple she took a bite out of for the officers to take.
"Sorry, but we won't accept foods that have already been eaten", the first officer said.
"Fair enough", Rox said.
"Anyways, we'd better be going now", the second officer said, "have a good evening, girls."
"You too, officers", Rox said.
The two officers got in their car and drove away, and Rox was left with Sunny and Blair.
"Rox", Blair said, "is there something you want to say?"
"Yes", Rox said, "I'm sorry I made you do that dare."
"No, not that", Blair said, "about believing that stuff you read on the internet."
"Oh, right", Rox said, "I guess I took that story I read about the mints and soda a little too seriously."
"That's putting it lightly", Blair said.
"You shouldn't believe something you read online is true unless you know the source is a credible one", Sunny said, "I mean, this whole situation became a bigger deal than it should have been."
"Yeah, I guess so", Rox said, "I'm really sorry, you guys."
"It's okay, Rox", Blair said, "no harm done."
"That's right", Sunny said, "and it sounds like you learned your lesson."
"You bet I did", Rox said, "well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to head home now to catch some Z's."
"Alright", Sunny said, "see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Rox", Blair said.
"You too", Rox said.
The next day, Rox arrived at the salon for work and was greeted by Sunny and Blair.
"Good morning, Rox", Sunny said.
"Morning", Rox said.
"Did you sleep okay", Blair asked.
"Oh, yeah", Rox said, "I had the best sleep of my life that night."
"I'll bet that wasn't hard", Sunny said, "all that stuff that happened with you yesterday is enough to wear anyone out."
"You said it", Rox said, "from now on, I'm going to be extra careful about what I believe on the internet."
Suddenly, Rox felt like she was about to sneeze, and before she could cover her mouth, Doodle intervened.
"Rox, stop", Doodle said.
Rox sneezed before she could cover her mouth, then turned to Doodle.
"What's wrong, Doodle", Rox said.
"If you block your sneeze, your eyes will pop out of your head", Doodle said, "I learned it on the internet."
The three girls all groaned in frustration over Doodle's claim.
"Oh great", Sunny said, "here we go again."