Dragon Ana: Stupid allergies! Stupid exams! Stupid homework! Stupid brother! STUPID EVERYTHING! UGH!
Chase: Ana. (points to audience)
Ana: Oh… Konnichiwa! Sorry about my little angry outburst. I'm kinda pissed about how overworked I've been lately. That's why it's taking me so long to update. On the plus side, I'm all better, but I'll probably be sick again soon. Details are in my profile. But wow! Chapter 7, huh? I've written a lot. After consulting with Ayu-chan, I decided to push the date to next chapter. This chapter's -
Chase: (slaps his hand over Ana's mouth) You just like to hear yourself talk don't you?
Ana: Now that you mention it, yeah. I do. (runs her tongue across his palm)
Chase: … YOU ARE A VILE LITTLE THING, ANATONIA BARCELONA!
Ana: Moving right along… I was only gonna say that this chapter's long and was a pain to write, but oh, well. On with the show! (looks at mortified/enraged Chase) Oh, you'll be fine.
Disclaimer: I own no aspects of Xiaolin Showdown or American Dragon, but Ahn-Li and all aspects surrounding her story belong to me.
Chapter 7: Pre-Date PJ Party
The next day was Wednesday. Jake and Ahn-Li had arranged for the other Xiaolin Dragons to attend school with them while they were in New York, so they could all still hang out. And so, teens were getting ready for the day, all except the self-proclaimed "crack-of-noon" Dragon of the Wind.
Kimiko had her hair dyed blonde and was wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jeans. She was making her way downstairs when she passed into the bedroom where Raimundo was to wake him up. She nudged him. "Raimundo, it's morning." She shook him a little. "Wake up." He didn't budge. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shifted him into a sitting position, shaking him harder. "Rai!"
"Hey, Kimi." Ahn-Li cheered, entering the room in an Atlanta Dawgs jersey dress with skinny jeans and her famous hat in her hand.
Kimiko's face immediately brightened and she smiled at her friend. "Good morning." It quickly shifted into a frown again as she turned back to Raimundo, shaking him back and forth vigorously, "Raimundo! Wake! Up!"
"Five more hours…" Raimundo mumbled, his head falling backwards.
"Ugh!" She groaned with exasperation, throwing her hands in the air and letting him fall back on the bed.
"Jake and Jing the same way…" Ahn-Li said, putting her hat on. She walked over to the bed and grinned."Kimi, let me show you how I do it, okay? Oh, you might want to cover your ears."
Kimiko's head tilted to the side. "Huh? But why would I—"
She leaned down and pulled the blanket back, exposing Raimundo's ear. "Raimundo! Santa came last night and didn't leave you anything!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, which was pretty loud.
Raimundo's eyes shot open and he fell out of the bed with a shout. He sat up on the floor, panting. "Jeez, man, I think I've just gone deaf…" He looked up at her, glaring. "And what the hell? It's November!"
"Don't start complaining, now." Ahn-Li scolded him, pointing a finger at him. "I'm in a guest room because I let you sleep in my room last night."
"No, you're in a guest room 'cause you suck at Rock, Paper, Scissors, remember?" Raimundo pointed out, rising to his feet.
"Well, I didn't argue about it and actually let you."
"No, you were complaining about it through dinner."
"Maybe I should've covered my ears…" Kimiko said, shaking her head. "I never knew you could be so loud."
"Anyways!" Ahn-Li tucked her hands behind her head and began walking out of the room. "Come on, people, let's move. I'm hungry."
"Um, when are you not hungry?" Raimundo asked, cracking his back.
She poked her head back into the room. "When I'm done eating. Let's go."
Raimundo and Kimiko laughed as they followed her downstairs. After breakfast, the kids went to school. Dojo didn't come since they already had the Wu they were looking for.
At school, they say in Sun Park's home economics class. All of them were making soufflés in pairs, Trixie and Ahn-Li, Jake and Spud, Raimundo and Clay, Omi and Kimiko. "Now add a teaspoon of nutmeg and mix it in." Sun instructed, "Alright, pour it into the pan and put it in the oven for twenty minutes."
They all put their soufflés in the oven and waited. Ahn-Li took out a dance magazine. "Hey, Li." Trixie said.
"Hm?"
"I talked to my mom yesterday and she said you, me and Kimiko could have a sleepover tomorrow."
Ahn-Li's eyes lit up. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, it's a three-day weekend, right? Let's make it a girl's weekend."
"Hey, can Rose come too?" She asked, her eyes hopeful. "I know y'all aren't best friends or anything, but I'm going to be visiting even less than I did before. I want to hang with all of you before I leave the Big Apple."
Trixie shrugged, smiling in compliance. "Hey, whatever. Besides, more people, better party. We could watch a couple of movies, order some pizza and y'know, just talk. It'll be fun."
"And what will be so fun?" Sun asked.
She was standing right in front of the girls. "Uh, nothing." they answered.
"Nothing?" She smirked down at them. "Well, maybe you girls should focus less on talking and more on cooking."
"Snap! The soufflé!" Trixie cried, running to the oven.
They ran over to the oven, and pulled it out quickly. It was a little more golden than the others, but not burnt. Sun inspected it carefully. Then went around and did the same with the others. "Good. It seems that these soufflés are satisfactory. Now there's only one thing left to do."
"And what would that be?" Omi asked.
Sun pulled out forks for all of them, grinning from ear to ear. "Eat your masterpieces."
"Woo! My favorite subject! Clay exclaimed.
Spud took a bite of his and Jake's, "Mmm… Spud-alicious."
"I helped make it, too. Gimme some of that." Jake said as he took a large forkful.
"A little slice of heaven." Raimundo said.
The shrill bell rang, signaling that the class was over. "Class dismissed." Sun said, waving the students off.
It was lunch time now. Every student in the school was packed into the cafeteria, getting lunch or chatting, or doing both simultaneously. Ahn-Li walked across the cafeteria to a blonde girl with bright blue eyes and what looked like a dragon shaped tattoo on her right palm. Though, it was actually a birthmark. "Hey, Rosie." She greeted the girl from behind, "Guess who?"
The girl, Rose, turned around, her eyes widening in shock and excitement. "Ahn-Li? Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed as she stood up to hug her, "It's been forever. How are you?"
"Still holding up, I guess." She replied, leaning against the table. "Listen, me and my, uh…" She glanced over at the monks, Rose following her gaze with a curious glint in her azure hues. "Cousins! Yeah. We'll only be here for a few days and Trixie's going to be having a sleepover tomorrow. Are you in?"
Rose thought for a moment, looking at Ahn-Li's pleading lilac eyes and her puppy dog face. She smiled wide with a little laugh, giving her a light punch on the arm. "Count on it."
"Great!" Ahn-Li cheered, pumping her fist and turning on her heel. "Okay, so we'll see you tomorrow, then."
She went back over to the table the others had claimed earlier, where Trixie was telling Kimiko about the weekend plans. "That's a great idea." she agreed, "It'd be nice to get away from the guys for once for a change."
"That's what I'm sayin', girl!" Trixie stated.
Ahn-Li sat on the edge of the table, "Hey. I just talked to Rose."
"Miss Nguyen!" A Bavarian accented voice shouted from behind her.
Ahn-Li turned to smile at him. "Why, hello, Professor Rotwood!"
"Principal! Principal Rotwood!" He corrected her, pointing his ruler at her, then tapping the table, "I would appreciate it if your glutteous maximus was not on the table."
Her inner cheeky nature kicked in and she grinned. "And I would appreciate it if your glutteous wasn't so maximus." She said with a wink.
"I will let that one slide… But only because that is my wish as well." Rotwood growled, walking away while self-consciously covering his buttocks. "Carry on!"
Trixie, Kimiko and Ahn-Li all laughed at that, then Ahn-Li continued what she had been saying earlier. "Anyway, Rose said she'll be there."
"Awesome." Kimiko said, giving her a thumbs-up.
"And the beauty part is, no boys."
"Who says we wanna hang around you girls anyway?" Clay asked from across the table.
"Yeah, go on and have your dumb sleepover." Raimundo stated.
"We will." Trixie said, smirking. "Have fun with your fan club, Raimundo."
"We love you, Raimundo!" a group of girls shouted, holding up a large sign.
Raimundo hung his head with a sigh. Earlier in the day, Raimundo had been spotted by the female population, most of which nearly melted at his appearance. Before lunch time, they had already organized a fan club for him, which he, surprisingly enough, did not like. In fact, it was starting to creep him out a bit.
Another bell rang, this one signalling that school was over for the day. That afternoon, Trixie and Spud came over to Jake's house to play video games, meaning that all of the teens would be hanging out together. That was the usual thing for the three of them, whenever Jake had a spare moment. Jake and Spud were currently going at it. "Game over." the game said, "Player 2 wins."
"Yes!" Spud shouted victoriously, "You cannot defeat Grand Master Spud!"
"You just got lucky, I'm telling you." Jake said indignantly, standing up and pointing to his seat. "Trixie, you're up."
Trixie eagerly hopped over the couch to where Jake had just been sitting. "Spud, prepare to move to Loser Ville." She warned the lanky teen.
Ahn-Li was sitting on the carpet currently teaching Kimiko how to play Slide. It was a game she had learned when she was a young girl, before the ridiculing from her peers started. "This game's usually pretty fast once you get how it works." she explained, "But we'll start slow, for now."
"Did you play this a lot back home in Atlanta?" Kimiko asked.
"You bet I did! Slide was one of my favorite games. Double Dutch—some of the other girls did it—was… A disaster."
The two girls laughed and continued on with their game. Raimundo was leaning against the wall by the kitchen when Jake passed by. "Jake." He called him, nodding his head towards the kitchen.
Both boys walked into the kitchen. Raimundo leaned back against the counter with a sigh. "What's up?" Jake asked, pouring himself some punch from the pitcher on the table.
"Well," Raimundo started, reaching a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Last night, after the showdown, I may've asked Ahn-Li out."
Jake nearly spit out his drink when he heard that. The other boy watched as he coughed roughly, trying to clear his throat. "Say what with you and Li-Li?" he asked after he could breathe properly again.
"I asked her out." Raimundo said with a bit more confidence.
"Wow…" Jake chuckled lightly, "Congrats on being the first guy to have the guts to do it."
"Uh… thanks?" he responded, unsure of how to take that comment. "Anyway, she's your cousin. You think you could, y'know help me out here?"
Jake set his cup down on the and clapped his hands together. "Okay, there are a couple things you gotta know. First off, you might not belive this, but Li-Li's actually a big fan of plants. She loves 'em."
"Plants?" Raimundo looked over at Ahn-Li, raising an eyebrow. "She likes plants?"
"See? You didn't believe it. Her favorite plant is the white rose and she loves to dance and she's pretty good at it. Her favorite food is spaghetti. Actually, she kinda likes any kind of pasta. Scratch that, any food in general." Jake said, smiling as he continued, "And also…"
Clay and Omi were sitting behind the couch. Clay was trying to teach the yellow monk how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Well, reteach him how to. They tried to do this before, but it had not been working. The two banged their fists in their palms and then took their positions. Omi had rock and Clay had paper. "Ah-ha! I win!" Omi cheered.
Clay shook his head. "No. Paper covers rock, little buddy." Clay explained.
Omi titled his head in confusion. "But, if it is a sharp rock, wouldn't the paper rip?" he asked innocently, blinking up at the cowboy.
Clay sighed. He had been asked questions like that for a little while. "Let's go again."
Around the indistinct sounds of the different kids' conversations were the clicking of the locks. The door opened and Susan, Hayley and another man with brown hair and glasses in a brown suit walked inside. "Hi, kids." Susan greeted them.
"Hey, Mom and Dad." Jake greeted them from the kitchen.
"Uncle Jonathan!" Ahn-Li jumped up mid-Slide and hugged the man tightly .
He laughed, giving her a bear hug in return and twirling her around. "Hey there, little Ahn-Li!"
Ahn-Li turned to her fellow Dragons, tugging Jonathan inside. "Guys, this is my uncle, Jonathan Long. Uncle, these are my friends Kimiko Tohomiko, Clay Bailey, Raimundo Pedrosa, and Omi."
"Pleasure to meet you all." He ruffled his niece's hair hard. "Thanks for taking care of little Linguine here."
"Uncle…" Ahn-Li whined.
Kimiko bit her lip as to avoid laughing at Ahn-Li's nickname. The boys, however, were not so courteous and fell into fits of laughter. Ahn-Li then turned her attention to Susan. "Auntie, can Kimiko and I go home with Trixie tomorrow?" she asked.
"I don't see why not." Susan replied, "As long as it's okay with Trixie's mother."
"My mom's cool with it." Trixie assured her.
"Then it's fine with me. That being settled, who wants chicken?"
"I do!" everyone said.
"Ain't nothin' like some good, finger-lickin' chicken!" Clay said, the first one with a plate.
After eating, they resumed the games. Trixie and Ahn-Li were upside-down on the couch. The little brip-brip-brip sounds of the video game characters could be heard throughout the house. "Game over." the game announcer said, "Player 1 wins."
"Whoo!" came Ahn-Li's victory cry as she jumped to her feet.
"Two outta three!" Trixie demanded.
"You're going to lose again, but whatever."
Just then, Susan came over to the couch, her car keys in hand. "Trixie, Spud, it's time for me to take you guys home."
"Already?" Spud asked.
"Spud, you've been here for, like, four hours." Jake reminded him, plopping onto the couch beside Ahn-Li.
"Man, I was hoping to beat Li before we left." Trixie groused, getting up.
Ahn-Li stuck her tongue out at her playfully. "Well, keep hoping."
"See y'all tomorrow." Clay waved over his shoulder.
Spud waved back, "Yeah. Hasta, buddy."
As soon as they had walked out the door, Ahn-Li let out a heavy yawn. "Someone can take my spot. I'm goin' to bed." she said as she got up, making her way towards the chair. "Good night."
"Yeah. I'm beat too." Kimiko stood up to leave with her, "Night, guys."
Kimiko and Ahn-Li went up to their room and took turns using the shower before getting into their pajamas. Afterwards, they were sitting by the open window looking out at the night sky. "Hey, look." Kimiko pointed at the moon. "The moon's almost full."
"It'll probably be full by Friday." She shuffled in excitement. "I've always loved full moons."
"Well, I guess that's because you're the Dragon of Light." Kimiko turned her head in Ahn-Li's direction. "Wait, what happens on Friday?"
"I'll tell you tomorrow, Kimi." Ahn-Li answered with a smile, closing the window and climbing into the large bed. "Good night."
"Alright then." Kimiko climbed in on the other side, "Good night."
The next day was Thursday, the day before the date. At school, Rotwood was going on about how the students should use the three-day-weekend wisely. "In addition, rather than just fooling around like the hooligans you are, take the time to get a jump-start on your research reports. Its completion weighs heavily on your final grade of the semester, after all."
The kids all murmured little complaints and loud groanings. "Why should we care?" Ahn-Li asked the monks with a scoff, her feet propped up on the desk. "It's not like we're gonna be here long enough to turn in the assignment anyway."
Rotwood slammed a notebook down on her desk, the loud noise making her jump a bit. "What was that Miss Nguyen? Another one of your cheeky little comments? Hahah… I'll fix that." He turned to the class again, "Change in plans, class. Instead of the planned assignment—"
The bell rang in the middle of his sentence. The class jumped up from their seats and darted out of the classroom yelling, "Three-day-weekend!"
At lunch, the boys and girls were sitting on opposite ends of the table as they had been the day before. Kimiko was sitting beside Ahn-Li, squirming in her seat as she tried to get her fellow Dragon to tell her what was so special about Friday. "Ahn-Li, come on. You said you'd tell me today so spill already!" she prodded.
"I did say I'd tell you today." Ahn-Li replied, smirking, "I never said when today I'd tell you."
"Then when?" Kimiko was brimming with curiosity.
"Later." Ahn-Li answered, putting a finger to her lips as if to say it was a secret.
"It's probably something big, knowin' Li. I say we wait." Trixie said, grinning.
Over on the boys' end of table, they were discussing where Raimundo was going to go on the date. Raimundo was sitting with his elbow propped on the table and his chin in his hand. "Honestly, I have no idea where we're gonna go." he said to the other boys. "Like I said, I didn't even think she'd say yes."
"You still haven't decided?" Clay asked, "Aren't you going out with 'er tomorrow?"
"Yeah, but you're acting as if she's one of those easy to read people." He ran his other hand through his hair. "I dunno what kind of place she'd be into."
"If there's one word to describe Li-Li, it's definitely not predictable." Jake agreed.
"She probably will not care." Omi said, reaching over to pat Raimundo on the head with an innocent smile on his face. "If she is going out with you, I'm sure it will not matter."
"…" He turned to look at Omi, "Your complimenting skills need serious work, Omi."
All the while, Spud had been sitting quietly, staring into space and tapping his chin as he thought. He knew Ahn-Li's preferences almost as well as Jake did, the two of them being best friends and all. "I got it!" He exclaimed, surprising the other boys. "You should take her to that Italian place on 17th."
A smile started to form on Jake's face and he smacked himself on the forehead lightly. "Of course!" he agreed, nodding his head, "Li-Li always did say she wanted to try it."
Clay gave Raimundo a slap on the back. "Well, there ya go, Rai. Problem solved."
After the final bell, the girls ran excitably to the exit. "End of the day, start of the partay!" Trixie shouted.
"Rose said she'll be along a little bit later." Kimiko reminded them.
Ahn-Li wrapped her arms around her friends' shoulders as they walked out the door, "Bye, guys. And see you tomorrow, Raimundo."
"See ya, Li-Li!" Jake called.
"Jacob Luke Long, for the millionth time…" She jumped into the air to tackle him, but was caught by the arms and dragged away with much effort by Kimiko and Trixie. "Stop calling me Li-Li!"
"Love you, too!" he teased her.
The girls were now walking to Trixie's. Kimiko was growing impatient waiting for Ahn-Li to say what she had to say. "Ahn-Li, you have been wearing that smile all day. It's later! Tell me!"
"Calm down, Kimiko. When Rose shows up, I'll tell, kay?"
"Fine, fine." Kimiko said, waving her hand and waving off the subject for now.
Trixie took out her keys and opened the door to her apartment. The girls all took off their shoes and put their backpacks down. They were on their way to the kitchen for a snack when they heard a loud voice from upstairs. "Hey Trixay! You hungry? Y'all want somethin' to eat?"
"Nah! We're straight, Gramma!" Trixie yelled back up the stairs.
"I'm so glad Nai-Nai isn't like that." Ahn-Li said, pulling a cookie out of the cookie jar. "My sister takes care of the loudness, though."
"Wait a sec," Kimiko cut in, "You have a sister?" She put her hands on her hips. "You told me about the rest of your family but you left out your sister?"
"It must have slipped my mind, but yeah." She said with a shrug. "I do have a little sister. Her name's Jing, but I call her 'Thing'. She's an annoying brat, but I have to admit I'm a little jealous of her."
"How come?" Kimiko asked.
"For one thing, she actually looks like the rest of the family. Black hair, brown eyes, normal skin. Now take a look at me." She gestured to herself. "Purple eyes and skin as pale as flour. I don't think Albinos are on a guys' list of good qualities. She may be four years younger, but wow… is she lucky."
"We've got to do something about your-self confidence. Any guy who doesn't know that inner beauty matters most doesn't deserve your time." Kimiko told her with a snap of her fingers, "And, besides, you're actually really, really pretty, Ahn-Li."
Ahn-Li cracked a half-smile at that. "Thanks, Kimiko."
The door opened again and Trixie's mom came in carrying a lot of groceries. "Need a hand, Mrs. Carter?" Kimiko asked.
"Thanks very much." Mrs. Carter said, smiling in appreciation.
"Thanks for letting us come over Mrs. C." Ahn-Li said, taking a couple of bags.
"It's my pleasure, girls. Just tell me when you're hungry and I'll call in a pizza."
"Will do, Mom." Trixie replied.
"Good."She leaned over and kissed her daughter. "You girls have fun, now."
Mrs. Carter left the girls downstairs to set things up. "Rose is taking forever." Trixie complained as she and Kimiko moved the table across the room.
"Can't you just tell us now and tell her later?" Kimiko asked hopefully.
"No. Just wait. She'll be here." Ahn-Li assured them, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of chips. Almost immediately after she said that, the doorbell rang. "Told you."
Kimiko opened the door to reveal the blonde girl standing in the door way with a dufflebag thrown over her shoulder. "Hey. Sorry I'm late." She apologized and walked into the living room with the rest of the girls.
Kimiko looked over at Ahn-Li rather expectantly, urging her to fulfill her end of the bargain. "Alrighty." Ahn-Li sighed, "Now that everyone's here, I can get this over with. Rose, just to clear this up, the others aren't really me and Jake's cousins."
"That was sort of a no-brainer." Rose said with a knowing smile.
"Back to the main thing. Yesterday evening, uh… um, Raimundoaskedmeout…" Ahn-Li muttered the last part, her cheeks going light pink.
"Huh?"
"Raimundo asked me out." Her voice was still low.
Kimiko cupped her ear with one hand, "What?"
"Rai asked me out, alright?" She repeated clearly, folding her arms over her chest, "Happy now?"
"Good for you, Li." Trixie congratulated her.
"No!" She shook her head. "Bad for me. Very bad for me. This is my first date."
"First? As in very first?" Rose asked. "How is that even possible?"
"The 'pink-eyed Albino' wasn't really everyone's first pick. Anyway, I said yes, so there's a small issue." She clasped her hands together, going into thought, "I wanna wear something nice, but I only have tomboy clothes. Not a single dress or skirt to my name. Long story, short, help me!"
Kimiko, Rose and Trixie were silent as their usually calm friend sat there freaking out. To think, a tomboy black belt in Kung Fu would be put in such a state by a boy. "O…kay. We'll work something out." Kimiko assured her. "Don't worry."
"But for now, we'll focus on the party." Rose said, wrapping an arm around Ahn-Li's shoulders.
Ahn-Li was relieved. "Well, can we get some pizza first?" she asked, "We're out of chips."
Rose raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean we're out of chips?"
"What do you mean mean what do I mean we're out of chips? Do I need say it in Chinese?" There went that Southern accent again. "Zhèxiē xīnpiàn dōu bùjiànle, the chips are gone."
Ahn-Li was sitting there with an empty bowl of chips in her lap and an innocent look on her face. "Jeez, Ahn-Li, did you inhale them?" Kimiko asked with pure shock; she had only given the bowl to her a few minutes ago and it had been completely full. Almost overflowing
Trixie laughed. "I'll go tell my mom to call in the pizza. Whaddaya want on it?"
"Pepperoni." the other girls answered.
"Oh! Oh! Chicken and pepperoni on half of it."Ahn-Li added.
"Do you only think about food all the time?" Kimiko wondered.
Ahn-Li was silent for a moment. "What's your point?"
Trixie went off to tell her mom to order the pizza. When she came back, rather than putting on the horror movie they planned, the girls just watched a Simpsons re-run and saved the movie for when they had the pizza. "When is the pizza gonna get here?" Ahn-Li asked impatiently.
"Just wait." the other three told her for the third time.
"But I'm about to starve, dammit!"
"You just ate!" Rose scolded her.
The doorbell rang then. Ahn-Li looked up at the sound, much like a puppy, making the other three girls giggle. Mrs. Carter came to the door and paid the pizza delivery guy. "Okay, girls. Here's your pizza." She said, putting it on the coffee table.
"All right! Now we can start the movie!" Trixie cheered.
"What are we watching anyway?" Rose asked.
Trixie pulled a video from behind her back and smiled. "The Grudge."
"I still haven't seen that yet." Kimiko said, "Heard it's really creepy."
"So we should definitely watch it!" Ahn-Li cheered.
Trixie put in the tape and joined her friends on the couch.
At Jake's house, the boys were doing what they usually do: sitting on the couch to play hours of video games. While they were playing a game, Jake noticed a familiar set of keys with an Atlanta Dawgs key chain dangling on it. "Hey, Li-Li left her keys here." He pointed out to the others.
They all looked down at the coffee table at the keys. "We should bring them to her." Omi said.
"We could." Raimundo then got an impish smirk on his face. "And we could have a little fun while we do it."
"What'd you have in mind?" Clay asked, slightly interested.
Raimundo briefed them on the little scheme he'd just cooked up. They all agreed that it was a good, not to mention fun, idea. "Raimundo, you are the man." Spud praised him, raising his hand for a high-five.
The comment went straight to his head as he reciprocated the action. "Hey, I do what I can."
They stopped at Lao-Shi's shop to get a potion from Fu, then headed over to Trixie's. When they got there, they saw the girls huddled up on the couch, the tv's glow lighting their frightened faces. Raimundo snickered. "This is going to be cake."
"We're making a cake?" Omi asked confusedly as they huddled below the window, "But we don't have any—"
"No. He means it'll be easy." Clay clarified, waving his hand.
"They're already freaked out by the movie." He informed them. "Then again, The Grudge kind of freaked me out too. Anyway, Jake, do you have the potion?"
"Yup." Jake pulled the potion out of his pocket, "One 'Monster Maker' potion. Courtesy of Fu Dog. Just say the monster you want and it makes it for you. All traits included."
"Alright then. Let's get it started."
Raimundo used his power over the wind to create a breeze inside the house.
The girls were still glued to the movie. Trixie, Rose, Kimiko and Ahn-Li were really freaked out, but just couldn't bring themselves to turn it off. They were frozen stiff. "This movie is really creepy." Rose said.
Trixie shivered. "But that draft is what's buggin' me. Hey, Kimiko, you mind closing the window?"
"Not at all." Kimiko got up to close the window, then went wide-eyed when she got about halfway there. "Uh… Trixie, it's not open."
"Is the AC on?" Ahn-Li asked.
Trixie got up to check the AC unit. "No. It's off."
"So where'd it come from?" Rose asked, looking around suspiciously.
A stronger wind went through the room, knocking a few of the magazines off of the coffee table. "Eek!" the girls screamed, clinging to each other for dear life.
The boys were outside laughing. "That's rich." Spud chuckled.
"Guess it's time to use that potion." Clay said.
Jake dumped the potion onto the ground. "Kayako Saeki."
A bubble popped in the center of the purple goo. Then another one. Soon it grew to a rolling bubble and then began to take shape. Soon, it was the spitting image of the ghostly girl. It even made the same sound, very loudly.
The girls heard the noise and got even more freaked out. "I'm not the only one that heard that, right?" Ahn-Li whispered.
"How could I not?" Kimiko responded. "It sounded like the movie."
"It probably was." Rose deducted, laughing a little.
Trixie paused it so they could see whether or not it was the movie. At first, it was quiet and they were relieved, then they heard the noise again. Kayako's silhouette was seen in the window, hey face and hands pressed against the glass. They screamed. "Okay, okay, calm down." Trixie assured them, although she was afraid herself, "Just close your eyes and count to three and it'll be gone."
They did that and like Trixie said, the monster was gone. The girls looked at each other quietly for a moment, and then they laughed at how scared they had been. Then they heard the noise again, this time it sounded like it was coming from right behind them. They slowly turned their heads around and saw Kayako right there. "AAAAAH!" they screamed as they fell off the couch.
"Turn the movie down, girls!" Mrs. Carter called from upstairs.
"Sorry!" They all answered, then went right back to being scared.
Kimiko's eyes lit up as she got an idea. "Ahn-Li." She held up a fist.
Ahn-Li stared blankly at her for a moment, but nodded not a moment later. "Gotcha."
Both girls got up, their hands glowing. They punched the ghost and she exploded into purple sludge, all over the two of them. "Ew ew ew ew eww!" Kimiko whimpered, twitching and squirming. "What happened?"
Ahn-Li stood there calmly, spitting out the little bit that had seeped into her mouth. She raised an eyebrow at the familiar taste. She scraped some of the substance from her face with her finger, sniffing at it. The other three girls looked very confused. "Li. What're you doing?" Trixie asked.
She put her finger in her mouth and a universal look of disgust flew through the room, most prominent on the paler girl's face. After she gagged a little, her eyes narrowed. "I smell a rat. Actually, no. I smell a dragon."
The boys saw what had happened from their place in the window and were just as confused. "Jake Long, what has just happened?" Omi asked in a squeak.
"I dunno!" Jake answered. He looked at the label on the potion bottle and saw the problem, in big red letters. "Guys, look at this: 'Add a pinch of powdered butterfly wing before use or monster will melt and/or explode when forcefully struck.' That's our problem."
"Fu Dog told you to read the label." Spud reminded him, with a rather parental shake of his head. "But, as usual, you forgot. Jake, Jake, Jake..."
Inside, the girls had figured out that it was the boys who had played that trick on them. It helped that Kimiko had the Falcon's Eye in her backpack. Now, they were planning to fight fire with fire. Actually, they were fighting fire with water, seeing as that was the more logical thing to do. After Kimiko and Ahn-Li washed the sludge off of them. They decided to go with the classic water balloon after they had found some in Trixie's room, only this was a huge one that required two people to carry it.
Rose and Kimiko carried the water balloon into the living room. Trixie and Ahn-Li opened the window. "Isn't it a nice night to let in a breeze, Li?" Trixie asked, trying not to laugh.
"Sure is. I just hope it doesn't rain." Ahn-Li said, motioning for Kimiko and Rose to bring over to the window, "'Cause when it rains…"
The girls pushed the balloon out of the window. "AH!" The boys shouted as the ice cold water exploded over their heads.
"…It pours!" Kimiko finished in a giggle.
Trixie, Kimiko, Ahn-Li and Rose all high-fived each other, laughing with delight. The boys stood up, completely drenched, making the girls laugh harder. "Have a nice swim?" Kimiko said between laughs.
"That was messed up." Raimundo told them, flicking the water from his hands.
"You can thank Ahn-Li for that." Rose commented, smiling.
"Nah, we all did it together. And I'm loving the end result." Ahn-Li remarked. She then leaned her torso out the window and extended a hand to Raimundo for a shake. "So… do we have a truce?"
He smiled and shook her hand, leaving the keys in them. Ahn-Li's smile brightened. "Truce." He agreed as the boys began making their way back towards Jake's house. "See you tomorrow."
"Okay. See you then." She pulled her head back inside and closed the window, bumping her head on the window. "Ow!" When she turned around, her friends were all looking at her with big smirks on their faces and their hands planted on their hips. "What?"
"Truth or dare, Ahn-Li?" Rose asked.
"I'd usually go with dare, but not with you guys. Truth."
"How much do you like Raimundo?"
"I knew y'all were going to ask me that sooner or later!" She said almost as if the phrase were meant to be a swear. "I guess…enough to say yes to a date with him." Ahn-Li answered, sitting on the couch again.
"That all?" Trixie grilled. "There somethin' else you wanna say?"
"No! There's nothing more to say!"
Ahn-Li grabbed a pillow and threw it at Trixie. She laughed in response and threw one at Rose. A clichéd sleepover pillow fight broke out. Luckily, those pillows weren't feather pillows, or they would have been all over the room. After nearly beating each other senseless, they decided to call it a night. It was about 2:15 am at that time.
The next morning, Ahn-Li slept in for once in her life, but did not realize that she did since the sky was a dim, pale blue with tinges of pink and orange. She drowsily hopped into the shower and washed up for the day. Then, she threw on an oversized t-shirt and some shorts. When she walked into Trixie's room the other three girls were waiting for her. "Hey there, sleepyhead." Kimiko greeted with a smile.
"Hey… What time is it?" Ahn-Li asked, rubbing a bit of sleep from her eyes.
"4:45 pm." Rose replied nonchalantly.
Ahn-Li nodded her head casually, then whipped around as she acknowledged the time they told her. "What?" shrieked frantically, "You let me sleep until 4:45? My date's in a couple of hours!"
"Trust us. You needed it." Trixie said, grabbing her hand and sitting her in a chair in front of Trixie's mirror. "Now let's work some magic."
"Is this 'magic' going to hurt?" The girls said nothing to her. "Guys?"
Ana: Woah! That really was a long one. Y'all might not believe this, but it really is possible to sleep that long but it is. Trust me. I slept in until 5:30 and missed breakfast and lunch. The funny thing is, I went back to sleep! Luckily, I woke up right before dinner. Anyways, the next chapter will be coming soon. Ses paciente. Hasta luego!