Trent looked at himself in the mirror as he tried on some new clothes. His dark hair was short, but wild, and he decided that maybe he looked a little like his dad. Would Grandma Lane like that…?

It had been a while since she decided to grace Casa Lane with her presence, but today she was finally coming in for a family visit. He sighed. Grandma Lane was the exact opposite of his parents: strict, disciplinary, always in a mood (did his parents even have moods?)… And she had never been too fond of him. Or even the baby of the family, Jane, for that matter. The only thing Grandma Lane had in common with his mom and dad was that she didn't come around often: the silver lining.

Trent frowned. Why was he trying so hard to look good for her? Maybe he could just avoid her for the duration of her stay…besides, this was his house, not hers. He plopped down on his bed, ignoring his messy hair, and reached for his guitar. The family had gotten it for his birthday; it was nothing more than a cheap kid's guitar, and Trent knew this, but for some reason, he didn't mind. It was his favorite and maybe one day he'd get good enough to get a better one if he could talk his parents into it.

As he released an unpleasant, out-of-tune strum, he heard a shy tap at his door. Please don't be Grandma Lane, he thought inwardly as he stopped strumming the guitar.

"Yeah…?" he asked slowly.

"Big brother?"

He was only a big brother to one person in the whole world.

"Janey? You can come in."

The door slightly cracked open a little. "I need you to help me…"

Trent smiled a little at the thought. He loved helping take care of his little sister, and she always needed some kind of help. "Well, what is it?"

As a tiny, black-marked hand snaked around the door, Trent's eyes widened. His fingers slipped as a guitar string broke. "Uh… Janey?"

She walked in confidently, not to be confused with the shy girl behind the door—as confidently as one covered with, what appeared to be head-to-toe, many dark lines connecting to each tiny red bump on her skin could be.

"I think I got them all," she proudly announced, a permanent marker in hand. "Even the ones on my butt! But I can't reach this one on my back…can you help me, big brother?"

Trent only stared at his little sister, not quite sure what to make of this. "You're not supposed to touch the red dots, remember, Janey? You're gonna make them itch more…"

"I was bored!" she huffed, sitting beside him on the bed. "Nobody will come play with me ever since I got these… I hate these chicken pox things! I was only trying to make them fun. I look like a consultation of stars!"

"That's 'constellation,'" he corrected.

The black marks on her face shifted as she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Trent smiled at her. "I'm sorry I haven't played with you in a while… it's because you're supposed to be resting to make the dots go away."

The little girl only gave him a side-glance as he reached for her marker. She had gotten good at this pouting thing. That was when he remembered…

"Oh no! Grandma Lane will be here soon… I forgot!"

He ripped the black marker from out of her grip, picking her up suddenly. "Janey, get in the bath now! We gotta get these marks off you!"

"But Trent—I like them!"

"Well, I don't think Grandma Lane will…"

Thirty minutes of scrubbing had helped remove the blackest black of the dark lines, but many more-than-faint dull black marks still remained.

"Trent, it really itches now… keep scrubbing them!"

"What's going on in here?" Penny's voice was heard behind the bathroom door. She peeked her head in.

Jane waved to her big sister as Trent let out a sigh. "Janey connected all her chicken pox dots with a marker… we can't get them off. Can you help, Penny…?"

"Ew!" she grimaced. "I'm not touching that chicken pox! Try putting some rubbing alcohol on it…it should take the black off."

Trent continued working on one of Jane's arms, which was becoming progressively more difficult. Jane was getting fussy and bored, and this only made her scratch the red dots more.

"Will you get it for me?" he pleaded to Penny. He saw her roll her eyes in the mirror as she walked in, rummaging through the cabinet.

"Don't stop itching it!" Jane commanded desperately.

"Jane, be still."

"Trent, you do realize Grandma Lane will be here soon," Penny said darkly.

"I know that, that's why I'm trying to get these stupid marks off," he quipped back. "I said stop moving, Janey."

"Is Grandma Lane going to be afraid to touch me, too?" Jane asked. The combination of her scratching and Trent's scrubbing had made her skin a reddish-pink now. She thought it looked kinda pretty with the black marks. Maybe she could try a red marker next time.

"You better hope so," Penny answered, tossing the much sought after bottle of alcohol to her drenched brother. "Good luck."

"Penny, wait—"

She had already walked out before he could even ask her what to do.

He glared at the door for a minute before focusing his attention back on Jane. "Well, let's hope this works, sis."

Her smile turned grim as he rubbed an alcohol-soaked cloth to her arm. "Owwwwww! Trent, it burns!"

Much to Trent's happiness, the black marks were looking a bit better, but Jane couldn't share his triumph.

"Stop, stop!" she cried, tears burning the red dots littering her tiny face. "It hurts!"

"I'm sorry, Janey…but it's getting the black stuff off," Trent tried to calm her. Whenever he spoke, she howled louder.

"I hate you!" she shouted, splashing a wave of water his way as she climbed out of the tub, sprinting out of sight.

"Jane, wai—" Trent started as he stood to chase her. He succeeded only in slipping in a puddle left in her wake.

It didn't take long for him to put two-and-two together when he heard a woman's scream and more running; no doubt the soaking-wet, black-marked little Jane had scarred his grandmother for life.

"Trent, isn't this kind of a bad memory for you too, considering that you got chicken pox after that?" Jane pondered with a glare.

Trent studied the steering wheel. "Uhhh… I guess you're right." He thought for a minute. "But it was still funny."

"Yeah, I'm in hysterics over here."

"Wait, I'm not even done with the story yet. There's more… I was about to get to the part where you were showing Grandma Lane the dots you connected on your ass."

"Quite the little artist I was, eh? Well, as exciting as this story has been, I think I'm going to pass on the happy ending and just settle for a nap…hopefully a permanent one." Jane grabbed a nearby old newspaper and placed it lazily over her face.

"But Janey—"

"Trent, don't make me break out the obnoxious fake snoring."

He smirked a little, raising an eyebrow at his little sister. "Yeah, I doubt you could top that story, anyways."