Bandit stood, watching Stripe run off after the whole commotion. He had gotten stuck on the prickles, eager to take the shortcut to the toilets to clean his teeth.

He felt bad about all he'd done to poor Stripe, so he threw his hat on the grass, motioning his stripy brother to follow onto the concrete. When he'd done so, Bandit was sure that Stripe would finally forgive him and everyone could go on with their lives, but of course brothers- or at least his brothers, weren't so forgiving.

"Um...thanks Ban...," Stripe stared at Bandit, unsure of what to do next. Should he say it? He was still admittedly mad at Bandit for all that happened on this trip...Also Brandy was supposed to break the curse. He saw some hope in Bandit's eyes, the thought of taking away that extra sparkle in his eye made his tail barely start moving. "Dina! Hahaha!"

Stripe ran away, leaving Bandit to eat his dust, leaving his smushed hat onto the grass.

Bandit stared at his brother turning towards the corner, notably near Brandy's cabin. Off to play with Chilli, likely..

Although to tell the truth, he wasn't mad, sad, or even regretful of having helped his brother. He was impressed- Stripe tended to be a pushover, incapable of defending himself before. The kid was finally standing his ground, a big achievement indeed.

I'm proud of him. Bandit smiled, admiring his growth.

He heard some footsteps behind him, snapping him back to reality. Oh yeah, I'm supposed to help Mum pack, we're leaving the day after tomorrow..

"Bandit...Heeler? Is this your hat?" a voice asked behind him, one that reminded him of Brandy's sister yesterday...

He turned around, frozen in place when he realized it was Chilli, who was even more stunning up close. She still wore her She-Ra costume, cardboard sword in her paw, a smile on her face.

"Y-yeah," Bandit stuttered, unable to look her in the eye. He had spoken for the first time since the jinx and he had to clear his throat a couple of times. He hoped he didn't sound dumb, but that thought was quickly erased when she picked up the hat. Her fiery red fur danced in the wind, forming a ripple-like effect on her visible coat.

"Here you go," she handed the hat over to Bandit, aware of how he was acting. Brandy had described him as spunky and assertive, but here he was, shy and appearing slightly nervous.

"Thanks," Bandit took the hat, a small blush forming on his face. He was unsure of what else to say, so Chilli quickly took over.

"See you later!" Chilli ran back to wherever she had come from, leaving a love-struck Bandit standing on the pavement.

"Yeah...see you later," Bandit nearly whispered to more himself than Chilli. He knew Chilli and her sister would stop by since his father had invited the Cattle family over to the cookout, so his tail now had a mind of its own and wouldn't stop wagging.

He skipped inside the cabin, hugging his hat real close, hoping he didn't tear it. Christine, his mum, looked at him with the weirdest expression he had ever seen from her.

"Bandit, what's gotten into you?"

The second time someone had said his name today!

"Oh nothing, mum," Bandit smiled hard. "Let's get packing!"

"Huh, you're never this eager to help out..." Chris took notice. "Buuut who am I to undermine the cause of this? I just need to get the packing done!"

Chilli took off her costume, putting it back into her handbag inside the cabin. She dusted her fur off and smiled, excited to play with Stripe and maybe his brothers, too. Brandy was inside, rummaging through their suitcase, looking for who-knows-what!

"What are you looking for?" Chilli lent in with a smirk on her muzzle.

"Rosey Stars Perfume," Brandy said quickly, still digging through the pile. "...why? Have you seen it?"

"No," Chilli answered. "I didn't see it, but I saw him."

"What?" Brandy found the perfume at the very bottom of the suitcase, spraying a considerable amount on her fur until she was satisfied. "The perfume's a boy now or something?"

"No! I mean I saw Bandit," Chilli said.

Brandy dropped the perfume, causing the glass to crack a little on the surface. "Oh..um, what happened exactly? Nothing eventful, right?"

"No, but he was really nervous for some reason," Chilli emphasized. "His cheeks were kinda red and he was nothing like how you described him."

Of course, Chilli always has boy fans wherever we go. Brandy thought, hiding it all behind a smile, much like a mask. Brandy knew Stripe was crazy about her now, but now she's got Bandit pinned by the tail?!

"Cool," she said, dismissing the topic as subtly as she could. The cookout would consist of her and Bandit hanging out; she'd make sure Chilli didn't come into contact with him.

"I think I see what you mean now," Chilli grabbed the perfume, spraying a modest amount on her fur. She disliked too much of it and her head would hurt after a while when Brandy would bathe herself in it. "He's pretty cute."

"Is he?" Brandy growled quietly enough to not be heard. "And you don't fancy Stripe in the slightest?"

"Nope. He's my friend, nothing more," Chilli stated clearly, putting the perfume back in the suitcase. "Besides his parents don't let him date yet."

Bandit also isn't allowed yet. Now I know for sure he was serious.

"I see," Brandy kept herself short. "And Pat? What about him? You've liked him since year 4!"

"Sure, he's still very fine. I do admit though, Bandit has much softer looking fur. The type of fur I would just snuggle into."

"Okay Chilli," Brandy stopped smiling, a new sense of dread overcoming her. "I'm asking you kindly to not try to get with him. I liked him first. Besides Stripe- well, he kinda has eyes for you anyway. He told me to tell you to meet him at the beach about 30 minutes from now."

"Okay fine," Chilli rubbed her head in embarrassment. "I won't, I know you really like him. But just to keep things clear, I'm still allowed to talk to him. He seems interesting!"

"Yeah, you can talk to him," Brandy stated. "Just don't flirt with him or anything? Please? You know he can't even talk with the jinx anyway!"

"I won't," Chilli smiled at her sister. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I'm gonna head to the beach then, tell Dad if he asks."

"Thank you, Chilli," Brandy hugged her sister. "And of course, don't worry. Have fun."

When Chilli made it to the beach, Stripe wasn't there yet. She didn't blame him- she came by 20 minutes earlier. However, the same dog from the morning turned to look at her, the two pairs of eyes staring deep into each other's soul. He sat near the shore and she stood in front, far enough away from the water. She wanted to smell like Rosey Stars for as long as possible without wasting all of it!

"Chilli," spoke the blue heeler.

"Bandit," spoke the red heeler.

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"How do you know mine?"

"Brandy told me about you."

"Stripe had a lot of very nice things to say about you."

The two continued to look at each other before laughing awkwardly, putting their paws behind their heads, soon followed by them opening their mouths to speak, then closing it when they saw the other had done the same.

Bandit broke the silence. "You wanna build a sandcastle?"

"Only if you won't yell at me," Chilli crossed her arms. "You weren't very nice to Stripe that one time."

"Ah, so you saw that too," Bandit blushed in embarrassment. "I apologized to him, but yeah, that is probably not the best first impression..."

"It isn't," Chilli stated shortly, remembering Brandy's request to not become too buddy-buddy with him!

"Well, your sister taught me that deep breath trick. I can actually stand Stripe now," Bandit joked, getting a chuckle out of Chilli.

Progress! Bandit thought, his tail wagging. "Although, I couldn't get mad at someone like you so easily.."

Such a subtle flirt... Chilli gave him a half eyed stare. She couldn't resist smiling back when a big wave came by and Bandit howled from the cold.

"Is the water that cold?" Chilli laughed. "You look like you just froze your bottom off!"

"I kinda did," Bandit got up, side eyeing her. "Darn, I'm shivering now."

Chilli hugged him closely. Her initial intention was to warm him up because he was shivering all over, but damn was his coat really that fluffy and soft. Bandit did nothing but embrace the hug, his tail wagging fiercely. Water droplets flew all over the place from his wagging, Chilli getting a few droplets on her fur.

"Thank you for that," Bandit blushed. "Suddenly I feel a lot warmer."

"That was my intention," Chilli clarified. "But your coat- it's so soft. It feels like I'm hugging a cloud."

"Thanks," he blushed, separating from Chilli. "I'm just lucky I guess...my older brother Rad has to use all these expensive shampoos and conditioners so his fur is soft, fluffy, bouncy, all that jazz. Sometimes I think he's jealous of me."

"Well I'm jealous. My fur is soft, but not like yours," she said, noticing a blue heeler in the corner of her eye. It was Stripe, approaching the beach with his bucket and shovel, not looking happy to see that Bandit had beaten him there. "Wait, is that Stripe?"

Bandit turned around just in time to see his younger brother standing, just staring at them. "Stripe! Come and join us!"

He ran towards them, tripping on a hard ball of sand, falling headfirst onto the red heeler.

"Sorry Chilli!" Stripe got up, sneezing the sand from his nostrils. The sand covered Chilli, but somehow she still didn't look annoyed. "Sorry for that too!"

"You're fine," she shook it off. "Bandit and I were about to build a sandcastle. Wanna help?"

"Uh, duh!" Stripe smiled. He turned to Bandit and whispered something in his ear.

What's he saying? Chilli raised an eyebrow, quiet in the corner.

"I know," Bandit said, before whispering another thing in his ear.

Stripe backed away, his smile long gone. "You're kidding, right?"

"You're too young anyway," Bandit grumbled.

"And you're ancient!" Stripe snarled in his face, his canines bared. "I am unique, like Mum says. And...wait, aren't you supposed to be jinxed?"

"About that," Bandit smugly smiled at him. "Chilli here broke my curse. She hugged me. She even gave me my hat back!"

"Grrr!" Stripe growled. "I don't want to play anymore!"

"Wait," Bandit grabbed him by the shoulder. "Look mate...I was just pulling your tail. Why don't we let her choose? I shouldn't have pulled it, I'm sorry."

Stripe turned around, nodding while keeping himself together. "Okay. Chilli?"

She had started on her sandcastle, uninterested in their argument. Some things were just better off left without intervening, she thought. She was already emotionally drained since two days ago when she met Stripe and it had only gotten worse with Stripe's vent and her sister.

"Chilli!" Bandit waved his paw in front of her.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "What's up?"

At least they aren't fighting anymore.

"Can we ask you something?" Stripe asked.

"Yeah, of course," Chilli said. "Ask me."

"Well this is hypothetical," Bandit clarified, Chilli nodding. "So like, hypothetically, if Stripe and I did like you, which we don't because this is a hypothetical situation and not at all true, but if we did like you, which one of us would you go out with? Not for real life, just in this not at all real situation.."

Chilli was stunned. "Um..."

"Well?" Stripe nudged on. "C'mon, you said my stripes made me unique!"

"Are you sure this isn't for real life?" Chilli raised an eyebrow, smiling at them. "Both of you have cheeks redder than Mars!"

"Yes, we're sure," Bandit rolled his eyes. "But like, give us an answer, not for real life of course!"

"I don't know! I barely met Stripe two days ago and I met you today!" Chilli crossed her arms. "Isn't it a bit early to already like me?"

"We don't!" both brothers yelled in unison. "Not for real life!"

"Well, speaking in for real life, I wouldn't choose either of you! I like Pat," Chilli yelled back. "In a hypothetical, not for real life situation, I would want to go out with him, okay?!"

"Who's Pat?" Bandit asked.

"You don't know him," Chilli blushed and looked away. "He goes to my school."

"Well at least she answered the question," Stripe said, trying to cheer up his brother. "Thank you Chilli."

"You're welcome," she smiled in his direction. "Bandit?"

"Thanks," he stuttered. "We were just asking for a girl's opinion since I like someone. I was thinking a girl would know better about what another girl would think of me, so that's why it's not for real life."

"Huh?" Stripe stared at him, confused. Bandit slowly pushed him away behind, but her continued to listen nonetheless.

"It's true. For real life."

"Oh," Chilli felt a little hurt, but didn't mention it. "Do I know her?"

"Um...yeah," Bandit continued on, taking a deep breath. "Brandy."

"Are you serious?!" Chilli exclaimed. "This is GREAT!"

"Um, why?" Bandit asked, being grabbed by his arm. "Wait- where are we going?!"

"To my cabin, duh!" Chilli grabbed Stripe. "You can tell her in there. Now let's go!"

She ran inland, taking her new friends behind her who didn't seem all that interested in running.

"You messed up big time," Stripe shook his head with a worried look on his face. Bandit facepalmed in response.

"Gee thanks, I couldn't tell," Bandit looked away, followed by an "ugh" by Stripe.

"Hey sweetheart, where's your sister? The cookout at the Heelers' is rather soon," Mort nudged Brandy, who was reading a novel on the bed. He had gotten back from the nearby store, carrying 5 days worth of food; that was enough for the rest of their vacation.

"She went off to play with some kid at the beach," she responded. "I'm sure she'll be back soon enough."

The door bursted open, revealing a red heeler with two blue heelers behind her. Chilli smiling, holding the two by their arms, Bandit sweating profoundly, looking like he'd pass out, and Stripe looked a little ticked off.

"Oh, there you are," Mort spoke. "And these two?"

"Stripe and his brother," Chilli responded quickly. "You know, the sons of Mr. Heeler?"

"Welcome," Mort smiled. "But shouldn't you two be at your cabin? The cookout is starting soon at your father's."

"Their cabin is across from ours, Dad!" Chilli said. "Anyway, we and Brandy are gonna play a game, so c'mon Brandy, come outside with us!"

"Come back in 10 minutes then," Mort said, Chilli nodding. "I'll sit on the chair and read the newspaper."

"Chilli! I'm reading," Brandy looked annoyed. "You know I don't like being disturbed when I'm reading!"

"Yes, I know," Chilli crossed her arms. "But it will be really fun! Even he is playing...with Stripe too!"

She quickly added the last part of her sentence in, making sure not to rise any curiosity in her father.

"Okay, okay," she bookmarked her novel, placing it on a small shelf separating the beds. "But only because I just hit a new chapter."

When they all went away, Chilli started nudging Bandit with a smirk on her face.

"Sooo Brandy," Chilli smiled. "I just brought you here so you could hear a special announcement."

"Okay?" Brandy said, confused. "And that is?"

"Look, if I'm gonna say anything to her, it'll be alone!" Bandit shooed the other two dogs. "Go to my parents' house, I don't want any of you hearing..."

When the other two dogs ran across the trail, Brandy stared at him.

"So you're able to talk now?"

"Chilli broke my curse," Bandit explained.

"Of course she did," Brandy balled up her paw into a fist. "Anyway, what is it that you want?"

"Look, I tried to sneakily ask Chilli if she would go out with me, but she said something about some kid at her school...so I, being the dumb idiot I am, claimed I had a crush on you to save my bum from embarrassment, and now I have to drag you into this mess," Bandit quickly said, constantly starting his eyes everywhere to make sure no one else was near. "I'm sorry for ya know, bringing you into something so dumb."

"You're fine," Brandy smiled, a deep rage boiling up in her. Any wrong move, and she feared she really may attack Bandit, Chilli, or hell even Stripe, who had nothing to do with anything from what she knew. "Look, you go sort this out. Say I rejected you. Like, I'd rather stay at my cabin and read."

"Ouch, that hurt," Bandit joked around, trying to lift up her anger. When she glared at him, he quickly stopped his nervous smiling. "You sure you don't wanna come to the cookout? Mum makes some killer food and afterwards, we can go swimming or something."

"I'm good. I'll stay here, do not come near me, I'm angry," Brandy pushed him along.

"But why?" the blue heeler could never mind his business when it truly mattered...

"...had a minor squabble with my dad," she lied. "I'll get it sorted out, now please go."

"Yeah, I hope that goes well," he waved goodbye. "Come and play tomorrow, it's our last day, okay?"

Brandy didn't reply, leaving Bandit a little worried yet sad. She was his friend now, so he wanted that squabble with Mr. Cattle to be a-okay, but she seemed confident she could solve it herself even though he'd be at the Heeler cookout... Strange, but he didn't want to push her buttons any more.

When she went back in, her father was still reading that newspaper he had; Brandy had to remind him that the cookout was very soon and that his younger daughter was already there.

"Oh, she is? Alright, let's go over then," he motioned for her to come, but she shook her head.

"Dad, I don't want to be anywhere near those three," Brandy admitted. "Please don't make me go...or tell Chilli why I didn't show up."

"Sweetie...what happened? Of course I won't tell her, if that's what you want. You can trust me with anything. It's just that this is very unlike you; you're usually bustling with energy around Mr. Heeler's younger sons," Mort went over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Brandy placed aside her book on the bed. "...Can I tell you later? I...I just want to keep it to myself for now."

"Of course. Just don't bottle it up, it hurts more to keep a full bottle from rupturing than it is to open up and empty out," he smiled at her. "Your happiness, along with Chilli's is my priority, always will be."

"Thank you Dad," she hugged him tightly, feeling slightly better. "I love you."

"I love you too," he gave her some change. "If you're hungry, you can buy yourself some rice and chicken over at the Asian restaurant near the store."

"Again, thank you," Brandy's tail began to wag. "And goodbye, see you later."

"See ya," he responded. "Stay safe, honey."

"I will," she said, Mort closing the door behind him. The Heelers' cabin was only across the trail, but it felt like he was leaving to a far distant land. Brandy sulked sadly, but she opened her book and did her best to ignore what happened. It was easier said than done though.

"Hey, where's Brandy?" asked Chilli when Mort and Bandit showed up without her.

"She's...reading," Mort said. "You know how she gets when she gets her nose stuffed in a book!"

"She is?" Bandit raised an eyebrow. "She told me she was mad because she had a squabble with you!"

Mort was very clearly both confused and concerned, but he did his best to cover for her sake. "Oh yeah, and that too. We will get it sorted out...after the cookout."

"Well, she said she would rather read than be with us," Bandit said. This was arising some concern in Mort, but he figured he would question his eldest later. He hadn't even greeted the rest of the Heelers!

"Oh, really?" Chilli asked. "What did she say when you asked her out?"

"Oof, just to keep it short, it did not go well," he laughed. "She said she wasn't interested in the slightest."

But she was obsessed with him since she saw him! Chilli thought, confused. She had followed Brandy's requests and when she finally gets what she wants, she blows it! Chilli rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Strange, I thought it might be the other way around," Stripe piped in. "From what Chilli told me-"

"Stripe! Shh!" Chilli covered his mouth. "What he means to say is that she's rather close to you..He figured she liked you, but none of us know if that's true or not."

"Wait, she could like me?" Bandit asked, paws over his mouth. "Now I feel really bad!"

"But wasn't she the one rejecting you?" Chilli raised an eyebrow. "Why would you feel bad then?"

"Just come clean," Stripe nudged his older brother. "It's only gonna snowball from here.."

"Shush!" Bandit nudged back. "Yeah...yeah you're right. What I meant was- oh! Is that the smell of sausages coming from the backyard?! Let's go, Dad makes some amazing ones!"

"Ooh, sausages," Chilli smiled, following behind Bandit. Stripe rolled his eyes, but followed. He was hungry too; his stomach had been rumbling for some time.

"Oh, you got some gravy on your muzzle," Chilli said, cleaning Bandit up with her thumb. "Oh, and some more on your chest."

"I try to be clean when there's gravy involved," he said, looking up at the stars. An hour had gone by in a flick and still, Brandy refused to come out of the cabin. Even when Chilli went to check by knocking the door, Brandy knocked back so hard, Chilli was afraid she'd break the door and her skull. "Not my fault my mum makes killer gravy, though."

"True...," Chilli laid on the grass, Bandit doing so too. The light breeze ruffled their fur before Rad came over and stood atop them.

"Sorry to bother you guys," Rad gave a look to Bandit.

"Oh man, tell him we're tired," Bandit sighed. "Chilli and I have been playing with him the whole time and we're kinda out of steam, mate."

"Bandit, don't start. Not when we have company," his stare got a little more intense. "I'm just asking you two to include him in your 'games', whether that be slobbering yourselves in Mum's gravy or gossiping about Chilli's sister or stargazing. He feels left out and I've already played with him enough."

"Okay, okay," he stretched in the grass. "Tell the kid to come over."

"Stripe!" Rad yelled loudly. "Come and play with Bandit and Chilli now, I'm gonna play Mario Bros."

He pulled out his NES and the classic Mario theme started to play. He walked away, the clicking of buttons fading away with him.

"Hey, wanna see something funny?" Bandit whispered in her ear.

"Sure."

"Come inside our cabin, there's a closet in the main bedroom," he grinned. "You're gonna pretend I disappeared or something and you're gonna take him around the cabin looking for me. Open the closet door...and well...I won't spoil all of it!"

"Fine," she shook her head with a smile. "But better hurry up, Stripe's running here pretty fast.."

Bandit scooted away in the grass to avoid being seen, but Chilli would be lying if she said turtles weren't faster than Bandit's scooting was.

Stripe's gonna see him if he doesn't hurry up...

Chilli slowly got up, stepping in Stripe's way. She did a good job of covering the blue heeler who was almost at the door.

"Hey Chilli," Stripe's tail wagged. "Where's Bandit? Rad said you two would play with me!"

"Oh, he said he was going to the bathroom first. Wanna go in and wait?" Chilli offered, trying to hold back her laughter.

"Okay!" Stripe said enthusiastically. The small pup made his way to the door, Chilli seeing a fast moving figure through the curtains.

He is still fumbling around in there?

"Wait!" Chilli swatted his paw from the door's handle.

"What?"

"Whoops, sorry, I thought I saw something moving in my cabin," Chilli lied. "What is Brandy doing in there anyway?"

"Beats me," Stripe said. "Let's go in already."

When the duo entered the Heeler cabin, Chilli noticed it had an extra room compared to her own, but then again, Bandit had not one, but two siblings and they had their mum with them. She wasn't sure which room had the secret closet within or even where the bathroom was.

"Bandit!" Stripe yelled. "Hurry up! Rad said you're gonna play with me!"

No answer was said, it was very eerie.

"Maybe we should look for him in here," Chilli said. "Maybe he's in your room, trying to escape having to play with you?"

"That's it," Stripe nodded. "He used to hide under his bed when he wanted to escape our playtime...Can't believe he still does that!"

Stripe led her to their room, immediately crouching down and walking on all fours. He tried to spot him under one of the three beds, but couldn't see him.

"Wow, you're really good at all-fours," Chilli admired. "I can't walk on all-fours like you do, I stumble around a lot."

"Well yeah, I went through a puppy phase when I was a baby. You know- walking on all fours, biting people, barking, all of that? Mum says I had teeth made of steel," Stripe explained. "Then again, Mum herself had a puppy phase, so one of us had to take after her.."

"Well Brandy and I developed in the usual way," she walked around with him all over the house, spotting a moving doorknob on the door near the beds. "Man, the puppy phase might be aggressive, but at least you guys learn to properly walk way faster than we do. I couldn't walk until I was nearly 2!"

"I was up and about when I was a year and a month old," Stripe said, opening the bathroom in his parents' room. No dice. "And Bandit isn't in either bathroom."

"Oh Bandit, trying to cheat you out of your playtime," she shook her head. "Let's check your room again, I'm pretty sure he said he was gonna grab a game for us to play."

"Alright," Stripe said, looking for something. "The games are in the sack, but it's not even here."

"Maybe it's in the closet?"

"Good idea, let's check," Stripe started turning the doorknob, a sly smile forming on her face.

Bandit let out a roar, his face covered in his Frankenstein mask, his paws were above him with his sharp claws and Stripe's face reflected off his fangs.

Stripe turned white in the face, completely stunned before he fell and started shivering in fear. He didn't scream, but he made tiny sounds that escaped his throat every time he rolled around the floor.

"Hahahaha! I got you again Stripe!" Bandit laughed, taking off his mask. Chilli gave him a rude stare.

"Bandit, that was not funny," she scowled at him. "Look at him! His face is all white! Is he gonna be okay?"

"Of course he'll be," the blue heeler shot back. "Chilli, do you ever have any fun?"

"I can have fun without scaring people half to death," the red heeler growled. "What will your parents think? Worse, what will my dad think? This is the type of thing he'd put me in time out for!"

"You still get those? My mum just chases us around trying to hit us," he said, with a confused glance.

"Gee, I can't imagine why that'd be the case," she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, uhh...Stripe? You there?"

"Hmph...rude," Bandit crossed his arms. After a minute, he started helping Chilli try to snap Stripe out of his shock. The waved their paws in front of his eyes, tried pulling his tail, shook him, even tickled him. Nothing seemed to work.

"I'm being serious...is Stripe gonna be okay...?" Chilli felt this sinking feeling in her gut.

"Look, he will be," Bandit replied. "If he doesn't wake up from this, I'll take the blame. You won't have to worry about your dad-"

"That's the least of my problems, actually!" Chilli interrupted. "I actually don't want my friends to die! I don't want to be friends with a murderer!"

"I didn't kill him!" Bandit gasped when Chilli started to slowly walk away from him, her paws up in defense. "He will wake up, please help me try to wake him up!"

"I think you're on your own for this one," Chilli ran for the door, Bandit running right after her. When they were both out of the house, Stripe finally woke up from his daze.

He held a paw to his forehead, calming his racing heart down. He took in some deep breaths before realizing he was on the floor, near an open closet and an open entrance. What happened?

This was made worse when the three adults crashed his scene, Chilli hiding behind Mort, trying to hide from his older brother, who was on Dad's side. Rad walked up to him. "You okay, mate?"

"Yeah, I've been fine," he said from the ground. "Why is everyone here?"

"Oh, so you've been fine," Rad's concerned look turned into a glare. "And you really think I'll believe you not knowing why everyone's here?"

"Huh?" Stripe scooted away.

"Bandit...Chilli, they came out screaming that you were dead, but you were fine. So you played along with them, didn't you? Stripe, this is not an okay thing to be doing, you frightened us half to death..." Rad stood up, facepalming himself.

Bob and Chris gave both Stripe and Bandit a look that sent shivers down their spine.

"But I didn't," Stripe shivered. "I...don't know what you are talking about!"

"I'll let Mum and Dad decide this one," Rad walked away back out muttering something about 'kids these days' under his breath.

"Sweetie, is this true?" Mort carried Chilli in his arms, whispering in her ear. "Were you involved?"

"Dad, I promise there's an explanation for this," Chilli wriggled out from under. "Look, Bandit, can I be honest?"

He nodded, finding it hard to look at her.

"So it started by Rad telling us to include Stripe. I had no problems with that actually, but Bandit, he decided it would be fun to play a trick on him. He told me it would be funny, so I agreed to help him. So he hid in the closet with his creepy mask on and I kinda led Stripe to the closet and when Bandit scared him, he went into this shock. We...we thought we killed him, honestly," Chilli turned away. "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Heeler, Stripe, Bandit, and Dad. I promise it won't happen again.."

There was a moment of silence before the parents started talking to each other.

"They meant no harm, it was a stupid prank," Bob said, not having enough energy to be harsh if no one was really hurt in the end.

"But they could've killed Stripe!" Chris said. "They need at least a time out."

"I'll talk to my daughter," Mort carried Chilli away. When the Heeler parents started to squabble a bit, he covered Chilli's ears. He uncovered them when they were at a reasonable distance. "So everything you said is what really happened?"

"Yes, I promise," Chilli's ears fell. "I know we did a bad thing, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he hugged her. "I just don't want you being involved in a prank that could end up like this. Take this as a learning moment. In the future, if a friend asks you to pull a scary prank on someone, I want you to decline, okay?"

"Yes Dad," she nodded. "I'm glad Stripe is okay, but now I feel bad for throwing Bandit under the bus. I accused him of having killed Stripe even though I was in on the prank as well..."

"Well you can apologize once the Heeler family is done with him and his brother," Mort said. "And we will probably leave soon anyway because Brandy is still in the cabin and it's getting late."

"Oh okay," she turned towards the Heeler cabin. When the parents came out, they motioned for Mort to join them.

"Okay, I'll talk to the Heelers' a bit longer, you can go and sort this out between your friends, okay?"

"Yes," she said, running in the cabin.

Brandy had finished her novel, staring at the cover with disbelief in her eyes.

What was that ending?! Really?! The whole story was just a dream?!

"Why do people write such great stories if they cant even give it a proper ending," she muttered to herself.

The smell of the Asian food she brought just 5 minutes ago wafted into her nose, her tail wagging.

At leash I can finally eat.

She opened the box before opening some soy packets, dripping it on her meal slowly. She opened her plastic utensils by biting the bag open before she started eating her rice. No sooner than that, she heard a scream.

Multiple, actually. She jumped and slowly moved the curtains to see what was happening across the trail. She saw Chilli and Bandit running faster than she'd ever seen them before.

Looks like fun..

Brandy shook her head before she went back to eating her food.

But at this point, it's just embarrassing. I can't be friends with anyone after they meet Chilli. She always steals my thunder. Even ny friends back in school ignored me on my birthday that one time. They were too busy asking Chilli how she does her nails to notice that I was eating my own cake by myself.

"Chilli! Your nails are so pretty!" a cocker spaniel girl spoke as she held Chilli's paw in her own, admiring the beautiful red color. "Can you do mine?"

"Oh, uh, sure," she smiled. "What color? I've got the whole rainbow in my room, but I'm running low on black.."

"Don't worry, I wanted purple anyway," she said. "Oh! Sadie, Lily, Tori! You guys should get your nails done too!"

"Uh, duh! Chilli's so good at it!" Sadie, the corgi spoke. "And Chilli, you helped your dad bake this cake?"

"I did," she nodded. "But Dad did most of the work."

"Oh, of course you helped, that's why it tastes even better than last year's cake," Tori complimented.

"I still helped last year, but my sister decided she only wanted to be with you guys, so Mum took me out when you guys came last time," she explained.

"...you have a sister?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah you do! Sorry, I forgot."

"So what happened to your mum? Why isn't she here this time?" Sadie asked. "If you're comfortable sharing that information, anyway. No pressure, sis."

Brandy watched them from the couch in the living room. They were all in Brandy's room, forming a small circle on the floor. The party had started out great actually, Brandy and her friends spilled some gossip about the popular girl's horrible haircut. They even revealed the boys they had a crush on, although Brandy didn't say who she liked because in her eyes, all of the boys in school were unlikeable.

Then, they saw Chilli outside, holding a leaf bug on her finger.

"Who is that?" had asked Lily, her eyes wide open. "She is so GORGEOUS!"

"Oh, that's just Chilli, my sister," Brandy answered. "She's outside playing with the wild animals as she usually does."

"Can we hang out with her?" Sadie asked, snout pressed against the window. "I really need to ask her about her fur-care routine, hers is just so shiny and fluffy, I'm gonna die!"

"She's ten...," Brandy narrowed her eyes. "A ten year old doesn't have a fur-care routine."

"Maybe you didn't," Lily nudged, trying to be funny. Everyone laughed except for Brandy, whose ears fell behind her in shame. "But your sister has to have one!"

"Guys, instead of talking about her, why don't we go talk to her?" Tori suggested.

In a split second, all the girls ran and shoved their way to the backyard. Brandy ran after them, but after realizing none of them even seemed to remember she was with them, she just silently closed the door behind them.

Still, that had happened two hours ago, and none of them had reached out to Brandy at all.

In fact, the rest of the night had gone on that way, even in the morning after they had awoken from the sleepover.

Brandy had never been so glad when they finally left, one by one, their parents coming at similar times.

Nome of them had even said bye to her, but of course they remembered to say "bye" and "you should come see us again, we love you!" to the younger heeler.

Once Brandy returned to school, she had dropped all of her friends and had remained isolated until now.

And I though Bandit was the outlier, how stupid I was. Nothing is ever mine, it's always hers.

Suddenly, Brandy wasn't so hungry anymore and pushed her half eaten plate away. She decided to get in her bed and switch the TV on as a distraction, but nothing stopped this new feeling of rage within.

-End-

Author's Note: I'm enjoying writing this one so far; updates may slow as school returns. I hope you all are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it!