Lunella, Casey, and I met up for lunch in the cafeteria one Friday afternoon. "Can we hang out at your place on Saturday?" Casey asked. "My dads are deep in a baking jag and I'm getting jealous of how much they love their sourdough starter." "Nah. Pops'll be watching the Dorchester Dog Show." Lunella explained. "Something about seeing a super groomed poodle strut makes that old man bawl..." "Alright, alright, alright, alright!" Brooklyn, the captain of the volleyball team shouted, entering the cafeteria with the rest of the team. "It's the volleyball team!" Casey gasped.
Tai. They/Them. Role: Setter.
Fawzia. She/Her. Role: Blocker.
Geri. She/Her. Role: Libero.
Mila. She/Her. Role: Defensive Specialist.
Brooklyn. She/Her. Role: Captain.
"Oh my gosh! They're coming right at us!" Casey squealed as the team walked toward our table. "Okay, cool." I said, taking a bite of my lunch. "Why are they coming at us?" Lunella asked. "Hey, y'all." Brooklyn greeted. "You crushed it in science today, Lu. Best lab partner ever." "I, uh, well, science!" Lunella blurted, taking my sandwich off my tray and eating it whole. "Yeah, I wasn't hungry anyway." I mumbled. "Uh, anyway, whatcha got shakin' Saturday?" Brooklyn asked. "I'm having a slumber party." "Uh-huh." Lunella paused. "So, you should come over." Brooklyn said. "To, like, tutor you?" Lunella asked. "Or, upgrade the RAM on your computer?" "To party." Brooklyn replied. "And then, slumber. It's a slumber party, girl." "I, uh, I..." Lunella responded. "You and Casey should both come." Brooklyn offered. "A thousand times yes!" Casey shouted, pulling Lunella under the table as the entire team looked at me. "Hi, Lamar." Mila waved. "Hey, Mila." I greeted, signing for her. "I didn't know you played volleyball." "Yeah, I've played for a few years now." Mila explained, just as Casey came up from under the table. "As I was saying, we would love to come to your slumber party." Casey said, pulling Lunella up as well. "Wouldn't we, Lunella?" "Love to." Lunella replied nervously. "Aces." Brooklyn said. "See you Saturday. Peace out." "Whoo! Our stock is rising faster than Dad's sourdough starter!" Casey exclaimed after the team left, noticing Lunella in a state of panic. "Whoa! You're for real panicked about this. What's up? Don't you like Brooklyn?" "Oh, I know where this is going." I said. "Well, yeah. She's amazing." Lunella replied. "But the truth is, I..." "Más alta, por favor." Casey said. "Okay. But just don't judge, okay?" Lunella sighed. "I've never... made it through an entire sleepover before." "What?!" Casey gasped. "Well, I used to get invited, and I'd show up all excited in my juiced up aluminized mylar sleeping bag, and then I'd see the other kids and my brain would just..." Lunella imitated an explosion. "One time, she passed out and woke up on the A train covered in soup." I chimed in. "You're Soup Girl?" Casey asked. "Last invite was third grade." Lunella sighed. "Which, cool, you know. I know I'm garbage at making friends." "Whoa. What am I, Lunella? I am your friend." Casey reassured her. "This phone used to be filled with selfies. And now, it's filled with us-ies." "You do know how to make friends, Lulu." I added. "You've basically been my best friend since Mama brought me home in diapers." "How? I can tell you both all about what goes on up inside a subatomic particle." Lunella explained. "But what happens inside the teenage brain? Total mystery!" "Seriously, chica, just be yourself." Casey said. "She's right, you know." I added. "Fitting in isn't something you can science." "Science?" Lunella wondered. "Yes! Great idea. This is why I love you guys!" Me and my big mouth.
After school, we headed down to the lab so Lunella could work on her little side project. I gotta say, I'm intrigued to hear how she brings her love of science into fitting in at school. This could either be really good, or it could end terribly. "Behold!" Lunella shouted. "No, don't say, "behold"." Casey said. "You never show me anything I approve of after saying, "behold"." "Wow, Lulu! You invented a TV remote. That's cool." I said sarcastically. "Actually, little bro, this dope little zapper detects and interprets beta waves from the cranium." Lunella corrected. "In other words, it's a mind reading device! With this, I can read the thoughts of everyone at Brooklyn's party! Then I'll know with scientific precision exactly how to act. Let's take her out for a spin!" "Read my mind, and you will hear words even you don't understand." Casey said sternly as Lunella pointed the remote at her. "Don't even try, Lulu." I added. "Okay." Lunella said as Devil was trying to tell her to test her project on him. "D's got my back. Recalibrating brain waves for new test subject." Once Lunella pressed the button, Lunella and Devil began acting differently, almost like, each other. Dang! They just swapped their brains! Luckily, Casey caught the remote and switched the two of them back. "Did we just switch brains?!" Lunella exclaimed, making some adjustments to the remote in her work area. "Uh-uh! Hard no! I wanted to get inside someone's head, but not, like, literally! I gotta fix this!" "Okay, I don't like to say I told you so, but, yes I do and yes I did." Casey said, just as her alarm went off. "Anywho, time to bounce." Outside of Lunella's work area, Devil was wearing a nightcap and holding a pillow. "Aww, I wish you could come with me, guys." Lunella sighed. "Don't sweat it, Lulu." I reassured her. "Dev and I will be cheering you on from here. We're just gonna watch some dinosaur movies here in the lab. I do not want to see Pops crying over poodles. Have fun you guys!" "Save me, bro!" Lunella mumbled, just as she and Casey headed back up to the apartment to pack. "Devil, are you ready to have our own sleepover tonight?" I asked. Devil squealed with excitement. "Let's do this!"
Devil and I spent the next few hours watching movies down in the lab. And to be honest, most of them sucked. "I'm just trying to figure out if any of these dinosaur flicks are accurate." I explained. "It was one of the first things I thought of when we brought you here. Plus, Pops is watching his dog show upstairs. And besides, you love movie night." Devil roared in order to communicate with me. "Nah, Lulu and I don't always agree on specific movies. Her and I have always enjoyed sci-fi movies though. We always had a soft spot for those." I replied. "Hey, was that movie you watched with The Beyonder any good? I keep seeing mixed reviews online." Devil grunted. "I know the animated version is gonna be better, I just ran out of dinosaur movies to watch." I said.
During the movie, Devil had froze in place for a moment, but returned to normal. However, what was strange that it happened again and again. "Devil? You good?" I asked. Devil looked at his arms and legs and ran to the mirror, freaking out. At first, I was confused, but then I remembered that Lunella... oh, no! "Lulu?!" She turned towards me and tried to talk to me. She must've been looking for the remote. "Where did you last have the remote?" I asked as she grunted. "Our bedroom. Got it. I'll be back."
I headed back up to the apartment to try and find the remote, however, I was unable to find it. I looked around the house, and I ended up finding it in the living room. Pops must've found it in our room to turn on the dog show. I saw Pops hit the button that switched Lunella and Devil before. I sighed with relief as Pops turned around. "Hey there, kiddo." Pops greeted. "Could you go find me some batteries for the remote?" "Oh! Hey, Pops!" I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I can look for those. I just need to know what kind of batteries the remote takes, so can I borrow the remote?" "AA batteries." Pops replied. "Mimi just picked up a set." "Sure thing, Pops." I sighed, looking for batteries now.
It took a second, but I found a set of batteries for the remote. "Pops! Hand me the remote." I said. "I found a set." "Nevermind, Lamar." Pops replied. "Mimi changed the batteries. It's still not working!" "Can't you just change the channel on the TV?" Mimi asked. "Mmm-mmm." Pops nodded. "Lunella turned on the parental controls." Mimi hits the button on the remote, causing Lunella and Devil to switch again. Pops called Dad into the living room to try and fix the remote. "Let a young man show you how it's..." Dad began, dropping the remote. Luckily, he caught it, but hit the button to switch Lunella and Devil. "Adria!" Mama came into the living room. "C'mon, James. Here, let me try." Mama said, hitting the switch button.
Me, my parents and grandparents spent the next few hours fighting for the remote that Pops ended up missing the dog show. "Doggone it! The show's over anyhow." Pops frowned. "And now, Mr Chow-Chow's message board is gonna have inside jokes that I don't understand." While no one was looking, I snatched the remote and headed down to the lab to change into my suit.
After getting changed, I skated for a few blocks over to Brooklyn's apartment across town, where I believe I saw Lunella looking through the window in tears. "Lulu! I got the remote!" I exclaimed. "Lulu?" She looked at me with tears in Devil's eyes and began walking away. "Lunella, stop!" I heard Casey shout with Devil right behind her. I handed Casey the remote as she switched the two back. "Can someone fill me in?" I asked. "Now that you've got your own ears back, you're gonna listen." Casey told Lunella. "I don't need to listen. I saw enough!" She snapped. "A dinosaur is literally better at fitting in with teenagers than I am. Just go back without me. Or, with me, but, you know, just my body, and not my... me." "Your body's not good enough!" Casey exclaimed. "Casey!" I shouted. "That came out all wrong!" Casey explained. "Even when I am in charge of myself, I'm just different." Lunella sighed. "I mean, who wants to talk science at a slumber party? This whole being myself thing is just too embarrassing." "When you're you, that's when you're the best." I reassured her. "And if the other kids don't see you for the magical unicorn that you are, then we don't need them." Casey added. "Thanks, guys." Lunella smiled, getting licked by Devil shortly after. "Aw, Devil." "So, if you wanna get out of here, we can do that." Casey said. "I think I do." Lunella replied. "We can hang out at my place." Casey explained. "Maybe my dads' sourdough starter will want to watch a movie with us." "Looks like it's time for us to head out." I said. "You guys have fun." "See you back at home, guys." Lunella called out.
As me and Devil started walking back home, he suddenly started to shake. Did something happen with the remote? "What happened now, Lulu?" I asked. Lunella grunted in Devil's native language. "Brooklyn's little brother, TJ stole the remote because of a stupid little brother code?" I wondered. Lunella nodded. "Well, let's go find him, Devil Girl." I joked as Lunella grunted. "What? Would you rather be called Moon Dinosaur? You're right. I'm getting sidetracked. Let's just turn around." All of a sudden, I saw Devil hovering towards us dressed as Moon Girl. Lunella grabbed him as I started the mixtape.
After chasing TJ around the city for a few minutes, Lunella flung me and Devil in TJ's direction, which was actually near Brooklyn's apartment. "I swipe one stinky remote and you call in your superheroes?" TJ asked. "Yo! Moon Girl, Sun Boy, and Devil Dinosaur are attacking my little brother!" Brooklyn shouted from the window. "Now you're gonna get it." TJ chuckled, just as the rest of the volleyball team came outside to have a pillow fight with him. "Pillow fight!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Don't hit me!" TJ complained. "Hit Moon Girl and Sun Boy!" "If Moon Girl and Sun Boy are chasing you, you def deserve it." Brooklyn said, just as Geri and Mila handed us some pillows. "Peak slumber party!" Casey squealed. Devil shared his pillow with Lunella, hitting TJ together. However, we almost lost the remote because of it. If it wasn't for Brooklyn and the rest of the team, Lunella and Devil would have never been able to switch back. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" I exclaimed as Devil tried his best to hug me and Casey to switch back to normal. "Mom!" TJ cried. "Moon Girl, Sun Boy, and Devil Dinosaur just beat me up!" "That's what you get for bugging your sister!" Brooklyn and TJ's mom shouted. "Se acabo!" Brooklyn messed with her little brother's hair a bit, kissing his head. "Hey, catch ya on the flip side, Moon Girl and Sun Boy." Brooklyn said. "Ha, ha. Pew, pew!" Lunella replied, not understanding anything Brooklyn had said. "Flip ya on... forget it." "Peace out, Brooklyn." I waved, heading home with Devil.