Fooling Fluffy

     Fluffy grabbed the bag from her study table, but before she could leave, she noticed a little red box next to her pencil holder. "What's this?" she asked to herself, and read the tag attached therein.

     "'To: Fluffy. From: Sweet. This is a gift for you on this special day.' Huh? The first day of the Month of Eating isn't - AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

     Apparently a huge pink Meepit plushie was stuffed into the box and popped out instantly when Fluffy opened the package. She backed away in surprise, and tripped on a thin thread blocking her doorway, which lead to a bucket of mud cascading down her head. "What the - "

     "April Fool's!!!" called out a familiar, annoying voice in the hallway. Sweet, Fluffy's older brother, was standing there, laughing his head off and clutching his sides. Beside him, Angel the red Zafara and Glitter the faerie Acara were slapping their thighs. "That was hilarious! PRICELESS!"

     However, the white Aisha didn't think the same thing. "I just had a bath, Sweet! You think it's funny?"

     The striped Kacheek's grin faded. "Actually, no."

     "Really?"

     "Yeah. It's SIDE-SPLITTING!" howled Sweet, exploding into new peals of laughter, Angel and Glitter beside him, pounding the floor in mirth.

     "Of course, I had to forget that it was April Fools Day," mumbled Fluffy, walking back to the bathroom, trailing mud behind her.

     ***

     Sweet sprinted to his sister. "Come on, Fluff, it's all in good fun!"

     "We were nearly late just because of that stupid, insolent prank of yours that made me take yet another bath!" she snapped. "Until you say sorry and admit that you did such a childish antic, I'm not speaking to you!"

     "But Fluffy - " However, he found himself speaking to the corridor as she strode off, leaving him in the dust with his brother and other sister.

     Glitter shook her head. "Don't worry," she said. "She's just a sore loser."

     Angel nodded. "Maybe Fluffy's not used to getting tricked, or she doesn't want to."

     "Because she thinks she's so smart…calling MY pranks childish!" added Sweet angrily. "What she doesn't know is that fooling around is mandatory today!"

     "It is?" asked the Zafara. "Maybe I should have brought the fake Spyder to put in Pansy's backpack today. Well, I can always hunt for a real one." He and the faerie Acara went off to their classes. "Good luck with Fluff, Sweet!"

     The striped Kacheek groaned at the sound of his sister's name. "I'll need more than luck," he sighed, walking over to the classroom. As he passed the tables, Sweet also passed his sister, who had her nose buried in the book and didn't even greet him. This dismayed her brother even more as he slunk into his seat.

     However, while he was feeling sorry for himself, a faerie Wocky walked up to him and asked, "Hey, aren't you Sweet? Fluffy's big brother?"

     "Yeah," he answered dumbly. "What's it to you?"

     Madison chuckled. "If I've heard right from Petunia, Daisy told her that Hannah told her that Talia told her that Janice told her that Rianna told her that Fluffy told her that you played a trick on her and now she won't talk to you."

     "What's it to you then?" asked the striped Kacheek again.

     His classmate rolled her eyes. "Well, I think that she's too overreacting, not talking to you just because of a prank on April Fools Day. Am I right, or am I right?" she replied.

     Sweet thought for a moment. "You got that right, Madison," he mumbled. "I can't believe her, the smart-aleck!"

     "Well, you'll be pleased to know that I've got the perfect idea to get back at her," said the faerie Wocky slyly. But before she could reveal the plot, their teacher, Miss Ford the strawberry Poogle, walked in. Madison zoomed back to her seat at the back of the class, and poor Sweet had to sit through a boring algebra lesson, waiting for recess, and enduring the cold shoulder courtesy of his sister.

     ***

     "You see," Madison was saying as she and Sweet leaned beside the doorway of the classroom, "Fluffy's been bothering me with all her smarts and her bigheadedness. Now that I've heard that you're against her too, I need a little help."

     The striped Kacheek looked around to see if anyone was hiding in the room at recess time. "So what's the plan of revenge?"

     Giggling, his partner in crime answered, "We play another trick on her…this time, an even worse one that will humiliate her in front of the whole Neoschool! Fluffy will be so sorry that she crossed our paths, and she will be at our feet, begging for mercy!"

     "Oh, I love that idea!" said Sweet, laughing along with her. "So what prank do you have in mind?"

     Madison rubbed her paws together with glee. "We will make her look like garbage dump in front of everyone," she said. "How, you ask? First, I will hide behind this doorway and dump mud on her when she comes into the room. Next, I will tie this cord to the bottom of the door and when she trips over it, a huge can of garbage will come down over her head!"

     Sweet couldn't resist. "And…and?"

     "And then she slips over this huge slick of leftovers from yesterday's cafeteria fish dish…and crashes into this stack of quizzes I nicked from Miss Ford's desk! Not only will she be embarrassed, Fluffy will even be in trouble! BIG trouble!"

     "Madison, you're a genius!" exclaimed the striped Kacheek. "And all I have to do is to lure her here, right?"

     "Good luck though," said the faerie Wocky. "She may not be talking to you right now, but I know you're a smart one. Hey, here she comes right now!"

     The two scheming pets craned their necks to see, and sure enough, they found Fluffy strutting with Glitter and talking. It made Sweet a little jealous to see her talking to their other siblings, but he banished the thought from his mind and walked up to his sisters.

     "Hi, Sweet!" crowed the faerie Acara. Her big sister kept silent.

     "Um…hi, Glitter! Hi, Fluffy," he greeted. However, nothing came out of the Aisha's mouth. He was forcefully reminded of the trick he played on her before school, and the Kacheek felt a funny feeling in his gut.

     With a slight second thought, he grabbed the topmost book from the stack Fluffy was carrying and ran towards Madison and the trap. And just as they had planned, the white Aisha sprinted right after him, angrier than ever.

     "Sweet?" asked Glitter. "What are you doing?" She followed the pair over to the classroom where a prank was being set up. But just two and a half yards away from the destination, the striped Kacheek slowed down, and the faerie Wocky mouthed to him, "What are you doing?"

     Fluffy's brother sighed, but not after she had caught up with him. "Hand it over now, you little idiot," she snarled.

     "Come and get it!" he taunted, and held the book into the doorway, just a few inches away from Madison's prank. At once, he felt that quivery feeling again. Was he doing the right thing by tricking Fluffy again? Sweet's paw shuddered, and it turned towards his sister. "Here," he said.

     "Why - " The white Aisha became speechless, and instantly a faerie Wocky came storming out of the classroom.

     She poked Sweet in the chest. "Hey! What's with the gesture of concern there, you candy-striped lump? We were supposed to humiliate the smarty-pants classmate, but you ruined my plan - "

     "Your plan?" asked Fluffy, raising her eyebrows at Madison.

     "Well - you see - uh - " The perpetrator gulped, caught in the act.

     Glitter alighted next to her brother and sister. "Whoa! I'm telling Miss Tails, and boy, is she going to be mad at what happened in your classroom!" She took flight again and zoomed towards the faculty lounge, leaving an enraged Wocky shaking her fist in fury at the three of them. But as she stepped into the doorway, Madison tripped over the cord and activated her prank on herself. And after getting covered in garbage, mud and slipping in fish entrails, she crashed right into the wall - into the quiz papers.

     The white Aisha was struck dumb at what happened. "You mean…this could have happened to me?" she asked Sweet.

     "Yeah…" he answered softly. "Are you…talking to me again?"

     "Of course! How can I stay mad at you?" Fluffy threw her arms around Sweet and hugged him.

     "You just stayed mad at me awhile ago," laughed Sweet. "I'm sorry about the prank awhile ago. It must be hard staying clean when you're white, right?"

     Fluffy nodded, smiling again. "And I'm sorry for being so sore at you the whole morning. I should learn how to take pranks and laugh at myself once in a while."

     Her brother returned the smile and stuck out his left arm. "No more pranks, deal?"

     "Deal." The reunited brother and sister shook paws as Glitter returned, with a tall Island Lupe at her tail.

     "I found Miss Tails!" she crowed, flying towards her siblings.

     "Oh my, what is that stench coming out of your classroom?" asked the teacher. Then she peeked inside and said, "Madison! You made a mess! Why, I can't believe it!" Miss Tails walked into the classroom to deal with Sweet's ex-partner in crime, while the faerie Acara landed between him and Fluffy.

     Glitter clapped in delight. "So you two are back to normal?"

     "Sort of," replied Sweet. "We promised each other, no more tricks."

     "You got that right," agreed Fluffy. However, one of her paws was behind her back, and the fingers were crossed.

The End