Pepperland

The next week, Brittany and Ashlie's parents surprised them with plane tickets to New York. They were told that they could bring one friend, and they both knew that they wanted to share what expected to be a wonderful experience with Laura. Laura was incredibly excited when she got the phone call from the sisters inviting her, and she was even more "jazzed" (as she put it) when her father agreed to her going with them. So three days later, they were on a plane, waiting for it to take off.

Brittany put her head between her knees as she waited for the plane to take off, dreading the moment she left the ground.

Laura was bouncing in the chair, testing the quality of the springs in the seat and looking arounds the cabin, her eyes taking in as much as possible. She hummed a song quietly to herself.

Ashlie was on their Mac Book, messing around with the built in camera. She was taking pictures of herself and the things around her with it's built in camera.

"Smile, Brittany!" She turned the laptop in Brittany's direction, who cringed and covered her face with her hands. Laura stopped bouncing for a second and posed for the picture just long enough for it to take, then kept on bouncing. Ashlie laughed at the picture once she saw it, and, again, attempted to take a picture of Brittany. Brittany wasn't going to put up with it.

"Mama, Ashlie won't stop trying to take my picture." Their mother turned around in the seat in front of them, their father sitting next to her and already fast asleep.

"Ashlie, stop trying to take Brittany's picture. You know she doesn't like it." She turned back around and continued reading her magazine about faeries. Ashlie rolled her eyes.

"Mama, it's not like I'm hurting her."

"Yeah, Brittany, you're lucky your sister isn't abusive," Laura chimed in. She had two older half sisters. They didn't ever really abuse her, but being eight and seven years apart, they did bully her to a certain extent.

"And you're lucky that your sister isn't Ashlie," Brittany said with a slight roll of her eyes.

"But she is!" Laura replied. "We're all sisters and brothers..."

"...In nature!" Ashlie finished. They looked at each other and laughed, while Brittany groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long flight.

***

A yellow shoe was floating around in the blue sky. Brittany noticed it as she looked up from her glass of cold, purple, V8 Fusion. She stared at it for a while, as Ashlie and Laura soon saw it, too. The wide brim of Laura's large blue sun-hat nearly eclipsed it from her view as she realized there was a face on the shoe.

"Look!" she announced. "It's Old Fred!" The other two girls agreed completely on what they saw asthe yellow shoe Old Fred floated towards them. As it landed on the ground, there was a pop, and a Blue Meanie stood in its place.

"I'm not Old Fred!" she shouted (for she was most obviously a girl, this observation was based on her high-pitched voice). She had rather large hands, which just stuck out in the air. "I just forgot how to use my hands, so I turned into a shoe!"

"Well, no wonder!" Ashlie exclaimed. "You're all full of hot air!" She pulled a pin out of thin air and popped each of the Meanie's hands, which did look like they were inflated. Probably because they were. The Meanie shot up in the air, going this way and that as she disappeared from the girls' view, leaving nothing but the sound of air being let out of a balloon behind.

***

Brittany jumped as someone lightly touched her shoulder. It was Laura. "Don't touch me," she grumbled.

"I had to. The plane has stopped, people are starting to get off, and you wouldn't wake up."
Brittany got up from her seat and picked up her red Weird Al back-pack.

"Oh, and Brittany?" Brittany turned around, an inquisitive look on her face.

A bright light flashed and Brittany's face suddenly turned livid with jet-lagged fury.

"I HATE PICTURES!" Laura tossed the camera to Ashlie, who tucked it into her pocket after she caught it and ran off the plane. Laura followed her, an excited giggle bursting from her lips. Brittany huffed angrily and followed them, think of a way to pay them back.

Because it's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for.