Immune

The Sapotis

"Don't you think there's a good reason she keeps her identity secret?" Mari butts in.

I'm about to add something but munching and giggling interrupts our conversation. We turn to see our canteloupe with a few bites taken from them. How the hell do they move around so fast? Those two have energy I envy.

Alya marches into their room, very frustrated. "That's it!" She announces, "Get outta bed one more time and no one is going to the amusement park tomorrow!"

The twins giggle. "It's not us! It's the-"

"This is your last warning!" Alya says firmly. "No joke." Damn, Alya really put her foot down. The girls tuck themselves in again and close their eyes.

Mari and I start washing the dishes we dirtied and Alya approaches us. "What were you saying about Ladybug's identity?" Alya asks.

Mari looks to me. She wants me to talk. Okay. "Ladybug keeps her identity secret because if people knew who she was, Hawkmoth could use them to get to her. Believe me, I want to know who she is too Alya. But secrets like that are to keep others safe," I explain.

Alya opens her mouth to speak but giggling turns our attention to the TV. The girls put in a movie and are sprawled on the couch. Alya stomps over. She stands in front of the TV, seething.

The girls only laugh harder at Alya's face. "It's not us! It's-"

"That's it!" Alya scoops them up and marches them to their room.

"Come on Alya," the girls say in sync, "We won't do it again!"

Alya tucks them in and takes the propellor hats from their heads. "Yeah? Well its too late." She places the hats on the nightstand. "We'll all go to the amusement park when you two can behave some other day." She walks out, I can almost see the steam spewing from her ears. "Now, go to sleep!" With that, Alya closes the door on two sad-looking twins.

The three of us reconvene on the couch as I scroll Netflix again.

"Well," Alya starts talking, "If I knew who she really was, I'd keep it a secret!" She defends her wanting to know. "I would even help her! Say if you were Ladybug," she points to me (since we all know that I'm not), "I'd cover for you. When you needed to transform to go fight the baddies, y' know?"

I refrain from smiling knowingly. Oh Alya, you have no idea how much I know...

"Well, if I was Ladybug I wouldn't even tell you, nor would I tell Mari," gotta keep things even, "To protect you from the baddies."

"You serious?" Alya says a bit taken aback, "If I was Ladybug I'd tell you because I tell my best friends everything." She crosses her arms as if she's making a good point. She kind of is but not really; some secrets are kept to protect people - especially because humans are violent primates that attack anything they don't know before thinking. Men in Black really is an eye-opener.

I look at Alya with mock sincerity. "You're right Alya, best friends tell each other everything." I gently grab her shoulders and shake her slightly, "Now spill the tea! Are you actually Ladybug?"

Alya rolls her eyes, "Like I'm telling you. Nuh-uh!" We all laugh at that. 

Are laughing stops when we hear a ruckus come from the girls' room. Alya groans and marches over. 

"I've had it with you two!" She shouts, "And don't even try to blame it on the... Sapotis?" Her voice goes high in shock and before I can question her two tiny red monsters with purple propellor hats leap from the room. Alya is knocked over and the monsters go around the house gobbling up the cookies we had on the coffee table. Damn it, I wanted those.