The red mark on her arm was fading now, though she had no idea that it was there to begin with. Her skin bristled with annoyance just looking at the welt. It was probably caused by that water balloon from earlier. Dannie frowned as she changed out of her wet clothes and into sweats and a t-shirt. Those boys were not going to get the last laugh with her.
"Quinn!" she hollered while grabbing a bottle of white vinegar. It was just the thing she needed for an innocent prank.
The brown haired girl appeared at the top of the steps with a straightening iron in her hands. She quirked an eyebrow, questioning what the middle Hale was doing with empty bottles of water and a liter of white vinegar.
"Here, help me pour the vinegar into these bottles," Dannie directed slowly tipping the bottle so that the liquid wouldn't spill. "Now pour some water into the bottles too, so that the smell isn't so strong."
"Why are we doing this?" Quinn questioned staring at the bottle of clear liquid in her hands.
"It's revenge for what Seth, Oliver, and Dexter did to me this morning."
"And what exactly did they do to you?"
"Nothing much, just threw some water balloons. But I do want revenge," Dannie explained swirling the bottle around. She was becoming more and more like Katy. Getting revenge for something was so immature, but Dannie didn't care. She was a child at heart.
The bottle in Dannie's hand was now emitting a foul smelling odor but that only caused her to grin in delight. This was such an age old trick that her grandparents had used on her parents back in the day.
"Okay and how exactly are we going to make them drink from these bottles?" Quinn asked. Being the oldest Hale, she knew she should stop this little conspiracy but she actually wanted to get back at the rude elder Parker. Van deserved to drink this mixture. He was so rude and irritating, bringing his gloomy attitude with him wherever he went.
"We'll get Katy to do it," Dannie smiled mischievously before going to find the angelic looking girl.
They found Katy sitting in the living room, carelessly flipping through the TV channels. She had a monotone expression on her face as she sipped cola out from her CamelBak. Her finger paused as the TV screen landed on the Tennis Channel.
"Katy, I want you to go next door and give these bottles to Dexter. Make sure he and his brothers drink them okay?" Dannie explained, coming to sit next to the girl.
The bored expression on Katy's face immediately morphed into one of excitement. Her brain was whirring faster than before as she thought of the endless possibilities of pranks that she could pull. Katy bobbed her head up and down and made sure to give her favorite sister a devilish smile.
"Okay!" she chirped skipping happily out of the room. Maybe if Dannie and Quinn had stayed a little longer, they would have seen the glint in little Katy's eye, but they left to go to their rooms, trusting the ten-year old girl with this prank.
Katy on the other hand quickly dumped out the contents of the four water bottles. Her sister Dannie could be cunning but she was just too soft, sort of like Quinn. They didn't know where the real fun was.
Now everybody knows there are well kept secrets and not so well kept secrets. Such as where Genghis Khan's dead body lay. Nobody knew where it was and it had been centuries. A not so well kept secret was where Mr. and Mrs. Hale kept their alcohol.
Katy scrambled up onto the counter top and grabbed the alcohol from the very top cabinet which had a lock. Rule number one: don't put a lock on the precious stuff. It makes finding it way too easy. She then proceeded to enter the code into it, unlocking the lock faster than that atomic bomb could destroy Hiroshima. Rule number two: don't make the lock code '1234'. And finally, rule number three: don't let the ten-year play with alcohol. Three strikes and you're out!
Grabbing a bottle of clear Tequila, she poured just a tiny bit into one water bottle and mixed it with plenty of water. Everything was perfect and set. Now it was time for her own revenge.
Katy lightly hopped down from the kitchen counter and skipped over to her neighbor's house. She knocked on the door once and waited patiently-- conjuring the picture of an angel.
The door opened to reveal a surprised Oliver. "Hi," Katy said sweetly, hiding the bottle behind her back. "I have a surprise for Dexter, can he come out and play?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm sure he could," Oliver said. He turned over his shoulder and called for the child genius to come down and Katy's eye twitched when she saw the encyclopedia he was reading. He must think he's so smart, with an IQ to match Einstein's and thickly framed reading glasses.
"What do you want?" he said to Katy as Oliver turned and left the pair alone. Katy struggled to keep her smiling facade in place. She didn't want him to suspect anything and this was the perfect opportunity.
"I just wanted to give you this drink that I made. It enhances your memory," she held out the bottle of clear liquid.
Dexter looked at her suspiciously. It was quite odd that this girl wanted to give him something useful, for she seemed like a spiteful person. But then again, she was simply a child and had bipolar tendencies. Dexter smiled to himself. Yes. She was just a child. That thought though, did not apply to himself. He was not a child. He was a genius who was offered several positions in high IQ societies and knew more about the world than most adults did. And that is most definitely not what child was.
"What is the liquid known as?" he inquired. If the drink was in fact a memory enhancer, then he would be able to acquire for future purposes, perhaps to cure Alzheimer's.
Katy hesitated for a moment. What was the drink called? It was Tequila, of course. But she couldn't say that! "It's green tea," she blurted out. Fudge-balls. She totally blew it. Everybody knew green tea enhanced memory, but the drink was crystal clear!
"Green...tea?" Dexter asked a wry smile on his face. He knew she was lying now. She may not show it but there was no way that drink was green tea.
"Yeah. My parents got it from Africa on a business trip. They did all kinds of magical voodoo stuff to it," Katy improvised. She twirled her hands around in the air, imitating a witch who swirled her potions together.
"Uh huh. And two cosine four theta added with five sin theta to the second power doesn't equal two. You might want to come up with better lies," Dexter retorted.
"I don't know what you just said but I'm not lying!" Katy protested. She shook the bottle to emphasize her point, "this is actually a memory enhancer! Just try it please." Turning her face into a pout, she looked up at the boy with her big green eyes.
Dexter ignored her while he held a mental debate inside his head. On the one hand, Katy could be telling the truth, though very unlikely. But if she was, that drink could help not only him, but millions of people all around the world! On the other hand, if she was lying, than he would only be making a fool of himself. The best option in this case would be to refuse the drink.
But there was always that uncertainty principle. What if the drink did enhance his memory and she drank it instead? Then she could possible become smarter than him. Dexter bristled at the thought. This girl did not know anything except for how to cause trouble, and that memory enhancing drink should not be in her hands.
Plus Dexter had to admit it, she was extremely cute. Okay, forget he ever thought that. Katy was not cute.
"Fine. I'll try it." He said grudgingly holding his hand out for the bottle. Katy happily complied and placed it in his hand.
Dexter untwisted the cap and took a whiff of the liquid. It had a faint scent, but he couldn't tell what it was. He did know however, that it was not a pleasant scent.
Cautiously, he lifted the bottle to his lips and took a gulp. The liquid was revolting! His stomach churned and his throat burned from whatever was inside the clear liquid. It was most definitely not tea. Suddenly, he felt lightheaded and held his temple in both hands.
"Mom's home, I have to go. Tell me how the drink works out!" he vaguely heard Katy shout as her footsteps faded away.
His vision blurred slightly but he couldn't find it in himself to panic. It was as though all his senses were MIA. What exactly was in that bottle, Dexter wondered. His mind blanked out as he limped back into the house.
***
Seth grabbed a box of crackers and can of cola, ready to relax and enjoy his summer break. Though he missed the California sun and his friends back home, the cozy environment of the island brought him a sense of peace and comfort.
He headed down the corridor towards the living room but stumbled on something small. Looking down, he realized he had stumbled upon someone small.
"Dexter? What are you doing little man?" he asked confused by the dazed look upon his brother's face.
Dexter waved a hand around his head and grabbed at the air. "I can see stars around my head, like in the cartoons! Except these stars look more like electrons around an atom, perhaps they're valence electrons. There's a full octet which means it must be a group 8A electron 'cause it's got a noble gas configuration. And oh! Seth, your head is so big, like the size of Hitler's ego. What a stupid man to invade Leningrad. I hope you don't try to take over Russia, Seth."
Seth stared at the boy for a moment, wondering what was wrong with him. Sure Dexter talked nonsense a lot but usually it made a tad bit more sense. Unsure, he called for Van.
"He looks fine to me," Van said arriving upon the scene. Seth frowned, perturbed by Dexter's sudden silence. He was talking about Hitler just a second ago! Then he noticed a bottle shaking in the little boy's hand.
"What is this?" Seth asked taking the bottle from his hand and examined the contents.
"Oh it's just some green tea that Katy gave to me. She said it would help my memory but I don't think it's working too well because I can't even remember the order of the Chinese Dynasties. Was it the Song before Tang? With the Ming after? Oh no, that can't be it, it was the Qing that came after! Yes I believe it was indeed the Qing..."
"Green tea?" Van asked incredulously. "Dexter, does this look like freaking green tea to you?"
"Well try some and see for yourself," Seth suggested. It was most likely the drink that made Dexter so loopy but why would Katy have such a kind of drink?
Van took a gulp from the bottle and almost immediately spit the drink back out. A familiar burn went down his throat and he dumped the remaining contents of the bottle down the drain in the kitchen.
"Tequila," he spit out.
Seth was shocked to say the least. How would Katy have gotten her hands on a bottle of Tequila? She was ten for crying out loud! Then the idea hit him like a ton of bricks. It must have been Dannie! That girl was always up to no good. He crossed Quinn of his list of suspicions, for she seemed to mature and responsible to pull such a prank. But even for Dannie to do that, it was over the line. She had gotten his ten-year old brother drunk!
It seemed like Van had reached the same conclusion because he was already storming out the door towards the Hale's house, Dexter in tow behind him.
It was then that Oliver chose to come downstairs. "What's Van doing?" he asked peering out the doorway.
Seth shrugged. "He's about to go kill Dannie Hale."
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A/N Sorry guys, I know this chapter is short but I'll be sure to upload another chapter before this weekend! And for some of you who are confused, I added a character reference at the beginning of Chapter 1.