Playing The Part: Part Seven

     "Get a grip, Glitter. Don't be such a coward."

     "But didn't you see all that writing? THEY'RE OUT TO GET ME!" A faerie Acara scrunched herself up on the sofa in anxiety. Her brother, a striped Kacheek, climbed up and sat himself beside Glitter.

     He gave his sister a reassuring hug. "We'll get to the bottom of this," he said. "Besides, we've got clues now, right?"

     Fluffy the white Aisha sauntered into the living room, writing something in a piece of paper. Upon hearing Sweet speak, she cleared her throat and started to read what she wrote.

     "We have that water faerie pencil Sweet got from the shadowy stranger, the tall light blue letters, the falling backdrop, the notes with neat, cursive handwriting and medieval wording, and that figure Sweet was chasing." Fluffy stopped and tapped the top of her pen on her chin.

     "Not to mention the initials A.D. on the pencil," said Angel. "Who IS AD?"

     The striped Kacheek waved his paw in the air. "ALVIN! I bet Alvin wants Glitter out of the play so he'd get all the glory! That sneak!"

     His white Aisha sister shook her head. "Alvin's initials are A.D.N."

     "Well, there's an AD in there!" said Sweet indignantly.

     "But does he like medieval stuff and cursive penmanship?" asked Fluffy. "If I know, he doesn't like that stuff. Remember when Miss Ford told him off for sleeping through a history of Meridell class?"

     Angel raised an eyebrow. "Why would a guy who hated medieval things join a medieval play?" he asked.

     "I bet Alvin just did it for the attention and the glory," replied the striped Kacheek to the jelly Poogle. "He's willing to do anything for everyone to bow down at his feet."

     Fluffy scratched her head. "There's a missing piece of the puzzle…we know that the culprit likes light blue - as shown by his or her pencil of choice and the paint used for the threatening message. Then there's the neat script and the affinity for Meridell, the only land in Neopia that has a medieval air. Who could this be?"

     "So what are you doing, now that you've been dismissed quite early?" asked Kat, passing by her hardworking pets gathered in the living room.

     "Trying to find out who really wants Glitter out of the play," answered Angel. "We've collected clues and we're trying to put them all together."

     The girl smiled. "Why, that's nice," she remarked. "I'll be in the kitchen making dinner then. Good luck, and Glitter?"

     "Yes?" The faerie Acara perked up.

     "Don't let whoever's sending you those threats get to you. I know you'll do great in the play. In fact, I need a good outfit for that special day." Kat disappeared into the kitchen, leaving four detectives back to their work.

     The white Aisha briefly sucked the end of her pen. "As we were saying?"

     "We have to find one student in the whole Neoschool who fits all the clues," said Angel. "None of my friends have the initials of AD, so they're cool."

     Sweet nodded. "Same here. Although I've got a friend named Astral Descent, but he hates any shade of blue, most especially the light kind."

     Fluffy giggled. "You mean the one who tried to pass a petition asking Fyora to change the sky into a nice purple color?"

     "Yeah, Fluff! I can't believe you still remember it!" exclaimed the striped Kacheek. He and his sister broke into peals of laughter. "And then Miss Ford told him to stop it or she'll tell the staff to get the whole place painted blue! It was just about the only thing in my mind for two straight weeks!"

     Angel and Glitter chuckled along with their older siblings, but one of them was looking particularly worried.

     "Glitter, what's wrong this time?" asked the white Aisha. "We're already helping you catch the one behind all this, what more could you want?" Then suddenly it hit her like a bouncy ball.

     "Glitter…your friend Alisa…what's her last name?"

     "Diamond," answered the faerie Acara softly. "I think she's the culprit."

     Sweet and Angel gasped. "How could that be?" asked the Poogle. "She's your friend!"

     Their sister nodded sadly. "I know. I know that you guys always think that she's happy for me, all that jazz…but actually, these days she keeps on raving about how much she'd like to be in the play instead of being on the lights committee. One time, Alisa told me that she was jealous of me being the star of the show."

     "Okay, okay, so she's a suspicious character," said Angel. "Does she like light blue?"

     "All shades," replied Glitter. "Especially turquoise. It has always been her trademark ever since I met her."

     The striped Kacheek waved his paw again. "Does Alisa have a fetish for medieval stuff?"

     Glitter nodded. "She's always awake during our history of Meridell lessons. She hates it when she has to be absent on such a day. There have been times that I remember where she bored me to death with facts and figures on some of the wars in said subject."

     "Now for the last piece of evidence," said Fluffy. "Do you have anything that Alisa has written on in the past few days? We're going to compare her handwriting with those on the notes to really see if Alisa matches the identity of the one who wants you out of the play."

     The Acara nodded, and began digging through her backpack. After a few moments of sticking her paw through a pocket filled with scraps of paper, she finally pulled out a bit of turquoise-colored paper with some fancy script. Glitter showed it to her older sister, and their brothers crowded around to see.

     "There is no doubt," Fluffy stated, "that Alisa IS the last piece of the puzzle. Look at the two notes - one which is a threat to Glitter and the other which is a friendly note passed to our sister in class. Everything fits. It has been her jealousy that drove her to commit such a heinous act."

     "In short, Alisa wanted her friend out of the play because she didn't like the idea of Glitter being better than her," Sweet repeated.

     "Exactly."

     Suddenly another thought crossed the mind of the faerie Acara. "How are we going to expose her and make her admit that she was trying to take me out?"

     The white Aisha smiled mischievously. "Don't worry. I've got a plan to catch Alisa in the act. All we need to do is make her write something in front of the teachers and show them the notes Glitter has been receiving. Plus, we have to somehow prove that she was the one who pushed the backdrop and painted the message on the wall."

     Sweet held up the water faerie pencil that had the initials of Glitter's friend. "Here," he said. "I'm sure Mr. Embers knows about Alisa's fondness for light blue stuff, medieval things and neat cursive penmanship."

     Glitter thought for a few seconds. "Yeah, he sure knows. He wasn't surprised when she came to school one day clad in only shades of sky blue."

     "Good," said Fluffy. "Tomorrow, during the last practice before the actual play, we expose Alisa for the deceiver she is."

     ***

     "The Lab Ray's been quite kind to you today," remarked Sweet, glancing at Angel's new look. Today, his little brother was no longer a jelly Poogle, but a white Zafara.

     "Thanks," said he, twirling around. "I'm just so happy to not be made of gelatin anymore."

     Fluffy whispered to the two. "Do you all know what to do?"

     "Yeah," replied the striped Kacheek. "Don't worry, this'll turn out all right, and Glitter's name will be cleared, and - " His face suddenly fell.

     The faerie Acara noticed his sudden change in expression. "Why? No wait - Alvin's still going to be playing the lead male role. I guess you really weren't cut out to be a star." She sighed with pity for her brother, who smiled only a teeny bit.

     Before anything else, a flustered Miss Ford came running up to the quad. "Sweet? Oh, I'm glad you're here! We need you, badly!"

     "Huh? What for?" asked the striped Kacheek nervously. "Am I in trouble? I swear I haven't done anything wrong for the past few days! Honest!" His siblings nodded in agreement at the strawberry Poogle, who only chuckled at them all.

     "Don't be silly, Sweet," she said calmly, adjusting her glasses. "The thing is, we've chosen you for a very special job in the play. And it won't be involving lights!" The teacher grinned as she let loose with some interesting news. "Alvin's owner sent me a message informing us that he can't be here today. Apparently he's injured himself in a little run-in with the Pant Devil and needs some recovery time."

     Sweet's mouth hung open, and his eyes grew wider every second. "You mean - "

     "That's right. You have been chosen as Alvin's understudy for the play! We're sorry for the inconvenience that you have to memorize the lines and sequences only a few hours before the actual thing. I'm only asking for your consent. If you don't want the extra work and prefer being with the lights committee, you may say so."

     Fluffy, Glitter and Angel watched their eldest brother jump up and down with delight. "Oh, I won't mind! Honest! I can get the lines in my head before the big performance, I promise! I won't let you down, Miss Ford! I've always wanted to be in this play!"

     Miss Ford smiled. "Wow, I didn't know that you would say yes so quickly! Well, I better be off to tell Mr. Embers and Miss Tails the good news! Thank you very much!" And with that, the strawberry Poogle sprinted off frantically, obviously in a hurry.

     The words hit Sweet like a good punch in the back of the head. "I'm…I'm going to…be…playing the next most important role to Queen Allison!" he said in an excited tone. "I…I…"

     "We can't believe it too!" said Glitter, hugging her brother. "I guess you really were destined to be General Alphonse after all!"

To be continued...