Arabella's POV

"You guys!" I called as Charlotte and I walk into the Man Cave.

"Aw, come on!" I heard my dad yell and I saw him and Henry were trying to film their podcast.

"Please don't..." Henry begged, but my dad took off his headphones, tossed them down and kicked them in the air. Charlotte and I jumped back with shock and I looked at Henry, who was rubbing his face.

"Okay, that's it! We're outta headphones, so..." Henry declared, lifting up the box of empty headphones.

"Again?" I asked and I took out my phone, adding headphones to the shopping list.

"We have an emergency." Charlotte warned them and I put my phone away, following her.

"What, what is it?" Henry asks, putting his face in his hands.

"It's Jasper." Charlotte and I say and they both groaned.

"Ugh!"

"He says that some crazy man is at school, setting a bunch of snakes loose in the hallways." I inform them and I go up to Henry.

"Snakes?" Henry asks as I start petting his head to calm him down and he leans his head against my stomach

"I guarantee you that's not happening." My dad replied to me and I shrugged.

"But, Jasper sent us a-"

"Oh, who cares?!" My dad snapped, cutting Charlotte off. "Last week, Jasper called in an 'emergency' cuz he saw a cloud shaped like a dinosaur!"

I like dinosaurs. They're cool.

"Yeah, remember Fourth or July?" Henry asked us as he stood up, grabbing my hand. "When he got all freaked out by the fireworks, cuz he thought America was being attacked by Canada?"

"Yeah." My dad scoffed, as Henry and I approached him and Charlotte. "I'd like to see Canada try to attack us."

"Well, before you ignore this, you better watch the video Jasper just texted." I advised them and Charlotte plays the video on the phone.

"Hey, it's me, Jasper and I'm in the school hall-" Jasper began, visibly shaking as he walked drown the school hallway. "Oh my god, look! A snake!"

Jasper turned the camera and we saw a snake slivering on the floor.

"And there's more snakes! See?!" Jasper flipped the camera and we see a bunch more snakes on the floor. "Ah-uh-uh-uh! Hurry! I need backup-" The video glitched out after that.

Henry sighed. "C'mon. We gotta go check this out."

"Great." My dad sighed as Henry takes out a piece of gum. "Yeah, let's ruin our afternoon to go help Jasper!"

"Ooo, somebody's got his 'manties' in a bunch today." Charlotte stated in a sassy tone.

"Uh, I don't wear 'manties', thank you." My dad argued as he put the gumball in his mouth.

"Ray..." Henry said.

"I wear boys underwear." My dad glared and I scoffed.

Henry and my dad blew a bubble and it popped turning them in Captain Man and Kid Danger.

"Come on." Henry encouraged my dad, before kissing my cheek. They both go over to the tubes and stood under them.

"Up the tube." Henry said and my dad groaned.

"Stupid Jasper, I swear that kid-"

Before my dad could finish, they got shot up and I smiled, amusingly.

Charlotte motioned me over to the podcast set up and we both leaned into the microphones

"Puh, puh." Charlotte said and it echoed. We both shared a look, before grabbing the microphones and singing into them.

"Oh, Canada." I began and Charlotte joined in.

"Our home and native land!"

——

That Night

"Hey, Mrs. Dunlop!" Henry greeted Jasper's mom over the phone.

"Yeah, what?" She asked in a bored tone.

"Jasper's going to be spending the night at my place tonight." Henry informed her and I looked up from my notebook.

"Who cares?" She groaned.

"Oh, you don't care?" Henry asked her.

"Nope. I gotta go."

The call ended and I shrugged as I closed my notebook.

"Okay, how are we gonna get Jasper outta jail?" Henry asked me and I sat up, sighing.

"I don't know."

Jasper got framed for stealing the Candy Boot at the store Mouth Candy and now he's in jail for something Mitch Bilsky tried to do. If my dad hadn't of told him to not call for help, this never would've happened. Jasper can be annoying, but he's still a human with feelings and we all care and love him. Besides his mom, which is sad.

"Well, it's his third strike! And if they convict him, he could get twenty years!" Henry remarked and I set my notebook down on the coffee table.

"Then we better figure out a way to prove that Mitch is the one who tried to steal that stupid Candy Boot." I declared, standing up.

Henry's watch beeped and I looked at him.

"It's Ray." He said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay."

Henry answered it and my dad popped up.

"Henry, I got some news!"

"About Jasper?"

"Better!" My dad smiled. "Got some new ideas for our podcast!"

"Okay, Ray, it's the middle of the night, I got school in the morning, and one of my best friends is looking at a possible twenty years in jail!" Henry rambled on with irritation.

"Y'know, I'm starting to feel like I care way more abut this podcast more than you do." My dad mentioned and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh, well, that's probably cause YOU DO!"

Henry ended the call and turned to me, but I was thinking of an idea.

"You hear that?" Henry asked me. "All he cares about is recoding his dumb podcast."

"Well, I think I got something better for you to record." I tell Henry.

"What?" He asked.

"Mitch." I say.

"You want me to do a podcast with Mitch?" Henry asked and I groaned.

"No! I'm saying...you wear a wire." I began and he smiled.

"You mean like, a microphone?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

"And then, at school, you casually start a conversation with Mitch, get him to admit that he's the one who tried to steal the Candy Boot." I explain to him. "Then we take the recording to the cops and boom, Jasper's out!"

"Okay." Henry grinned and I smiled at him. "Okay that's good. But, how am I gonna get Mitch to admit it?"

"Babe, you're like a million times smarter than he is." I chuckled.

"You really think so?" Henry asked with a blush and I gave him a nervous grin.

"Yeah..."

His face fell. "Did you just say that because you're my girlfriend?"

"No..."

——

The following day, we had a plan. My dad and Charlotte were in a van away from the school and they were gonna record Henry talking the Mitch, so we can set things straight and get Jasper out of jail. Henry had a flower on his shoulder with a microphone inside it and I'm surprised no one has questioned the oddly placed flower.

This better work or else I won't see Jasper until I'm thirty-five.

Henry and I walked down the hallway together and as we turned the corner, Henry suddenly pulled me back and I yelped.

"What the frick?" I asked and Henry wraps his arm around my stomach as he gestures over to the stairs. I peek my head around and see Mitch walking down the stairs and I pulled my head away.

Henry and I both turned on our earpieces, so we could hear my dad and Charlotte. I had an earpiece, but no microphone because I could use use Henry's as a microphone if need be.

"Hey...can you guys hear us, okay?" Henry spoke into the microphone.

"Yeah, kids, we hear ya." My dad spoke.

"We're in a van across the street." Charlotte informed us.

"Cool." I say.

"Hen, just get to close as Mitch as you can, and try to get him to admit that he's the one that stole the fried foot." My dad explained to Henry.

"The Candy Boot." Charlotte corrected.

"Oh, it matters." My dad sarcastically remarked.

"Okay, whew, here we go." Henry exhaled, releasing me and I watched him approach Mitch. We were right by my locker and I opened it while Henry was talking to Mitch.

The first thing I saw when I opened it was a Caramel Frappuccino from Starbucks and a birthday cake pop. I smiled with happiness and giggled to myself.

"Thank you, Henry." I smile and shut my locker. I'll save those for later and thank Henry after this.

I walked around the corner and saw Mitch and Henry walking away from one another.

"Bilsky." I snarl as he walks by me and he jumps back.

"Manchester." He says back and I move passed him, over to my boyfriend. He motioned me over and gave him a look.

"Did you do it?"

"Dude, it was painfully easy." He laughs and contacts my dad and Charlotte.

"You guys, I did it! I did it! Did you hear?!" Henry spoke into the microphone.

"I just think Schwoz would be more into music like Coldplay or some band like that." I heard Charlotte say.

"Nah, he's been into Puth for like way before it was cool-"

"Guys, did ya hear him admit!?" I called into the microphone, cutting my dad off.

"Can you guys hear us?" Henry asked.

"We were just talkin' about music." My dad casually said. "What's going on?"

Is he serious?

"Wh-" Henry sighed. "What's going on?!? I just got Mitch to admit that he's the one who stole the Candy Boot!"

"Were you not recording?" I asked them with shock.

"Uhhhhhh, no... Charlotte forgot to hit record. Sorry."

"I forgot! She yelled.

"Are you for real?" I exclaim and I rubbed my face.

"Come on, guys!" Henry groaned.

"Just go get him to say it again." My dad remarked.

"Okay, but you press record, you press it right now!" I demand my dad.

"Recording."

"Thank you." We both say and Henry walks away to confront Mitch. I stood by the lockers and pretended to check my phone.

"Heyyyyy, Mitch!" Henry laughed, pushing Mitch's chest.

"Dude, we're not even friends." Mitch protested.

"No, I know...I know...I'm just...I'm still not clear on exactly what happened at that store, Mouth Candy." Henry told him and Mitch sighed.

"All right, man-I'll tell you one more time." Mitch agreed. "When the guy who owns the place went into the back-"

"Yeah!" Henry said.

"I was the one who-"

"AHHHHH!"

I jumped at the sudden scream and turned to see Misty yelling at her locker.

I put my hand on my heart and exhaled as Oliver jumped out of a classroom.

"Gotcha!"

"Th-there's a dead bird in my locker!" Misty stuttered with fear and I noticed a dead bird with a note attached to it was inside her locker.

"I know." Oliver said and he grabbed the dead bird. "Read the note on his leg."

Misty took the note and read it. "It says 'Do you wanna be my girl?"'

I rose an eyebrow at Oliver as he smirked at her.

How...original he is.

"No thank you, I have to go now." Misty dropped the note and scurried off.

"Oh well, be free." Oliver tossed the bird, but it didn't fly and fell to the ground. "Lazy."

Oliver shut the locker and walked off. I turned back to Henry and Mitch, but Mitch was walking off and Henry groaned.

Henry saw me and pulled me around the corner.

"Bella. Henry. What's happening?" Charlotte asked us.

"Yeah, this isn't gonna work, that's what happening." Henry concluded as we both look at Mitch talking to his friends on the stairs.

"Hey kid. Y'know, what'll make you feel lot better?" My dad asked Henry.

"What?"

"Doin' a podcast."

"Okay, listen Ray!" Henry snapped. "I'm not doin' a podcast with you or anyone else until Mitch confesses and my friend Jasper is outta jail! Alright?!"

"Please?!"

"No!" Henry and I both exclaim.

"All right! Fine!"

Nothing was said after that and I looked up at Henry, who was frustrated and I massaged his knuckles which seemed to calm him down.

"Hen?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." I tell him and he turns to me. "For the Starbucks."

He grinned at me and squeezed my hand. "Gotta keep my best girl happy, right?"

"I'm always happy when I'm with you." I blush and he blushes as well. He leaned down and kissed my cheek softly, causing me to giggle.

"Airy, I lo-"

Henry got cut off when the front doors bursted open and we see my dad march in wearing his Captain Man uniform.

My dad looked angry as he walked in.

"Where's Mitch Bilsky?!" My dad demanded and everyone pointed to Mitch on the stairs.

"Bilsky!" My dad snapped and marched up to him. "Admit you framed Jasper Dunlop!"

Henry put his arm around me and I leaned into his chest.

"You can't force me to-"

My dad grabbed Mitch and pushed his against the locker and everyone gasped. Henry and I slowly got closer to the scene.

"Admit it, so I don't have to punch you in the face and smash your groin." My dad snarled at him.

"You wouldn't hurt a kid." Mitch retorted.

"Oh, please, you look at least 26 years old." My dad objected and I grinned.

That's because he probably is.

"Fair point." Mitch said.

"Now, admit you're the one who tried to steal the Candy Boot!" My dad demanded again.

"Okay, I did it!" Mitch admitted with fear. "I framed Jasper! I'm a thief and a bad person! And Jasper's like a really great guy."

Henry and I start to walk away from them.

"Charlotte, did you get that?" Henry asked.

"Yep. Got it."

Success.

Henry and I gave my dad a thumbs up and he let Mitch go. My dad walks away from him and Henry and I leaned against the lockers, casually.

"Now! I've got a podcast to do!" My dad declared. "And everything I need for that podcast better be there in the next ten minutes!" My dad glanced back at Henry and then over to a group of kids. "Don't do drugs."

My dad walked out after that and Henry pulled out his phone.

"Uh...w-what? Mom?" Henry said and sighed. "Oh, okay! Be right there."

Henry kissed me, before walking out of the school to film the podcast.