"J-James?" My face turned pale as I quickly got up from my bed. "I-I did not think that you would visit me at this time of day."

James shoved his hands in his pockets and walked into my room. He was wearing a black leather jacket and faded jeans with holes in them. "Shelly," he spoke, walking towards me. "It has been a long time, and you still look beautiful like you were when we went out on our date."

"It was not a date!" I exclaimed angrily. "You only pretended to be nice to me, so I would fall in love with you!"

"You still accepted my invitation."

"Because I thought that you wanted to be my friend!"

"Oh, I do want to be your friend." He took my hand into his. "I want to be your BOYfriend."

I pushed him away and looked at Slappy and Snappy. They were laying lifeless on the bed. "Guys," I whispered to them. "Do something. Please."

James chuckled. "Talking to your puppets again? Sheesh. You are going to be turning thirteen. You should not be playing with baby toys."

I picked up Slappy and Snappy and held them close to me. "First of all, they are not baby toys. They are wonderful puppets. Second of all, they are the only friends that I have."

"Oh, please. You have plenty of friends."

"You mean bullies. Nancy, the leader of all the snobby girls at school, and Chad, your stupid friend."

"Now, now. There is no need to go around and call people stupid."

"You are right." I looked at Slappy and Snappy, and then back at James. "I meant to say that he is not the 'sharpest tool in the shed'."

James growled and grabbed the brothers from me. "It is you that is not the 'sharpest tool in the shed'!" He threw the puppets to the ground and pinned me against the wall. I tried to break free, but his grip was too strong. "Too bad that you never told anyone about me. Now no one can save you. Not even your dumb dummies."

"Who you callin' dummy? Dummy!"

"Huh?" James turned around, and we saw the twin brothers standing up on their own. "What kind of trick is this?!" he asked me.

"Oh, this is no trick," Slappy answered him. "This is for real."

"I suggest that you leave," Snappy said. "Or you will face the consequences."

James did not believe that they were actually alive, but decided to play along. "And just what are you dummies going to do about it?"

Snappy let out a sigh. "Well, we warned you." He and Slappy raised their wooden hands and slowly moved their fingers. I gasped as I saw James moving around strangely.

Moving like a puppet.

"W-what is going on?" James questioned. "I-I cannot control my body!"

"That is because my brother and I are controlling you," Slappy told him. "You are our puppet now, and we can do whatever we want to you." He looked at me and smirked. "What should we do with him, slave?"

"What?! Slave?!" James cried out.

"Yeah!" Snappy exclaimed. "She has to do whatever we tell her to do, or we get very unhappy, and she gets punished!"

James frowned and looked at me. "How could you be a slave to two dummies?!"

I shrugged. I was not really their slave. They were just saying that, so James would never know that they both were my soulmates. "I am sorry, James," I said, playing along. "I have been their slave all my life, and I need to make my boys happy. 'Cause trust me. You do not want to see them when they are unhappy."

"You do not need to listen to these dummies!"

"Throw him out the window!" I commanded the puppets. I opened my bedroom window, and they led James to the window.

"NO!" James cried.

"You should have heed our warning," Slappy and Snappy said as they pushed him out the window, and he landed on the hard ground and groaned in pain.

"Bye, James," I called to him. "I hope to see you never again." I closed the window and hugged Slappy and Snappy tightly. "I love you guys so much."

The brothers smiled and hugged me back. "We love you too."