"This thief is about to be busted!" Roxy snickered the following day, smashing her fist into the palm of her other hand. She was obviously dying to catch him.

"Well, once he is busted, what will we do?" Leah asked.

"I was just thinking about that," Roxy replied. "I guess it depends on who the thief even is."

Leah smiled. "That makes sense."

The trio rushed the rest of the way to Roxy's house. Once they made it, Roxy grabbed her phone while Leah and Caleb turned off the cameras.

"I think this is the right folder. The footage should've been uploaded here," Roxy informed, scrolling through the files on her phone. Her friends sat behind her, peering over her shoulders with an anxious sort of excitement, like the feeling you get when you reach the top of a roller coaster.

Roxy pulled up the file, and opened the video. She skipped forward until she saw a tall figure climbing into the treehouse. "Here." The other three drew closer. 

The thief clambered through the door and rummaged around the room, his silhouette indistinguishable. That is, until light from the mini fridge illuminated his face as he opened it.

"Is that...is that who I think it is?" Leah asked.

Roxy grimaced. "Yep."

Aislinn's eyebrows drew together. "Who is that?"

"No way," said Caleb, nearly speechless.

Roxy immediately turned the phone off. She almost threw it across the room. "Kris!" she yelled. "I'm gonna kill you!" She leapt to her feet, startling the others.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't kill your brother!" said Leah, almost laughing as she tried to calm her fuming friend down.

Roxy took a few breaths and looked at Leah narrowly. "No promises."

Then, they hatched a plan.

The trio burst through the back door and into the house, having left Aisling in the treehouse, Roxy leading them.

Mrs. Brown was in the kitchen preparing dinner and was startled to see the kids walking in like that. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" She wiped her hands on her pants and gave them an appraising look.

"Mom, we messed up. We noticed that some of the food in our treehouse was stolen, and we blamed it on Aisling because we judged her for what we heard about her at school," Roxy explained. "It turns out that it wasn't her who stole the food, but Kris! I want to make it up to Aisling by introducing her to the best brownies in the entire world! Could you make us some for a surprise dessert tonight?"

Mrs. Brown looked up, considering what her daughter told her. She looked back at Roxy again. "I will make your brownies, but I want you to know how mature you three are for recognizing your wrongs, owning them, and making up for them as best you can. I'm very proud!"

The three blushed and smiled. They were happy to be praised.

"Thanks, Mom!" Roxy replied. "You're the best! But what about Kris?"

Mrs. Brown winked at her daughter. "I'll deal with him once he comes back from guitar lessons."

Roxy looked at her friends and smirked. Caleb and Leah smirked back. They'd gotten Roxy's message. This'll be good!

Later, Aisling came over and met with her group.

"So, who's the culprit?" Aisling asked as she entered the treehouse.

Roxy rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Kris."

Aisling raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know you had a brother! What does he look like?"

"Like me but taller and slightly more tan."

Aisling looked thoughtfully at Roxy. "I'm assuming he's a pain?"

"Yep."

"I wonder what your mom's gonna do to punish him!" said Caleb, nudging Roxy. Roxy perked up once he said the word, "punish".

Leah laughed. "We'll find out soon enough, but I can't wait!"

Roxy smiled. "Knowing my mom, it'll be satisfying to watch!"

Caleb finished touching up the sketches while talking with the girls. Mrs. Brown soon called the four inside for dinner. As the four entered the house, they immediately saw Kris sitting at the table on his phone. He didn't look up at them, absorbed in the world of technology.

"Make yourself at home!" Leah encouraged Aisling, who seemed uncomfortable in this new environment.

"Thanks, Leah," Aisling replied, settling in a chair. "What's for dinner?" she asked Mrs. Brown.

Mrs. Brown smiled at her guest. "Seafood and a special surprise! Made with love for our new member of the family!"

"Oh, I don't know about fam-"

"Don't be silly, Aisling! Everyone who sits at this table is considered family!" Mrs. Brown interrupted, placing a firm hand on the girl's shoulder.

Aisling neared smiling. "Thank you so much! But what's the surprise?"

Mrs. Brown gave Aisling a look. "Why does everyone ask that when they know it's supposed to be a surprise?"

"Oh, right. Whoops."

Everyone hungrily devoured every last bite of dinner. Mrs. Brown really did make the best food. Once everyone finished eating (except Kris who didn't take notice of his food on the table), Mrs. Brown snatched the phone from the teenager's hands.

"Hey, what was that for?" Kris asked, half yelling.

Mrs. Brown raised an eyebrow and ignored his question. She gestured to his food and began talking. "What gives you the right to speak to your mother like that? And, what gives you the right to steal from your sister and her friends?"

Kris rolled his eyes. "I never stole anything," he mumbled.

"What has gotten into you?" Mrs. Brown asked with a raised voice. The four tried not to laugh at the show Roxy's mom was putting on for them.

"How can you prove that I stole from them?" Kris asked.

"Kris Ethan, Roxy and her friends wrongly accused this young lady for stealing from the treehouse because of you!" she said, gesturing to Aisling. "And you promised that you wouldn't touch the treehouse without Roxy's permission!"

"Do you think she's going a little bit over the top? He's in highschool after all," Caleb whispered to Roxy.

Roxy shrugged. "It's what he deserves."

"Fair."

"Mom, I'm not a little kid anymore!" Kris shouted.

"Exactly right, meaning that you would be mature enough to respect your sister's space. She never did anything to you or your friends, so what makes you think you can do something like this to your sister?" Mrs. Brown countered.

"But-"

Mrs. Brown cut Kris off. "One more word out of you and you're grounded!"

"I'm sixteen!" Kris pleaded.

"You're still living under my roof!" Mrs. Brown yelled, overpowering her son's argument once again. "I warned you! No electronics for a week, no car, and no going anywhere except school and lessons! A promise is a promise, and you broke it!"

Kris sighed in defeat and went upstairs to his room, forgetting about his dinner.

Mrs. Brown winked at Roxy then got serious. "Now, you don't misbehave with your brother's friends, Roxy, unless you'll get the same consequences, understand me?" She said this in a low voice, you know, the kind moms use when they are trying to get their child to listen.

"Yes, Mom, I understand," Roxy replied.

"How did you get those cameras anyway?" Mrs. Brown asked, her face brightening up again with curiosity.

"I asked my dad for some," Caleb answered.

Mrs. Brown pinched Caleb's cheek. "Smart!"

Caleb rubbed his face to ease the pain from the pinch. He smiled anyway.

The four helped Mrs. Brown clean up the kitchen after dinner and went back outside afterwards. Everyone played with Major for an hour until Mrs. Brown called them back inside for dessert.

After they all sat at the table again, Mrs. Brown presented a large tray of brownies, oozing with melted chocolate.

"So this is the surprise!" Aisling gasped.

"Yeah. We wanted to make up for accusing you solely because of rumors by giving you the best brownies on the entire planet!" Leah explained.

Caleb nodded. "No other brownie you will ever taste is better than hers!"

Then, the unheard of happened. Aisling smiled. She couldn't take it anymore. No one other than her family showed this much care for her. She finally had a real friend. Well, actually, three!

"You're smiling!" Roxy cried. "I thought you never smiled!"

Aisling laughed. "I only smile when I know people care about me," her face then fell, "which isn't often."

Leah hugged the girl. "If it wasn't for the rumors, people would've loved to be your friend! If we could just prove to everyone that the stories are just that, stories..."

"We'll figure that out when we get there," said Caleb. "But, I wanted to ask you something," he then told Aisling.

Aisling looked at Caleb with a raised eyebrow. "Don't tell me you like me!" She looked horrified.

"No, no, no! I do, but as friends. And with that, I would like to officially invite you to be a part of our friend group!" Caleb replied, his face red.

Roxy laughed. "As friends, huh?" she teased Caleb. Then, to Aisling she said, "He said your voice was pretty!"

Aisling's mouth fell open in shock. "Really?" She couldn't believe her ears.

"Quit it, Roxy!" Caleb yelled, his face reddening even more.

Aisling laughed. "But you guys really want me to officially be your friend?"

The three of them nodded, smiling ear to ear.

Aisling's eyes filled with tears. "I can't thank you enough! I never had real friends before because people bend the truth about me so often. I'm so glad I finally found people who understand!"

"And I'm glad we could be there for you!" Leah replied.

"So, I guess I should take the cameras back to my dad then?" Caleb asked.

"Yep, that'd be great!" confirmed Leah.

"Alright! I'll be right back!" Caleb called as he walked outside and up into the treehouse to gather the cameras.

"See you in a bit!" Roxy called back.

Once Caleb was gone, the girls took the brownies up into the treehouse. There were twelve in total, so each person could have three. Roxy and Leah devoured theirs quickly, while Aisling savored them. They made sure to leave the remaining two for Caleb, who had already eaten his first.

Caleb came back in around fifteen minutes and joined his friends in the treehouse, which was dimly lit by cozy fairy lights. Everyone looked on toward the sunset. The last bit of sunlight disappeared below the horizon.

"So that was a success," Caleb said, breaking the calm silence.

"Definitely," Roxy agreed.

"We should go for ice cream this weekend," Leah suggested, "to celebrate our new friend!"

Aisling smiled. "I will have to ask, but I'm sure my mom will say yes. She says I need to make more friends, but it's almost impossible because of what is said about me," she explained. Then she looked around at the three, her eyes seemingly glowing in the dark. "Emphasis on 'almost.'"

"Maybe we could write some sort of a speech on the back of our project explaining how you're not as bad as you seem, Aisling. What do you guys think?" Leah asked. Aisling shifted, a bit uncomfortable at this extremely public and forward approach, but didn't argue.

"And expose everyone else's lies? Oh, yeah!" Roxy agreed with a smirk.

"Count me in! Everyone deserves to know the truth," said Caleb, on board with the idea.

Aisling blushed and frowned. "What if they still don't believe us?"

Caleb shrugged. "Then it's their loss. They would lose an amazing person to have as a friend. They'd regret their decisions soon enough."

Suddenly, Aisling's phone vibrated again.

Aisling sighed, "I don't want to leave!"

"We don't want you to go either," Roxy said with a sympathetic look.

"Oh well," Aisling replied, digging through her bag. She found her phone and answered, "Hi! Uh, huh! Yep, I was just about to. See you in a bit!" Aisling hung up and left. This time, the trio's goodbyes were filled with genuine kindness.

_ \ | / _

Word Count: 1963