When kids are young, parents often scare them into acting right… acting properly, is the better word, I think… but I was never good at words. Not sure why I'm the one talking `bout this in the first place, that's not my story…

Sometimes, I feel like I had the smallest part of it of all. `S not hers, either… but oh, you seem confused, please excuse me! I'm sorry! I guess I ramble a lot… strange, really, since my brother's usually the talker… but I think the most… `cept my thoughts seem to differ so often and I lose track of all I wanted to say…

Right. Parents think that kids would do all the nasty, yucky, boring things if they're frightened… which is bollocks to me. How can the Boogeyman, or some vampire, or some evil witch make you feel like eating broccoli or going to bed? If you're scared, you can barely sleep a wink, and I doubt food's on your mind… well, unless you're me… but even I don' like broccoli! Yuck! And I eat magnets and tables! So why do parents do that?

While kids are scared of goblins and monsters, ghosts and such, in Burbank, we had our own phantom, this shadow under your bed… we called her Copycat.

Maybe I should start from the beginning. I mean, you don't live in LA… or do you? If you do, please be nice and wait a while… since I'm sure you really don' know `er that much…

I didn't know about her myself, not for a long time. I live a fairly happy and free life, even if my brother can be over-protective; he never threatened us, he's always been so nice! I'm sad I got to hear about her in such frightening conditions… sometimes, I think, maybe it'd be better if I never did…

Oh! If you're still confused, I'm sorry. I should've introduced myself, it's kinda weird to do it alone. I'm a Warner Brother… the middle one, my name's Wakko. I live in a huge yellow tower with my two siblings – my brother Yakko, the oldest, and smartest person I know – and my little sister Dot, the really, really cute one. We spend our lives having fun and being playful, causing mayhem wherever we go, and we even have our own show. It's funny, people pay us just to be us and run wild… I guess it works, if the fans can laugh and find us "loveable".

We're always together and we always have fun, but we go through hardships too, just like you, normal, nice people behind that screen. Also, I did say our job is fun, it's faboo – but still a job, and hard work – especially for our little Dot, since she's the youngest. She's very talented and sometimes, thinks a little high of herself, but I guess she has a right to; still, pressure can get to her and always being the "cute" one is hard, when you're a fan favorite and people follow you wherever you go.

It all started with a simple cough, and Yakko panicked; he does that, y'know – Dot didn't want to go see a doctor and figured it was just a cold. They bickered for a while, then her cough got worse ….then one morning, she woke up and she couldn't even breathe. Her throat was swollen, it seemed so painful, but the worst part of it was we could barely make out a word she said, so we had no clue what was going on. Yakko rushed her to a hospital with very few protests from our youngest sibling and I followed, scared outta my mind. As it turned out, her tonsils were infected, her throat was in bad condition and she needed treatment, some offered surgery. I still remember how white Yakko's face got when he heard the word "surgery" ….we all have white faces, but his was literally see-through.

Dot was scared, you could see, she was crying and no one could calm her down. Eventually, things somehow settled… they took out her tonsils, started her on medication and assured us all that she'll be more than fine. The smallest Warner seemed relieved… the pain was gone and she got so much free ice cream! Still, Yakko was worried out of his mind and didn't leave her sight for days and days… I wanted to help, but somehow, he always seemed the closest to her… he's always been the parent, while she and I, we're more like twins… some say she's a lot more mature than me, I think that's unfair…

But our show was still running and shooting needed to be done. Dot was on her feet and moving freely, but she had lost her voice – doctors assured only for a little while, but she could barely say a word. The studios went berserk, since we were in the middle of a season … and how would we shoot an episode with just… two Warner brothers and no sister? Yes, Yakko was quite popular… he was the charmer, the girls all loved him, me… well, I try not to get a big head, but let's just say I had my share of fans, however, everyone loved Dot… and just the two of us, for who knows how long… the writers didn't accept that, and neither did Yakko. He wanted all three of us on set, or no one would be, also, he wanted to stay home and take care of Dot, even if she was fine by herself; she was sad and scared that she'd never speak again and she needed him. Someone pitched the idea to temporarily replace her, as a joke, like that one episode on "Tiny Toon Adventures", when Buster was trying to find a new Babs … I've never seen Yakko more mad, or Dot cry harder, while me, I felt like punching the person, but kept my cool. Who could ever replace Dot? Who, in their right mind would even think something like that was ever possible? I agreed to call it quits and for once, me and my bro seemed to perfectly agree on something – however, another idea was pitched. Dot could still shoot the episodes, they'd just get someone who sounds like her to dub her speech.

Again, Yakko was on the path of screaming all of Burbank's heads off, but Dot held him back this time. It was pretty hard to communicate, however, she made us understand how bad she felt about holding the show back and how, even if she didn't have a voice, she still wanted our lives to go on like before, she wanted to give to her fans, she didn't want the show to end up postponed or even cancelled on her behalf… Yakko tried to reason that those fans didn't care for us, that we, as a family, should think about each other, that she owed the public nothing, that it was unfair and he wouldn't have it… however, eventually, he gave in. He could never say "no" to her, `specially when she gave him those big, adorable puppy eyes….

I wish I could do that. I gotta get her to teach me!

So only a week later, there we were, about to shoot the latest episode, with both my siblings moody and displeased, while I, as always, tried to keep our spirits up. I kept wondering who would dub Dot's voice; my first guess was Babs Bunny, since they did sound very much alike; however, apparently, she wasn't available… when I asked the director about her, he said she was out of the country on her own show's tour.

Before we got any information, the episode began and so did our roles, though my brother was having the hardest time communicating with "The Voice" and calling "it" his "sister sibling". Dot seemed strangely comfortable and her mouthing was in sync, of course, with some exceptions… while I just felt so weird and downright scared to communicate with someone I couldn't even see. It felt so… eerie, and creepy, but I just looked at my sister's little face and put it behind me that someone else was talking. Whoever they were, they were doing a very good job… or at least I wanted to believe that, since I wanted to talk to my sister, in a way.

It usually takes us a while to get an episode done, and after the first few days working on it, I'd come home to a very discontent Yakko, spewing words of hatred which was very unlike him; while Dot, though trying to keep her spirit up, almost seemed …afraid. Apparently hearing your voice from somewhere… around wasn't as flattering as one might think.

Guess I could relate. Everyone says I sound like Ringo Star, but at least his music is good!

"Those no good, stuck up, money hungry, life-sucking vampires! Little trolls, why I outta…" Yakko muttered, hoping that no one would hear him, yet knowing full well we did.

"… it is kinda weird." I agreed, since for the moment, Dot didn't feel like commenting via notes.

"It's just… not working. That… person… whoever it is, sounds nothing, nothing like her! I just… appalling! We get sick and they just try and replace us, like that? Hollywood for ya. I have half the mind to quit; let them try and replace "Animaniacs" with something better… or even keep it, without the three of us!" our oldest sibling went on, apparently forgetting for a moment that just because he felt like quitting, it didn't mean both Dot and I would.

….of course we would! But it's just not nice to assume that and think for us, too!

It's alright, I was angry too… but mostly, confused and still a bit scared.

"It's only for a lil while…" I wanted to make them both feel better, since I was sure Dot was feeling the same, if not worse, things that Yakko spoke up. She cradled in his lap and stood there quietly, comforting him in her own way … for a little bit, I felt like I wasn't even needed there.

"… they can't give her a little break until she gets better… we get stuck with some freak pretending to be OUR cute little sister!" Yakko muttered, a bit calmer, hugging Dot tightly. She gave out a small sigh, or maybe it was a sniffle –hard to say, really –but the thing that got my attention was his choice of words:

"…why're you callin' her a freak?"

"Who knows if it's even a she. "he went on, but regret it immediately, since now Dot threw him a hurt, and at the same time, angered word. It was clear that she wanted to scream out "So I sound like a guy?".

"I mean… " Yakko hurried to correct himself, hugging her even closer " Y'know…it… ehhhh… she sounds…female, sure, but… if she even looked the part…" he immediately stopped there, while I blinked in confusion and went closer to them both. My brother seemed a tad embarrassed about what he had just said.

"….you know `er?" I asked curiously and Dot scoot a little further so she can watch his reaction better. He looked away, trailing on:

"….weeeeeelllll…. not…. personally. I've never actually… seen her, but…I don't even know her name, I just…. Heard things."

"What things?"

"That's not really right, I don't wanna scare you, and Dot's too young for this…" he gave me a stern look, while Dot pinched him on the neck, offended. I, however, tugged on him even more:

"Tell me! What'd ya hear? I wanna know!"

"Wakko, please, we went over your nightmare phase already after you watched that "Devil wears Prada" movie…."

"Come on, I promise I won' get scared! We should know who we're talking to!" I insisted, while Dot frowned and left his lap, apparently still insulted about her fragile age. Yakko dismissed it all with a wave of his hand:

"Forget I even said anything. It's all rumors, anyway."

"But Yakk-"

"No, and I'm sticking by it, sibs. Now, let's get something to eat and put this entire bad day behind us. We'll need some shut-eye, they're having us re-do the 5th scene for the 50th time tomorrow…uhhh…" with that he walked away, probably to prepare something for dinner, leaving me and Dot in a puzzle.

"….what'd you think he was talkin' bout?" I asked her, she just rolled her eyes, then scribbled something in a little notebook she now had to carry with her, wherever she went:

"Apparently, the person is either disabled or deformed. Even Yakko wouldn't make fun of someone like that, though. He's probably too angry."

You'd think my first thought would be "Poor person!", but no, not really. I'm embarrassed to say this, but it just raised my curiosity even more… was it someone with one eye, or a burned up face? Did they look like a villain from a horror movie? I wanted to find out more, and I would…. I just hoped it really wasn't THAT scary…

You can laugh, but I still have nightmares about the lead female from that Prada movie… not that she's ugly, but… I swear, for some reason, I kept dreaming that she wanted to eat me in a pot of carrot soup…

The very next day, my investigation began. It was easy at first; all I had to do was look at the script credits, see whose name was listed with our cast next to Dot's. I found a female that went by "Paula Crawford" and it seemed so perfectly easy. All I had to do was ask some of the co-stars or co-workers on the show about her, the writers, the sound crew… I grinned, would I have a story to tell the guys later!

Unfortunately, it's never so easy. I asked, and asked, and asked, but no one knew anyone by that name. I changed my approach and asked for the person who's dubbing my sister; they were still unsure. I had to go straight to the voice director… he just brushed me off in a weird manner and said it wasn't even important. It took almost a day until I finally met someone who linked it all together…

"Oh, yes, Paula Crawford…" ironically, it was "The Mime" or, if you'd rather call him by his actual name, Mark Stevens "Of course I know who that is! … But no wonder no one answered you. She's barely known by her real name anymore; everyone calls her "Copycat". "

"Copycat?" I repeated, edging him to continue and he gladly did, brushing off a few locks of hair that stuck to his forehead:

"She lives here in Burbank, with her parents and little brother; he's only three. Her mother used to be an opera choir girl, so ever since Paula was little, they signed her up in a music academy, hoping she'd become a singer one day, too. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to go so well… so, she started working in a voice acting area instead."

"Oh?" that hardly seemed scary at all; if anything, it was really, really boring and I felt like I wasted my entire morning. Should've gone skateboarding instead.

"I know for a fact she CAN sing, just…well… she actually can't. You see, her actual voice… is pretty plain and dull, as well as her singing. All she can do is listen to someone speak, then mimic their sound and use it. She sang on behalf of a lot of other female toons who couldn't, I know for a fact Belle and Ariel's songs were done by her." He went on, a small smirk appearing on his face "They say she's working hard and her singing can have potential, however… a thousand times she asked for a job on TV, and they always turned her down. Saying she was the ugliest thing they ever saw and no camera would ever want her. I heard Plotz himself scream at her after even suggesting to appear on Animaniacs even once, in the background… called her a "gender confused, deformed, disfigured, hideous troll of a freak"… then gave her a plastic surgeon's number, but added that they probably didn't do miracles."

"…..she… really, she's that ugly?" this seemed intriguing. How would such a person look? I couldn't even picture it, so I went on "What does she look like?"

"Oh, hideous! Her nose is huge, her skin is yellow, she has these sick shadows and bags under her eyes… her legs are just crooked, hunchbacked, and that hair looks like a rag… yuck… some say one of her eyes is barely open, she can't walk the streets without being laughed at or ridiculed on a daily!" Mark finished off, huge grin on his face "Also, she limps a lot, one of her legs looks longer than the other… you don't know? Parents tell their kids she'll eat them at night if they don't finish their supper or skip school. Copycat – the real life Boogeyman."

"….wow!" even with that description, I still couldn't picture her "So… when you saw her, were you scared?"

"….saw her? I'm not going anywhere near that ugly freak. Nope, never seen her once in my life and am not planning to. I don't need therapy, nor can I afford it, with these lousy cameos I'm stuck doing." He added bitterly, while I scratched my head in a questioning manner:

"…. Then how do you know she looks like that?"

"Oh, lots of people HAVE seen her… they describe her pretty much the same way, plus, I told you, I heard what Plotz said, I was just outside. Shame, shame." Mark finished with a look that showed no shame from the matter at all.

"….so, do you know where she works, then? What part of the studio?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. If there really was someone that ugly in Burbank, I had to see it!

Mark gave me a look, mixture of surprise, shock and disgust:

"You really want to gouge your eyeballs after? Spare yourself the pain. No, I don't know and could care less… now if you excuse me; I'm late, still trying to audition for a spot at that "Ninja Turtles" show…"

He walked off, muttering something about "ugly bitches should just kill themselves", while I blinked after him, my curiosity now mixing with a tad of pity and sadness. That hardly seemed fair, `specially if he himself never saw her.

Still. If a monster was out lurking in Burbank, I wanted to see it. You know that feeling when you just KNOW something will terrify you to unknown debts, and yet, you just have to… like the temptation of staring into an eclipse. I was scared to look, but I just wanted to. And I would….

Shooting time was almost near, so I met up with my sibs and we both took off to the setting spot. Dot seemed weary, while Yakko was giving me a weird look, apparently, for some reason, he had a hunch what I've been up to so far. I managed to throw him off with requests of a huge pepperoni for dinner… while we argued about pizza toppings, we put aside the Copycat and her mimic of Dot's voice on hold, at least `till we would somehow figure out if four extra larges were too much, or if I'd just end up eating them all by myself.

"You're just gonna get very sick, four is way too much, even for a walking trash-dispenser like yourself." Yakko spoke, as we took our places on set, then turned to our sister "Back me up, Dot, you're a girl; tell him about proper diet and nice figures…"

"Hey!" I frowned, crossing my arms "I'm not fat, I'm the same size as both of you!"

"Just looking out for your health, little bro, how can you eat –"

"Hey, let the kid eat, if he can't finish them, you have some, you COULD use a pound or two." "Dot" or her rental voice spoke up from… well… I never could see where the sound equipment was exactly, but it sounded somewhere above us. Yakko jumped up and turned to our actual sister, who shook her head, almost seeming sad … I wanted to hug her then, she must've missed her voice so much… and she was being so strong and brave about it all, too!

"No one asked you and for your information… this isn't in the script, we haven't started yet, shut your trap, lady….if I can even call you that." The oldest of us spoke, looking up, apparently not sure where the sound was coming for. Copycat just laughed, worse, she laughed Dot's laugh, and that seemed to stir him up even more; however, before he could speak, she answered in a little mock:

"Is that any way to speak to your sister?"

"You are NOT my sister and trust me, if you were… you'd be living on the streets by now…" I was actually shocked; I never knew Yakko could be so mean. Unfortunately, that just made Copycat speak more:

"Tisk, tisk, how very, very rude… all I'm sayin', let the boy eat if he wants, or are you just being stingy?"

"First of all, stop using Dot's voice when you talk to me, second… she sounds nothing like that, she has perfect diction and pronunciation, she would never say "sayin'" like some mind-challenged redneck! And third-"

"Hey!" I cut in, feeling even more offended "I talk like that, too… well… sometimes… you're bein' horrible today, what'd voice lady do to you, anyway?" I mostly said that since I did want a lot of pizza for dinner and apparently, Copycat just wanted to annoy Yakko, which worked fine for me at the moment. She laughed, very, very loud, before adding:

"No, no, sweetie… you sound, I think…" we heard her clear her throat and speak up, once more "Like this, but `s ok… I always liked Ringo Star…. And John Lenon… I think your brother's bein' a tad racist today…rednecks don' talk like that, not all of `em!"

Dot's eyes grew wide, Yakko's face turned red, yet for some reason, all I could do was give out a huge laugh:

"Hey! Can you do more impressions! Oh, do Yakko next!"

"Oh you just try, you hideous goblin!" apparently, he wasn't sharing my amusement at all. Dot however seemed somewhat relieved; at least, she wasn't the only one whose voice was being imitated and used.

"Don't make me maaaaad…." Copycat returned to Dot's voice, sounding on the verge of another laughing fit herself "Or tonight I'll sneak in your tower and eat you in your sleep. Blaaaaaaaahhhh!" I had to look away, or else both my siblings would've screamed at/pummeled me…I can't help it if I found the sound of my sister as a vampire funny!

"Yeah, you'd love to eat me, wouldn't ya…" Yakko spoke up, but was rewarded with:

"Nah, you're too skinny, I'd still end up hungry; plus, I don't wanna choke on all that fur. I'd rather die with dignity and oh, I don't know, get smashed by a random huge anvil aiming for Plucky Duck. At least the young would be saved." She finished wisely, then laughed once more "Stop spewing such hatred; I was just playing around. You can't take a joke?"

"Your job is to just sit there and read lines, not butt into our lives and give me lessons about raising my siblings, understood? Oh, and while we're at it… not too crazy for the fact that you're making a cheap profit on my sis' name and voice, just because you're too ugly to get your own career, or a real job, for that matter!" at that point, I figured he had gone too far. Copycat did go silent for a little while, Dot was confused. She gave our parental figure a criticizing look; Dot might be a little bit shallow when it came to her own cuteness, but she was never mean to other people, unless they provoked any of us in some way. Mostly, she was probably wondering why he was picking on someone who she assumed was disfigured, that just didn't seem humane.

And you don't really know Yakko, but he has a lot of heart… this isn't that much like him. He never lashed out to hurt or hate on someone, much like Dot, unless they started it first. Apparently he was taking this whole "replacement" thing very at heart.

"….wow. You really don't like me, do you…?" Dot's voice double finally spoke up, seeming a bit… troubled? Darkened?

"Whatever gave you that idea, babe?" was the ironic response she got, and after another long, long awkward silence, Copycat answered:

"…I was just kidding. And I'm sorry, but I AM just doing my job." Her voice now seemed ice cold "I'm not gonna take this from some crooked, stretched up, Micky Mouse parody, since it's not my fault your sister lost her voice! It's not my fault they called me to do this and I will most certainly not turn down a chance to make some type of living for myself, just for the sake of keeping YOU happy…. You disrespectful, racist little hypocrite…."

"Hypocrite?"

"You make fun of people every day and you can't take one tiny joke, which wasn't even offensive to anyone? Wow. Grow up, faggot." With that, we heard a small crack, apparently the voice from above had left. Her absence didn't take long, though, since the director yelled out at all of us to get our acts together and do our goddamn jobs, while he still had any hair left to pull on.

Now I myself felt angry at her. I mean, I know Yakko crossed the line, but I couldn't just let her insult us both like that! …We looked alike, y'know, she had some nerve to call US crooked when she probably looked like a troll herself. Now, more than ever, I was gonna find her and put this all to an end once and for all. If I did see her and cleared things up, maybe no one would feel the need to yell at anyone and we'd just do our jobs, then part ways for good. `Sides, I was kinda curious if she actually could mimic Yakko's voice, too.

When our shooting was over, I told Yakko and Dot I'll go get some pizzas anyway; neither argued, since apparently, Yakko was too tired from work to object, or maybe he felt like he HAD gone a little too far… I can't tell. Dot seemed a little cheerful at the thoughts, since she was hungry too –we parted ways and I ran in an opposite direction, then snuck myself in the recording studio, by following some of the tech people inside. It took me a while to absorb my surroundings and find the recording studio; then, there were the several tiny rooms to choose from, where musicians and back-up singers walked in and out from, sipping coffee and chatting amongst themselves. I couldn't bring myself to ask either of them, I wasn't sure if they'd even let me stay … so I just searched room after room, wondering where she could be. Did she have one all for herself? Probably, if she really was so hard on the eyes, but were the people who worked here that bothered? Maybe… `least it was a benefit of being ugly, she got to have all the space she wanted and probably did anything she pleased, with no one looking, like have fun with all the crazy buttons. If it were me, I'd make the entire show a huge mess and just laugh all day… but I had a feeling Copycat didn't see things in such a positive light.

Room after room, a few girls screamed as I entered (one was a dressing room, a few weren't, but I guess they were cooing from joy), there were lots of "Sorry!" and "Hellooooo nurses!" from my half, until finally, I reached one door, with the number "205" on it, which seemed strangely quiet. Shrugging my shoulders and hoping it'd be another female undressing, I entered, only to find it pitch dark… yet, someone… no, something was there, in the corner…

Crouching, and in that dim light, the features and shadows around made it seem so sharp, I actually gasped. The reaction was mutual, as the person gasped too and jumped on their feet, completely freezing up afterwards, as if someone had pointed a gun to her chest. I trembled a bit and reached for the lights, trying to prepare myself for the horrifying sight and hoping I wouldn't scream… but as I hit them, all I could do was just blink, before giving out a "…huh?".

I was expecting a monster, a hideous being… some sort of abnormality, anything, really. Instead, all I saw was a tiny, thin, pale little girl…well… not technically little…she looked about seventeen, or eighteen, I couldn't tell, but…

There she was, so small, so white…at first I couldn't exactly judge her looks much, but she was far from "ugly" or at least the far-fetched hideousness everyone kept talking about. Her skin was so pale, you could see every vein in her body, yet for some reason, it struck me as… soft, reminding of snow. She was slouching, as if trying to hide completely, but there was no sign of a hump, either… although really, really bad posture.

Her body seemed nice, though; like I said before, she was thin, her breasts were small, her hips slightly curvy and her legs seemed firm and long. I couldn't even see her face, since her hair covered most of it …at first I thought it was pitch black, but it took me a while to notice she had multiple colored highlights; purple, blue and bright pink. She kept fiddling her fingers and it was pretty sure she wanted to run away…but couldn't dare even move an inch. After inhaling for a bit, she looked up at me –for a very brief moment –and I could see her face.

What stuck out most about it were her eyes and lips; beautiful, unfortunately, she had taken it upon herself to ruin them completely. Her lips were cute and curly, if a tad tiny, but on the edge of her bottom one she had a wavy piercing which didn't look good on them at all; as for her eyes, they were no interesting color, but seemed deep, the same shape and color of chestnuts. They had a lot of dark make-up around them, and badly applied, the eyeliner was smeared and the eye shadow was just too much; she looked like someone had given her two black eyes. However, as she lift her gaze to meet mine, it did strike me –she WAS pretty –sure, no supermodel, no pageant winner, no Hello Nurse or Jessica Rabbit ….but she had really nice features. Her nose was roman; it looked kinda delicate, even a tad cute.

While I came to the conclusion that she was attractive, she just screamed and ran off. I tried to stop her, but she pushed me away, seeming completely terrified of my very existence.

I didn' understand then. I was sure most people who spread those rumors about her didn't actually see her –or, they did and just repeated how ugly she was, since so many companies told her so –but far-fetched was putting it gently. Maybe some could say she was plain, or even unattractive (hey, to each their own!), but she looked like every other girl I've ever seen. What was the big deal?

I decided she thought Yakko sent me, or I came on my own, to scream at her about Dot, so I decided to follow. She had taken a stop at a nearby corridor, out of breath, while I made a grand Warner entrance –I popped up from a nearby wardrobe drawer and waved:

"Hello!"

She jumped up and screamed again; this time, I didn't blame `er. It must be scary if someone just jumped out of nowhere, behind you. I remember I used to be terrified of that "Jack in the box" toy when I was a bit younger. That thing was just so creepy! Who'd want a scary looking clown to just sprint up in your face, while you're playing with a box's handle?

Gulping slightly and trying to catch her breath, Copycat looked like she was about to make another run. To avoid playing hide and seek all day, I hurried to add:

"I'm Wakko! I didn' mean to scare ya… just, well… it was…we kinda work together, so I thought… I can't work with someone if I don' even know `em!"

The girl seemed to relax at this, and, taking another deep breath, she tried to smile and replied in a slight stutter:

"H-hello there!"

She did have a normal girl's voice, nothing too fancy. It actually sounded a tad childish, which again made me ponder on how old she really was. Could she actually be thirteen? But kids that young can't be voice-acting, and they did say she was dubbing Disney characters for a while, now…

She looked a lot older than that, though. Maybe it was the hair?

I managed to take an even closer look at her so I could conclude that she was in fact pretty. I couldn't really see why anyone would think otherwise, so I pondered if I had gotten the wrong person:

"I'm looking for Paula Crawford… uhm… I'm terribly sorry, I guess that's not you. Could you tell me where she is?"

The girl gave me an odd look, blinked several times, before managing to gain the courage to actually raise her head a little higher and make an effort to joke:

"You don't recognize your own little sister? We had such wonderful, eh… three or four days together! I'm hurt, kiddo."

"So….it's you?" I tilt my head to the side, maybe she had a huge mole somewhere on her chin or a burn scar somewhere I didn't notice before.

"You were expecting, I guess … the Wicked witch from the West?" in a matter of minutes, her entire attitude changed. She stood up a little taller and straighter and actually showed something that resembled… cockiness? Pose? I wasn't sure how to put it, but at a point it seemed like she was trying to mock me.

"I'm… sorry, I just thou-"

"You just heard the tale of the ugly, ugly beast of Burbank and wanted to see for yourself. Or was it a dare from a friend? Or, I know! Something sooo hideous you just HAD to look, right?" her ironic smile turned wider, her arms spread loose around her hips and her voice turned ice cold and bitter.

I didn't know what to say to that, since she was absolutely right; I had no clue how to say I didn't find her ugly, without making it seem like I was lying to be polite, either. I decided to ignore her words and keep being nice, hoping things would turn out well:

"Hey! I really liked your Dot scream today. I'm no expert, you could use some work, but… I think it was nice. Can you do other voices, too?" I asked sincerely and curiously, hoping she wouldn't take my ignorance the wrong way. Apparently, she did.

"Well, you saw me! And you're alive, wow, good for you! Feast! Make fun, tell your friends, heyyy! Want me to pose so you can, I dunno, take a picture? I can make a gremlin face, too." Paula's smile disappeared, now she seemed purely bitter "Let me tell you something, handsome. I may be ugly as shit, but I make ten times more than you or your little siblings do for a year, I work hard, I study, I try, and I'll surpass you, even if I never make the cover of "Vogue". You, you little pipsqueak can gawk and make fun all you want, I could care less… I'm gonna have fun with your little sister's voice, just for that, and you-"

"But I am not!" I jumped up, now raising my own voice "I really was curious and did wanna meet you! That doesn't mean I'm doing something wrong, I'm being nice-"

"Right. Whatever." Copycat threw her hair back and walked pass me, while I just gaped:

"….that was…HEY!" I rushed after her "Don't talk about us that way! You think you're so high and mighty, huh?"

"As a matter of fact, maybe I do." She said, resembling very much a stuck-up primadona, than the scared, whimpering little thing from before.

"`S that why you were too scared to even show me your face, cause you're sooo much better?" I argued "You might think that just because-"

"You little… don't you even… you have no shame, do you?"

"I never said you were ugly, did I?"

"Patronizing me isn't better, don't think I don't know pity when I see-"I jumped in front of her and cut her off, feeling extremely mad:

"I never said it! People kept sayin' things, and yeah, maybe, I wanted to see if that was even possible! Doesn' mean I agree right now, and I'm not patronizing! You're horrible, stuck-up, egotistical…I had hopes you'd be fun! I wanted to make things better, my brother was right about you… you might look pretty on the outside, but beneath that you're just an ugly freak!"

Once more she stopped dead in her tracks, a shadow casting over her, her eyes growing larger and her skin did, in fact, turn yellow, she had a look like she was about to faint, or at least cry. At the moment, I could care less:

"And by the way, I hate your lip-ring! It looks like someone's taking a huge bite on your mouth!" with that, I turned away, fuming and thinking… had she not been a girl, I would've been very much tempted to smack her with my mallet.

She wasn't ugly; she was egotistical and a narcissist, she probably knew she looked nice all along and was making fun of us, or had grown bitter after being turned down from TV…I guess, in comparison to girls like Jessica Rabbit and Hello Nurse she'd look, well…pretty plain, but…when I thought about it, she hardly resembled a monster under your bed….more like a miss-colored fairy…or a tinier version of Snow White with very ugly make-up.

I thought I heard a whimper, then heels turning and the sound of cheap sneakers rushing away, but before I could look back, she was gone from sight, leaving me, utterly confused. I had no clue what was going on, all I knew was… she was NOT a nice person, and mean people didn't deserve to be treated good, so I wasn't even gonna bother anymore, let people talk and do whatever they want.

As I walked home that night, filled with mixed emotions, some anger, some confusion, and even a little…sad, that things turned out so nasty, I couldn't help but wonder…

…did I do something wrong after all?