Chapter 4

"Jojo!"

"Oh, big brother!"

Jojo groaned, turning over in his sleep.

"C'mon, Jojo! It's time to get up!"

He groggily opened his eyes, waiting for his vision to come into focus. The alarm clock on his side table displayed "9:07AM" in big red letters. A growl slipped through his teeth, and he pulled the comforter over his head and shifted his tiny body back towards the wall. A series of knocks soon followed, making him jerk upward in response. He threw his cover to the side and jumped onto the wooden floor with a light 'thump'. The little Who opened his door forcefully and glared up at the sisters who dared to wake him up this early.

"Oh, ho ho!" Hannah remarked, putting her cell phone to her chin. "Would you just look at that face."

"Jojo must not be much of a morning person, huh?" Tanya giggled.

Jojo's eyes lowered, his black hair shadowing them. He held up his right hand and pointed to his wrist with the left one.

"Yes, we know it's early." Tanya said, recognizing his gesture.

"But, there are some… minor things we need to take care of first." Hannah added.

Jojo crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow in suspicion at his two twin sisters. Tanya went into a fit of giggles as she grabbed onto Jojo's arm and pulled him along with her. Hannah let out her own chuckle, leading the way down the hallway, Jojo helplessly lagging behind them. He grunted as the girls quickened their pace, in what he could only guess was excitement, and had to run to keep up with them.

They finally stopped and Jojo yanked his arm away from Tanya's grip. He looked toward the room they were so eager to get to and found himself staring into the bathroom. He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

Hannah pushed him into the room, and Tanya closed the door behind them. They stood side by side, blocking the exit, and with hands behind their backs. Jojo backed up a bit, clearly intimidated by whatever it was they had planned for him.

"Oh, don't worry, Jojo." Tanya said, smiling down at him.

"We only want to spruce you up a little bit." Hannah said, as the two quickly brought their arms to the front. Scissors, combs, hairdryers, and bottles filled with colorful to clear liquids were shown. He gulped, looking back up to them with pleading eyes, and backed up against the wall.

The sisters both let out one final giggle before launching themselves at their defenseless brother .

XXXXX

Lola quickly scribbled down her last sentence into her writers journal. She set her pen down and looked over her work with satisfaction. "Perfect." she breathed out, letting her eyes hover over the neatly written words.

She closed the pink book, and carefully placed it back into it's original spot on her computer desk. Her green eyes automatically wondered over to her clock.

12:26... It's almost time to meet Hannah and Tanya. she thought, hopping down from her chair. Lola didn't quite understand why Hannah and Tanya suddenly wanted to hang out with her, seeing how the two twins always had plans with their own "popular" group of friends, but she took the offer as a compliment and decided to just go with it. They never talked to her at school, or outside of school for that matter, and she was utterly surprised when she got a call from Hannah and couldn't even believe the popular girl had her phone number in the first place.

She pulled her scarf down from the coat rack in the corner of her room and wrapped it around her neck. She skipped over to her full body mirror and looked herself over. Hmm… She knit her brows together, thinking carefully. I want to make a good impression on them. First impressions are always important. She unwrapped the scarf and threw it back over the coat rack's hook. She then pulled down a mahogany sweater and yanked it over her head as she ran back to the mirror. The sweater was long, reaching past her waist, but not covering her entire body. The collar(?) hung over her petite shoulders and the sleeves ran a little bit over her hands. She did a slow twirl, checking her appearance from every angle. It wasn't the most in-fashion sweater, but it was better than that old scarf.

After applying a bit of mascara and lip-gloss she was ready to go. Her phone let off a "pip pip piiiip" ring from inside her bag, and she rushed to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, girl!"

"Hi, Hannah." she said, nervously, running her finger through her long ponytail.

"Are you ready to hang out?"

"Yep."

"Excellent!" Lola heard a muffled noise in the background followed by Hannah whispering "Tanya, get him to settle down."

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Oh, yep! Everything is just fine! We'll meet you at the mall in 10! Chow!"

- click -

Lola stared at her phone with concern before shrugging it off, and flipping it shut.

XXXXX

"Don't make us late, Jojo!" Hannah hissed at her elder brother.

Tanya did her best to drag the small Who through town, but it was difficult when he was clinging to everything in reaching distance. "Big brother," she said, pulling on his coat's hood. "Please, just cooperate with us."

Jojo shook his head, his hair starting to fall back into his eyes.

The twins certainly did a number on the smallest Who, as his shaggy hair was currently slicked back in a mature style and the fur covering his body had been expertly trimmed of spit ends and combed out thoroughly. A musky scent emitted from his tiny body every time he tried to jerk free of the hold on him. The coat hanging around his shoulders was one of the designer kind, all black with dark beige fur lining the hood and gold buttons with intricate designs running down it's leather opening. A gold zipper was pulled up halfway, hidden behind the flashy buttons.

And Jojo was seriously peeved.

He desperately clung to a mailbox, but grunted when his finger slipped from the slippery metal. He didn't know what the heck was going on, but he certainly didn't like it.

"Jojo, you're going to put a tear in that brand new coat if you keep jerking around like that." Hannah said, giving him a glare.

Jojo glared back, skidding on the ground with his heels as Tanya continued to drag him along.

"She'll surely kill you if you ruin it," the nicer of the Twins added. "She spent a fortune on it."

Jojo shook his head, loosening more hair from it's gel hold. I'll kill 'em! I'll kill 'em! I'll kill 'em! he repeated over and over in his head, his teeth clenched together in anger

"Finally," Hannah droned out as she came to a halt. "We're here."

Tanya pulled Jojo in front of her and held his shoulders firmly. The twins scanned the surroundings, searching for something, Jojo figured, and he took this opportunity to quickly rub his hands through his hair. He pat it down and tried his best without a mirror to return it to it's normal condition.

"There she is!" Hannah squealed, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Oh, oh ,oh! Lola! Over here!" Tanya yelled, waving with one hand held high in the air.

Jojo froze. Lola? He looked up to see a brown Who shyly waving back, her green eyes sparkling and a pearly white smile gleaming. He put everything together and gasped. A set up?!

"Sorry, we're late." Hannah said when the young girl approached them. "We were having some difficulties on the way here." she glared down at her brother as she emphasized the word.

"It's alright," Lola replied. She glanced to Jojo and smiled. "Hello, Jojo."

Jojo adverted his eyes, frowning down at the shoveled sidewalk.

"I hope you don't mind Jojo tagging along." Tanya said, giving him a nudge.

"Of course not."

"Excellent!" Hannah clapped her hands together. "Shall we get something to eat from the food court?"

"Sure." Lola said, adjusting her purse's straps over her shoulder.

Hannah led the way through the mall's entrance. The first thing that came into view was the big food court, full of bustling Whos. She scanned over the fast food signs with disgust. "Isn't there anything that doesn't have disgusting lard cooked into it?"

"Well, there is Who-way." Lola pointed out. "Their subs are healthy and cheap."

Jojo groaned inwardly as the three girls discussed which place to eat at. Tanya still had a firm grip on his shoulder, so there was no way he was going to get out of this mess now. And he knew Hannah would be keeping a close eye on him the whole time to make sure he doesn't slip away. He glanced up at Lola, who was currently informing his sisters about the different menu choices for each fast food joint, and couldn't help but stare at her. The bright eyed girl's hair was in the same layered ponytail and side bang, but he noticed her scarf was replaced with a sweater this time. Her black purse wasn't small, but it wasn't very big and the straps kept sliding down to the crook of her arm. Her outfit wasn't flashy in any way like his sisters' were (as they were both wearing matching designer coats and boots), but she looked so…

"Wow, Lola, you sure know a lot about the food court." Tanya said, not knowing if she should mean it as a compliment or not.

"I did a passage on the mall for the school's newspaper last year, and the information just sticks with you I guess."

"Well, I think Who-way is our best choice then." Hannah said, already starting to walk toward the big yellow and green sign. Tanya nodded, pushing Jojo forward into Lola. She chuckled and followed her sister.

Jojo blushed, quickly jumping back from the girl. She simply smiled and motioned toward the food court. "Shall we?"

Jojo paused, glancing at his sisters and then back to her. He knew they would kill him later if he made a run for it, and that would also mean making a fool out of himself in front of Lola. He nodded.

Lola giggled. "C'mon then." she said, pulling on the sleeve of his coat.

Tanya looked behind her and quietly squealed. "Oh, he's actually coming!"

"Of course he is." Hannah said, tapping the buttons on her phone. She grinned over at her Twin. "But, I'm afraid we'll have to torture him a little bit while we're here."

Tanya grinned back, and took another glance at the two little Whos following them silently.

XXXXX

Jojo smacked his head against the wall for what probably was the hundredth time in the last hour.

"Oooh! Try this one on next, Hannah!"

"Oh my gosh!!! It's so totally adorable!"

The twins fluttered around the clothing racks, squealing at every pink, lacey article they could get their hands on. Lola placed a hand on Jojo's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. The one thing Jojo has glad for was that Lola picked out a simple pair of black gloves, and that she wasn't skipping around with his sisters.

"Looooooooollllaaaaaaaa!"

Jojo groaned at Hannah's sing-song voice.

The girly Who ran over with a pink dress covered in ribbons and held it up to the girl. "You simply must try this on!"

"Erm…" Lola looked away, trying to be as nice as possible. "It's not exactly my… style."

"Oh, but you'd look soooo cute!"

"No, thanks," Lola insisted. "But, I'm sure you'd look cute in it."

Hannah raised an eyebrow and held the dress up in front of her body. "You think so?" she asked, examining it the best she could.

"Of course."

Hannah nodded. "I'll go change into it and see!"

Jojo sighed when she took off toward the dressing room. He leaned back against the store's white wall and closed his eyes, feeling them getting heavy.

"Tired?" Lola asked.

He quietly nodded.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't think this to be every boy's idea of a good time."

Jojo stayed silent, half opening his eyes to stare at the carpeted floor.

"Um…" Lola looked at him hopingly. "So, how has your Christmas vacation been so far?"

Jojo shrugged.

"We only have a few days left until Christmas. Then we go back to school the following Monday."

The black and grey stripped Who nodded.

Lola glanced to the side, looking over random racks of cloths and jewelry. "Um…" she didn't know what to say to get him to properly communicate with her. Though, she has heard that Jojo doesn't talk to anyone. Not even his own family.

High pitched squeals of delight shuttered from the changing room. Jojo knocked his head against the wall, tightly closing his eyes.

Lola looked from Jojo to the changing room and back again, then glancing down at her single shopping bag. An idea popped into her head.

"Hey," she said, grabbing Jojo's attention. "I have an idea."

Jojo stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Why don't we get out of here? I'm sure your sisters will handle well without us."

Jojo grinned. Anything to get away from this store and the twins.

Lola grinned back. She sauntered over to the changing room doors, and lightly knocked. "Hannah?"

"Yes?"

"Jojo and I are going to run to another store for a minute. I need to get something and I don't want to go alone. Is that alright?"

"Sure!" Hannah called. "We'll be here!"

Lola giggled as she walked back to Jojo. "C'mon!"

Jojo happily followed her, and felt like kissing the ground when the finally exited the store.

"Sooo," Lola started, glancing down at him. "What shall we do?"

XXXXX

A/N: If this chapter seemed a little drab or unexciting, it because I'm starting to have my attention brought toward another fanfiction idea. It happens to me a lot. I get heavily into one cartoon/movie and make up a story for it, then slowly lose interest when something else catches me eye. :c
I suck.