Billy, startled, hit the switch—hard.

With a loud whirring sound, Mr. Windy roared to life—spinning in the wrong direction at full speed.

Papers flew everywhere. Students ducked as hair got caught in the gust. Someone screamed.

Max frantically tried to stop it. "Wait, that's not right—! It won't stop! WHY WON'T IT STOP?!"

Melanie stifled a laugh behind her hand. Perfect.

The judges were not impressed.

"Big sister reliving her glory days?" The Judge whispered to Nora.

Nora grinned. "Yup."

The head judge sighed. "Then I'm afraid you're disqualified. Both of you."

Phoebe's jaw dropped. "Wh—YOU CAN'T DISQUALIFY ME! I'm a champion! I have a medal!"

The judge plucked it from her grasp. "Well, on behalf of scientists everywhere, give me that."

Phoebe let out a dramatic whimper as Max groaned.

Melanie, looking completely innocent, placed a comforting hand on Max's shoulder. "Wow, tough break. But hey, it's just a science fair, right?"

Max shot her a glare, still looking utterly dazed from the day's events. "You planned this, didn't you?"

Melanie winked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

And with that, she turned away just as the spotlight shifted to Billy and Nora.

"Good people of science," Max declared proudly, "You have suffered through enough duds. Heh! You deserve to see true greatness."

Melanie clapped lightly as Billy and Nora dramatically pulled the sheet off their project.

"Behold! The Grow-Matic!"

The crowd gasped as a normal-sized tomato suddenly grew five times its size.

The judges were stunned. "Why, an invention like this could end world hunger!"

The lead judge smiled. "Congratulations, Nora Thunderman. You are this year's science fair winner."

Billy and Nora high-fived as the crowd cheered.

Melanie smirked. "Mission accomplished."

But before she could fully bask in victory, the Grow-Matic began sparking.

The Judge, still clutching the trophy, turned nervously. "Uh... shouldn't you turn that off?"

Billy, grinning ear to ear, waved a dismissive hand. "You got it, hottie!" He pressed a button, but instead of shutting down—

BOOM!

A gigantic tomato exploded in the middle of the gym. Red goo splattered everywhere, covering students, judges, and projects alike.

Max groaned. "Oh, come on!"

Melanie let out a loud laugh, brushing tomato chunks from her sleeves.

Billy and Nora turned to Phoebe and Max, smug.

"What did you guys do?!" Phoebe demanded.

Nora smirked. "Just taught you both a lesson."

Billy nodded. "Yeah, don't mess with tomatoes."

Nora rolled her eyes. "No. Don't take over your siblings' projects."

Billy considered it. "Oh hey, that works too."

Melanie stretched her arms, stepping around the tomato-covered gym. "Well, this has been so much fun, but I think my work here is done." She patted Max's cheek. "See you later, science champ."

Max, still covered in tomato, glared at her. "You definitely planned this."

Melanie gave him a playful wink before walking off, leaving behind one chaotic, perfectly sabotaged science fair.

The science fair had officially spiraled into chaos. The gym, once filled with eager students and hopeful projects, was now a disaster zone covered in tomato mush. Judges wiped their faces with whatever scraps of paper towels they could find, while students tried to salvage their experiments from the red mess.

And in the middle of it all, Billy and Nora stood triumphantly, their plan executed flawlessly.

As they admired their work, Billy nudged his sister and whispered, "Hey, do you think Max is gonna be mad at Melanie for helping us? I mean... they're really close."

Nora folded her arms, watching as Melanie casually inspected the tomato-covered gym floor like an artist admiring her masterpiece. "Yeah, they're always hanging out. You think he'll actually let this slide?"

Melanie, overhearing them, turned with a smirk. "Oh, don't worry, you two. Everything will be fine." She flipped her hair and dusted some tomato off her sleeve. "This was just to bruise their ego a little. No permanent damage—just a little lesson in humility."

Billy raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, Max holds grudges, and he really likes winning—"

"Dismissed!" Phoebe interrupted, suddenly appearing next to them. She waved her hand in a shooing motion. "We need to talk to Melanie. Alone."

Max crossed his arms beside her, still wiping tomato out of his hair. "Yeah. Now."

Billy and Nora shared a look before shrugging. "Whatever. Our work here is done," Nora said, walking off with Billy.

As soon as the younger siblings were out of sight, Phoebe and Max turned to Melanie, both clearly trying to contain their frustration.

Melanie stood there with an amused expression, one hand on her hip. "Something on your minds?"

Phoebe let out a breath. "Okay. We'll admit it."

Max sighed, shaking his head. "You were right."

Melanie raised an eyebrow. "About...?"

Phoebe groaned. "About everything!"

Max crossed his arms. "The whole taking over the science fair thing. The competition. The stupid medal. We let it get to our heads, and we totally ignored the fact that this was Billy and Nora's science fair, not ours."

Melanie smirked, glancing at the tomato disaster surrounding them. "So... did you learn your lesson?"

The twins hesitated, exchanging a quick glance before mumbling a half-hearted, "Yeah..."

Melanie tilted her head. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear that. Do you need more?" She gestured to the remaining splatters of tomato like she was prepared to drop another wave of sabotage on them.

Max and Phoebe straightened up immediately.

"YES! YES, WE LEARNED OUR LESSON!" Phoebe blurted out.

"YOU'RE A GENIUS, MELANIE!" Max added, suddenly panicked. "THE SMARTEST PERSON I KNOW! AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL! AND BRILLIANT! AND TERRIFYING—"

"And SO good at making people realize their mistakes!" Phoebe continued, their voices overlapping. "We were so in the wrong, and you were so right, and we will NEVER doubt your wisdom again!"

"I'M SO GLAD WE'RE FRIENDS!" Max practically shouted.

Melanie grinned, holding up a hand to silence them. "Alright, alright, I accept your apology." She let them breathe a sigh of relief before adding, "But if you ever do this again, I promise it'll be worse."

The twins swallowed hard, nodding rapidly.

"Understood."

"Completely understood."

Phoebe took a deep breath. "So... can we just pretend this never happened?"

Max nodded. "Yeah, let's keep this between us. No one else needs to know about our complete and utter humiliation."

Melanie tapped her chin playfully. "Hmm. I suppose I could keep it a secret..."

The twins looked at her expectantly.

She smirked. "Fine. I promise."

With that, the three of them casually exited the school together, stepping over the remains of the science fair disaster as students and judges scrambled to clean up.

What the twins didn't notice, however, was that as they walked out the doors...

Melanie had her fingers crossed behind her back.

Game. Set. Match.

☆

The Thunderman family gathered in the kitchen, the remnants of a chaotic day still clinging to their expressions. Phoebe and Max slumped into their seats, looking like they'd just fought a war—because, in a way, they had. Melanie stood beside them, arms crossed, still thoroughly entertained by their suffering.

Barb, standing by the counter, arched an eyebrow at their gloomy expressions. "So... how was the science fair?"

Phoebe let out a dramatic sigh. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Max, arms folded and still picking bits of tomato from his jacket, grumbled, "Same."

Barb's eyebrow raised even higher. "That bad?"

Melanie, ever the instigator, smirked and shrugged. "Let's just say things got a little messy."

Max shot her a look, but she only winked at him in response.

Barb, deciding not to press further, sighed and changed the subject. "Well, book club wasn't any better."

Hank, who had been unusually quiet up until now, suddenly perked up, a mix of pride and exhaustion on his face. "But your father learned a valuable lesson about doing things for himself."

Max, still in a foul mood, raised a brow. "Which was...?"

Hank grinned, stepping aside dramatically to reveal his latest creation sitting on the table—a monstrosity of meat, cheese, and layers of who-knows-what.

"Behold! The Meaturduckballizza! It's meatballs, duck, and turkey... on a pizza!"

Phoebe wrinkled her nose. "That sounds... aggressively unhealthy."

Max leaned forward, inspecting it like it might attack. "And possibly illegal in some countries."

Melanie, always one to stir the pot, grinned. "I mean, points for creativity. But I'd rather fight Max in another science fair disaster than eat that."

Max glared at her. "Oh, now you're asking for trouble."

Barb, ever the voice of reason, clapped her hands together. "I say we just order pizza."

Hank gasped as if she had personally offended him. "Pizza's in this!" He cradled his creation protectively. "Don't listen to them, Meaturduckballizza. You're beautiful just the way you are."

Melanie smirked. "Do you two need some time alone?"

Hank, completely serious, nodded. "If you don't mind."

The rest of the family exchanged glances and, in perfect unison, muttered their agreements. "We don't."

One by one, they filed out of the kitchen, leaving Hank alone with his culinary Frankenstein.

As soon as the last person left, he rubbed his hands together eagerly. "You've got a one-way ticket to Tummy Town." He picked up a fork, hesitated... then gave in, digging in with his hands like a kid in a candy store.

A deep, satisfied laugh escaped him. "Oh, heck, who am I kiddin'?"

And with that, he enjoyed his masterpiece in peace

Melanie let out a breath as she finally shut her bedroom door. It felt like she had been downstairs forever, dealing with her parents' confusion over the science fair chaos and Hank's emotional connection to the Meaturduckballizza. At least she was free now.

Her room was her escape—organized just enough, with a slight artistic mess that only she could navigate. She walked over to her desk and picked up a picture she had printed earlier, taken at the exact moment Max's project went haywire at the fair. The expression on his face was priceless—pure shock, panic, and just a little bit of betrayal, all while tomato guts splattered around him like a horror movie.

With a smirk, she grabbed some tape and moved toward her wall, aiming for a prime spot next to some of her favorite pictures. Just as she reached up to hang it—

"What are you doing?"

She jumped slightly, turning to see Max standing in her doorway, arms crossed, suspicion written all over his face. "Seriously, Max? Ever heard of knocking?"

Max ignored her complaint and stepped further into the room. His eyes darted to the picture in her hand. "Is that—"

Melanie tried to casually shift the picture behind her back, but Max wasn't stupid. Before she could react, he lunged forward and snatched it right out of her grip.

"Oh, come on," he groaned as he examined it. "Really? You printed this? Like, a physical copy?"

Melanie simply shrugged. "It's a work of art." She made a grab for it, but Max lifted it higher, just out of her reach.

"You seriously want this on your wall?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Me, mid-science-fair-disaster, looking like I just witnessed my own downfall?"

"Yeah," she said without hesitation. Then she lunged again, this time successfully swiping it back. She smoothed the edges where Max had crumpled it slightly. "Besides, I think it really captures your essence."

Max rolled his eyes. "You're impossible."

Melanie smirked. "And yet, you keep showing up."

Max shook his head but didn't argue. Instead, he pointed at the picture. "Look, I don't care that you have it. Or that you have the videos. But you cannot share them with anyone."

Melanie tilted her head, pretending to think. "Define 'share.'"

Max narrowed his eyes. "I mean no one, Mel. Not our siblings, not our friends, and definitely not social media."

Melanie rolled her eyes but gave a small, amused nod. "Fine. I won't share it... publicly."

Max groaned. "You're the worst."

Melanie grinned. "And yet, you keep showing up."

Max sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time." He glanced at the photo one last time before giving her a warning look. "Just keep it out of my sight, okay?"

Melanie smirked and dramatically tucked the picture under her pillow. "No problem, Mr. Windy."

Max let out another groan before turning to leave. "I regret everything."

Melanie chuckled as she watched him go, then plopped onto her bed, pulling out her phone. She scrolled through the saved videos from earlier, shaking her head at just how ridiculous the day had been.

She might not share them.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't enjoy them.

Hey guys, hope you guys enjoy this chapter because these chapters are coming in hot!