The day following the dance, the twins were preparing for school when they unexpectedly met each other in the hallway. 

"Do you think Mom and Dad would let us have a sleepover once we're no longer grounded?" Mason inquired.

"It's worth a try. I don't see any reason why they would object," replied Mackenzie. "Let's ask them when we get downstairs."

As they descended, the twins approached their parents to discuss the sleepover. 

"Mom, Dad," Mackenzie began, "we were wondering if there might be a way for us to have a sleepover once our grounding is over. Would that be possible?"

"I don't see any problem with that, do you, dear?" their mother responded.

"Not at all," their father added. "In fact, I trust you enough to have the house to yourselves for the entire weekend once your punishment is over."

"Really?!" Mason exclaimed, and the twins exchanged a high five.

"Awesome!" Mason cheered. "Now, hurry up and get to school, you two. You don't want to be late," their mother admonished.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" they called out as they dashed off to school.

Upon arrival, they encountered Justin. 

"Hey, Justin," Mackenzie greeted him. "How did it go with your dad last night? I'm assuming you told him everything, right?"

"Yeah, he wasn't too pleased about me taking the prize pumpkin, and I can't really blame him. We had a good conversation about it, though, and he shared stories of contests he won when he started playing fair. I did end up getting grounded for a week, but I'm okay with that," Justin replied.

"Welcome to the club," Mackenzie joked. "Speaking of grounding, my brother and I have about two weeks left, and we were wondering if you'd be interested in joining the sleepover we're planning for when it ends."

Our parents have even agreed to let us have the house to ourselves for the weekend. What do you think? Mackenzie said that sounds like fun; I'll be there, Justin replied. However, I was actually on my way to speak with the principal about last night, and I was hoping you could accompany me for support. I'd love to, Mackenzie said. 

So, the two of them headed to the principal's office so Justin could confess to stealing the prize pumpkin. But when they arrived, Mackenzie sensed that something was amiss. "Mackenzie, I’m glad you're here. We have a problem," Mr. Andrews said. 

"Is everything okay, Mr. Andrews?" Mackenzie asked, concern in her voice. 

"Honestly, no," Mr. Andrews admitted. "I need you to come with me." The two students followed Mr. Andrews to the cafeteria, which was in complete disarray due to a massive food fight that had erupted the day before. 

"What happened here?" Mackenzie asked, taking in the chaotic scene. 

"That’s what I was hoping you could help me with," Mr. Andrews responded. "It seems there was a food fight of some sort, and I was hoping you and your brother could figure out who instigated it." 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Andrews. You can count on us. We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Mackenzie assured him. 

"Oh, and Justin has something he wants to confess to you, if that's alright?" Mr. Andrews added.

“Of course," Mr. Andrews replied. "Let’s head back to my office to discuss it further. And Mackenzie, thank you for your help." 

“No problem, Mr. Andrews,” she said. Now I just need to find Mason and fill him in on what’s happening, she thought to herself. Eventually, she spotted him in the hallway. 

“Mason, there you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she exclaimed. 

“Is everything alright, Mackenzie? You seem like you’re in a hurry,” Mason asked. 

“Come with me. There’s something you need to see,” Mackenzie urged as she led him to the cafeteria.

“Oh my goodness,” Mason exclaimed. “What happened here?” 

“That’s exactly what I said,” Mackenzie replied. “And Mr. Andrews wants us to find out. Clearly, a food fight took place, and we need to determine who initiated it.” 

“How are we supposed to solve this?” Mason questioned. “We have no suspects or leads, and it will be challenging to uncover any clues.” 

“Good point,” Mackenzie agreed. “Let’s start by speaking with the lunch lady who was on duty that day; she might have more information about what transpired. Mr. Andrews should know her whereabouts.” 

The twins made their way to the principal’s office, hoping he could tell them who the lunch lady on duty was during the food fight and where they might find her. 

“Hello, Mr. Andrews,” Mackenzie greeted him. “How did your conversation with Justin go?” 

“He told me everything about how he stole last night’s prize pumpkin to get back at his father. While I appreciated his honesty, I couldn't let him off the hook, so I gave him detention. He should consider himself lucky that I didn’t suspend him, but he was very cooperative. I doubt he’d admit it, but I think he's being too hard on himself for what he did,” Mr. Andrews explained. 

“I’m genuinely concerned about how much he's beating himself up over this,” he continued. “But I suppose you’re not here to discuss Justin, are you?” 

“Actually, we were hoping you could tell us who the lunch lady on duty was during the food fight,” Mackenzie replied. 

“I should have that information right here,” Mr. Andrews said, quickly checking his records. “Ah, here it is: Judy Nichols was the lunch lady on duty that day.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Andrews. Do you know where she is now?” Mackenzie asked. 

“She should be in the teachers’ lounge,” he replied. “Don’t worry, I’ll grant you special permission to go in there since it’s important.”

"I really hate the thought of any of you getting into trouble for sneaking into the teachers' lounge... again," Mr. Andrews remarked. "Did he have to bring that up?" Mason muttered under his breath. 

"Mackenzie, may I have a moment of your time before you leave?" Mr. Andrews inquired.

"Of course," Mackenzie replied. 

"After everything I've heard about last night, I'm quite concerned about Justin. Would you mind speaking to him when you get the chance?" Mr. Andrews asked.

"Absolutely, Mr. Andrews. I'm worried about him too," Mackenzie responded. With that, the twins hurried off to the teachers' lounge, where the lunch lady, Ms. Nichols, was sipping a cup of coffee.

"Hi, Ms. Nichols. We’d like to talk to you about the food fight that occurred in the cafeteria the other day. Do you recall anything about that day? Did you see or hear anything suspicious while you were working?" Mackenzie asked earnestly.

"Actually, I did overhear a few students discussing something that seemed off. It sounded like they might have been planning something, but I dismissed it as just boys being boys," Ms. Nichols answered.

"Those boys could be responsible for starting the food fight. Do you remember their names?" Mackenzie inquired.

"Yes, their names are James Johnson, Chris Thornbill, Andrew Byrons, and Matthew Michaels," Ms. Nichols replied.

"Thank you for the information, Ms. Nichols," said Mackenzie, and the twins quickly made their way back to the principal's office to inform Mr. Andrews about their potential suspects and their strategy to catch them.

"Mr. Andrews, we might have a lead on who’s behind this, but we're going to need your help to apprehend them," Mackenzie declared. "We need you to find those four boys and make it seem like you're giving them detention. Mason and I will take care of the rest from there."

"Oh, and one more thing," she added, stepping into the hallway with Mason. 

"Mason, I can’t believe you were the one who instigated that food fight. Why would you put yourself at risk of getting grounded for even longer? What were you thinking?" Mackenzie exclaimed.

"I thought it would just be a harmless prank, but it spiraled into a full-blown escapade," Mason remarked. Their argument escalated to such a volume that Mr. Andrews intervened, handing them both a detention. "Hey, you two! No arguing in the halls. Detention for both of you. Now, off you go," Mr. Andrews commanded. 

“Oh, that’s just perfect, Mason. Look at what you’ve caused!” Mackenzie exclaimed. 

“Me? How is this my fault?” Mason retorted, as their bickering continued into the detention room.

“You had to make a scene, didn’t you, Mackenzie? Now we’re both going to be grounded for even longer. Thanks a lot!” Mason snapped. 

“So this is my fault?” Mackenzie shot back, as they entered the detention room, where four boys were already seated.

“Well, it certainly isn’t my fault,” Mason replied. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to throw mashed potatoes at a teacher.”

One of the boys stood up and interrupted Mason. "Actually, it wasn’t mashed potatoes that were thrown; it was stuffing." The twins shot him a menacing glare.

“Looks like we have our culprit,” Mason said. 

“Wait,” James interjected. “Was that whole argument staged?”

“Yep,” Mackenzie confirmed. “We orchestrated the entire thing to get one of you to confess to starting the food fight. We knew all four of you were involved, but only one of you actually instigated it. So, I had Mr. Andrews issue each of you fake detentions to gather you all in one place. Mason and I would then stage an argument, and on my cue, he would approach Mr. Andrews and we’d both receive detentions, allowing us to continue our argument until one of you slipped up and corrected us about which food was thrown first.”

“Mr. Andrews, you can take it from here,” Mackenzie finished.

"I cannot thank you kids enough for helping me solve this mystery," Mr. Andrews replied. "As for the four of you, you’ll be spending the rest of the semester cleaning up the cafeteria from the mess you caused. Additionally, you will each receive a month of detention, and I’ll be informing your parents about everything that has transpired. Consider yourselves fortunate that I’m not suspending you."

“Kids, I truly appreciate your assistance. I wouldn't have been able to solve this without your help,” Mr. Andrews said gratefully.

“Don’t mention it! Solving mysteries is what we do best,” replied Mackenzie with a smile.

“By the way, have you two seen Justin around?” Mackenzie inquired.

“I haven’t seen him,” Mason responded.

Eventually, they found him walking down the hallway on his way to class.

“Hey, Justin!” Mackenzie called out.

“Hey, Mackenzie! What’s up?” Justin replied.

“I just wanted to check in on you. Mr. Andrews mentioned he’s worried about you, and honestly, I am too.”

“I'll be fine,” Justin reassured her.

“Might I suggest considering therapy? It could be beneficial,” Mackenzie said gently.

“You know, you might be right. Therapy could really help. I’ll look into it. Thanks, Mackenzie, for everything,” Justin acknowledged.

“Remember, we’re here for you if you need anything, okay?” Mackenzie reminded him.

Justin nodded as he continued on his way.

“Oh, are you coming to the sleepover?” Mackenzie asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Justin confirmed.

“Oh no, the sleepover! I completely forgot to ask Olivia!” Mason exclaimed.

“Better get on that!” Mackenzie urged, prompting Mason to dash off in search of his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Mackenzie began reaching out to others for invites, including Tommy, Max, Monica, and Molly.

Eventually, Mason found Olivia and extended the invitation.

“Hey, Olivia,” he said. “Mackenzie and I are having a sleepover with the house all to ourselves this weekend once we’re done being grounded, and I was wondering if you’d like to join us.”

“I’d love to, Mason!” Olivia replied enthusiastically.

“Great! I’m pretty sure everyone will be arriving around 5:00, so we’ll see you then,” Mason said.

“Sounds good, see you then!” Olivia responded cheerfully.

Later that evening, the twins returned home from school, and their parents eagerly inquired about their day. "So, how was school, kids?" asked their mom. 

"It was fascinating," replied Mackenzie. "We managed to solve another mystery." 

"What was it this time?" their mom asked, intrigued. 

"It was a case of a food fight," Mackenzie explained. 

"Anyway, it's been a long day, and I think it's time for us to head to bed," she added. 

"Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight, Dad," the twins said in unison. 

"Goodnight, kids," their parents replied as the twins climbed into bed, satisfied with yet another mystery solved.