by Raathi Chota
“You’re so annoying. I don’t even know why I called.” I groaned, then glanced up to see Miranda and Melissa approach the car with two shopping carts.
“Cuz you love me,” he cooed into the phone.
“Whatever, see you soon. Bye,” I replied, then ended the call as Miranda opened the door.
“Who was that?”
“No one important.”
***
“You lucky bitch,” Melissa squealed as she observed my wardrobe. All the clothing and shoes that Ethan bought me for the bet finally came in handy, yet I still wore them.
“He bought all of this for you?” she asked, then pulled out a black top.
“Yeah, it was for the bet.”
“Okay, here we go. This looks fashionable enough to break into a mansion,” Melissa said as she pulled out a long-fitted crew neck and Vans. I took off my blue sweater and put the crew neck on along with the Vans. I tied my hair up into a high ponytail and put my glasses in the drawer.
“Come on, you two!” Miranda called from downstairs. We walked out of my room, and as we walked downstairs, I noticed my dad with a cup of coffee in his hand.
“Gonna rob a bank?” he asked as he looked at our outfits.
“We’re going to egg somebody’s car; he emotionally hurt your daughter, so we’re gonna help,” Miranda lied, even though my dad was the sheriff.
“Use flour too, and don’t let the police see you,” Dad said, then sipped his coffee.
“Thanks, Mr. Willson!” Melissa smiled.
“Anything for my daughter,” Dad exclaimed as we walked out of the house. We got in the car, and I bit the inside of my cheek as I digested what we’re about to do. I didn’t have time to see what they bought, but hopefully, we’d egg someone’s car. I wanted to.
“What are you guys planning?” I asked as I sat in the back.
“Wait and see.” Melissa winked at me from the rearview mirror. Miranda always used her mother’s car, and as she revved the motor, I heard how old it was.
“Let’s go get ’em, girls,” Miranda cheered as we raced down the street.
Chapter Twenty
Lana
“How we gonna get in there?” I asked as we looked at Ethan’s mansion. The gates were closed as the security guard smoked in his small booth. It was dark, and all the cars were there except Nick and Aidan’s. They probably piled into two cars and went out.
“With this.” Melissa smirked as she held a walkie-talkie. I tilted my head, then glanced at Miranda, who grinned. Melissa kept the walkie-talkie to her mouth and looked at the security guard. We parked opposite his house as we watched the security guard pick up his large walkie-talkie.
“We got a drunk man running around Fifth Avenue naked, seems to be heading into the Baxter residence,” Melissa deepened her voice as she spoke. “Over.”
We watched the security guard as he shook his head; he looked back at the big mansion as his eyes widened. He jumped up from his chair, grabbed the walkie-talkie and flashlight, and ran out. We giggled as we watched him sprint down the street, in search of a naked man.
“Okay come on,” Miranda said as she started the car. She drove all the way to the gates and stopped. I climbed out and walked to the booth. I pushed the button and watched as the gates opened. I got back in the car, and we drove to park on the side. We got out of the car and stared at the enormous house in front of us.
“Should we do inside or outside first?” Melissa asked as she opened the trunk.
“Inside,” Miranda whispered.
“Are his parents gone?”
“Yeah, but the maid or gardener could be here.”
“How we gonna get in?”
“Ethan always leaves his bedroom window open,” Melissa said as she looked up. I followed her gaze to an open window; thankfully, there was a tree.
“Someone will need to climb that tree, get into his room, then open the back door,” Miranda said as she handed me a flashlight.
“I’ll do it, leave him a surprise in his room while I’m there.” Melissa smirked as she grabbed a few egg cartons. I watched as she took duct tape and stuffed it in her backpack, then walked to the tree and climbed.
“I never realized she was so…” I trailed off as I watched Melissa.
“Fun?”
“Yeah,” I said, then squinted my eyes. “She’s not that bad. I mean, Nick’s a good guy. At first, you’d think why’d he go for a bitchy girl like her, but she’s not bad. Did that make sense?”
“Sure.”
“So what do I have to do?”
“You have to take all these sticky note packs and cover the whole basement with them since they’ll be sleeping there,” Miranda said as she handed me packs of sticky notes.
“Lame.”
“Then you put this fish in one of their sleeping bags,” she said as she held a bag. We scrunched our noses…ugghh.
“Come on, guys!” Melissa yelled. We looked to see that she was by the back door. We got the rest of the stuff, then joined her. As we tiptoed down the basement, I couldn’t help but apply a sticky note here and there.
“That beer mixed with cologne,” Melissa hissed as we walked downstairs.
“Eww.” Miranda groaned as she turned on the light. There were pizza boxes on the table. All the guys’ sleeping bags were on the ground, along with their overnight bags, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“Lana, you gotta cover this whole room, so I suggest you start now,” Melissa said as she took more duct tape then walked upstairs.
“I’m gonna get something in the cinema room,” Miranda mumbled, then followed Melissa. I turned to the four walls and sighed as I got to work.
***
“Whoa.” Melissa’s voice echoed through the basement as she glanced around. “This looks amazing.”
“Thanks,” I said. The room was filled with sticky notes. They gave it a rainbow color rather than a man cave. With the leftover sticky notes, I covered the sofa and pool table. “What’d you do?” I asked Melissa as she giggled at her phone. She approached me with a mischievous grin. I laughed, since Ethan’s room had eggs hung from the ceiling, thanks to the tape.
“Little help,” a familiar voice asked. We looked at the stairs to see Miranda with a popcorn machine.
“What are you going to do with that?” I asked as we helped her.
“Fill this room with popcorn,” she said, then held the big bags of kernels.
“But first we need to fill their sleeping bags,” Melissa said as she held up a bag. She pulled out the fish, and we let out a gag. We filled some sleeping bags with the fish, others received cactuses, while the leftovers had tiny bugs. Yet I remembered that there was one sleeping bag short. After thirty minutes, we finished. I glanced down one last time at the basement filled with popcorn. Miranda shut the door, and we let out a sigh of relief. We walked out of the house, through the back door to see Miranda’s car still parked where it was.
“Now we do outside.” She grinned, then ran toward the car.
“Wait…we only filled six sleeping bags, excluding Ethan obviously,” I spoke up.
“Blake seems the type to not bring one, so he must be crashing on the sofa. Although we got something special for your bad boy.” Melissa winked, then turned to Miranda.
“What?” I bit my lip from excitement. Miranda opened her trunk again and took out a spray can; she handed it to me. I looked up and saw Miranda with eggs and flour, while Melissa had toilet paper. Melissa pointed to something behind me, and I followed her gaze to Blake’s motorcycle. “Y-you want me to do graffiti on his bike?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent.”
“What are you guys gonna do?” I asked as I looked at the supplies in their hands.
“As your dad said, egg their cars and add a little flour.” Miranda grinned as she walked off.
“Tee-peeing his house,” Melissa answered as if it were a regular thing to do. I watched as they began their stunts, their silhoue
ttes jumping and running in the moonlight. I glanced down at the pink spray can and opened it.
“Well…you only live once.” I sighed as I began to spray the motorcycle.
***
“Nice job.” Melissa grinned as she took a photo of Blake’s motorcycle. It was still black but had pink polka dots all over. I smiled because I was satisfied with my work even though my hands were pink too. I looked at Benny’s car along with the rest and laughed. Their vehicles were covered in flour and egg. Some were even wrapped in toilet paper.
“I just need to do there,” Melissa said as she pointed to a blank wall.
“We’ll help,” Miranda suggested as she took a few toilet rolls, then handed me some. For the next five minutes, we threw toilet paper at Ethan’s house and cheered when it went on the roof.
“Goal!” Miranda cheered as she threw into his window.
“Freeze!” a deep voice yelled. I stopped what I was doing and raised my arms as the light flashed on us. I squinted as the bright light approached us. “Drop the toilet paper and put your hands up!” he yelled. The voice sounded familiar, and I glanced up to see who it was.
“Deputy Paul?” I questioned. He lowered the light and stared at me.
“Lana?”
“Daddy said don’t get caught.” I nervously laughed as he groaned.
“All of you…get in the car!” he yelled as he motioned to the car with his gun. We made our way into Deputy Paul’s cop car. With the cage that separated us, I looked around. Miranda was covered in flour, while Melissa took out popcorn from her hair. I couldn’t imagine how I looked. We drove in silence as Miranda played on her phone and Melissa looked out the window. They seemed calm for being in a cop car, while I died inside. I stared at the cage again. This was where I was supposed to be. I killed someone and got away with it and watched my friends deal with drugs, yet I didn’t get into trouble.
After twenty minutes, we arrived at the station. Deputy Paul confiscated our belongings then handcuffed us. We walked in with guilty looks, yet I didn’t see any people that’d recognize me. It was all the people who took the night shift, mostly middle-aged people.
“You each get one phone call,” he announced as we walked into the prison cell. There were a few in the station, most of them filled with drunk old men, but there was one empty in front of us.
“Come on, we’ve known each other for years,” I groaned as he took off the handcuffs.
“That’s Deputy to you,” he said. I wrapped my hands around the bars and huffed as he walked away.
“I knew he never liked me.”
“What gave you that idea?” Melissa questioned. I spun around to glare at the two. They sat on the bench that attached to the wall. Miranda glanced around the jail cell like it was a fantasy, while Melissa twirled her blonde hair.
“What are we gonna do?” I asked as I sat between them. I glanced around the small prison cell. It had squat toilets but no toilet paper. Could have told us to bring some.
“Y’know Liam always sang that ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, but since you’re so worried, we’ll change it to milk.” Miranda waved off. I rolled my eyes and hoped that the guys had a better night than us.
“Ninety-nine bottles of milk on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of milk. Take one down and pass it around. Ninety-eight bottles of milk on the wall!” They began to sing.
***
“Fifty-seven bottles of milk on the wall, fifty-seven bottles of milk! Take one dow—”
“Shut up!” the middle-aged man shouted in his cell.
“Geez, just trying to kill time,” Miranda said.
“Oh, I’ll show you how to kill time,” he roared, then hit the wall that separated us. Miranda yelped as she shut her mouth. In the distance, I heard Deputy Paul. “Of all nights, you rebellious teenagers choose this one to trash cars.”
Behind him were tall figures. My eyes widened as I watched him open the prison cell opposite us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miranda shift nervously.
“You get one phone call,” he said as Benny, Nick, Liam, Marcus, Aidan, Carter, Ethan, and Blake piled into the prison cell.
“What? Why only one?” Nick asked as he shut the gate. Doing the same as I did, Nick wrapped his hands around the bars and peered his face through.
“Because there’s so many of you,” Paul said. Without another word, Deputy Paul walked down the hall. Nick showed Deputy Paul the finger as he walked away.
“Don’t let them see us,” Melissa whispered as she covered her face with her hair.
“They won’t…there’s barely any light in here,” I replied. There was a window next to us, which made the night shine onto their cell. They were covered in red gooey stuff as they fought over the small bench.
“At least we got the job done,” Carter said.
“Yeah, Principal West is gonna have a big surprise tomorrow before he goes to church.” Aidan chuckled.
“Thank goodness we did Kelly’s car as well, plastic bitch,” Ethan muttered. I looked at Melissa, who shook her head in disappointment. Even though the whole school knew she was a bitch, Melissa was still her friend.
“Fake is the new bitch,” Blake added.
“Amen, brother.” Benny chuckled.
“Hey, that’s my girlfriend’s friend you’re talking about,” Nick blurted out. I saw Melissa smile.
“Remember back in sixth grade when Kelly teased you for your bad acne and told the whole school ‘beware of NickZit?’ She’s evil,” Benny muttered.
“Well, remember when you started the whole ‘Geeky Lana’ thing?” Nick barked. Benny scoffed and flipped him off. “It’s called ‘Fuck Off,’ and it’s located over there,” Nick replied as he pointed to the corner.
“If that’s what you want.” Benny shrugged as he approached the corner and unbuckled his belt.
“Really, dude?” Marcus groaned, to which Benny tightened his belt. There was silence after that. I couldn’t see properly, but there was enough light from the moonlight to look at their figures.
“NickZit?” the guy next door snorted.
“Yeah, puberty was a bitch, dude.” Nick sighed.
“Wait, who said that?” Liam asked.
“All right, three musketeers, you’re free to go.” Deputy Paul’s voice echoed through the hall. We stood up as Melissa covered her hair and I pulled my beanie down. We glanced over at Miranda, and I facepalmed because we’d get caught. She had flour all over her black clothing, and her hair was a mess. “Teacher bailing out his students. Not weird at all,” Deputy Paul muttered as he unlocked the gate. We walked out, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Benny squint. His eyes widened as I quickly looked away. Up ahead, I saw Uncle Griff.
“Who called?” I asked him. Uncle Griff shook his head and motioned to his car. Deputy Paul gave us our belongings and a warning for next time. I shook my head because I’d never do something like that ever again.
We drove in silence as I stared out the window. Melissa and Miranda were in the back while I sat in the passenger seat of Griffon’s BMW.
“Never thought I’d bail you out of jail.”
“I know, right?” Miranda said as she popped her head between our seats. “Are you gonna tell our parents, Mr. Bronx? If you do, then you’ll be the lamest teacher in the world. Just saying.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“So…you and Miss Rosa?” Miranda wiggled her brows at Uncle Griff.
“Yes, and thanks for talking to her the other day. Don’t know what you did, but now she’s finally talking to me!” Griffon cheered as I raised a brow. I opened my mouth to tell him that I failed but noticed we pulled into Miranda’s area. “All right, here we are. Now get lost, you rascals.”
“Thanks, Mr. Bronx. See you Monday,” we said, then got out of the car. I watched as his car disappeared around the corner, then walked to Miranda’s door.
“Won’t your mom shout at us?” Melissa asked as we watched Miranda unlock her front door.
***
“Do you think someone bailed them out already?” I asked as we approached the familiar neighborhood. We walked for an hour all the way to Ethan’s house. It turned out Miranda’s mom knew we’d be out late; she wouldn’t mind as long as the car was returned safely.
“Maybe…that’s why we have to hurry,” Miranda whispered. I looked ahead and saw the security guard back in his booth, and the gates were locked. “You two distract him.”
Melissa strolled to the booth as I trailed behind. I looked over my shoulder and noticed Miranda climbing the wall.
“Help!” Melissa dramatically sighed as she stood by the door. The security guard stared at her but eventually got up.
“Can I help you?”
“Y-yes…this naked dude is running around the neighborhood and knocking on people’s doors,” I said as he towered over us.
“You’ve seen him?”
“Yes! He came knocking on my door and stuff,” Melissa said as her eyes widened. Behind the security guard, I saw a shadow. I tilted my head and realized Miranda was on the other side of the gate. She ran to her car, then held out the remote. My eyes widened as the vehicle made a noise. The security guard turned around, but I quickly gripped his arms to look at us.
“You need to help! Before he goes off doing something crazy!”
“I’ll contact the other guards in the neighborhood. What were your names again?” he asked as he took out his walkie-talkie. Melissa looked over her shoulder as her eyes widened. I followed her gaze to see Miranda with the car as she neared the gate. While the guy spoke in the walkie-talkie, we watched Miranda. She pointed toward something, and Melissa and I turned. I spotted the button and pointed at it, since Melissa was closer. She let out a gasp, then pressed the button. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” the man yelled. As soon as the gates opened, Miranda sped through them. She stopped right in front of the booth, then opened the passenger and back door. “Hey, you girls!”
