The Prank

by Jeffrey Pratt

  Eventually, she had gotten so desperate that she grabbed her dad’s phone when he had gone off to take a shower. She figured her friends might be more likely to answer if they didn’t recognize her number. But when she called Melicia, it had been awful. Melicia finally answered, but Audrey had only gotten out a word or two before Melicia hung up. Audrey couldn’t believe it. Melicia wouldn’t even hear her out. It might have been better if Melicia had yelled at her. Ever since they first became friends, Audrey had been able to talk to Melicia—even when they were angry with each other. But not now.

  She had no doubts Bryant and Rachel were furious with her too.

  She’d gone against the plan. How could she ever look them in the eye again? She imagined ways of defending her decision. But her explanations always fell short. She’d spent all day second-guessing her choice to talk to Kramer. Why, why, why? It’d been so stupid.

  Audrey choked back a sob then got back to work.

  When she was done, she slowly climbed back upstairs. She felt like a ghost moving through her own house, drifting from place to place. Her friends and family were all disgusted with her. And they should be.

  Audrey collapsed onto her bed. All she wanted to do was sleep. She curled up, grabbed one of her pillows, and hugged it tightly. She tried imagining what things would be like in a week, a month, a year. Eventually this feeling would pass. It had to.

  She reached out for her phone to check the time and saw there was a new message.

  Audrey was thrilled. It had to be one of the others finally reaching out. Maybe it was Melicia texting to apologize for hanging up on her.

  Reply yes for a free do-over

  Audrey squinted at the single sentence, confused. A chill ran up her back.

  None of her friends’ names was connected to the text. It’s been sent from someone not in her contacts.

  Weird.

  Maybe Melicia had sent it from a burner phone Audrey didn’t know about.

  She checked the information on the message and it wasn’t connected to any name or number. There was nothing. It was as if the message had come from nowhere and no one.

  Whoever had sent it, Audrey knew she had to do something to start putting their friendship back together. If the others wanted to keep on hating her, that was their choice. But she had to start trying to make things right.

  Audrey’s dad was out for the whole day, and she was due for a lunch break anyway. It was a perfect time for a quick escape.

  She jumped out of bed. Bryant’s house was the closest—barely three blocks. They’d been friends since kindergarten. If she couldn’t fix that relationship, she didn’t stand a chance with the other two.

  She found him sitting out front on his porch.

  “Hey,” she managed.

  Bryant looked up. “Hey.” His voice was unusually soft.

  “Um, what’s up?” she asked.

  “Well, my dad’s coming home from work early to take me out to some guy’s farm. Literally to start painting this dude’s barn. Says it’ll be a better use of my artistic talents.” Bryant added air quotes around the last bit. “But I suppose maybe I do deserve it.”

  Audrey could hardly breathe. She wanted him to yell or mock her or threaten her with angry bees. “Bryant.” His name was all she could get out

  “What?” He looked away. “What do you want me to say?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t . . .”

  He shrugged, looked back at her. “Dude, it is what it is.”

  “I never mentioned you guys,” she said, desperate for him to know that.

  “I know,” Bryant said. “Principal Kramer was clear about that. And honestly, I never thought you did.”

  Audrey felt the tears well up behind her eyes, and she fought to keep her voice steady. She struggled for the next words. “I thought it was the best thing to do.”

  “Well,” he looked away again, his voice more strained, “maybe you’re right. But at this point it doesn’t matter. We serve our suspension time and move on. Of course, everyone knows which three students are missing from class. And Hope Barcomb only ran with the most popular kids in the school. The rest of this year, and next, should be a super thrill. But, if that’s what we get for ruining some dude’s life then, like I said, maybe you were right.”

  “Have you seen Rachel?” she asked.

  “No. She’s not talking to us.” He shrugged at Audrey’s stare. “She’s afraid of getting caught too,” he said. “Or—”

  “Or maybe she’s too embarrassed for not also turning herself in,” Audrey said.

  “Yup, or that.” He pushed some hair from his face. “Probably that.”

  “What about Melicia?” Audrey asked. “Have you talked with her?”

  He nodded. “She’s mad, Audrey.”

  “I know,” Audrey said. “But that’s why I wanted to—”

  “I’m mad,” he added, cutting her off. “When you went to Kramer, you kinda took away all our options. Once she had you, getting the rest of us was too easy. She knew we were friends.”

  Audrey’s world narrowed to a pinprick. “Were?”

  “Whatever. Let’s not focus too much on word choice here. You should have said something—warned us before you caved. We could have discussed it. The four of us have had a democracy on everything since the seventh grade. What movie to watch. Which of my cartoons to post. Where to meet for coffee.” He gave her a weak smile. “You picked a heck of a time to go out on your own.”

  Audrey swallowed. Her heart felt way too big for her chest, thick and hot. Her throat felt like it had started to close up. What had she done? “Does she hate me?” she barely whispered.

  “She’s mad, yeah. But let’s not get too dramatic. Like I said, move on. Just let some time pass.”

  “How much time? A week? A year?” She asked.

  “Audrey . . .” Bryant looked away.

  “Do you hate me?” Audrey asked.

  “Just let some time pass,” he said again.

  * * *

  Audrey stumbled home. It felt like it took weeks.

  She still had to paint half the fence outside, but she didn’t care anymore.

  Audrey dragged herself to her bedroom, shut the door, and collapsed onto her bed. Everyone she cared about was against her now. Her friends, her dad, her teachers. Even, she admitted, herself.

  She’d never felt so alone in her whole life.

  She looked at her cell phone.

  Reply yes for a free do-over

  Audrey bit her lip as she typed a reply.

  She wrote just one word then turned the phone off.

  7

  Audrey woke the next morning to the familiar tune of her phone alarm.

  It was 6:10 a.m. What the heck? She knew she’d turned it off. There was no point in setting the alarm so early when she didn’t have school.

  She rolled over and almost landed on her laptop. Audrey jerked up in her bed.

  How did her laptop get there? She had been known to fall asleep while watching shows, but she hadn’t seen her laptop since Monday when her dad took it away. She looked around and spotted her car keys on her desk.

  It looked like her dad had ended the punishments during the night. But why would he do that? Audrey wondered. There was no way he was that impressed with her work on the basement and the fence. She was glad he was starting to ease up, but she couldn’t understand why.

  She set the phone back down and closed her eyes again. The rest of the day, the rest of her life, could wait. Melicia and Bryant still hated her—that could definitely wait. She’d finish painting the fence after her dad went off to work. Until then, she’d just continue to hide in her room. She kinda thought he preferred it that way, too.

  Then, a half hour later, there was a rap at her door.

  “Audrey?” It was her dad. “You up?”

  Audrey scowled at the door. Guess the punishments aren’t ending after all. He wanted her back to work ASAP. “Yeah,” she said. “I’ll be right o
ut.” She dressed for painting, an old t-shirt and her worst jeans, and went downstairs.

  Her father was getting ready for the day. It was the usual routine she’d seen a thousand times. “There’s a look.” He grimaced, then smiled over his coffee. “You really are running late today.”

  Audrey moved quietly into the kitchen. She thought she’d grab a bowl of cereal and use the time to gauge her dad’s mood. Getting her laptop and car keys back were a definite step in the right direction. If she could achieve peace at home, that’d be a great start. Next, no matter how hard it was, she’d focus on her friends. Then eventually, maybe, she could even make amends with the Barcombs. Somehow.

  There were two brown bags on the counter. Most days, her dad was up before six and made lunch for both of them. In return, she usually took care of their dinners. Her dad winked. “We both get egg salad for today.”

  Audrey stared at the two bags.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “You love egg salad.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Audrey said, confused. “Where—where are we going?”

  Her dad laughed. “You better grab something for breakfast fast. You have another five minutes before traffic gets really bad, and then you’ll be late to school again. And I don’t want to be called down to see the principal.”

  Audrey felt like the whole room was spinning. “But . . .”

  “You okay?” her dad asked. Then, before she had a chance to answer, he added, “Hurry up!” He left her alone in the kitchen.

  She moved to the window and looked outside. The backyard fence was faded, and in need of a good paint job.

  She grabbed hold of the sink.

  “Audrey!” Her dad called.

  “I’m going!” she called, but instead of heading toward the door she turned down the hall to the basement door. She opened it slowly like she was opening an old crypt. Terrified of what was lurking just behind.

  She flicked on the light and looked down the steps.

  The basement was a disaster. It was dusty and cluttered with paint cans and old empty boxes everywhere. It looked as if no one had cleaned it in years. Had her dad gone down in the middle of the night and made it dirty again or—

  Reply yes for a free do-over.

  Audrey pulled out her phone and looked at her texts.

  The message was gone, along with the reply she’d sent

  Yes.

  Her most recent text had come from Melicia on Thursday night.

  She opened her internet app and went to her favorites.

  The blog appeared. It was back up!

  But not the Dean Barcomb post. The last post was one of Mel’s movie reviews.

  She checked her phone calendar for the date. It was Friday.

  Last Friday!

  No, that’s impossible. How could it be? Audrey thought to herself.

  Had the last week just been some nightmare, or was she in a nightmare now? Either way, it made no sense. This was crazy.

  Audrey blew out a long breath. She had to figure out what was going on. Focus on the facts.

  Facts: The blog was up and active again. She had her laptop and keys back. Her dad was yelling at her to go to school, and he was in a good mood. The date on her phone said it was the previous Friday. The fence wasn’t painted. The basement wasn’t clean.

  With trembling fingers, she pulled up her internet app again and typed in Barcomb’s name and the school. Then blinked.

  Facts: The news article was still there. Dean Barcomb had been suspended. The investigation was ongoing.

  This wasn’t some magical “do-over.” Nothing had changed at all!

  Well, nothing but the fence and basement and the rest of her punishments. It made no sense.

  Audrey buried her whole face in her hands, trying to work it out.

  “You’re going to be late!” her dad shouted again from upstairs.

  Audrey screamed into her hands, then ran back to her room for her car keys and her backpack. Maybe there would be more answers at school. Maybe something would make sense. Or maybe this was all a silly dream and she’d wake up on the way there.

  She didn’t.

  8

  The rest of day was just as confusing.

  It was déjà vu to the extreme.

  Every class, every person she saw, she’d seen it all before. She was reliving the exact same moments. But she didn’t take part in the events moving around her. She’d become only an observer.

  Melicia, Bryant, and Rachel were all also back in school. And they were all talking to her again. The gossip going around was still about Hope and Mr. Barcomb. She was even called down to Principal Kramer’s office where she talked to the principal. The questions were all the same, but Audrey wasn’t taken by surprise by Kramer’s tactics this time. Mostly she just shrugged and said. “No, ma’am.”

  After school, they all ended up at Rachel’s again, talking about what to do. Just like before. The same exact talk, except her voice was now out of it. She kept her words to herself. It was strange enough hearing everyone else’s words again.

  “Look,” Rachel said again. “I know, I know. We messed up. I messed up. It was a bad idea, and I’m the one who put us in this. So let me help get us out.”

  Silence. This was the part where Audrey had insisted that they stick together—that it was all of their plans. But now, she couldn’t help feeling a little bitter about how Rachel was the only one who didn’t get in trouble when she came clean.

  Audrey didn’t say anything.

  “Let’s just drop it,” Mel chimed in. “Our blogging days are over anyway. At least for a long, long time.”

  “Okay. Let’s make a pact to never discuss it again,” Rachel said, nodding and holding out her hand.

  “It never happened,” Audrey blurted out.

  Melicia laughed. “Exactly.”

  Rachel wiggled her outstretched hand. Bryant put his hand in. Then Mel.

  Audrey put her hand over all of theirs. “It never happened,” she said again, more to herself than to the others. After all, how else could she explain today?

  That night, Audrey retreated to her room after dinner to “do homework” just like she had before, but she just sat for hours curled in her bed, trying to work it all out in her head. She knew she had the power to act differently than the first time she’d lived this same day. But did she fix things enough to avoid ruining her friendships? Audrey had already altered the scene at Rachel’s house. They’d sworn to keep quiet together now. She’d sworn.

  She hoped she had done enough this time.

  * * *

  Monday morning, she didn’t go in to see Principal Kramer.

  She kept her promise. She admitted nothing.

  No fence to paint. No suspension. She and her friends played old board games all night and talked about all sorts of things but never once brought up the Barcomb stuff.

  It never happened.

  9

  Audrey was in the cafeteria with Rachel, who was grinning.

  “What are you so happy about?” Audrey asked.

  Rachel stabbed a finger at a passing teacher. “I’m thinking about Mrs. Kindt.”

  Audrey watched Mrs. Kindt pass by on her way to talk to some other teachers. “Why’s that?”

  “Wondering what other injustices we should bring out into the world,” Rachel said. “All her political rants in class are starting to get to me. Isn’t it supposed to be an AP Psych class?”

  Audrey frowned. “I’ll pass, thanks. You know, we didn’t bring any injustice out. We just hurt someone.”

  “Nope, not true,” Rachel countered. “Barcomb had actually forged his resume.”

  “That’s still being investigated,” Audrey corrected. “And we’re not discussing this, remember? You said so yourself.”

  “Right, right. Still . . .” Rachel was clearly still thinking about the next person they could go after with the blog.

  “No. And, seriously, stop talking about it.” Audrey looked around. “
Someone will hear you.”

  “Oh, please,” Rachel waved the concern away with her hand. “Calm down. No one’s listening to us. You can’t hear a thing in this zoo.”

  Audrey looked around anyway. They were sitting by a table with some other junior girls that were all talking about their history assignment, a table of baseball players joking around with each other, and a table full of seniors where one of the guys seemed to be doing a cruel but accurate impression of the gym teacher. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to them, but Audrey returned to her lunch and changed the subject. “You do the reading for English? Heard there’s a quiz.”

  “I found a summary online,” Rachel said through a very full bite of her sandwich.

  “Well, that’s more than you usually do,” Audrey said, smiling.

  Rachel winked. “So how about we start checking into Will and Evan Stecz? Everyone knows what’s going on with—”

  “No!” Audrey slammed her hand down on the table. This time a few people from the surrounding tables did look around.

  Rachel was clearly shocked. “Woo, girl. Take it easy. I didn’t realize you were in charge of everything now.”

  “I’m not,” said Audrey. “But there isn’t even a blog anymore. We’re not going to post anything. I don’t understand why you keep talking about this.”

  “Hey, Audrey?” It was another voice behind her and she turned. It was one of the office runners. He was holding a blue pass.

  Oh no, not again.

  “CK wants to see you now,” he said.

  Audrey didn’t have to wait this time.

  She was led right into Principal Kramer’s office.

  “Just wanted to follow up on the whole Barcomb blog-post situation,” Kramer said. She remained standing as Audrey sat down. “The school’s been working with the police, tracking some things. I spoke with Melicia Jones. She’s a friend of yours, right? I heard she was some kind of a computer expert?”

  “Sure, I guess so,” Audrey stuttered. She was thrown off by such a forward attack.

  “You ‘guess so’? Is she?”

  “Well, yeah. I mean, I don’t really know much about computers,” Audrey said.