by Abby Klein
I waited a few more seconds, and then I tiptoed over to my door and yanked it open. Suzie toppled onto my bedroom floor.
“Ha! I knew it!” I said. “I knew you didn’t really go into your own room. You wanted me to think you did, but you really didn’t. I’m going to call you Suzie the Snoop.”
Suzie stood up and glared at me. “There is a reason people call Kasey and Kelly Double Trouble. They’re always doing crazy things. If you’re calling them, it’s because you’re planning on doing something naughty.”
“Like I said. I need their help for something at school. Now, get out of my room and leave me alone, or I’ll tell Mom.”
Suzie didn’t budge.
“Mom!” I shouted. “Mom!”
Suzie put her hand over my mouth. “Shhh! You’ll get me in trouble.”
“That’s the point,” I said.
“Fine. I’ll leave you alone,” she said as she turned to walk out of my room. “But I know you’re up to something, and I’m going to find out what.”
I pointed to my door. “Get out now!”
“I’m going, I’m going,” Suzie said as she left.
I stood in my doorway and watched her disappear downstairs.
“I knew she didn’t really need anything from her room,” I muttered to myself.
I went back into my room and closed the door. I sat down on my bed and dialed my cousins’ number.
“Hello?”
“Hello,” I said. “Is this Kasey or Kelly?” I can never tell them apart. They sound exactly the same.
“This is Kelly. Who’s this?”
“It’s Freddy.”
“Freddy? Really? It’s so cool you called. Let me get Kasey to pick up the other phone so we can all talk at the same time.”
Kasey picked up the phone. “Freddy! We haven’t seen you in so long. What’s up?”
“I need your help with something.”
“Sure!” they both said. “What is it?”
“April Fools’ Day,” I said.
They laughed. “Good thing you called, because we are April Fools’ Day experts!”
“I figured you guys knew some really good April Fools’ Day tricks,” I said to Kasey and Kelly.
“We sure do!” said Kelly.
“April Fools’ Day is one of our favorite holidays!” said Kasey.
“Here’s a good one,” said Kelly. “You tie a rubber band around the handle of the sprayer hose on your kitchen sink. Then when your mom turns on the water in the morning, she gets sprayed in the face.”
“Ha, ha, ha! That’s so funny. Did you guys ever do that to your mom?” I asked.
“We did it last year,” said Kasey. “It was great! You should have seen her. She was soaking wet.”
“She looked like she just got out of the shower,” said Kelly, laughing.
“I bet she was really angry.”
“She didn’t get too mad. It’s only water. She just made us clean it up,” said Kasey.
“I might have to try that one on my mom this year,” I said.
“You should!” said Kelly. “It’s hilarious! If you do, take a picture with your mom’s phone and send it to us. I’d love to see Aunt Debbie soaking wet. I can picture it right now!”
“You just have to put the rubber band on the sprayer late at night when everyone has gone to sleep. You don’t want anyone to see you doing it. And remember to turn the sprayer so it’s facing up. That way as soon as your mom turns on the water, she’ll get blasted in the face.”
“I definitely think I’m going to try that, but actually, I was looking for tricks to play on other kids.”
“Oh, I get it,” said Kelly. “You want to play a trick on Suzie.”
“I have a great one for Suzie,” said Kasey.
“Really?”
“Yeah. You want to hear it?”
“Sure,” I said. I wasn’t planning on playing a trick on Suzie, but if it was a good one, then maybe I would. After all, she’d been really annoying me lately, and I was tired of her snooping.
“For this prank you need some of those washable markers. Do you have those?”
“I think so,” I said.
“Make sure they’re washable,” said Kasey. “You definitely don’t want to use permanent ones.”
“Yeah, if you use permanent ones, you’ll get in a lot of trouble,” said Kelly. “Trust me on this one.”
“Okay, so what’s the trick?” I asked.
“You have to do this one late at night, too,” said Kasey. “You sneak into Suzie’s room when she’s asleep …”
“I like it so far,” I said. “Keep talking.”
“You sneak in when she’s asleep and draw something funny on her face.”
“Last year we snuck into Kenny’s room and drew a mustache on his face.”
“You did? That must have been hilarious!” I said.
“It was. It really was,” said Kelly, chuckling. “Kasey and I laughed about it for days.”
“We took a picture of little Kenny with his mustache, and even now when we need a good laugh, we take out that picture.”
“I’ll definitely have to do that to Suzie this year. I just have to figure out what to draw.”
“Oh! I have the best idea,” said Kasey.
“What?”
“Why don’t you draw little red marks all over her face? When she goes into the bathroom in the morning and looks in the mirror, she’ll think she has chicken pox!”
“Ha, ha, ha! That’s awesome!” I said. “She will totally freak out!”
“Yes, she will,” said Kelly. “Suzie will definitely freak out!”
“These are really great ideas,” I said, “and I’m probably going to use both of them, but I still need some ideas of tricks I can play on kids at school.”
“Who are you going to play a trick on?” asked Kasey.
“Max Sellars.”
“Is that the Max you’re always talking about?” asked Kelly.
“Yep.”
“The one who you say is the biggest bully in the whole second grade?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Ooh, then we have to help you come up with something really good,” said Kasey.
“Yeah. Really, really good,” Kelly said, snickering.
Just then there was a knock at my door.
“Hang on a second, guys,” I whispered to Kasey and Kelly. “Someone just knocked on my door.”
I put the phone down and walked over to the door. “Who is it?” I yelled.
“It’s me,” Suzie said.
“I thought I told you to stop snooping.”
“I’m not snooping,” Suzie said. “Mom asked me to bring you a snack.”
“Nice try,” I said, still not opening the door. “I know you don’t have a snack for me. Mom never lets us eat anything in our rooms. You’re still just trying to spy on me. Go away!”
“UGH!” Suzie groaned, and stomped away.
I picked up the phone again. “Sorry about that. Suzie was snooping around again. She wants to know why I’m calling you.”
“You didn’t tell her, did you?” asked Kasey.
“Of course not!” I said. “That would ruin everything!”
“So, Kasey and I have a great idea for Max,” said Kelly.
“Are you ready, Freddy?” asked Kasey.
“Tell me! Tell me!”
“Does he like cookies?”
“Oh, he’s like a cookie monster,” I said. “He loves cookies!”
“Great!” said Kelly. “Then this will be perfect. Take some Oreo cookies, pull them apart, and carefully scrape out the white cream filling in the center. Then replace the filling with white toothpaste and put the cookies back together.”
“Then bring the cookies to school,” said Kasey, “and tell Max you brought him a special snack.”
“If he loves cookies as much as you say he does, then he’ll practically grab the cookies right out of your hands!” said Kelly.
r /> “Awesome! That is so awesome!” I said. “I can’t wait to see his face when he bites into that cookie.”
“We have to go now,” said Kasey and Kelly. “Call us tomorrow and let us know how everything goes.”
“Don’t worry. I will,” I said. “Thanks so much for the great ideas. You guys are the best!”
“It was great talking to you, Freddy! Happy April Fools’ Day!”
“Bye, cuz.”
“Bye!” I hung up the phone and smiled. This is going to be the best April Fools’ Day ever! I thought to myself.
There was another knock on my bedroom door, and then it started to open. I ran over to shove it closed. “Hey, I thought I told you to leave me alone!” I shouted.
“Freddy, it’s just us,” said Robbie and Josh through the door.
“Oh, come in, guys,” I said, opening the door. “I thought you were Suzie. She keeps snooping around my room, trying to figure out what I’m up to.”
“Big sisters can be so annoying sometimes,” Robbie said. “Kimberly does the same thing to me.”
“So did you talk to your cousins?” asked Josh.
“I just got off the phone with them.”
“Did they have any good ideas?” asked Robbie.
“They had a bunch of good ideas. They even had some good ideas of tricks I can play on my mom and Suzie.”
“Cool,” said Josh. “They sound like a lot of fun!”
“They are,” I said. “Last time when they came to visit for Christmas, it turned out to be one crazy Christmas!”
“So what was their idea for Max?”
“You know how much he loves cookies, right?” I said.
“Oh, he’s like a cookie monster,” said Josh.
“That’s exactly what I said!”
“He always has cookies for a snack, like a gazillion of them,” said Josh.
“And what is his favorite kind?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” said Josh. “Oreos, of course.”
“So Kasey and Kelly said we should take the cream filling out of an Oreo, replace it with white toothpaste, and then put the cookie back together. Then we just switch one of his Oreos for our ‘special’ one.”
“Ha, ha, ha! That is awesome!” said Josh. “I love that idea.”
“That is a really great idea,” said Robbie.
“So now we have to make our super-secret April Fools’ Day plan,” I said.
“That’s easy,” said Josh. “Do you have Oreos in your house, Freddy?”
“Of course I do! They’re one of my favorite cookies. I love breaking them apart, licking out the cream in the middle, and then dunking the chocolate cookie part into my milk.”
“Hey, I do the exact same thing!” said Josh, smiling.
“So does Robbie,” I said.
“You do?” said Josh.
“Yep,” said Robbie, nodding his head. “I do!”
“No wonder we’re all such good friends,” I said.
“So we just have to go downstairs, get some Oreos, bring one up to your room, scrape out the middle, and put in the toothpaste,” said Josh. “Easy peasy.”
“Not as easy as you think,” said Robbie.
“Why not?” asked Josh.
“Because Freddy’s mom is a neat freak. He’s not allowed to have any food in his room.”
“Really? I have snacks in my room all the time,” said Josh.
“I wish,” I said. “We’re only allowed to eat in the kitchen.”
“So we’ll have to sneak the Oreo out of the kitchen somehow.”
“How are we going to do that?” I asked.
“We can go down there, ask your mom for some Oreos as a snack, and then when she’s not looking, you hide some in your pocket.”
“That should work,” said Robbie.
“What do you think, Freddy?” said Josh.
“Let’s go!” I said.
We raced downstairs into the kitchen. “Hello, boys,” said my mom. “What’s up?”
“I just realized that I never had a snack when I came home,” I said. “Can we have something now?”
“Sure! What about some cheese and crackers?” asked my mom.
“I was thinking more like Oreos and milk.”
“Okay,” said my mom, “but only two cookies each. I don’t want you to spoil your dinner.”
“I’ll get the cookies, Mom, while you get the milk.”
“Thanks, Freddy.”
“No problem, Mom.”
I grabbed the bag of cookies and brought them to the table. While my mom was busy pouring glasses of milk for each of us, I stuffed an Oreo in my pocket and gave Robbie and Josh a thumbs-up.
“Here you go, boys,” said my mom, handing us the milk. “Now remember, only two cookies each.”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Thresher,” said Josh.
“Only two,” Robbie said, showing my mom a cookie in each hand.
After we finished licking and dunking, we went back upstairs to my room and shut the door.
I took the cookie out of my pocket.
“Good. It didn’t get crushed,” said Robbie.
“First we have to get the filling out,” said Josh. “Do you have a knife?”
“We don’t need a knife,” I said, smiling. I carefully opened the Oreo and licked out the cream filling.
“Ewww!” said Robbie, “now it has your germs.”
“Even better!” Josh said, laughing.
“Now go get the toothpaste,” said Josh.
I had to sneak into my parents’ bathroom because they had the plain white toothpaste. My toothpaste had sparkles in it, and that wouldn’t work.
I was grabbing the toothpaste off the counter when Suzie walked up behind me and startled me. “AAAAHHH!” I screamed.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“What are you doing in here?”
“Why do you need Mom and Dad’s toothpaste?”
“None of your business.”
“Maybe I should tell Mom that you’re in here.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Oh really?” Suzie said smiling. “Watch me.” She started to yell for my mom, but I covered her mouth.
“SHHHH!”
“What’s it worth to you?” Suzie said.
“You can have my dessert tonight,” I said.
“Tonight?” said Suzie. “How about for the next three nights?”
“Three nights? You’re crazy!”
“It’s three nights or nothing,” said Suzie, holding up her pinky for a pinky swear.
I really needed that toothpaste. “Fine,” I said locking pinkies with her. “Three nights.”
I pushed past Suzie and rushed back to my room.
“What took you so long?” asked Josh.
“Don’t ask,” I said. “But I got the toothpaste.”
“Great! Now we just have to spread it around to look like cream filling.”
I spread the toothpaste around with my finger and then put the top of the cookie back on. “Perfect!” I said.
“It looks just like a real Oreo,” said Josh.
“I can’t wait until tomorrow,” I said.
“I’m just sorry I won’t be there to see Max’s face when he takes a bite of that cookie,” said Robbie.
“It’s going to be great!” said Josh. “The best prank ever!”
“Good night, Freddy.”
“Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, Freddy.”
“Good night, Mom.”
My mom felt my forehead. “Are you feeling all right?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“Well, you didn’t eat your dessert tonight, and dessert is your favorite thing in the whole world. Instead, you gave your dessert to Suzie.”
“I … uh … I … uh … just didn’t feel like ice cream.”
“Wait a minute. You must be sick if you don’t feel like ice cream,” said my dad, laughing. “You would eat ice cream
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if we let you!”
“I was just too full from that awesome lasagna Mom made.”
“Well, all right,” said my dad.
“We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning,” said my mom.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Sleep well. See you in the morning,” said my mom.
“Yep. See you in the morning.”
“Get a good night’s sleep,” said my dad.
“Oh, I will. Good night.”
Little did they know I was going to be up half the night!
I waited until my parents’ footsteps disappeared down the hall, and then I pulled my covers over my head and turned on my shark-head flashlight. I had to do something to keep myself awake. I had work to do once everyone went to sleep.
I sorted through my baseball cards for a while.
I read some of my favorite books.
I drew some pictures.
When the house seemed silent, I tiptoed over to my bedroom door and slowly opened it. I peeked out into the hallway. It looked like the coast was clear.
I pushed up my pajama sleeve to make sure that the rubber band I had put around my wrist was still there. It was.
Grabbing my flashlight, I crept out into the hall. I would have to wait to turn my flashlight on until I was downstairs or else the light might wake up my parents.
I walked very slowly to the top of the stairs and felt along the wall for the railing. I held on tight and made my way down, making sure to skip the step that creaks.
I tiptoed into the kitchen and turned on my flashlight, so I could see my way to the sink. Once I got there, I put the flashlight down on the counter and aimed it at the sprayer, so I could see what I was doing.
“This is going to be so funny!” I said to myself. “Mom is going to be so surprised!”
I took the rubber band off my wrist and wrapped it once around the button on the sprayer. Then I put the sprayer back in place.
I’d better wrap the rubber band around a few more times, I thought. I want to make sure it’s on there good and tight.
I grabbed the sprayer and wrapped the rubber band around a few more times. “There. That should work.”
I put the sprayer back. Wait, I thought. Kasey told me to make sure I did something with the sprayer. What was it? Oh yeah, she said to put the sprayer back facing up.