The Prank (Night Fall ™)

by Ashley Rae Harris

  “So?”

  “We need to borrow yours. Someone has to be on the lookout on the opposite side of the building, in case someone comes while we’re up on the roof.”

  “But I can’t do it tonight.”

  “You’ve already made that clear.” Briony rolled her eyes. “But if we can use your bike, at least someone else can stay out there to warn us, then bike away without being seen.” “Well, I guess so.” Jordan couldn’t think of a good reason to say no. She wasn’t a good liar as it was. She was surprised they’d believed the story about her grandparents.

  Briony stood next to Jordan as she unlocked the bike and handed it over. Briony smiled sweetly. “Thanks. We’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!”

  On the walk home, the queasy feeling in Jordan’s stomach got worse. She went to bed early, but she couldn’t sleep. She felt like throwing up.

  “It’s OK, Jordan,” she told herself, taking three big breaths. She tried to make herself better by thinking of Charlie. The way he’d looked at her made her melt inside. He didn’t seem nearly as eager to get revenge on St. Philomena’s as the others. Maybe tomorrow Jordan would try to hang back and talk to him while the others went through with their next prank.

  As she finally drifted off to sleep, a vision of that odd look in Briony’s eyes came to Jordan. How determined Briony seemed to get revenge. That night she dreamed about Cheerleader Slasher. Except this time, the evil cheerleader was Briony.

  6

  When Jordan arrived at school the next day, something was strange. The buzz from the day before seemed to have vanished. Groups of kids huddled near their lockers, whispering. She saw one girl crying in the bathroom.

  “Why does everyone look like they’re at a funeral? Isn’t homecoming week supposed to be full of fun and laughter?” Kit asked grumpily.

  Just then, Principal Weston’s voice came on the loudspeaker. “Attention students. Please report to the gymnasium immediately for an important announcement.”

  Kit looked at Jordan quizzically. Jordan shrugged. They made their way to the gymnasium.

  Once everyone was settled in the gym, Principal Weston walked slowly up to a podium with a microphone.

  “Students and teachers,” Principal Weston began. “I regret to inform you that a tragedy has befallen us. Carlos Perez fell off the roof of St. Philomena’s last night. He is currently hospitalized and in a comatose state.”

  Jordan couldn’t believe it. Carlos in a coma? He had been ordering onion rings and laughing with everyone just the night before at the Chowder Hut. Something had gone terribly wrong with Briony’s prank.

  “Our thoughts are with Carlos and his family as we maintain hope that he recovers quickly and to full capacity. This weekend’s game will go on as planned.” The principal cleared his throat and raised his voice. “We have reason to believe that Carlos was taking part in a prank related to the upcoming football game. I want to impress upon all of you that dangerous antics of this sort will not be tolerated at Bridgewater High.”

  Jordan scanned the room, but she couldn’t find Charlie, Briony, or the others.

  “Furthermore, we suspect that Carlos was not alone last night. The police received an anonymous call reporting the accident shortly after 12:30 a.m. We expect whoever made that call to come forward immediately. There was also a red bicycle with a blue basket left on the lawn of the school. If any of you know someone who rides such a bicycle, please report to my office today.”

  Kit looked at her, wide-eyed. “Your bike?” she mouthed.

  But Jordan couldn’t answer. Carlos fell from the roof? How did it happen?

  The principal dismissed the students. Somehow, Jordan made her way back to class with the rest of the shocked students.

  “What was he doing on the roof in the first place?” she heard one guy say to another. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Do you think he jumped on purpose?” said the other.

  As the day went on, students seemed to lighten up. Someone passed a gigantic get-well card around the school and everyone signed it. But Jordan couldn’t shake the bad feeling in her gut. Was Carlos going to live? What had happened that night? What if someone found out the bike left behind was hers and blamed her? She couldn’t believe she would have to wait until after school to find out what happened.

  Jordan dreaded another encounter with Briony, but she needed to learn more about the previous night’s accident. When she finally got to the Chowder Hut, she found the same group—minus Carlos—sitting in the same corner booth.

  “I thought I was the only one not wearing flannels or a negligee,” Jordan said, trying out an awkward joke about pajama day as she sat down next to Charlie.

  “Only freshmen and losers wear pajamas to school,” Briony replied coldly. “Besides, we have more important things to worry about, like how to toilet paper Judd Powell’s house tonight without getting caught.” Judd Powell was St. Philomena’s star quarterback.

  “You mean you want to go through with another prank?” Jordan asked. “I thought, after what happened to Carlos—”

  Briony cut her off. “Of course we’re going through with it! What happened to Carlos was an accident, pure and simple! He’s going to come out of this and be super mad if we don’t finish the job!”

  Jordan looked at the rest of the group. Everyone seemed to nod in agreement. Charlie looked at her with a half-smile on his face, as if he didn’t know what to think.

  “What did happen to Carlos?” Jordan whispered.

  The table was quiet for a moment. Finally, Leslie spoke. “It was so weird. We’d broken into the school and made it up to the roof where we were going to hang our sign. Bri and I went to one side of the roof. Carlos was on the other side, about ten feet away from us. Kev and Thomas were untangling the ropes so we could use them to tie up the sign.”

  “I was driving the getaway car,” said Charlie.

  “What about my bike? Who was on lookout duty?”

  “Oh, we scratched that plan,” Briony said, as if it made perfect sense. “Once we got there, we realized we didn’t need a lookout after all.”

  How convenient, Jordan thought. “So you just left it there?”

  “Well, we kinda forgot about the stupid bike once our friend got hurt!” Briony said sharply. Jordan felt like a huge jerk.

  Leslie continued, “Yeah, so we painted this huge sheet in big black letters, We will cut your Yellowthroats.”

  Jordan understood the reference—the Yellowthroat was St. Philomena’s school mascot, named after a common New England bird—but that didn’t make the image any less gruesome.

  “So,” Leslie went on, “Carlos was alone on that side of the roof, holding the other side of the banner. Then all the sudden I heard this gasp, and then Carlos was screaming, ‘No no no no!’ Then we felt this tug at the other end of the banner. By the time I looked up, he had already fallen off.”

  Jordan shivered. Leslie’s eyes were glistening and huge as she looked right at Jordan. “The way he screamed—it was as if he were screaming at someone. And then I heard this wailing sound. At first I thought it was him, but it sounded like a girl crying.”

  “What could it have been?” Jordan asked.

  “I have no idea, but it sounded like someone else was there!” Leslie was shivering.

  “Will you guys cut it out? You’re getting all creeped out over nothing,” Kevin said.

  Jordan wasn’t so sure, but she decided not to argue. “So, did you guys take him to the hospital then?”

  “Well, not exactly . . .” Charlie said. “I wanted to take him, but Briony thought it was better not to move him.”

  “We called the police from a pay phone, then parked where they couldn’t see us to make sure they came to get him,” Briony explained.

  “You just left him there?” Jordan couldn’t believe it.

  “We were freaking out! We didn’t know what to do. Plus, what good would it do if we got caught?” Briony sounded defensive. />
  “We should have stayed,” Charlie said quietly.

  “There’s nothing we can do about it now. Now we have to figure out how to beat Powell without Carlos. I bet this was all a trap by those St. Philomena’s lowlifes—to ruin one of our best players. We can’t let them get away with it!” Briony declared.

  “Well, I don’t care what happened,” Leslie retorted. “That was the weirdest sound I’ve ever heard. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

  “Suit yourself, wuss. At least there are two big girls around here.” Briony glanced at Jordan. Leslie just rolled her eyes and began to gather her bag and jacket. “Whatever you say.” Jordan was tempted to get up and follow Leslie right out the door. She could feel Briony’s eyes on her, almost daring her to do so. Still, doing more pranks seemed like a bad idea.

  Jordan looked straight at Briony and said, “I think you should forget about this. These stunts are dangerous. I’m sure you don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

  “No way are we backing down, but you can if you want. Of course, all it takes is a phone call to Principal Weston mentioning a certain red bicycle, and you’re just as guilty as the rest of us.” Briony smiled her sugar-sweet smile.

  Jordan felt rage like a clenched fist in her stomach. So that’s why Briony invited me in the first place, she thought. So they’d have someone to blame if they got caught. I’ll show her I’m not afraid of pranks or her.

  Plus, Jordan reasoned, that means more time with Charlie.

  Jordan smiled just as sweetly back at Briony when she said, “So, what’s the plan tonight?”

  Briony actually squealed with excitement.

  7

  Briony laid out the plan: “We’ll make a stop at Kevin’s dad’s vet clinic to pick up the supplies. Then we’ll head to Judd’s.”

  Briony explained that Judd lived about a quarter mile from the southern point of the harbor at the end of a cul-de-sac. Woods surrounded his house. They would park at the harbor, then snake through the trees to the front of the house.

  Briony decided that she would ride with Charlie while Kevin, Thomas, and Jordan crammed into Kevin’s messy car. Jordan wasn’t surprised that Briony had engineered even the carpooling so that she could have Charlie to herself.

  That night Kevin and Thomas picked Jordan up at her house. When she got in the car, the guys immediately turned on the classic rock station at full volume and started screaming along to “Born to Run.” They decided to pull through the Wendy’s drive-through for Frosties before meeting Briony and Charlie at the clinic. For the first time that night, Jordan was having fun. She even forgot about the prank for a little while. When they finally arrived at the vet clinic, Briony was fuming.

  “Where were you guys?” Briony demanded as the three of them ambled out of Kevin’s car, each sucking on their straws. “We’ve been waiting here for like ten minutes!”

  “Hey, a man’s gotta eat,” Kevin replied.

  “What’s her excuse?” Briony gestured toward Jordan. Jordan was really starting to get annoyed with this side of Briony.

  “A girl’s gotta eat,” Jordan replied, doing her best impersonation of Kevin. The three boys snickered.

  Briony huffed, “Let’s just get going already!”

  Charlie laughed a little from behind Briony’s back and then turned to Jordan, saying, “You know, I asked my mom if she knew your dad. I guess he was a couple classes older than her, but she knew who he was.”

  “Oh really? That’s so cool!” Jordan was flattered that Charlie had remembered their conversation.

  “Yeah, small world. Just like you said.” Charlie smiled slightly.

  Kevin led everyone around to the back entrance where the vet’s assistants took the dogs out for walks. He opened the double lock and punched a code into the keypad. The door clicked open.

  “Now, we’ve got to be super quiet while we’re in here,” Kevin whispered. “We don’t want all the animals to start howling.”

  He led them into a back room. A bunch of medical supplies in white boxes sat stacked on metal shelves. “Grab a few of those garbage bags, and let’s start filling ’em up,” he instructed.

  Jordan started for the industrial toilet paper rolls. “How much do we need?”

  “About five times that amount!” Kevin laughed. “If we run out of toilet paper, start grabbing paper towels.”

  “Won’t your dad get mad if we take all this stuff?” Jordan asked.

  Kevin shook his head. “He’s kind of spacey. I worked here over the summer. It was a lame job, so I just started taking supplies. One time I took thirty rolls of toilet paper. We t.p.’d Lawrence Adams’s house—covered the whole yard. They’re still probably pulling toilet paper out of trees. Anyway, my dad never said a thing, just ordered more stuff.”

  “Hey, what’s in there?” Briony asked. She has standing in front of a large metal door.

  “Oh, that’s the freezer,” Kevin explained. “They keep some of the meds in there. If any animals die, they go in there too until animal services can come out to pick ’em up.”

  “Are there dead dogs and cats in there right now?” Jordan asked.

  “Maybe. Let’s look,” Kevin replied.

  “Ewwww!” Briony squealed, though she sounded more delighted than grossed out.

  They followed Kevin into the freezer as he flipped on the light. He motioned to a zipped white bag on the floor. “That looks about sixty-some pounds. Probably a small retriever or something.”

  “Can we see it?” Thomas asked.

  “I guess so.” Kevin shrugged and bent down to unzip the bag. Jordan backed away but stayed in the freezer. She couldn’t decide if she was more grossed out or curious.

  They stood for a moment studying the animal. It was stiff and pale yellow. It almost didn’t even look like a real dog.

  Briony squealed again. “Let’s take it!” she exclaimed. “We can hang it from Judd’s tree!”

  “Oh man, that’s just wrong!” said Kevin.

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” said Jordan. “It was someone’s pet!”

  “Come on! It will totally freak him out!” Briony argued.

  “It would be kind of perfect—totally creepy,” Thomas agreed.

  “Stealing toilet paper is a little different from stealing a dog,” Kevin mumbled weakly. Charlie was just silent.

  “What?” Briony demanded. “Don’t wimp out on us, Kevin.”

  Don’t do it! Jordan wanted to shout. Before she could, Kevin replied, “Fine, but you guys have to carry it. It’s gonna be heavy.”

  Charlie and Thomas managed to hoist the dead, frozen dog and carry it out of the clinic while Kevin locked the door behind them.

  “Are you sure your dad’s not going to notice a missing dead dog?” Jordan asked him in one last, lame attempt to abort the mission.

  “Nah, and he wouldn’t blame me even if he did notice,” Kevin said.

  They loaded the dog and supplies into Kevin’s trunk and started toward the harbor parking lot. Each time they braked, the dog thudded against the back seat.

  This is sick, Jordan thought. I should go home. But there was no way Briony would pause the plans to wait for Kevin to bring her home. She’d have to stick it out.

  8

  When the group finally parked, they had to maneuver the dog out of the car again. Charlie and Thomas kept complaining about how heavy it was. Finally Kevin agreed to help them carry it. The five of them made their way through the trees in the dark. At one point, Thomas stumbled and they almost dropped the animal.

  “Careful!” Briony snapped.

  Jordan couldn’t believe she had ever thought this girl was perfect and nice There’s no way Charlie likes her, Jordan thought.

  A few orange lights were strung along the shrubs in Judd’s yard, early Halloween decorations. The group set the dog on the ground and began spreading the toilet paper over the trees. Jordan tried to work quickly, nervous that Judd’s parents would wake up and catch them. The others
were snickering and giggling.

  “Shhhh, you guys!” Jordan pleaded.

  Once they had gone through all the toilet paper, Briony waved them over. “You guys! Let’s tie a noose around the dog. We can hang it from a tree. It’ll totally freak Judd out.”

  “Does anyone know how?” Kevin asked.

  “I think I can figure it out,” Charlie said.

  Briony pulled out a rope from her bag, left over from hanging the sign at St. Philomena’s. Charlie worked quickly while Kevin removed the dog from the bag. Charlie went to test the rope by looping it around the dog’s neck.

  “That’s not how you do it! We have to hang it from a branch first, then lift the dog up to it. Otherwise it’ll get all mangled before we can tighten the noose,” whispered Thomas. Charlie whispered back, “Alright, but you do it.”

  “Just give me the rope.” Thomas sounded impatient.

  Thomas spotted a thick branch about seven feet up on a nearby oak. He found a lawn chair near the house, carried it over, and climbed up on it. When he was finished securing the rope to the branch, he instructed, “Alright, two of us will lift the dog into the noose, and the other one will pull it tight around the neck. Ready? Charlie, you tighten it.”

  But Charlie just looked at the dead dog. “No way! This is nasty. Kevin, you do it.”

  “Come on, you guys, it’s easy. See?” Thomas put his own head through the noose and started to grin. “And then you just yank it.” He pulled on the long end of the rope to demonstrate. He pretended to gag. “Spooky, right? I think I’ll make this my Halloween costume next year.”

  “Man, let’s just get this over with—” Kevin started to hoist the dog.

  Then he stopped. Everyone froze. Thomas was gasping and gulping for air.

  Horrified, Jordan could see Thomas’s feet kicking frantically in the air. The chair had been knocked aside! Thomas clawed desperately at the rope around his neck.