Prank Wars Read online

  “Or what? I end up on the next Police Beat? What’s your game, Byron? I mean, it’s really cute that you and your girlfriend have matching backpacks and all, but you could’ve told me about that and avoided this whole mess!”

  For once, Byron looked confused. “W—what?”

  “You and Thanh’s coordinated backpacks. Poor Holly will be devastated.” He still looked blank. “I have Thanh’s backpack, not yours, Byron.”

  “You do?”

  “Unless you own a pink cell phone, well, you don’t! And you called me on her cell phone anyway, so…you already knew that I had it, so quit pretending!”

  Byron was already on his way out the door. “Where is it?”

  I blocked his way. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t quite trust him with Thanh’s backpack with this reaction. “It’s too late, Byron. I gave it back to her already.” Byron hesitated in the doorway, watching my face for more lies. “So,” I said, “if you want your backpack, I suggest you ask her about it on your next date.”

  Eric pushed away from the couch, jerking out his phone and quite suddenly texting. His eyes were cold. “Kids, it’s been fun, but I’ve got to get to work.” My stomach lurched, knowing I was responsible for his sudden exit. It had finally happened. I had chased him away. My blood ran to my face when I realized I had sounded like Byron’s jealous girlfriend too.

  Byron refused to move from the front door to give Eric an easy escape. Eric came up to his shoulder, and he met Byron’s eyes, so the two could do that dangerous measuring-each-other-up guy thing. Why were they doing that anyway? It made me nervous, and I pulled on Byron, catching a sinewy arm to drag him back. Eric’s gaze swept past me like he didn’t see me and he hurried down the stairs. For once, he wasn’t smiling. I pushed my hair out of my eyes, feeling sick. “Thanks a lot, Byron.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to bring him back?” Byron seemed only mildly annoyed, but I knew better. “Maybe you should try toning down the flirting a notch. You’re painfully obvious.”

  He knew very well that I was incapable of flirting. Obviously. I had ruined whatever I might’ve had going on with Eric. I sighed. “It isn’t what you think.”

  “Yes, it is, so you’d better be jealous, Byron.” Tory rambled from the kitchen; her pink hoody zipped up to her neck. It was apparent she was hiding something. I rolled my eyes. We were under a flag of truce. Could she take nothing seriously?

  “Empty your pockets,” Byron told Tory in a resigned voice. She smiled innocently and took out a few utensils then tried to push past him. He stood resolutely in front of the door. He gave her a hard look. “All of it.” She laughed and unzipped her jacket, dumping the rest of the contents into Byron’s hand. They were only spoons. I couldn’t believe that she would risk the mission with those. Byron turned to me. “Your turn.”

  I drew back, insulted. “I’m under a flag of truce. The only thing I have is information.”

  He smirked and ripped the duct tape from the doorknob hole on his front door and handed it to me. “I believe this is yours, Captain.”

  I took the piece of tape with all the dignity I could muster. The door slammed shut behind us. The mission had been compromised. I didn’t even think to ask him how to contact Thanh, so I could return her backpack. And did Eric seriously hate me now? Maybe it was for the best. My hands felt shaky. I had lost them all in one day. Well, maybe two days. Tory and I headed down the stairs towards the parked trucks. The stake had relocated the charity drive to the guys’ apartment complex. The guys had added a punching bag to the pile of overflowing clothes. As soon as we reached the first truck, I let out a quivering breath, unable to bottle up my sudden depression. “Tory!” I whined. “Where did I go wrong?”

  “Are you kidding? That was awesome.” Tory gave me a mischievous grin and pulled out a huge book from behind her back. She had wedged it under her hoody. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed her suddenly flat square back. The girl was magic. She waved Byron’s PHYS 121 book in front of my face with both hands.

  “Tory! You can’t steal…” I stopped myself from the lecture. “Wait, but Thanh has his book.”

  “Nope, we have it.”

  “He told me that he needed his backpack so that he could study physics? He acted like he didn’t know that he had Thanh’s backpack.”

  “He lied.”

  “Why?” Gripping the physics book in my hand, I turned around, ready to confront Byron with it just as Kali ran past me in her bare feet.

  She laughed with high-pitched giggles. Tory and I involuntarily brought our hands to our ears. “Run! They’re going to catch us!” she shouted.

  Lizzie met her on the other side of the apartment complex, out of breath. She leaned against the bunkhouse apartments, her white shirt blending in with the white brick. As soon as she caught sight of me, she stomped my way, looking indignant. “Tell the twins that they cannot give our stuff away to charity.”

  Kali’s face was pink with exertion. Her blonde hair wisped around her head like a halo. She ran for one of the charity trucks and grasped the tailgate. Using it as her leverage, she kicked her way over the top and burrowed deep into the donated clothing. “Hide me!”

  I obediently piled some clothes over her. Lizzie dove over the top, tackling the pile of clothes like a leaf pile. The two wriggled around the litter looking like playful little puppies, their legs and elbows popping up everywhere. I tried not to roll my eyes, but I did. What would the DI workers think when we donated two of our girls to them? I threw one last pillow over Kali’s blonde hair just in time. I saw Blake barreling our way. I hoped he wasn’t here to haul the trailer away. “Hey girls,” I whispered, “…maybe this isn’t such a good ide—”

  “There you are,” Blake said. I swiveled to him. He looked mildly annoyed. “Would you mind telling your roommate that if she doesn’t give me back my watch, then I’ll be forced to do something she or I might regret.”

  Now I knew what Lizzie was talking about. This prank war was completely out of control. “I’m not your messenger girl, okay, Blake? Grow up and ask Kali out like a real man.”

  He grinned in surprise, his dimples standing out. “You got my name right.”

  Adam sped around the truck to join his twin. I noticed he held our TV remote in his hands. My eyes bulged. “What are you doing with that?”

  “What? It came with your TV. You decorated our place. We’re just finishing the job.” Adam laughed at my expression and dodged past me, his twin at his heels.

  Lizzie poked her head out of the clothes, startling me. “Do you see what I’m saying?” she cried.

  Kali’s head joined hers, giving them a conjoined twins look. “So, Blake stole our walkie talkie, right? And we ran after him probably about four blocks and they hid behind this dumpster and we scared them on the other side.” She started laughing at the memory. “And then we took some of their stuff and they were like, ‘get them!’ And then we came over here and ran into you, and then you—”

  I held up my hands. “I know what I did!” Wait. Who was guarding the backpack? “Is anyone still at home?” I asked.

  Kali shrugged, not realizing that everything depended on her answer. “Sandra, maybe.”

  I leaned my head back. Useless. Sandra proved she wouldn’t guard anything of ours if it cost her the least bit of exertion—let alone her life or anything precious like that. She’d leak the whereabouts of the new hiding spot just to get back at me. I took off running. Tory knew what was up. She was at my heels and quickly overtook me. I tried to tell myself the heavy physics book was slowing me down. Tory was soon a speeding little torpedo in the distance. “Find the backpack,” I cried to her. She gave me the thumbs up, her red hair flying behind her. I rounded the corner, keeping to the sides of the bunkhouse apartment building, seeing Sandra’s BMW ahead of me. The engine was on and it waited at the corner. Sandra must be heading for the library to study. If I could just reach her before she pulled away, she could tell me what happened t
o Thanh’s backpack. I pumped my arms even faster.

  I peeled the passenger’s side open, grateful that it was unlocked and jumped in. I turned to the driver and dropped Byron’s physics book at my feet. Sandra wasn’t at the wheel. Eric was. This wasn’t her car. Eric watched me in complete surprise. I did it again. I was cursed. “Uh, hi Eric.” He was grinning at me again. “Look, this isn’t what it looks like. This is totally the case of mistaken car identity.”

  “What’s that?”

  I squinched up my nose and tried to translate for myself. “Eric, I did not mean to jump in your car to scare you. I’m not Tory!” He laughed loudly. I brought my eyes to the sky, leaning my head against the seat. “Seriously, things aren’t always this crazy around here.”

  “Are you trying to change that?”

  I met his eyes, relieved to see that he was in a better mood than when we were at Byron’s. Still, I was tired of making a complete fool of myself. “My life really isn’t like a comic book. I dunno. Maybe it’s more situational comedy. I just wish I thought it was funny.”

  “Sitcoms never are.”

  “Thanks, Eric.” I took a deep breath, staring out into the parking lot. We were completely hidden from the outside world. This was my first time being alone with Eric, and the funny thing was that I felt completely at ease. Now I just hoped to make up for offending him today. And for jumping into his car. And for a ton of other things really.

  “Sorry.” We both said at once.

  Eric grinned and I let him finish his apology first. “My car is such a mess.” He put his arm around me to reach behind his seat. It was a little awkward, so I inched away, pushing against the car door while he rearranged his coat over whatever mess he didn’t want me to see in the back. He needn’t have bothered. His car really wasn’t that bad.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I found myself saying. “I’m sorry too for...pretty much everything. My social provocity is really lacking lately.”

  After a moment, his arm left me and he smiled at me. “Well, how about we start again?” I felt a rush of relief at his words...and then a little panic. What did he mean? What were we starting? He pushed his emergency brake down, watching me in that amused way of his. “Hey, I need to get back to work in a little bit…”

  “Oh sorry, yeah.” I didn’t even know what he did at work. I knew nothing about him. I was bad at this. “So uh…you work at a lab at the school,” I prompted. “What do you do there?”

  “We’re working on a top-secret experiment right now.”

  “What is it?”

  He laughed. “You just come right out and ask it. Don’t you? No torture involved.”

  “That only comes later.” I grinned, settling into the passenger side. He had my full attention. “So top-secret, huh?”

  He got comfortable too. I could tell this was a subject he didn’t mind talking about. “How old are you?” he asked. I stiffened. It was death to admit you were over a certain age around here. He read my look and grinned. “No, don’t tell me. I have ways of knowing. You know those ringtones kids set their cells on in class so their teachers can’t hear?”

  “No!”

  “Well, no one under twenty-six can hear it.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that at all. He seemed oblivious to my discomfort and just patted the steering wheel. “Anyway, if you want to come by my lab to get tested?”

  “Can you hear the frequency?”

  “Not that one.”

  I relaxed in relief. “Well, I won’t be able to hear it either. I’m kind of on the edge of that number.”

  The appraising look he gave me made me believe that he didn’t care. “I’m getting something to eat, do you want…?”

  I took a deep breath, reading the vibes. He was asking me out again, so why was I fighting this anyway? I liked Eric a lot. Why else had I been worried that I pushed him away at Byron’s? But we always crossed paths when I was running from something, and bad habits were hard to break. I took a longer look at him. Eric was really cute. He seemed amusing and nice and fun to be around…just like Cameron. I was really messed up, wasn’t I? Byron was right. I was incapable of liking someone, especially someone I liked—as if I ripped out that part of my heart that could feel. I bit my lip, but before I could make any life-altering decisions for this guy, I heard a knock at my window.

  I turned, seeing Tory’s face in the way. I jumped back. She scratched at the door, forcing me to open it. Kali jumped in front of her, waving her hands wildly. Lizzie was right behind her. “Tomorrow...at Battle of the Bands!” Kali cried as soon as I got the door open. “He’s worried about something and he’s going to meet someone there. I heard him talking!”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Who?” Tory took one look at Eric and put a hand on Kali’s shoulder. She instantly clammed up. There was no need. “You were just saying something about Battle of the Bands,” I urged.

  “Um, yeah.” Tory’s face screwed up in thought. “Did you know that there are bands playing at the school at 7:00 tonight?”

  Kali wasn’t going to say that. I glanced over at Eric. Tory didn’t want him to overhear, and this was just the excuse I needed. “Maybe another time,” I told Eric. “I need to…”

  He tipped the bill of his cap in a rakish way. My smile matched his. It was impossible not to like him. “Yeah, next time for sure,” he said.

  I slid out of his car, feeling a little sheepish, especially since I had jumped into it so brazenly. It was almost like destiny…or bad luck. On closer inspection, his car was the wrong shade to be Sandra’s. Eric reached down by the passenger’s seat and picked up the physics book I had dropped. His eyes met mine. “Is this yours?”

  “It belongs to a friend.”

  Tory blinked. It was the only thing that betrayed her. Lizzie smiled, not knowing the significance of my statement. Eric handed me Byron’s book. “So, how well do you know this friend?” he asked.

  I gave a noncommittal smile. “Enough to recognize his stuff.”

  “Enough to know what kind of man he is?”

  I nodded slowly.

  “And you like that type?”

  This time my smile was more genuine. “No.” I closed the door and fell into step beside Kali and Lizzie. Tory followed at a more sedate pace, falling behind. She watched Eric’s BMW drive away, his engine purring like a cat. The guy had it together, so what could he possibly see in me besides entertainment? It was something to think about in more peaceful times, but for now I turned back to Lizzie. “You overheard Byron then?”

  She nodded. “He was getting rid of all our girly decorations in the truck, and he was talking to some guy. I didn’t recognize his voice.”

  Kali pulled forward with renewed excitement. “He was talking about Thanh and how something strange was happening with her.”

  “How do you know he was talking about Thanh?” I asked.

  Lizzie gave Kali a piercing look then shrugged at me. “He called her the target.”

  “That could be anyone.” Maybe even me…if he was talking battle talk, but if he were talking love then he could possibly be talking about Thanh...or Sandra. The mysterious Holly was out of the game it seemed.

  Kali stubbornly stuck to her claim. “No, it really was Thanh.”

  “He said her name?”

  “Well, not quite,” Lizzie said after getting an elbow in the side from Kali to second her claim, “—but Byron said she has something for him. Probably the backpack. She’s ready to talk. He seemed hopeful.”

  I crossed my arms. Well, it definitely wasn’t me then. I would never talk.

  “They’re missing something and he needs to go in before it’s too late,” Kali finished excitedly. “She’s starting to get cold feet, I think. It’s so romantic.”

  I took a deep breath. He was finally going to ask someone out for real. I glanced over at Tory. She had been too quiet. Her face was pale under her red hair. “So, what’s the damage?”

  “The backpack’s missing.”
>
  “From the trapdoor?” She nodded slowly. I rearranged Byron’s physics book in my arms. Sandra must have told the evil twins where it was. Maybe they made a deal for the remote. Byron had proved a great distraction. Well, Thanh’s knight errant stole her backpack for her. She should be happy. Still, none of it made sense. Byron had all the makings of a player, but besides his brief fling with Sandra, I never saw him in action before. I had begun to think Sandra had scarred him. Something more was going on, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. “Did he say when he was going in?” I asked.

  After an encouraging look from Kali, Lizzie set her dainty shoulders to give her reluctant report. “Battle of the Bands, but don’t mess with the concert tonight, guys! I have to hand out name tags. It’s for school credit.”

  Kali hopped up in excitement. “We definitely have to go!” she announced. “Blake’s been talking about it all weekend. He told me if I came to see them perform, we could do something fun after.” She gave a little whoop. “I think he likes me!”

  Something told me there was more to this invite. Maybe that’s what Tory sensed too. She knew the ways of the evil twins. Her arms were wrapped stiffly around her stomach. Still, Thanh would be there and I wanted to make sure Byron returned her backpack. After all, she trashed her own place to find it. But if I were being brutally honest with myself, I just wanted to know if there was something else going on between her and Byron. He would never let on if he saw me, which meant this would have to be a covert operation. I nodded. “We’ll go. Just not the way they expect.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Day 110

  2014 hours

  “Undercover. The enemy has many different faces—some of them much too attractive.”

  —Madeleine’s War Journal Entry (Saturday Night, June 2nd).

  “What are your names?”