Prank Wars (14 page)

“You were sitting on the couch?” I asked quickly. “Doing what?”

Kali shrugged. “He let me talk about school like he was my guidance counselor. I just blabbed whatever came to my head. As soon as the twins figured out something was up, my friends and I grabbed them. Byron just let us have our way with them…and…”

“That’s how he got that letter,” I said, “—probably while you were taking down the twins.”

“No, he didn’t!” Kali looked shocked—either that or she was a great actress. “Why would he want that anyway?” She searched the pockets of her capris. When she couldn’t find the offending item, she held up her hands in defense. “I was working too hard to give up anything. Do you
know
how hard it was to get those keys from them?”

“Yeah? Where are the keys then?”

Kali searched deeper into her pockets and cried out in dismay. “I don’t know.”

“You gave them back!” Tory accused. Kali denied it. They argued loudly around us. Lizzie sat on the empty couch in silent disgust, which meant I had to bring us back to the real world.

“Okay,” I shouted. “That’s enough!” Everyone stopped talking and the noise faded like a dying wind. “I don’t know how they’re doing this, okay. Maybe they’re getting their information a different way?”

“Or maybe you’re just getting predictable.” We all turned as one, staring at Sandra. She had entered the empty apartment as silently as a black ninja and now sat perched on the edge of the couch, her boot clad legs crossed. A soft Indian scarf tied around her pretty little neck. She glanced distastefully around our new headquarters. “What are you doing in here?”

“It’s okay. The place is empty,” Lizzie explained hurriedly. The last thing she wanted was to get into trouble. “No one’s using it.”

Sandra glared at all of us, which I’m not sure how she managed. “I just want to know one thing. Did you get the cushions back or not?”

“Not,” I answered. “Sorry.”

“Why don’t you just text him and tell him that I want them back, huh?” We froze. It wasn’t that simple. “Or do you
not
know how to text?”

I straightened. Sandra had called me out. Lizzie jumped to her feet, standing between us. “C’mon, save it for the guys.”

“Or is the real problem,” Sandra continued as if Lizzie hadn’t said anything, “that Byron hasn’t given you his number yet?” Sandra was doing that enunciating thing again, managing to make every word sound annoying. “Now tell me. What missing letter are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I told her coldly. “It’s gone.”

“That’s weird. Why was it so important to him?”

I shrugged. It bugged me that I couldn’t figure it out either. “He wanted to cover his tracks. I don’t know.”

Sandra gathered her purse and pulled out red glimmery lipstick. We watched her apply it to her lips. It was mesmerizing. The girl didn’t even need a mirror. “Look, I’m just saying this because I’m worried about your social welfare,” she wiped the corner of her lips free of excess lipstick, “maybe mine more. But just back off, okay.”

I took a deep breath. This wasn’t the first time she told us we were crazy, but now there was something different about it. It was almost a warning. “Or what?” I asked, “Somebody gets hurt?”

Sandra chuckled. She stood up, her light fingers slithering past our cache of weapons on the table: Kool-Aid, lipstick, tuna fish, Jell-O. Her hand rested on the old lady perfume. “When I was a little girl, I played with dolls.”

“Oh really?” Kali looked ready to kill her. I should’ve known Sandra would be a threat to the girliest girl in the room. “I would’ve thought knives?”

Sandra pouted her overly bright red lips at her. “Honey, the difference between you and me is that I’m not an idiot—oh—and I don’t wear tacky fake jewels on my rings.” Kali’s fingers clenched, revealing a big turquoise ring. Sandra permitted herself a cruel chuckle, and turned on me. “
And
I don’t depend on stupid games to catch a man. How about I give you some tips, little ones? Like this perfume.” She held up the old lady perfume, not realizing how nasty the stuff was. “Do you even know what this is really meant for?” We all stepped back at the threat. The old lady perfume smelled worse than mosquito repellent. “I promise it’s much more effective than what
you
do with it.”

Kali couldn’t take anymore. She stepped directly into the line of fire and snatched the perfume from Sandra’s grasp. Her
fake
rings scraped against the container. “How about you try some of it then?”

Sandra recoiled, suddenly realizing we weren’t holding some Jennifer Lopez fragrance. “Why? What is that?”

“Just think of it as a little experiment.” Kali cocked her head wickedly. “Let’s see how many guys
you
can catch with it.”

Sandra tried to give her a stern look. “Get that away from me.”

“Kali. Stop.” Lizzie was trying to make peace. She held up her hands. “Don’t do this.” Tory enjoyed the show with a big grin.

“What’s the matter, Sandra?” Kali asked. “Will it clash with your Odori Iris fragrance?” This was a pure girly fight. I didn’t even recognize that scent.

Sandra tried to shrug her away. “Look, I’m done arguing. You’re a child.”

“Oh c’mon, baby, I promise. One squirt won’t hurt.”

As much as I was enjoying this, I knew I had better do something before Lizzie blamed me forever. “Alright, put it down, Kali. We don’t want any trouble.”

Kali’s hand shook on the perfume nozzle, her perfect blonde curls bobbing. “She asked for it.”

“Yeah, but don’t.”

“You don’t want to waste your grandmother’s perfume, honey,” Sandra told her.

That was it. Kali lunged for Sandra, who screamed and ran. Kali was after her with uncharacteristic swiftness. They scurried around the room, shrieking and pushing things out of their way. I shoved between them only to get the old lady perfume sprayed straight into my eyes. I fell back with a grunt. “Ouch!” I couldn’t see. My eyes were burning.

“Are you crazy?” I could hear Sandra’s loud voice. “That stuff stinks! You almost got me with that!”

“Yeah, so what?” I got to my feet, but I couldn’t tell where I was. Tears streamed down my cheeks. “Kali got me in the eyes!” My hands found something hard. The wall.

“Don’t rub them. Run your eyes under water.” I think that was Lizzie. Her hand was on my back and she was helping me into the hall.

“You stupid brat!” Sandra shouted at Kali. “Where did you get that stink anyway—your mom?” I listened to Sandra’s ensuing screams. She had only done it to herself. Lizzie’s hand left me to stop the fight, and I stumbled into the back where I thought the bathroom was. If it was anything like our apartment, it should be in the far left corner past the bedrooms. I could still hear panicked voices in the distance, but I couldn’t concentrate on them. My eyes were stinging. As soon as I found the bathroom, I felt around, not bothering with the lights. After touching everything I could possibly touch in a bathroom, I found the faucet and threw my face into the steady stream of water. The hard part was opening my eyes under it. Nothing felt worse…besides having a baby maybe and I wouldn’t know. My eyes were killing me.

The sounds of screaming melted into insults. How long could those two possibly fight? Next, they would get into Sandra’s bright red lipstick. I pulled my head out of the water and forced my eyes open only to greet a dark world. This was it. I was completely blind. As soon as I remembered to switch on the lights, I gasped in pain at the brightness, still not able to see.

The sounds of fighting amplified. Lizzie was trying to talk some sense into Kali and Sandra, but they did what I did best and ignored her. I got ready to storm back through the dark hallway, but something made me turn. The door to the back bedroom was slightly ajar. There was a light on inside. The problem was nobody lived here. I felt a stab of warning tingle behind my ears and down my spine. Tory couldn’t be hiding in there again, could she? I was an injured woman. Had she no decency?

“Tory. This isn’t funny.” I pushed the door open and saw a freshly made bed. I made out some floral print—someone was sitting on it. I jerked back, not able to see who it was…a girl, well yeah; it had to be a girl. She was tiny. “Oh no,” I whispered. Someone lived here. We were wrong. I held up my hands. “I’m sorry.” The girl watched me silently, and without expression. I couldn’t tell if she was mad or scared, but the steady stare was freaking me out. I could only see her through my perfume induced fog, but I sensed something was terribly wrong. I had to explain before she called the cops on us or tackled me. I was in no condition to defend myself. “We didn’t know.” I balanced myself against the wall. “I’m really sorry.” Her eyes were unblinking. My heart skipped at an uncomfortable rate. “We thought this place was empty or we never would’ve…”

“Who are you talking to?”

I turned. Tory, well, I think it was. She had red hair. I gestured helplessly into the bedroom. “Our neighbor.”

She was silent for a moment. “There’s no one there.”

My stomach lurched again. “Really?”

Tory walked boldly into the room, and I followed helplessly after her. I hated not being able to see. “You’re talking to a bunch of balloons,” she muttered with a little laugh. Stepping closer, I saw the big heart balloons floating over a bed—a little deflated, maybe a week old. Someone lived here. The bedroom was furnished and decorated. Tory picked up some framed pictures. “This has to be the girl who lives here.” She shoved one of the pictures into my face, so I could inspect it. “She’s in all the pictures.” At close proximity, I could see it was the same girl I had seen during my watch, a beautiful girl from the Orient with long black hair. She had a lollipop in her mouth.

“When do you think she’s coming home?” Tory asked softly.

It took us both a moment to process the trouble we’d be in. “Run!” We were already out the door. I fell against the wall and stumbled over Tory. She had my arm and we plunged into the living room. I barely made out Sandra and Kali’s startled faces. I gathered our things together, hoping against hope that I didn’t drop anything as evidence that we had been here. “We’ve got to go!” I shouted.

“What’s the matter?” Lizzie asked.

“Someone lives here!”

“What?” The dismayed voices echoed around the room.

“That’s crazy!” Kali cried. “There’s nothing in here.” She opened a dresser drawer below the mirror in the front room and gasped at the pencils and papers inside.

Lizzie ripped open the cabinet doors below the coffee table. “There are games in here…and books!”

“There’s stuff in the fridge,” Kali cried out from the kitchen. I had no idea how she got over there so fast. I squinted her direction. “Whoever lives here is a neat freak!”

It was just like a horror movie where the quickly gathering evidence revealed who the murderer was after it was too late. Well, I wasn’t about to be left behind to meet my doom this time. I rushed out the door and the other girls followed me in a herd of running feet. We ran through a couple on the porch, interrupting what had probably been a touching moment. It was like running through the gauntlet. I stopped short. Lizzie pushed past me, followed by Kali then Tory—a bunch of clowns running out of a toy car.

Sandra was the first to hit the railing outside our apartment door, glaring at Byron. Close up, I could see he was the other half of the couple. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“Loitering,” he said with a tight smile. Tory, Kali, and Lizzie ran into our apartment. They slammed the door shut as if that would keep out whatever chased them. Before I could make a similar grand exit, Byron turned to me. “What’s the matter? You see a ghost?”

“Yeah…yeah, pretty much.” I tried to catch my breath. I couldn’t really tell who he was with…she had blonde hair. My stomach sunk. Was that his type then?

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Sandra threw her hands up and click-clacked away in her cute little high-heeled boots. Our apartment door slammed behind her too. I guess it was pretty hard seeing her ex-boyfriend with another girl. She probably thought I was flirting with him too. If she had tried the same things with Cameron that I tried with Byron…well, Sandra and Cam would deserve each other, but at the same time…seeing Byron with another girl right now kind of hurt, which was really stupid because Byron and I had nothing going on. Wait. Was this about Sandra’s feelings or mine?

I pushed against the railing to follow Sandra into our apartment. Before I could, Byron hooked his arm through mine and pulled me back with him. He searched my bloodshot eyes. “You okay?”

Careful.
He would make this girl jealous. I turned to this new girl, putting on my polite face. I could make out that she was wearing a raspberry-colored wrap dress with gobs of ruffles. Byron must like his girls high-maintenance. In an instant, I knew who she was. I extended my hand. “You must be Holly.” She looked startled, which meant I was right on. I hated meeting Byron’s girlfriends, but I tried to get over it by giving Byron a devilish look—the same one he gave me before thoroughly embarrassing me. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” I said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

The girl flushed. “Really?”

I nodded and retreated from them both with what dignity I had intact. Byron called out to me, “Hey!” My hand hesitated over the doorknob. “Thanks for predicting my downfall, military brat.” He pulled out an invitation, holding it up with two sleek fingers. It was his upcoming nuptials with Kim Kardashian. “But I’m always on the lookout for trouble.”