Grace; misanthrope // Jai Brooks

Chapter 10

The ball was taking place after school on Friday. I was anxious for a lot of reasons. For one, this was going to be my first dance, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What if Bella and Chloe leave me to go dance with guys? Would I stand awkwardly by myself at the punch table? And of course, we were planning our prank on David and Emma. I was praying we weren't going to get caught. Jai seemed pretty confident that he knew what he was doing.

The week seemed to be breezing by. On Thursday night work was going really slow. I was surprised to see Jai and Luke walk in. They came to my counter, waiting to purchase tickets.

"Hi," I said, kind of pleased to see Jai.

"Hey," Jai said, folding his arms on the counter, seeming comfortable.

"Have you told anyone about the plan?" Luke asked.

"No," I said, raising my eyebrows and shaking my head.

"Good. The less people that know, the better. I start setting up for the dance in the morning. I'm getting the buckets from the supply closet. I'm gonna hang them while I'm working on the lights."

"Nobody will even notice," Jai chimed in.

"Do you think you can get paint from art class?" Luke asked.

I was so surprised we were even having a conversation right now. Luke had been a bully to me as well and now it was like we were kind of friends.

"Y-yeah," I stammered, already disappointed in myself for agreeing to steal stuff. "Yeah I can definitely get paint."

"Good," Luke said.

He seemed to be finished talking so my eyes went back to Jai, and we just looked at each other for a moment.

"You're sure you can do this? It's not too late to back out," he said.

"I'm sure."

"Okay," he nodded and then turned to Luke and smiled.

"The ropes attached to the buckets will be hanging near the curtains. I'm going to use a dark brown rope. The curtain ropes are tan. So remember to only grab the dark brown ropes." Luke explained.

"I can get you the paint tomorrow at lunch, yeah?" I said.

"Perfect," Luke said.

Jai and I looked at each other again.

"Alright," he said. "Soo... can we get 2 tickets for the horror film?"

"Yes," I chuckled and gave them their tickets.

On their way into the theatre, Jai turned back around and hollered, "Talk to you tomorrow, Grace!" and gave me a thumbs up.

I saw my coworker further down the counter, starting to cleanup for the night. She looked at me with an arched eyebrow, knowing that the Brooks have never been kind to me.

"Long story," I said.

When I got to study hall the next day Jai seemed as cool as a cucumber.

"Are you ready for tonight?" He asked.

I shrugged, "I suppose."

"You're getting the paint next period?"

"Mhmm."

"Are you nervous?" He asked.

I cringed slightly, "I'm afraid we're gonna get caught,"

"Don't be nervous," he reassured me.

Something in his tone of voice made me trust him. I flashed him a smile and continued studying.

I sat in art class, hardly able to stay still on my stool. I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to get the paint out of the classroom without anyone noticing. About halfway through class, the ceramics teacher came into the room to talk to my art teacher. We had been working with paints that week, to my advantage. Once the teachers were deeply invested in their conversation I unzipped my bag and slid four large bottles of red paint off the table and into my bag.

Using my peripheral vision I checked to see if anyone was watching. There were only eight other kids in the class, and everyone seemed focused on their project. I couldn't have asked for this to go over any smoother. Later, I stopped at my locker before lunch. I just happened to glance over and see that David Waters had shoulder shoved Jai in passing. Jai was a lot smaller than David, and David had shoved him pretty hard.

I looked at Jai as he passed me, and he looked pissed. Any doubt I had in myself about whether or not I should go through with this plan was gone. I knew I had to get back at David for the way he treated everyone.

I made my way to the courtyard for lunch, the paint carefully secured in my bag. I sat with Bella and Chloe for a moment, and suddenly part of me felt guilty for not telling them about the plan. I trusted them, but I couldn't risk anything. At least not until the prank was over.

"Be right back." I said, standing up and slinging my bag over my shoulder.

I nervously headed over to where Jai and Luke sat. They both looked like they were expecting me, although the rest of their friends were clearly confused.

"Hey," they quietly said.

I unzipped my bag to show them the amount of paint I had retrieved.

"Jai, keep watch," Luke ordered.

Luke opened his own bag and dumped mine into his, so nobody could see the paint. Then he handed my bag back to me.

"What time will you be at the dance?" Jai asked.

"Well I'm actually going with Bella and Chloe," I said thumbing over my shoulder. "So I will be there a little after it starts."

"Okay, great." He said. "I'll touch base with you later then."

He gave me a smile and I said "See ya," to them, heading back to my own table.

Bella and Chloe were watching me curiously as I headed back for the table. They both raised a brow at me.

"What was that about?" Chloe asked.

"Science project," I lied through my teeth and shrugged it off.

My two best friends looked at each other and then also shrugged it off.