Prank Wars

Let the War Begin

I was well into my dream when I heard glass shattering down stairs. "You've got to be shitting me right now." I groaned as I rolled over to look at the clock. 4:36 a.m. My head was pounding and every inch of my body was aching. Noize Pollution definitely kicked my butt and I was paying for it now. I threw the covers off and looked over at Alexa's bed. She wasn't in it. The door was still wide open and her bed was completely made. I reached for my phone which was sitting on the night stand. No messages from Alexa, not even a phone call. That was completely unlike her. I stood up and shuffled to the bathroom gathering a glass of water and some aspirin trying to subdue the hammers banging against my head. I reached up massaging my temple and walked to the door. As I looked down the hall nobody else seemed to be awake. Maybe no one else had heard the commotion or maybe I had just imagined it. Either way, I was already up and my curiosity was getting the best of me.

I reached the wooden railing and placed my right hand on it to keep me from taking a spill down the stairs. The entire house was pitch black and only a sliver of the moon's light seeped in from the upstairs window. It was entirely too creepy for my taste, and only increased when I reached the bottom of the steps and the light switch didn't work. I tried again, on, off, on, off. "Well that's weird." I said.

"That's what I was thinking."

"Holy shit!" I screamed as I lost my footing and fell back into the wall, hitting my head in the process. A light flashed on across the room and a thick Australian laugh joined it while greeting my ungraceful landing onto the tiled floor.

"Did I scare you Bridge?"

I put my hand up, shielding my eyes from the light and letting my back rest against the wall. There was no way I was getting up by myself. "Very funny Mikey but next time a little warning please."

"Oh c'mon sweetheart, where is the fun in that?"

"Well considering my head is already throbbing and I am now on the ground, I didn't need that and not to add the fact that now the entire house is awake, so you can explain to them what happened."

"It might be a good thing they're awake because we have some other issues on our hands." He pointed his light toward the front door which was wide open and shards of glass scattered across the floor. Mikey offered me his hand and I gladly took it.

"Really? They decide to start now? Right after Noize Pollution?" I began to shake my head. "They never cease to amaze me."

Mikey looked confused beyond belief.

"It's started?" A voice came from behind us. Mikey spun around, a lazy grin forming at his cheeks.

"Mind telling me who 'they' are?"

Izzy looked at him, her brunette hair wrapped up in a clip on top of her head a baby blue robe incasing her body. Izzy was the 'mom' of the group. She kept a level head and took care of us when we were all completely trashed. She made sure we stayed out of trouble if we could avoid it, and she never failed to cover for us if she was able to. She wasn't very athletic but she was crazy smart. She was going to do big things with her life and we all knew it.

"'They' would be our next door neighbors, Max and his friends, I don't know if you saw them last night but they threw kids off to make room for themselves."

Izzy didn't necessarily hate people, she had a strong disliking for them, but if there was ever a list, Max and his crew were at the top. She was a genuine person, she cared for others, and didn't like seeing the rest of us get hurt, so when the whole situation with Crash happened, she made sure that whenever they were around they knew how she felt about them.

"And what have they started? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's the annual prank war" Izzy started.

"Six years ago, my older sister, Bailey and her friends came up to this very lake house. It's passed down through my family and each senior year we're allowed to bring our friends and have it to ourselves without parents." Mikey nodded and at this point the rest of the house found seating in the living room. Luke and Ashton we're hovering by the stone fire place and Mikey had found a seat next to Izzy on the couch. His arm resting behind her on the back of the couch. Brie sat on James' lap in the recliner making room for Roriee and Danyelle with Calum in between them on the floor. I continued on, "Max's older brother, Issac, brought his friends and pranked my sister, completely trashing the house. Spray paint everywhere. It was a disaster. Thus starting the war and it goes back farther than that. I think the first prank came from Max's uncle when my dad was a senior. From then on it's been a war."

Calum looked over at Danyelle, swinging his arm across her shoulders. "Don't worry babe, I won't let anything happen to you. We can take  care of a few punks."

She looked over at him, narrowing her eyes, "first off, I can take care of myself, secondly, remove your hand before I remove it for you, and third this is what we've been waiting for. It's our time to win back the trophy."

Ashton let out a chuckle "mate you might as well give up. These girls can take care of themselves."

Calum removed his arm and looked back at us, "okay maybe these girls aren't falling for my charm but I know Alexa will. Where is my babe anyway?"

"Oh my god. I completely forgot. She didn't come back to the room last night. The door was wide open and her bed was still made."

Izzy stood up, "You're just now telling me that Alexa is missing? How long have you known?!"

"Don't raise your voice at me. I thought she was out doing God knows what with God knows who. You know how Alexa is."

"Or she's with Max." Roriee piped up holding a picture in her hand.

"Why do you say that?" Izzy questioned. Roriee handed her the photo.

"Because they left evidence. They've got her and they're serious about the war.

I grabbed the polaroid from Izzy. It had Alexa passed out on the floral couch in Max's house with Gaige, Crash, David, and Alex behind it with their thumbs up and they were all dressed in black like spies on a mission. Eye black under their eyes and their thumbs up gesturing like they knew they had the upper hand. Underneath the photo read "game on" in Crash's chicken scratch.

"Oh they want a game then a game they will get." I said throwing the picture to the ground "let's play."