Impractical Jokers, Practically

Chapter One

As I looked around at my four best friends, I thought to myself, how did I get so blessed to have these guys in my life? The five of us---Q, Joe, Sal, Murr, and me---we had something that was unbreakable. The irony was that I didn't know the boys for even as half long as they knew each other and yet it didn't matter. The five of us were soulmates---as in soulmate best friends.

Brian Quinn, Joe Gatto, Sal Vulcano, and James Murray met each other when they were freshmen in high school. 20 years later, they got the opportunity to have their own TV show. When their TV show, Impractical Jokers, completed its 2nd season, the network wanted to bring in a fresh face. Someone new to bring along to the table, a girl someone. That someone was me.

The TV network thought that having a girl joker alongside the already semi-popular boys would mix things up a bit. And they were right. When season 3 started, the ratings were higher than ever and the fans fully embraced me, Alexa, the new girl. The change added a new twist to the show. It was already funny to see the four guys embarrassing themselves, but to see the reactions when a girl did some of the pranks definitely took it up a notch. It put a new perspective on the show and the fans loved it. This idea started my friendship with the guys. The other thing it started: ship names. 

Because fans started to get obsessed with our group's friendship, they also took it to a whole new level with shipping me with every single one of my friends. They wanted to see romance between me and one of the boys. While I was happy that most of the fans were okay with me being on the show, even though I came on later, I was amused by the ship wars. The guys and I took it in stride. "It's the kind of thing to be expected," they said.

Even though I am 23 years old, and the boys are 37, the fans still wanted to see something happen with me and them. They constantly wrote fanfictions about us and blew up our social media accounts asking when one of the boys were ever going to date me. The 14 year age difference wasn't that big of a deal, it was the idea of messing up our friendship that was a big deal. I didn't want to mess up the dynamic of our group's friendship and frankly the guys felt the same. Of course, I did get a little bit of hate. Some fans were jealous that I was getting to spend all my time with the guys, while other fans thought I didn't belong simply because I wasn't there from the start. However, I took the hate in stride. Though there was a tiny part of me that felt a little left out, being that the boys knew each other for almost two dozen years while I only knew them for a couple of months, I still knew I was appreciated and welcome.

I don't have too many friends or family outside of the jokers' so it was naturally fitting that I would live with them too. We all share one big apartment in New York City and we wouldn't have it any other way. I had a close bond with each one of the guys: Joe and Q were like brothers to me and Murr was my best friend. But Sal was a little different. I always felt a little bit of butterflies around Sal and always imagined what it would be like to just stop and kiss him. I didn't act on my feelings because a) I was nervous, b) I didn't want to mess up our friendship, and c) what if he didn't feel the same and what if I embarrass myself and what if the guys make fun of me and what if....ugh, there's my dilemma. No, it's better to just be friends with him. With all of them. Like the saying goes, "if it's not broke, don't fix it."

The five of us were currently in the park filming one of our challenges. It was my turn.

"It's your turn, Alexa. Now get over there and say what we tell you to say." Joe winked at me.

"I feel like you have something up your sleeve." I said to him.

Q joked, "Ah, she knows us to well."

As I left the group and started walking over to the crowded mob of people enjoying their day in the park, I heard Sal say to the group, "Be careful with her." He was always the sensitive one, looking out for me and knowing when I had enough. See, I was kind of shy and didn't like it when the others pushed it too far.

Q said to me, "See that guy over there with the sunglasses? Go sit next to him."

Noticing who Q was talking about, I went over and sat down next to the guy on the bench. He seemed to be about 26 and had light blonde hair and a muscular build. "Tell him his eyes look beautiful," Murr said with a giggle. As the guy looked over at me, I sighed and said to him, "You have beautiful eyes." He gave me a puzzled look and said with a laugh, "How would you even know though? You can't see my eyes with my sunglasses on." The guy then proceeded to take his sunglasses off and said, "Okay, now tell me. Do you like my eyes?" I was relieved that he got the joke and had a sense of humor, but I was uneasy with the way he was looking at me. His eyes were dark gray and he looked me up and down and smiled. Wait, did he just check me out? I thought to myself. Instead of feeling flattered like he probably expected me to feel, I felt weirded out. There was something about him that was making me nervous and I didn't like it. Maybe it was his confidence or his smug smile, or maybe it was just me. I had a tendency to feel uneasy around strangers. Frankly, the only people I felt normal around were the jokers. I have a little bit of social anxiety and like to stick around Murr, Joe, Sal, and Q a lot. Being on Impractical Jokers can be uncomfortable for me, but it makes for great TV.

I looked at the jokers who all seemed to be excitedly waiting for my response, except for one person. Sal. He looked pissed off. Confused, I looked back at the guy on the bench and stuttered, "Um, I don't-uh. I don't know. Do you-Do you like mine?" I heard Joe laughing as the guy said, "Your brown eyes are beautiful. Your brown hair is beautiful. Just beautiful. My name is Calvin. Tell me, do you like ropes?" I gave a strange look, licked my lips, and asked him, "Ropes? What do you mean?" Calvin said, "Ropes! Like bondage. Being tied up. Surely you've read Fifty Shades of Grey?"

"Alright, that's enough" I heard Sal and Murr say at the same time. I look over to all four of the guys walking towards Calvin and me. When Joe, Q, Sal, and Murr stood next to the bench, and Calvin finally took his eyes off of me and looked up at the guys, I felt so much relief. I can take care of myself if I needed to, but I love how protective the boys are of me. I noticed that all the guys gave dirty looks to Calvin. I gasped at their faces. Calvin looked amused, Joe, Q, and Murr looked angry, but Sal looked livid.