Pranked

Eleven

"Oh hi, Evelyn," I said doing my best to sound calm, even though internally, I was panicking, "You gave me a heart attack."
"Yeah what are you even doing out here?" Jojo said, "I thought you would be asleep."
"One of the counselors from cabin 8 told me that her campers saw lights on in your cabin and sent me to go check on you guys," Evelyn said, crossing her arms so that the rose tattoo on her forearm faced us, "The question is, what are you doing out here?" I don't know why, but she locked eyes on Kenny.
"We-w-we-uh..," he stuttered, "heh...we-w-we were...uh." Evelyn narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"I found this medication bottle on the trail on our way back to the cabin," Martin said, raising the red matchbox, "I figured it was probably someone's medication because it still has stuff in it. I was gonna bring it to the camp staff at dinner, but I forgot I had it. Kenny reminded me. Sorry. We didn't want to wake you up since our hike is tomorrow."
Martin looked over at us and winked.
"Yeah," I said, understanding the improv signal, "I think our poor friend Kenny was afraid you were taking it the wrong way. That's very good social intelligence on your part, Kenny." I patted his back to make sure Evelyn bought it.
"Th-thanks," he said.
"Good for you for being there and having your friend's back, Leighanne," Jojo said, "Being there for each other and having each other's back is a very important part of a strong friendship."
"Thanks, Jojo," I said.
"Well, Martin. Not telling me about this was a mistake on your part. Drugs are very serious things after all," Evelyn said.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Martin said.
"But, I am proud of you for owning up to it, Martin. Owning up to mistakes is not always easy, but you did it anyway," Evelyn continued.
"Thank you," Martin said, smiling.
"And all of you. You have done more right things than wrong in this situation," Evelyn continued, uncrossing her arms, "You handled the situation halfway decently. You were considerate to the fact that I needed to sleep. Leighanne, you helped out your friend in a sticky situation. Don't feel ashamed, okay?"
"Yes ma'am," Martin said.
"Great. Just be quick, okay? It's past your curfew and like you said, Martin, we have a hike tomorrow," Evelyn told us.
"We will. Don't worry," Jojo reassured her.
"Alright. If you need anything else, you'll know where I am. Good night," Evelyn said.
"Good night," we all said. We all watched Evelyn walk away.
"Nice job," Jojo said, "That was good improv, Martin."
"Thanks," he said.
"Like for real," I agreed, "I mean the matchbox looked sort of like a medication bottle. There is indeed a hike tomorrow. And we made Evelyn so impressed that she believed us."
"Thanks, Leighanne. You weren't so bad yourself either," Martin said with a bright smile, "You okay, Kenny?"
"Yeah, like what happened there?" Jojo asked.
"Sorry...I'm just like really bad at improv," Kenny said, "I'm pretty much incapable of lying. Like, I've never got away with a lie this big ever. That's how terrible at it I am."
"Relax," Jojo said, "We're here for you. If anything like that ever happens again, just chill and let us do the improv. And if Evelyn asks why you suddenly became so quiet, say you have some social anxiety."
"That's not how social anxiety works," Martin said, "But then again, who will be able to tell the difference?"
"Yeah," Jojo agreed, "We're wasting time. We have to get moving before Evelyn notices we haven't moved at all."
We all nod and follow Jojo down the rest of the hill to cabin 7. I half expect to hear Evelyn or another counselor approach us, but the only sound I hear is the hushed footsteps of my cabin mates and the sound of pine needles rustling lightly in the wind. We finally arrive and Kenny pulls firmly at the air filter around the spigot. It pulls off without a sound. Martin opens the matchbox and dusts the crushed red candy into the air filter. Jojo expertly dabs some super glue around the edge of the air filter and sticks it back on the spigot. She held it there for a few seconds and she lifted her fingers off of it. It stuck perfectly. We all followed Jojo back to the cabin, flicked off the lights, and got in bed. I spread the blankets over me and reflected on myself as I stared up at the bottom of Jojo's bed. I remembered my heart beating during our first prank. It was fast. Full of fear, uncertainty, and a touch of courage. I remembered my heart beating tonight during this prank's set up. It was still fast. Still full of fear, uncertainty, and a few more drops of courage. But both times, it was mostly fear. I counted the fears I had felt tonight. One part of my fear was missing. I then realized something that I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life. I had cast my fear of Courtney aside. I wasn't afraid of her anymore. Anymore has 7 letters. 7 was my favorite number. And I was in cabin 7. On the first day of camp when I was told I'd be in cabin 7, I thought maybe it was a good omen. Maybe this was it. My good omen. Maybe that slow realization was a good omen too. Repeating that phrase again made a rich flood of pride and courage overcome me. I'm not afraid. A. N. Y. M. O. R. E. I thought of that verse in Roar by Katy Perry that said "Louder than a lion 'cuz I am a champion. And you're gonna hear me roar." I realized that anymore rhymed with roar. Maybe that was a good omen too. You're gonna hear me roar. I imagined myself saying to Courtney I'm not afraid anymore. And anymore has 7 letters. 7 is my favorite number. It's an omen on my side. I cast that fantasy away and repeated the phrase again. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid anymore...