From Very Real Pranks to Something Like Love

Bad Lying 101

        I decided that I would ditch school for the rest of the day, considering I was only missing college writing and economics. They weren't that important anyway.

          After I had showered four times, the glitter was still intertwined in my hair and plastered to my skin. 'Whatever,' I thought to myself. 'I'll just tell people I'm a vampire.'

          Sighing, I flopped down onto my plush queen sized bed and stared at the ceiling. I had to come up with a list of plans, and no, I'm not going to tell you. Why? You might rat me out, duh!

          Rule number one of being a good pranker; don't tell anyone your plans-not even your closest friends. I smiled as I dreamed up multiple schemes to torment Ian.

          "Penny? Are you home?" I heard my mom shout from the kitchen. Crap, why didn't I hide my car? And what the hell was I going to tell her? With an exasperated sigh, I dragged myself off of my bed and walked downstairs, thinking up a lie. If my mom found out I was into pranking again, well, let's just say all hell would break loose.

          "Hey mom, you're home early," I chuckled. Man, for a prankster I sucked at lying. Rule number two; train yourself to lie like a pro.

          She narrowed her crystal blue eyes and put her hands on her hips. Even though I acted more like my mother, you wouldn't know I was her daughter just by looking at us. While I had green eyes, she had blue. I had red-auburn hair, she had blonde hair with natural caramel highlights. The only sign of resemblance between us was our face shape-a heart.

          "Penny Marie Harris. Tell me why you're home from school so early right now," She demanded, her face become angrier by the second.

          I took a deep breath and blurted out the first thing I could think of. "Uh, I was getting bullied by some older kids and I felt bad and started crying so I came home." Yeah, like Ian freaking Taylor could make me cry. But still, it wasn't a complete lie, and it was believable.

          My mom's face quickly transformed into a mask of concern and sympathy.

          "Oh, my poor baby!" She swooned. I grimaced as she squeezed me and brushed my hair back. Jeez, she was more gullible than I thought.

          "I'm going to call the school up and file a complaint right now," She decided, releasing me and heading for her cell phone, which was plugged in on the counter.

          "Ah no!" I nearly yelled. My mom turned and gave me a questioning look. "What? Why shouldn't I call?" She asked, phone in hand. I grimaced and clenched my hands.

          "Ah, well there's a very good reason why you shouldn't call actually," I said, stalling for time. My gosh, I needed to take lessons on this or something. "Which is?" She asked, her manicured fingers hovering over the buttons.

          "Uh, cause I don't want to cause more trouble and it will only make the bullying worse if you complain?" I said, my lie coming out as a question. I hope my mom didn't notice.

          She glanced at me, analyzing my face, then back at her phone. I could tell she was debating whether or not to call anyways. I made a pleading face and she sighed.

          "Alright, but if it happens again I'm calling," She said, slipping her phone into back pocket. I nodded eagerly.

          "Okay," No way; I was thinking. My mom would never catch me ditching again so I would never have to make up a ridiculous and totally unrealistic lie about stupid Ian Taylor making me cry.

          "Go upstairs and start your homework-I'll pick up your sister from school today," My mom said, turning away from me as she unloaded food from the fridge. I nodded and rushed upstairs. I didn't actually have homework, so I began to plan out my pranks. (Insert evil maniac laugh here.)

          What's worse than Monday? Nothing, but Tuesday comes pretty damn close. I groaned and rolled over, repeating my process from Monday morning, minus the screeching mother and being flipped off the mattress.

          I tugged on a navy romper with orange and white flowers and paired it with a pair of orange ankle height gladiator sandals. I was going to have an awkward tan line since it was supposed to be in the 80's today, but whatever.

          I pulled my hair out of my bun and let it fall across my shoulders in large curls. Ew, it still looked greasy from that stupid maple syrup. I clenched my teeth and growled, ripping an elastic off my wrist and pulling my hair into a high pony tail. A few swipes of mascara and a thin layer of lip gloss, and I was set to go.

         

          Once at school, I practically skipped to my locker. I was anxious to get started on my evil plan and get my much needed revenge.

          "Hey, why so peppy?" Lizzie asked, leaning against her locker which was right next to mine. I gave her a confused look.

          "What, I shouldn't be happy?" I asked she shrugged and began to pull her books out of her locker. "Nevermind," I heard her mutter. Like I said, don't even tell you best friend about your plans. Now, that's not to say I don't trust Lizzie-I trust her with my life. But pranking is much different from life, and it must be kept a secret.

         

          After dance class, Lizzie and I walked up to the main building where we met Serena and Ace, who were sitting on the ground under a large, leafy tree. Lizzie plopped down next to Serena and let her skirt fan out around her. I sat between her and Ace and rested my head on Lizzie's lap.

          "Hey Pen, where were you yesterday? You disappeared during writing when the fire alarm went off," Ace said, munching on crackers. I realized that I never found out what happened during the drill and sat up quickly, startling my three friends and giving myself a head rush.

          "Why? What happened during the drill?" I asked anxiously. They looked at me curiously and shrugged. "Nothing, why?" Serena said, picking at her electric blue nail polish. I scrunched my face in confusion and ignored my friends continuing conversation.

          That made no sense. I know my stuff, and during prank week, when a fire alarm is pulled, everyone who falls for it gets drenched in either water, or powered paint, or something else really messy. Like maple syrup.

          I gasped as I realized what had happened, why no one had gotten drenched with anything during the drill-except me. They had planned it-Ian Taylor and his dumbass jock friends and his bimbo girlfriend had planned it. How had they out smarted me? It just wasn't adding up! And most of all, why were they targeting me? My eyes widened, did he know my secret?

          I jumped up and once again scared my friends.

          "Pen what are you doing?" Lizzie asked, squinting up at me through the sunlight. I stammered and rubbed my arms.

          "Uh, I'm kind of chilly, I'm going to run inside and grab a sweater. See you next period, bye!" I managed to get out before I rushed off. I know they didn't believe me and I was going to be interrogated later; I mean it was 82 degrees outside for crying out loud! What can I say, I'm a sucky liar. But right now, that didn't matter. All that mattered was hunting down Ian Taylor and giving him a piece of my mind.