Foolish April Fools

Someone was giggling... 1

I cracked open an eye to glare at a shadowy sillouhette hovering above me with something pungeant coming towards my face. The person who was holding it happened to be my younger brother, Mike, giggling like a little school girl. 2

Reaching to snatch the Sharpie, I quickly sat up before he could mar my face. However, before I could grab the permanent marker or injure him, he darted out of the room with nervous laughter of someone who knew they were in for it.3

Why would my little brother try drawing on my face in the first place? Then it occurred to me...It was April Fool's Day because today was the only day Mike would dare do something this foolish. 4

Sliding off the bed, I put my foot down into something squishy and somehow I knew it wasn't something my cat had dragged in. My head shot down. I stared in horror.5

Dog crap! There was dog crap on my tan-colored carpet! The marker had been a decoy to lure me out of bed! He'd used our dog's poo and put it on my room for me to step into!6

Fuming, I hopped on one foot to the bathroom and washed my foot twice, scrubbing vigorously. As I scrubbed my tan carpet, Mike smirked from the safety of my doorway. I stuck my tongue at him, glaring. 7

"Mike, go take a bath while Cindy eats breakfast!" Our mother's voice called on the intercom.8

Satisfied with his prank, he grabbed a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. I scowled at him as he headed for the shower with a smirk on his arrogant face. So he thought he'd won, eh?9

When the bathroom door lock clicked, I smirked as the perfect counter-prank occurred to me and I quietly tiptoed downstairs into the basement. Fortunately, my dad had taught me how to operate the power box to the house. I made a minor adjustment before sneaking back up to the bathroom, scarcely breathing.10

Pressing my ear against the shut door, I listened to him warbling his own edition of some song by Akon or some lame rap artist. Reaching above the door, I grabbed the thin little key and unlocked the bathroom door. 11

Now, the way the upstairs bathroom was set up was the toilet and shower were in two different 'rooms' of the bathroom with a door separating the two. Mike couldn't see me unless he had miraculously gotten X-ray vision. Grinning in anticipation, I flushed the toilet and clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggles as I heard him yelp and curse. Quickly, before he could open the door, I ran out and shut the unlocked bathroom door.12

Hurrying downstairs, I decided to cook scrambled eggs. Sitting at the table, ready to eat, I frowned when the metal fork flopped in my hand until I realized the real fork had been replaced with a rubber one; then I resorted to a plastic one.13

Muttering darkly about the beginning of the day, I accidentally poured too much salt on my eggs. Wiping off what I could with the plastic fork, I gagged on my mouthful of unusually sweet scrambled eggs. 14

SUGAR! 15

"April Fools!" my mom cried as I spat the egg into the garbage bin, where the rest shortly followed, and then I rinsed out my mouth. I scowled at her as she laughed at my sour expression, but before I could make an not-very-sweet retort, the phone rang and I answered.16

"Hello? 17

"Hey, meet me at the park!" 18

"What?" I recognized the voice of my friend, Alicia.19

"Meet. Me. At. The. Park."20

"I know," I said irritably. "Is this a prank?"21

"No."22

"Uh-huh," I sighed, dubious. What with all the pranks that had been pulled on me already, I was not up for another one. Not without hurting somebody.23

Sounding truthful, Alicia said, "Really. I meant it." I opened my mouth to say more but she hung up on me. 24

"MOM!" I shouted. "I'm going to the park!" Getting no answer after ten minutes, I grabbed my flipflops as my brother stormed down the stairs, yelling bodily threats. Both of us were sore losers. Knowing this, I ran out the door and headed for the park two blocks away. 25

When I reached it, Alicia was waving me over from her seat on a park bench. "See that weirdo?" I nodded, sitting beside her. "He looks like a juvenille delinquent but isn't he cute?"26

I snorted. The tall, thin teenager looked more like a gangster, dressed in his green shirt, black pants, and black shoes with neon green laces. The more I stared at him, the more he reminded me of..."He looks like a leprechaun."27

Alicia covered her mouth as she laughed. "Go say 'hi' to the leprechaun for me! Tell him to come over here...he kinda looks like someone from school. Doesn't he look familiar?" She turned her head to smile at me.28

"No. Why don't you go over there?" I asked, gesturing towards him. 29

She blushed. "I'm shy." Her gray eyes focused on something over my shoulder momentarily.30

I rolled my eyes and gestured towards his general direction again. "Just get your little leprechaun-loving butt over there--"31

"Leprechaun?"32

Now I knew why Alicia's gray eyes had darted from me to over my shoulder and why she had widened her eyes. Apparently the subject of our conversation had wandered within hearing distance. Knowing who I'd find, I turned around to see the juvenille delinquent standing about two feet behind me, hands shoved in his pockets, unimpressed. 33

Alicia sidled up to me and whispered, "Remember how people think we look like twins or sisters or relatives? Let's do the Ashley Act."34

The gangster leprechaun frowned more deeply, suspicious as his brown eyes flickered between us as Alicia and I leaned back, smiling.35

"I'm Ashley," my friend gushed first.36

"I'm Ashley," I gushed in the same tone.37

Although still suspicious, the delinquent seemed confused. "Is this some kind of prank?"38

"No," we chorused at the same time, shaking our heads in sync.39

Alicia went out on a limb as she twisted around on the park bench, leaning her arms on the back, and asked, "What's your name?" Her voice sounded breathy. I almost laughed.40

Raising an eyebrow, he casually answered, "Jesse McCartney." 41

"Liar! Jesse McCartney has blonde hair and it's longer than yours, and your eyes are the wrong color! Ha!" Alicia pointed her finger at the thin teen truimphantly. 42

"Um, ditto," I put in. This guy seemed familiar...where had I seen him before?43

'Jesse' shrugged. "Ever heard of hair dye or contacts?"44

Alicia and I exchanged a glance, the kind of glance females have that is a silent language of its own. Both of us screamed in union, diving off the bench, running around it, and we draped ourselves over the celebrity. He seemed taken aback at our sudden glomping.45

"April Fool's!" Alicia cried, rubbing her cheek on his green shirt. "We're not twins!"46

"We're not even related," I added, grinning up at the guy. Where had I seen him before?47

"Well, April Fool's on you ladies, because I'm not Jesse McCartney," he smirked, wrapping his arms around our waists. We all grinned goofily at each other.48

"Hey, I know you!" Alicia blurted out, gasping. "You're one of the most popular guys at our school!"49

I couldn't help but lower my gaze, blushing, as recognition dawned on me too. If anything the rumors told me about this joker, he wouldn't let us forget this incident.