I called Jane at about 10:00 in the morning.
"Hello?"
"Jane, it's me, Jake. What are you doing tonight?"
"Nothin. Why?"
"John, James, and Christine are coming over. You wanna join us?"
"Well why are you asking me now? Obviously you didn't want me to come over or you woulda asked me when you asked them."
"Jane, I just got off the phone with them. I figured we're a bit old to go trick-or-treating, so we'll watch a couple of movies, answer the door for the kids. Just chillin out."
"Oh. OK. Sorry about before. I shouldn't of snapped like that. It's just you know I don't like Halloween."
"Oh yea. I almost forgot you didn't. Don't worry. It'll be scare-free."
"Okay." When she hung up, I immediately called back John.
"John, hey. You wanna have some fun tonight?"
"Fun? How so?"
"Well, you know how Jane hates Halloween?"
"Jake, I dated her for like two months last year. Remember? I know she doesn't like Halloween."
"So, I was thinking we pulled a couple of pranks on her and Christine."
"Ooh. What about James?"
"I'm gonna call him as soon as I get off with you."
"OK."
"Listen, instead of coming at seven like I told everyone, come in two hours. That'll give us some time to think and find a couple of pranks to pull."
"You got it. See ya in a bit."
"Bye." I barely put the phone down as I went to pick it back up. Excitement filled me inside. I dialed.
"James?"
"Who's this?"
"It's Jake."
"Oh hey. Didn't you just call?"
"Yeah. Listen, is there any way you can come over at twelve instead of seven?"
"Uhh.......yeah, I don't see why not. Why?"
"John and I are planning a few pranks on Christine and Jane tonight. Some Halloween fun."
"Ooh, OK. I'll be there at twelve."
"OK, great. See ya later."
"See ya." I hung up the phone and ran downstairs.
"Pranks huh?" my dad whispered, practically startling me.
"Just a few. Nothing harmful. How'd you know?"
"You forget that all the house phones are connected on one line."
"Oh, right."
"So, you guys need help?"
"Uh, sure. Why, you wanna?"
"Yea, of course." he looked around." Just don't tell your mom. She won't let you guys pull them off."
"Oh yea. OK." It seemed like forever until John and James showed up. Th door bell rang and my mom answered.
"Hi boys. Aren't you a little early?"
"Well actually-"
"They came over to help me with some pre-calc. Mrs. Anderson was like the only teacher that did work yesterday and since I went to OCC with theatre arts, I have it for homework." I lied before James was able to give us away.
"Oh. Ok" she went back to making lunch. I gave James a look and went upstairs to my room with them following. I closed the door as they sat on the bean bags. I digged for a pencil and a my pre-calculus notebook. I found a vacant page and wrote "Ways To Prank" on the heading.
"OK, we have like five hours to set up everything we're doing." I said, instinctively taking charge.
"Uh, question. How are we gonna be pulling things off while we're watching the movie?" John asked.
"Well how about one of you calls out sick or something."
"I'm not. I wanna see the faces of them." John said.
"Yeah, me too." James agreed.
"Wait. I got an idea. Dad!" I yelled. I then heard his big footsteps coming up the stairs. He opened the door, closed it, and took a seat on my bed.
"What do ya guys need?"
"Well we need someone to pull off the pranks while we watch the movie with the girls. Ya know. To make it more realistic."
"Oh, Gotcha." I went and started to think. "Ya know, I can do everything by myself."
"Well, what about us? It's supposed to be our prank. You're just helping." I told him. He looked down and we thought.

* * * * *

We planned everything from setting the smoke machines on timers, to working out the lights with dad. We agreed that at random times during the movie, I was going to leave and "go to the bathroom". This then, signaled my dad to mess around with the lights. At first they’ll all think it was me, until I come back just as confused as they are. My parent’s car wouldn't be there so they would expect it to not be either of them. The plan was fool proof, (or so I thought.) Catherine came at 6:30 because she hated being late. She almost walked in on us setting up one of the smoke machines if she came came about five minutes earlier. I put some chips ont he coffee table along with some nacho cheese, mild salsa, and some chicken dip thing my mom made for us.
"You guys are early." Catherine told James and John.
"Yeah, John's mom had to go somewhere at 6:30 and wouldn't have been able to come later, so him and James got here at like six-ish." I told her, hoping she'll buy it.
"Oh, OK." she said. She shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the couch. "Your folks left already?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. They're catching a movie and you know how my mom likes to get to places early." I said as I sat down next to her, grabbing a chip and dipping it in my moms chicken dip. I suddenly got a sense of chills which made me almost choke. "Uh, where's Jane?" I asked. James and John sat down on another couch.
"Oh, she's going to be a little late."
"Oh? How come?" I asked.
"I don't know. She never said."
"Huh" James said. For the next half hour or so, we just talked about school and the drama that's guaranteed with it. At 7:20-ish, Jane finally showed up.
"Hey" she said softly. She took off her pink sweat jacket which revealed her black t-shirt. Her blond hair was tied back; her bangs hiding her hazel eyes. She seemed more nervous and scared than the other Halloweens. Everyone said "Hey" back almost simultaneously. I put the DVD in and took a seat next to Christine; Jane sat on the other side of her. A quarter into the movie, I got up.
"I'll be right back." I headed to the bathroom. John chuckled. Right there, I felt the plan was ruined. That chuckle could have given it away. I went in and texted my dad.
"Now" I texted.
"Okay" he replied. I waited. Suddenly my lights flickered. He was smart enough not to flicker the T.V. circuit but the rest of the house flashed on and off. I heard a few screams. I wasn't quite sure who sreamed. I came out of the bathroom and the lights stopped.
"Very funny, jerk." Christine yelled at me. I was in shock. Jane was in her arms crying. She got up and put her coat on.
"I'm taking Jane home now. I'll be back to kick your but." she said in a strong voice. I felt stunned. John couldn't stop laughing, and James put his head down in shame.
"Shut the hell up John." I said. He coughed and sat down.
"We screwed up." James said. My dad came in.
"S--t" he said.
"Yeah." I replied. It seemed like forever. We just froze until the silence was disturbed by a knock on the door. My dad left in silence. I went and opened it. There stood Christine, chuckling.
"You shoulda seen how you guys looked. Jane's fine. She loved it. She just at home to make you guys feel bad."
"Then why didn't she come back." I asked. She sat down and grabbed a chip.
"Well, I not supposed to be telling you. She wanted to tell you on Monday at school."
"That sucks." I said.
"So are we gonna continue the movie?" she asked. I shrugged and played the movie. I sat down next to Christine. We continued to watch like nothing happened. Then I saw the lights flickering.
"Not anymore" I texted.
"Why are they flickering?" Christine asked.
"I don't know. Let me check the breaker." I went into the garage and no one was there. "Dad." I whispered. No one was there. I search everywhere. I would have heard the garage door open and close but I didn't.
"Not anymore what?" he replied. I dialed.
"Dad?"
"Jake. What are you talking about? I'm at the movies w/ with your mother. We're on line."
"Uh, OK. Never mind then." I hung up and went back to the couch.
"What happened?" Christine asked.
"Huh? Oh, uh, the switch broke when I was flickering them. it's fixed now." I lied. As we continued watching the movies, a sudden fog started to appear. The fog machines? They were on. But who turned them on? No one seemed to notice until it got thicker.
"What the-" James said. Both John and James gave me a look. I left and went to the fog machines. They were off?