Just An Innocent Little Prank... [Page]

[Genesis Kyland]

A grin flickered across Genesis' mouth. Ah, she really impressed herself sometimes... She fingered the spool of thread in her hoodie pocket, cautious despite her eagerness. A pity she didn't have anyone to share the joy of this little prank with, but she'd have stories to tell later she betted. Tilting her head slightly, she tapped out a rhythm on the floor with one of her bare feet.

Bookcases, books... That was little surprise.  A few students in other aisles.  She had that particular aisle to herself, and likely would for a bit. Librarian? At the desk. Perfect.

She pulled the spool of clear thread from her pocket and deftly unrolled a length, measuring it against a short stretch of books.  Retrieve scissors from her other pocket, cut the thread, pause to listen for anyone approaching.

No one.

Next: tape, strong tape. She stuck a short bit to each end of her thread, then began the main part of the plot. Attach one end of the thread to the bookshelf itself, work the thread around behind the majority of the books on that shelf, then secure the other end to the bookend. She ran a hand over the books, ensuring they were straight and neat, adjusting the thread where it needed to be adjusted. The trick of this particular prank was to set the thread so it was wrapped around one particular book. That way, when the book was pulled out, it would trigger the avalanche of the rest of the books on that shelf.

Of course, odds were that one book in a whole library of books wouldn't get taken out for ages. That in mind, she had eavesdropped on a class which assigned that particular book-- the triggered one-- as recommended reading for next class period. She bit her lip, barely restraining a full on grin. Once more, she felt the thread, tugged on it for tautness. Satisfied, she slipped away, pressing the thread spool deep into her pocket.  Now, she just waited, like a perfectly innocent library going kid. Really, how could anyone suspect a blind girl in a library?

[Page Steadmen]

Today was the day to get caught up on all her writing, not only her essay for class but also a letter home because being away from home was the toughest part about being at Hammel for Page so she made it a habit from the start to write home each week. There were times of course she missed a letter or two it only meant a longer one with the next one. It was because she had to work on her essay that she ended up in the library.
Page had been sitting in a corner on the floor with her notebooks and things all neatly spread out in front of her so she could read and write at the same time. She had her tablet with her also and had it plugged into an outlet just behind her.

It was while trying to put together her essay that she noticed someone walking about near her, she stopped what she was doing and watched her walking the aisles, then she slipped quietly down one of the aisles but could still see her thru the tops of the books. Page could see her stop, turn and go back and forth a couple of times. Her interest piked when she came out of the aisle with no books in her arms but a huge smile on her face as she quickly walked away from the area. Now Page really wanted to know what she had done there so she went to where she saw the girl last and looked to see what she had done. It didn’t take Page long to find the string on the books. Carefully taking the string off she went to find the girl who had placed it there and walked up to her and introduced herself and then asking the girl “Excuse me, are you missing anything?”

Page had to laugh at herself because it was really something she would have done to one of her siblings but it would be more like a bucket of water over the door and a string on the door knob. So page was really interested in what the girl had to say for herself. She stood there with her weight slightly over to the right with the contraband in her left hand that was on her hip.

[Genesis Kyland]

How long would it take? Genesis paced a bit, fishing a pen from her jeans' pocket and clicking it in and out as she did. The soundwaves from the perpetual clicks allowed her to keep fairly good tabs on layout of the room, and the positioning of the people in it. No one was interested in reading that book yet, it seemed.... How irresponsible of everyone, she mused to herself. And I should really stop pacing... a bit suspicious. This in mind, she began fishing out her earbuds and iPod. May as well listen to her textbooks to keep herself occupied.

Wait. She paused in her retrieval of the iPod, clicked the pen a few times and waited for the soundwaves to bring back their picture. Yes, there was someone moving in on the trap. She bit her lip to conceal the smile of anticipation, and slowly continued preparing her iPod and earbuds for use as she waited for the crash.

And waited.

She tilted her head. Why was nothing happening? Perhaps she'd been wrong. She was about to click her pen again, when she caught the sound of footsteps approaching. Just act cool...

The other girl introduced herself, a gesture Genesis returned with a simple statement of her preferred nickname, "Alex." But then the girl, Page, went on with, "Excuse me, are you missing anything?"

Genesis blinked. Missing anything? What would she be missing? She twisted her face into what she'd learned from instruction via friends to be a quizzical expression. She listened for anything else that would give her a clue. The girl's heartbeat seemed normal, if a little quicker than if she were at rest. Curiosity? Excitement? One of the two, she guessed. Finding a dead in that route, she voiced a curious, "I'm sorry...?", which allowed a much better sound picture than from the pen clicks.

The girl stood with hand on hip, favoring her left side slightly. ... Still nothing really explanatory. There was the possibility Page had picked up on the prank, but no way under the sun was Genesis going to give any hint she knew anything about that. So, she gave a mental sigh and gave up trying to puzzle out other possibilities. "This how you always start conversation?"

[Page Steadmen]

Just how rude could some people be? Look at this girl, bare footed and continuously clicking her loud pen breaking the silence of the other wise quite library, she doesn’t even make eye contact when someone speaks to her. Manners something this girl didn’t have or was taught Page thought to herself as she gave the girl another look over, giving her hair a good flip with her hand as she did so.

The other girl with her clicking pen said her name was Alex she had blinked with a quizzical look on her face as she had side “I’m sorry…?” then adding with a sigh “This how you always start conversation?”
Page held up the string and tape to her since Alex didn’t seem to know what Page was talking about, though Page had seen her in the area and didn’t think the string just showed up there by its self. "I wouldn’t have to start my conversation off like that if you didn’t lie to me because I saw you in the aisle over there and I’m not dumb, I’m sure if we checked your things . . .” her sentence was cut short as her cell phone rang out loud. Page had forgotten again to turn it off in the library so it made her quickly grab it from her pocket to see it was her sister. Page denied the call, she knew it must be that she was just checking in since Page had not written in a few weeks and was sure that her mother put her sister up to calling knowing that Page didn’t want to talk to her about her ability, not yet at least. Page repocketed the device in her back pocket after she turned it off so it would not ring again while she was in the library.

Page apologized for the interruption and got back to what she was telling Alex “This is your string, fess up and it will be it.” she dangled the string a little bit and then confessed to her “Hey, if I didn’t see you do it, I am sure it would have caused quite the ruckus around here!” she said with a genuine smile.
Page liked this girl even though she thought she was rude, a good joke is always a great start to the day even though Page had to admit, she can dish it out but she defiantly could not take it.

[Genesis Kyland]

And the girl Page was going off on some speech about lying to her and checking her things. Genesis let out a sigh, not intending to feign patience. Patience wasn't her thing, especially when it came to people accusing her of lying and searching her belongings. Genesis shifted to plant her hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes and prepared a sharp retort. It was, however, cut off (along with the other girl's sentence) as Page's phone rang. Genesis flinched at the sudden racket, hands snapping to cover her ears. A scowl pulled at her face as Page quieted the device. At least she had the good grace to apologize.

"If this is your string, fess up and it will be it."

Ahh... so it was about the prank. Genesis kept the recognition off her face, an easy enough thing for her to do since she had to intentionally form an expression for one to register on her face. She paused. Then again, if Page had seen her set the string up, that would obviously call for an admittance. It wasn't as if she were ashamed of the prank. She remained silent a few more moments, thinking it over, weighing the pros and cons. Finally, she shrugged. Hey, it wasn't as if Page were a teacher, and if she tried to report her to a teacher, she'd just deny it and it would be her word against Page's.

She held a hand out for the string. "Yeah, it's mine. What'd you mess it up for?" She pulled a frown, noting Page's heartbeat before continuing, "You don't seem particularly upset about my putting it there, you coulda kept quiet and watched the show instead of pulling it."

Really, some people... If Page had no interest in reporting her, as it seemed in the situation, and also didn't seem annoyed or goody-two-shoes about it, then why on earth would they fudge up a brilliant prank? Ah well... she could always try again some other time, that time when she was sure no one was watching. She sighed. And at least Page didn't seem goody-two-shoes, despite her messing with things. Maybe she wouldn't turn out that bad after all in the long run, once the initial irritation had worn off. In fact, given time, perhaps she could convince the fellow student to join in on some later pranks.

[Page Steadmen]

"Yeah, it's mine. What'd you mess it up for?" Alex continued "You don't seem particularly upset about my putting it there, you coulda kept quiet and watched the show instead of pulling it."

Page nodded and told her “Yes I could have left it and watch too, but really I didn’t want you getting into trouble or worse, expelled.” she smiled at Alex “do you really want to cause a ruckus? Follow me, let me get my things and then I’ll show you what I can do with your string!” Page said with a little wicked laugh. Page went over to the corner she was occupying and started to pick up her things when she looked back for Alex, she was clicking her pen again walking slowly towards. Cocking her head slightly, Page watched her carefully and wondered why Alex was walking that way. With her things in her arms she walked back to Alex asking her what was wrong with her, why was she walking that way?

[Genesis Kyland]

Genesis sighed to herself. Much as the sentiment of not wanting someone to get in trouble could be appreciated, it did little to impress her in this instance. Someone worrying that she'd get caught and get into trouble was a direct underestimation of her skills, in Genesis' opinion. Who did this student think she was, the prank police? As for being expelled... Genesis rolled her eyes, an expression she'd nearly perfected thanks to the coaching of her friends back home at her old school.

"I wouldn'ta got expelled," she snorted. "If I got expelled over a prank like that then this school has a major problem. You're a real worry wart, ain't you? How do you have any fun?" All the same... Genesis walked after Page when she went to pick up her things. All the same, this whole "I'll show you what I can do with your string" thing had Genesis interested enough to stick around for a while longer. Maybe the girl would redeem herself. Maybe.

"What's wrong, why are you walking that way?"

Genesis blinked and did a mental inventory of how she'd been walking. She usually didn't have trouble blending in with everyone else. At least, so she'd been told, but then again, everyone slipped up sometimes... She made a mental note to pay more attention to how she walked, doing a quick review of the major points she'd been coached in as she formed a reply.

"Walking what way?" She grumped, fiddling absently with her pen as she did. "Why're you walking how you're walking?" She made it a point not to tell anyone she was blind, not because she was ashamed of the fact, but because she liked to see how long it took people to figure it out.

[Page Steadmen]

Alex seemed pretty annoyed with Page’s interference with her little prank. Yet Page didn’t want to see anyone get into trouble, as she had seen others get into trouble for far less. So when Alex exclaimed she wasn’t going to get into trouble, she just sighed as she walked to get her things in the corner.
Then page clearly hit a nerve when she asked about why she was walking that way. Shrugging her shoulders Page was observant Alex didn’t really want to talk about however she pushed the subject “Yes your walking funny”
It didn’t really matter how she was walking Page just wanted to get her things and get to setting up a nice prank on a kid that teased her earlier.
Leading Alex to the kids room, Page took her room key and inserted it along with a hairpin and ’jimmied’ the lock open.
“Come on in quickly!" She told Alex as Page flung her back pack on the floor and started to set up her, no not hers their prank.

Page dumped one of the kids pail on the ground and went into the shared bathroom that was between each double room and put water into the bucket.
Returning to the room, she moved a shelf into position near the door and placed the bucket filled with water on the tip top shelf. Using the string she took from Alex’s prank she tied to the bucket. “This is how you set a great prank!” Page said with a laugh as she picked up her back pack and started to exit the room “Well don’t just stand there come on out of there" she told Alex and once she was out of the room she carefully tied the string to the knob of the door and closed it.

Looking at her watch she told Alex that the kid gets out of his class in a couple of minutes and that knew that the kid always came to his room between classes because he was always so concerned about his appearance. We can watch from the sitting area across the hall.

Like clockwork the boy came, opened the door with a swift shove and the bucket of water spilled on top of him causing a good ruckus with him screaming his lungs out.

Page couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollability.

[Genesis Kyland]

Genesis opened her mouth to protest that she had not been walking funny, but Page was already heading off. Hovering somewhere between irritation and curiosity, she hurried after her. What sort of prank could this girl be planning if she was under the impression that triggering some books to fall would get someone kicked out of school? That in mind, she couldn't imagine what Page had planned would be anything big. But all the same, it could be interesting... and it wasn't like she had anything better she wanted to do.

Alex followed as Page led her to the dorms, and fiddled around with the lock on a door. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "You think what I had planned back in the library was gonna get me booted from the school, but you think breakin' and enterin' ain't?" Not that she had any qualms about breaking and entering when it came to student dorm rooms, she'd done it a few times herself... Maybe this girl just didn't like to see other people pulling pranks that she wasn't a part of. At least, that was the feeling Alex was starting to get from this.

"This is how you set a great prank!" Page was saying. Alex had been listening to the girl's movements, along with keeping up on the mental pictures from the sounds Page was making setting things up. Water over the door... well that was original. Alex played along, however. Original or not, certain pranks were well known for a reason-- they could still be perfectly amusing if set up right.

She slipped out of the room when Page directed, listened to her explanation of their target, and then walked to the sitting area with her. So, the target was concerned about his appearance... She chuckled a bit. Well, this sort of prank was definitely set up for the right person then. She nodded to Page to let her know she'd heard, as well as understood the good set-up. "This'll be good," she whispered.

She kept still, listening for the boy's approach. Finally, she caught sound of his footsteps. The rattle of a key... the turn of the doorknob, and the whoosh as the door opened and the water fell. Alex's grin was cut somewhat short as he started screaming, and she was forced to clap her hands over her ears. "He's a screamer," she commented, finding her grin again.

Something was still nagging at her though. The girl had been worried about books in the library getting someone into trouble... Then she'd both broke into a student's room, and set up a prank that did a heck of a lot more damage than some books falling would've. Soaking the floor with water? Then laughing so hard, obviously not worried about anyone knowing that she'd been the perpetrator. Then there was the whole issue of Page not thinking Alex's own prank was good enough, and she went and did something generic like water over the door... Genesis shook her head. No, she wasn't sure this girl quite made sense yet, but she'd earned points for effort at least. It was the thought that counted, anyhow, right? All the same, she decided in her mind that though this girl had taken a step in the right direction, even if she needed some guidance in how to prank without getting in trouble for it. Yep, Alex decided she'd better take this girl under wing as a student prankster.

However, it wouldn't do to discourage Page-- her heart was in the right place even if her pranking skills weren't quite up to par yet. So, she shook her head as she agreed, "That was a pretty good prank, s'long as you don't mind cliche. Good set-up and timing, and good choice of target." Yes, she was giving an evaluation of the prank, and yes, she did think herself something of an authority on this sort of thing. Though she didn't want to discourage the girl from future pranks, she didn't want her to have any preconceived ideas that she was better than she was-- that sort of thing got people in trouble. She could speak from experience in that area... She shook her head.

"We should team up sometimes," she added.