The Shoe Story

Chapter Four

At three o'clock the next morning, I got a text from Ataraxy telling me that her 'insider' had told her that the first gift had been a success. I was still wondering if we could trust this 'insider'. 

The letter we'd put through the Cartwrights' door had been, quite simply, a forgery of an expulsion letter from the school. In it, Ataraxy had listed five of Jamie's offences that she knew he wouldn't have told his parents about. So by the time they would have phoned the school office and found out it was all a lie, no doubt Jamie would have confessed to it all. 

All in all, I was quite pleased with our work. 

I unpaused the movie I'd been watching and lost myself once more in a good old classic James Bond.

***

By the time morning rolls around, I'm only on the fifth chapter, and that's not even a twentieth of the full book. If I have to finish this thing, it's going to take me a long while. And even then it probably won't be what I want it to be- a clue. 

Dejectedly, I consider this. Ataraxy wouldn't leave me a thick book to get through- she knows the only sort of books I like are generally short, non-fiction, or action-packed. Or comics. So I'm probably just wasting my time. 

Sighing, I set the book down on my bedside table and head downstairs to make myself some toast.

***

Ataraxy and I met up at the library again. She was practically glowing with excitement. "I can't believe it was so effective!" she kept saying. "I didn't know things would go so well from day one!"

"Yeah, yeah." Despite my constant eye rolling, I was actually quite pleased with our work. It's scary how easy it is to bring someone down. "So what's up for today?"

Ataraxy booted up a computer and plugged in her memory stick. "We print out another copy of the carol. Then we're done here."

I nodded. "Wouldn't it be smarter to print out eleven copies now?"

She shook her head. "Gives us an excuse to show up at the library. Keeps your parents happy."

And yours? I was tempted to ask, but said nothing. 

Once we were out of the library, we went to a café a few streets down and ordered milkshakes while Ataraxy explained today's prank. "It's simple. A foam grenade."

I blinked. "That's it?"

She shrugged. "It's harmless, but it'll be effective in this situation. Because our target won't be him directly." 

Moodily, I stirred my milkshake. "How does that work?"

"He's got a date with someone new tonight. Surprising after yesterday, but there we go." Ataraxy had a blob of cream on her nose. I decided not to point it out. "So we're going to get her with it. They're going to a Christmas party, she'll probably be wearing something fancy, she'll get mad."

"She'll blame it on him," I realised. "She'll either think it's a prank by him and his friends, or she'll assume-correctly- it was one of his many enemies."

"Exactly. I rather hope she'll lean towards the first." Ataraxy grinned. "It's flawless."

What was not flawless was the fact that Jamie and his date would be leaving for their party at eight o'clock. Unfortunately, both of my parents were at home, and would have no doubt been suspicious if I'd left the house after dark wearing full black carrying a bottle of vinegar. So I ended up closing my door, turning the volume of my TV up, and climbing out of the window again. I hit the lawn awkwardly, almost smashing the bottle of vinegar, and sprinted madly for the cover of the trees.