Cell Mates

01|| Red, White and Blue

01

"Where did you say you wanted it?" I asked making sure my voice was a whisper in case my sister heard noise downstairs and decided to investigate.

"East side of the building, by the tennis courts," Vic replied nonchalantly, as if we weren't planning on defacing school property.

"Remind me again why I agreed to this? I mean –"

"You aren't chickening out, are you?" she interrupted, raising an eyebrow at me.

"No," I said scowling. "I just don't see the point."

"The point," Vic replied derisively, "is to see if you can do it without getting caught." She took out a folded slip of paper from her jacket pocket and stuffed it into mine. With a smile far too wicked she said, "Don't open it until you get there. I want it to be a surprise."

I knew I was being stupid – no, stupid was putting it nicely. I was being completely reckless trusting Vic, trusting myself to pull this thing off and get off unscathed. But at that moment, I shrugged and returned her mischievous grin and we both slipped out the back door of my house into the silent night outside.

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I glanced around and breathed in a sigh of relief. Around these parts there was usually a neighborhood watch patrolling the area late into the night. Either they were taking a break or they were blocks away by now. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Vic and I crossed the street and walked onto school grounds already prepared to deliver the hit and get the hell out of there. I knew I was most looking forward to Monday morning at the unveiling of our little "art project". That's when the real fun would start.

"Do you have the paint cans with you?" Vic whispered as we passed the entrance and the plaque on the door proclaiming Pembroke High as one of the best public schools around. I snorted as my eye gleaned the inscription in passing. What a joke, I thought.

"Nope, I wasn't really sure we needed them. After all we're just spray painting the school, and our whole plan kind of depends on them," I said sarcastically.

Vic threw me a dirty look over her shoulder that told me she wasn't impressed with my response. I smiled up at her and went ahead, matching my stride to hers until we arrived at our agreed upon destination: the eastern-most wall of the school facing the tennis courts.

I dropped my bag off my shoulder and started sizing up my canvas, inspecting what it was I had to work with. The brick wall was at least 60 feet tall, my school being quite large needed two floors to accommodate the amount of students, giving me freedom to do just about anything with the amount of space allotted.

"Alright, I came with you which is the only thing I promised to do. You're up sweet cheeks." Vic brushed her short pixie hair out of her eyes, and held onto my shoulders. "Best of luck," she said laughing as she strutted away.

I rolled my eyes and waited for her laughter to fade before I got to work. Unrolling the worn piece of paper she'd written her instructions on, I read her sloppy handwriting by light of my phone and laughed silently as I read over her words.

Vic may have been a manipulative bitch most of the time, with a penchant for calling in her favor at all the wrong tines, but I had to admit she had a great sense of humor.

I bent and picked out the can of black spray paint tucked safely in my bag and uncapped it. Laying a good background always came first, and since I hadn't been allowed to see what it was I was supposed to be painting, I hadn't been able to prepare a stencil either. I was going in completely blind, at once an exciting challenge and an obstacle.