*Hands over an Oreo*
Ryder's P.O.V.
"Is it weird that I'm totally aroused by this?" Dylan said, admiring our work.
"Always Dy, always." Cole said, patting Dylan's back with a grimace.
I wiped my greasy hands off on a cloth before stepping back with the guys to admire our work, myself.
We were at school. At Emily's locker.
Let me rephrase that.
We were standing in front of Emily's very very safe locker, because it was protected by about a hundred locks.
Yes. Almost a hundred locks on her locker. It definitely was a lot of work but totally worth it.
"And the best part is that this isn't even the best part." Dylan cheered, waving his hands around in excitement.
"Yeah, she's gonna love the surprise that's inside." I smirked.
I still haven't forgotten about the humiliation I had to face, due to my very unattractive picture, super glued to the lockers in the hall and I planned on getting back at her with a similar approach.
"Hey, we're right on time. People are coming in." Cole said, motioning towards the parking lot as cars and students started trickling in.
"This is so exciting." Dylan said, rubbing his hands like some evil scientist. "But you know what you're getting yourself into right?"
I raised my eyebrows. "If your peanut sized brain worked properly it would remember that I got into this weeks ago."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't mean the prank war. I meant the scale of it."
I frowned, looking at Cole to see him nodding in agreement.
"You just kicked it up a notch man and-"
"The fuck?"
A new voice cut Cole off, making us turn to the source.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ryan said, scanning our masterpiece, which was Em's locker.
I rolled my eyes as the very familiar feeling of hatred brew inside me at the sight of this clown.
"How can we help you Ryan?" Cole said, sensing the tension between us.
"How about, you help me by not messing with Em?"
My jaw ticked at him talking about her and using her nickname as if they're old buddies.
"I don't see how it's any of your business, Gosling." I said, with a fake smile on my face.
Dylan snorted and tried to cover it with a cough, making Ryan's jaw clench.
"Listen here buddy." Ryan said, stepping towards me, trying to be intimidating. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's not gonna happen and your attempts at it are getting pretty sad, you know?"
Amused by his confidence, I crossed my arms over my chest. "And what is it exactly that I'm trying to do?"
"You don't think it's obvious?" He scoffed. "Your sorry attempts to get noticed by Emily even after all these years."
I raised my eyebrows in amusement.
"Getting friend-zoned wasn't enough of a hint for you to back off, huh?" He said with a smug smile, making a muscle tick in my jaw. "I wouldn't stick around like a love sick bitch if I were you, man."
He patted my shoulder in sympathy, making me bite my tongue. "And what would you do if you were me?"
"Hmm... " He breathed out. "Let's see. Well, for starters I'd stay Miles away from Em, because, you know? That's what a person with self respect would do."
My glare intensified at the reference to her name, when I decided to take a smarter route.
I glared at him. "You really do- " I glanced behind him. "-oh hey Alec, what's up, man?"
Ryan's eyes widened and he whirled around so fast, he almost lost his footing. "Hey man, I was j-" He stopped once he noticed, the absolute fool he had made out of himself, as there was no one standing behind him.
I smirk, as Cole and Dylan burst out laughing.
Ryan whirled back around towards us and opened his mouth when I cut him off. "Yeah, that was a reminder of who you are. So you better stay in your limits rather than worrying about my self respect."
Ryan's face was red and the nerve on his forehead almost looked ready pop any second when a smooth voice cut in between our conversation.
"Uh what's going on here?" Miles walked closer to where we were standing, very slowly and cautiously. "Ryder? What are you doing here?"
My damaged brain, thought this would be the best moment to let loose a bunch of butterflies in my stomach, and make me feel giddy about the fact that she focused on me and ignored Ryan's mere existence, as soon as she reached us.
"Hey Em." Ryan said, stepping towards her, making her gaze snap to him.
"Oh hey, didn't see you there." She said with a confused smile. "What... Uh are you guys doing here?"
She eyed us all one by one, cautiously before stopping at me.
Maybe because I had a creepy smirk on my lips.
I couldn't help it. My prank was in action.
Ryan opened his mouth, to probably whine about the inconvenience that I am, when Em's gasp cut him off.
"What the actual fucking hell?!" She gasped, her eyes glued to her locker.
She raised one hand to her head and left it there, as she continued to stare at her locker in disbelief.
My smirk widened as she passed by Ryan without sparing him another glance, and walked closer to the locker, which was also right next to me and the guys.
The guys took a step back, because let's face it, we all saw what Miles is capable of and who knows when she might decide to end one of us.
"I was just asking them to not mess with you Em." Ryan said, placing a hand on her shoulder, making me automatically tense up. "Don't worry, I'll deal with them."
Miles let out a breath before turning her head to face me, slowly with a look that could kill.
"I really appreciate the thought, Ryan," She said, still glaring at me. "but I can deal with them myself."
She cracked her knuckles subtly, but that was loud enough for us all to hear.
Ryan let out an uncomfortable chuckle before continuing. "I could always teach these kids a lesson, Em. They obviously don't know how to behave with a girl."
The twins let out a low 'ooh' while I cringed at what Ryan said as we saw Em's face scrunched up in displeasure.
This guy doesn't need me to tell him to back off, he's doing a pretty good job ruining his chances himself.
Miles let out a low chuckle and this time, I almost took a step forward to step between them before she lets her anger take over herself.
But I wasn't sure if I'd want to stop her from putting him in his place.
She sighed, as any sign of rage left her features.
She slowly turned where she was standing, making Ryan's hand drop from her shoulder.
She looked at him with a sickly sweet smile. "I think I am very capable of doing that myself. Thank you Ryan." She said in a chirpy voice.
Ryan opened his mouth to speak again but Miles cut him off.
"Also, before I forget," she unzipped her bag before pulling out a case of sunglasses and handing it to Ryan. "can you give this to Alec, he dropped it in the car because he was in a rush."
I snorted at that before clearing my throat and looking away, trying to act casual and not give away how giddy I was feeling right now.
Ryan gave her a tight lipped smile before taking the case from her and muttering something under his breath and turning to leave.
Miles looked at his retreating back in confusion before turning back towards her locker and sighed.
By now, a small crowd had gathered around her locker, pointing and laughing at the atrocity that I had come up with.
She raised her head to look at me for an answer, making me chuckle.
"Well, you've done what you had to do. What do I do now?" She said, pointing at her locker.
"What do you mean?" I asked, with puppy eyes, faking oblivion.
She sighed. "I need my books for class, Ryder."
"Oh right, totally forgot about that." I snapped my fingers as if I just realised something. "Dylan." I called out, looking over my shoulder, making Miles frown.
Dylan placed a small cardboard box in my hand which I then handed over to Miles, as if it's the most normal thing to do.
"You didn't think I'd leave you with your locker looking like that and with no keys, did you?" I said, placing a hand over my chest.
She glanced inside the box to find it filled with keys.
"In fact, because I'm your best friend, I'll give you 200 keys instead. Aren't I amazing?" I said with a small smile.
"WHAT?!" Her eyes widened.
"No no no Ryder. This would take me all day. I don't even know which key is for which lock." She rushed in panic.
"Aww Miles, but that's the fun part." I said, leaning in to pinch her cheek.
The guys and I, then, turned to head to our class.
"Just for the record, we had nothing to do with this Em." Dylan said slowly, before turning, making me snort.
"Yeah, it was all his idea." Cole said pointing at me and turning, as well.
"You are so gonna regret this, Green!" Miles growled, while I looked over my shoulder and blew her a kiss.
I'm in deep shit.
Even though I knew what I was getting myself into, I couldn't help but feel on edge for the whole day because, to be very honest, we don't know the extent Miles is gonna go to, for getting back at me.
Let's just hope I stay alive till I build up the courage to one day confess to her.
It was around lunchtime that the muttering in the hallway grew louder and the smell grew super foul.
That was a sign that Miles had managed to open her locker.
Just then, I saw someone making a beeline towards me from the corner of my eye.
"YOU!" Miles seethed, once she reached me, pointing an accusing finger at me. "You don't know when to quit it, do you?"
My eyed widened slightly as I looked at her disheveled state and the little packet she was holding with her fingers of her other hand.
Okay, so maybe locking her locker up with 100 locks wasn't the only thing I did. Maybe I filled her locker with a bag of rotten fruits and vegetables that we found at the back exit of the school cafeteria.
"You better stay on your toes, Green." She let out a dark chuckle. "I'm not gonna go easy on you anymore."
I gulped, looking down at her as a crowd gathered around us again, talking in hushed tones.
She flung the bag at my face, which I caught in a haste before she turned and walked away, after giving me a stink eye.
*****
The last bell of the day went off, making me sigh and walk towards the door.
I looked left and right before exiting the classroom, letting out an irritated groan.
This is so nerve wrecking. I've been so nervous, and on edge since the time Miles threatened the shit out of me. I've been checking every chair I sit on, everything I eat and drink before I do and let me tell you, it gets tiring.
Now, if I didn't already know what Miles was capable of, I wouldn't fret over it, but it's the new Miles we're talking about.
A hand landed on my shoulder making me flinch and turn quickly.
"Woah! Chill dude." Dylan said, raising his hands in surrender.
"So, it seems that you've been well." Cole mocked.
"I can't believe what you guys did to Em. That was cruel." Perri said shaking her head.
"It was all his idea. We just happened to be there." Cole said, making Perri narrow her eyes at him in disbelief.
"Yeah and if you get a chance, can you tell this to Em too?" Dylan said, sheepishly.
"If you didn't want to face the consequences, why did you do it?" Mia said, rolling her eyes.
"Because that's how pranks work." I breathed out. "We don't think of consequences, we just create a master plan and go with it."
"Well, good luck surviving Em's master plan." Perri muttered, as we started walking towards the exit.
Coach called off today's practice because we have a big game coming up and we need to recover to train harder.
"So when is this game of yours?" Mia asked, zipping up her bag, while walking alongside Dylan.
"Yeah and please tell me there's an after party." Dylan added slinging an arm over Mia's shoulder, making her duck her head and red crept up her neck.
I rolled my eyes, as I tried to stop from smiling at the two lovebirds. "It's in two weeks. And yes there's a party, I'm not sure where though, since I'm obviously not going."
A series of complains came from everyone.
"No. Guys, you know how much I hate parties."
"And we've never forced you to go to one because you were always the uptight and lonely one in the group." Dylan said, making me roll ny eyes and mutter a 'thanks' under my breath.
"But," Mia continued. "You're totally different now, you're much more fun, almost like a normal teenager and like yourself from three years ago and you know why?"
Everyone exchanged smug looks, making me frown.
"Because Em is back." She finished.
"Yeah, your other half, your partner in crime. Even though you're trying to destroy each other, half of the time, she's bringing back the old and better version of you." Perri said.
"I'm not sure about any of this sappy crap, but it somewhat does make sense." Cole shrugged. "You don't mope around like a sad puppy anymore, you talk and laugh a lot, now that she's back."
"And you're even kind of fun too, dude." Dylan patted my back. "You played an amazing prank on her for god's sake."
"Gee I don't know if I should thank you or be offended , you guys." I said, cautiously.
They laughed, making a small smile of my own to grow on my lips.
We reached the parking lot, as Dylan explained to them how we got our hands on the waste material from the cafeteria to put in Em's locker when Cole suddenly stopped walking
"Holy shit." He breathed out, looking at something ahead of us.
We frowned and snapped our heads to the direction he was looking at and I swear I stopped breathing for a second.
My Ducati Panigale V4 matte black, my absolute love, the one thing I adore which was perfect till just this morning as I drove it to school, was now a hot pink colour.
My knees wobbled as I stared at my beloved bike with my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.
The work wasn't sloppy meaning, there was a professional brought into the school premises specially to cover my bike up with a hot pink colour.
Not a single trace of black was left.
Even the seat was sprayed pink, almost making me fall on my knees.
I heard gasps and Snickers from around me as a huge crowd gathered around me and my bike as I slowly walked towards it.
I almost felt humiliated on behalf of my bike as it stood there in a state that it shouldn't be in.
"And she strikes." Cole breathed out, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"She's really something." Perri said, clicking a picture of my bike, making Mia whack the back of her head and motion towards me.
I, then heard a voice making my snap my gaze towards the source.
"Did you like my surprise?" Miles said, innocently, while sitting in the driver's seat of her car, with Lex on the passenger seat.
"Come on guys." Lexi called out, to the girls, making them, look at me nervously, before walking towards Em's car, slowly.
"Right. Did I mention we're having a girls-only slumber party today?" Mia said, nervously.
"I think I did mention something along the lines." Perri said following her. "Anyway, really sorry about the bike Ry. You might want to get that fixed."
And with that they got into Em's car and I met Em's gaze once again.
"Dude." Dylan shook my shoulder. "Are you in shock?"
"See you later, boys." She called out, blowing me a kiss, mocking me for the way I did the same to her, just this morning.
And then she drove away.
Cole slapped his forehead, letting out a groan. "I should've seen this coming. She has always hated your bike."
My head snapped to his direction as if a light bulb went off in my head.
I looked at him wide-eyed. "You're right. She does, doesn't she?"
"Uh... Hate your bike? Yeah, I mean, I think we all know that already?" Cole said confused at my sudden reaction.
A smug smile grew on my face as I grabbed hold of his shoulders. "You're a genius, man."
I, then ran a hand over the seat of my bike almost as if saying a prayer of apology.
"Yeah well, I know, but why though? What made you realise that just now?" He said blinking.
"We're going to get back at her, today itself and it this going to be epic." I said, looking back at the school gates, that she drive out of, moments ago.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Cole said, shaking his head.
"Oh shut up. I'm loving this." Dylan said rubbing his hands. "So, what's the plan?"
"It's just a simple phonecall."
*Author's note*
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
This was kind of like a filler chapter for the events ahead so yeah, lemme know what you think about it.
Don't forget to vote and comment.
Until next time <3