"I like your plan but it sucks

so let me do the planning, and that way,

it might be really good"

***

"What are the odds I can pick up that girl over there?"

Archy's question was rewarded with a collective groan from our table. I looked up from my turkey sandwich to Alex bringing up his head back before shaking his head. My eyes were restrained from rolling at Archy's antics.

"This kid becomes the co-captain and official wide receiver of a high school football team, and now he thinks he's hot shit," Alex declared sarcastically.

When Archy took up football in the sixth grade, no one in our group expected him to get into the sport as much as he did. From working out hours in the early morning to the time devoted to studying footballs and different strategies, Archy became one of the best players in the school, even catching eyes of college recruiters to play in college.

That made him start the summer before freshman year with thick muscles and bruises over his limbs. Now that his Coach made him team captain our high school football team, Archy's ego grew exponentially.

"I'm serious you guys," Archy repeated, looking off in the distance. "What do you think?"

Alex and I turned our heads collectively.

"Who are you looking about?" I asked, looking around the café for the girl that caught Archy's eyes.

Archy jutted his chin to gesture behind me.

"Miss Mickey Mouse Sweater, over there," Archy answered with a mischievous grin, gesturing to the girl a few booths down wearing a mickey mouse tank top. She was on her phone, oblivious to the fact that she was being looked at.

She was good looking. Her blue eyes glittered while she was looking at her phone with her slightly tanned hands. The smile growing on her face at something funny she looked at did not appear flirty, but it seemed kind. Her blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, tendrils falling over her face from the humidity.

"I feel bad for Miss Mickey Mouse," Alex commented with sympathy. "She has no idea that a dickhead is about to ruin her afternoon."

That commented was responded with Archy punching him in the arm. Alex was the only person to laugh, amused with his own comment. Everyone knew Archy was not offended and completely use to Alex's sarcastic (sometimes unnecessary) responses.

Both of their parents moved on the same neighborhood at the same time, so Alex and Archy knew each other since they are babies, quickly becoming best friends.

"She's attractive, I will give you that," Alex agreed. "France? What do you think?"

I looked again. We were all starring at Miss Mickey Mouse, who was holding a drink to her pink lips.

"She is alright," I decided, using all the energy I had in me to take my eyes off her. "But don't you have a hobby besides stalking girls?"

Archy, still distracted with the girl, did not respond right away. His face suddenly turned into a shit-eating grin and he sat back down comfortably into the booth before taking a bite of his chicken sandwich.

"She just gave me the eye, you guys. She is begging me to talk to her," Archy insisted.

I rolled my eyes.

"The only begging she is going to do is begging you to stay the hell away from her," I responded.

"Akito would've helped me figure out the best way to approach her," Archy said, his eyes slightly arched at the thought of the girl. 

"Speaking of the guy, have any of you spoken to Akito lately?" I asked. 

No one in our group has seen Akito Hayashi for most of the summer since he left for Japan  to visit his grandparents. When he came back, he left right away for camp to work as a counsellor. While he has been back for the past week before school starts, I have not seen him. We spoke occasionally for the summer but it was difficult from the time difference that is woven into Akito's busy schedule.

Archy and Alex both nodded.

"We watched that new movie that came out last week," Archy explained.

"And I played basketball in the park with him last night," Alex answered right after.

My eyes widened.

"Wait, you both saw him?" I asked, my jaw slacking with surprise.

Alex frowned.

"You haven't seen him since he got back?" Alex asked skeptically.

I shook my head.

I reached out once or twice since he got back a week ago, but he said he couldn't make it. It was not like we did not talk at all. Akito responded to every message and we had conversations, but I have not seen him in person since he left for camp.

Sensing my uneasiness, Archy changed the subject. "He was probably just busy. Anyways, we are going to make this bet or not?"

Alex nodded, "I'm in. If you can get Miss Mickey Mouse's phone number, I will wax my chest."

Archy choked on his drink. He coughed for a moment before looking at Alex's chest. "What chest hair is there to wax, exactly?"

Archy and I both laughed while Alex flipped him off and telling him to fuck off. 

"You are on though. Loser has to wax his chest," Archy finally agreed before returning his glance at me. "We still have to finish the last bet though."

I groaned because I knew he was referring to me. "I am not going to steal something from someone's house, Archy. That's stupid. I didn't even mean to agree to it."

Alex decided to call me four in the morning with a dream of a bet. I unfortunately decided to pick up the phone and agreed to whatever he wanted just to shut him up and I could return to sleep. Little did I know, it was a group bet to see who could steal the most expensive item from a stranger's house. Everyone at this point not only agreed, and do it except me. Even Devon, the least risky member of our group, stole something. 

I would not call Devon the voice of reasoning, but he was pretty damn close in our group.

It seemed like I was the only one who thought it was a bad idea.

"I have done it before. It's honestly not bad. Don't steal something that valuable for goodness sake. Just something small," Alex suggested to me for the tenth time.

Without any hesitation, I responded, "Absolutely not" while shaking my head no.

"Okay you guys, I am going to talk to Miss Mickey Mouse. Watch me, ladies," Archy announced, suddenly getting up. He briefly tidied his hair before rubbing his hands together, taking a deep breath.

He glanced at us one more time before heading over towards her table.

"Why do I have a strange feeling this won't go well?" I asked Alex, watching Archy walk towards his doom.

"Because it won't."

Archy was taking his time walking to the table. He kept looking back, slowly inching his way forward.

"Look. Here Archy goes," Alex whispered to me. "I need to pee so badly but I'm also thirsty and I really want to go to the bathroom but also want to watch this. I don't know what to do." 

"You know you don't have to share this all with me about your bathroom urges," I pointed out. 

We turned to watch Archy finally make it to the girl, who was oblivious to all of this. She was still looking down at her phone, too distracted notice Archy in front of her. 

"Want to make a bet that he will definitely screw this shit up?" Alex asked me.

I shook my head immediately. "No bets. You are already going to watch Archy lose his chest hair."

"Hey there," Archy finally said out loud, interrupting us from our conversation. The girl looked up at him, confusion etched on her face.

"Hello?" she asked slowly, dragging out her hello.

"Are you new around here? I never seen you around here before?" he asked smoothly.

Alex and I groaned at the line. Her face dropped from confusion to amusement. She crossed her arms over her chest. Much to my surprise, she shook her head, and said, "I'm from here. Who is asking?"

Her voice sounded disinterested, like she was just answering a question with no interest in the direction of the conversation.

Alex must've picked up the same thing because he said, "I like where this is heading."

"Most friends support each other you know," I whispered back.

He shrugged. "I'm ready for Archy to lose his chest hair."

Archy was speaking to her in between, but I was not able to catch it from focusing on Alex's conversation. When our conversation died, we both looked up to Archy. He was fidgeting, clenching his hands together, and he blurted out "Where's your boyfriend at?"

Alex turned around, laughing hard. Ignoring him, I watched Archy put his arms behind his back, groaning loud enough for me to hear him.

The girl's smirk turned into a frown.

"Wow. You just came up to me, and already made three assumptions about me," she informed Archy in a matter of fact tone, sticking up three fingers in front of her face. Archy's eyebrow shot up by her remark, but the girl's straight face held her ground.

Archy crossed his arms. "What would they be?" he asked cautiously, obvious that he said the wrong points.

"One: I'm heterosexual. Two: I have a boyfriend. Three: somehow I'm not allowed to come to this café without a man. Only one of those assumptions is right," she elaborated, counting each number on her fingers.

"Which one is correct?" he asked.

"If you use that thing you call your head, you would realize that if the third statement is true then the first two must be, but if the second one is true, then the first one must be. The first one must be true, yes?" she asked him.

Archy blinked at her question, unresponsive to her statement. I turned my head towards Alex. Alex returned his head, mouthing what-the-hell before turning to watch the girl with a newfound fascination.

Archy shrugged. "You are right, but how can someone as beautiful as you not have a boyfriend?"

She rolled her eyes, and shrugged.

"Beats me. Why don't you take a seat down," she pointed to the seat across from her. His jaw dropped for the second time today, which he quickly covered with a smile as he took a seat across from her.

He turned to our table and winked.

Alex punched my shoulder. Feeling pain radiating up my shoulder, I clutched it with a groan. "What the hell is that for?"

"She is fucking talking to him," Alex squeaked in shock.

"Are you that surprised? You know he's not an ugly guy," I commented, looking at the two talking.

Archy's skin tanned from hours of daily football practice. Along with the, dark eyes, jet black hair, and a sharp jawline, he was popular among the girls. He styled his hair back, shaving the sides a little that has attracted girls form our high school in the past.

It wouldn't surprise me if Miss Mickey Mouse felt the same.

"Fuck. I need to get out of here," Alex whispered loudly, grabbing his stuff before attempting to leave the booth. Before he managed to slip away, I grabbed his arm, and yanked it back down the booth. Alex tumbled down the booth, glaring at me.

"Do you not remember when you said once you make a bet, you can't go back?" I asked, quoting him.

Alex's face grew with panic. His grip tightened on the soft seats, digging his fingers into the soft material, but he remained in his seat. "That was in the fifth grade, France. We were still shoving crayons up our noses. Times have changed since then."

"Calm down," I warned him.

He hissed loudly, "Not when my chest hair is at stake." He placed his hand on his chest, and rubbed it as if he was going to part from it. He honestly looked scared to wax his chest off.

I shrugged. I watched Archy and Miss Mickey Mouse talk. She continued to talk, making gestures with her hand. Archy's frown grew deeper with every word she said.

Archy then got up.

"Wait, he's coming back," I immediately reported to Alex immediately.

We both turned around, whistling loudly when Archy silently returned to our booth. He had a disappointed look on his face. He twiddled his thumbs when he sat down, and looked at the guys with an irritated sigh.

"What did she say?" Alex finally asked, still having a hand on his chest.

"She said that I should just go back to my table and tell you guys to stop being creeps," Archy muttered grumpily.

We all turned to see the girl getting up from the table. She glanced at all three of them, and gave us dirty looks before leaving. We watched her leave, dumbfounded that she was aware what was going on.

Alex turned around, instead of a hand on his own chest, he pointed towards Archy's chest. "I am spared. There is a God. We are going to the waxing place this evening to fix that chest yours, Archy."

Archy glanced down at his chest with sadness, and sighed, finishing his cold sandwich that was left on his plate. Alex cheered with joy over the prospect of not having his hair ripped out from his chest, and was looking for the nearest waxing place for Archy, who looked disappointed.

"It was nice having you," Archy looked at his chest glumly.

"Can I come when Archy starts to cry?" I asked in an amused tone.

Alex and Archy shook their heads.

"Nope. Finish the bet. You are seriously the only one who hasn't done it," Alex denied, crossing his arms for good measure. Archy nodded vigorously too, crossing his arms.

Archy probably only supported this because he didn't want to watch me witness his chest hair being pulled out.

"Why?" I groaned.

I didn't want to steal. Stealing wasn't my thing. In fact, I had better things to do.

Archy sighed, "Just do something crazy for once in this boring town."

"I don't know..." I trailed off, scratching the back of my head.

Did I want to do something reckless in my life?

It doesn't matter. I don't have that privilege.

"Just one time. Okay? Just do this bet. It will be fine, I promise. Even Devon did it and you know how he gets with these things," Alex insisted. "Have I ever let you down?"

"Middle school kickball game. You caused our team to lose," Archy recounted thoughtfully. Alex glared at him.

"It was rhetorical question, asshole. Aren't you suppose to help me convince France to do this bet?" Alex asked Archy. He nodded. I looked at Alex's attempt of a pleading look, though it was obviously fake. I looked over at Archy, who also had a hopeful look on his face, through his bruise didn't help.

Archy sighed. "He's right, you know? Since everything with 'she-who-shall-not-be-named', you haven't gone out to any parties with us or hanging out with us and been...well mopey."

I grimaced.

He was referring to my ex-girlfriend, Claire. It was a name that my group knew better to bring up despite breaking up only three months ago. The crush started sophomore year, but our friendship immediately formed in the sixth grade when she moved from California. Something about her had a sexy allure that attracted many guys besides me in our high school. Her laugh was hypnotic, luring me immediately the day he met her. When she brushed up against me, I wanted to be with her.

Of course, that all went to shreds when she dumped me for a college guy she apparently had feelings for and hooked up with.

I looked at my friends, seeing the hopeful looks on their face. It was the only reason I sighed loudly.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Alex and Archy cheered loudly at my decision.

"Don't worry," Archy reassured me, though nothing he could say remove the uneasy feeling in my stomach. "I got the perfect opportunity for you. You're also going to come to the party tomorrow night."

My eyebrows furrowed.

"What party?" I asked.

Alex shook his head. "There's a party happening tomorrow night for seniors in Alpine at some chick's house. That is where you are going to steal something. There are going to be so many people you have to steal something because no one will notice it since it's essentially a fucking huge mansion. Archy got invited and will bring us."

Alpine was the rich town that was right next to ours. Since Archy was on the football team, he was our connection into many parties. Out of the five of us, he was the most popular, knowing everyone through some club or sport, even in other schools. It does not surprise me he got an invite to a million dollar mansion party.

I sighed, "I don't really understand why I have to steal something though."

"It's not about the object you steal. It's just doing something fun,"  Archy explained, repeating the same explanation he provided earlier this summer. "This is our senior year. We need to live a little bit before we go away to college. This is the time to reinvent ourselves."

"And sticking together," I reminded them.

Akito and I were friends since the first grade. We met Alex and Archy together later in the fourth grade before Devon finally joined us when he moved from Colorado during our first year in middle school. We had stuck through it all, maintaining our friendship despite differing classes, busy schedules, and drama that had interfered with our relationships. While senior year will be exciting, I wanted it to keep going with my best friends.

"We have been friends for almost all of our lives. That's not going to change," Alex said with an obvious tone. "Relax, France. This is all good fun. You will see."

I nodded weakly, pulling back a hesitant smile.

"Can't wait," I said, pulling out my phone to send a text.

I'm going to pull a prank just like you would soon. Wish me luck.

I sent it, and I felt an immediate beep. Without reading the response, I shoved my phone back into my pocket. There was no purpose reading the response because I was receiving the same message I always did every time I sent a text to that number.

The text has failed to deliver.

Author's Note: I know some things have changed since my first draft, but I planned out the plot properly for this book, and I'm so excited to show you what the plot!

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