"Why do you build me up buttercup, baby, just to let me down, and mess me around?" -Build Me Up Buttercup, by The Foundations
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A rest of the week flew by, and Evelyn had already gotten what she needed for the prank that she and Tim had planned out. Her parents had given her some strange looks when she told them she needed an abnormal amount of Swedish Fish (for no reason, of course), but she was quite certain she would be able to get away with it. "He shouldn't get in a lot of trouble for it," Jack had said, "but it'll still get the message across!" The only thing to do now was get to school early, without looking suspicious. And that was proving to be tough, seeing as her mom drove her to school every morning.

But her opening finally came at dinner one Sunday night as her parents were talking. Evelyn wasn't paying attention to her dad's work stories, until her mom spoke up.

"...That reminds me," her mom was saying, "I have an early morning meeting at the office on Wednesday. Except, I just don't know how we're going to get Evelyn to school that morning."

Evelyn looked up suddenly. "You could just take me to school early, Mom. I can wait the extra half an hour for class to start. Besides, I can get the opportunity finally have a proper look around."

After a few minutes of clever convincing, her mom finally relented. And so Evelyn just had to wait until Wednesday.

The days leading up to Operation Friendzone (as she and Tim called it) were torturous. Every single conversation with Jack ended with her wanting to slam her head against a wall. The tactics— if you could even call it that— that Jack used to get Evelyn included quite a few one-sides lines, including:

"See, Ev, here's ten reasons why you should be with me."

"If you weren't so ambitious, you'd realize that we're a perfect fit."

"Why won't you love me? I've given you every reason why I think you should."

But the days flew by, as they always did, and as Evelyn woke up on Wednesday morning, she was overcome with anticipation and excitement. If they'd planned this right, Jack would get the message and back off, and nobody would get in serious trouble. Maybe a couple people would find it funny.
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"Bye sweetie! I'll pick you up at the regular time, alright?" Evelyn's mom said as the former got out of the car.

"Yep. Bye Mom!" she waved and ran into the school, a little bit nervous but mostly excited. Not even pausing to stop by her locker, she made a beeline straight for homeroom and peeked inside the classroom. Just as she suspected, the teacher was nowhere to be seen. Perfect. She sat down at Jack's desk and opened her backpack, pulling out package after package of Swedish Fish that she'd stashed away in her backpack the night before. As soon as she filled the inside of his desk to the brim, she wrote a note on a sticky note and left it on his desk.

There are other fish in the sea, you know. Here's a visual representation of you haven't gotten it through your skull yet. -E.B.

Then she left as quickly and quietly as she came, and waited in the entrance hall for Skyler and Ava.
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"Hey Ev! You're here early, huh?" Ava waved as she walked in.

Evelyn shrugged. "Yeah, kinda. My mom had a work meeting and had to drop me off early." Then, making up her mind quickly, she added, "But I did need to get here early anyway, so that worked out."

"I'm sensing you're up to something Ev," Skyler grinned, leaning in conspiratorially. "What went down?"

"I'll tell you in homeroom, I promise," Evelyn smirked in reply. "So let's go!"
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As students began to file into the room, Evelyn felt an overwhelming sense of anticipation and excitement. She couldn't wait to see what would happen! Hopefully, Jack alums would get the message and back off. Or he'd be mad enough to ignore her. Either way, it'd be a win.

And suddenly Jack walked in. He smirked at Evelyn (he'd been doing that every day so far) and shoved another boy out of the way so the former could sit down. Evelyn watched as he slammed his notebook on the surface of the desk, then noticed and read the sticky note. He looked bewildered for a second, then shrugged and stuffed his notebook in his desk.

His notebook didn't even get halfway in before Evelyn saw the first packages of Swedish Fish fall out of his desk. He jumped about a mile, then looked confused, before she saw the lightbulb go off in his head. She snickered as he pulled handfuls of packages out, forming a huge pile of candy on his desk.

Mrs. Thodis, the homeroom teacher, chose that exact moment to walk in. And it just so happened that she had a strict no-snack policy in her class. She took one look at Jack's desk and said, "Mr. Walterson, care to explain?"

Evelyn was fighting back giggles as Jack whirled around at the speed of light and flushed. "I— I didn't put this here. I promise! I don't know how they got there!"

The rest of the class was watching the scene unfold with rapt attention. "So a pile of candy just magically appeared on your desk then, did it?"

"It- it must have! I don't know what else!" Jack shouted.  Mrs. Thodis gave him a pointed look that clearly said he'd crossed the line. "Detention after school today, Mr. Walterson. And get those sweets off your desk."

Jack was almost visibly fuming, and Evelyn could barely resist her laughter as the class began.
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A/N: hello! Sorry it took kind of long for me to get a chapter out because I couldn't think of a good prank... and I was procrastinating. Also, I realized I forgot to put a song quote for last chapter. Oh welp. Anyway, have a good day!