STORYTIME!

Okay so it's become a tradition that every year at VBS, my friend and I engage in an epic pranking battle with our Youth pastor. I accidentally started it one year when he was in charge of rec on water day by telling some of the kids to dump water on him when he wasn't looking. He got his revenge by doing the same thing.

Over the years, the pranks are ranged from "kick me" signs to the back, smearing food in hair, and (my personal favorite) getting a video of us dumping a giant pitcher of ice water down the Youth pastor's back and then adding the footage to the Parent Night slideshow for everyone to see. This year was possibly the most nerve-racking.

My friend and I decided to not pull any pranks until the very last day of VBS, since our Youth pastor always waits for us to make the first move. So on the last day while he was stuck inside playing security, we stuck out with a few adults to help us to saran wrap his car. It was hilarious; we wrapped it around the truck and then over and under. I sat up on top on the vehicle while one of the adults laid under so we could make sure it was wrapped up nice and tight.

We eventually had to stop being extra and go back inside to do our duties for Parent Night. (I had to lead music and then do a quick costume and makeup change to perform in a cute little skit as a goofy Scottish girl who had just become a knight who had been a recurring character throughout the week.) After everyone was released to go eat some refreshments, my friend and I went back outside to get some pictures of the car. As we were walking back, one of the adults who had assisted us earlier came out, saying that she had been looking for us. She told us, "There's a certain someone with a special something for one of you, but that's all I can say".

 My friend and I automatically knew that it was the Youth pastor with a prank, probably with the two extra pies that had been leftover from a game the older leaders had played earlier. My friend declared that he was probably going after me, since I'm the PK and all that. We decided that if one of us was going to get pied in the face, we would go hide in the bed of the Youth pastor's truck so that when he found us, he would know that we still won the Pranking Battle.

So we went to go hide out there. After a while, he FaceTimed us, and since we were laying back, he was able to see the bed of his own truck... he didn't recognize it though. His sister, however, did, although she didn't tell him where we were. A few minutes later, we glanced up and there he was, our Youth pastor along with one of his friends, being followed by the younger boys. Of course, there were the pies.

I scrambled on top of the car, and I yelled at my friend to do the same. She didn't hear me, and she tried to escape through the parking lot. The boys cornered her, and she got pied in the face AND in the back. (As it turned out, they were never actually after me at all. Their only target was my friend for something she had joked about earlier in the week.)

After his momentary victory, our Youth pastor turned around with a huge dorky grin on his face, which quickly fell when he finally saw his car. He was quiet for a moment before he looked up at me and said "Even when I think I'm going to win, I lose." The night ended with my friend sticky and dirty, our Youth pastor spending half an hour unwrapping his car, and your dear friend Emerald remaining untouched the entire time.

And that's how I emerged the winner of the Pranking Battles once again, even though my usual partner-in-crime had fallen.