*NOT EDITED*

Chapter 51

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Two weeks later, Damon, Ryder, Drake, Emma, Naomi, and I were standing in the school's main hallway in our third period before lunch.

"Okay, we are on a very tight schedule. Once that bell rings, everything should be in its place," I said seriously, pacing the hallway with my hands behind my back.

It was finally time for what I've been waiting for my whole life.

The Senior Prank.

"I have a question." Naomi weakly raised her hand. "What if someone was going to the bathroom and saw us?"

"It'll be too late to stop us and no one will be going to any bathrooms right before lunch," Damon replied.

"Any more questions?"

Everyone shook their head and I nodded. "Let's start, then."

"Come on, the bell's about to ring!" Emma exclaimed.

We all stepped back and got out of the way. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, making me jump in my place with a lofty smile on my face.

Just then, the shrieking bell rang through the school and a moment later, classroom doors were being opened and students were rushing down the stairs.

Luke, the first person to reach the end of the stairs realized what was going on too late, he had already taken the first step.

I watched in amusement as his mouth formed an O shape and he toppled over his feet. He slipped and fell down on the floor.

The whole floor was covered with plastic cups of water. There was no way you could go from one side to the other without getting wet or falling.

After that, the whole thing played itself out. One student after another comically fell. My eyes widened in excitement as Celeste shrieked and slipped. She toppled over Luke and he groaned.

"Get off me. Why do you weigh so much?" he exclaimed as he struggled to get away from her. Currently, they were the new couple in this school. and it wasn't going out too well for them. It was for me, though, their arguments were just something else.

I bent over laughing and slapped my knees repeatedly with everyone else as more students shrieked and yelled.

Mrs. Johnson stepped down the stairs and widened her eyes when she saw what was going on. Small panic settled in when I saw her, but it died down when she did a little turn and fell on top of Celeste and Luke with a yelp.

I fell on the floor from laughing hard and clutched my side as I felt a stitch forming. My eyes caught Damon's and we laughed even more, making me wheeze.

"Look!" Drake exclaimed and he pointed to the stairs.

Kyle and Brydon from the soccer team were slipping the way cartoon characters did. Their feet were kind of running in place as they held on to each other in panic. I laughed harder as they finally fell on top of each other.

This is was totally worth getting in trouble for.

I felt someone push me from my back and I grabbed whosever's hand was in front of me in hopes of being saved, but we both fell into a puddle of water.

It turned out to be Ryder's hand that I grabbed and he landed on top of me. Luckily, his fast reflexes came in handy when his elbows were holding his weight. Our noses were almost touching and we were breathing the same air. My laughing stopped.

I cleared my throat and he quickly got up.

He was about to say something when the principal's voice rang through the hallway.

"You six! To my office, right now." The expression on her face was murderous and I couldn't help but gulp anxiously.

We all walked to the side where most of the cups had already spilled and I was careful not slip. I felt everyone's eyes on us and I couldn't help but smirk at their expressions—some were mad, some were bewildered, and others were staring at us in admiration. I flipped my hair over my shoulder and caught Mrs. Pierson's eyes zeroing on me. Maybe I should've leveled down my pride a little.

We walked into her office and she soon followed us in. I watched as she rubbed her temples and sat down behind her desk. She pushed her glasses into her hair and looked at all of us. Her eyes stopped longer on Ryder and me, recognizing us from my first few days here. I still couldn't get over how young and pretty she was.

"Ryder Adams and Ash Brooks, I should've known it was you two." She shook her head. "I'm going to cut this short because I have millions of other things to do like fixing the hallways and checking if anyone was injured because of you-"

"We made sure that we had yoga mats all over the floor so there wouldn't be that many injuries," I interrupted meekly.

She ignored me and carried on. "I can't suspend you now because you're all going to college in a couple months and this was bound to happen. Senior pranks," she shook her head with distaste, "however, you will be getting Saturday detention for five weeks and you're going to clean the mess you did outside. The Children's Spring Carnival is coming up and this year, it's our school's turn to host it. You'll also be in charge of doing so."

"What do you mean?"

"You will come up with the games, hold the ticket booths, make sure all the children are safe, you're in charge of the snack booths, and whatnot."

"When you say children, what are their grades exactly," I said. "This is my first year here in Fairbanks."

"The Spring Carnival is for middle school and it's going to be after tomorrow," she said, standing up, "you're-"

"After tomorrow?!" Naomi and I asked simultaneously.

"How can we get everything ready to host a carnival in two days?"

She shrugged. "That's for you to figure out. You're all dismissed, I want this hallway to be spotless."

She walked to the door and opened it for us, watching us pile out. Everyone was still in a mess on the floor and I couldn't help but giggle, seeing Luke and Celeste arguing. Her hair was dripping wet and he was pinching the bridge of his nose as she whined and shrieked.

"I guess we should start working." Naomi sighed.

"I'm sorry we got you in this," I said, scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah, you didn't know what you were getting yourself into when you decided to join us. As you can see, Ryder and Ash are well known in this school for their good behavior," Drake scoffed.

"Are you kidding? This was the most I had in . . . forever!" She laughed and Mrs. Pierson shot us death glares, telling us to start cleaning.

We set to work, picking up all the cups and putting them in garbage bags. It was more tiring than you'd actually think it was and forty-five minutes later, we were done with the first task. Now, we had to make sure that no one was injured and if there were any injuries, we had to help them to the nurse.

"You did this," Celeste said with a shriek and pointed at me.

"Yup, I was the mastermind behind this all," I smirked.

She threw her head back and laughed. It wasn't a pretty sight—her mascara was running and her red lips were smeared and twisted in a snarl.

"The principal will punish you for what you did." She flipped a wet curl of brown hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms.

"She did."

Celeste smirked. "And how many days are you suspended?"

"Zero," I smirked back at her and her expression dropped.

"What?" she shrieked and I winced, pressing my fingers to my ears. "You could've killed someone!"

"Oh, don't over exaggerate . . . we had yoga mats. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go and fix the hallway. You should get going, too, and fix . . ." I gestured to her face with my hand in distaste, "that."

She twisted her lips into another snarl and was about to lunge at me when Ryder held her back from the waist. "Just walk away, Celeste."

"Hmph." She flipped her wet hair and stuck her chin in the air. I watched in glee as she strutted away, her heels almost snapping.

Ryder and I were left alone in the hallway. Everyone was okay and there were no injuries. The worst thing was a headache that Luke got from Celeste.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and rocked back and forth on my heels.

"So," I said, dragging the word.

He sighed. "Look, I don't want to do this anymore. I've been giving you space for three weeks now. Heck, it's almost been a month! I can't live like this anymore."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I'm still-"

"I love you. I love you so much and I know I did you bad, but how can I fix things if you're not even giving me a chance?"

"It's not that easy for me," I replied, distressed, "you have to understand."

"I do," he exhaled heavily, "I understand. But just . . . give me something."

"Friends. We can be friends for now."

He looked at me sadly with his damned chocolate brown eyes. He was about to say something when I interrupted him:

"Please. For now. Until I figure it out."

He looked back down and nodded with a sigh. "Well, lunch is out of the question. What do you have now?"

"AP calculus."

"I'll walk you there. That's what friends do, right?" He rolled his eyes.

"Yes, that's what they do." I nodded, amused at his irritated demeanor.

"After you," he gestured with his arms and I stepped in front of him. He placed a hand on the lower of my back and I tutted.

"But that's not what friends do. Hands off."

He grumbled something under his breath and reluctantly removed his hands.

It was like my brain and heart were having a battle of their own. My heart was making my whole body lean into him and tingle when he touched me, but my brain was telling me that that was wrong.

The right thing to do was to stop looking and acting with my heart. I can't trust him after what he has done.

We walked in silence to class. At least this was better than not talking to each other at all.

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Author's Note:

Hey, guys! I wanted you to know that this book is finally coming to an end. I think the epilogue is next, but I might add another chapter before it. I most likely won't, though 😂.

The ride has been long but wonderful. I enjoyed writing each chapter for you guys and for me. Thank you so much for everything.

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