Warning: Eat/drink something while reading this chapter at your own risk.

"We have covered the syllabus for this week, and we are actually ahead of other history classes. So I have decided there will be no regular homework assignment today. Rather..." Miss David's little speech was cut short by the students' cheers.

"I haven't finished yet," she said, giving the class a disapproving look.

A few students groaned.

"As I was saying, you have to make a model of any historical building, site, whatever you want to. Be creative and think outside the box. Next Monday, you have to give a presentation about it," said Miss David.

"There goes my perfect weekend," groaned Martin.

"Can we help each other in making the model?" asked Lisa.

"Yes, I forgot to mention, you will be working in pairs. Choose a partner and start discussing. There are ten minutes till the lecture ends," said Miss David.

A babble of noises broke out, as most of the students got up hastily, trying to find a good partner so that they would not have to do much work.

I kept seated on my chair. I was quite good at model making and wasn't really bothered who would be my partner.

"Mary, my partner," said Nancy, placing her chubby hands on my desk.

Scratch that, I did bother who my partner was. Anyone but Nancy. I did not want her boogers on my perfect model. I glanced at her hands. At least, the fingers and nails were clean of any suspicious looking matter.

I opened my mouth to reply when Harvey flopped on the chair beside me.

"Hey there, partner," he said.

"She's my partner," said Nancy. "She always is."

"Then it's about time she had a better one," said Harvey rudely.

"Who said you'll make a better one?" Nancy asked, flaring up.

"She likes me more, that's why," said Harvey.

"You?" she scoffed. "I don't remember a single moment when you two were civil to each other."

"Have you been blind since the last ten days?" he asked.

"No, but I think..." started Nancy.

"You think?" asked Harvey, feigning surprise.

"I will..." started Nancy, raising her voice.

"Don't waste your time. Go find another partner," said Harvey, interrupting her.

"What is going on back there?" Miss David asked from her table.

I turned my face towards her and saw that she wasn't looking at us.

"Harvey is being..." started Nancy, but stoped abruptly as she realised that Miss David wasn't speaking to us.

"Justin and Sally both want me as their partner," answered Martin, looking smug.

'Wannabe,' I thought, rolling my eyes.

Both Justin and Sally started talking at once, justifying how they would make a better partner.

"Enough of this. Martin will choose who he wants as a partner. If I see or hear someone arguing again, I'll make them work alone," said Miss David firmly.

"Miss David," said Nancy, raising her hand.

"Yes, Nancy?" asked Miss David, frowning.

"Didn't you hear what she said?" hissed Harvey. "She'll make us work alone."

Nancy ignored him and said, "Harvey is bothering me and Mary."

Unlike Justin and Sally, who were giving points why they would make a good partner, Harvey and Nancy started telling Miss David why the other one would make a horrible partner.

"Harvey and Nancy, both of you are partners for this project. And if you get anything less than an A, you will remain partners till the end of this semester," Miss David said, and turned back to what she was doing.

I glanced at Nancy, she looked a bit peeved. Harvey, on the other hand, looked horrified.

"But..." he started.

"No buts. I said no arguing," said Miss David, without even looking up from her work.

"What are you, five?" Harvey glared at Nancy. "It would have been better if I had to work without a partner."

Nancy just shrugged in reply and sat down next to him.

I was a bit bummed that I couldn't have Harvey as my partner. I would have loved to go to his house again. Now that he was not as annoying anymore. But I would never admit it out loud.

So, I threw a mocking smile at Harvey, and looked around to see an empty seat beside anyone. The smile slid off my face when I realised that there were odd number of students in the class and that everyone had already chosen a partner.

I glared at Nancy whose stupid childishness or selfishness, or both, had led to me working without a partner.

After looking at me, Harvey's mood considerably lightened. He smirked at me and I scowled in return.

"Good luck making a booger free project," I said maliciously.

"I think she doesn't pick her nose anymore," he said, leaning towards me.

We sneaked a glance at Nancy and sure enough, her hands were safely clutching her history book.

"I guess you'll have a booger free project then," I said.

But I had spoken too soon. Nancy covered her nose with her left hand and before her right forefinger entered her nostril, me and Harvey quickly looked away.

"Sunshine, sparkling rainbows and unicorns," I chanted, closing my eyes.

"What?" asked Harvey, surprised.

"Trying to get rid of the image," I pointed towards Nancy with my chin.

Harvey laughed and started chanting with me.

"Harvey," Nancy tapped him on the shoulder, and he jerked away from her, impulsively.

I snickered.

"Yes?" he asked, crinkling his nose.

"Where are we going to make the model? Your house or mine?" she asked, clearly annoyed at his reaction.

"Just a sec," said Harvey and turned to me.

"What do you think is safer? Going to her house cause I don't want my house to get her germs, or inviting her over because I don't want to go to her grem covered house?" Harvey asked in a whisper.

"How about a public place?" I asked.

"Good idea," he said, and turned back to Nancy. "Why don't we meet at the library?"

"Okay," said Nancy. "I'll text you what to bring."

"Sure," said Harvey, as the bell went off and everyone stood up to leave.

"I'll see you at the library then," said Nancy and held out her hand for Harvey to shake.

Harvey hesitated for a couple of seconds and quickly picked up his books in one hand and his backpack in the other.

"Sorry, hands are full," he said, smiling apologetically.

"You are rude and mean. I do not want to see your face again. I am not going to do anything about the project. You're on your own," said Nancy angrily and stomped away.

Harvey was flabbergasted.

"Rude and mean? At least I made an excuse instead of bluntly telling her that I'm not shaking her hand because she stuffs her fingers up her nose," said Harvey angrily.

"Chill out," I said.

"Now I'll have to do everything myself," he said, not chilling out.

"No big deal. This is not going to effect our grades," I said, consoling him.

"But I'll be stuck with the freak if I don't get an A," he growled.

"Oh yeah! I forgot," I said sheepishly.

He threw me an annoyed look and walked away.

"Someone woke up at the wrong side of the bed today," I muttered, walking towards my next classroom.

~~~

I was standing in the lunch line, waiting for my turn, when Jamie walked up to me and said, "come on, let's go eat lunch."

"I haven't bought mine yet," I said, raising my empty tray to his eye level.

"I have already bought yours," he said gesturing towards the cafeteria tables.

"Why?" I asked, suspicious.

"So that you don't have to wait in the line," he said in a duh tone.

"Okay," I said and ditched my tray before following him to our usual lunch table.

I flopped down beside Harvey who was already tucking in. He greeted me with a nod, his mouth full of food. At least his mood had improved.

"Hi," I chirped and pulled my lunch tray towards me.

I bit into my burger hungrily. As I was chewing, I felt something leathery scrape my palate. I felt it with my tongue and realised that it was not something edible. It initiated my gag reflex and I emptied the contents of my mouth onto my lunch tray.

Harvey started making loud gagging noises, which caused the students to turn their heads towards us. I ignored the stares of the whole school and wiped my mouth with a tissue.

"What happened?" asked Jamie, with a concerned look on his face.

"There was something inside," I said, making a face.

Jamie poked the chewed up burger with his fork.

"What are you doing?" I asked, disgusted.

"Seeing what made you spit it out," he said.

I made a face, but kept looking.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "It's a lizard's head."

"No it isn't. It doesn't look anything like a lizard's head," I said, looking closely.

"That is because you chewed it," said Jamie, opening the other untouched portion of the burger.

"You are so gross, it's nothing..." the words had just escaped my mouth when I saw a beheaded lizard resting on the lettuce leaf.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and jerked backwards. The chair tilted and fell. My scream was cut short by the noise of my head hitting the cafeteria floor. Harvey got up to help me.

Jamie picked up the lizard by its tail and brought it near my face, saying something; which I couldn't hear because of my spinning head and loud noise in the cafeteria.

I scrambled away, lifting a hand up, gesturing Jamie to take the lizard away from me. He tossed it back on table, as Harvey grabbed my arm and pulled me up. He straightened my chair, and made me sit on it.

"It's just a fake lizard," said Harvey.

"What?" I asked, looking at Jamie.

"It's not just a fake lizard. It's a fake fence lizard. Sceloporus undulatus, of the family iguanidae," explained Jamie, winking.

I got up angrily and stomped out of the cafeteria.

"Wait, Mary," said Jamie and I heard him following me.

I kept walking. I went to my locker and started taking out my books.

"What are you doing?" asked Jamie from behind me.

I turned my tear stained face towards him and saw that Harvey was also standing beside him.

"I'm going home," I said, wiping a fresh tear. "I'm changing schools. I am not going to go to the same school as you do."

Jamie looked aghast, while Harvey stepped back a few inches, so that Jamie couldn't see him and gave me a thumbs up.

I mentally groaned. 'Why is it so difficult to prank Harvey?' I thought. 'It's not fair. He can look through all my acts.'

"I'm sorry. Really really sorry. I didn't know you were afraid of lizards. I'll do anything you say," Jamie rambled on desparately.

"When I was six, I fell into a pit full of lizards. It was a nightmare. Since that day..." I broke off and started sobbing again.

Harvey rolled his eyes, and gave me a look that said, seriously? Is that what you can come up with?

"You challanged me to prank you. That's why I did it. By the looks of it, it worked. But no seriously, I wish I hadn't. I wouldn't have if I knew," said Jamie.

I couldn't take it anymore. The look on his face had me rocking with laughter. Harvey joined me.

"What happened now?" asked Jamie, confused.

"Who fell for the prank, now?" I laughed.

"You... you... argh!" Jamie couldn't think of a suitable adjective for me.

"I hate you," was all he could come up with.*

Me and Harvey high fived.

"You knew?" asked Jamie.

"I've known her for long enough to guess what she's up to," said Harvey.

"You are a meanie," said Jamie, pouting.*

"I'm the ultimate prankster," I smirked.

"I can't believe I fell for the lizard pit story," he face palmed.

"I can't belive that either. Really dude? That was one lame story," said Harvey.

"It wasn't," I said. "I think it was pretty creative."

"On the bright side, I can rub it in your face that my prank worked," beamed Jamie. "Tell me truthfully when you started acting?"

"When you told me that it was a fake lizard, I was about to laugh in relief and congratulate you on the success. But I suddenly changed my mind and stomped away," I explained.

"Oh my God, you were terrified. You fell off your chair. You really are scared of lizards," said Jamie gleefully.

"Am not," I said.

"Are too," he countered.

"It was in my freaking burger. I bit off it's head. Of course I acted as I did," I said.

Our friendly banter was cut short, by the bell ringing, signalling the end of lunch break.

~~~

"Who were you texting?" asked Harvey as soon as I stepped out of the classroom, with Jamie just behind me.

"You really are a stalker," I said. "Don't you have anything better to do than to keep staring at me during the entire lecture? Like listening to Mr. Rolling, for example."

"I can do multitasking," he smirked.

"It is actually none of your business, but to satisfy your curiosity, it was Ralph," I said.

"What was he saying?" asked Harvey.

"Another date?" asked Jamie.

"Yeah," I said. "Day after tomorrow."

"Where?" asked Jamie at once.

"Why are you asking?" I asked.

"Just looking out for you. That guy gives off bad vibes," said Harvey. "You have to tell us where and what time are you going to meet him."

"Don't worry, it's a public place. Plus, I can take care of myself," I said.

Harvey nodded at Jamie. It was a vague gesture, but I noticed it.

'What are they up to?' I thought, getting a bit annoyed.

"Just be safe, okay? You can never be too careful," Jamie said, and Harvey nodded, agreeing with him.

"Guys!" I whined. "He does not give off bad vibes. He's just a normal guy. You both are paranoid."

They shrugged in response and walked away.

I stared at their retreating backs, and shook my head to clear my mind.

'They are just messing with me. As usual,' I thought and went to my locker to get rid of the extra books before going home.

~~~

'How would you like to come to my house today? We can first complete your project together and then mine. Jamie is willing to help too.' _H

'This isn't a prank or anything?' _M

'Nope, I promise.' _H

'How about tomorrow?' _M

'Sure.' _H

'I'll be there at five.' _M

I wasn't absolutely convinced that the project was the only reason he was calling me over. But I wouldn't know unless I went.

So I did!

Author's note:

Hey guys!

Chapter dedicated to MyNameIsAreeb

Because when I was writing the scene in which Mary was pranking Jamie after she had stomped out of the cafeteria, I was reminded of a certain prank. * the extreme reaction to it. It still makes me giggle as soon as I remember it :D

Update by courtesy of awoosh141

Video of a very cool prank attached with the chapter :)

So, how was the chappie, huh? Let me know in the comments.

Here come the mentions. A huge thank you and virtual hugs to,

mysterygirl-writer
alinasyed2107
the_dream_follower

Special mention for this chapter is,

MuslimahForeva

For your amazing comments.

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See ya!