The Prank

Sheila was amazed that Joey had even looked in her direction, much less talked to her. Joey was one of the cool guys, a jock. 

Sheila was a nerd. She was chubby, she wore glasses and braces, and she made good grades. She always made good grades and had her homework done. 

Joey, on the other hand, cruised through school on his athletic abilities and his good looks. He was one of those kids that had skipped all of the puberty problems. No pimples, voice changed overnight, muscles popped up out of nowhere. Every girl in school wanted him, and every guy in school wanted to be him.

But today – today he had walked up and talked to HER. Of all people, he talked to HER. Sheila stuttered and stammered and she knew she sounded like a complete idiot, but she couldn’t control it. She tried to pull herself out of shock and listen to what he was saying.

“So, do you want to?”

Oh, crap! She had missed something. Some part of the conversation. Now she would look like an even bigger idiot.

“I’m so sorry. What was the question?”

“I was asking if you wanted to go to the Fall Dance with me.”

The Fall Dance was coming up in three weeks. Plenty of time for him to find a date. Actually, he could have a date an hour before the dance, if he wanted. Yet, he was asking her, and three weeks in advance, no less. Darn it, now he was just standing there waiting on an answer and she was in her own head again.

“Sorry. I just honestly can’t even believe that you are talking to me. Are you truly, honestly asking me to go to the dance?”

“I sure am…..Babe.”

Babe? He called her Babe?

“Yes, I would absolutely love to go to the dance with you! I mean, who wouldn’t? What girl would turn you down?”

Oops! Sheila realized that she had said all of that out loud. She turned bright red, almost to the point of burgundy. 

“Cool! I’ll get with you about the details later. Write your number down for me.”

“You want my number? Why?”

“So I can call you sometime. Duh!”

Sheila wrote down her number and Joey walked away as the bell rang. Sheila just stood there, staring after him, until someone bumped into her and called her a name, dragging her back to the world.

By the time she got home, she almost believed that she had dreamed the whole thing. Later that evening, while she was reading a book (for fun, her homework was all done), her mother called her to the phone. She went to the phone, not believing that she actually had a call. No one had ever called her before. As she lifted the receiver, her mother mouthed to her that it was a boy on the phone.

“Um, hello?” Sheila said, clearing her throat.

“Hey, Babe, it’s Joey. I was wondering if you went dress shopping yet?”

Her heart sank. He was going to cancel their date. She just knew it. Instead, he startled her with what he said next.

“I was just wondering, ‘cuz when you know what you are wearing, I wanna get my stuff to match.”

Sheila swallowed hard. There was a lump in her throat. She swallowed again, and tried to talk.

“No,” she stammered. “I haven’t gone yet. I will probably go tomorrow.”

“Okay, cool, Babe. By the way, I forgot to give you my number because I was so nervous talking to you.”

HE was nervous talking to HER???

“Okay.”

He gave her the number, and she wrote it down. They said their good-byes and hung up. Sheila practically floated into the living room, where her parents were sitting watching television. They glanced up at her, and her dad immediately turned off the television. They asked if she was okay, and she smiled and nodded. What she said next nearly sent her poor parents into shock.

“Mom, could you take me shopping for a dress after school tomorrow? I got invited to the Fall Dance at school, and it’s semi-formal.”

“Was that the boy on the phone? He was asking you out?”

“Actually, he asked me out at school. He wanted to know what color I will be wearing.”

At school the next day, Sheila was still floating on air. She had no friends to share her news with, because her only friend had moved away two years ago. So, instead of talking about things, she always wrote in her journal at lunch. Today, however, Joey and his friends came over to where she was sitting. She looked up at Joey.

“Babe, wanna come sit with us for lunch?” Joey asked.

“Oh, sure, if you want me to.” Sheila stuttered. She wished she could stop doing that when she talked to him.

Then something amazing happened. One of his friends grabbed her tray, another grabbed her book bag, and Joey took her hand – right there in the cafeteria in front of everyone – and led her to his table. He pulled out a chair for her to sit down. Everyone else sat down, as well. They gave her her tray and bag, and included her in their conversation. When the bell rang, she told Joey that she would be going dress shopping after school. He told her that was cool, and then asked her to call him when she got home.

That afternoon, when she got home from school, her mom was waiting for her. They went to several stores and found her a beautiful dress that had a poufy skirt and layered colors of pink and blue. They got shoes and a handbag to match. Mom bought her a makeup kit, as well. She had never worn makeup, but now she thought that she might start.

Meanwhile, Joey’s friends were asking him if he wasn’t going a bit overboard with the ‘nice act’. 

“Naw, man. She has to believe that I want to go out with her. Otherwise, the prank won’t work.”

They agreed. When the phone rang, he told his friends good – bye and they left. He answered the phone. It was Sheila, calling about what color dress she had bought. He was a bit touched by the fact that she made sure there was blue in it. Not only was that his favorite color, which she mentioned, but also so he would have a boyish color to work with. Most girls could care less about that.

On Monday, he again invited her to eat with them at the ‘jock table’. Some of his friends introduced her to their girlfriends, who also came over to sit. They asked Sheila lots of questions, as if they really wanted to get to know her. 

Joey had noticed that she walked to and from school, and he offered her a ride home. She happily accepted. Of course she did. He knew that she would. When he dropped her off, he offered to give her a ride in the morning, and again she gladly agreed.

The closer it got to the dance, the closer Sheila and Joey seemed to get. They were on the phone every night, doing homework together and talking. On Friday, he wanted to know if she wanted to hang out at the beach. His friends and their girlfriends would be there, as well. They were going to have a cookout and bonfire on the beach before it got to cold. 

Sheila was so excited about her date with Joey. She took an hour picking out what to wear. Her mother helped her put on a light coating of makeup. Joey actually came to the door to pick her up, and met her parents. He kissed her on the cheek when she answered the door.  He complimented her on how she looked, as well as on being prompt and not making him wait. He said every other girl always made him late to everything. Sheila’s parents beamed. 

The week before the dance, Joey and his friends were at football practice. Some of the girlfriends, including Sheila, were watching from the stands. Joey’s friends began getting on him, reminding him that the whole thing with him inviting Sheila to the dance was that they were pulling a prank on her, not being her friends.

“Look, I haven’t lost sight of that fact. It’s just…well….she’s kind of nice and really sweet.”

“Joey,” Tom warned, “we are pulling this prank, don’t you try to back out.”

“I’m not, I just kind of…oh, nevermind. The prank is on, don’t worry.”

The night of the dance came around, and Sheila was too excited to eat supper. Her mother helped her get ready, and tried to help her calm down. Meanwhile, Joey was getting ready, as well, and having second thoughts about the prank. Now that he had gotten to know her, he didn’t really want to hurt Sheila like that.

Tom, Jim, Tony, and Stan, meanwhile, were ready for the dance and for the prank. The girls were all ready for the prank, as well. 

“Okay, Tommy, tell us again how exactly this is going to go.” Becky said, giggling. She knew the plan, but she thought it was so funny that she had to hear it again.

“Sure.” Tom replied. “We will all be in the limo, including Susan, who is Joey’s real date. We will pull up to Ugly Sheila’s house and the driver will blow the horn. When she comes out, Joey will be in the sun roof. Susan will pop up next to Joey, they will kiss passionately. We will be hiding in the bushes, and while she is watching them kiss we will egg her, run to the car, and drive away.”

“Ooooo, you boys are so mean.” Becky giggled.

The limo arrived to pick Joey up. All of his friends were inside already, including his date, Susan. Joey climbed inside and looked around at all his friends. They were so psyched to be pulling this prank on Sheila. Joey no longer wanted to do it, but they were all counting on him.

As the limo pulled up in front of her house, Joey decided that he just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t be that cruel to Sheila. He suddenly realized that he actually liked her. She was fun to talk to, and she was sweet and he wasn’t doing this. He looked at his friends and at Susan.

“I’m sorry, guys, I can’t do it. I just can’t.”

With that, Joey leapt from the limo and went to the door. He knocked, and Sheila opened the door. Her mom and dad wanted them to come in for pictures. Joey motioned his friends that he would be out in a minute.  

"Well, I'm not going without a date!" Susan got out her cell phone, made a quick call, and told the others that her date would meet her at the dance.

Tom considered tossing all of the eggs in the trash, but Stan had a better idea.

As Joey and Sheila exited her house, they were both bombarded by raw eggs from every direction. All of Joey's so - called friends ran back to the limo and jumped in. As the limo speed away, they could be heard whooping and hollering, proud of their prank. Joey sheepishly and ashamedly told Sheila about the prank and how it was originally supposed to go. She was understandably upset. She asked Joey to leave as tears began streaming down her face. She wanted to believe that he was sorry, but right now her heart was broken. Joey left, afraid that she would never speak to him again. He understood, though, that he had hurt her deeply. Eventually, seeing as how he had changed his mind and lost his friends for her, she forgave him.

Not long after, Joey quit the football team. The other guys were relentless and he had never truly liked football, anyway. He and Sheila stayed together, but they decided to skip the prom. Instead, they hung out at Sheila's, ordered pizza, and watched 'Stephen King's Carrie'.