Chapter Five

Maybe It’s a Prank

Ismail Ambani was hanging out with his friends, Alejandro Musso and Steve McLaggen, in his house. Steve McLaggen was a tall yet athletic and handsome guy with a white complexion. He has this dirty blonde hair that matches his pure green eyes. Ismail considered him to be his best friend in middle school. They had a lot of time together than with Richard, Travis, Louis, or even Edward. He loved Steve’s quirky yet spunky attitude. On the other hand, Alejandro Musso is a Spanish-American guy that has a tan skin with a messy brown hair. Ismail liked Alejandro’s way of speaking because Alejandro gives stress to every word. Alejandro was the kind of guy that you would actually want to be with because of his jovial personality.

Ismail’s parents were out so they used that as an opportune to hangout. They sat on the living room and decided to watch a horror movie. Alejandro and Steve started picking a movie from the shelf while Ismail started heating the popcorn.

“I wanna go something scary,” Steve suggested using his scary yet sinister tone. “A Nightmare on Elm’s Street!”

 “Yuck,” Alejandro said, “is that the movie where the killer was a janitor who has razor hands and appears in nightmares?”

 “Yup,” Steve nodded, “Freddy Krueger.”

 “Yeah, Freddy!” Alejandro said as he pretty much articulated the sound of “r”. “I’m so over with that movie. Let’s go something different.”

“Whatever, bro,” Ismail walked in holding a bowl of popcorn. He pick a DVD entitled Halloween. “What about this?”

“I’m so over with that, dude,” Steve whines. “I’ve seen that millions! I wanna go something bloody!”

“This is definitely bloody and morbid,” Ismail defended.

“Nah,” Steve said, “I don’t like how Michael Myers kills his victims. It is so tacky. Hate it!”

“Whatever, bro,” Ismail rolled his eyes.

Then, Alejandro grabbed a movie and smiled as if it was the movie that he has been looking for. “This one!” He showed the DVD to Ismail and Steve.

“Friday the 13th?” Steve read the cover.

“Yeah,” Alejandro pleasingly nodded.

“It’s just like Freddy and Michael,” Ismail said, “same old killing.”

Alejandro ignored them and put the DVD on. Ismail and Steve had no choice but to watch it. Then, the movie started to play.

Ismail turned the lights off to make it creepier and intimate. He went back to the kitchen to heat the cheesy-flavoured popcorn. Then, he ran back because he heard the movie playing its score.

They all seated on the long white couch in front of the flat screen with their legs curled up. They could hear the popcorn seeds popping from the kitchen. They could also smell the aroma and could identify the flavor. Then, the eerie score of the film with its opening credits kept on rolling and goose bumps came in to them.

“Are the popcorns rea-ready?” Alejandro’s mouth quivered.   

Ismail peeked at the kitchen and nodded. “Go pick it!”

“Hell no!” Alejandro cried cowardly. He was pretty much scared.

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” Ismail grinned.

“Dude, the scary part hasn’t even started yet,” Steve added.

Alejandro blushed as he stood up. He put both his hands on his waist as if he was Superman. “No I’m not!”

“Then go get the popcorns,” Ismail demanded.

Alejandro showed how brave he was. “Pause that.” He pointed to Steve who was holding the remote control. Then, he started heading to the kitchen. He turned the stove off. Then, he tore up the popcorn wrapper. He was careful because the wrapper was hot. As he opened the wrapper, the scent of the Butter flavored popcorn billowed in the air. It was delicious. He looked for a glass bowl to put it on. Then, when he turned around, he was startled when he saw a guy in a Ghost Face mask – the killer in the Scream Movie. The hands were up in the air as if it was about to grab Alejandro.

Alejandro jumped in fear. His facial expression made him looked like an idiot. Then, the guy removed the mask. It was Ismail bursting out to laughter. Steve, from the living room laughed as well. He was clutching his abdomen so bad.

Alejandro gazed at them, embarrassed. His face was red. “What the fuck, man?”

Ismail was holding his stomach and cannot stop laughing. He even mocked Alejandro. “You see your face! Waahh!”

“That’s epic,” Steve said from the living room. “I should’ve recorded it or something.”

Alejandro frowned. “Too late.”

“Peace, man,” Ismail tapped Alejandro’s right arm.

Alejandro realized how funny it was so he also laughed it out. He even gave Ismail a punch on his right arm. “You sure got me.”

Ismail smiled and grabbed a bowl and the popcorn. “Leave it to me.”

Alejandro went back to the living room.

Ismail carefully transfer the popcorns to the glass bowl. He could hear Steve teasing Alejandro from the living room. Suddenly, his SideKick phone started buzzing. It surely tickled his right thigh. He grabbed his phone in his side pocket. The screen says One New Message. He opened the text message:

I would love to do that to you too. Not just scare you, but GUT you! –E

Ismail smiled and thought that it was a joke. “Good one, Alejandro!” H. He grabbed the bowl full of popcorn and headed to the living room. “Good one, man.”

“What?” Alejandro innocently asked.

“Texting me a creepy message,” Ismail replied. “Where did you get another phone with a blocked number?”

Alejandro and Steve exchanged looks. Steve had no idea what Ismail was talking about. So was Alejandro. “What are you talking about, dude?”

“Texting me this,” Ismail showed his SideKick. “Using an E label? That’s original.”

Alejandro read the text message. Steve peeked in.

“I did not text that.” Alejandro denied.

Ismail then shifted to Steve. He felt really weird about it.

“Not me.” Steve beckoned.

Ismail started to feel uncomfortable. “You know it’s not funny?”

“I really didn’t!” Alejandro protested. “You can do a body search on me. We weren’t even holding our phones.”

Ismail swallowed a fear in his throat. He felt unexplainable things crawling in his body after realizing that his friends proved their innocence.

“Well, whoever that was,” Steve began, “I think it was just a prank.”

“Yeah,” Alejandro added, “twenty first century is full of prank losers. We’re leaving in the world of prank. Just ignore it, man.” Alejandro analyzed Ismail’s expression. “That’s what you get when you prank me! Karma goes faster now, eh?” He nudges Steve.

Ismail quickly nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a prank.” Then, he grabbed the remote control and played the movie.

Maybe it was just a prank, was it?