Okay, to avoid confusion this chapter takes place at the being of the last chapter. I know that might seem confusing, but if you remember, the last chapter was mainly flashbacks and before then, they were in the classroom. So it picks up from there. It's about two months into the gangs sixth grade year just for reference.
Another interesting note, I know i made Principal Prickly seem like the evil person in the world in another story of mine, but I am going to redeem him in this story (weird right?). But that won;t come for a while.
And just so the title of this chapter doesn't confuse the hell out of people, Devil-may-care means about the same as happy-go-lucky. It means reckless and I used it because…it sounds cool. And it goes along with the chapter incredibly well. So without further ado…
Read on!
In the back of Third Street School, TJ found himself sitting on the ground with the schools balls on one side of him, and a medium sized box on the other. Instead of being in class where he was supposed to be, he skipped to do something he believed to be worth his time. What they were teaching in class was not interesting to him, and he thought that if he was going to be in school, he was going to have fun there the entire time and not just the two hours the school allowed. Besides, school was meant for learning, and since he wasn't learning in class, he was going to go and find something to learn.
On this particular day, TJ planned to play the biggest prank he had ever played. It was so big in fact, that it took several weeks to plan and make it just perfect. Over time he had gotten bored of playing pranks on one or a few people, that was kid stuff in his mind and he wasn't much of a 'kid' anymore. He was, as the grown-ups put it, a 'young man.' And since he did small pranks when he was a kid, then he figured that he should be doing big pranks now that he was a young man. That was just fine with him, as he was interested in different types of pranks anyways.
Before, his pranks were simply just for getting back at those who deserved it. Now he found himself wanting to do pranks to watch what happened to those who he was pranking. Those things were not usually safe. He remembered how one time he played a prank on the school, or rather those who dared to eat the school lunch and they had all gotten sick. Though the kids were sick, it was funny to him, and he wanted to do more of that which was why he was where he is today.
The balls to his left were deflated by him; that took only a few minutes for him to do because they didn't have much air in them in the first place. To his left was a box heat held the most important part of his plan. Using a piece of paper and tape he made a funnel. Putting that down beside him, he grabbed one of the deflated rubber balls and opened the box to reveal lots of smaller boxes behind him. Grabbing one he started to open it until he remembered a crucial step.
"Duh," He said to himself, feeling dumb for what he had almost forgotten. "I gotta put on the lotion so it doesn't affect me…" Looking around he found a small pink bottle. He squeezed some of the lotion out onto his hand and rubbed it on his arms, hands, chest and face. Taking and extra precaution he rolled up his jeans and rubbed some on his lower legs. With that done, he continued what he was doing.
Opening one of the smaller boxes TJ used the funnel to pour the power that was in the box into the ball. After about two cups were in the rubber ball he stopped and grabbed the nearby air pump. Carefully, he pumped the ball full of air. When it was full enough he slowed his pace until he couldn't force anymore air in. Carefully, he put the ball inside the cart that was used to bring them out to the students during recess. With a smile he repeated the process on the other balls until he was finished.
Returning the ball cart to its normal position, he hid with three balls he took for backup and waited until the bell for recess rang.
~*~MEANWHILE~*~
Focusing on the difficult math equations on their papers Spinelli, Gus, Mikey, Vince, and Gretchen, who found the problems to be child's play, urged for the bell to ring to free them of their prison. All day they did work from their history textbooks, read several very large chapters from their English textbook, survived a science lecture from their teacher, and now they were working on the math problems they had to complete. More than once they had to stop and rub their sore fingers. But they were happy knowing that because they had to focus on their work that time had passed faster and that meant recess would come sooner.
Normally recess would mean that they would execute a plan with the missing person in the class, but after the falling out just before the school year began, that was not going to happen. After being included in TJ target for his pranks and seeing the nature of the prank they refused to hang out with him until he stopped. Even after two months however, he hadn't.
Soon the bell ring, snapping the students out of their trance induced by the focus on their work and they were running out side for a little slice a heaven they called recess. Walking out the double doors they looked around for anything that looked suspicious. Because TJ wasn't in class today they knew that he was up to something and that it usually was not good. But they didn't see anything out of the ordinary and continued their way to the ball cart.
As usual Randall pushed the cart full of balls for the students to play with. When the students saw that the balls were actually inflated for once, they clamored for one of their own and when they were all taken, they when off to play their own games.
The remaining five of the gang had managed to grab a basketball and was headed to the court to play a game of 4-on-1.
"Wow, the balls actually have air in them today," Said Vince tossing the ball between his hands. "Now we can play a decent game."
"It makes sense. We're not allowed to play with the newer balls that are kept locked away inside the school," Said Gretchen. "So to keep us from trying to gain access to those, they would make these usable to us."
"Whatever the reason is, their good now," Said Spinelli. "C'mon, let's go play." Sudden there was a loud BOOM from across the playground. Turning around they saw a small group of students with a white haze around them. Coughing, the students in the haze looked around to see what had happened. Then there was another BOOM and another coming from all over the playground until there was a white haze all over the playground. When it cleared students were wondering what had happened. On the ground laid the torn remains of the balls that they were playing with and it became clear that something from inside them caused the haze. Then, they all were starting to itch very badly.
~*~MEANWHILE~*~
As he looked from the side of the school, TJ smiled as the students began to scratch wildly and sneeze uncontrollably from what he had put in the balls; itching and sneezing powder. The smile soon turned to a chuckle and that into a laugh. Grabbing one of the balls he had, he threw it onto the playground where he thought the powder didn't spread. Everyone was itching and sneezing and he saw that his prank was a complete success. After throwing the last two balls out onto the playground he made is way from the side of the school to get a better view of his work.
The sound of him laughing grabbed the attention of the students on the playground because none of them were laughing. They were wondering how with could have happened while trying to stop themselves from itching and sneezing. Closing his eyes as he laughed, TJ didn't notice the five students that approached him.
"Did you do this?" Asked a voice. He was grabbed by his collar a pulled forward. Opening his eyes he could see it was Spinelli how asked the question and who was holding onto his shirt. He nodded, holding in his amusement. Behind her he could see the rest of the gang scratching and sneezing like the rest of the playground. "You think this is funny? It's not funny!"
"Yes it is!" He said. "It's funny to me!" With a push he was on the ground. Still he continued to laugh. Angry from the prank he played, Spinelli grabbed a handful of the white powder from off of the ground.
"I bet it wouldn't be funny if it happened to you!" She said as she through the powder onto him. Even after it was on him, he didn't scratch or sneezed like the others.
"You didn't think I would've thought about that?" TJ said to her. "Why would I not make sure that I wasn't affected?" With that he got back up on his feet and started to walk away.
"C'mon guys. Let's go try and wash this stuff off," Said Vince. Mumbling in agreement they all headed towards the bathrooms. While they went to make an attempt to get the powder off, TJ sat on the stairs to the school at get a full view of the playground. Kids were trying anything to stop themselves from itching. Some were rubbing their backs against each other, and most were trying to manage to scratch their whole bodies at once.
"DETWEILER!" Looking to his left, TJ watched as a very irate looking Ms. Finster approaching him. Smiling her stood up. "What have you done this time?"
"Why nothing Ms. Finster," TJ said. "I haven't done a thing. I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about you little hooligan!" Grabbing onto his sleeve she dragged him into the school towards the Principal's office. Soon he was standing outside of the door to the office and instead of walking in with shame for what he had done, he stood up straight and started to go in with pride. He was proud of what he did, and wasn't going to hold back his pride for anyone. Closing the door he walked into the room.
"What are you in for this time, Detweiler?" Principal Prickly asked him.
"It's difficult to put into words, sir," Said TJ. "But if you just turn around and look out the window you can see it better than I could ever explain it." After looking up from his paperwork, Prickly turned around and looked out the window. Outside the playground was covered in the itching and sneezing powder. "What is that stuff?"
"Itching and sneezing powder, sir."
"The school board is going to have my head for this," He said turning around and rubbing his closed eyes with his thumb and index finger. "What ever happened to the pranks you used to play? The ones that where on individuals and didn't do this much damage? Those go unnoticed by the school board! When those kids parents start calling in I'm gonna lose my job over this!"
"Those pranks became boring," Said TJ. "I needed something new, something exciting."
"And what about your friends? Are they in on it, too?"
"Yeah, right. Those guys don't know how to have fun anymore, so I ditched them months ago. So what's my punishment this time?"
"A month's detention should set you straight," Said the Principal.
"Yeah, that's a really good idea," TJ told him. "Give me detention so i can do my homework before I get home where I can think of more things to do to everyone; that's smart of you. Even if I don't do my homework there I can still come up with more pranks and do my homework when I'm at home. Either way you can't win."
"What has gotten into you, Detweiler? It's like over the summer you became evil."
"Not evil sir," Said TJ. "It's just…..have you seen the look on peoples faces when I do this? It's priceless! So what's the harm in it? I get better at pranks, they get some excitement in their lives, and I keep you busy so the board doesn't think you're only here for the summer vacation. So what if a few kids get scratched or bruised or if a few things get blown up? It's not the worstI can do, trust me. I can do a lot worse than this. Now if you don't mind," He said grabbing the piece of paper with his punishment written on it. "I have to get to class." Waving the principal goodbye, TJ headed out the door and began to walk to class. Walking through the halls the students, who were still trying to stop themselves from sneezing and scratching, sent looks of anger at him. Pausing outside of the classroom TJ turned around to face the angry kids.
"Why so serious?" He said before turning back around and laughing to his seat. Looking at the clock he could see that there were a few more minutes before class started. Opening his desk he took this chance to look at the small device that was the most important part of his last prank for the day. After looking around for it he picked it up and held it. It was a small control with an on/off switch and a single bright red button in the middle. It took him weeks and lots of reading on electronic engineering to put it together but it was finished. Once students started to come into the class, he put the control away and began to wait for the perfect time.
The next lesson for the day began, and although the teacher said that all of the information she was presenting would be on the test of Friday, TJ wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. Instead of taking notes like the rest of the class, he was drawing out his pranks for tomorrow. Like always, he planned for everyone to get a dose. But how?
'It has to involve something sticky like glue, but stretchy like rubber….' He thought to himself. 'But even if I do make something like that how am I gonna spread it around? People aren't gonna play with the balls after today…..' Writing down idea for his next idea, he looked up at the clock and decided that it was time. Opening his desk he grabbed the control and flipped the switch to 'on' making the button light up. Smiling, he pressed the button and counted down from three. Exactly three seconds later everyone's desk opened with a small explosion. Everyone screamed in surprise and smoke started to pour out. While the student were trying to figure out what had happened to their desks, like always, TJ was laughing at what he had done. Before the teacher could even tell him to go to the principal's office, he stood up and went, laughing the entire way.
"I'm back!" He shouted as he entered the principal's office. "Did you miss me?"
"It hasn't even been 30 minutes!" Principal Prickly said to him. "What could you have possibly done?"
"Blow up everyone's desk," TJ said casually. "So what other punishment are you gonna give me now? Another month of detention? Or maybe eraser duty, you haven't given me that yet."
"I don't know what to do with you!" He said. "No matter what punishment I give you, you keep doing these things and they keep getting worse! So it's not worth giving them anymore. Get out of my office, Detweiler."
"I'm glad you see it my way, sir," Said TJ. Waving a goodbye, he headed out the door. Soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day and when back to class to get his things. Like before, the other students sent heated looks his way and he still ignored them. After grabbing his backpack he headed outside to his bike, but he didn't notice the paper with his plans written on it fall out of his backpack. However someone did.
"Hey you guys," Said Spinelli. "Look at what I found!"
Whoa, A cliffhanger! When will I update? Probably a day or two, i'm trying to make each chapter 3,000 words long. (crazy, right?) But there is a lot I want to happen and i need to figure out how to arrange it.
Donna nnov: to answer your question from the review from Fit for A King, yes I did name them after kings and queens! Seems appropriate for the two of them. ;D
Please Review!