Page 32 of Stuck with You

“Oh, okay.” I was quiet as I thought it over. It seemed strange that they’d open school when everything else remained committed to staying closed. Experts on the news kept insisting that the virus didn’t affect kids in the same way it did adults. Perhaps that’s what made it okay for us to go back to school.

I lowered the sun visor above my head to take a look at my appearance in the small mirror. I immediately scrunched up my face in disgust. My hair was a total mess, and there was a long crease down the side of my face from where I’d been sleeping. I probably smelled too. It wasn’t going to be a lack of caffeine that drove people away from me today. It was going to be the lack of a shower and deodorant.

I let out a sigh as I lifted the visor, pushing it back into place. I was a total lost cause today, so there didn’t seem any point in bothering to redo my hair.

“You really couldn’t have woken me up a few minutes earlier?” I complained to Aiden.

Elliot laughed from the back seat, and I shot him a scowl over my shoulder. “It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is. Some of the zombies on my video game are in better shape than you right now, MJ.”

“Great,” I muttered. I was rocking up at school for the first time in weeks looking like I’d just risen from the dead. It was just what every girl wanted to hear.

“I think you look pretty hot—for a zombie.” Aiden winked at me.

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. “I’m not a zombie.”

“But you need a constant stream of caffeine in your system to keep you animated,” he continued. “And if you don’t get it, you’re likely to bite the head off the closest living being.”

“Just like a real-life zombie,” Elliot added.

I lifted my head to glare at them both. Aiden laughed when he caught my expression. “Don’t deny it. You know it’s true.”

“I…” My voice trailed off as Aiden pulled the truck to a stop in the school parking lot. There were no other cars in sight, and not a single student was wandering around the grounds. “Where is everyone? Did you guys get the email wrong?”

I turned to find two identical grins watching me. “What’s so funny?”

“Clary, what day is it?” Elliot slowly asked.

“Wednesday…” Though I failed to see his point.

Aiden rolled his eyes. “Yes, but what is the date?”

The days all seemed to merge at the moment, so I glanced at my phone to check it. “Uh, it’s the first of April…”

“April Fools’!” the two of them screamed at once.

I slowly looked up at them as their words sunk in. “This was a prank?” I drew in a deep breath. “You guys pranked me?”

“Yeah, and we got you good!” Elliot exclaimed.

I struggled to contain my anger. “You guys woke me up and dragged me here just to laugh at me?”

“Um, yeah?” Aiden replied hesitantly

“And all when the world is in lockdown and we’re not supposed to leave the house?”

They both fell silent, and a look of uncertainty replaced Aiden’s proud grin. There was nothing to be proud of. Pranking girls should be illegal—especially if it involved waking her up before nine in the morning. And I wasn’t sure if I could forgive either of them for flouting the lockdown rules just for a laugh.

“You guys suck.” I jumped out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind me.

“Clary, what are you doing?” Aiden asked, jumping out of the truck to chase after me. He raced around the front of the vehicle to catch up with me. I was on a mission though. I wanted to get as far away as possible from these two idiots.

Aiden lightly touched my arm when he caught up with me. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We thought you’d find it funny.”

I whirled around to face him. “Aiden, you dragged me here without letting me shower or brush my teeth. You probably wouldn’t be breathing right now if you hadn’t given me a coffee.” The remainder of my coffee was still in the truck, and I glanced back at it with longing. I should have finished my drink before storming off.

Aiden tucked his hands into his jeans pockets. “Look, I really am sorry. Elliot and I get a bit excited about pranking each other on April Fools’ Day. It’s a bit of a Moore family tradition. We thought it would be fun to include you.”

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