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M adalyn definitely has no fear, and I can’t help wondering if she’s done this sometime in the last few years or months.

Or weeks.

She easily navigates through the app, all the while looking at a notes doc of numbers that definitely seems premeditated. There’s no way she wasn’t planning this, and I feel a bit of distaste at feeling like I was set up.

But this is how Madalyn is. How she’s always been since I’ve known her. I push down my dislike of feeling like Mads is steering this night in her direction, and to her benefit, more than mine. Instead, I let out a breath and lean back against the sofa with my ass firmly on the floor. She’s talking, but I’m not quite listening.

How can I, when from the corner of my eye her face and Em’s look almost blurred?

Almost like my nightmare .

It hadn’t been completely inaccurate, I can’t help but admit to myself. I barely recognized most of my extended family, due to not spending much time with them after I turned nine.

After Uncle Robert did something to make me cry and blame him for hurting me on my birthday. After that, my family distanced themselves from me. Everyone, including my dad.

At the funeral, I felt like everyone wanted me to come out and admit I lied to them. That they all wanted me to hold up a sign saying that I made it all up, or I made a mistake.

That I deserved it.

When Madalyn hangs up, I distantly hear her laughing. Cackling, if I’m being unkind. Em is laughing along, though less convincingly, leading me to believe she’s not as into this as Mads is. Not that it surprises me whatsoever. Em usually just goes along with whatever our other friend asks, in a misplaced devotion I haven’t seen since Lassie.

She’d probably even single-handedly pull Mads out of a well, if it came down to that. Glancing sidelong at them, I watch as Em takes the phone again for her second round, though her fingers shake as she dials in the numbers Mads gives her. She says only a few words before breaking into a nervous giggle, and in seconds she hangs up the phone and looks to Madalyn for validation.

But then, inevitably, both of them are looking at me expectantly, and Mads grabs my phone from the coffee table in front of us.

“Where did you get those numbers, anyway?” I ask, eyeing her with something like discomfort definitely clear on my features. “I doubt these people are willing to get calls like this.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mads tells me, erasing the number with a shake of her head. “Sorry, I think I fucked that one up. Let me…” She puts in another and hands it to me, already hitting the call button so I can’t do anything but take it with a sigh and pull it up to my ear.

“Hit speaker! ” Mads reminds me with a stupid grin on her face. I can’t help the roll of my eyes, but I pull the phone away from my face just to smack at the speaker button on the screen until it finally registers what I want.

Too bad for me. I was definitely half aiming for the hang-up button instead, ready to blame it all on the person not picking up.

But the ringing stops after two long rings, making it clear that either the person sent me to voicemail or actually picked up. My heart stumbles along in my chest, and I’m just as afraid as I would have been as a teenager making a prank call after playing with barbies at a slumber party.

Though if I replace barbies with comedy movies and assume they’ll stumble home in a few hours instead of spending the night, this is pretty much the exact same thing.

“ Hello ?” The voice has a slow, sighing drawl that makes me blink, and the script Mads showed us on her phone suddenly goes right out the window.

Fuck , I think to myself, staring blankly down at the phone as if it’s going to suddenly tell me what I should do. What in the world am I supposed to say? I could hang up. I could apologize, hang up, and throw my phone against the wall?—

“ I can hear the tv in the background,” the voice on the other end of the phone says with a sigh, just as Em lets out a nervous snicker that has me glaring her way until she covers her mouth and tries to control herself. She really is such a fucking child, but Mads isn’t any better.

“Sorry—” I begin, ready to say that I’ve definitely called the wrong number. “I?—”

“We nailed your car,” Mads interrupts, grinning ferociously and lurching forward to sit on the end of the couch. All I can do is glare at her. “Gosh, I’m so sorry. We did some digging once we got your license plate number. This is, uh, a pretty nice car.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line, and I freeze, still staring at the phone. As the moments tick by, I’m sure the person on the other end is going to hang up.

“ Oh, yeah?” he drawls instead, this time sounding amused. “ You nailed my car, huh? Tell me, what do I drive, exactly?” There’s a loud thud in the background, like something heavy and soft has dropped.

Mads and I look at each other, and I realize this definitely isn’t what she’s expecting. I guess she relies on a numbers game for this, hoping the people she calls will just be upset enough at the idea of their car being damaged, that they won’t ask anything further.

Which has it occurring to me just how bad of an idea this whole thing is. She has no backup plan. No way for this not to go to shit.

“Umm.” Mads stares at me as if I have the answers. I don’t, and I only shrug my shoulders. “Well, you drive a?—”

“ There was someone else talking first, right? Someone a lot less irritating than you?” God, I should hang up. I really need to hang up. “ Where’d you go, other friend?”

Fuck.

He’s talking to me .

“I’m…” I don’t know why I say anything, and I glance up at my two friends who just mirror my confused gaze. “I’m still here.”

I’m pretty sure this isn’t how prank calling is supposed to go. At all.

“ There’s the little rabbit. So, you hit my car, did you?” There’s a groan on the other end of the phone, though it doesn’t sound like it’s coming from him. “ Remind me what I drive, will you?”

Glancing down at the phone gives me no answers. “I’m going to hang up,” I say instead. This was a terrible idea, and I’m ready to rip Mads a new one for it.

“ No. Why would you do that?” Another noise. More shuffling sound. “ You called me wanting to talk. Is this not going how you thought it would, rabbit? Tell you what. I can just move past asking what it is you think I drive. I mean, who needs to, right?” There’s a momentary pause. “ After all, I’m standing right in front of my car.”

Yeah, this is going pretty poorly.

Before I can answer, Madalyn wrestles my phone out of my hand and gets to her feet, eyes a little wide and her voice a little high when she speaks. “Take a fucking joke, bro,” she snaps into the phone. Anyone else would think she’s angry, but I can hear the fear in her voice. I can tell how nervous she is about how badly this is going, even if she’s pretending otherwise. “Don’t be a creep. Sorry for bothering you. We were just having fun?—”

“ God, you really are irritating, aren’t you?” He sighs into the phone. “ Have you ever considered ? —”

“Go fuck yourself.” Madalyn doesn’t let him finish. She hits the screen to disconnect the call, then tosses it back to me. Surprised, I nearly drop it, and give her a look of disbelief as I manage to save it from smacking into the fake hardwood floor and set it on the coffee table, instead.

“So, let’s not do that again,” I mutter, running my fingers through my hair. “That was seriously a shitty idea, Madalyn.” I know fighting with her won’t get me anywhere, and from the corner of my eye, I can see her getting frustrated.

“Yeah, okay,” she mumbles with a shake of her head. “I’m going to run to the bathroom.” She goes, and Em gets to her feet, groaning and stretching her arms above her head.

“Care if I use the ensuite? That reminded me I need to pee,” she tells me apologetically, a kind, half-smile on her lips.

“Just don’t judge me for not taking the trash out yet.” I yawn, knowing Em won’t trash anything, or actually judge. Then I push to my feet as well to gather up some of the trash from the night. Suddenly, I’m not so sure I want to watch RV . I’m more tired than I thought I was, and the whole prank call mistake has put a damper on my night.

Theirs too, if Mads’ and Em’s faces are anything to go by. But then again?—

My phone rings, surprising me, and on the way to the kitchen I glance at the screen, balancing the trash in my other hand. The number comes up as Unknown, but that doesn’t mean much to me. Especially since this is how Patrice’s calls always show up.

But what if it’s that guy ? The irrational fear surges through me, and I have to remind myself that Mads downloaded the prank call app on my phone to prevent exactly this. Still, it takes a few extra rings before I have the nerve to answer it, and I bring my phone to my ear just as I dump a box into the trash. “Hello?” I ask tentatively, heart racing. I know it can’t be him . But it’s so coincidental to receive a call right after we did that.

“ Kaira?” Patrice’s voice immediately has me rolling my eyes, though I sag in relief and lean on the counter. Mads appears in the room and I mouth my neighbor’s name at me, causing her to roll her eyes in sympathy. As I watch, she heads to her pile of stuff in the chair and fishes out her vape to head out back instead.

“Yeah, Patrice?” I sigh, glancing at the clock. “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be calling?” It’s already ten thirty, and I would’ve thought she’d have been in bed hours ago to maintain a healthy level of spite.

“ There’s a non-tagged car in your driveway. ” Her voice is sour, and all I can think of is that she’s sitting in her living room with a pair of binoculars, writing down Em’s license plate number.

“Yes, there is,” I agree, taking another load of trash to the can. “My friends are here. You know, the ones you made sure I registered with the HOA to be here whenever they want? The ones with visitor passes?” It’s an absolute joke to me that our neighborhood has to do this, but given the fact I could never afford a house like this on my own, I really can’t complain too much.

Well, yes, I can. And I can hope, secretly, that Patrice either moves or faces an unfortunate fate, as bad of a person as that may make me.

But really, she’s brought on any bad karma all on her own.

“ Hmm. ” There’s disapproval in her voice, and I can all but hear her looking for something else to complain about. “ You’ll bring your garbage can in before noon, won’t you?” She’s desperate. I can smell it.

“You know I will.” Dishes go in the sink next, and I pick up a butter knife while wondering how easy it would be to murder the old woman with it.

“ Well, have a good night, then. I suppose .” Without waiting for me to answer, she hangs up and I’m left with my butter knife and thoughts of murder.

At least, until the phone rings again, prompting the same Unknown number to come up. Em walks in, her expression questioning as I groan and bury my face in my hands with the butter knife protruding near my bangs. “She’s out back, and I’m getting neighborly HOA calls,” I tell Em. “I’ll come suffer with you when I’m done.”

“Try not to lose it. Remember, she’s old and frail.” Em walks through the kitchen, opening the sliding door that leads to my covered patio and the fenced-in yard beyond. On what’s probably the last ring, I answer the phone, head to my couch, and collapse.

“Listen, Patrice,” I begin, irritated. “It is ten thirty . As much as I appreciate your dedication and?—”

“ As fun as it is to hear your angry voice, little rabbit…” The soft, silky tone on the other end is most definitely not Patrice. “ I’ll stop you so you don’t waste what seems to be a very passionate rant on me. And I’m glad to see this is your phone, not your friend’s. ”

For a moment, I’m so surprised that I don’t know what to do. My lips are parted, words heavy on my tongue, but I have no idea what to say, or how to process this.

There’s no way he can be calling.

“You, umm. You don’t have my number,” I murmur stupidly and in disbelief. “We downloaded an app. Some number spoofer that?—”

“ Then your friend forgot to use it, rabbit.” He chuckles. “ But it’s not a surprise, she definitely doesn’t seem like she’s bright enough to stop and double check. Tell me, is prank calling something you do often? You seem pretty awful at it.”

“Who are you? Why did you call me back?” I try to demand, though I don’t feel confident in my words. I hesitate, then add, like I feel the urge to be somewhat polite, “But no, I’ve never, ever prank called anyone. She told me she had before. She said it would be fun.”

“ And is it fun? Are you having a good time right now? ”

“…Not particularly, no. I’m going to hang up now?—”

“ I’ll just call back until you block me. And I’ll be incredibly upset if you do. Come on, little rabbit,” he cajoles almost sweetly. “ My night’s already gone a little off track. Don’t make it worse for me .” Somehow, that feels more like a threat than a plea.

“What do you want?” I finally make myself ask. “An apology? I’ll give you that, okay? I’m sorry . It wasn’t my idea, and she shouldn’t have done it.” Not to mention I’m going to lose my shit with Mads for not remembering to use the app she specifically downloaded for this.

“ That’s not a very good apology,” the man admonishes. “ You could tell me your name. That would make it up to me.”

That draws a barking laugh from me, and I shake my head even though he can’t see it. “Not a chance. I’m not that stupid.”

“ Well, that’s certainly up for debate, isn’t it?” I have no idea what he means, or why he sounds like there’s a joke I’m missing, but I don’t comment on it. I’m about to start placating him, just to get him off the phone. Taking a breath, I rub my hand over my face to keep myself calm and collected, like I need to be.

Losing my cool won’t do me any favors here.

“I already said I was sorry,” I say again, slowly this time. “I can’t give you anything else. Sorry, my friend is an idiot. Sorry, I let her push me into calling you.” Even though it had been her to dial the number from her list.

“ I think you want attention ,” the man goes on, like I hadn’t been trying to dismiss this or explain my actions away. “ Is that it, little rabbit? You’re looking for the kind of attention your friends won’t give you?”

“No.” I force my words to remain flat. “Honestly? I’m just looking to go to bed soon.”

“ Well, that’s pretty disappointing. And I don’t believe you. I’ll give you the attention you’re looking for ? —”

“Yeah, I’ll be hanging up now?—”

“ All you have to do is wait for me .”

His words ring in the silence, and I’m too surprised, too shocked, to do anything but sit there.

After a few seconds, he takes pity on me, however, and chuckles. “ This is where you hang up and block me, remember?”

And so I do just that. I hang up on him, and go through my recent calls to see that, in fact, he was right. Madalyn called him normally, instead of using the app to hide my number. It only takes a few seconds to block him, and I’m on my feet with anger roiling through me.

I’m done with Mads’ games tonight. My frustrated, loud steps take me to the kitchen, and I slam open the back door to see Em jump and Madalyn glance my way while taking a breath of her vape.

“You called him from my actual phone!” I snap, my heart racing as I try to keep myself from yelling. “He just called me back, Madalyn!”

She eyes me with concern, and an apology twists her lips into a grimace. “Shit, did I? Was he mad?”

The question causes me to pause, but I shake my head and reach up to rake my fingers through my auburn hair that’s loose around my shoulders. “Jesus, Mads! You could get me in a lot of trouble. It wasn’t fun, or funny. It was immature.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.” She’s good at doing that. At shrugging things off and downplaying my worries. Sometimes I like it. Sometimes, it helps when I’ve worked myself up into a panic over nothing.

Tonight, though, it’s definitely not what I want to hear. I let out a scoff under my breath, noticing Em’s worried look from the corner of my eye.

“Look, I just…I think maybe we call it for tonight,” Em murmurs softly, placatingly. “We had a good night. Let’s just call it.”

In my opinion, good night is a strong term, but I shrug my shoulders in agreement. It’s not like it’s worth fighting with Mads when I know she won’t take much, if any, responsibility. After all, she’s not the one who just got off the phone with a creepy guy from who knows where, doing who knows what.

“Yeah. Okay.” I feel myself deflate, and I force myself to let my anger go. “Just tell me it’ll be fine. Tell me I blocked him, and we didn’t do anything illegal.” I rock back on my heels and exhale sharply.

Mads hooks an arm over my shoulders, unruffled in the face of my frustration. I stiffen, but force myself to let her drag me back inside as she pockets her vape. “Dude, you're fine,” she promises me. “It was only a prank call, and he was just calling you back to make a point. To scare you. He was being creepy, right?” Reluctantly, I nod, and she hugs me more tightly. “Exactly. It was his version of getting a little revenge. You’ll never hear from him again. You blocked his number. It’s over.”

She pulls away from me, and I watch the two of them pick up their things from the armchair while I bite my lip and force myself to try to believe them.

It’s over , I tell myself. I hung up and blocked him. There’s nothing more he can do.

Now I just have to ignore the prickling of my skin, and the bone-deep nervousness that’s trying to set in. Knowing I’ll silently explain away as the after-effects of my uncle’s funeral.

I’m not at my best, I remind my brain. I just need to chill out, and maybe watch something before passing out on the couch for a while before waking up to eat leftover nachos and drink my bodyweight in Dr. Pepper.