Page 168 of Pride High 2: Orange

“The family didn’t even notice,” Anthony replied. “That’s the worst part. They just thought I was some creep who wanted to stare at them.”

The video cut again suddenly. This time it was a skinny guy who looked a lot like Omar, except instead of a mullet, his head was buzzed down to the skin except for a rectangular stripe of hair down the middle.

“Diego was always the best at running this gag,” Omar said. “Hey, I think this is the one!”

A solitary man sat at the table next to Diego’s. He quickly became agitated at being watched so openly. Diego really leaned into the act. His mouth hung open and he never stopped staring, even when the man glared, flipped him off, and eventually stood, the chair screeching noisily over the mall floor.

“You got a problem, buddy?” the man demanded.

Diego didn’t even react. His head tilted slightly, as if he was listening to the man, but he continued to stare.

“Find something else to look at!” the man snarled before throwing a french fry at Diego, who finally reacted, but only with shock and confusion. He put on the sunglasses and stood. As soon as Diego began using the guiding cane, the man’s eyes went wide. He glanced around hurriedly before running off.

Omar was howling with laughter. “What a bastard! Did you see him bail once he figured out that Diego was blind?”

“Only after checking for witnesses,” Anthony chuckled.

“Hilarious,” Diego deadpanned. “Get to the important part.”

“Yeah, all right.” Omar raised the remote again. He fast forwarded until the scene changed completely. “Dude, it’s Turing’s Tokens!”

“Is that an arcade?” Ricky asked. “And is it around here somewhere?”

“Yup!” Omar declared gleefully. “Down on Main Street.”

They were looking at a prize counter, the kind that exchanged tickets for stuffed animals and such. Omar was standing at the counter while talking to the woman who worked there. On either side of him, Diego and Anthony squatted on the floor so they couldn’t be seen. Omar pointed at something on the wall. As soon as the woman turned around, he squatted and Diego popped up in his place. The woman did a doubletake when glancing over her shoulder, but when he pointed at the prize wall, she returned her attention to it. Diego squatted, replaced by Anthony, and that’s when the woman really noticed.

“So racist,” Diego said after tsking his tongue.

The resulting conversation was impossible to hear, but the woman’s suspicions were roused. Anthony pointed at the prize wall, but she kept glancing back at him, as if wanting to catch him in the act. When she finally turned around to get something, the other two guys popped up so all three were standing there. When the woman saw this, she laughed.

So did Ricky. Although he soon became transfixed when watching the BFFFs walk toward wherever they’d hidden the camera. Diego looked younger, sure, but the biggest difference was how expressive his face was. He laughed openly and smiled easily. He leaned close to Anthony while saying something about the prize they had gotten. Then he snatched it from his hands, running circles around Anthony as Omar chased him. There weren’t any glares or efforts to hide how he felt. Diego even crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue when Omar pretended to strangle him. Ricky had never seen him act that goofy. Ever. His movements were looser too. More relaxed somehow.

Ricky looked over his shoulder at the modern Diego, who was clenching his jaw with his arms crossed over his chest. Cinnamon eyes met his briefly, self-conscious before they flicked back to the screen.

“We’re looking for footage of your parents’ house,” Diego grumbled.

“Right, right,” Omar said, raising the remote again. “Let’s see… Hey, there’s my house!”

The footage returned to normal speed, revealing a bright sunny day. The camera had been placed somewhere on the front porch, not far from where a large cardboard box sat.

“This one requires some setup,” Omar said. “My mom had been waiting weeks for something she’d ordered from a catalog. She was driving us all crazy, asking if we’d seen it.”

The front door opened. Omar walked out with his mom and gestured to the box. She clapped in excitement and went to pick it up, except the box moved away when she tried. She pulled back in confusion before trying once more, but the box evaded her again. She wasn’t fooled a third time.

“Omar!” she cried accusingly, turning around to face her son.

“Was it tied to a string?” Ricky asked while grinning.

“Nuh-uh,” Omar said. “We cut off the bottom of the box and put a remote control car in there. It worked so well that we did the same prank to all our parents.”

“I don’t remember that,” Diego said.

“Yeah,” Omar replied. “Remember your dad chasing after it? He tried to sit on it, like it was a horse he could ride.”

“You have video of my dad?” Diego asked, the need in his voice impossible to miss.

“Oh! Um… Let’s see.” Omar fast-forwarded through more footage. The scene kept changing, but it was always the same three friends, hanging out together while laughing and getting into trouble. “I’m not sure we filmed it,” he said at last.