The Hijinks War

14. Queen of the Sublings

East hall 3rd floor, must find clothes - Thunderbirds... I'm back bitches!

Clicking send, I grinned as I strolled down the hallway, pocketing my phone. I scratched my nose as I passed Melissa, a fellow Thunderbird junior. Without acknowledging me, she sent a message to all the people who were in on my return to pranking. Upon receiving the go ahead from Melissa, a dozen clues would be deposited and my game would be set into motion.

"Jessy-Jess," I sang when I walked into our room. "Would you like to get some prime seats for the show? Or shall we sit back and wait for the replay?"

Pulling me to sit beside her in the bay window, she handed me a hot chocolate. "We can wait."

For the past two weeks, the hijINKs updates, which I checked only at the end of everyday now, were stupid little half point pranks. There was something big coming from the Hellhounds, that neither Jess, Ashley, nor myself had been able to crack. But I wasn't going to wait for it to happen. I was going to blow it out of the water with my prank.

"I'm glad you're back, Nicole. Things are much more interesting with you."

I smiled as she leaned into my side. After my explosive rant in the library, Jess and I were back on track again. I was surprised to find out that she—and even Ashley—was more on my side of things than I'd thought she'd be. They both hated being treated like mindless peons, and simply knowing that I had them on my side, made me want to play the game again. My own way.

My phone soon beeped and I eagerly yanked it up off the bench and peered at it. With a cackle, I turned it to Jess. There were the four students, two in towels, still dripping and two wrapped in hastily tied bed sheet togas.

"You're welcome Thunderbirds!" I dropped my phone beside me, like I was dropping a microphone.

Jess bowed down to me, giggling. "You are so the Queen of us sublings!"

The four Hellhounds in the picture were two couples who were dating each other's roommates. Twice a week they swapped roommates and did what horny teenaged bunnies did. Orchestrating the stealing of all their clothes had been a bit troublesome, but well worth the hilarity that was unfolding as they followed my scavenger hunt to retrieve them.

At each of the checkpoints they'd receive a new clue, and I'd receive another picture at which Jess, I, and now Ashley would fall apart in laughter. During their frantic hunt for their entire wardrobes, they'd garnered a large audience that travelled with them from clue to clue.

The last beep had us all peering at a video of them reaching the end of the hunt. After several tries at spinning the combination of the lock on the door, a Hellhound from the audience did it for them. When they yanked the door open there was an explosion of confetti.

"Trumpet music, Nicole? You're so overdramatic!" Jess giggled as we watched the four confetti covered students jam themselves through the door and slam it shut.

My phone beeped once more and as I grinned at the hijINKS update, I curiously took note of the text from an unknown number that scrolled the top of my screen. 

Welcome back.