META AI
I've always loved pulling pranks until the day I tried pulling one on my highschool teacher and it went south. A new week had just kicked off. My best friend Victor and I sat in the back row—our usual spot—exchanging glances everytime our teacher, Mr. Ken, turned his back. The entire class knew him for his strictness. If you asked anyone in school, they'd say his impossible to fool, but Victor and I thought otherwise.
We were both restless that day. We could hardly pay attention to what was taught that day and just couldn't wait for the bell to ring for the class to end. That's when Victor whispered to me,
"Let's do something. Something to fun to at least reduce this boredom."
"Like what?" I asked. "If we get caught we are finished."
He responded, "Exactly. That's what makes it worth it."
By lunchtime, we had come up with what we thought was a harmless prank. Our plan was simple, switch out the chalk Mr Ken had always used with a piece of soap. It looked almost identical. We were just imagining him trying to write equations on the board while nothing appeared and were laughing already like the whole thing was playing out in front of our eyes.
We carried it out during break. Victor distracted the prefect on duty while I sneaked into the classroom and placed the soap quietly on the ledge. Everything was set.
Class resumed and we were both nervous as we anticipated what was about to happen. Mr. Ken walked in. "Open your books, page fifty three," he instructed as he reached for the chalk.
The classroom was silent as he began writing. Instead the normal sound the chalk makes on the board when it is been used, there was only the soft scrape of soap against the board. Nothing appeared.
The class began to sense what was happening and some covered their mouths to prevent laughter from coming out. Me and Victor sat on our seats acting like we didn't know what was happening.
Mr. Ken pressed harder on the chalkboard, but still nothing appeared. He turned to us with a suspicious look on his face.
"Who tampered with my chalk?" he asked with mean look on his face.
A few people began to giggle, and that's when everything went wrong. In his frustration, he threw the "chalk" against the board, and the soap broke apart, scattering against the floor. Part of it bounced off and hit another students shoe.
The laughter increased even more. Even those who hadn't noticed joined in. Mr. Ken's face turned meaner.
"You think this is funny?" he yelled. "Stand up, all of you!"
The whole class rose to their feet. Victor and I were feeling tensed now.
"Who did this?". No one responded. "If no one confesses, the whole class will pay."
No one was laughing anymore. It was no longer funny. To my surprise, Victor cleared his throat.
"Sir..."
Wait a minute. He wasn't going to tell the truth, was he?
"...I think it might have been students from the next class. They were here during break," he said quickly.
It wasn't entirely untrue. Students from the other class sometimes wander into our class. But it was a lie.
"Is that so?" Mr. Ken said. "Then I will deal with them. But if I find out that you are lying, your punishment will be far worse."
He walked out of the classroom.
Victor seemed relieved. But I knew it was only a matter of time before Mr. Ken found out the truth.
Minutes later, there was an echo around the hallway. Mr. Ken returned back into the classroom, looking furious. Behind him were three students from the next class.
"These students," Mr. Ken said with a calm voice, "have been with their teacher all morning. They didn't come near this classroom.
He found out. He looked straight at Victor.
"So you lied to me," he said.
Victor just froze. Before he could say anything, a girl at the front row, who had been staring at us since the prank, spoke up.
"Sir," she said." I saw them. It was them," she pointed her finger at us.
The betrayal hit harder than any punishment. The whole class was now staring at us. It wasn't amusing anymore. Our little secret was now public.
"So," Mr. Ken said as he walked towards our desk. "Not only did you try to make a fool of me, but you also tried to frame innocent students and caused a scene in this entire class. You two have just earned yourselves a punishment you'll never forget.
That day, Victor and I just learned a hard lesson. A prank is only funny until it stops being a joke, and our joke came with consequences.