When the Joke Went Too Far, I Was Done Playing Along

Once the prank was over, they followed their usual ritual of taking a group photo to remember it by.

My older brother, Adrian Bennett, gave me a disgusted look. "Look at the state of you. Hurry up and fix your clothes."

My younger brother, Caleb Bennett took a drag from his cigarette. "Just look at her. She's ugly and has no figure to speak of. No one would give her a second glance even if she's naked."

Their laughter rang out around me as I gritted my teeth and fumbled to pull my disheveled clothes back into place.

A sudden weight settled over my shoulders as a suit jacket was draped around me. Blake frowned slightly and said, "Put it on."

The evening breeze stirred the fabric, carrying a faint trace of perfume toward me. It was exactly the same scent Jenna wore.

I averted my gaze and wrapped the jacket tightly around myself, but the cold had already seeped into my bones.

By the time we finished taking the photo, it was already ten at night. Perhaps my unusual silence had dampened their enthusiasm, because they soon lost interest in continuing to jest at me.

Adrain pulled the car out from where it was parked and called over casually, "Come on, get in."

I trailed after everyone with my head down, but just as I was about to climb inside, Caleb caught my wrist in a tight grip.

"You can't come with us, sis," he said arrogantly. "The car will be overloaded."

Maya Grant, my best friend, immediately backed him up. "Yeah, Nina. Your place isn't far from here anyway. Be a lamb, and take one for the team."

That was when I finally noticed there were six of us and only five seats.

I was the one who did not fit.

When I looked up, my eyes met Blake's. He merely shifted his gaze away and handed Jenna the motion sickness pills he had brought for her, pretending from beginning to end that he had not seen what was happening.

A faint, needle-sharp pain pierced my heart. I wrenched my wrist free, tossed the suit jacket back into the car, and walked away without another word.

By the time I got home, it was already eleven. Sitting on the bed, I stared at the group photo they had just posted in the group chat. Everyone else was grinning happily, while I alone looked disheveled and humiliated.

"Are you mad?" Blake asked, apparently surprised by how coldly I was treating him.

"So you do understand that I have every reason to be angry."

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, trying to placate me, but all I could smell was the same perfume, only much stronger now.

My stomach lurched, and an instinctive wave of nausea surged into my throat.

"This wasn't my idea."

"I called you thirty-nine times."

"I didn't get any calls."

Blake immediately pulled out his phone to prove his innocence, but it took only one glance for me to spot my number sitting quietly among his blocked contacts.

"Jenna had my phone all day. She must have tapped something by accident."

He unblocked me without showing the slightest trace of guilt or apology. My fingers tightened unconsciously around my phone as my scalp began to prickle.

"Don't be mad, Nina. I'm sorry. We won't pull any more pranks on you, okay?"

My voice came out hoarse. "Blake, this is the tenth time you've said that."

Yet they had never changed.

After every prank, Blake would hold me and comfort me, swearing it would be the last time. But whenever the next one came around, he never failed to take part.

He clearly had not expected me to call him out. His expression stiffened, and when he spoke again, his voice was even softer.

"I mean it this time."

And this time, I knew better than to believe him.

"Let's get some sleep. Good night."

The bedside lamp clicked off, plunging the room into darkness just as thunder cracked outside and the rain began falling harder.

I had always been timid, and ever since I was a child, I had needed a night-light to sleep.

Blake, however, was such a light sleeper that even the faintest glow would wake him. For his sake, I had gradually trained myself out of the habit over the three years we had lived together.

But tonight, the terror of being cornered in the alley kept replaying in my mind. I lay in the darkness, drenched in cold sweat, every breath trembling, until I was on the verge of breaking down.

Then the bedside lamp suddenly flicked on.

As the light pierced the darkness, warmth slowly returned to my icy fingers. For one fleeting moment, I thought the man beside me had noticed how badly I was struggling.

When Blake looked at me, I saw a hint of panic on his face.

"It's thundering and storming outside. Jenna must be scared.

"I'm going over to keep her company."