“In order to get arrested, you’d first have to do something that would make Leo actually want to call the cops, and then he’d have to deal with your drama. Kind of counterintuitive, you know?” I stare at her, seeing her logic, and it’s clear my moment of hesitation fuels her. “Actually, it’s genius. You can have fun and be silly and get into trouble for the first time, but in a controlled way. It’s kind of foolproof.”
“I don’t know?—”
“I do,” Hallie says, standing.
“Come on. It’s not actual trouble. It’s…good trouble. Like a white lie.”
“What are you thinking?” Nat asks, clearly on board.
She turns to me with a widening smile, mischief written all over her face. “Ever toilet paper a house?”
TEN
WILLA
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” I ask, biting my lip as I stare at the UTV now parked outside my new place. Nat’s in the back, a twelve-pack of toilet paper beside her, and Hallie’s in the driver’s seat. Once again, she pats the seat next to her, where I guess I’m supposed to be.
“No.”
My eyes go wide, and panic is written all over my face. When Hallie sees it, she lets out a bark of a laugh. “It’s agreatidea. Come on, Willa. It’s basically an American tradition.”
“Wasting toilet paper by throwing it all over people’s houses?”
“Yes. And right now, Leo is at my place with Jesse, so we have time to get the job done.”
The premise is simple, something I’ve seen in movies a million times but never realized people actually did. Once I was grudgingly on board, Hallie went over to the main house on the Three Kings property to get a dozen toilet paper rolls, since, according to Hallie, Mrs. King hoards them. Nat stayed with me so I wouldn’t chicken out. She returned quickly and handed them over before juggling keys to a UTV she stole from herfiancé. According to her, Leo got wrangled into poker night, so we had some time.
“He doesn’t get to tell you what to do, Willa. You’re here to have fun, and he’s just going to have to deal with it,” Hallie says, and I stared at her for a moment, running through my options. But after a moment, I realized she was right: who the hell was Leo Sinclaire to tell me what to do?
I nodded, then slid onto the seat beside her. She squealed with excitement, and Nat clapped, hooting once when we took off. Hallie drove us through the woods, a half mile to the east, until we got to Leo’s place. Now we just need to deck out Leo’s place with the toilet paper and leave before he gets back. According to Hallie, we’ll be in and out before Leo gets home, much less before he’s able to realize who actually did it.
I sigh, knowing there’s no talking her out of this. “So, how do I do this?” I ask, holding the toilet paper roll she handed me. From the corner of my eye, Nat is already at work, wrapping the fence in white streaks that glow in the dim moonlight.
“So you grab this end,” Hallie instructs, taking her own toilet paper roll and grabbing the loose end. “Hold it tight, and then chuck the roll up.” She does as she instructs, and I watch the roll rise, loop over a tree branch, and come back down, leaving a long strand of toilet paper in its wake. She grins mischievously, then repeats it on another branch. “Keep going until we’re all out.” We both stare as it sways in the gentle breeze, and I try to fight back the childish excitement bubbling up, tempered by a healthy dose of skepticism and common sense.
“What happens when he comes home?” She shrugs as if it’s no big deal.
“He’ll probably call Madden or Jesse.”
“And they’ll…?” I ask.
“Play dumb. Tonight, Jesse will probably interrogate me to figure out if it was us. I’ve got a good poker face, but not withhim,” Hallie says with a grim face that doesn't look nearly as fearful as I think it should.
“What she means is Jesse will tease her and practice orgasm withholding until she confesses,” Nat says from a few feet away, tossing her own roll up and over the porch of Leo’s house.
“What?” I ask, eyes wide. Hallie just beams in my direction, bright and happy and full of mischief.
“Can’t lie, Will, this is kind of a double-duty task for me. You get to be bad, and I get to bebad.”
I continue to stare at her, baffled, but clearly, Nat is not as shocked as I am.
“Please take notes; I’m dying to know all the dirty details,” Nat says. “You never tell me anything anymore.” She’s nearly pouting, and Hallie rolls her eyes dramatically before throwing the roll of toilet paper again.
“I can’t share when Wren’s around. We made a pact.”
“You guys…share?” I ask, somehow even more confused and shocked. But Nat shakes her head.
“We trade sex stories. Got any good ones?”
