The Prank Caller

It all started a year back at my friend Olivia’s birthday party. She had invited few of our friends from the college including her boyfriend James for the party. We had just cut the cake and downed a few beers when we heard the doorbell ring. Olivia was a little surprised as all the people on the guest list had already arrived. She got a bit alarmed and told me “Emma, I hope it’s not my Dad”. In any case, she opened the door and got the shock of her life. Her ex-boyfriend Michael was standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?” she asked clearly annoyed with his presence. “Sorry, Olivia. I didn’t mean to interrupt the party. I just wanted to wish you happy birthday,” saying this he handed over a flower bouquet to her. “I don’t need your wishes and I certainly don’t need your cheap flower bouquet,” saying this Olivia threw the bouquet away in a fit of anger.

By then, I and few other people had gathered around Olivia. James checked if everything was alright and requested Michael to leave. Michael looked sad and left without saying anything further. I always thought Michael was a nice guy. In fact, I always wondered what he saw in Olivia. She was a spoiled rich girl. I agree that she was beautiful. But, she was quite dominating and hard to deal with at most times. Michael, on the other hand, was a simple and down to earth guy. We had studied in the same class ever since we were kids. But, he never took much notice of me. I guess I was not that important to him. He always craved for Olivia’s attention and took care of her smallest needs. Olivia on the other hand simply used the poor guy. Once James walked into the college all the girls swooned over him. Olivia was no less. She made sure to throw her charms on him. Finally, she managed to trap James viciously and kicked poor Michael out of her life. Poor Michael still loved her and I could not bear to watch it when Olivia insulted him so badly. I decided to do something to help Michael.
The next morning, I followed Michael after the class. I followed his daily routine. I did this every day for the next two weeks. I made myself familiar with his lifestyle. It seemed that Michael did not have too much life beyond the college. He did not have any friends and stopped talking to anyone in class after Olivia dumped him. He went straight to his home after college where he stayed with his grandmother. His parents had passed away in a train accident a few years back. He was a studious boy and just immersed himself in his books. In the evenings, he took his Beagle for a walk in the park. Apart from that, he had a very simple lifestyle. No disco, no pub and no thought of another girlfriend. I was slowly getting the idea of why Olivia may have dumped him after all. But, I decided to help him nonetheless. I could not approach him directly since I was still Olivia’s friend and he would not trust me. I got hold of his number from the college website. The telephone numbers of the last year’s selected students for the Inter College Physics Quiz were still listed there.

That night I called him for the first time. I used a mobile app to change my voice and made a Voice Over IP Call to hide my phone details. “Hi Michael,” I said. “Hello, who is this,” he answered. “My name is Elizabeth,” I lied to him. “Sorry, I do not know any Elizabeth. May I know who are you?” he asked me. “Michael, I study in your college. I want to be your friend.” “Sorry, but I don’t make friends with strangers,” saying this he cut the call. “Well!” I thought that the poor guy was still in love with Olivia and he had cut himself off from the rest of the world. I decide that something must be done to save him from this agony.

Next morning, I went to college a bit early. I went to Michael’s locker and stuck a note on it. The note read “Please be my friend – Signed Elizabeth”. I then went to the library and waited for Michael to come. He always came to the library every morning to return the books he had studied the previous day. I waited patiently for about half an hour when I spotted him finally. He returned his books and as he left the library I followed him quietly. When he reached his locker, I saw that he looked confused. He took out the note and looked around. I quickly looked down and pretended to type a message on my phone. I looked up after a moment and saw that he had left. He had torn the note and thrown it in the garbage bin. I knew my task was not going to be very easy.

I started calling him every night and he used to cut off the call for the first few days. But, after a few days, I guess he saw that I was adamant and would not give in easily. He finally started speaking to me. I encouraged him to make new friends again. I told him that he deserved someone better than Olivia. He asked me several times to reveal my identity. But, I did not want to openly reveal myself as he would think that I was playing a prank on him all the time. I have been calling him for the last one year now. I guess the time has now come to reveal my identity to him. So, I called him tonight and told him that I would meet him tomorrow at the Indies Restaurant after college.

I wore my favorite black dress and gold earrings the next day. I was so excited. I somehow sat through all my classes the next day and rushed to the restaurant after the class. I entered the restaurant and saw Michael sitting at a corner table. He was speaking to someone over the phone. So, I did not want to interrupt him as it would spoil the precious moment. I quietly sat on a table next to him so that I could approach him once he was done with his call. He was sitting with his back facing me so he could not see me. I heard Michael laughing. I overheard him saying “So there is this silly girl who keeps calling me all the time. At first, I tried to ignore her but she would not listen. She thought that I was depressed or something. So, I just pretended to like her. She thinks that Olivia fell for James and dumped me. The silly girl does not even know that she caught me cheating on her. And, now I am going to use her in the same way.”

I was just too shocked to react. I just quickly tipped the waiter and left the restaurant. I quickly called Olivia and checked why she had dumped Michael. She confirmed the story that I had heard in the restaurant. I thanked God that I had kept my identity hidden from this cheat. It also taught me not to judge people based on their appearance. I stopped my prank calls after that day and resolved to never blindly trust people.

The End