By Zach Mikrut ‘25

My one plan was to prank my friends on April Fools’ Day, laugh, and walk away as the mastermind of some lighthearted, funny tricks. But now, as I sit here with a bruised ego, (and maybe some ruined friendships), I realize my pranks might have been a little too convincing.

I kicked off the day with Vaughn Goberville, starting with a classic one. I pointed at his shirt and told him he had something on it. When he looked down, I hit him with, “April Fools!” Vaughn didn’t laugh.

Next, I moved on to Connor Allen. I decided to get a little sneaky. I had a friend send Connor a text pretending to be his ex-girlfriend. Connor was not expecting it. He was pacing around, texting me frantically, not sure how to respond, and totally freaking out.

Finally, I turned my attention to Isaac Soto. I knew how attached he was to his phone, so I decided to hide it. I waited until he wasn’t paying attention, then took his phone and hid it under one of his books. When Isaac went to check his phone and couldn’t find it, he went into full panic mode. He started tearing apart the room, searching everywhere. I let him look for a solid 10 minutes before revealing the truth, but not before I got a good laugh.

Now, hours later, my phone is eerily quiet. My friends haven’t replied to my texts or calls. Did I go too far? Probably. But it’s April Fools’ Day, and I figured I could push the limits, right?

My friends all had different reactions to their pranks.

Senior Vaughn Goberville said, “I didn’t like that at all. I just dry-cleaned this shirt for the first time in months. It’s ruined now.”

Junior Connor Allen said, “I really thought that was my ex texting me! Not cool, man.”

Junior Isaac Soto said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. I thought I lost my phone for real. If you do that again, I’ll lock it up when I’m around you.”

So, if you’re planning to prank your friends next April Fools’ Day, remember that it’s all fun and games until someone’s shirt gets ruined, someone’s ex-girlfriend actually texts them, or someone’s phone goes missing.

As for me, I’m off to figure out how to apologize and fix these friendships, one at a time.