I was in elementary school approximately around the time of the Industrial Revolution, so our entire school had one or two computers at most. This prehistoric way of doing things would come in very handy for me, because I was a little brat who a) was far too clever for her own good and b) enjoyed playing pranks on her classmates.

There was a guy in my class named Billy. We’d been in the same class since kindergarten, and by the time we hit grade seven we had settled into a comfortable routine of teasing. At some point in the year, I decided it would be a great deal of fun to play a trick on Billy that would take some careful setup but would pay off in a great deal of laughter, so I set the wheels in motion.

Every morning after the bell rang, our teacher would read the daily announcements. After the usual news important to only those in the 7th grade, he would read off a list of overdue library books and who had checked them out. It was always interesting to see what my classmates were reading, and this is where the plan first took shape.

It was extremely easy to pull off – after all, I was a trusted student who could pretty much do whatever I wanted. I went to the library, selected a book, and filled out the withdrawal card with Billy’s name and class number. The librarians had long since ceased checking my books out for me; I was allowed to do it by myself – so I did. I carefully changed the date on the due stamp, dropped the withdrawal card into the appropriate slot, and went on my merry way – hiding the book behind a shelf on my way out of the library.

A week goes by. By now, Billy’s book is overdue. The library does what it does best, and sends out the overdue list to each classroom to remind the students that they have books out. The announcements are read, and then the list:

David .. City of Bones .. Janet .. Seven More Days .. Billy .. A is for Apple, B is for Banana .. ?!

Cue the riotous laughter of our entire class – Billy had taken out a book for little kids and then he didn’t return it! Haha! How hilarious! Billy loudly protested his ever having seen the book, the teacher looked on the chaos highly bemused, and I sat back in my chair laughing my fool head off.

Satisfied that my little trick had the desired effect, I fished the book out of its hiding spot later that day and returned it for “Billy”. I wasn’t out to get him in trouble; I just wanted him to be laughed at. And it worked!

Sorry about that, Billy.