Foolish Prank

Nhu Loan was sitting in the mini van with David, and some other contestants who wanted to join the fun. They were getting ready. She still could not believe that they would actually do it. It sounds rather childish to her, this whole "teach-them-a-lesson" thing. Besides, her instincts told her that this is a very bad idea. But she's already gone too far and Nhu Loan does not like others to think of her as some chicken. She's a chick with guts. With that thought in mind, Nhu Loan forced herself to go to the meeting yesterday with the three contestants and now forcing herself to carry out the plan.
David: "It's time to go. You're ready?"
She nodded and tried to hide the worries with a smile. There were millions of butterflies in her stomach.
David: "Listen, I'll go over the plan one more time. All you have to do, is to go in there, perform, act like nothing's going on. This is a small show; it won't take more than one and a half hour. During that time, you'll have to find a way to put this in LTQ and Minh Tuyet's drink." He handed her two pills, wrapped inside a piece of paper.
"This takes about 30 minutes to work, so it's best to have them drink it during the 10-minutes break. By the time the show's over and everyone has gone home, they'll be trouble to us no more. All you have to do is to call me and I'll have my people drag 'em out to another van parked behind the theater. Tell me, what should you do if there's people around the instant they fall asleep?"
"I'll say that they haven't got enough sleep lately and that I'll take them home since we all live on the same street." Nhu Loan replied. "Then I'll call you guys in to get them and have things cleaned up. Leave no trace behind."
"And?"
"If anyone asks, I'll say that they woke up and left already."
"Good. You're ready. Let's go. Don't forget your leather gloves."
"Thanks." Nhu Loan said and put the gloves on.

The show had already started by the time she arrived.
"You're late." The manager said.
"You're early." She replied and kept walking, not paying attention to the guy anymore.
Minh Tuyet was the first to sing. She's next but what to worry, she's ready. Hopefully. Her head was full of "what if" questions and she could not help but feel scared and nervous. She almost jumped when someone tapped on her shoulder.
"Geez, Loan. I was just...trying to get your attention."
"Oh..." Nhu Loan tried to calmed herself down as she saw it was LTQ. "Hi"
"Woa, what have you been doing? You're sweating!"
"Yea, it's hot in here."
"Hot? What you talkin’ about? I'm wearing three shirts and a jacket."
"Well... I'm used to much colder environment..." She lied.
"Really?"
"Yea. I guess I'll go get a coke or something to cool myself down."
"I can go get it for you." He offered. The guy's not half as bad as she thought he was. But who knows.
"Nah it's alright." She forced a smile and went away to get the Coke despite the fact that she was not at all thirsty, just to get away from people for now. She’s nervous and she knew she showed it. Better get myself together before going onstage.

Nhu Loan had been very observant and patience during that 10-minute break, waiting for her chance. But everything was very risky. There are too many people around. Minh Tuyet's holding on to her bottle of watter while LTQ had too many around, making it impossible to know which is the one he'll drink.
"I'm going to get another Coke. Anybody wants one?" Nhu Loan asked. It was the only way.
LTQ said yes right away whereas Minh Tuyet refused politely. Oh well, Nhu Loan thought, I'll take my chances--she can't hold on to that bottle of water forever. She went to get the coke and just to her luck, no one was around. But then she felt how idiotic she was. In order to put the pills inside, she'll have to break the seal around the cap and that'll draw suspicion. "I'm just getting all worried about nothing. No one will notice that!" She told herself and went ahead to open the bottle and put the pill inside. The pill was small and by the time she got back, it'll all be dissolved.
Minh Tuyet was not in the room, and her water bottle left unguarded. Nhu Loan took the opportunity and dropped the pill inside as LTQ drank the Coke without the least suspicion of whatsoever.

The plan went rather well. No one asked anything. No one suspected anything. It was like a miracle. LTQ & Minh Tuyet were now on their way to the abandoned church up in the mountain, 5 hours of driving away. Nhu Loan still hasn’t left the place. She looked around for the 5th time, making sure that no traces were left behind. The water bottles, Coke, piece of paper that contained the pills were already in her gigantic purse. Have she forgot something? The ringing of her cell phone disturbed her thoughts. It was David.
"Loan, is everything okay? What's taking you so long?"
"I'm just making sure everything's taken care of."
"You're only drawing attention to yourself. It would be odd that a singer would stay so long after the show's over."
"I have plenty of excuses."
"Doesn't matter. Get out. Now. We still have to burn those things."
"Alright. Hey, gimme 5 minutes."
She hung up and headed quickly to the lady's room, telling herself, Man, all those Cokes...



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