He grabbed what he hoped was Joe’s arm and backpedaled out of the cloud. Frank led Joe down the hall a ways. Joe leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor coughing.

"Are you all right?" Frank asked crouching down beside him.

Joe nodded his head as he continued to cough.

Frank pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and moved to the drinking fountain. He soaked the cloth and moved back to Joe. As he wiped the white substance from Joe’s face, Frank noticed Joe wasn’t coughing as much.

Once Joe’s face was cleaned off, he opened his eyes and looked at Frank. "Thanks."

"Are you sure you’re all right?" Frank asked carefully looking him over.

"Yeah." Joe took in a breath as he looked toward his locker. The cloud was slowly dissipating.

"Do you know what was there?"

"No," Joe said leaning his head against the wall.

"Stay put," Frank said getting to his feet. "I’m going to see what it is."

Joe nodded as Frank turned away from him. Frank made his way along and saw the white substance was settling on the floor. He reached out and some of the particles landed on his hand. Pulling his hand back, he fingered the substance and realized it was flour. Looking into Joe’s locker, he saw hid brother’s books and supplies were covered with flour.

"What’s going on here?" a voice asked behind Frank.

He turned and saw Principal Cooper standing thee. Frank said angrily, "Looks like someone’s idea of a joke."

"Was anyone injured?" Principal Cooper asked.

Frank shook his head. "Joe took the brunt of it, but he seems to be all right."

"These pranks cause more of a mess each time," Principal Cooper grumbled as he moved toward the flour.

Frank turned around and returned to Joe who was breathing easier. When Frank reached his brother, he asked, "Joe, did you see anything before opening your locker?"

"No." Joe got to his feet and started brushing flour off himself. "You know, this seems like de ja vu. But the last time you were the target."

"I would think it was Derek too, but he moved to Texas last year," Frank said. "Did you see anything?"

"I haven’t been back here for two periods."

Before Frank or Joe could move, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs. They turned as several police officers stepped onto the floor and headed for the mess. Among the officers was Con Riley, a friend of theirs. He spotted them and came over.

"Should I even ask what you two have gotten yourselves into?" Con asked.

"I was the victim, Con. Do I look like I did this to myself on purpose?"

Con looked Joe up and down and tried to hold back a smirk since Joe looked like a giant, powdered doughnut. Con turned away from Joe and asked, "What happened?"

Joe explained what happened, then Frank told Con what he had seen. When they finished with a couple clarifying questions from Con, he told them they could leave.

As they headed for the van, Joe beat his pants getting rid of some of the flour.

"You’re going to need a shower when we get home," Frank commented.

"I could have lived without this," Joe grumbled. "Why was I made a target? If it was supposed to be a prank, it could’ve been less destructive."

"Whoever planned it probably wasn’t thinking right."

"Maybe."

They reached the van and climbed in with Frank behind the wheel. "You know," Joe began. "I don’t think this was just a regular prank."

"Why do you say that?" Frank asked heading out of the parking lot.

"It just doesn’t seem like the other jokes that have been going on. The other pranks are the stupid ones with things flying out of lockers, rubber snakes and spiders falling onto people. This was much more complicated and thought out."

Frank glanced at Joe. "What do you want to do about it?"

"Find whoever is responsible," Joe stated. "For some reason, this incident if giving me a bad feeling."

"Then we’ll figure it out," Frank said.