*Chapter 3: The Conspiracy Kid*
571 Words
The next day, I avoided Locker 108 like it owed me money.
Which, in a way, it did—emotional damages, back pay for stolen dignity, and at least three hours of sleep.
But the moment I walked into school, the jokes started again.
“Hey Derek, tell us that joke about the history teacher’s eyebrows again!”
“I had a bad morning—quick, be hilarious about it!”
One kid literally followed me down the hall with a **notebook labeled “Derekisms.”**
I could feel it building inside me—like a pressure cooker full of bad puns and self-loathing.
Then I heard her.
“You’re the new victim, huh?”
I turned and found myself face-to-face with a girl who looked like she belonged in a hacker movie, or maybe just a very well-funded library.
Black hoodie.
Notebook stuffed with so many tabs it looked like a rainbow exploded.
Glasses that reflected the fluorescent hallway lights like two tiny UFOs.
“Maya,” she said, sticking out a hand. “Locker 108 survivor support group, unofficial chapter.”
“…You too?”
“Not directly. My brother. Year before Jason.”
She said it like a bomb being disarmed.
“What happened to him?” I asked.
She blinked. “He transferred. To a school for… quiet kids. Very quiet. He doesn’t talk anymore. At all.”
“Oh.”
Pause.
“…Yikes.”
Maya motioned me to follow her. “Come on. Before someone asks you to do a stand-up set in the cafeteria.”
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We ended up in the **library**, in the far back corner behind the shelf labeled “Outdated Science Books” and “Probably Still Radioactive Chemistry Kits.”
She opened her notebook.
Inside were photos—grainy, black-and-white, like they were taken on a haunted toaster. Each one showed Locker 108 across different years.
“It’s always the same,” she said. “Every few years, it picks someone. They make a wish. The wish works. And then…”
She flipped to the next page.
A list.
Handwritten.
Titled: **“The Laughers.”**
Every name had a note.
> *2011 – Gary S.*: “Wished to be fearless. Jumped off the gym roof during pep rally.”
> *2014 – Tasha V.*: “Wished for attention. Got 40k followers overnight. None of them real. Her phone still buzzes. Even when it’s off.”
> *2019 – Brendan C.*: “Wished to be loved. Everyone in school became obsessed. They still chant his name in the boiler room.”
And now at the bottom:
> *2025 – Derek C.*: “Wished to be funny.”
> [Status: Active]
I stared. “Wait. So all these people—what happens to them when it ends?”
Maya didn’t answer.
She just stared at the page.
Then she finally said, “They say the locker doesn’t open unless it finds someone with a hole in them. Something missing. And it fills that hole with whatever you *think* you want.”
“…That’s the creepiest Hallmark card I’ve ever heard.”
She smirked. “Welcome to the joke.”
Then she flipped one last page.
And on it was a scribbled note that chilled me to the bone.
> “I didn’t ask to be funny. It asked *me*.”
No name. Just a symbol.
**A smiley face… with teeth.**
- Writer
