Next to my birthday, April 1 is one of the days I look forward to every year. It’s the only time I can legitimately execute and test my well-researched, practical jokes’ effectiveness. This 2009 though, the joke was on me…

While at work after lunch [12:47:11 PM], I skyped my best friend who was currently swamped with deadlines this month. I told him that I saw the cheap flight deals being offered and spontaneously made flight reservations to California from April 12 to 14 for both of us. I skyped him the flight schedules I researched earlier to make it more realistic.

I told him I know he’s busy (true) but then, I’ve been dying to go to the beach since last year (true), and that I’ve been planning to kidnap him so we can finally spend a long leisurely time together (ABSOLUTELY true), so I couldn’t help it and it’s going to be my treat (if I had enough dough to make the purchase, true).

Based from our skype chat, and as expected, he was utterly torn between his duties and his longing to go to the beach as well. I was just planning to make the joke run for 30 minutes to get the full effect, then he frustratedly skyped this then logged out:

[1:01:09 PM] what in the world were you thinking booking us???

So much for the 30 minutes… I called him up and asked him what day it was. He remembered it was April fools, and acknowledged my practical joke but was not happy about it. He said he hates practical jokes and actually left two of his friends because of those.

I was already feeling uneasy by this time. I think I overdid it. He logged in back in skype, was really pissed, and said:

[1:16:30 PM]: it was not a funny joke!
[1:16:42 PM]: i was actually gonna say yes!

I gaped at the message and was stunned. This is unexpected. Somebody pinch me… My crush and best friend was actually going to say yes to a 3-days 2-nights trip with me! *jumps up and down with glee* I re-read the message several times to make sure it’s there.

Then again, he said he’s so angry that he’s going to go on “hibernate mode” for the next six months so I won’t be hearing from him. He’s actually typing in ALL CAPs by this time. I almost had a heart attack (fortunately I availed of a life insurance no exam package last month) . This is the first time I got this type of reaction from an April fool’s joke.

I told him I understand the “hibernate mode”. I guess I did overdo it. I apologized to him profusely about the joke and asked if there’s anything I can do to make it up to him. He was silent for a long time… I never knew what suspense was until that moment.

Then he said, “Well… I do want to go to the beach as well, and I have always dreamed of surfing…”

I ended up booking us to the Outbacks as well!!! Since he knows I’m a bit short with cash, he said he’ll pay for his own airfare. Isn’t he the sweetest friend? I’m starting to love April fools day more than my birthday.