The Wallet Windfall
Leon was the first to spot it. "Hey, guys, look at this!" he said, picking it up.
He tried to open it, but he did it so clumsily that the wallet exploded like a cash grenade. Bills went flying everywhere.
Before anyone could react, Crimson dove to the ground like his life depended on it, scooping up as much money as he could.
"MINE!" he yelled, clutching the bills like a madman.
"Relax, dude," Kazuki said, grabbing a handful of cash from Crimson's pile. "There's enough for everyone."
MJ, ever the voice of reason, picked up the wallet itself and flipped through it. "Guys, there's an ID in here. Shouldn't we return it to the owner?"
Kazuki looked at him like he'd just suggested setting the money on fire. "HELL NOOOOOO. We're keeping this."
"But why?" MJ asked, genuinely confused.
Kai shrugged. "Well, money is money."
"Exactlyyyyyy," Kazuki and Crimson said in unison.
Leon, always the mastermind, suddenly had a brilliant idea. "What if we went on a shopping spree?"
"YES!" we all shouted, except for MJ, who hesitated.
"I don't know," MJ said. "I still think it's best to give it to its ow—"
"Shut up, MJ," Crimson interrupted. "We're spending this. If you don't want to, you don't have to come."
MJ sighed. "No, no, I'll come."
The Spree of the Century
We hit the mall like a hurricane. Phones, tablets, clothes, even a couple of vibrators—don't ask who bought those. Let's just say the shopping carts were overflowing.
Kazuki strutted out of a high-end clothing store in a jacket that looked like it cost more than my rent. "Check me out," he said, doing a spin. "I'm drippier than a broken faucet."
Crimson came out wearing sunglasses so big they could double as satellite dishes. "I feel like a celebrity," he said, striking a pose.
Kai, ever the practical one, had stocked up on gadgets. "With this smartwatch, I can now ignore your texts in style," he said, grinning.
Even MJ, despite his earlier reservations, couldn't resist. He came out with a new laptop, a pair of sneakers, and a look that screamed, "I regret everything, but also, I don't."
By the time we were done, we looked like the cast of a bad rap video. People were stopping in the street to gawk at us, and honestly, we didn't blame them. We were on top of the world.
The Owner Appears
Our high came crashing down when we got back to the park. There, pacing around and looking frantic, was a man who could only be described as the wallet's rightful owner.
"Oh crap," Kazuki said, ducking behind a tree.
"What do we do?" Kai whispered.
"Throw the wallet on the ground and run," Leon suggested.
"Brilliant," Crimson said. He tossed the wallet onto the grass and bolted. The rest of us followed, but we didn't get far.
"Hey! Stop right there!" the man shouted. He was faster than he looked and cornered us in no time.
"Did you take my wallet?" he demanded, glaring at us.
We all froze, putting on our best innocent faces. "Yes, sir. Sorry," we said in unison.
"Oh, stop with the innocent act," the man said, crossing his arms. "Who came up with the idea to steal it?"
Without missing a beat, we all pointed at MJ.
"Him," Crimson said. "He did it. We tried to tell him not to."
MJ's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"
The man didn't look convinced. "You all better return everything you bought, or I'm calling the cops."
We spent the next hour trying to return our haul. Crimson cried when he had to give up his sunglasses, and Kazuki looked like he was in actual mourning over his jacket. By the end of it, we were broke, embarrassed, and banned from the mall for life.
As we walked home, Crimson broke the silence. "So... wanna find another wallet tomorrow?"
"No," we all said in unison.
MJ, still fuming, muttered, "You guys are the worst."
But even he couldn't help but laugh when Crimson tripped over his own feet and fell face-first into a puddle. Because, at the end of the day, chaos always followed us—and we wouldn't have it any other way.