The Prank That Backfired

I work at a 24-hour convenience store and one night, I was bored out of my mind. There's this guy who comes in every shift, let's call him John, he always tries to be friendly but it feels forced because I've seen him flirt with the day-shift workers behind my back. He makes jokes that aren't funny to me when he thinks no one else is around. So, I decided to play a prank on him. I put some of the items from the clearance rack into the candy display so they looked like normal priced candy. When John came in for his usual late-night shopping trip, I watched him pick up these items and go through the check-out line without realizing it was actually clearance candy. The next day, when I clocked back in for my shift, there's a note slipped under my locker door. It says something like, 'Nice one! What a jerk you are.' But here’s the thing, he didn't write that. One of the other night-shift workers did because they knew about my little scheme and were trying to stir up trouble between me and John. John finds out too late that I set him up, but by then it's been all over social media. People think I'm a real jerk for tricking someone with clearance items, which is not even the most expensive kind of candy. The irony? Now everyone thinks John was right about me being unkind from the start. I've never felt more hated and misunderstood in my life. Did I make a mistake? Maybe, but it still wouldn’t have been so bad if people just knew what really happened.