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Back As If on Cue Save as PDF
Chapters (45)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. Happy Birthday in Jazz Clarinet
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. Natalie vs. Reid
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. The First Chair Wars
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. Outplayed
  19. CHAPTER TWELVE
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. The Prank War
  23. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  25. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  26. The Setup
  27. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  28. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY
  30. Aaron Jacobson’s Protégé
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  34. Anything But Music
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  39. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  40. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY
  42. Acknowledgments
  43. More from the Author
  44. About the Author
  45. Also by Marisa Kanter
  1. Never ever apologize.
  2. They are between Natalie and Reid ONLY. Do not involve friends/parents!
  3. They cannot end in a broken bone, even unintentionally.
  4. Okay, sisters are the only exception to Rule #2. The best pranks will need some help.
  5. School and clarinet lessons are safe zones.
  6. The bus is fair game. Duh.
  7. Do not ruin family holidays.
  8. If you’re going to yell at each other, do it in secret so the adults don’t hear.
  9. If you make the other person sad, you must make them an epic ice cream sundae.
  10. Pranks are funny, not mean!
  • The Double Prank Clause: In an active prank war, the prankee has three (3) days to prank back. Once the three-day prank window expires, double pranks are fair game!
  • The Truce Clause: Truces are agreed on with a double pinky swear. No pranking can occur during the seven-day truce period.

Reid scribbled his name in pine green, his favorite crayon. Four letters. R-E-I-D. I signed mine next to his with vivid violet, an uncoordinated scribble thanks to my cast.

“Game on,” Reid said.

“Game on,” I repeated.

And it’s been Natalie vs. Reid ever since.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Reid’s forehead vein makes an appearance at breakfast.

Between each bite of cinnamon toast, he searches his backpack. It’s Wednesday—nearly a week since BOILED: AN ODE TO THE PLAY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN—and Reid has been on edge ever since. Monday night, his family came over to break the fast for Yom Kippur and I swear he kept tabs on my whereabouts all night. I mean, Reid. Chill. It was the Day of Atonement! I spent six hours in synagogue repenting every negative thought spiral and poor decision I have made over the past year—which includes but is not limited to forgetting to pick Delia up from her bat mitzvah lesson during Barefoot in the Park’s tech week, encouraging Fitz to cut her own bangs because of a TikTok challenge, and hoping Reid will bomb an audition… just one time!

I was never going to be diabolical on Yom Kippur.

Did I love seeing Reid think I would be, though? Absolutely.

“You good?” I swallow cold eggs and focus on reviewing the HAVE A HE(ART) petition Henry and I were up all night preparing. My eyes don’t lift from the screen though, because Yom Kippur is over and a prank is now, in fact, mid-execution. Yesterday I swept all the extra reeds from my dad’s classroom after school. This morning, while Reid was in the bathroom, I also took all the reeds out of his clarinet case.

Reid can’t play the clarinet without a reed.

It’s a stupid joke. Basic.

But if I make eye contact with him, I will laugh.

In my peripheral vision, I see Reid run his hand through his hair. “Did you—?”

“Morning!”