Attached is a video Fitz took on Reid’s phone of him and me, singing “For the Last Time Ever.” I don’t click on it. The still image is the side of Reid’s face, with the hint of a smile. My face is flushed pink, probably from the applause we got for the previous song. Or the vodka.

but not bad weird?

9:38 AM

We look like a team, Reid and me. We look like we’ve been doing this forever—and in what world is this my life?

In what world is Reid the only person who isn’t stressing me out?

The Prank War

A prank war is way less fun when there are actual stakes attached to it. When we were kids, pranks were an easy way to antagonize Reid. I liked outsmarting him. Seeing the look on his face when I got him. Waiting to see how he’d prank back. It was a never-ending battle of wits. Nothing more than a way to channel my annoyance.

But this time, the prank war had to end in a breakup.

Maybe a clarinet breakup too, if I was lucky. But I had to start small.

Since band was the last class of the day, everyone dropped off their instruments in Mrs. Sullivan’s classroom in the morning. Reid’s clarinet was always one of the first in its cubby. One morning, I took advantage of that. Checking over my shoulder first, I unzipped the front pocket of Reid’s clarinet case and pulled out his reeds, rubbing each one with a garlic clove I swiped from the pantry that morning, until I was certain that the garlic clung to the wood.

That afternoon, I could smell a hint of garlic the moment Reid unzipped his case.

He slid a reed out of its case, his face twisting in disgust when he brought it to his lips.

“Gross,” Reid muttered.

He kept five broken-in reeds on him at any one time, so he reached for another one.

It didn’t matter.

They were all garlic reeds.

His head snapped to face me. “Natalie.”

Loosening the ligature on my mouthpiece, I couldn’t not crack a smile.

“You won—” Reid said, his voice flat “—and you’re still starting a prank war?”

I shrugged.

Reid sighed and raised his hand. “Mrs. Sullivan, can I have an extra reed?”

Mrs. Sullivan nodded. “Sure, Reid. But it’s important to be prepared.”

Huh. I didn’t anticipate that. Double win.

“Seriously, Natalie?” Madeline’s voice asked behind me.

I swear, I could hear her eye roll. Madeline didn’t get it now, but she would. Reid returned from the supply closet with a new reed, narrowing his eyes at me like it’s on. I basked in the reality that he’d sound fifty percent less perfect today with a new reed that hadn’t been broken in.