So the seventh-grade prank wars began with garlic reeds, a prank I am proud of to this day.

The rest? Not so much.

Reid retaliated with a prank that got zero points for creativity but maximum disgustingness points. The Saturday following garlic reeds, I came downstairs to scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice set at my place at the table. Reid was already seated, scrolling through his phone after his morning clarinet lesson.

Without thinking twice, I reached for the orange juice and took a generous sip.

It was a mistake.

Immediately, I gagged, spitting up orange all over myself, and Reid was laughing in his hands. Because orange juice, it was not. Nope. Reid dissolved a mac-n-cheese packet into a glass of water and I hated how brilliant it was—how effortlessly he got me.

I haven’t looked at orange juice the same ever since.

The pranks escalated as the humidity faded and the fall air turned crisp.

We enlisted the help of the sisters in one round. Hannah hid every pair of Reid’s shoes hours before he was supposed to meet Madeline at the roller rink. Reid is extremely meticulous about his belongings, so this one messed with him in the best way. A few days later, pieces I hadn’t committed to memory yet were missing from my music folder.

Mrs. Sullivan called me out and my ears felt hot with embarrassment.

“You two are so juvenile,” Madeline declared after class, while packing up her saxophone.

The more pranks that unfolded, the more frustrated Madeline became. Exactly as I planned.

“Sorry Madi.” I shook my head. “We won’t stop until there is a victor.”

Madeline rolled her eyes. But then they left class together hand in hand, and an impending breakup still seemed pretty unlikely. Reid’s prank had lit a fire under me though. It was a reminder that the prank war was serious to Reid. To him, it was all about the clarinet.

I watched Madeline and Reid walk away and suddenly, I knew how to use that against him.

“Natalie. That is a terrible idea.”

Henry stared at me, his eyes wide, as I unveiled my master plan in the only logical place to reveal a master plan: the too-small tree house in my backyard. Our backs pressed against opposite walls, our arms wrapped around legs too long to stretch out straight.

I frowned. “I need the truth. Reid asked her out after chairs were decided. It’s sketchy!”

Henry’s eyes met mine. “Come on, Natalie. Not everything Reid does is a reaction to you. Even if it is… let it blow up in Reid’s face on its own. Be there for Madeline in the aftermath. It’s a better look.”

“So I’m supposed to sit around and let my friend get hurt because of me?”

“In this specific instance? Yes.”

“No!”