Julian shakes his head. “You know how much pressure it is? To not only win the games, but to pull off pranks, lead the team, get a scholarship. And all of that with the eyes of the entire town on me. My dad…” He shakes his head again and goes back to his dresser.

I walk into the room and sit down on the bed. “Your dad what?”

“My dad was good at everything.” His voice catches. “Birdie tells me all the time about what a good quarterback he was, that he got straight As, that the whole town loved him. He was some kind of hero around here. How am I supposed to live up to all of that?”

“I don’t know that anyone expects you to be exactly like your dad,” I say. As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize what I’ve said. That’s exactly what everyone seems to expect from me.

Julian ignores my comment. “When Figg told me how my dad tried so hard to get rid of the prank tradition, I thought, YES! Here’s something I can actually do that he didn’t manage to do first. Or do better. I just… I just want to think he’d be proud of me if he was still around,” Julian says. “And seeing all the trouble the pranks have caused… I want to think he’d be proud of me trying to do something different.”

My stomach still churns around the realization of how alike Julian and I actually are. “I think he’d be proud,” I tell him.

Julian lets out a long sigh. “Thanks, man. Let’s get our stuff packed up. I need to tell the team tonight that we’re not doing a prank. We’ve got football games to win, and if Coach Marcus expects us to do that, we’re going to have to keep our heads in the game. Stephens City was like peewee stuff compared to what we’ve got coming up.”

“Are you sure tonight is the best time to break the news?”

“We’re all going to be together. The quicker I can get everyone’s attention off the pranks, the quicker we can focus on actual football.” He clamps his mouth shut and focuses on packing his bag.

I stuff my own black duffel with an extra pair of shorts and my bathing suit. I honestly don’t know what else to throw in for a campout. Or if I’ll even need another pair of shorts. I’ve never done anything like this before. Or had friends to do this kind of thing with.

I meet Julian in the living room.