We walk through the wet sand where the water splashes over our feet. I stop every few feet and pick up shells and shove them into my pocket. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of them when I get back to the tent, but I like the feel of them, warm in my pocket.

“I’m glad you told me about Frankie and Coley,” Julian says as we get closer to the tents.

The words I’m glad I told you, too sit right on the edge of my tongue, but I can’t get them out. Instead, I try to smile and I know it’s crooked.

“It will be good to see Frankie again,” he says to me. “And I’m excited to meet Coley.”

“I miss them both,” I tell him quietly, squeezing the shells in my pocket tightly.

We stay at the beach until almost three in the afternoon. Sunburned and sandy, we pile back into Bucky’s truck for the trek home. It’s way quieter than the trip out.

“Guess none of us went to church this morning,” Bucky laughs, his voice gravelly.

“The entire back three rows of pews were probably empty.” Julian laughs, too. “Pastor Ernie will forgive us. We had our own kind of church this morning.”

I rest my head against the seat. We did have our own kind of church this morning, didn’t we? I let that really unfamiliar feeling settle in my bones.

“Hey, Cap,” Bucky says, turning the volume on the radio down. “You thought some more about that prank?”

“I can’t make a decision about it right now,” Julian protests. “You gotta give me more time than just overnight.”

“I really hope you think about what we’re saying,” Bucky says, scratching at his head with a sunburned arm. “This prank war has been going on for so many years.… We can’t be the class that ruins it. Or the lame team that got caught with their pants down because Taylor surprised us and we didn’t retaliate. We’ll never hear the end of it!”

“Bucky’s right, man,” Darien says. “My dad asks me every day what we’re doing to get Taylor. I can’t tell him we’re doing nothing. You know what kind of flak I’m going to get for that at Thanksgiving when both of my grandfathers and all of my uncles are here visiting?”

I watch this conversation unfold all around me, but I don’t add anything. I don’t feel like I have as much at stake as the rest of the guys.

Julian is quiet for a long time, sitting next to me and staring out the window. “Did you know my dad tried to start a petition his senior year to stop the prank war with Taylor?” he finally says.

“No,” Bucky answers, turning the radio off completely. “I didn’t know that.”