“Guard him!” I screamed at my teammates. “Guard him!” But he sprinted past them like they weren’t even there.
Three seconds later, the big lefty was bearing down on me like a freight train that was out of control. Or more accurately, a freight train that was in total control.
I gripped my stick tighter and bounced on my toes, the way Coach Knight taught me.
Finally, when he was about fifteen feet away from me, he pulled his stick back into a shooting position. “Argghh!” he yelled, and fired.
Or so I thought.
I was surprised that he was shooting from so far away, but I reacted anyway. I went to where the shot was heading, thinking, I got this. The only problem was, there was no ball. It was a fake! I was already sprawled on the ground, trying to save an imaginary shot, when the kid pulled his stick back and fired again, this time for real.
“You’re toast!” I heard him say, laughing.
Everything felt like slow motion as I watched the ball go through the air. In under a second I thought about how hard it would be to face my team after being faked out of my shoes on the last play of the game. I thought about how glad I was that Daisy and Irwin weren’t there to see me get embarrassed like that. And I thought that maybe this was a sign that I should go back home, play with Abby, and watch STOP! POLICE! on TV, just like the good old, uncomplicated pre-lacrosse days.
I swear, I thought all that in under a second.
FACT: It’s amazing what the brain can do when it puts its mind to something.
QUESTION: Does a brain even have a mind?
The last thing I thought was, No. I can’t let this happen.
And somehow, just as the ball was about to cross the line, I dove back across the goal mouth, flung my stick across my body, and knocked the ball away.
SAVE!
“Are you kidding me?!?” shouted the kid, shocked.
The buzzer went off, the game ended, and the whole place went nuts. We’d won! Before I even realized what was happening, half the team was running over to me, lifting me up onto their shoulders, and carrying me off the field. The other half of the team was in a circle in the middle of the field, jumping on top of each other. Even the three kids who’d been hurt by the crashing bench were limping around, high-fiving and celebrating with everyone else. “Easy, guys! It’s just one game!” Coach Knight kept yelling, but no one was listening to him.
Even Baxter smacked me on the back. “Great job, Jimmy,” he said, and it really seemed like he meant it.
When I got off the field, I jumped into my parents’ arms, and we hugged and screamed for joy. Misty picked her head up out of her phone long enough to give me a quick hug and admit, “That was pretty amazing.” Her boyfriend, Jarrod, smacked me on the shoulder and said, “Dude!” Soon enough a ton of other people came over, and it seemed like I was getting congratulated by half the town.
In the middle of the happy craziness, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Irwin and Daisy were standing there with Mara Lloyd, and they all had huge smiles on their faces.
I couldn’t believe it—they’d made it after all!
“You guys came!” I exclaimed. “That’s awesome! Wasn’t that ending the craziest thing you ever saw?”
As we all stood there, with people cheering all around us, it seemed like everything was finally working out the way it was supposed to. A fairy-tale ending!
Then real life got in the way.
AS SOON AS IRWIN AND DAISY LOOKED at each other, I knew that I’d been wrong. They hadn’t been at the game at all.
“We cracked the case,” Daisy announced.
“What do you mean, you cracked the case?” I asked. “What case?”
I was standing there, dripping with sweat in my lacrosse uniform, the celebration of our big win happening all around me, people slapping me on the back and calling me a hero, but all I wanted to know was what Daisy was talking about.
“The secret admirer case,” Irwin said.
Now I was starting to get annoyed. They interrupted the greatest moment of my sports life—a life which, I admit, was only about a week old—for a silly fake case about some kid sending some girl goofy notes?
Baxter came over. “What’s going on?”
“They cracked the all-important case,” I said.
“Well, we didn’t quite crack it,” Daisy said. “But we have some good leads. Yesterday after school we spotted four kids with Scooby-Doo notebooks, and asked them each to write down their three favorite colors on a piece of paper. We told them it was a project for school. Now we’re heading to the clubhouse to compare handwriting samples.”
“This is so amazing!” Mara said to me excitedly. “I can’t believe I made fun of you guys. Being a CrimeBiter must be so cool!”
“Maybe one day you can join the gang,” Irwin said. Mara giggled.
“Are you guys serious?!” I said, losing patience. “I already told you, this isn’t a case! It’s just some kid who is too shy to tell a girl he likes her.” I looked at Irwin. “You should know something about that.”
Irwin gave me a wounded look. “We’re all going to the clubhouse to examine the evidence, Jimmy, with or without you.”
“Come on,” Daisy said. “You’re coming, right?”
“I can’t.”
They all stared at me.
“What do you mean?” Irwin said.
“I mean, I couldn’t go even if I wanted to.” I pointed to Chad Knight, who was standing with Eric and Stefan, two other kids from the lacrosse team who were also part of the superathlete club at school. Chad saw me and waved.
“I’m going to Chad’s house for a barbecue, remember?”
Daisy shook her head. “I don’t get it. It seems like this is happening a lot.”
“What is?”
“You being too busy to do stuff with us,” Irwin chimed in.
“That’s totally not fair,” I said, my voice rising a little bit. “Just because I’m on the lacrosse team now doesn’t mean I’m not still best friends with you guys. But I just can’t do everything anytime you want.”
“That’s lame,” Irwin said.
“It’s not lame!” I snapped. “Maybe you should join something so you’re not just sitting around all day waiting for me to come play with you to solve some fake case that nobody cares about.”
Irwin’s face turned red, like he’d been stung by a bee. He hadn’t, though. He’d been stung by a friend. Me.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I told him, but he wouldn’t look at me. I turned to Daisy. “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said again. But she just shook her head.
“Being on the lacrosse team takes up a ton of time,” said Baxter. “Neither one of us will be around very much for a while. That’s just the way it is.”
Baxter coming to my defense made me feel really lousy about yelling at him during the game.
“That’s just the way it is, huh?” Irwin said. “Well, Baxter, that’s pretty funny coming from you. The only reason you’re even in this club is because we felt sorry for you.”
Baxter looked like he’d been punched in the stomach.
“That’s not fair, Irwin,” I said. “Knock it off.”
“FINE,” Irwin hollered, getting on his bike. “I’m leaving!”
“I’m leaving too,” Baxter said softly. “This isn’t fun anymore.” And he walked away without looking at any of us.
Mara looked shocked. The gang that she wanted to join five minutes earlier was dissolving right before her very eyes. “Um, I’m going to go talk to some other kids,” she said finally.
That left Daisy and me, standing there with nothing to say to each other. After we won the game I’d felt as good as I’d ever felt in my life. Now it seemed like the world was crashing down all around me.
“What do we do now?” I said to Daisy.
“I don’t know,” she said back. “I guess maybe the gang should break up. Just for a while until everything gets back to normal.”
> I suddenly felt a little nauseous. “When’s that going to be?”
But Daisy just shook her head and said, “I don’t know.”
I felt a smack on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Chad standing there. “Ready to roll?” Chad asked. “You got everything you need?”
I looked around at my teammates, at my parents, and finally at Daisy, who was staring at me with a confused expression on her face.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “I got everything I need.”
GOING TO CHAD’S HOUSE was like exploring a distant planet that I’d heard about for years but never thought I’d get to visit in person. It’s a planet where everyone is good at sports, and where everyone proves they’re best friends by wrestling, punching each other on the shoulder, and throwing each other to the ground. And it’s a planet where people seem really, really happy, because they got really lucky in life and they know it.
“Jimmy, welcome!” said Chad’s mom, a woman whose skin looked like the tan couch in our living room. “Help yourself to a snack before lunch!”
“I will, thanks, Mrs. Knight.”
Chad yanked my arm. “Let’s go outside and play hoops.”
“Hoops?”
“Basketball.”
“Oh, right.”
The last time I’d felt comfortable playing basketball was when I was about five years old, and it involved a squishy orange ball and a tiny rim. My lack of skill didn’t matter, though, because the basketball game turned out to be just an excuse for kids to wrestle, grab, and peg the ball at each other as hard as they could. I seemed to be the only one who was terrified, though—everyone else was having the time of their lives.
Luckily, Mrs. Knight yelled “LUNCH!” before anybody got killed.
As the hot dogs (yummy) and cheeseburgers (yummier) were served and scarfed down, Coach Knight got up to make a toast.
“Congratulations to the boys from the lacrosse team,” he said, nodding in the direction of our picnic table, where I was sitting with Chad, his big brother, Jarrod (Misty’s boyfriend), and our teammates Eric and Stefan. “They played a great game today, overcame a fluke accident at halftime, and beat a really good team. Some solid offense by the guys up front. And that last-second save by Jimmy Bishop was one for the highlight reel. Way to go, boys!”
Everyone cheered, and we all stood up and waved. I felt like I was running for president or something, but I wasn’t. All I was doing was playing goalie on a fifth-grade lacrosse team.
FACT: If you think adults are intense about adult sports, you should see how they are about youth sports.
A little while later, I was diving into an ice cream sandwich when Coach Knight came up behind me and said, “How’s everything, Jimmy? You having a good time?”
“Absolutely, Coach.”
“Terrific,” he said. “Listen, I want to talk to you a bit about the future.”
I looked up at him, confused. “What about it?”
Coach sat down. “Well, it’s no secret that we’ve been having some real problems with our field, and with our program. This whole season it’s been like a war zone out there, with open storm drains and rotting benches. The parents are worried, and personally, I just can’t continue to coach under these conditions. It’s time for me to step things up to the next level.” He paused for a minute, and I realized he actually seemed a little nervous. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve decided that next year, I’ll be joining the LaxMax program.”
I was shocked. LaxMax, our archrival? All Coach Knight ever talked about was beating them in the championship. Now he was going to join their program?
“You hate them!” I reminded Coach.
“I know, I know,” he said. “But I figure, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” Coach smiled. “Even though we are going to whup them this year.”
“Wow,” I said. “I can’t believe it.”
Coach Knight took a sip of his drink. “I know, it’s crazy. But LaxMax is an elite program, Jimmy, not just a town program. And they’re always looking for the best new coaches and players. Chad is going to join the junior team, and I’m going to join their coaching staff.” He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m hoping you’ll consider coming with us.”
I looked over at Chad. “You’re joining LaxMax too?”
He shrugged. “Looks that way.”
“I’ve already told the head of the LaxMax program about you,” Coach Knight said. “They’re always looking for good goalies. And you’re getting better every game.”
I started to feel that warm glow you get when someone tells you you’re good at something.
“This is big news, Jimmy, I promise you,” said Coach Knight. “Very exciting, for all of us.”
“What about the rest of the guys, though?” I asked. “We’re a team.”
Coach sighed. “I know. It’s a little unfortunate. There just isn’t enough money in the budget for Quietville to stay competitive in this day and age. Just ask that bench that broke!” He got up. “Anyway, it’s something to think about. Talk it over with your parents, and we’ll discuss it more in the coming weeks. For now, we still have the rest of this season, and we still want to win a championship!”
As Coach Knight walked away, Chad took a sip of his soda.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked. “Kind of a secret?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t even like lacrosse that much.”
I was shocked. “What? You don’t? You’re amazing at it.”
“I guess.” He started making smiley faces out of the leftover ketchup on his plate. “But sometimes I wish I wasn’t.”
“Wow. That’s crazy.”
“Not that crazy,” he said. “I like basketball better. But my dad says I’m not tall enough for basketball, and since I’m so good at lacrosse I need to play it all year round.”
“Huh,” I said, thinking about my dad and how thrilled he was that I was turning out to be a good lacrosse player. “Well, I guess joining LaxMax will mean a much better field, right? I don’t get why we can’t get a decent field here, and benches that actually work. Especially since kids are getting hurt! Is it really that much of a big deal?”
“I guess so,” Chad said. “That’s why we need to go to LaxMax, right? They’re the best.”
“You think I’m really good enough for them?” I asked him.
“Yeah, I do,” he said. “It’s pretty awesome how quickly you got so good.”
“Thanks.” It was awesome. So why didn’t I feel awesome?
He held out his hand for a high five, and we slapped palms. “Listen, it’s all good, right? This is gonna be sweet. You’re one of us now!”
And I realized, Maybe that’s the problem.
I didn’t really feel like one of us.
Or one of them.
Or one of anybody.
IN THE BOOK FANGS BUT NO FANGS, Jonah Forrester wakes up one morning and has completely lost his vampire powers. He freaks out at first, because everything he knows is gone. But then, slowly, he gets used to it, and actually enjoys being a normal person. He decides that not having all the complications of being a vampire is actually a lot easier, and he convinces himself he’s happier than ever, until the day he realizes something: He misses his old life.
I kind of knew how Jonah felt.
After the CrimeBiters broke up, a couple of strange things happened. The first was awesome: Not to brag or anything, but Chad was right—I was getting pretty amazing at lacrosse. Our team kept winning, we made the playoffs, and the team named me a co-captain with Chad.
But the other strange thing was the opposite of awesome: Three more kids on our team got injured in weird accidents on our home field. In our game against Fairfield, Alex Kaplan tripped over an old telephone wire that was sticking up from the ground; and in the game against Eastchester, two kids got hurt: Kenny Stephensen banged into one of the goals when it came loose, and N
ick Wingate slipped and twisted his ankle when the sprinklers went off in the middle of the third quarter.
Watching Nick get helped off the field, I found myself standing next to Baxter.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
He looked at me like I was about to ask him to eat an entire plate of brussels sprouts in five seconds. “Sure, I guess.”
“Does this always happen? Kids getting hurt like this?”
Baxter chuckled a little. “Why, you nervous?”
“No, of course not,” I said. “I just think it’s weird, that’s all. Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Kids get hurt in sports all the time.”
“Well, how come no one ever gets hurt when we play away games?”
“Because our field stinks, duh.” Baxter snorted. “Listen, you’re lucky you’re not playing football. It’s way worse.”
“Huh,” I said, trying to believe him. I was no expert, but I was pretty sure that kids didn’t get hurt in football with telephone wires. I decided not to make a big deal out of it. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks.”
I was still a little nervous about the whole thing, but there weren’t any injuries for the next few games, and everything seemed to calm down. I soon got distracted by something else, anyway: About halfway through our winning streak, a bunch of kids on the team started asking me and Chad if we were going to join LaxMax. I didn’t know where they heard that rumor, but I pretended not to know what they were talking about. That was because after I’d told my parents about the conversation I’d had with Coach Knight, my dad said (with an incredibly proud look on his face), “That’s not something you should even think about until after the season is over. Right now your focus needs to be on your team.”
Got it. Focus!
FACT: Always put the team’s needs ahead of your own. Except when you’re alone, lying in bed at night. Then it’s perfectly fine to dream about personal glory.
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