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Hills principal—Patricia Stratham, his mom!
    I printed it out because I couldn’t wait to show to Jenna, Kristen, and Hailey the real reason that Danny Stratham went to the principal’s office every afternoon. I looked at my chart again and then my clock and decided that even if it meant a sleepless night, it would probably be best to wait until tomorrow to call Michael. I decided to forward Officer Mendez’s e-mailto him instead with a quick note. Except that my “quick” note took about twenty minutes to write, because I kept rewriting the first line.
    Hey, Michael,
    Sorry about the loss to Valley View.
    That was a tough game.
    You played a lot better than you did in the game against West Hills.
    It seemed impossible to get the “friendly, encouraging, and concerned” tone I wanted, so I decided to just stick to the facts.
    Hey, Michael,
    See below. Officer Mendez will meet with us. What day/time is best for you?
    â€”Sam
    I almost fell out of bed when my computer chimed a minute later. Michael had alreadye-mailed me back! It said only:
    Want to talk?
    So I replied:
    Sure. Call me whenever you want. I’m home.
    The phone rang almost immediately. Michael obviously was in need of a diversion from thinking about football.
    â€œI GOT IT! I GOT IT I GOT IT!” I yelled out my bedroom door as I grabbed the phone.
    â€œHi, Michael,” I heard Allie say with a giggle. “Sam’s here. Hold on a minute.”
    â€œHi, Michael,” I said on the other receiver. “I got it, Allie. You can hang up now.”
    I heard a click , and then it sounded like a herd of cattle were thumping down the hall outside my room. Allie, Ashley, and Ashley poked their heads into my bedroom.
    â€œAre his brothers home?” Ashley Diaz whispered.
    â€œCould you ask?” Allie said.
    â€œUm, Allie,” I replied, covering the receiver.“ My call. Your room.” I pointed to her room across the hall. Payback is awesome!
    â€œSorry about that, Michael,” I said into the phone. “Allie and her friends are having a sleepover and they’re driving me a little nuts.”
    â€œNo problem,” Michael replied. “I have brothers. I know the feeling.
    â€œOh, and before you say anything,” he added, “can we not talk about football?”
    â€œFootball? What’s that?” I joked.
    â€œExactly,” Michael said. “Thank you.”
    I filled Michael in on the details, including my “background check” on Danny Stratham. I was surprised when Michael started to laugh.
    â€œDanny Stratham? Really, Sam?” He chuckled. “He’s only one of the nicest guys on the West Hills team. He always shows great sportsmanship. I would never suspect that he would do it.”
    â€œWell, you and I may be the only Cherry Valley students who think that,” I said, a little miffed. “His name was spreading through the school like the flu virus in February.”
    â€œThat’s just because he looks tough,” Michaelsaid. “I think we can safely cross him off the suspect list. I’ll vouch for him.”
    â€œOkay, I’ll take your word for it,” I replied. “Speaking of suspects, is there anyone on your list? Anyone from West Hills?”
    â€œFrom West Hills?” asked Michael. “No, I can’t think of anyone. They’re all pretty nice guys, even though they’re the enemy.”
    â€œRight, but the playoffs are coming up,” I reminded Michael. “Everyone said that Cherry Valley is the only team that can take the championship away from West Hills. Even nice guys will sometimes do questionable things to get a competitive edge.”
    â€œNo way!” Michael protested. “They wouldn’t do that.”
    It seemed a little strange to me that Michael would defend West Hills, but maybe it was some sort of football brotherhood thing that I didn’t know about.
    â€œFine.