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called the coach last night! It was really stupid, just showing up like this when he had said that he wasn’t going to play. Now Coach Bodie must think he was a total idiot, walking on the field as if there had never been any question about it.
    “I, uh, no, I guess I should have let you know, but … the truth is, I only decided I wanted to play last night and … I guess I wasn’t thinking. I mean, I don’t know whether you even want me now, and if you don’t, it’s my fault for not being, for not —”
    “Whoa, settle down,” said the coach. “Of course I’m happy to see you here, and I was hoping you’d think better about quitting. I think we can have ourselves a great season, and you can be a big part of it. We’re going to get started in a few minutes, so if you want, you can get reacquainted with some of the others and get loose.”
    Coach Bodie walked off just as Billy Brundage, last year’s starting quarterback, and probably this year’s, too, came up and exchanged hand slaps with Keith and Heck. “Hey, great to see you. When you weren’t at the meeting last week, I was afraid you weren’t coming out this year. We’re going to have a great season, I can feel it!”
    Several other Bucks who Keith knew swarmed around and greeted him happily. Heck poked an elbow into his friend’s side. “What did I tell you? They’re happy to see you!”
    But Keith noticed that a few players had not come over. One he recognized right away: Larry Vincent, a tall, thin wide receiver who had played behind him the previous year, who had had problems with his coordination. Larry had probably figured to be a starter if Keith was out of the picture, and might not have been thrilled to see him show up today. Larry was talking to a boy Keith didn’t recognize. He turned to Heck.
    “Who’s the dude with Larry Vincent?”
    Heck shrugged. “New guy in town. I can’t remember his name, but I think his family moved in next to Larry’s.”
    “Come on, I want to introduce myself.”
    Keith and Heck walked over to the two boys, who watched them approach, showing neither pleasure nor hostility.
    “Hey, Larry,” said Keith. “Good to see you.” He turned to the other boy. “I’m Keith Stedman.”
    “Jason Cole,” said the new boy, who had a pale, freckled face and large hands with long fingers. “How you doing?”
    “Hey, Keith,” said Larry. “Heck, how’s it going?”
    “Pretty good,” Heck said. “Jason, I’m Heck Szymanski. Good to meet you.”
    “Hi, Heck,” said Jason. Then he turned his attention back to Keith, staring at him with obvious curiosity. Keith was sure that Larry had been telling Jason about the Dropped Pass.
    Well, okay
, Keith thought.
I did drop the pass. Like Dad said, I can’t focus on that, even if someone else wants to
. “Jason, what position do you play?”
    “I was the quarterback on the team where I used to live,” said Jason, grinning, “and Larry says your other quarterback is too old for this league, so maybe I can replace him. If not, well, I could be a runner or a flanker or something.”
    Keith nodded. “Well, Larry’s right, the guy who used to back Billy up isn’t playing with the Bucks this year.”
    “Good to have you with us,” Heck said, reaching out for a hand slap, which Jason gave him.
    “Thanks,” replied Jason. “I heard you were good last year.”
    “Yeah,” said Larry. “We
almost
had an undefeated season.”
    Before Keith could decide whether Larry meant that as a dig, the coach blew his whistle. “Okay, let’s group up over here,” Coach Bodie called out, clapping his hands. He carried his clipboard under one arm.
    “Great!” the coach exclaimed, looking at the group of boys. “Good to see that so many of last seasons team is here again. We had a lot of success last year, and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again — if we do our work and think and play as a
team
.
    “Those of you who have worked with me before know what I