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As they made their way to the locker room, Jeff caught Hayes’s arm.
    “Listen, I just want you to know I thought you played well out there today.”
    Hayes stared at him. “What makes you think I don’t think I did?” he asked.
    “Come on, Hayes, I heard what Bucky said to you —”
    “Will you quit worrying about me? I can handle Bucky. What I can’t handle is some no-brain like you trying to mother me!”
    He shook free of Jeff’s grasp and ran into the locker room, leaving Jeff to stare after him in stunned silence.

10
    H ayes’s words were still ringing in Jeff’s ears at dinner. It made what he had to do after dessert that much more difficult.
     But he knew he couldn’t avoid it, no matter what.
    So after he had helped clear the dishes, he grabbed the cordless phone and shut himself in the bathroom. He fished the slip
     of paper Ms. Collins had given him out of his pocket and dialed the number.
    “Hello?” a female voice answered.
    “Uh, hi, is Beth there?” Jeff asked.
    “This is Beth.”
    “Oh. My name is Jeff Connors. Um, Ms.Collins said you might tutor me in English.” He told her about his conversation with his teacher.
    “Do you still have the composition you turned in?” Beth asked.
    “Sure,” he replied.
    “Good,” she said. “Sometimes people get so angry they tear them up. So we’re off on the right foot already.”
    She sounded so nice that Jeff started to relax. Maybe this tutoring won’t be so bad after all, he thought. If only it wasn’t
     Bucky’s and Hayes’s sister!
    “Bring your composition with you tomorrow and we’ll get started,” Beth said.
    Jeff gulped. “So soon?” he asked. “I have hockey practice tomorrow, then I’ll want to eat dinner. Couldn’t we start this weekend?
     And couldn’t you come over here?”
    “No, I’m sorry, but I’m all set up here. And it really would be better to get you goingsooner rather than later. It will only be for an hour. So how about it?”
    Jeff sighed, knowing she was right. “Let me check with my folks, okay?” He got permission from both his mother and father,
     then told Beth he’d be at her house at 7:30 sharp. I only hope the Ledbetter brothers aren’t around, he thought dismally.
     But what are the chances of that?
    School flew by the next day. Jeff told Ms. Collins he was going to be seeing Beth that very night. She looked so pleased that
     he was glad he hadn’t put off his first tutoring session.
    At practice, he concentrated on playing well. He was rewarded by being teamed up with other players he knew would be selected
     for the first string. Happily, Kevin was in the defenseman slot behind him more often than not.
    When the session was over, Coach Wallaceannounced that they would be playing a non-league game on Saturday afternoon. The starting lineup would be posted Friday before
     practice.
    Whose names would appear on that list was all any of the guys could talk about. Heated discussions about who had seen the
     most playing time during practice, who played well with whom, and why certain combinations of front line and defense made
     the most sense took up all the conversation in the locker room.
    “Listen, there’s no way he’s going to put Shep Fredrickson and Jordan Owens together on defense,” argued Chad. “They both
     play the left side of the ice better than the right! One’s going to be a starter, the other will sub in.”
    Shep said, “Kevin, you and Jeff make a good front line/defenseman team. I’ll betyou guys start out on the right wing and defense slots.”
    Only Michael Gillis seemed sure of his place on the team. He was a safe bet for the starting goalie slot and everyone knew
     it.
    Though he listened carefully, Jeff didn’t take part in the conversation. He was too busy wondering what his first tutoring
     session was going to be like.
    Jeff and Kevin walked home together as usual, but for some reason Jeff didn’t feel like telling Kevin what he was doing later
     that