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biggest, a tall black kid with a friendly smile, stuck out his hand. “Welcome to the football team.”
    I shook his big hand and breathed easier. “Thanks.”
    â€œNo, let us thank you . We’re sure glad you’re joining the offense, Rodney. My name is Joe. I’m the center. JJ and AJ are your tackles, and Philip and Frank are the guards. We’re the offensive line.”
    I couldn’t believe it. These guys were nice and seemed genuinely happy to have me with them. Not only that, each player was bigger than the next. As I had learned with Josh, it’s good to have big friends.
    Frank said, “We heard all about you last year, of course.”
    â€œYeah,” AJ added. “I still can’t believe someone attacked the McThugg Brothers and lived to talk about it.”
    JJ blurted, “I still watch your flight off the Ravine of Doom on YouTube!”
    Joe smiled. “Like I said, we were all real happy when we heard you were joining us. You see, we were kind of hoping you’d be able to help us with some of our problems.”
    The good feeling in my chest was replaced by a tight, uncomfortable feeling. Their faces had lost the smiles of a moment ago and now they looked frightened. “You see, Rodney,” Joe explained, “we’ve been getting bullied quite a bit by a real mean group.”
    The tight, uncomfortable feeling in my chest was quickly replaced by difficulty breathing and a racing heart. This was getting worse by the second. These guys were a head taller than me and a hundred pounds heavier. What group could possibly be nasty enough to bully them ? And what could I possibly do about it?
    Over the pounding of my heart I heard myself ask, “It’s Trevor and his gang, right? Are they the cause of your problems?”
    Joe looked surprised and almost laughed. “If it was Trevor, I could handle it. These guys are much worse. I’m talking about—” He stopped short and looked from side to side before making sure it was safe to continue. Finally he whispered, “I’m talking about the Windham team.”
    â€œTwo in particular,” JJ added. “Twin brothers.”
    â€œExactly,” Joe said. “They come over here after school—”
    â€œOh, no!” JJ gasped, staring at the sideline. “They’re here.” The huddle collectively shuddered. I snuck a peak. You couldn’t miss the twin giants!
    â€œSo can you help us?” Joe asked.
    Trevor had wandered by and was waiting to hear my reply. Suddenly I was living out my worst nightmare. At Baber Intermediate, I had built a reputation as a kid who feared no one—despite the fact that I’m pure coward through and through. It was all by accident, of course, but now I realized that none of my past victories meant much in this new, larger world. If I acted afraid, my whole “Rodney reputation” would vanish. Once it was gone I’d be the number one bully target in Garrettsville. Heck, maybe all of Ohio. I had to pretend to be tough, but how?
    Before I had a chance to answer, Coach Laimbardi shouted, “All right! Let’s run a play!”
    â€œWe’ll talk about Windham later,” Joe said.
    For the time being I was safe—but for how long? Another kid, in a number sixteen jersey, cleared his throat. He’d been quiet up until now. “We’ll run a basic sweep. Sound good to you, Rodney?”
    â€œHuh?” I was so busy worrying about my reputation that I had forgotten about football.
    â€œOh, hey, my name’s Hector. I’m the quarterback. I broke a state record last year.”
    With a star quarterback, maybe we wouldn’t have to run the ball that much. “A state record. That’s great,” I said.
    â€œYeah, I broke the record for getting sacked the most times in one season. Seventy-nine—thanks to this great offensive line. That’s twenty-two more times than