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to their feet, covered in mud and grass and rubbing their heads, I realized it was the Windham twins! Towering over me, one of them growled, “I know you did that on purpose.” He spit some dirt from his mouth. “Too bad we can’t properly introduce ourselves with so many witnesses around, but we’ll be seeing you soon enough. Bart and Bruno, remember those names.”
    Still dazed from the collision, I watched them walk off.
    â€œRathbone! That was the best run I’ve seen in years!” It was the excited face of Coach Laimbardi staring down at me. “In a real game, the spectators won’t be right next to the field. Unlucky. But with you handling the ball, I see big things for this team. Big things.”
    â€œSuper job, son!” my dad yelled from the sideline as I rose to my feet.
    Joe clasped my shoulder. “I knew we could count on you to take care of those guys.”
    â€œMe too,” JJ added. “It’s great that you have our backs! Finally, someone who’s not afraid of anything.”
    Boy, was I glad my sister wasn’t around to hear that one!

Chapter 4
    A BIZARRE LESSON IN ROMANCE
    The start of school can be a nerve-racking time for a kid. While my first couple of days probably surpassed anything experienced by my classmates, I can’t say I was surprised. Trouble knows how to find me. For instance, how many people get thrust into the role of football savior on a team where half the players want to tackle them? Or find three cheerleaders flirting with them—right when they’re trying to win back their girlfriend? Or worst of all, witness their dad running around school with a jock strap in his hand?
    Well, you get the idea. It was all pretty much business as usual for me. But by the end of the first week, I began to realize my life had taken a turn that even I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. I looked around one day and saw that things were . . . good. Thanks to the incident with Bart and Bruno, I was barely getting threatened in the halls and without Josh by his side, Toby was keeping his distance.
    The place where I really noticed a difference was at football practice. I was doing all right and starting to enjoy it. I figured the best thing to do was run right behind Josh as much as possible. And it had been working. He was able to handle Trevor and the middle linebackers, hammering them so hard that they toned down their ferocious assault on the field. Coach Laimbardi loved it. After practice one day he said, “You know, Rathbone, I’ve never had a running back that uses his lead blocker as well as you.”
    â€œThanks, Coach.”
    â€œYeah, a lot of times players run away from protection and get tackled.” He certainly didn’t have to worry about me running from protection. “Keep up the good work, Rathbone.”
    â€œI’ll try.”
    â€œYeah, Coach, he’s playing good,” Trevor’s voice sounded from behind me.
    With my helmet on, I hadn’t seen him approach. Laimbardi nodded his head in agreement before turning his attention to Coach Manuel and walking off.
    â€œHey Josh,” Trevor called out, “someone was just looking for you. He said one of the janitors needed help exploding something.”
    Josh immediately tore off in the direction of the school building. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. This wasn’t good. Trevor watched him disappear, muttering, “What a loser.” Then he slapped his hand down hard on my shoulder pad. “I wanted to have a little talk without Frankenstein around to protect you.”
    Was Trevor really going to start something right in the middle of football practice?
    â€œListen, Mr. Football Star,” he began, “enjoy the ride, but don’t kid yourself into thinking that I’m not going to get ahold of you. I would right now, if Laimbardi wasn’t here. Trust me, we Tarantolas have no problem waiting