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Teddy felt the ball touch his hand and felt himself falling back to earth at the same time, he controlled the ball just enough to tip it forward, tip it into his body, so he could somehow get his left hand on it too.
    As he landed on his back—hard—he knew both hands were on the ball Jack had just thrown him.
    He was aware, even flat on his back, that it had gotten kind of loud at Holzman Field.
    He was still on his back, the ball still pressed to his chest, when he looked up and saw Jack Callahan staring down at him. Teddy thought he shouldn’t have been able to get down the field that fast.
    But he was Jack.
    â€œThat ought to work,” he said to Teddy.
    Then he was pulling Teddy up.
    Again.

FIVE
    T his was the way Coach Gilbert left it with them before they left tryouts:
    He would meet that night with the evaluators, and then he would post the names of the kids who had made the Wildcats on the Walton Town Football website at eleven o’clock the next morning. The rest of the kids would find their names on the town’s Pop Warner site. Then he asked that the kids who made the Wildcats show up at Holzman Field at one o’clock, where they’d be given game jerseys, helmets, pads, and playbooks.
    Then they had to go to Bob’s Sports and try on their football pants there.
    Teddy and Jack and Gus decided they wanted to be together—all for one—when they found out, even though Teddy knew there was no real drama for his friends. They were making the team; they’d both played like total stars.
    Cassie was with them too. She never wanted to be left out of anything.
    She said, “I’m just here for the drama.”
    The next day, they met up at Jack’s house at nine thirty. Mrs. Callahan made them all pancakes. It was ten when Jack grabbed his laptop and they went down to the basement to wait through what Teddy knew was going to be the longest hour of his life.
    At least he wasn’t thinking about his dad today. Just about football. Because right now football mattered more to him.
    â€œStop worrying,” Cassie said. “You’re all going to make it.”
    â€œWe are all going to make it,” Gus said.
    â€œI know Cassie doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Teddy said.
    â€œHey,” she said.
    â€œBut you were there,” Teddy said to Gus. “You saw how I played before I made one lucky catch.”
    Cassie said, “I heard it was a little more than luck. Jack and Gus said you morphed into that guy from the Giants who stole David Beckham’s name.”
    â€œI don’t think he stole it, exactly,” Jack said.
    â€œHe’s going to make it, right?” Gus said to Jack. “I’m right, right?”
    Jack grinned. “Right,” he said.
    â€œYou’re being serious, right?” Gus said.
    â€œI am being serious,” Jack said. “Coach isn’t going to cut a guy who made that catch.”
    â€œI still can’t believe I caught it,” Teddy said.
    â€œAnd do you know why you did?”
    â€œNo. But I know I’m about to find out.”
    â€œBecause you had to,” Jack said. “Sometimes in sports you’re better than you think you are, because you have to be.”
    Teddy didn’t want to check his phone again to see what time it was, but it was as if Gus were reading his mind.
    â€œFive till,” he said.
    Jack turned on the television. They tried to watch SportsCenter . Teddy knew they were both acting nervous just to make him less nervous. It wasn’t working. But they had to try. There were about a million ways, he was discovering, to be a good friend.
    Or a great one.
    The list wasn’t finally posted until ten minutes after eleven o’clock.
    â€œWait,” Jack said.
    â€œWait?” Teddy said. “Because we’re all having so much fun here?”
    â€œNo,” Jack said, shaking his head. “I can’t access the