emerged the shadow of a person.
âHe always comes out the back,â Jaden said, nodding toward the door.
Josh watched as a second dark figure appeared from the shadows and approached Jadenâs dad.
âWho parks back here?â Josh asked, watching as the second figure melted back into the shadows as if it had never been there at all.
Jaden shrugged. Looking at Josh, she said, âPeople dropping things off or picking them up, I guess. Why?â
âThatâs a nice car,â Josh said, pointing to the small black one in the middle of the others as Jadenâs father jogged down the concrete steps still wearing a long white examination coat.
âThat Porsche? It is nice,â Jaden said. âWhen my dadâs working for the Yankees, Iâm hoping heâll get something like that.â
âYeah, I know someone whoâs got one of those,â Josh said.
âReally? One of the Chiefs?â Jaden asked.
âCoach Valentine,â Josh said, walking toward the car to get a look at the license plate in the shadows, unable to make it out. âBut what would he be doing here?â
Jaden kissed her father hello and introduced him to Josh. Josh shook the doctorâs hand, but his eyes were on the black car.
âBetter look out,â Jadenâs father said. âHere comes a truck.â
Together, they moved away from the center of the blacktop. As the truck pulled in, its headlights shone on the row of cars. Josh blinked and saw, without a doubt, a license plate that read DOIT2IT.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
âI THOUGHT WE WERE all running,â Benji said with all the surprise he could muster.
Josh rolled his eyes. Jaden took a bite of her sandwich without saying anything.
âWhat?â Benji said. âYou think I was afraid? I knew you didnât want to fight that guy, and I figured if I high-tailed it out of there, youâd follow. By the time I turned around, you guys were gone. I sent a text, but glamour boy here had his phone off.â
âWhatâd you do?â Jaden said. âRun till you hit the Canadian border?â
âNow, thatâs the kind of thing that makes it hard to be your friend,â Benji said, scolding her with his index finger.
âIâm so upset, Iâm going to have to stop eating,â Jadensaid, taking a huge bite of her sandwich and chewing wildly.
âDonât worry, Lido,â Josh said through a mouthful of lettuce and bologna on white bread. âI know you got my back if I need you.â
âYeah, you know that, dude,â Benji said with a defiant nod at Jaden.
Jaden just closed her eyes.
The rest of the school day went as well as school can go, with no pop quizzes and not a lot of homework. Josh had to dodge the other kids on the team and their questions as best he could, and to those he couldnât dodge heâd just shrug and say he couldnât do anything about it. His dad needed him.
At two-twenty, those who didnât believe him had the chance to see him run down the front steps of the school, pass the buses, and jump into his dadâs waiting car, which sped all the way to the Mount Olympus Sports Complex.
When they arrived, Josh and his dad saw cars, trucks, and SUVs racing in and out of the circle in front of the giant bubble. It reminded Josh of a pit stop, with each player jumping from his parentsâ vehicle and sprinting for the door.
Joshâs dad wished him good luck and told him heâd be back to watch the end of practice. Josh got out of the car and, caught up in the atmosphere, hurried inside like the others. He changed into workout shorts and aT-shirt in the locker room, then followed the stream of players into the weight room.
Stacks of metal plates clapped together intermittently, making the whole place sound like a construction site. The smell of rubber mats and stale sweat filled the air, along with the grunts, shouts, and angry cries of the