5
Chapter
1 It was Friday night. Cole was at
home.Hehadhisradioon.Hiscellphone
chirped. He had a text message from
Anna.Anna was his girlfriend.Anna
texted,“Callme.”
Coleturnedtheradiodown.Thenhe
calledAnna. “Hi,Anna.When did you
gethome?”Coleasked.Annahadgoneto
seeherlittlesisterSara’splay.Thatwas
whysheandColedidn’thaveadate.
“Afewminutesago,”Annasaid.
“How was the play? Did you have a
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6
goodtime?”Coleasked.
Anna said, “The play was okay. But
Iwishyou’dbeentherewithme.Where
areyounow?Whathaveyoubeendoing
tonight?”
Cole said, “I’m at home. I have the
radioon.I’mtryingtofindouttheOak
Hillgame’sscore.”
The winner of the game would play
Dawson High in the state finals. Cole
was on the Dawson High team. He
playedtightend.
HehopedthatOakHilllost.OakHill
hadthebestteaminthestate.AndCole
didn’twanttoplaytheminthestatefinals.
Oak Hill had the best running back
inthestate.HisnamewasGarrett.And
Cole didn’t think Oak Hill could lose
withhimontheteam.
Anna said, “I’ll hang up. You can
listentotheradio.”
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7
“Youdon’thavetohangup.Icanfind
outthescorelater.I’msureOakHillwill
win,”Colesaid.
“I’llstillhangup.Iknowyouwantto
findoutthescorerightaway.Youcancall
metomorrowmorning,”Annasaid.
“Okay.I’lltalktoyouthen,”Colesaid.
Cole turned the radio back up. He
thoughtabout theOakHill game.Cole
couldn’tkeephismindonhishomework.
About twenty minutes later, his cell
phone rang.He turned the radiodown.
Thenhequicklyansweredhisphone.
Aboysaid,“Bro,it’sJeff.Ijustfound
outwhowontheOakHillgame.”
Jeff was Cole’s best friend. Jeff was
ontheDawsonHighteam.Andhewasa
tightend,too.
“Great.Whowon?”Coleasked.
“Badnews.OakHillwon,”Jeffsaid.“I
justhearditontheradio.OakHillwon
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8
by21points.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. But I
hopedtheywouldlose,”Colesaid.
Jeffsaid,“Yeah,metoo.ThatGarrett
guy’sagoodplayer.Idon’tthinkwecan
beatOakHillinthestatefinals.”
“Weneedtobelievewecanwin.Ifwe
don’t,wewon’thaveachance,”saidCole
“Yeah.Iknow.I’lltrytothinkwecan
win.But Idon’tbelievewecan.Unless
somethinghappens,”Jeffsaid.
“Likewhat?”Coleasked.
“I don’tknow.Butmaybe something
willhappenthatwillhelpus.Weneedall
thehelpwecanget,”Jeffsaid.
“You’rerightaboutthat,”Colesaid.
Theonlythingthatwouldhelpwasif
Garrettdidn’tplay.AndColedidn’twant
Garrett togethurt.Colecouldn’t think
ofanythingelsethatcouldhelpDawson
Highwin.
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9
Chapter
2 ItwasMondayafternoon.Colewasat
footballpractice.Jeffwasthere,too.They
were talking about the Oak Hill game.
TheirfriendRickranovertothem.Rick
wastheback-upcenter.
Ricksaid,“Idon’tknowwhyIcameto
footballpracticetoday.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cole
asked.
Jeffsaid,“Yeah.Whatdoyoumeanby
that?Weallhavetopractice.Sowehave
tobeheretoday.”
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10
“There isn’t any reason to practice.
We’llstillloseonSaturday.There’snoway
wecanbeatOakHill.Sowhypractice?”
Rickasked.
CoachBrentblewhiswhistle.Hewas
thefootballcoach.
Coach Brent yelled to the team. He
said,“Guys,allofyoucomeoverhere.We
needtogetstarted.”Theboysranoverto
him.
CoachBrentsaid,“I thinkallofyou
alreadyknowthis.We’llplayOakHillin
MacononSaturdayafternoon.”
Coleknewthecoachwasright.Allof
the players knew it.And none of them
were happy about it.They didn’t want
to play Oak Hill.Their winning streak
wouldbeover.
Coach Brent said,“I want you to be
restedforthegame.Sowe’llgotoMacon
afterschoolonFriday.”
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11
“Thatsoundsgoodtome,”Jeffsaid.
Cole was glad about that, too. He
wouldn’thavetogetupearlyonSaturday.
AndthenrideonabustoMaconmostof
themorning.
Coach Brent said, “Our game with
Oak Hill will be a tough one.And you
willneedtoworkhardallweek.Youwill
needtobeatyourbestforthegame.”
“Why does it matter, Coach?” Rick
asked.
Cole couldn’t believe Rick asked the
coach that. Some of the other players
lookedsurprised,too.
CoachBrentlookedatRick.Hedidn’t
look pleased with Rick. “What do you
meanbythat,Rick?”heasked.
Ricksaid,“WehavetoplayOakHill.
And Oak Hill is the best team in the
state.There’snowaywecanbeatthem.
NotwiththatdudeGarrettontheteam.”
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12
“That’sthewrongwaytothink,Rick,”
CoachBrentsaid.
“Yeah,Rick,”Colesaid.
“Yeah,”someoftheotherboyssaid.
“You’rewrong,Rick.We’llbeatthem,”
saidanotherboy.
“Yeah,” most of the boys said. But
not all of them looked as though they
believedit.
Ricksaid,“Noway.We’llneverbeable
tobeatOakHill.”
CoachBrentlookedatRickagain.He
stilldidn’tlookpleased.
He said, “You might be right, Rick.
Butyouneedtothinkaboutsomething.”
“What?”Rickasked.
Coach Brent said, “On any day the
bestteamcanlose.Andonanydaythe
teamthatisn’tthebestteamcanwin.”
Coleknewthatwastrue.
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13
Coach Brent said,“We might not be
asgoodasOakHill.But thisSaturday
couldbetheirdaytolose.Sowehaveto
bereadytowin.”
Coach Brent told the team about
someotherteamsthathadwon.Noone
had thought they had a chance to win.
Buttheywonanyway.
Then Coach Brent said, “So think
about that, Rick.And all of you guys
think about that, too. We might be
able tobeatOakHill.Butyouhave to
practicehard.Youmustbereadytobeat
them.”
CoachBrentlookedatalloftheboys.
ThenhelookedbackatRick.
“Anythingelseyou’dliketosay,Rick?”
heasked.
“No,”Ricksaid.
ThenRicklookeddownattheground.
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14
Cole said,“Coach Brent is right.We
need to practice hard. Then we’ll be
readytobeatOakHillonSaturday.”
Cole still wasn’t sure they could beat
OakHill.
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5
Chapter
1 Raewalkeddown thehall at school.
She was on her way to class.Then she
sawJess.Jesswasherbestfriend.
Rae wanted to talk to Jess. So she
hurriedtomeether.
Raeyelled,“Jess,waitforme!”
Raelookedverymad.Andshesounded
verymad,too.
Jess stopped and waited for Rae.
“Youlookmad,Rae.What’swrong?”Jess
asked.
Raehissed,“You’dbetterbelieve I’m
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6
mad.I’llpayherback.Ipromise!”
“Whyareyousoupset,Rae?Andwho
doyouwanttopayback?”Jessasked.
“Torie,” Rae said.Torie was in her
scienceclass.Raedidn’tlikeTorie.
“WhatdidToriedo?”Jessasked.
“She had a date with Chance last
Fridaynight.I just foundoutabout it,”
Raesaid.
Rae and Chance had gone on a few
dates.AndRaelikedhimalot.
Jesssaid,“Calmdown,Rae.Itisn’ta
bigdeal.”
“Itistome.IlikeChance,”Raesaid.
Jesssaid,“Don’tworryaboutit.Torie
likes Brad. So I don’t think she’ll date
Chanceforlong.”
“I don’t care. She shouldn’t have
datedChanceatall,”Raesaid.
Raestilllookedmad.
Jess said, “Rae, Torie really likes
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7
Brad, not Chance. So you are getting
upsetaboutnothing.”
“I’mnotupsetaboutnothing.AndI’ll
payTorieback,”Raesaid.
“Forgetaboutit,Rae.It’snobigdeal,”
Jesssaidagain.
“It is to me. Just you wait and see,”
Raesaid.
Jess looked worried. “What are you
goingtodo,Rae?”sheasked.
“TorielikesBrad.I’llgetBradtoask
meoutonadate.AndthatwillpayTorie
back,”Raesaid.
“You don’t even like Brad. You’ve
never wanted to date him before. So
whydoyouwanttodatehimnow?”Jess
asked.
Jesswasrightaboutthat.Raedidn’t
like Brad.And she’d never wanted to
datehimbefore.
“I just told you why I want to date
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8
Brad.IwanttopayTorieback.Shedated
Chance.AndIhavetogetevenwithher,”
Raesaid.
“Forgetaboutit,Rae,”Jesssaid.
Raesaid,“Idon’tcarewhatyouthink,
Jess.I’llgetBradtoaskmeout.”
“Don’tdoit,Rae.Youdon’tevenlike
Brad,”Jesssaid.
“So what? I just want to date him,”
Rae said. “I don’t want to marry him,”
Raesaid.
“But it wouldn’t be fair to get Brad
todateyou.Youwouldn’twantaguyto
date you to get even with another girl.
Thinkofhowthatwouldmakeyoufeel.
AndBradwouldfeelthatway,too,”Jess
said.
“He won’t know the reason why I
wanttodatehim,”Raesaid.
“But someone might tell him,” Jess
said.
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9
“You’re the only person who knows.
And you won’t tell him, will you?” Rae
asked.
“No.Buthecouldstillfindout,”Jess
said.
“Noway.Onlytwoofuswouldknow.
You are my best friend.You won’t tell
him.AndIsurewon’t,”Raesaid.
“Don’tdoit,Rae.Thinkaboutitsome
more.Thinkabouthowyouwouldfeel,”
Jesssaid.
“Don’ttrytomakemefeelbad,Jess.
I’ll get a date with Brad.And I’ll pay
Torieback.Justyouwaitandsee,”Rae
said.
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11
Chapter
2 Raehurriedintothelunchroom.She
gotherlunch.ThenshelookedforJess.
Rae saw Jess sitting at a table. Rae
hurriedovertothetable.Andshequickly
satdown.RaelookedatJess.
“Ihaveaplan.AndIcan’twaittotell
youaboutit,”Raeblurted.
“Whatkindofplan?”Jessasked.
“AplantogetBradtoaskmeouton
adate,”Raesaid.Shehadabigsmileon
herface.
Jess said, “Forget about Brad.And
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12
forgetaboutyourplan,Rae.”Jesslooked
worriedagain.
“Noway,Jess.Don’tyouwanttohear
myplan?”Raeasked.
Jess said, “Not really. But I guess
you’lltellmeanyway.”
“I foundoutBradwillbeat thepep
rally tonight,”Raesaid.Theschoolhad
afootballgamethenextnight.Andthe
schoolalwayshadapeprallythenight
before.
Rae said, “Brad is going by himself.
And I’ll go without a date, too.” She
laughed. “I’ll get my dad to take me.
That’sthefirstpartofmyplan.”
“Doyouwantmetogowithyou?”Jess
asked.
“Youcanridetothepeprallywithme.
But we can’t stay together once weget
there.You’llhave to findyourownway
home,”Raesaid.
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13
Jessasked,“Why?Didyourdad say
hecouldn’tcomebackandgetyou?”
“No,”Raesaid.Shelaughedagain.
“Then why would I need to find my
ownwayhome?IsthereareasonwhyI
can’tridehomewithyou?”Jessasked.
Rae said, “Yes. I told my dad that I
didn’twanthimtocomebackforme.”
Jess looked surprised.“Why did you
tellyourdadthat?”Jessasked.
“Itoldyou.Ihaveaplan,”Raesaid.
“Sowhat’syourplan?”Jessasked.
“I’ll look for Brad at the pep rally.
ThenI’llgethimtotakemehome,”Rae
said.
“Alotofpeoplewillbeatthepeprally,
Rae.Youmightnotseehim,”Jesssaid.
“Don’tworryaboutthat.I’llfindBrad.
Youcancountonthat,”Raesaid.
“Maybe. But you can’t be sure that
he’lltakeyouhome,”Jesssaid.
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