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  “Okay, let’s have two more guys out there,” said the coach. Julian moved stiffly to the sidelines and glared out at the court.

  How come the coach got on my case like that? he wondered. This isn’t a game. It isn’t even an important practice session. It’s the first day, that’s all!

  Okay, Julian admitted to himself, I didn’t hustle. But Coach Valenti knows I’ll be there when it’s crunch time!

  In this angry frame of mind, Julian watched the rest of the team go through the drill. He wasn’t impressed by what he saw. This bunch wasn’t anywhere near as good as the Tornadoes of last season. He was going to have to carry them on his back, and they would probably lose anyway.

  And what was the deal with Grady? The point guard kept on talking it up, clapping his hands, being a cheerleader. What for? Julian found his mood getting worse and worse. As practice continued, Julian’s performance became less and less energetic.

  When the session ended, the coach spoke to the team, sounding surprisingly cheerful and optimistic. Julian was startled at first but decided that the coach had to give the impression that everything was going well, even when it clearly wasn’t.

  “Okay,” Coach Valenti said, “I think we have the makings of a solid team here. See you all tomorrow, same time, same place.”

  As the Tornadoes headed for the locker room, Julian hung back, unwilling to join in the talking and joking of his teammates. Grady came over to him.

  “Listen, a few guys are going to get something to eat and hang out. Want to come?”

  Julian shook his head. “I better not. I have a lot to do at home. See you tomorrow.”

  “You sure?” Grady asked. “Come on, just for a little while.”

  “I told you,” replied Julian, trying not to sound grumpy, “I can’t today.”

  Grady nodded. “Listen, maybe I’ll give you a call later, all right?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Julian said, hoping nobody else would try to talk to him. He just didn’t feel like it.

  He changed clothes in the locker room and slowly walked home alone. What had happened in the last few hours? He’d arrived at the gym really pumped, ready to get working, eager for what he was sure would be a good season. Now everything was ruined. The team was going to be no better than ordinary, and maybe worse. Most of his teammates were strangers, and he wasn’t looking forward to spending a lot of time with them, or to going through a lot of tiring, boring workouts. Was there anything he could do to make it better?

  At the moment, it didn’t seem as if there was.

  3

  Earth to Julian. Come in, Julian. Can you hear me?”

  Julian looked up from his dinner plate to see his older sister, Megan, grinning at him. Megan played soccer on her high school team. Though not a gifted athlete, she was a tough competitor who loved the sport and gave everything she had whenever she played.

  Now she looked more closely at her brother and asked, “Seriously, what’s up, bro? You really look down. You feeling all right?”

  Julian recalled Grady asking him the same question during practice. “I’m fine,” he snapped.

  “Whoa!” said Megan, shielding her face with her arms in mock terror. “Okay, you’re fine. I’m glad to hear it.”

  Julian’s father, who was helping himself to a second slab of meat loaf, said, “You do look down, champ. Is anything on your mind?”

  “Wasn’t this the first day of basketball practice?” asked his mother. “Did it go well?”

  Julian sighed and shoved away his plate. “It didn’t go too great. This year’s team is.. .” He shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Mr. Pryce.

  Julian explained that Barry was injured and that all the other starters from last year were gone.

  “And the new guys look really lame,” he said. “We’re going to be bad this year, and I’ll be the guy who gets all the grief because I’m this big star. It’s a lousy deal.”

  “Hold on,” said Megan. “Today was your first practice? So this was the first time you saw most of the guys play?”

  Julian nodded.

  Megan hooted. “You say the team stinks after one practice? Lighten up a little; give it time! It’s way too early to give up.”

  “I didn’t say I was giving up!” Julian retorted. “All I said was —”

  “Settle down,” said Mr. Pryce. “There’s no need to raise your voice like that. And Megan has a point. Give Coach Valenti some time and some credit.”

  “Anyway,” Megan went on, “what if it turns out that you’re right, and the team isn’t all that good? What if you lose some games? Are you saying you don’t want to play unless you’re sure you can win everything?”

  “I didn’t say that,” Julian muttered.

  His mother said, “After what you boys did last season, this year is almost sure to be less successful, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe it makes sense to wait awhile before deciding how good the Tornadoes are,” Mr. Pryce said as he cut into his meat loaf.

  “Yeah, cheer up, bro,” suggested Megan. “It probably isn’t all that bad.”

  Julian had hoped for more sympathy from his family, more understanding, but it sounded as if they weren’t going to offer it. As soon as he could do so, he left the table and went to his room. He spent a moment looking at the trophies, framed pictures and clippings, and other souvenirs from last season. It didn’t look as though he’d be adding much to the collection this year. He flopped onto his bed, thinking it would be nice to find somebody who understood what he was going through.

  When the phone rang, he let someone downstairs answer it. Then he heard his father’s voice call out.

  “Julian! Phone call! It’s Grady.”

  Julian groaned to himself. He was not in a good mood, and the idea of talking to Grady didn’t appeal to him at all. But he also knew that if he didn’t speak to Grady, his parents would want to know why, and that seemed even less appealing. He picked up the phone.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey, Jools, what’s up?” Even through a phone line, Grady sounded cheerful and full of energy. Julian frowned.

  “Not much,” he replied. “What’s up with you?” “Oh, nothing,” Grady said. “Hey, a bunch of us went over to the ice cream shop this afternoon. Mick was there, and this guy Len Hornsby, and a few other guys — I don’t even know their names yet. I wish you’d have come, too.”

  “Well, I couldn’t make it. Like I said,” Julian replied, lying on his back with the phone tucked under his chin.

  “Yeah, right. Anyway.. .” Grady paused. It was as though he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to say next. After a few seconds, he went on.

  “They’re really all right,” he said. “Mick is a cool guy, and Len is sort of quiet but I think he’s pretty nice, too. And they all kept talking about how great a player you are. I mean, they really look up to you.”

  Julian wondered if Grady was exaggerating, trying to persuade Julian to be nicer to the new players. As he listened to Grady chatter on, he looked up at a framed picture on the wall — it was of him, with Barry on one side and Max on the other. The three of them were grinning like idiots at the camera and had their arms draped over one another’s shoulders. Julian knew he would miss them, on and off the court.

  He realized that Grady had stopped talking and was waiting for him to say something back. “Uh, well... I’m glad you had a good time,” he said.

  “Well, we really did,” said Grady. “And I think when you get to know them, you’ll like them, too. I mean, sure, it won’t be like last year, but we’re going to have a good team. I think we could make the play-offs.”

  Julian couldn’t help chuckling. “Yeah, huh? Well, it’s good you feel that way,” he said, not wanting to give his own opinion of the team. But Grady sensed what Julian was thinking.

  “Yeah,” said Grady after a moment, “I do feel that way. And I’m sorry you don’t.”

  Even though Grady wasn’t doing anything but speakin
g the truth, Julian was annoyed.

  “How do you know what I feel? Did you learn how to read minds or something?”

  “Oh, come on, Julian,” Grady said. “You don’t have to say a word. It’s obvious what you think about this team. You think we’re pretty bad. And it’s not fair, because —”

  “First of all,” Julian said, cutting Grady off, “you can’t say what I’m thinking unless I tell you. And second, I can think anything I want.”

  “You don’t know how good the Tornadoes are yet,” insisted Grady. “Nobody does. It’s too soon to know. And I think we’re going to be pretty tough — partly because you’re the center, and partly because we have some other guys who can play hard, too. But it doesn’t help the team if you treat those new guys the way you did today. You’re the —”

  “What did I do?” Julian demanded. “Did I insult them? I didn’t do anything!”

  “Right!” replied Grady. “You didn’t do anything. You hardly talked to them, you didn’t make them feel welcome, you didn’t have a nice word to say to them. That’s real helpful.”

  “It’s not my job to be a cheerleader,” Julian said. “You’re the main man,” Grady snapped. “Mick came up and wanted to talk, but what did you do? You acted like he wasn’t even there! You couldn’t be bothered to make him feel like part of the team, and don’t tell me that’s not part of your job, because it is.”

  Julian sat up straight on the edge of his bed. “Wrong. My job is to score and rebound and play defense. In games. And I’ll do that, don’t worry.”

  “You’re supposed to set an example,” said Grady. “You’re the guy everyone looks up to, and that means you can’t just score a lot of points and ignore us the rest of the time. Don’t you get it? You’re the team leader!”

  “Nobody asked me to be the team leader!” Julian suddenly realized that he was yelling and that everyone in the house could probably hear him, even with the door closed. He forced himself to speak more quietly.

  “Listen, I’ll be there for practice, and I’ll do what I can to see that the team doesn’t look bad. But if you think I’m going to clap my hands and talk about how good everyone’s playing when I know they’re not, well, too bad. Because that isn’t going to happen.”

  There was silence for a few seconds from Grady’s end. Finally, the other boy said, “Man, I don’t know what happened to you, but if that’s the way you want it, then all right.”

  “Nothing happened to me. And that’s just how I want it.”

  “Right,” Grady said, all the good cheer gone from his voice. “See you around.”

  He hung up before Julian had the chance to say good-bye.

  As Julian slowly hung up his own phone, there was a knock on his door. Mr. Pryce stuck his head in. “Hi. Everything okay? I thought I heard shouting.”

  Julian managed a grin. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Well, all right then,” said his father. “Sorry to bother you, but I thought, maybe...I guess I didn’t hear right. Take it easy.” He closed the door again, leaving Julian alone.

  Julian flopped on his bed, wondering what it would be like to be on a team that lost most of the time. He’d never played on a team like that. Maybe he’d have to get used to it. It wasn’t a nice thought.

  Julian had trouble getting to sleep that night. When he finally did, he had an ugly dream in which he found himself playing basketball and doing everything wrong: missing easy shots, playing terrible defense, making dumb fouls, all in front of a huge crowd of people who kept laughing and jeering at him. He wanted to tell them that he was doing his best, but he couldn’t make himself talk. It seemed to go on and on, forever.

  When he woke up the following morning, he felt as if he hadn’t got any sleep at all.

  4

  At school the next day, Julian thought about Grady and their angry phone conversation. He knew he had been out of line. A lot of what he’d said had been said just because he was feeling bad. When he spotted Grady in a crowded hallway between classes, he hurried over to talk to him.

  “Hey, wait up! I’m sorry about last night. I was a jerk. I didn’t mean what I said.”

  Grady nodded, and then he smiled. “I felt bad last night, too. Listen, forget it. It’s no big deal. We’re still friends, right? That’s the main thing.”

  Julian felt as if a big weight had been taken off his shoulders. “Sure we’re still friends! Absolutely! Hey, you want to get together for lunch today?”

  “Sounds good,” replied Grady. “I’ll look for you in the cafeteria, okay?”

  “Cool,” said Julian. The boys touched fists, then hurried off to their classes.

  The cafeteria was noisy and crowded when Julian arrived. He felt a tap on his shoulder from behind and turned to find Grady standing there.

  “What a zoo, huh?” said Grady.

  “Absolutely,” Julian agreed, looking around for a place to sit.

  Grady pointed across the room. “Hey, there’s Mick. Come on, there are empty chairs across from him.” Grady started across the room, leaving Julian to catch up. Julian followed, but not eagerly. He’d been looking forward to spending a half hour with Grady, just the two of them. But there was no graceful way to get out of this situation, so he decided he’d have to make the best of it.

  Mick had looked lonely, but he brightened up when he caught sight of Grady and Julian approaching. “Hey! You joining me?”

  “Definitely!” Grady said, sliding into a plastic chair across from Mick. He pointed to Mick’s cafeteria tray and made a face. “You actually get your lunch here? You’re a brave man.”

  Julian sat down next to Grady.

  “Actually,” Mick said, “this isn’t so bad. You should’ve seen what they sold at my old school. Makes this stuff look pretty good.”

  Grady made a face. “Get outa here! It was worse than the mystery meat they serve here? No way!”

  Julian unwrapped his lunch. He nudged Grady and asked, “Think Max is playing ball where he’s living now?”

  “Was Max a guy from last year’s team?” Mick asked. Grady nodded. “Yeah. Good player and a nice guy.” Mick whistled. “That was some team. I only saw you guys that one time, but you looked pretty awesome.”

  “We’ll be good this year, too,” Grady said. “Coach Valenti is excellent. You’ll see.”

  Mick waved to someone behind Julian and called out, “Yo! Len! Over here!” He pointed to an empty chair next to his.

  Redheaded Len Hornsby sat down and nodded to Julian and Grady. Julian’s mood was turning bad. He’d hoped to hang with Grady, but these strangers kept butting in.

  Mick turned to Len. “I was just saying, I saw the Tornadoes play last year. They were tough!” He looked at Julian. “What was it like having all the reporters and TV cameras around like that? Was it fun?”

  Julian shrugged. “Was it fun? I don’t know, sometimes maybe, I guess.”

  “It was unbelievable!” Grady said. “I mean, we never expected to go all the way to the state title. Sometimes it was scary, but sure, it was fun, too. We got to meet a lot of stars. Jools, remember when we talked to those NBA guys at that dinner? That was fun!”

  “NBA? As in the National Basketball Association?” Len’s eyes were wide.

  “Yeah, at the awards dinner,” Grady said. “And Jools got his Most Valuable Player trophy from the governor! The governor said that the state was proud of us, and that he looked forward to reading about us doing great things.”

  “Really?” Mick asked. “You have pictures of yourself with the governor?”

  “Uh-huh,” Julian muttered.

  “We all got a shot of the governor standing with the team,” Grady said. “He seemed like a nice guy. And we were in the audience of a few TV shows and got to be special guests at some college games.”

  “Amazing,” Mick said.

  “You better believe it!” Grady said. “We used to laugh about it and wonder when we were going to wake up.”

  Julian laughed.
“Funny thing... we did this and we did that...pretty funny. All that we and us.”

  “Huh?” Grady looked puzzled. “What do you mean? It’s all true, right?”

  “Sure,” Julian said. “It’s all true. It all happened, all that stuff. It’s just funny, all this we stuff from a guy who mostly sat on the bench last year.”

  Mick and Len exchanged a quick look and then focused on their food.

  Grady narrowed his eyes. “I remember that I was in those pictures, too. I played in some of the games and was there, working hard, at every practice. Or was that some kind of dream?”

  Julian shrugged. “Oh, I know. You played some.”

  “I played plenty!” Grady was angry now.

  Mick tapped Len’s arm. “Let’s take off,” he said quietly. He and Len stood up and grabbed their stuff.

  Grady jerked his chair back and got up. “Hang on. I’m coming, too. I’d rather hang with you guys, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to bother the big star anymore. Come on.”

  Julian was now sitting by himself. His appetite vanished. He threw his lunch in a nearby wastebasket. He wandered outside and sat on a bench in front of the school.

  I shouldn’t have got on Grady’s case like that. Grady had been part of the team, even if he wasn’t a starter.

  That was the key, Julian suddenly realized. Grady hadn’t been a starter. He didn’t know what it was like to lead the team to victory time and again — or to feel the pressure to stay on top, knowing that even one loss, one sloppy game, would ruin a perfect record. Last year, Julian had shared that pressure with four other starters, guys like Barry and Max, whose skills and talent matched his own and who had helped make Julian a star... the star.

  But now he was the sole remaining starter. Now it was Julian and a bunch of question marks, many of whose names he didn’t even know yet. Without Barry and Max and the others, he wouldn’t look as good, and that bothered him.

  Grady said that Julian had to be the leader, the example, for everybody else. Not a leader, an example. It was up to him. Well, he didn’t want to be that guy. He hadn’t asked to be put in that position. That scared him.