CHAPTER 1
The sun was going down on a Saturday evening in Westfield. Most of the eighth graders were out with their friends, down at Taco Paco’s, at the movie theater on the north side of town, or maybe just hanging out at someone’s house, playing video games.
But Logan Meltzer was alone. He was sitting in the TV room in the basement of his house.
He had the remote control in his right hand and was flipping through all one hundred and fifty-eight channels at blinding speed.
A news show. A boring music video. Cartoons. Something in Japanese. A lady cooking fish. A man in a boat, fishing.
In other words, nothing was on.
Logan heard someone coming. The thud-thud-thud of someone on the steps got louder and louder. Logan knew it had to be his dad.
“Logan!” his dad’s voice called. The door to the TV room opened.
Logan’s father was a very big man. In fact, Logan took after his dad, which was one of the reasons Logan was a good linebacker.
Logan’s dad was over six feet tall, and weighed about three hundred pounds. When he walked into the room, he huffed from his nose. Logan always thought it made him look like a bull.
“Logan, what are you doing down here all alone?” his dad asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Logan said. He glanced at his father, then back at the TV. “I’m watching TV.”
His dad sighed and then dropped down on the couch next to Logan. He put his big hand onto Logan’s shoulder and gave it a couple of pats.
“I’m worried about you, Logan,” his dad said. “Back in River City, you would never be home alone, flipping through the channels — not on a Saturday night!”
Logan kept pushing buttons on the remote, barely stopping for an instant to see what was what. “That’s easy for you to say,” Logan said. “You and Mom are going out tonight with your friends from River City. I can’t, because I can’t drive back to River City whenever I feel like it.”
Logan’s dad nodded. “I know,” he said. “It doesn’t seem fair.”
“Yeah. Because it isn’t fair,” Logan pointed out.
His dad groaned and rubbed his neck. “Logan, we’ve been over this,” he said. “It will get easier. What about the guys on the football team?”
Logan shrugged and looked at his dad. “What about the guys on the team?” he repeated.
“Don’t those guys go out on a Saturday night?” his dad said. “Maybe to a movie, or to the skating rink, or something?”
“The skating rink?” Logan said with a laugh. “Dad, come on.”
“I don’t know!” his dad replied, shrugging. “When I was young, we went roller-skating. What do I know?”
“Not much,” Logan said, smiling. “Well, I guess I can be glad I don’t have to play against my old team. We’re not playing River City this season. I checked the schedule.”
“Good, good,” his dad said. “And listen. This will get easier for you, Logan. You’ll get to know the kids in school and on the team. You won’t be stuck at home on Saturdays for much longer, I promise.”
Logan nodded. “I know,” he said. “Hey, I’m going to send an email to Scotty Hansen back home.”
He got up from the couch and clicked the TV off. “I mean,” he added quickly, “back in River City.”
His dad laughed and headed up the steps.