Principal Hansberry came to each of our classrooms that afternoon to talk to us about discipline and wasting food and respecting the cafeteria workers. I was really worried that Danny would be suspended for starting the food fight. He’d only been helping me. If he got in trouble, I’d have to come clean and take his punishment instead.

But the principal had decided that this was “first-week high spirits.” Instead of singling out anyone for punishment, she made the whole school use the last hour of the day to help clean up the cafeteria. That was the first time we’d been punished like that for a food fight. We all got to see what a huge gross mess we had left behind. Lots of kids complained that they hadn’t thrown any food, but Principal Hansberry said that since making the mess was a “group effort,” cleaning it up should be, too.

Plus we all had to write a note to take home that said, “Dear Mom and Dad, I am sorry if I have ketchup or anything on my clothes today. We were involved in a food fight at lunch, and we feel very bad for causing so much trouble. Please accept my apology for the extra laundry.” Personally, I thought this was kind of a funny note. But we had to bring it back signed by our parents, so a lot of people didn’t think it was so funny.

Luckily they weren’t mad at me or Danny, though. Except for Avery. He tried to get Danny in trouble by telling Principal Hansberry who’d started the fight. But she told him that wasn’t necessary. She said everyone was “responsible for the mob mentality we saw here today,” whatever that means.

The most amazing part was that nobody said anything about Merlin. I guess a lot of people didn’t see him. But even the ones who did didn’t admit it. Vice Principal Taney came into our class and asked: “Did anyone here see a dog in the cafeteria before or during the food fight?”

No one raised their hands. After a minute, Heidi said: “Maybe you imagined it, Mr. Taney,” in this really innocent voice.

I was worried that Avery would tell, but later Hugo told me that nobody in Mr. Guare’s class answered Mr. Taney’s question either. I don’t know why Avery didn’t say anything. Maybe he already knew everyone was mad at him for snitching on Danny.

Cleaning up the cafeteria was gross, but it wasn’t too terrible. I felt really guilty and grateful to everyone for not telling, so I worked as hard as I could. I mopped and I wiped down the tables and I helped clean the windows and I filled an entire trash bag with squashed meat loaf. I was used to cleaning — that’s something Camellia trained me to do really early. She always said if she had to cook, then Dad and I had to learn how to clean.

At the end of the hour, Mr. Peary came up to me where I was wiping down the door handles. He said, “Nice work, Parker. You represented our class very well. I’ll let you off for not paying attention in class earlier today — but try not to let it happen again.”

“Yes, Mr. Peary,” I said.

The best thing about our punishment was that it ended when school was over. Which meant it didn’t get in the way of the baseball game. I was pretty excited. Danny and Eric and Troy and I had practiced together all summer in the park. I was hoping the coach would notice how much better I’d gotten.

“Come on, come on!” Danny said, shaking my arm as I dumped my last handful of dirty paper towels in the garbage. “Let’s get out to the field! Coach Mason will be waiting!”

We grabbed our stuff from the classroom and ran out to the baseball field behind the gym. Most of the guys were already there, including Troy and Hugo and Levi, from our class. Coach Mason was walking around the bases, tossing a ball into the mitt on his left hand. He was wearing the Red Sox cap he always wears. He says, “You can take the man out of Boston, but you can’t take Fenway out of the man.”

He’s also the coach for the girls’ team, so a lot of them had come to watch. Heidi and Rory waved to us from the bleachers. Coach Mason is Rory’s dad. She’s crazy-athletic like Danny is. Troy’s mom was there, too, and so was Danny’s dad — he never misses a baseball game, even when it’s just for fun like this one.

My dad wasn’t there, but that was OK. I know it’s hard for him to get away from the bank during the day. But then, scanning the bleachers, I saw a familiar face.

Julianne was there! I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think she meant it when she said she wanted to come.

“Oh, man,” I muttered.

“What?” Danny asked.

I was going to pretend it was nothing. Part of me didn’t want to tell Danny that my dad had a girlfriend. Especially one who was only about ten years older than Camellia. But Julianne was already waving and smiling at me. Danny saw her and his eyebrows went up.

“Who’s that?” he asked. “Do you know her? Is that her real hair color?”

“That’s my dad’s new girlfriend,” I said with a sigh.

“Wow,” Danny said. “Go Mr. Green!”

“Shut up. Gross!” I said, punching him on the shoulder.

I tried not to look over at her while Coach divided us into teams. Troy and Eric and I were on one team and Danny was on the other. This was bad news. Danny is pretty good at baseball. But it’s not only that. He plays like a crazy person. If he’s running to a base, and you’re standing on it waiting to catch a ball, he will throw himself into a full-on dive straight at your feet. He knocks people over when he’s tagging them out all the time. He just gets really excited, like Hugo in a food fight, or Merlin pretty much anytime.

We flipped a coin, and my team was up to bat first. Danny went “WOO! WOOOOO!” and ran out to second base, pumping his arms in the air. Heidi yelled “WOOOOOO!” back at him and he grinned, jumping up and down.

I kicked the dirt around the bench, keeping my head down so I wouldn’t accidentally meet Julianne’s eyes. But when I heard Troy’s bat connect with the ball, I jumped to my feet with the rest of the team.

“Run!” I yelled. “Ruuuuuun!” Troy was sprinting to first base. Levi was waiting there with his mitt raised. The ball flew through the air — and right past his hand. Troy sprinted to first. Everybody cheered. I couldn’t help glancing at Julianne. But she wasn’t watching me. She had her eyes glued on the game.

Eric was up next. He gripped the bat tightly in his hands. Troy pushed his glasses up and inched toward second. He leaned forward, waiting. We all leaned forward.

Hugo pitched the ball. Crack! Eric slugged it! The baseball shot into the air. It went way over Danny’s head. It zoomed into the outfield. Danny and three other guys ran after it. Troy dashed to second and then kept going to third. Right behind him, Eric touched first base and kept running. He landed on second, took another step, and then jumped back onto the base. Danny was too close. He came running up with the ball and stood looking at Eric like, Don’t you want to try running? Eric grinned at him. Danny threw the ball back to the pitcher.

Now it was my turn. The bat was smooth under my palms. I swung it around a little, knocking it against my shoes. I got into batting position. I didn’t look at the bleachers. I was afraid Julianne would yell my name. That would be even more embarrassing than chasing Merlin around the playground. But she didn’t say anything.

Whoosh!

“Ball one!” Coach Mason called.

“What?” Hugo yelled. “That was totally a strike!”

“Hugo,” Coach said warningly. Hugo just likes arguing. He watches the games on TV hoping there will be a ruckus on the field. He loves yelling at the umpires for no reason. He doesn’t pay that much attention to the actual rules.

The catcher threw it back. Hugo wound up.

Whoosh!

“Strike one!” Coach called.

I wanted to do this right. Two players were on base. It would be so awesome if I scored two runs in my first hit of the year. Maybe even a home run as well! I crouched, giving Hugo the eagle eye. Here it came….

Thwack!

The ball soared into the air. It didn’t go as high as Eric’s, but it went farther. It hit the ground and rolled between two of the outfielders. I was already running to first base.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of something moving.

Something that was not a baseball player.

Something golden … and furry.

“HEY!” one of the outfielders yelled. “That dog took the baseball!”

Please no, I prayed. I hit first base and kept running. But as I rounded the corner toward second, I saw Merlin. He was galloping triumphantly toward me with the ball in his mouth. The outfielders were chasing him, waving their arms. Merlin looked absolutely delighted with himself.

“Merlin!” I shouted. I stopped dead. Merlin ran up to me, bounded in a circle around me, and bopped me with his nose. I reached for the ball and he dashed away.

Troy had made it to home base, but Eric was standing between third base and home, looking confused. “Does that count?” he called. “Are we still playing?”

“Merlin tagged him out!” Danny shouted. “You saw it! He tagged Parker out!” He ran after Merlin. People in the stands were laughing so hard, they were practically falling off the bleachers.

“Booooo!” Rory yelled. “Too many players on the field! Foul!”

“Yeah, go Merlin!” Heidi shouted. “MVP! Give that dog a trophy!”

“What’s going on?” Coach Mason bellowed. “Who is that dog?”

I decided that running after Merlin would be easier than explaining things to Coach Mason. Danny and I chased my dog around and around the field. This, unfortunately, was pretty much Merlin’s dream come true. His paws flew over the dirt. He stopped, waited for us to nearly catch up, and then dodged around us to run away again.

Soon all the guys on the team were chasing him. He wasn’t wearing his leash this time, so it was even harder to catch him. How had he gotten away from Russell twice? I couldn’t understand it.

Finally we cornered Merlin by the fence. I lunged forward and grabbed his collar. He dropped the ball right away. The guys all applauded.

“Merlin,” I said. “I can’t even believe how bad you are!”

He wagged his tail at me.

“Ew, gross,” Levi said, picking up the baseball gingerly with two fingers. “It’s all slobbery.”

“Sorry, guys,” I said. “Thanks for helping me catch him.”

Coach Mason blew his whistle. We all went back across the field to where he was standing on second base with his hands on his hips. I kept my hand firmly locked around Merlin’s collar, although he didn’t seem interested in running away anymore. He was just happy to be with me again.

“Green,” Coach said. “Is this your dog?”

“I’m really sorry, Coach,” I said. “I don’t know how he got loose.” I looked around for Russell, but there was no sign of him. Maybe he was still trying to catch up. The only good news was that Vice Principal Taney was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t usually stick around for sports stuff.

“Well, you’d better take him home, I guess,” Coach said.

I nodded sadly. I really wanted to stay for the rest of the game. I wanted to show Coach I’d been practicing. I wanted to show him how good my pitching had gotten. But Merlin was my responsibility. I had to take care of him, and that meant taking him home and missing the game.

“Hey,” said a voice behind me.

I turned around. Julianne was at the fence in front of the bleachers, leaning her elbows on the top of it. “I could take him back to your house,” she said. “So you can stay for the game.”

“Woof!” Merlin barked, like he was agreeing with her.

I was torn. I wanted to stay. But I didn’t want Julianne’s help. I didn’t want her to be in my house by herself. I didn’t want her hanging out with Merlin without me. Mostly, I didn’t want her to think she was part of our family.

“That’s OK, I can do it,” I said.

“What?” Troy said, elbowing me. “The team needs you, Parker! Just say yes!”

“Yeah, come on,” Danny agreed.

“It’s no problem,” Julianne said. She held out her hand to Merlin and he leaned toward her, wagging his tail.

“Make up your mind, Green,” Coach said. “Everyone else, back to the game.” The guys started jogging back to their bases.

All right. Just this once. “OK,” I said to Julianne. “Thanks.” I led Merlin around the fence to her and she took his collar, scratching behind his ears. I dug in my pocket and gave her my house key.

“We’ll be there when you get back,” she said. “I’ll let your dad know.”

They headed off across the field. And Merlin didn’t even look upset to be leaving. He trotted beside her, wagging his tail as if this was all perfectly fine with him.

Traitor.