“So what is the product?”
“Um, 35,840 is what I get.”
“Congratulations, Derek, that is correct.” Vijay gave his friend a smile and a high five. The two boys were spending the evening at the Patels’, doing practice worksheets for math class in preparation for their final the following Friday.
“Next example: 443 times 342.”
Derek heaved a sigh, wrote the numbers down, and began calculating. Studying for math was usually not so hard for him, but right now he was having a hard time concentrating. “Umm . . . let’s see . . .”
Now it was Vijay’s turn to sigh. “Come on, Derek. You know this stuff. Why is it taking you so long to come up with the answers? Is there something wrong?”
Derek looked up, startled. “No, Vij. Why do you say that?”
“You’re not usually so quiet. More of a chatterbox, really. What’s up with you tonight?”
Derek didn’t want to share his reasons for being so quiet and distracted. It was embarrassing enough to admit that he was thinking about Dave and their plans together. What was really embarrassing was that he hadn’t thought to include Vijay—the guy who, until Dave had come around, had been Derek’s best friend.
Now Derek’s new “best friend” seemed like he didn’t even want to hang out with him, let alone visit for a week in New Jersey.
“I don’t think I’m a chatterbox, exactly,” Derek said, trying to change the subject.
“Oh, no? The only person who does more talking than you is me!”
Derek cracked up in spite of himself. Good old Vijay, always the most cheerful, optimistic kid around. Now there was a friend you could really count on, Derek thought, which made him feel even worse about not including Vijay.
Derek didn’t say anything about that, though. After all, what was he supposed to say? That he was going to invite Dave to New Jersey and not ask Vijay?
Derek wished now that he’d asked permission for two friends to come. But he hadn’t. And it was probably too late now.
“Let’s call it a night, huh?” Derek said. “I don’t know about you, Vij, but I’ve got math problems coming out of my ears. I’m going to go home and do some more English review instead.”
“Something is definitely up with you,” Vijay said confidently. “If you are sick, you’d better go home and lie down. You don’t want to miss the big game tomorrow.”
“Sorry, man. I’ll be fine tomorrow, don’t worry.”
“No need to apologize. If you’re sick, I don’t want to catch it, do I? Go home and rest yourself. Go!”
Derek laughed as Vijay pretended to push him out the door. “See you at ten a.m.,” Vijay said.
After he got home, Derek’s mood took a dive. Of course he wasn’t sick. There was no danger of his missing tomorrow’s game. But he hadn’t been a very good best friend to Vijay, had he?
And beyond that, was it even possible to have two best friends at the same time?
• • •
“Ohhh, my aching everything!” Gary limped over to the Indians’ bench and dropped his mitt onto the ground as if it weighed a ton. “Coach, can I please sit this game out?”
Derek knew Gary was saying it just for effect, because both coaches were out on the field, warming up their players before the game started; they couldn’t hear him. Derek was on the bench, tightening his shoelaces, so only he was able to catch Gary’s act firsthand.
“What’s your problem, Gar?”
“Karate class.” Gary plunked himself down beside Derek. “OWW. That hurts. Everything hurts.”
“Hey, it’s good pain,” Derek said encouragingly. “You’re using muscles you never used before.”
“Yeah. Like my arms, my legs, and my back. Argggh. I hate karate! I knew I would hate it. I hate it even more than baseball!”
“Hey! Come on, Gar, you don’t mean that. Listen, why don’t you get up and do some stretches, so you can loosen up those muscles. We need you out there today.”
“If we need me, we’re in big trouble. And forget about stretching. No way. It’s way too hot, and I’m way too sore. I am not doing anything that requires effort.
“Come on, man . . .”
“At least not until Coach puts me into the game, which hopefully will be never.”
“Okay, okay.” Derek decided to give up for now. He had no strength or patience today for Gary’s dramatics. Derek had other things on his mind, like the game, which would be starting in about ten minutes.
And like Dave. Derek’s friend had arrived at the field with Coach Bradway, in the big Mercedes sedan that was always kept perfectly shined and polished, even when it was carrying a load of baseball equipment in the trunk.
Dave had greeted Derek and quickly jogged out to the mound to warm up. Derek had stood staring after him for a moment. Here it was, the day of their overnight, and Dave hadn’t said a single word about it when he’d said hi. Was Dave so focused on the game that he didn’t want to talk about anything else?
As game time drew near and the fans gathered in the stands, Dave finished warming up and came back to sit on the bench with the rest of the team. Derek noticed that Dave’s parents were nowhere to be seen. That surprised him. They’d made such a fuss about spending every spare minute with their son.
Oh well. Derek guessed they didn’t exactly love baseball. It had taken Dave a while to come around as well.
While Dave was clearly focused on the game, Derek was having trouble concentrating.
Dave hadn’t said he wasn’t coming, had he? In fact, he’d sort of said that everything would be cool. He just hadn’t confirmed it.
Instead of giving in to his fears and asking about tonight, Derek decided to keep things on a positive note and to tell Dave his good news about the summer.
“Guess what? My folks and grandparents said it would be okay if you came with me to New Jersey for a whole week!” he said. “So, do you think you might be able to come?”
Dave’s jaw dropped. “Oh! Oh . . . wow,” he said. “That’s . . . that’s really . . . that’s cool.”
“I know, it’s amazing, right? We can play baseball with my cousins, and go to Yankee Stadium and stuff.” He tried to read Dave’s face. But Dave seemed to be deliberately trying to hide his reaction.
“We could even maybe ask my grandma to take us to a driving range so we can hit some golf balls,” Derek added, knowing how much Dave loved playing golf. “So . . . do you think your parents would be okay with it?”
“Huh?”
“You know—do you think they’d let you come?”
“Umm, I don’t know . . .” Dave still seemed to be holding something back.
Finally Derek’s sense of dread got the better of him. He had to know about tonight—he just had to. “Hey, is your overnight stuff in the car?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
“Um, listen, Derek . . .” Dave’s face took on a pained look. “I’m not going to be able to come over tonight after all.”
“What? But I thought you said—”
“I know. It’s . . . Well, something just came up, and . . . I can’t, that’s all. I can’t explain it, okay?”
“What do you mean, you can’t explain?” Derek erupted. “Why can’t you explain? You said you were coming, and not to worry about it, that it would all be cool. What happened?”
“Quit bugging me about it, okay?” Dave said, annoyed now. “Can’t we just play the game and talk about it later?”
Derek stood there, stunned. The rest of the players had already gathered for their pregame cheer. Whatever else Dave had said, he was right about one thing—they had to focus on the game. Because if they didn’t, today might be the end of their playoff run, and their championship hopes.
Other things—such as friendship—would have to wait for later.