CHAPTER 1

WARMING THE BENCH

Twelve-year-old Dominic Harper slid into the backseat of his mom’s car Monday after school. “I really don’t want to play soccer,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I know Caleb being sick has been hard on you,” Mom said as she strapped Caleb, Dominic’s two-year-old brother, into his car seat. “But you can’t just stay in the house all day and play computer games.”

Dominic sighed.

“This will be a much better way for you to spend your time,” Mom continued. “Caleb’s operation is in two weeks. After that, everything will go back to normal.”

Dominic heard his mom’s voice catch. Even without looking at her, he knew that there were tears in her eyes. Might, he thought. She means everything might go back to normal.

The problem had started months before, when Caleb suddenly became fussy all the time. Mom and Dad had been unable to figure out why he was throwing tantrums, screaming, and crying so much. He stopped sleeping through the night. Finally, the doctor had figured out what was wrong — Caleb had a tumor growing on his spine and would need surgery to remove it.

According to the doctor, the tumor was probably the harmless kind, and Caleb would likely be fine. But still, there was a small chance Caleb might have cancer, and Dominic was really worried about his brother. They wouldn’t know for sure that Caleb was okay until after he had the operation.

Usually Dominic’s parents limited the amount of time he spent playing computer and video games, but because they had been so worried about Caleb lately, they hadn’t been enforcing the rules. Dominic had been playing video and computer games nonstop after school and on the weekends. If he couldn’t sleep at night, he would get up, turn on his computer, and play some more. When he played, he didn’t feel as nervous.

The past weekend, Mom had finally noticed his electronic obsession. “Dominic, you’re playing too many computer games,” she’d said. “Please find something else to do.”

“Sure, Mom,” Dominic had agreed, but he’d gone right on playing games. It‘s better than sitting around worrying about Caleb, he’d told himself.

When Mom realized Dominic hadn’t stopped playing, she’d finally unplugged the computer, taken away the keyboard, and said, “That’s it, Dom. I’m signing you up for soccer at the community center. It’ll be good for you to get outside and run around a bit.”

Without his games, the rest of the weekend had passed slowly for Dominic. Now he was off to his first soccer practice — and he was not happy about it.

When Mom stopped the car next to the soccer field, Dominic could see several boys already gathered there. A few of them were dribbling down the field doing some sort of relay race. Several other boys were sitting on the bench.

“I’m sorry I don’t have time to walk you over there, Dom,” Mom said. “But Caleb has an appointment soon, so I need to get going.”

Dominic stayed glued to his seat and stared out the window. “I only see one kid I know,” he said.

“At least you know someone!” Mom said brightly. “Now, shoo, shoo!”

“His name is Nathan,” said Dominic, still firmly planted in his seat. “He’s always in trouble at school.”

“Oh, then maybe you should stay away from him,” Mom said. “Anyway, go on! And try to have fun.”

Dominic reluctantly climbed out of the car and kicked at the gravel surface of the parking lot. This is the last thing I want to do, he thought.

As Dominic walked over to the field, he saw Nathan and the other boys on the bench messing around and pushing each other, laughing.

A man carrying a clipboard approached Dominic. “You must be Dominic Harper. I’m Coach Everett. Welcome to the Rockets! Your mom called me earlier and said you’d be joining us today,” he said. “We’re doing some passing drills right now and could use another player. How about it?”

Dominic looked at the players taking turns kicking the ball on the field. “Uh, no thanks,” he said.

The coach raised one eyebrow and stared at him, waiting for more explanation. Finally Dominic said, “I just don’t feel like it. I think I’ll just sit here on the bench for a while.”

Coach Everett shook his head. “Suit yourself,” he said. “But you’re at soccer practice now, and I’d appreciate you joining your teammates.” Then he turned away and blew his whistle to gather up the players on the field.