Football practice was never easy. Danny could remember moments with his face in the steaming grass, sweating and struggling to get those last push-ups, or the burning in his legs from running sprints until he was dizzy and sick. In those moments, Danny recalled longing for relief from the heat and the grind, a seat on the bench, a mouthful of cool water, a patch of shade.

Now, he had all that—his dreams come true—but he was miserable. There were no “Dan-eee, Dan-eee” chants. No one even said his name. They didn’t look his way. They were getting ready for the Westfall game and the opposing team’s massive line. All eyes were on Markle, and Markle wasn’t disappointing them. He ran mean, like his words of betrayal to Danny. It was betrayal, to have pretended to make peace in front of Jace and the rest of the team while secretly resenting Danny, even hating him.

“Markle!” Coach Kinen’s shout had an edge that brightened Danny’s spirits and he eagerly looked up from the blade of grass he’d been knotting to watch the spanking Coach Kinen’s voice seemed to promise.

Coach Kinen stomped toward Markle as the player jogged back toward the huddle. “What’s your read on that play?”

Danny snickered to himself and shifted his leg and the ice bag to allow his foot a more comfortable position on the bench.

The confused look on Markle’s face was priceless. “The free safety?”

“Yes!” Coach Kinen hugged Markle to him, slapping the back of his helmet. “Yes, the free safety. You ran the crossing route and drew him away, and that’s why Carmody was wide open on the post. Touchdown, gentlemen, because everyone does his job. And Markle’s only been back at running back for a couple days, but he knows his assignments.”

Coach Kinen looked over at Coach Willard. “I love this kid, Coach Willard.”

Coach Willard looked like a mountain in the middle of them all. “As you should, Coach. As you should.”

Danny’s delight turned to nausea.

He clenched his teeth and wondered how he could expose Markle for the selfish, backstabbing jerk he really was.

When the team finished practice with sprints, Danny was jealous. He never thought he’d miss sprints, but he did. He’d rather suffer along with his team than work leg machines or sit there with his leg elevated and an ice bag on his foot, feeling less than useless. When Coach called the team together, Danny got up and used his crutches to get to the middle of the field. Coach Kinen didn’t even wait for him to get there. He missed half of the speech, but he got there in time to hear Coach Kinen praise Markle again.

“If we can do like Markle, all of us, raise our game, answer the call when we’re needed most, we will not only win this game, we will win the big game, the championship.

“All right, bring it in, men. ‘Championship’ on three. One, two, three . . .”

“CHAMPIONSHIP!”

Danny remained quiet.

The team broke apart and headed to the locker room. Danny lagged behind. The two coaches who’d stopped for a private meeting caught up to him halfway to the school.

“Danny. How’s that foot feeling?” Coach Kinen sounded like he’d only now even noticed Danny was alive.

“Pretty sore.” Danny tried to strike a tone somewhere between pain and toughness, but felt like a wimp.

“Yeah, it’ll take some time, but you’ll be back. Dr. Severs thinks so.” The coach shucked a stick of peppermint gum before folding it into his mouth and giving Danny a quick pat on the back. Then both coaches surged past him to continue their discussion.

Danny paused to rest his armpits and watch them go. He strained to hear anything they might be saying about him until it hit him that they just didn’t care.

It happened that fast.

One injury, and he was no longer the darling of Crooked Creek. He wasn’t Dan-eee, Dan-eee, Dan-eee.

He was just Danny Owens.