The next day at practice it was clear to Danny that the eighth graders looked down on the seventh-grade players as youngsters who needed guidance and punishment. They were an intimidating bunch. One of the linemen, a big-bellied kid named Gabriel Stone, stood six feet tall and had to weigh north of 250. The kids called him Bug. In Danny’s group of backs was a big, strong running back with long blond Viking hair and a mean face named John Markle. In each drill, the eighth grader raced to the front of the line. When Danny beat him to the gauntlet machine, Markle shoved him rudely out of the way and burst into and out of the machine before Danny could even react.

The gauntlet was essentially a cage with dozens of rigid padded arms connected to tight metal springs. If you didn’t run full blast, the lower arms would trip you up and the upper arms would strip the ball from your hands. Danny recovered and went through it just as fast and easy as Markle had. The rest of the group struggled, but instead of sharing some camaraderie, Markle spit dangerously close to Danny’s brand-new cleats as they stood in line. Danny burned inside and made sure that at every other drill they did, he outdid not only Markle but every other back, too. Two hours into practice, Danny made it known that he was faster, stronger, and tougher than any of the skill position players.

The real rub with Markle came when Coach Kinen called for the first-team offense to line up on the ball. Eighth-grade boys quickly filled in each of the eleven spots. Danny stood back with the other younger players, but Cupcake shoved the monster, Gabriel, out of his spot at right tackle before stepping in. “Hey!” Gabriel yelled as he wheeled around in disbelief. Fists quickly began to fly.

Coach Kinen and his assistant, Coach Willard, pulled the two of them apart, but the coaches seemed pleased.

“I like your spirit, Eugene.”

“Call me Cupcake, Coach. That’s my name.” Cupcake didn’t seem to mind snarling at his coach.

Coach Kinen chuckled. “Okay, Cupcake. That’s funny. You play right guard and we’ll leave Gabriel at right tackle.”

“Okay.” Cupcake nodded and shoved the kid at the right guard spot out of his way.

That kid looked at Coach Kinen with disbelief. “Coach, this kid is a seventh grader.”

“And he’s bigger, tougher, and stronger than you, Thomas. He starts until he proves he can’t hold up.” Coach Kinen turned toward the rest of the team as Thomas walked in shame away from the starters. “This isn’t a social club! Just because you thought you had a job doesn’t mean you do. Coach Willard and I make those calls, and we do it to put the best team on the field so we can win!”

Coach Kinen stared around to see if anyone had anything to say about that before he shouted, “Markle! You’re the backbone of our defense at middle linebacker. And you’re the captain, you’re the glue that holds your group together—if you can lead them. Can you do that, Markle?”

“Yes, Coach,” he said sheepishly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Coach,” Markle yelled.

“Good. Good. And I want Danny Owens with the ones on offense at running back.”

Markle looked like his head was ready to explode, but being named captain was a big deal, and he obviously knew better than to question Coach Kinen. But that didn’t keep him from giving Danny a hateful look.

Danny ignored it. He was thrilled with the opportunity, and he intended to live up to Coach Kinen’s faith in him.

Danny didn’t disappoint Coach Kinen or anyone else over the next two weeks. He ran around people. He ran over them. He ran through them. By the time double sessions were over, most of his teammates—even the eighth graders—treated him with the respect that was reserved for a football team’s star player, the one everyone knew would be the difference between winning and losing.

There were a couple of eighth graders, though, who either weren’t convinced or, more likely, were too inflamed with jealousy to respect a seventh grader. It was the second-to-last practice before the first day of school when one of those boys made a very bad mistake.

Markle was rocking back and forth on his heels, clearly frustrated because now he was only starting on defense. On the last play of the team’s live scrimmage period, Danny ran a sweep out around Markle’s side.

The older boy tossed the tight end blocking him to the ground and took off at an angle to cut Danny off from the sideline. Danny poured on the speed, but he realized that he couldn’t evade the older boy, who was also quite fast. Danny dipped his head inside with a shoulder fake to make Markle hesitate. Markle didn’t buy it. He was willing to miss Danny entirely for the chance to hit him with every ounce of force he had. When the older boy launched himself at Danny, Danny jammed his hand, palm first, directly into Markle’s facemask.

Markle went down like a slaughtered cow.

Danny churned his legs, so even though Markle was able to grab an ankle, Danny burst free without a pause and raced up the sideline into the end zone. Everyone had seen Danny’s stiff-arm and Markle’s disgrace, and they hooted and jeered and laughed out loud. It seemed like the teammates enjoyed it even more because of Markle’s well-known bad feelings toward Danny.

Danny just blushed and smiled and jogged toward the sideline where Coach was having them line up for sprints. He fell in beside Cupcake when someone shoved him so hard he stumbled forward and toppled to the ground. Danny spun around to see Markle standing over him.

“You don’t facemask your own team!” Markle’s ugly face was red and pinched inside his helmet.

“Hey!” Cupcake bellowed, and charged the older boy.

Markle sidestepped Cupcake, threw a roundhouse punch into his gut, and shoved him into the dirt. Cupcake lay gasping for breath.

Danny was on his feet, and he opened his arms to diffuse the situation. “What’s wrong with you? I didn’t facemask you. That was a totally legal stiff-arm.”

“That’s bull.” Markle leaned his face toward Danny’s and jabbed a finger in his chest. “You cheat, maybe you get me, but you don’t beat me legal.”

“Whatever.” Danny turned away. Most of the team hadn’t seen the scuffle. They were lining up along the sideline and focused on surviving Coach Kinen’s running program.

“Don’t think you’re so special!” Markle called after him. “Cuz you’re not.”

Danny helped Cupcake to his feet, ignoring the older boy.

“And neither was your old man,” Markle sneered. “He was a freeloading fat-butt has-been.”

Danny’s vision blurred and went red. “Danny—” Cupcake reached for him, but Danny spun around and launched himself at Markle’s throat. He grabbed his mask, twisted it, and yanked his teammate to the ground with a war cry. Danny gripped the mask with both hands and shook and twisted until it came free. He flung it aside. The helmet flew through the air, and before it hit the ground Danny was pummeling Markle’s face.

Blowing his whistle, Coach Kinen came running and grabbed Danny by the shoulder pads. “Danny! Danny! Stop!”

Danny grabbed hold of Markle’s jersey and shoulder pad. With his left hand clamped down on the padding, Danny continued to pound his teammate’s face with his right hand. Even though Coach Kinen yanked Danny with all his might, he only dragged them both a few feet. Like a wasp, Danny had his adversary in a death grip and was stinging him repeatedly.

It took the two assistant coaches and Cupcake to finally pry Danny free. When they did, his mind cleared. He looked down at Markle and felt sick. The older boy’s nose and cheeks were bloody and swollen. His eyes were two slits in the bruised fruit of his face. Markle was unrecognizable.

“What’s wrong with you?” Coach Kinen screamed, staring and shaking his head. “What is wrong with you?”

Danny looked down at his swollen knuckles through teary eyes.

He had no idea what was wrong, only that he had lost his mind.