Danny felt the difference on the bus ride to school on Friday. People were doing that thing again where he’d glance their way and they’d pretend they hadn’t been looking at him. It made him smile, and he put an arm around Janey’s shoulders as they walked into the building, hugging her close.

“Wow. Is it my birthday?” Janey’s laughter bubbled up into the cool morning air left behind by the rain.

“Just happy is all.” He gave her one more squeeze and then let go. “Back to the land of the living.”

“I’m so happy for you.”

“You keep saying that.”

She shrugged. “I keep feeling it. Now you’ve got all the motivation you need to study this weekend. I’ve got it all scheduled out. I’ve got soccer practice Saturday early in the afternoon, and you have football practice in the morning, but we can work after that. And Sunday, other than church, I’m all yours. I think you should get in one last session with Ms. Rait. Maybe she could meet with you early Saturday afternoon, or Sunday morning. She doesn’t seem the church type.”

They reached his locker first and he spun the dial. “No, she doesn’t. She’s the devil.”

“Stop it.” She lightly slapped his arm. “That’s not what I meant and I think you know it.”

“The guys on the team think she is, I can tell you that.” Danny shoved his backpack into the locker and removed some books and folders with his Playaway. “They’re talking about running her out of town this weekend so she can’t even give her test on Monday.”

“What’s that mean, Danny?” Janey looked concerned.

“I don’t know.” Danny slammed his locker shut, unconcerned. “Scare her or something. Probably some crank phone calls. Heavy breathing. Soap her windows. Stupid stuff, I bet. I’m planning to take the test, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Janey headed toward her locker now. “I’m worried about her.”

“Trust me, she can take care of herself,” Danny said.

Janey stopped and looked up at him. “You’re not going to do anything to her, though. Right?”

“No,” Danny scoffed.

As much as he hated Ms. Rait’s rigid rules, he could never bring himself to do something that would scare her. As she spun the dial on her locker, he said, “The guys want to win this championship, though. It’s a big deal, and they know they need me. Dillon’s defense has six shutouts and they’ve only given up twenty-six points all season.”

“Maybe you should tell Mr. Crenshaw,” Janey said, clanking open the locker. “Just so she’s ready.”

Danny took her by the arm. “Janey, you can’t say anything about this to anyone. The guys would kill me. Most of the team doesn’t even know. It’s just some eighth graders who told me in the locker room last night not to worry, that they’d take care of it.”

Janey frowned. “That doesn’t sound good to me. And you know about it, so if something bad happens, you’re gonna be part of it.”

“Shh!” Danny looked around and put his mouth near her ear, whispering. “I am not part of anything. I don’t even know what ‘it’ is. You gotta promise me, Janey, promise me you won’t say a word to anyone.”

He stepped back and looked into her face. Her eyes swam with worry and doubt.

Finally, she gave a short nod. “Okay.”

“Okay. Good.” The first bell rang and he turned to go. “See you in Rait’s.”

“See you.”