CHAPTER 6
After school on Friday, Brandon went home and headed to his room. He dropped his backpack onto the floor and flopped facedown on his bed.
As expected, his mom came up a few minutes later and poked her head in through the doorway. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I don’t feel good,” Brandon said. He kept his face in the pillow. “I feel like I might throw up.”
His mom came in and put a hand on the back of his head. “Are you feeling nervous about the big game tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Brandon admitted, happy he didn’t have to lie about that, at least. “I don’t think I’m feeling well enough to play.”
His mom frowned. “Oh, no. This is the biggest game of the season, honey.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brandon mumbled, his voice muffled against the pillow. “But I don’t want to barf all over the court.”
In no time, his mom had brought him a glass of ginger ale and some soup. Brandon felt so bad about faking sick that he started actually feeling sick. He lay in bed, staring out the window as the sky grew darker.
I wonder how the Clovers are doing so far, Brandon thought.
The anticipation was driving him nuts. A few hours later, the phone rang. Brandon wanted to answer it, but needed to keep up the sick act.
“Brandon!” his dad called from downstairs. “Jeff is on the phone for you!”
“Okay,” Brandon croaked, hoping he sounded sick enough. He picked up the phone and hit the talk button. “Hello?”
“Dude. You’re not going to believe it!” Jeff exclaimed. “We won! I bet you wish you hadn’t made up an excuse not to play tonight.”
A moment later, Brandon heard a click as someone hung up the other phone. His dad had still been on the line.
“You there?” Jeff asked. “Aren’t you excited?”
Brandon felt his stomach drop but tried to focus enough to respond. “Yeah,” he managed. “Yeah, I’m here. That’s awesome.”
As Jeff recounted the game’s highlights, Brandon only half heard him. He was excited that the Clovers were going to the play-offs, but there was a more pressing issue on his mind at the moment. Dad was on the phone when Jeff said I made up an excuse to skip the game, he thought. I’m busted. More bad luck.