“Guess what? We won again!” Sharlee told Derek as the family drove home together, with Vijay sitting in back between Derek and his sister.
“Wow,” said Derek. “Cool.”
“Aren’t you excited, Derek?” she asked, frowning. “We’re 4–0—and we’re also undefeated!”
“They’re the same thing,” Derek pointed out.
“Derek,” his mom said in a scolding tone.
“That’s amazing, Sharlee,” Derek said, finally mustering some enthusiasm.
“And I hit a home run! And I was the pitcher! But it’s different in softball.”
“Sharlee, when is your next game?” Vijay asked. “Maybe Derek and I can come.”
“Yay!” Sharlee said. “Daddy, when is my next game?”
“Next Saturday,” said Mr. Jeter, who was driving. “But I think the boys have a game that morning too.”
“Awww,” Sharlee groaned, disappointed.
“Don’t worry, Sharlee,” said Vijay. “We’ll find some time to watch you. And you’re going to have to hit a home run to show us how you do it.”
Derek saw his mom smile at Vijay in the rearview mirror. Everyone loved him—kids, parents, dogs, cats—even mice! Looking at Vijay, Derek thought there had to be something to this optimistic business.
“Can you drop me off at Vijay’s?” Derek asked. “We’ve got to put in some time on our science project.”
“Our project?” Mrs. Jeter repeated. “I thought you were working with Gary.”
Derek winced. “I am. But we needed Vijay’s help.”
“Derek,” said Mr. Jeter. “Aren’t you and Gary supposed to do your own work?”
“We are!” Derek insisted. “It’s just—well, Vijay has the mice we need. Gary’s mom wouldn’t let him keep them at their house. And I knew we weren’t going to get them. So…”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Jeter,” Vijay said. “I am going to be getting extra credit!”
“Oh! Well, in that case…”
“Here we are, Vijay,” said Mr. Jeter. “Derek, what about lunch?”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Jeter,” said Vijay, all smiles. “My mom made chapatis and saag paneer. We will be fine.”
Derek didn’t know what chapatis and saag paneer were, and he was pretty sure his folks didn’t either. But one thing they all knew was what a great cook Mrs. Patel was.
Gary was already there, waiting for them. He was in the middle of teaching the mice how to navigate the maze, by using cheese as a reward for learning. Mrs. Patel was in the kitchen, and the smells coming their way made Derek instantly hungry.
The mice seemed hungry too. There were two of them, a large male named Mickey, and a smaller female, of course named Minnie. Gary busily tracked their movements in the maze and counted how many cubes of cheese each one of them found and ate, and how long it took each mouse to find the cheese under different conditions.
Soon Vijay was down on the floor with him, and the two of them were making rapid progress. Derek took notes, registering the data. He had to admit it was fun observing the mice do their thing. He also noted proudly what a good job he’d done building the maze. This project was going to get them all an A-plus, he was sure of it.
After a break for lunch, Derek said, “So where are we at this point?”
Gary and Vijay looked at each other and shrugged. “We have pretty much all we need to make our presentation. But we can always use more data to back up our conclusions.”
“Definitely,” Vijay agreed. “We should put in at least a few more hours. That way I will be sure to get my extra credit!”
When he finally got to the Hill late in the afternoon, Avery and her friends were already there. Derek got in the game, and soon forgot about everything that was troubling him.
There was nothing like a good game of pickup baseball. Everyone was in a good mood, having fun, arguing over whether a ball was fair or foul, or whether someone had missed the rock that was third base on their way around the diamond.
Derek noticed again how free and easy Avery seemed here on the Hill. With the Yankees, she was so grim and serious. Here, she was still intense but also smiled a lot, laughed with her friends, and joked around like everybody else.
A few minutes later, Harry showed up, along with Jeff and two other Hill regulars. There were enough kids now, so nobody had to double up and play for both sides.
And then the familiar black Mercedes showed up, and Dave got out with his mitt and a bat.
“Hey, Derek!” he called, waving and jogging over to the others. “Long time, no play ball!”
“What’s up?” Derek said, giving his friend the hand shake they’d made up together. “Haven’t seen much of you the past couple weeks.”
“Well, you know,” Dave said with a grin. “Got to get my golf game in gear.”
Dave’s dream was to be a professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He and Derek had bonded over their lofty ambitions and had been close friends ever since. In fact, if Derek had to choose Dave or Vijay as his best friend, he would have had a really hard time deciding.
“How’d your team do yesterday?” Derek asked him.
“We won again, 10–2. That makes us 3–0. Chase is a great coach, and he learned a lot from your dad last year, too.”
“Cool. That’s great, man.”
“How’s your team doing?”
“We’re 1–2,” Derek said.
“Oh. Well, hey, it’s still early. You guys will get it turned around.”
“I hope.”
“Not next game, though,” Dave said with a grin. “It’s you against us.”
“Hey, Derek!” Avery called from second base. “You playing or not?”
“Oh,” said Dave, realizing that the second baseman was a girl. “Sorry. Go ahead. We’ll talk after the inning’s over.”
“No, man, it’s okay. What were you saying?”
“Derek!” Avery called impatiently.
“Sorry. Hang out a few minutes, okay? Talk to you after this inning.”
Derek proceeded to fly out to center. While the rest of his team continued their at bats, he went back over to talk to his friend.
Dave looked over at Avery. “So… that’s her, huh?”
“Who?”
“Avery.”
“Oh. Yeah. She’s on my team. The Yankees, I mean.”
“Right. I heard.” Dave seemed suddenly uncomfortable.
“What?” Derek asked. “What’s the matter?”
“Oh, nothing,” Dave said quickly, avoiding Derek’s gaze. “I didn’t realize you were here with her, that’s all.”
“I’m not ‘here with her,’ ” Derek corrected him. “I’m just here, like always. These other kids are all here because their field is being renovated over on the south side.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“No, seriously.”
“I said okay!”
“What exactly did you hear about Avery?”
“Well… that you guys… I don’t know… like each other and stuff.”
“WHAT? No way!”
“Ah, you know how people make stuff up. They said you guys were hanging out. And that someone asked her if she liked you, and she said ‘Sure—who doesn’t like Derek Jeter?’ ”
“Wait a minute!” Derek said, holding up a hand. “That doesn’t mean she likes me. She said, ‘Who doesn’t?’! As in, ‘He’s a nice kid’!”
“Okay. If you say so.”
“I do say so!” Derek shook his head, then calmed himself down. “Look, I’m not mad at you. But I hate when people start making stuff up.”
“I hear you. Anyway, that got around, and then the kids from the Yankees were talking about how you’re always sticking up for her, and someone saw you walking her home one time….”
Uh-oh. This was bad. Very bad.
It was one thing for clowns like Elliott and Norman and Pete and Harry to make jokes about his friendship with Avery. But if Dave was already hearing about it, the rumor mill had clearly gotten way out of hand.
It almost made him want to stay far away from Avery altogether. But he quickly rejected that idea.
“Look, I’m really sorry, Derek,” Dave said. “I didn’t mean to upset you or anything. But that’s what people are saying.”
“We’re just friends, okay? I’m totally serious, man. And you can tell everyone else that—straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“You got it,” Dave promised.
“Hey, Derek!” Avery said, coming up behind them. “You still in the game?”
“Uh, yeah!”
“Well, get out there, then!”
He ran out to play short, but his head was a million miles away.
Meeting Avery had taught him that girls and boys could be friends.
He was pretty sure he’d convinced Dave, at least. But Dave was one of his best friends and could be counted on to be in his corner.
As for all the other kids who “happened to hear” about him and Avery? Well, he didn’t have to let any of that get to him, did he? At least he knew his close friends and his family would stick up for him, no matter what anybody said.