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well,
something
.
    â€œYou think he’ll get cut?” Nate asked.
    It took me a second to realize that he was talking about basketball.
    â€œFrom the team?” I asked, surprised.
    â€œWell, yeah.” Paul shrugged. “We already had a full roster.”
    Nate nodded. “And if we’re two guys over—”
    â€œDid Coach say he’d be cutting?” I practically choked.
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œThen don’t even bring it up!”
    As long as Coach didn’t have plans to trim the team, it was all just talk and Russ was safe.
    I’d just have to hope it stayed that way.

    I made it to the locker room right after the last bell. Nicky Chu and Russ were already in there, getting dressed for the game.
    â€œYou guys ready?” I asked, pulling my jersey out of my bag. Mom had ironed it the night before, but after a day of being jammed in my locker, it was a wrinkled mess.
    â€œAlways,” Nicky Chu said, at the same time Russ mumbled, “I hope so.”
    He
hoped
so?
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” I asked my brother.
    â€œNothing,” he said. “I mean, I’m just wondering how things are going to play out today.”
    I was worried about the new guys taking over the Pioneers and winning over the fans, too, but I knew it was my job to keep it together, no matter how I was feeling inside.
    â€œWe’re going to go out there and score a ton of baskets. That’s how it’s going to play out.”
    The words felt good coming out of my mouth.
    â€œThat’s what I like to hear,” a voice said from behind me.
    I turned to see both twins dressed in their Pioneer uniforms. Coach had given out all the numbered jerseys at the beginning of the season, so Mitch and Marcus were stuck with blank ones until the new order came in. It kind of stunk, because I’d been counting on the numbers to figure out which of them was which.
    â€œYeah.” I nodded. “And believe me, beating West Slope won’t be a problem.” I liked how tough that sounded.
    â€œThey’re a smaller school,” Russ explained, totally taking the toughness out of it.
    â€œWe used to play some—” one of the twins began.
    â€œHuge schools,” the other finished for him.
    â€œMassive,” they said in unison.
    â€œYeah, well, we’ve got some pretty massive schools here, too,” I told them.
    â€œSure, you do.” They gave each other another one of those weird looks, like they were the only ones who understood anything.
    That was really starting to tick me off.
    But I didn’t have time to worry about it because I could hear Coach blowing his whistle out in the gym.
    â€œLet’s roll!” I said, heading for the hardwood.
    When I jogged over to Coach and the rest of the guys, I waved to some of the fans who cheered for me.
    At the far basket, I could see the West Slope team taking shots. I’d always heard they played hard to prove they were better than their purple and orange uniforms, which had to be the ugliest in the league. Judging by their warm-up, the rumors were true.
    But they’d never be warm enough for the Pioneers.
    Our winning streak was going to stay red hot.
    â€œI want to mix things up a little today,” Coach said, once we were all in the huddle.
    Uh-oh.
    I took a deep breath, knowing that when Coach mixed things up, it was usually bad news.
    â€œI’m going to have Nicky and Chris start as guards, but I want the Matthews boys as forwards. Paul, you stick to center.”
    Wait. What?
    The only regular starters who’d be on the bench at tipoff were
Russ and me
?
    I tried to shoot my brother a look, the way the Twinvaders did, but he was too busy watching Coach to notice.
    Mitch and Marcus didn’t even ask who would be playing small forward and who would be power forward, which could only mean one thing. Both of them could play both positions.
    The situation was even worse than I