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has to be here. It has to be.
She searched each spot again.
    Finally, she lifted both hands to Mr. Clark. “It’s not here.”
    Mr. Clark grunted and motioned Mina toward the door.
    During morning recess, Sammy found some ladybugs over by the fence. Crawling on hands and knees, he, Alana, and Ruth began to hunt them in the long grass.
    Mina hung back. How could she confess to everyone that she’d lost the Friendship Ball?
    “Look,” Ruth was saying, “I got this from the garbage can.” She held up a juice carton. “It can be a ladybug house.”
    Mina walked five steps until she stood over them. “Friends,” she began.
    Alana and Sammy looked up.
    “Friends. I’ve done something awful.”
    Sammy sat up and rocked back onto his heels.
    Alana shaded her eyes with her hand.
    Ruth pulled the long blades of the grass apart, still searching for ladybugs.
    Mina took a big breath. “I lost the Friendship Ball.”
    There was a silence, then Sammy said, “You’re kidding. Where?”
    “If she knew, it wouldn’t be lost,” Alana said.
    Ruth said nothing.
    Sammy concentrated on a ladybug creeping across his freckled hand. “It’s okay, Mina. It was just stupid yarn.”
    “Yeah,” said Alana.
    Ruth yanked up a clump of grass. Dirt dangled from the roots. “Are you guys crazy? It wasn’t just the stupid yarn but all our friendship wound up in there.” She threw the grass in Mina’s direction. “You were never a real Fellow Friend if you weren’t careful of our ball and went and lost it.”
    Mina stepped back. Ruth was so wrong. She
had
been careful. She’d worried all night and had gotten to school super early to search and search the art room. . . .
    “That was mean, Ruth,” said Alana, jumping up. “Don’t cry, Mina. We’ll find the ball.”
    Mina was standing in the lunch line when she heard: “Close your eyes and turn around.”
    Sammy put something round into her arms.
    Mina held the soft moon of the Friendship Ball close. “Oh!” was all she could say. She pressed her face against the yarn, smelling its mustiness, the scent of good memories wound into the roundness. Her whole body relaxed.
    “Get out of line.” Sammy touched Mina’s forearm. “You don’t want cafeteria food. You can eat some of my lunch.”
    “I promise never to lose it again,” she said as they crossed the lunch patio, heading toward the picnic tables. “Double promise. I swear.”
    “I know you weren’t careless. Don’t worry.”
    “Where did you find it?”
    “During math, I passed a note offering a twenty-five-cent reward. A kid gave it to me as we were lining up for lunch.”
    “That was so lucky, Sammy.”
    They sat down and Sammy handed over half an egg salad sandwich.
    Mina ate with the Friendship Ball on her lap, one arm curved around it. “Ruth is probably still going to be mad.”
    “Probably.” Sammy opened a bottle of pink lemonade. He held it out to her.
    Mina took a sip. “She’s mad about stuff other than the Friendship Ball.”
    “Yeah, it’s kind of hard for her to be Athlete of the School and then maybe not be.”
    “So you know about that? She told you?”
    “Not told me. But it’s pretty obvious.”
    Mina finished the sandwich and Sammy offered her a carrot stick.
    “One of you’s gotta start solving things, though,” Sammy said. “Otherwise you and her won’t be friends. And if that happens, our group will bust up.”
    “I’m supposed to go to her house tomorrow to practice our science presentation.”
    “A perfect chance to talk.”
    “But Sammy”— Mina handed back the pink lemonade —“I’m afraid to bring it up.”
    “Pretend you’re in a race. Pretend that you can’t hang back but have to be strong and go forward.” Sammy drained the lemonade, then played with the clasp on his metal lunch box, clicking it open and shut.
    “Okay. I’ll go, then. I’ll make myself.” Mina bit into the carrot.

So on Saturday morning, Mina went to Ruth’s house to practice the