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Hills—17, Grant—8.
    Hammond, ATV’s replacement at kicker, somehow slipped the extra-point try under the crossbar, meaning Grant couldn’t tie the game with another touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion. The Eagles had to produce two scores in just over seven minutes. And that was only if they could keep Claxton Hills off the scoreboard.
    The Lancers didn’t score again, but it didn’t matter. Faust led his team on a sixty-eight-yard drive that stalled at the Grant twenty. Claxton’s kicker shanked a field goal attempt, but Grant got the ball back with just over two minutes remaining.
    The game ended a few plays later, with Brendan Clark dragging half the opposing defense across midfield. Even most of the Claxton faithful gave him a standing ovation when Hammond and Phillips helped the exhausted Eagle to his feet.
    Then the Claxton fans left the stands and poured onto the field. Cody stood on the sidelines and watched the throng bobbing up and down. Occasionally, a hat, a scarf, or even a shoe, flew up from the celebration.

    The Claxton Hills public address announcer proclaimed that he had “a very important reminder,” but as he delivered the message, his voice became progressively shriller, faster, and more distorted until all Cody could decipher was the occasional “future state champion Lancers!”
    He looked around for Pork Chop who, at one point in the fourth quarter, had shared his plan to track down the Claxton defensive end and renew their grudge match. Cody said a silent prayer of thanks when he saw Chop standing alone on the all-weather track that circled the field.
    â€œCheck that out, Chop,” he said, pointing to the celebration still buzzing on the field. “Think that’ll be us someday?”
    â€œNo,” Chop said flatly.
    Cody rolled his eyes. “C’mon, big man. I know it hurts to lose. But we have three more seasons to get where those guys are now.”
    Chop turned to him, eyes narrowed. “I can count, Code. But we aren’t ever going to be out there like that.”
    Cody stepped back, rocked by the force, the certainty, of his friend’s proclamation. “How can you say that?” he asked.
    â€œBecause,” came the answer, “I’m moving away. Far away.”

Chapter 5
    Pulled Apart

    I t’s been a long time since we’ve done this,” Blake Randall said, settling into a chair behind his desk. “That might be a good sign—maybe you’re not having as many life challenges right now. But I have to say, with everything that’s going on in your life, that’s a little hard to believe.”
    Cody exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I know it’s all a bit much for me to deal with. I mean, Chop moving away? That’s like taking a baseball bat to the stomach. And the wedding at the end of the week? Well, that’s kinda like—being hunted down by a pack of wolves or something. You keep running, but you know, eventually, they’re going to catch you.”
    Cody, sitting on a metal folding chair facing Blake’s desk, realized he had been directing his words to the infamously ugly carpet in his youth pastor’s office. He lifted his head. Blake was nodding slowly, giving him that familiar understanding smile.
    â€œIt’s amazing, Cody, the changes life throws at us sometimes. It seems like things happen that will overwhelm us, even ruin our lives.”
    Cody rested his elbows on his knees, then let his chin drop into his hands. “Having Pork Chop as my best friend for all these years has been a gift from God; I have no doubt about that. I don’t know how I would have survived my mom’s death without him. And he’s helped with this whole marriage thing too. Even though I still hate that it’s going to happen—when he makes jokes about it and stuff—that helps me keep it in perspective, I guess.”
    â€œHe’s a good friend,