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clap of his hands. “Let’s go, Harrison. School.”
    Harrison followed, accepting the brown bag lunch from Jennifer. He stuffed the lunch into a backpack she gave him that was already filled with notebooks, pencils, pens, and some empty folders. From the front seat of Coach’s truck, Harrison stared at the kids walking to school, some in little clusters, others by themselves. Harrison studied their faces as best he could, looking for something they’d have in common and seeing nothing that would help him to fit in. His mouth dried out and his palms grew damp.
    Coach turned off the truck in the parking lot beside the school. He reached into his briefcase and handed Harrison a packet of papers stapled together.
    â€œIt’s our playbook. I don’t want you looking at it during classes, but if you have time at lunch or study hall, you might want to take a look.”
    Coach flipped open the packet and pointed at a series of circles and Xs. “You see? This page shows you the number for each hole. Next are the formations, then after that the plays. The circle that’s filled in is the guy who gets the ball. Then, these are our basic defenses, just where to line up. It’s pretty simple, really, and if you have the chance to look it over, things will make sense out there.”
    Harrison held the packet like it was gold and tucked it into his backpack.
    Coach walked him into the Brookton Junior High School office, introduced him to the principal, Mr. Fisk, and then sat him down in the office of Mr. Sofia, the guidance counselor. Mr. Sofia had a kind but worried face, and his dark hair had thinned enough that his tan scalp shone through. Mr. Sofia finally stopped staring at Harrison’s discolored eye and went over his school schedule. Coach signed some papers. The bell rang as the three of them entered the hallway. Kids scrambled for their classrooms and no one paid Harrison any attention.
    Coach stopped and turned to Mr. Sofia. “Frank, can I have a second with Harrison?”
    Mr. Sofia nodded and disappeared around the corner.
    Coach cleared his throat and looked around before he spoke in a low voice to Harrison. “I have to tell you something that’s very important.”

Chapter Fourteen
    COACH LOOKED HARD AT Harrison, and Harrison dipped his head.
    â€œI know about everything that happened in your old life, Harrison,” Coach said, “and I believe my mother-in-law when she says you’ve just caught a bunch of bad breaks.”
    Harrison glanced up and saw that Coach meant what he said.
    â€œOkay,” Coach said, “fine. You’ll get a fresh start here. But I also know kids, and I know what happens when a new kid shows up. You’ll be the biggest kid in the grade, so you’ll stick out, and your eye is still kind of noticeable, and I’ll bet dollars to donuts that before the day is out someone’s going to give you some grief. That’s life.
    â€œWell, I need you to rise above it. I can’t have you exploding on me and knocking someone’s block off. Do you get what I’m saying? You might get angry. I know it. But you’ve got to contain it. Save it up for football practice today. I promise, you’ll get to let it all out then, but you’ve got to wait. You can’t fight anyone, no matter what. You understand? If you have problems, you tell me and we’ll work it out.”
    Harrison realized that Coach was staring at him, hard.
    â€œOkay?” Coach asked.
    â€œOkay.”
    Coach mussed his hair. “Good. I’ll see you third period.”
    Harrison watched him go, then he went in the direction of the guidance counselor. When Mr. Sofia showed Harrison his locker and handed him the combination, they were the only people in the hallway. “Your . . . father . . . your foster father is a good man.”
    Harrison looked around and realized Mr. Sofia was talking to him. He