“You’re right, man! Thesecorndogs are crap!” Drew yelled,launching a corndog straight at JJ’sface.”

“You were in the equipment shed with Corn Fritter?” “Corndog,” Will, Dr. Salter, and I say simultaneously.”

“Henry looks from my face back to the field, and his eyes pop open wide. I turn to see why he's gaping: JJ and Carter are messing around, tryingto shove a scrawny wide receiver into Jerry Rice's stroller."JJ!" Henry yells, "You can't fit a freshman in that stroller.”

“Maybe all that matters is that he’s right for me, and I’m right for him.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Thanks for scaring them off. Turn around so I can get dressed." "No." "No?" "No." He stares straight into my eyes. "I didn't scare them off for you. I did it for me. I'm coming in with you.”

“At least I’ve got football .It’s been my life since I was seven, but sometimes Henry says I need to spend less time focusing and start “living life like I’m going to hell tomorrow.”But I feel like a normal teenager. Wel , as normal as I can be. I mean, obviously I think Justin Timberlake is a mega-hunk, but I’m also over six feet tal and can launch a footbal fifty yards.Other ways I’m not normal?A girl who hangs with an entire football team must hook up all the time, right?Nope.I’ve never had a boyfriend. Hell , I’ve never even kissed a guy. The closest I’ve ever come to a kiss happened just this past summer, but it was a joke. At a party, one of those cheerleaders suggested we all play a game of seven minutes in heaven, you know, the game where you go into a closet and kiss? Somehow Henry and I got sent into the closet together, and of course we didn’t kiss, but we ended up in a mad thumb-wrestling match. Which turned into a shoving match. Which turned into everyone thinking we’d hooked up in the closet. Yeah, right. He’s like my brother.”

“A knock sounds on the door.“Who is it?” Matt yells, exasperated.“Your father.”“What do you want?”“Can you mow the lawn tomorrow after church?”“Daaaaaaaad.” Matt’s shaking his head and laughing. My mouth has dropped open. “Couldn’t you have waited until after Kate goes home to ask me?”“I didn’t want to forget,” Mr. Brown says from behind the door.Matt whispers to me, “This is his way of saying we shouldn’t be in here alone together.”I nod.Matt yells to his dad, “Fine, I’ll mow the lawn. Now go away.”I smack his chest.“What?” Matt asks, clutching my hands so I can’t hit him again.“You shouldn’t treat your dad that way.”“I like her,” Mr. Brown says from out in the hallway.“Daaaaadd, stop eavesdropping!” Matt jumps to his feet and grabs his keys from the nightstand. “That’s it, I’m taking you home. We’ll never find any peace around here.”I can’t stop laughing.”