“I get it—if I’m there—”

“Right! You and I can get our practice in, and my dad will be right there to coach us! Except… you’re not invited—yet.”

“Oh man, I hope they say yes!”

“I’ll ask them as soon as I get home. Speaking of which, what time is it now?”

Dave checked his watch. “Ten to five.”

“Yikes! My dad’s picking me up in ten minutes.”

“Have we got enough time for more game? We can play to 11 instead of 21.”

Derek grinned. “Let’s go for it!”

“Dad? Mom? Could I ask you guys a huge, huge favor?”

That got his parents’ attention. They’d been sitting in the living room together after supper, with Derek’s dad going over his lesson plans, Mrs. Jeter playing checkers with Sharlee—and Derek trying to think of how to ask what he was about to ask.

“How huge is huge?” his mom quipped.

“Well, not that huge, really—but it is kind of last minute. I was hoping you guys would be okay if Dave joined us tomorrow afternoon?”

“I don’t understand, Derek,” his dad said. “Why is it so important?”

“Well, we need to keep on practicing hoops every day this week, because tryouts are next weekend… ”

“. . . and the college has the best courts around,” his dad finished for him.

“But that’s not all of it,” Derek went on. “Dave and I need you to coach us. You know, get us ready for next Saturday.”

“Hmmm,” said his dad. “Weren’t you also supposed to be doing something with Vijay?”

“He’s coming over after dinner tomorrow—we’ve got to go through our music for the talent show.”

“Music? There’s music in it?” Sharlee said, eyes wide. “Tell me! I can’t stand it anymore!”

“I told you, nosey, we haven’t even decided yet,” Derek said. “When we do, you’ll be the first one to know, okay?”

“Yay!” said Sharlee, satisfied for now.

“And you’ve got your big tests coming up too, right?” his mom asked.

“Yes, but I’ve already got study time blocked out,” Derek assured her.

Actually, he hadn’t exactly marked down times on a calendar or anything like that—but he was committed to putting in time studying for the tests—he hadn’t forgotten for a minute about Gary Parnell’s challenge.

“Besides,” he added, “if Dave and I can practice tomorrow, it’ll leave more time for studying later on!” He wasn’t sure how, or when—but there had to be an hour in there somewhere.

“Derek, if you’re going to spend time with Dave tomorrow, I don’t want it to be at the expense of our family time. I’m fine with him coming along—but anything we do tomorrow is going to include all of us.” Mrs. Jeter inclined her head in Sharlee’s direction.