Derek knew Vijay was right—it was going to take practice. They each had some good moves, but the story demanded that they do a bunch of things in unison, and that meant they would have to learn each other’s moves.

“See you tomorrow,” he told his friend.

“See you tomorrow, Derek. Hey, by the time we get to the talent show, we will be ready for prime time! Watch out world, here we come!”

“Tell me again why I have to do this?”

“We made a bet, Gary,” Derek said. “And I won!”

Gary rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He heaved a sigh. “So what do I have to do?”

“Not all that much, really.”

The two boys were standing in the hallway after school. Lots of kids were passing by, and Derek didn’t want to reveal anything about their act to anyone. He wanted it to be a surprise when they got up there onstage—especially Gary’s appearance in the dance. His name, at his own request, would not appear in the program for the show.

“Still, I suppose I have to actually rehearse for this pathetic excuse of an act?”

“Yes, you will. But like I say, don’t panic. All you have to do is make like Frankenstein and move your mouth when the monster in the song says his piece.”

“This is so juvenile,” Gary protested.

“Nuh-uh-uh!” Derek said, wagging his index finger at Gary. “Don’t even get started, dude. I beat you, fair and square.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“It’ll be next week sometime,” Derek said. “Probably early in the week. Keep your afternoons free—it’ll be at my house. You know where that is?”

“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me,” said Gary miserably. “Ugh. This is going to be even worse than being forced to play baseball last spring.”

“Ah, be quiet—you loved it, and you know it.”

“That is ridiculous,” Gary said.

But Derek knew it was true, even though Gary would never admit it. Hopefully, he’d get over being in the talent show too.

Derek was on his way out of the building when Sam came up behind him. “Hey!” he said, flashing a big smile. “Guess what?”

“You passed?”

“Yesss! Thanks to you, buddy! I would have never gotten there without you!”

“Ah, come on, I’m sure you would have.”

“I passed by four points, Derek. Four. Points. There’s no way I could have done it without you. Just think—now my mom will let me be on the under-twelve team!”

“Yeah! That’s… great!”

Derek hoped he sounded more excited than he really felt. Sam was definitely going to make the basketball team. That left only two slots at point guard, with twelve kids called back at guard for Saturday.

Derek still had a chance to make the team, but it had just gone down by a lot.