After the coach walked away, Derek hugged his mom fiercely. “Thanks, Mom,” he said. “Thanks for coming with me today.”

“You know your family will always be behind you, Derek,” she said. “But I know you would have shown up here today anyway. For Dave, if for no other reason.”

It was true. Derek hadn’t thought of it—but the dream of playing on this team together belonged to both of them.

And now that dream was still alive!

“You’re the best, Mom!” he said, hugging her. “Thanks. Thanks for everything.”

Chapter Eleven ON THE CLOCK

Yes, he felt better. Just knowing he still had a chance of making the team went a long way. Not only that, but his neck was definitely improving. He woke up Sunday and could actually move it around without wincing—although he was still treating it very gingerly.

On Monday and Tuesday after school, he and Vijay were able to go over their routine, with nothing else but regular old homework to distract them.

It was too bad Derek couldn’t actually try any of his dance moves, but at least Vijay was able to work on getting his down. Derek coached him, and the results really showed. Vijay was going to blow some kids’ minds when they saw him dance!

Derek also went through the whole sequence of moves in his head, memorizing them so that when he could dance again, he could just slip right into the routine.

He and Vijay had already agreed that Derek would give his neck a rest until the basketball scrimmage on Thursday evening. Starting Friday—exactly one week before the show—the two boys would start running through their whole number full out.

On Tuesday, Derek told Gary, “We need you to come over tomorrow and walk through your part.”

“Ugh,” Gary said. “Torture. But okay, I’ll be there. Not because I owe you anything, Jeter—I just don’t want to look bad up there.” He shivered with disgust. “Enjoy your short-lived triumph, Jeter. Revenge is going to be sweet, next time I win.”

“You brought this on yourself, Gary,” Derek said coolly. “You could have studied for those tests like all the rest of us. You just thought you didn’t need to.”

“I underestimated you, it’s true,” Gary admitted. “By one stinking point. Next time I won’t make that mistake.”

Derek said nothing except, “See you tomorrow.” There was no sense irritating Gary any further—not when they needed him to show up for their act.

“It’s a pretty cool song, I have to admit.” Gary sat in Derek’s living room, arms folded across his chest. “Never heard it before.”

“What planet have you been living on?” Vijay said, amazed. “It was number one for like fifty straight weeks this last year!”

“I don’t listen to music,” said Gary flatly. “It’s a total waste of time.”