Kasselton had a town circle. On one side of it was the high school. On the other was a bunch of municipal buildings and the YMCA. “No, not really.”

“It’s behind town hall, near the Y.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, a few days before they ran the tests, I was supposed to meet Buck at the circle. We were going to take a couple of laps.”

The circle was exactly half a mile in circumference. It was a popular jogging spot.

“I got there early,” Troy said, “and I spotted something weird.”

“What?”

“I saw Randy and Buck going into that shed.”

I was getting confused. “The one behind town hall?”

“Right.”

“What kind of shed is this?”

“Well, that’s just it. I looked it up. The property is owned by Schultz’s gym.”

“So it’s theirs?”

“I guess. So I followed them to it. When they saw me, they freaked out.”

“Freaked out how?”

“They pulled down the shades and came out and acted like it was nothing. But I saw something.”

“What?”

Troy took his time. Then at last he said, “Test tubes.”

I tried to make that compute. It wouldn’t. “Did you ask Buck about them?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I figured . . . well, I figured that they had something to do with the steroids. You know. Like it was his supply hut or something.”

“You don’t think that anymore?”

“I don’t know. But that was the last time Buck and I talked. Nothing was ever the same. Now he’s gone, and I got thrown off the team. So now I’m thinking about what you said. I’m thinking about that shed. And I’m thinking there’s some secret in there that could give us all our answers.”

CHAPTER 35

Troy and I agreed to meet up that night at the town circle and check out the shed under the cover of darkness. I’d hoped to talk to Ema during lunch because I really needed her take on Luther and my father, not to mention what Troy had told me about Buck and his brother, but Ema had to meet with Mrs. Cannon, her math teacher, during lunch for extra help. She had a big test coming up.

Schoolwork waits for no teenager. Schoolwork doesn’t care about your problems.

Around 2:00 P.M., I got a text from Spoon: Found something huge. When can you get here?

Ema and Rachel had been copied too. I texted back that I would go right after practice. Ema wrote that she had some homework and would meet me there. Rachel said that she had play tryouts—she was going for the role of Éponine in the school’s production of Les Miz—so she wouldn’t be able to make it, but hoped someone could fill her in later.

Our team.