“I think so. It sounds like blackmail. Help Troy or look like the guy who set him up.”

“That’s putting it too strongly,” Brandon said. “More like, help Troy and look like the kind of teammate other guys want to play with. Look like the kind of teammate other guys respect and look up to and want to be around. Look like the kind of teammate who stands up for his captain, even when it’s hard.”

“Wow,” I said.

“What?”

“No wonder you’re always elected class president.”

Brandon smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. “Help him, Mickey. Help yourself. Help your team.”

And because I’m a complete idiot, I told him that I would.

CHAPTER 14

Ema did not take it well.

“Are you out of your mind?” Ema asked.

We were entering the lobby of the hospital, heading up to Spoon’s room.

“If you’d just listen a second—”

“Oh, I heard you. You want to help Troy Taylor! Troy Freakin’ Taylor!” She spread her arms. “What, are there no serial killers who need our help?”

“Forget it. I’ll do it on my own, okay?”

“No, not okay. We work together. That’s part of this. And we have more pressing problems, thank you very much.”

“You mean your”—I tried to say it without sounding sarcastic—“boyfriend?”

“Are you being sarcastic?”

Like I said, I tried.

“It’d be a waste of time anyway,” Ema said.

“Why?”

“Because you know Troy’s guilty.”

“A lot of people don’t think so.”

“Like who? Brandon? Look, Brandon is a nice guy, but he’s always been under Troy’s spell.”

“I may need to do it,” I said.

“Need?”

“To help me.”

“Help you how?”

“To help get my teammates to see me in a new light.”

She blinked. “Are you serious?”

“They hate me, Ema. All of them.”

“And you think helping Troy will do what exactly? Make all the jocks think you’re cool?”

“No,” I said.

“Because if you want to be cool, your best bet is to jettison the uncool people around you.”

“Will you stop it?”

We got into the elevator.

“I still don’t understand,” Ema said. “What do you want out of this?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, tried again. There was no point. She wouldn’t understand. “Do you get what basketball means to me?”

Ema met my gaze and moved closer. I felt something warm pass over me. “Yes, of course.”

“You can’t be an outsider on a team,” I said. “You can’t be the loner sitting at a table in the corner.”

“You mean like I do?”