“We’ll go out soon,” Crystal promises, smoothing down her already perfectly pressed black ponytail, “but first, we need to have a private team meeting.” The way she says it sends a little shiver down to my toes, and I throw up a prayer that she isn’t announcing she’s transferring. She’ll recommend me for captain for next year, I’m sure, but if she left early and someone else (her BFF, Nia Johnson, almost definitely) took her spot, who knows what would happen?

Okay, I’m getting paranoid. I need to stop getting paranoid.

“Well?” Zoe Remini asks when Crystal has drawn out more than enough suspense.

Crystal huffs at her, as if her entire dramatic delivery has been ruined. “Well, as we all know, it’s been two months since Robbie’s, um, since Robbie.” A somber mood settles over the squad at the reminder of Robbie Oakes’s fatal car crash at the beginning of the summer, and even tough-as-nails Crystal can’t hide how Atherton’s still feeling the loss in more ways than one. But she presses on, captainly to the core. “And the Alligators’ attempts at a replacement haven’t exactly been cutting it.”

That’s an understatement. We’ve all been watching the football team’s unofficial summer practices and pickup games at the park, especially since the backup quarterback, Drew Henley, up and moved without a word to anyone the week after Robbie died. Now everything rests on Tim Duggan, and everyone knows his throwing arm works for about three passes before it descends into limp noodle state.

Robbie wasn’t exactly a superstar—the Alligators haven’t had a winning season since … ever—but at least he had endurance. And though the Spring Showcase game—Robbie’s last before hitting a tree with a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit—proved that this coming fall wasn’t gonna be the season they finally made the playoffs either, news (and blooper videos) of Tim’s particularly atrocious performance at their week of two-a-days has been making the rounds.

“So, what’s happening?” Sara Copeley asks, because the girl has the patience of a mosquito.

“Sundstrom found a new quarterback at football camp.” Crystal smiles, her pride at having the scoop before anyone else glaringly obvious. “From Butler. He starts today.”

The entire room erupts.

“Is he hot?”

“Is he single?”

“What’s his name?”