Rob was in the locker room Monday morning. When I asked why he missed Saturday’s practice, he said he’d been on a hike. I don’t know if he was kidding or not, but there he was, without a mark on him, so I knew “hike” wasn’t another word for “hospital.”

I asked him if he’d found out yet who gave Sarah the wrong test, and he shook his head.

“Well, when we do find the creep, we’ll have to re-educate him,” I said. “Maybe rearrange his face. Can you figure what kind of loser lets a girl take his licks?”

But instead of agreeing with me, Rob said that me and him weren’t exactly John Wayne when it came to Sarah. He said it like we let her take the rap for us, but that’s not the way it was, man. Not. At. All.

I tried to explain the difference to him. I said, “Sarah isn’t any more suspended than she would’ve been if we were suspended with her. The only—and I mean only—difference is that we aren’t suspended. See? Either Sarah’s suspended with us, or Sarah’s suspended without us. But either way, Sarah is suspended. Get it?”

But Rob didn’t, or wouldn’t, get anything. I think my buddy Rob is just nuts. Maybe after all his boo-hooing over how his big bad daddy was gonna nail him, he’s embarrassed not to have a single nick in his hide. So now he’s into guilt.

But he doesn’t have a thing to feel guilty about and neither do I. This is Sarah’s deal. Sarah and whoever the dude is.

The truth is, I think there has to be more to this story than meets the eye. Or else why would Sarah take the fall for the guy? Especially after he gave her the wrong answers. I figure it this way: She’s probably in love with the guy, and he’s like a teacher or married, or someone’s dad, or some sicko spit like that. Some kinda thing that’ll land his sorry butt in jail or cause a scandal with newspaper headlines, right?

I mean, why else would Sarah stay quiet? It doesn’t make sense that she’d cover for him if he was just a regular dude.

But Rob said no. He thinks she’s doing what she thinks is “right.”

“Sure, man,” I said. “Like Sarah’s such an honest upright citizen! And that’s why she got this poor schmo to cheat for her in the first place. Was she just doing what she thought was right when she passed the answers out to the rest of us?”

But Rob wasn’t hearing me. He’d gone all hopeless. It just better not screw up his game. That’s all I’ve got to say, and I’m serious.