It took a while for Harry to dribble both balls over to the microphone. Then into the mic he said, “Why did the basketball coach want a frog on the squad? Because he heard it had a great jump shot!”

The joke was met with groans, but that didn’t stop the old guy. “You hear about the basketball player who signed up for arts and crafts? He wanted to learn how to make baskets!”

There were more groans from the crowd. But Harry plowed forward, spinning a basketball on his finger, then on his elbow, and then on his head. All the while he talked about character building, sharing, caring, and kindness. Caleb wondered if, with the football program gone, someone thought it would be a good idea to encourage kids to focus on basketball instead. So they hired old Harry to get everyone psyched up while he impressed them with his mastery of basketball spinning.

It was almost beyond pathetic.

Suddenly, there were murmurs and giggles all around Caleb. Phones were vibrating, and kids were sneaking peeks. Caleb looked over the shoulder of the boy in front of him. Someone had AirDropped a GIF of a bony old man wearing a skimpy Speedo and flexing his scrawny muscles.

The crowd spent the rest of the assembly looking at their phones. At first Caleb was surprised that Principal Summers didn’t try to stop them. Unless she, too, had decided the assembly was a mistake. And as long as the kids were occupied by their phones, at least they were being quiet.

The presentation ended, and Harry the Hoopster asked if anyone had a question. An awkward silence followed. The only sound was the bleachers creaking. Then Crosby leaned forward and whispered something into Zach’s ear. When Zach shook his head, Crosby made a threatening fist and held it low where only Zach and those around him could see.

Zach reluctantly raised his hand. “Mr. Hoopster, sir. Don’t you think there should be a law against old guys wearing shorts?”

The assembly was over and Zach was in trouble again. Back at her desk in her classroom, Ms. B wondered why she worried about him. He certainly wasn’t the only kid in school who got into mischief. But during the assembly, Ms. B was looking up at the bleachers when she saw Crosby whisper into Zach’s ear. Of course, she couldn’t hear what Crosby said. But a moment later Zach asked that silly question. So she had reason to feel suspicious. Ms. B knew that Zach could be foolish at times, but she doubted he’d ask that question in front of the whole school if he wasn’t forced to. Deep down, Ms. B felt a connection with Zach. She, too, had been picked on at that age. Only in her case, there’d been no one to help her deal with it.

Just then, she looked out the classroom door and saw Caleb pass in the hallway. “Caleb?” she called. “Could I speak to you?”