Later, in P.E., Luca was thinking about this Emma problem, but he should have been listening to Coach Hershey, who was explaining soccer.
It was a September Thursday in the desert where Luca and his family lived. Even though school had started six weeks before, it was still hot. It was hot like summer. Really hot. It was so hot that Mrs. Patterson, the lunch lady at Gulch Valley Elementary, made her famous grilled cheese sandwiches on the hopscotch court instead of a stove.
Okay, not really. But it was hot. True story.
P.E. was Luca’s favorite part of school. He loved running, jumping, skipping, and doing pretty much anything that would have gotten him a “consequence” in his classroom or at home. What’s wrong with running, jumping, and skipping anyway? He had only gotten stitches on his chin three times. Big deal.
Luca knew for a fact that Jacob Underwood had been to the emergency room at least four times. Jacob’s favorite subject was science, but the paper airplanes he built could never carry him from his treehouse to his bedroom window, no matter how big he made them.
Today, though, Coach Hershey was teaching the class soccer. It wasn’t going well.
Don’t misunderstand. Coach Hershey was a very good teacher, and Luca thought the rules were very easy. Kick the ball into the other team’s net, and don’t use your hands.
Luca played soccer with his family when he was little, and now he was in the Friday night league at Gulch Valley Park with his classmate, Jon Jackson. Their team was the “Sharks.” They had lots of fun, and Luca was getting pretty good.
No, the problem wasn’t with Coach Hershey. The problem was Bo Borden, who kept picking up the ball with his hands and throwing it at Claire Kershaw, each time yelling, “GOAL!”
“STOP IT, BO!” Claire screeched after the ball had bounced rudely off her head for the third time.
“Alright, alright now,” soothed Coach Hershey, his mirror-like sunglasses sparkling in the sun, whistle resting dutifully between his teeth. “Bo, have a seat by the wall, watch how we play, then you’ll get another chance. No hands.”
Bo walked slowly to the wall, smirking, but with his head hung low. He had a habit of causing trouble. Most kids ignored him. Bo could get very loud, and, well, it was just easier to stay away.
Luca felt bad for Bo in that moment. But why should he? Bo was always making things harder for Luca.
Like on Meet the Teacher Day, when Luca was checking out his new cubby, Bo had sneezed all over it. He didn’t even cover his mouth! Gross.
Or what about the first day of school? Luca had just met Emma, and they were having a nice conversation about the TV show Justin Time. Bo had heard them and ran over to tell them some interesting facts about Scott McCord, the voice of Squidgy, but he had accidentally tied his shoes together.
He tripped, and his large body fell on them. All three kids clattered to the floor of the cafeteria, right onto a giant pool of spilled strawberry yogurt.
Luca still smelled the yogurt whenever he looked at Bo. And even now, as the older boy sat sadly against the big block wall of the school, Luca’s nose twitched a little.
Thinking about all the flavors of yogurt he would rather smell, and beginning to sweat from the heat, Luca suddenly heard Coach Hershey call out, “Luca! Earth to Luca!”
Luca blinked and stared at the soccer game going on around him. He ran straight at the group of his classmates huddled around the ball, pulled the ball out of the circle with his right foot, controlled it with his left, and took it straight into the goal.