Like every other year, Finley is the first student to show up to practice. Wes shows up shortly thereafter, pretending to read Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man; he is actually reading Harry Potter. The other players trickle in, and Coach is late, for the first time ever. Terrell hassles Finley, and then turns his attention to Wes’s book. Wes lies, claiming they are reading Harry Potter for class, and Finley backs him up without hesitation. Coach shows up with Boy21, whom Finley tries to ignore, but “Boy21’s presence feels heavy now, like it could slow me down” (108).

Russ looks very nervous, which annoys Finley. Coach talks about the team in terms of a family, which helps focus Finley, butBoy21 practices terribly, which again distracts Finley,and Coach yells at him to focus. The other players get annoyed because Russ is playing so badly. Finley sees Erin in the stands, silently rooting for him.

After practice, Coach calls Russ and Finley into his office to ask why Finley hasn’t been encouraging Russ to play basketball. Russ has told Coach that he knows Finley doesn’t want him to play, and that Russ doesn’t want to ruin Finley’s senior year, which Coach has mistaken for Finley telling Russ not to play.