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afterward, which helped him stand out to the scouts.
    â€œDid Ty Hendrickson have a concussion?” Norval asked. “I thought the doctor said he was all right.”
    â€œAll he really said was that Ty had no internal bleeding. Sometimes the symptoms of a concussion show up right away. Other times it can take longer.”
    â€œWhat do Arnie’s parents think?” Norval asked.
    â€œI don’t want to call and upset them until I have a better idea if there’s anything to worry about,” Coach Green said. “That’s where you come in.”
    Norval didn’t like the sound of that.
    â€œResearch is showing that concussions are much more serious than anyone realized,” Coach said. “If one player runs into another player at full speed—that’s about the same as getting hit by a car going forty miles an hour. Especially at the college or pro level.”
    â€œIt feels more like getting flattened by a truck,” Norval said. He had been knocked down any number of times. He knew firsthand that it wasn’t fun.
    The coach nodded. “Researchers are looking at the brains of dead athletes and finding that they don’t look the same as the brains of nonathletes of the same age. They think that concussion injuries can be a problem later in life, even if the concussion’s from when the player was young.”
    â€œIf it doesn’t show up at first, how can you watch for it?”
    â€œThere are still signs to look for right away,” Coach Green said. “The things I mentioned earlier—headache, fatigue, problems focusing. Vision problems, too. Unsteadiness, vomiting…”
    â€œBut Arnie has never been knocked out cold,” Norval said.
    â€œYou don’t have to be. Any tackle can be enough for your brain to get rocked.”
    â€œIsn’t that why we wear helmets?”
    â€œHelmets help prevent head fractures, not concussions. Your head still feels the impact. Since we started wearing better helmets, the number of fractures has gone down, but not the number of concussions. Some doctors even think concussions have gone up. They say good helmets make players want to play rougher.”
    â€œHave you talked to Arnie about this?” Norval asked.
    â€œI did,” Coach Green said. “He says he has no problems—he’s just great.”
    â€œSo why don’t you believe him?”
    â€œPlayers may not tell the truth. They don’t want to be sidelined. Arnie’s not playing like he used to. His timing’s off. And he’s gotten hit a lot this season. I want you to keep an eye on him. Let me know if he shows any of the signs we talked about. I’ll take it from there.”
    â€œI don’t know, Coach,” Norval said. “That’d be kind of like spying on one of my friends.”
    â€œIt’s more like watching out for him,” the coach said.
    It still feels all wrong
, Norval thought.
    â€œHonestly, Coach, I’d rather not,” Norval said, getting to his feet. “If Arnie found out I was doing this he’d be really mad. If he says he’s fine, then he’s fine.”
    â€œThink about it,” Coach Green said as Norval stepped out of the office.

“W
    hat’s on your mind, Norval?” Sadie asked as they left the movie theater later that night.
    â€œNothing,” he answered.
    â€œOh, yeah?” she challenged. “How did the movie end?”
    â€œEverything blew up.”
    â€œThat’s right. And it was sad that they all died, wasn’t it?”
    â€œVery sad,” Norval agreed.
    Sadie thumped his arm. “They escaped!”
    â€œThey did?” Norval felt genuinely surprised. He really had lost track of the plot—his mind kept wandering back to the conversation with Coach Green.
    â€œTell me what’s going on,” Sadie said.
    â€œOkay,” Norval agreed with a sigh.
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