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    â€œSo, are you going to do what your coach asked?”
    â€œNo,” Norval said. “I told him I didn’t want to.”
    â€œDid Coach Green get mad at you?” Sadie asked.
    â€œI’m the one who should be mad,” Norval said, his voice rising. “It’s not right for him to put me in that position. He’s the one who should be watching Arnie, not me. He’s the coach!”
    â€œWhat about Arnie’s parents?”
    â€œThat’s another thing!” Norval cried. “Coach says he doesn’t want to upset them. So he tries to lay it on me. It’s like he didn’t even think about whether
I’d
get upset…”
    â€œAre you upset?” Sadie asked.
    â€œOf course I am! How would you feel if the cheer coach asked you to spy on Paige?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Sadie said. “Weird, I guess.”
    â€œRight? She’s your friend. Don’t you tell her everything? You don’t keep secrets from her.”
    â€œThat’s true. Have you told Arnie about this?”
    Norval let out a sigh. “Not yet.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Once they reached Sadie’s apartment building, Norval took a seat on the steps. Sadie settled in beside him. “If I tell him, then he’ll hide any symptoms he’s experiencing. He won’t even talk to me about it.”
    â€œI thought you refused to watch him,” Sadie said.
    â€œI refused to spy for Coach Green. I still want to keep an eye on him, though. What if he does have a concussion? Arnie’s stubborn. He wants to be recruited so badly. He’d play even if his foot was falling off.”
    â€œWhat will you do if you think he has the symptoms?”
    â€œI’ll talk to Arnie on the side. I won’t blow the whistle on him, though. What kind of friend would I be if I did that?”
    Sadie nodded. “How serious do you think this concussion stuff is?”
    â€œI don’t know. Coach made it sound like it was the end of the world or something. But I can’t believe it’s that serious. Guys get their clocks cleaned all the time.”
    â€œWell, you’ll just have to keep an eye on Arnie,” Sadie said.
    â€œI know. Hey, look, I gotta go. Thanks for listening,” Norval said, and kissed Sadie goodnight.

A
    ll that night Norval stared at his bedroom ceiling. Arnie said he was all right. Why should Norval doubt him? Besides, it was none of Norval’s business.
    Coach Green should never have asked him to watch Arnie. And yet, Arnie was awake at 2:00 A.M ., losing sleep over it, even though he had a chemistry quiz in the morning. He hadn’t even been able to study because he couldn’t concentrate. Didn’t Coach know anything about friendship? A guy didn’t spy on his friend. It was just wrong. If Coach Green asked how Arnie seemed, Norval would say, “Perfectly fine!”
    Norval pulled a blanket over his shoulder and turned on his side. His mind was made up.
    â€“ – – – –
    When Norval got to school the next morning, he saw Arnie heading toward class. He hurried to catch up with him.
    â€œHey, man, how’s it going?”
    â€œNot bad,” Arnie replied. “What did Coach want yesterday?”
    â€œAh, nothing.”
    Arnie raised an eyebrow. “Nothing?”
    â€œNothing much.” Norval tried to seem casual, but his mind was racing. Should he tell Arnie that the coach was concerned about him? That he’d asked for Norval’s help?
    When he spoke, only a half-truth came out. “He asked if I had noticed any of the guys on the team acting strange.”
    â€œStrange how?”
    â€œLike, if any of them have taken too many hits to the head.” He went on to tell Arnie about the symptoms he had been told to look for.
    â€œHave you noticed anybody like that?” Arnie asked.
    â€œNo,” Norval replied. “Have