“Sure.” Mom paused. “Although you’re going to have your first football game of the season the next night, so I don’t want you to overbook yourself. School comes first — you know that.”

“But I figured that if I got my license, then I could drive us all into Milwaukee for a birthday dinner or something.”

“Hmm, again, I don’t want you overdoing it. We should think about doing something low-key for your birthday. Sixteen is a big one, but I don’t think we should get crazy. You can go out with your friends after the game.” Her phone rang and she picked it up and went into the other room.

That was so not like my mom. She’d completely brushed my birthday aside. Mom always freaked out over my birthday. Extravagant, overplanned parties. The benefits of being an only child, I guess.

I turned toward Macallan. “Wasn’t she being weird?”

She looked confused. “What?”

“My mom. Just now. She was so weird about my birthday, don’t you think?”

“Huh?” Macallan looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

“Don’t you remember how she usually is with my birthday? She always makes a big deal out of it.”

Macallan’s eyes got wide. “You’re right — she’s a monster!”

Maybe I was reading too much into it. “So is she planning something?”

“Not that I know of. Honestly.”

I studied her for a second and could see she was being truthful.

“Maybe she thinks we’re growing up and don’t need to have a big party with clowns and balloon animals,” she offered.

“But I really wanted a balloon animal in the shape of a horsey.” I pretended to pout. “You’re probably right, although I usually have to calm her down over my birthday, and now it’s almost like she doesn’t care.”

Macallan dismissed me. “Wow. You’re being so dramatic. Your mom is the most loving mother ever. So just chill. I think all that practice in the sun has gotten to you.”

I was used to being in the sun, but being outside in the sun wearing a football uniform wasn’t exactly easy on my body.

“Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point. Well, anyway, what do you have going on tonight?”

“Huh?”

“Tonight?” I said. She looked at me blankly. “You have some plans, so you can’t stay for dinner.” I decided to poke her playfully at her side, but she jumped. I wasn’t used to her being this nervous around me. Something had to be going on.

Her eyes lit up. “Yes. Of course. It’s a … a family thing I have with Uncle Adam.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s really not a big deal. I promised I’d go see a movie with him tonight.” She wouldn’t even look me in the eye.

“Oh, yeah, what movie?”

“Movie? Um, I forgot which one he wanted to see.”

Okay, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was going on with Macallan. She clearly had plans tonight that she didn’t want me to know about. I wondered if she was already dating someone. She hadn’t even been back that long. But what else could it have been? She was disappearing and making excuses to not hang out as much. She hadn’t even met Stacey. I knew that she knew who she was from school, but this was different.

Whatever it was, she didn’t want me to know, and I had to respect her privacy. The last thing I wanted to do was make it worse.

I used to complain about the cold weather in Wisconsin when I first moved here. But little did I realize that the August heat waves would become the bane of my existence.

Keith walked out of practice with me. “This has never happened before, California.”

“You’ve never had a practice canceled?”

He shook his head. “Nah, this heat wave is brutal.”

We walked up to his truck and he unlocked the door. “Thanks for the ride, man.”

“No problem.” He smirked at me. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring a car seat for you.”

Ugh. I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license. I hated having to rely on my parents or friends to get me around, especially to practice.

“Listen, if practice doesn’t work out tomorrow, you should come over and run a few plays with me. My backyard gets pretty shady in the afternoon.”

“Sounds good.” I paused for a second. I know guys are supposed to be chill, but I really appreciated everything Keith had done to help me with the team. “And thanks, man, for everything. I don’t think I would’ve made varsity without you.”

“Yeah, well, you’re fast. We need a fast guy. But don’t start writing me love letters yet.” He laughed. “You’ve still got to get in the game and catch the ball.”

“Got it. Get in the game, catch the ball, then write you love letters.”

He pulled up outside my house. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t want Macallan to get jealous. She’s a tough one. If only chicks could play football.”

I hopped out of the car and noticed Mr. Dietz’s car parked out front. I rushed inside, calling out, “Is everything okay with Macallan?”

I stopped suddenly when I saw Mom and Mr. Dietz leaning closely together at the kitchen table. They were looking at a piece of paper.

“Oh.” Mom jumped up. “What are you doing home so early?”

I looked between them. Something was off.