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  “What are you doing, Dad?” Brock looked all around, but saw no one or anything that would have caused his father to stop.

  His father hung his head so that his chin touched his chest, then he turned around in the seat and gripped Brock’s shoulder. “I can’t . . . You don’t have to do this, Son.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His father sucked in a breath and held it, thinking, before letting go. “You remember the night we went over to your coach’s house so I could talk to him about you traveling?”

  “Yes.” Brock felt his insides go numb.

  “When Mrs. Hudgens walked me to the door, she told me if I ever needed her to take care of you . . .”

  His father shook his head and sniffed. “She said she thought God put you in their lives. She said she loved you the minute she met you.”

  “What are you saying?”

  His father pulled him close, over the seat. The stubble on his father’s chin rasped against Brock’s cheek and he felt the dampness of tears that weren’t his own.

  His father pulled slightly away, but held Brock’s face in his hands. He spoke in a whisper. “I know what I said, but it’s me they’re after, not you. If you want to, you can stay.”

  “But they killed . . . Mom.” Brock felt like he might get sick.

  “She was . . . your mom was in this too,” his father said.

  “Why was—”

  “Shh.” His father pressed a finger to his lips. “Stop. Your mom and I worked for the government. I can’t explain it all, but we were the good guys, Brock. We got caught in the middle. There were people high up on our side working with the enemy. Everything fell apart and . . . Look, we don’t have time. You have to decide. Stay, or go?”

  Brock looked from the anguish in his father’s eyes to the gate leading into the Hudgenses’ backyard. “Would you . . . come back for me?”

  His father took a jagged breath. “I’d try.”

  “But, maybe not?”

  “Son, nothing is certain. I can’t say. I want to be honest with you.”

  Brock was crying now. “Dad? You’d leave me?”

  “Oh, Son, I’d never want to leave you.” His dad pulled him tight again. “I never want to leave you and I never will. I only . . . it’s just not fair, you know?”

  “Yes.” Brock nodded his head, sobbing. “I know, Dad. It’s not fair. I want to stay. I want to play. I don’t want to leave.”

  His father dug his fingers into the back of Brock’s head and he spoke in a whisper. “There’s this saying—I hate it—but they say that if you love something, you have to let it go. I love you more than anything, Son . . .”

  Life with Coach and Mrs. Hudgens and Bella filled Brock’s mind like a movie screen, bright and brilliant with colors and sunshine, trophies and awards and the crack of bats smashing home runs. The smell of fresh-baked cookies. He would never, ever be just the new kid again. He ached to think of losing it all, but Brock shook his head violently.

  “No, Dad. Don’t let me go. I can never leave you. Never.”

  Brock felt his father’s grip relax. He took one final long, deep breath, then squeezed Brock again and kissed him on the forehead before he turned and put the car into gear. Brock climbed over the seat into the front and his father put a hand on his leg, holding it tight.

  And together, they drove off into the dark of night.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo by Laure Lillie

  TIM GREEN played Little League baseball for many years before specializing in football. After graduating as covaledictorian from Syracuse University, he was a first-round draft pick and played as a star defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons for eight years. He earned his law degree with honors and has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and an NFL commentator for NPR.

  When his sons began to play baseball, Tim drew on his early love of the game to coach their teams. His exciting books for young readers include the New York Times bestselling Unstoppable, Baseball Great, Rivals, and Best of the Best. He has also written the novels Football Genius, Football Champ, and The Big Time, starring Troy White, and Football Hero, starring Ty Lewis. Troy and Ty meet in Tim’s exciting Football Genius novel Deep Zone.

  Tim Green lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. You can visit him online at www.timgreenbooks.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors and artists.

  BACK ADS

  BOOKS BY TIM GREEN

  BASEBALL GREAT NOVELS

  Baseball Great

  Rivals

  Best of the Best

  FOOTBALL GENIUS NOVELS

  Football Genius

  Football Hero

  Football Champ

  The Big Time

  Deep Zone

  Perfect Season

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Pinch Hit

  Unstoppable

  Force Out

  CREDITS

  Cover art © 2014 by Cliff Nielsen

  Cover design by Megan Stitt

  COPYRIGHT

  NEW KID. Copyright © 2014 by Tim Green. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  www.harpercollinschildrens.com

  * * *

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Green, Tim, 1963-

  New kid / Tim Green. -- First edition.

  pages cm

  Summary: “A troubled kid finds his bearings in a new school after a baseball coach offers him a spot on the team”— Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-06-220872-9 (hardback)

  EPub Edition December 2013 ISBN 9780062208743

  [1. Moving, Household—Fiction. 2. Fathers and sons—Fiction. 3. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Baseball—Fiction. 5. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.G826357New 2014

  2013032816

  [Fic]—dc23

  CIP

  AC

  * * *

  14 15 16 17 18 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  FIRST EDITION

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