Free Benched by Rich Wallace

CHAPTER ONE
Scraped Up
    ——————
    Ben stared at his quiz paper, trying to remember the capital of Pennsylvania. He knew that it wasn’t Pittsburgh. Was it Scranton?
    He glanced across the aisle at his best friend Erin’s paper, but she hadn’t reached that question yet. So he tried to see all the way across the next aisle to Loop’s.
    “Ben!” his teacher said sharply. “Keep your eyes on your own paper.”
    Ben looked down. He didn’t want to cheat. He just wondered if anyone else was struggling the way he was.
    The last state on the list was New York. He wrote
Albany
in the space. He was sure he had eight of the ten capitals right, but he’d left Maine blank. Was it Portland? Or was that the capital of Oregon? He just couldn’t concentrate this morning.

    At recess, Ben kept to himself instead of joining his usual game of four square. He hadn’t had enough sleep last night. His parents had been arguing about something until nearly midnight.
    Mom and Dad had been very quiet at breakfast this morning. Ben could tell that something was wrong.
    So he took a seat on a swing and slowly moved back and forth, staring into space and thinking. Usually he’d be running and jumping and burning off energy with the other fourth graders. But right now, he had no energy at all.
    A red ball was rolling quickly past. Ben stopped the swing and put his foot on it. When he looked up, Loop was running toward him.
    Ben picked up the ball and tossed it toLoop, who grabbed it with one hand and bounced it. “What are you doing over here?” Loop asked.
    Ben shrugged. “Just thinking.”
    Loop took a step closer and leaned toward Ben. “Eyes on your own paper!” he said, imitating the teacher.
    Ben frowned. “Very funny.” He and Loop were friends but rivals. They competed hard against each other in sports and games.
    “I thought you were the perfect student,” Loop said. “What did you do, forget to study?”
    “I studied. I was distracted this morning.”
    “Still thinking about that beating we gave your team a few weeks ago?” Loop said with a laugh.
    “Maybe I’m thinking about the beating you’ll be getting if you don’t shut up.” Ben made a fist and held it up.
    Loop raised both hands as if to surrender,but he had a big grin. “Look how scared I am,” he said. “I’m shaking.”
    “Get lost,” Ben said. He pumped his legs hard to get the swing moving again.
    Loop went back to the four-square game. Ben kept swinging. The October sun was warm on his bare arms.
    It was true that Loop’s team had shut out Ben’s team in a Kickers League soccer game. Ben was still sore about it, but that wasn’t the trouble today. Besides, Ben’s team had won its most recent game and was in the chase for a spot in the play-offs. It looked as if the Bobcats would get in if they won two of their last three games.
    “Ben!”
    Ben looked up. Loop was waving him over to the four-square game. “We need you,” he called.
    Ben could see his classmate Nigel sitting onthe ground with his head back, pressing on his nose. There was blood seeping through his fingers.
    “What happened?” Ben asked as he walked over.
    “Nigel took a whack in the nose,” Loop said. “We need another player.”
    A teacher came over and helped Nigel to his feet, then led him toward the school. There were drops of blood on the front of Nigel’s shirt.
    “Did he get hit with the ball?” Ben asked.
    Loop shook his head. “The ball was on the line and he and Mark both dived for it.”
    Ben looked at Mark. Mark frowned and rubbed the top of his head.
    “Okay, so what square am I in?” Ben asked.
    “First, of course,” Loop said.
    Ben didn’t feel like playing, but they needed at least four for a game, so he steppedin. Then he noticed Erin walking over, so now there would be five players.
    When Ben looked back, the ball was already coming toward him. He lunged for it, but it bounced in his square and went out-of-bounds.
    “I wasn’t ready