Run For It by Matt Christopher

plenty of energy left for the game. If he messed up today, it wouldn’t be because he was wiped out.
    Theo walked for ten minutes, finishing up near the field where the ballgame was going to happen, which was where he’d left
     his bike. He did his stretches; he no longer had to bring Mr. Baskin’s diagrams, because he knew all the stretches by heart.
     He spotted Paul’s bike nearby and headed that way.
    Paul and some others were standing in a big circle and tossing a softball around. Paul looked up and saw Theo coming and smiled.
     So did Van Sluman. Van’s smile was different from Paul’s. Van looked more like a cat that had just spotted a tasty bird nearby.
    “Hey, Gee, how’s it going?” Paul asked, sticking out a hand for a low five.
    “How’s the Great Runner doing?” Van asked, looking around to his friends and inviting them to get in on the fun. “Broken four
     minutes for a mile yet? Run any marathons?”
    Theo smiled back, not looking upset at all. “Not yet.”
    One of the others looked Theo up and down. “Hey, Gordimer, you losing weight?”
    “Yeah, you look thinner,” said another.
    Theo was pleased. He shrugged. “I lost a few pounds. That’s what happens when you start burning up more calories.”
    “Oh, right, you’re burning up calories, huh?” Van said. “All those workouts, huh?”
    Theo nodded. “That, and I’m not eating as much junk food lately, either.”
    Paul grinned at Van. “You know what junk food is, right, Van? Stuff like peanuts. By the way, have you started practicing
     pushing that peanut with your nose yet? It’s a long way from one end of Main Street to the other. Better pick up some knee
     pads, too.”
    A few of the guys snickered, and Van’s smirk lost some of its power.
    “Are you really running, Gordimer?” asked the boy who had first noticed Theo’s weight loss.
    “Yeah, most days. It’s pretty cool, I really like it.”
    “How far do you run?” the boy asked.
    Theo shrugged. “In the park, it’s hard to know, exactly. Further than I used to, and not as far as I’ll be able to next month.”
    “We going to just stand around, or are we going to play ball?” snapped Van.
    “I vote we play ball,” Theo said. They chose up sides, and Theo was the last one to be picked. He wasn’t surprised or even
     disappointed. Even though he was working at getting into better shape, nobody had any reason to figure that he was any better
     as a ballplayer.
    For the first inning, Theo did nothing to change anyone’s opinion of him — because he didn’t get a chance to bat and because
     no balls were hit in his direction.
    But in the second inning, an opposing hitter did hit a ball to right, hard, with a runner at first and only one out. It seemed
     a sure extra-base hit; with Theo huffing and puffing after it, it might have been a home run. But Theo turned his back to
     the infield and ran, looking back over his shoulder, reached out his glove… and
caught
it. The base runner, like everyone else on both teams, had been sure that the hit would be at least a double. He was almost
     tothird base when he looked around and saw what had happened. Theo threw to first to complete a double play before the runner
     could get halfway back.
    As he trotted in from the outfield, Theo wore a big smile. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d made a good play in one
     of these games. Maybe he never had.
    Later on, Theo hit a ball into left center for a base hit. When the batter after him hit a line drive that got between two
     outfielders, Theo raced around to score. It was another first for him. He noticed that other kids were looking at him with
     surprise. Van Sluman was suddenly very quiet.
    As the game went on, Theo didn’t suddenly turn into a star. But he played solidly, made no horrible mistakes, and made a few
     more catches. He thought that maybe the next time they chose up teams, somebody else might be the last one to be picked.
    After the game, Theo and