When shortstop Mike Watson catches his Junior Varsity teammate Robby Brown slipping a tube of ChapStick into his pocket at the store, he doesn't know what to think.<br><br>Mike has had the hots for Robbie since the two boys started high school and finds it difficult to talk to him without feeling awkward and stupid. But he has to say something. What if someone else saw and Robby gets in trouble?<br><br>Does Robby make a habit of stealing things? Has Mike’s perception of his friend been wrong all these years? Is the ChapStick a cry for help or a way of getting Mike’s attention? Mike is determined to find out.

Caught

Robby glances over his shoulder, as if daring Mike to push the issue. Face it,Mike tells himself, staring his teammate down. You don’t want to make him mad at you. 


Mike nods. “Okay.” He’ll believe Robby, this time. Maybe it was his own ChapStick and Mike just hadn’t seen him take it out of his pocket in the first place. Maybe that’s all it is.


Then why doesn’t Mike think that’s it? Why is his stomach twisted into knots, his hands sweaty, his head throbbing in his temples? And he isn’t even the one shoplifting.


Chapter 2