Buddy laughed Definitely I can't stand him He stood up to clear his plate and ducked as Ryan fake punched him playfully on the arm You stay there and finish your tea he told his mom We'll clean up How did I get so lucky I have the best boys in the world Buddy smiled too Because he thought he had the best family too It had just been him Ryan and his mom for as long as he could remember and Ryan was more of a dad to him than his own father had been Buddy put on his baseball cap the one Ryan had worn when he'd pitched a no hitter the previous season and picked up his glove from the kitchen counter Are you ready he asked Ryan Ready as I'll ever be Buddy His brother put an arm around him and pulled him outside
Chapter Two The ball flew through the air and landed in Buddy's glove with a satisfying WHAP He pulled it out and threw it back to his brother He loved it when they played catch He might not be good at sports but catch was easy Good throw Ryan called out from the other end of the yard Hey did you hear about Tommy Bracco
No. Buddy caught the ball again and sent it back Is that the kid who got in trouble for setting off fireworks in school No. Ryan laughed and caught the ball easily And that didn't really happen That's one thing you learn in high school Half the things kids say they did they didn't really do Then why do they say it Buddy asked Kids bragged about stuff all the time in middle school but no one had ever claimed something as big as fireworks at school Because they want people to think they're cool His brother made a spectacular catch behind his back and sent the ball flying back to Buddy They all think you're cool Buddy said He jumped for the ball but missed He landed heavily in the grass And you don't make up stuff like that His brother came over and sat beside him He picked up a blade of grass and held it between
his fingers He blew on it making a loud whistling sound Buddy picked up a piece of grass and blew on it too But it didn't make a sound His fingers just ended up all covered in spit He wiped his hands on his pants No. But some kids like making stuff up It makes them feel more important So what happened with Tommy Bracco Buddy asked He told a bunch of kids that he snuck into Funland and spent the night there Are you serious Buddy was paying attention now Funland was the local theme park and it was one of his favorite places to hang out with his friends It had really awesome rides and games you could play to win things like stuffed animals or basketballs Ryan had won a giant stuffed cob of corn one year it was still sitting in the corner of Buddy's room Buddy liked the bumper cars best He
