Wagner. She seemed to have gained a new respect for him. Something about that parent-teacher conference had opened her eyes. And rereading that contract had opened his. Suddenly it was easy to pay strict attention in class. It didn’t hurt that Jeff and Gary were sitting on opposite sides of the front row, while he was still back in the last row, near the coat closets. From that quiet spot, Derek had a perfect view of the back of Gary’s head, and as he stared at it, he thought, I’m going to beat you out on the next math test. You wait and see. Now determined, Derek went home every day after school and, after his regular homework, went over that day’s math lesson again from beginning to end. That same focus served him well on the ball field when it was time for the Tigers to play. But even though he was hitting above .500, the Tigers still lost two of their next three games, bringing their season record to 4–4.
