A football whooshed past Liam. It bumped Noah’s shoe as the whistle shrilled, “Teams ready!”
Liam ran toward his team. Then he saw Noah by the fence, drawing a dusty line.
“Come play!” Liam called. His words squeaked beneath the loud chant: “Kick! Kick! Kick!”
Liam cupped his hands and stepped forward. BONK! The football plopped onto the teacher’s floppy sun hat.
Liam pointed across the grass. “We need Noah on our team!”
The playground went quiet. A crow cawed, and Noah smiled before racing onto the grass.
Noah passed the football to Liam. Liam kicked it right back—tap!
They kicked, tumbled, and giggled. Cheers bounced around the sunny playground.
