The last ten seconds of the half ended. Dennis was on the ground in pain. He had been delivered a kick to the ankle by Lincoln's striker Sven-Søren. His mother and William Jr. were shocked; William and Russell on the other hand didn't show any emotion.

"Oh my God!" Rumiko shouted as she and the team ran up to him.

"Dennis." Jim said "Are you alright?"

"Of course I'm not alright." Dennis said "My fucking ankle hurts!"

"Well, there's no need for that kind of language." Jim said.

Just then, the medics came and put him on a stretcher. They then took him to the school's infirmary with Calvin and Rumiko following them. At the infirmary, Dennis was lying down on one of the beds as the nurse was examining his ankle.

"Is it bad?" Calvin asked

"It's just a minor sprain." The nurse said "He should be walking again in about a week."

"I'll be fine by the second half." Dennis said

"Oh no." The nurse said. "Right now, you need to lie down and rest that ankle. When you guys leave, I'll get you a crutch so you can get around."

Dennis didn't take it so well; he just buried his face in his pillow and screamed as loud as he could.

"I think I'll stay with him." Rumiko said. "Calvin, you go ahead and play."

"Wait, Calvin." Dennis said taking off his armband and giving it to Calvin. "Lead this team to victory."

"Don't worry, I will." Calvin said as he ran out.

"Oh and when you win, give this to Zach." Dennis said whispering something in his ear.

"Got it." Calvin said.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Rumiko shouted.

"And now we reach the second half with the score tied 2-2. And with Kadic's captain out, it seems unlikely that they can pull this off." The announcer said.

"Alright guys, huddle up." Calvin said as the team approached him.

"What do we do now?" Ian said "Without Dennis?"

"Dennis is just one player." Calvin said "Compared to the rest of the team, he's nothing, just like Antoine and Sven-Søren."

"But Antoine and Sven-Søren practically make up the whole team." Owen said

"Exactly." Calvin said "That's their weakness: The entire team relies too much on their best players that they do less for the team. If we all do as much as Dennis, then maybe we can be as good as him, too. What do you say?"

Calvin then put his hand out in the center. The rest of the team followed suit.

"Now let's go win this game!" Calvin said as they put their hands in the air and ran out to the field.

Back in the infirmary, Rumiko was already talking to one of the nurses.

"Can we watch the game from here?" She asked

"Channel 20." The nurse said.

"Hey Dennis, we…" Rumiko said but stopped when he heard him crying softly. Rumiko then went up to him.

"Come on." Rumiko said softly "There's nothing for you to cry about. It was an accident."

"You don't understand, Rumiko." He said "This was my last chance to prove to my parents that I was something more. Now I'm always going to be worthless in their eyes."

"Dennis, listen to me." Rumiko said "You're not worthless. You're a wonderful person and nothing less."

"I don't feel like I'm wonderful."

"You are to me." Rumiko said "And you don't let anyone tell you different." Dennis then turned around and faced her.

"You know." He said "Before I came here, I never had any friends. William Jr. and Russell made sure of that. Back in elementary school, they would spread all sorts of horrible rumors about me. Because of them, I was considered an outcast, a freak. Only one person ever really talked to me, and a week ago he turned out to be a self-centered jerk. Maybe that's why I like to cheat on my girlfriends, because I want others to feel the pain I went through."

"Then why didn't you cheat on me?" Rumiko asked

"Because you knew that inside I wasn't such a bad person." Dennis said "I really felt like that you truly cared about me just as a person. Not only that, but I felt as if I actually loved you."

"You know, you and Calvin are alike in a lot of ways." Rumiko said "Calvin was a really antisocial child; he was teased and beat up because of it, most of it coming from Sammy. Most of the time, he would come home crying, and most of the time, I would be there to comfort him. Like you, he never had any real friends before he came here. Nobody deserves to go through what you and Calvin went through. Well, except maybe Sammy and your brothers."

Dennis laughed a little bit. "Thanks, Rumiko."

"Now come on." She said turning on the TV in the room. "We have a game to watch."

Calvin and the team were already doing an amazing job holding of the opposing team. Thirty minutes had passed and nobody had scored. The ball was being passed back and forth, but nobody had scored. Antoine and Sven-Søren tried desperately to get through, but they were no match for the combined effort of Kadic's defense.

"With just 20 seconds left on the clock, both teams needing a goal to win. If time expires and no one scores, the game will be tied and Lincoln will retain the title." The announcer said on the television.

"You can do it, Calvin." Rumiko said.

The kickoff began and Antoine got the ball. He ran right down the field, but Sam came from behind and stole the ball just as he was about to make the shot, which caused Antoine to lose his balance and fall. With 10 seconds left, Sam ran right down the field. Immediately, Sven-Søren ran up to him and tried to take the ball. But Sam passed the ball to Calvin who was at the other end of the field. Sven-Søren tripped over Sam and Calvin caught the ball. Five seconds left and Calvin prepared to make the shot. He faked right, Zach moved left. However, just as Zach moved left, Calvin shot to the right. He hadn't faked right, he was only making it seem like he faked it. Calvin shot, Zach immediately went towards it. But he was too late, the ball went it just as the clock ran out of time putting the score 3-2. Kadic had won.

"And Kadic wins the championship!" The crowd was hysterical. Calvin jumped right into the air with his fists pumped up. The entire team went up and dog piled right on top of him.

"I don't believe it." Sammy said dumfounded as the other cheerleaders went up towards Calvin.

Back in the infirmary, Dennis and Rumiko were already in hysterics.

"Way to go, Calvin!" Rumiko shouted "You sure proved me wrong."

"How do you like that, Lucas?" Dennis shouted

Antea jumped down from the bleachers and hugged Calvin right on the spot. His parents and sisters came too.

"You did it, Calvin!" Ami shouted

"We did it as a team, Ami." Calvin said. He then went up to his parents.

"Calvin, you were great!" Ulrich said. "You know what I did to celebrate my team's victory back in 2005?"

"No, what?" Calvin asked

"I took your mother out on our first date." Ulrich said

"Oh, that's right." Calvin said "I was going to take Antea out when this was over."

"Hey, Calvin." One kid said coming up to him. "I'm the head reporter for Lincoln's school paper. You just won the school national championship. What are you going to do now?"

"Say you're going to Futuroscope. Say you're going to Futuroscope." Sam said

"Shut up!" Calvin said as he walked up to Antea and picked her up bridal style. "I'm going on a date with the girl of my dreams!"

"Alright, Calvin!" Dennis said as he heard Calvin say that on the television. Just then his parents and brothers came in.

"I know what you're going to say." Dennis said "But the important thing is that we won, right?"

"True." William said "But let's recap: You let one of Ulrich's kids on your team, you date his sister, and to top it off, in your shining moment, you get yourself injured and let that Stern kid take all the glory that should have been yours. You'll always be a disgrace to the family."

He then walked out, his brothers cruelly chuckling at him. Dennis just glared angrily at them. He didn't care what they thought of him anymore.

Back on the field, the entire team ran up to Calvin and lifted him up. Calvin then turned his head to see Antoine on his knees banging his fists on the ground. Sven-Søren came and lifted him up; he turned around to see Calvin being carried. He just smiled at him. Zach then came up to the both of them.

"Hey, Zach!" Calvin shouted. Zach turned around to see Calvin.

"This one's from Dennis!" Calvin said holding up his middle finger. Zach tried to come up to him, but Sven-Søren just grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. Zach just sneered at Calvin as he, Antoine, and Sven-Søren walked off.

As the team carried him out of the field, Calvin could hear the audience chant 'Stern! Stern! Stern!' over and over again. At 9:00 PM, the train arrived at the station. Calvin and Antea were ready for their date.