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Authors: Tiki Barber

Goal Line

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GOAL LINE

ALSO BY TIKI BARBER AND RONDE BARBER

Kickoff!

Go Long!

Wild Card

Red Zone

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.simonandschuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors' imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Tiki Barber and Ronde Barber

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

S
IMON
& S
CHUSTER
B
OOKS FOR
Y
OUNG
R
EADERS
is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at
www.simonspeakers.com
.

Book design by Krista Vossen

The text for this book is set in Melior.

Manufactured in the United States of America

0711 FFG

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Barber, Tiki, 1975–

Goal line / Tiki Barber and Ronde Barber with Paul Mantell.—1st ed.

p. cm.

“A Paula Wiseman Book.”

Summary: When identical twin brothers Ronde and Tiki Barber grow at different rates the summer before their last year at Hidden Valley Junior High, their relationship both on and off the football field changes.

ISBN 978-1-4169-9095-6 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4424-3124-9 (eBook)

[1. Barber, Tiki, 1975– —Fiction. 2. Barber, Ronde, 1975– —Fiction. 3. Twins—Fiction. 4. Brothers—Fiction. 5. Growth—Fiction. 6. Football—Fiction.] I. Barber, Ronde, 1975–

II. Mantell, Paul. III. Title.

PZ7.B23328Gog 2011

[Fic]—dc23

2011013222

For AJ, Chason, Riley, and Ella—T. B.

For my three roses—R. B.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Chapter One: A “Little” Problem

Chapter Two: Big Man On Campus

Chapter Three: Anticipation

Chapter Four: Game On!

Chapter Five: No Escape

Chapter Six: Fame

Chapter Seven: The Captain Speaks

Chapter Eight: The Weight of the World

Chapter Nine: What Next?

Chapter Ten: Out of Focus

Chapter Eleven: Answering the Call

Chapter Twelve: The Ultimate Goal

About the Authors

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors and publisher gratefully acknowledge Mark Lepselter for his help in making this book.

EAGLES' ROSTER 9TH GRADE HIDDEN VALLEY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

HEAD COACH—SAM WHEELER

DEFENSIVE COACH—PETE PELLUGI

OFFENSIVE COACH—STEVE ONTKOS

QB

WR

MANNY ALVARO, GRADE 8

FRANK AMADOU, GRADE 7

JONAH JAMES, GRADE 8

FELIX AMADOU, GRADE 7

RB

CB

TIKI BARBER, GRADE 9

RONDE BARBER, GRADE 9

LUKE FRAZIER, GRADE 8

JUSTIN LANDZBERG, GRADE 8

TE

S

HAYDEN BROOK, GRADE 7

ALISTER EDWARDS, GRADE 8

OL

K

PACO RIVERA, (C), GRADE 9

ADAM COSTA, GRADE 9

DL

SPECIAL TEAMS

ROB FIORILLA, GRADE 7

RIO IKEDA, GRADE 7

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

EAST SIDE MOUNTAINEERS

NORTH SIDE ROCKETS

BLUE RIDGE BEARS

PULASKI WILDCATS

JEFFERSON PANTHERS

MARTINSVILLE COLTS

WILLIAM BYRD BADGERS

PATRICK HENRY PATRIOTS

MARTINSVILLE COLTS

NORTH SIDE ROCKETS

BLUE RIDGE BEARS

PULASKI WILDCATS

CHAPTER ONE
A “LITTLE” PROBLEM

“I'M OPEN, TIKI!”

Ronde Barber threw his hands up into the air as he ran. Way back down the street his twin brother hauled off and threw a perfect spiral, high and long. Ronde, in full stride, reached out to grab it. He could feel his fingertips brush the ball—

HOONNNKKK!!!

The car horn made Ronde wince, pull his hands in, and dodge to the left, all in the same instant. Ronde leaned against Mr. Evans's parked Oldsmobile, while the speeding car swerved to avoid the bouncing football, then continued on down the block, its horn blaring.

The driver yelled something out the window about “… kids! Playing in the middle of the street!” But Ronde couldn't make it out, and he didn't care to. He knew it was nothing he wanted to hear.

“Man!” he said breathlessly as he retrieved the ball, then trotted back to where Tiki was standing, shaking his head. “Why'd you throw the ball, dude? Didn't you see him coming?”

Tiki shook his head. “That guy was bustin' it! He wasn't even
there
when I let it loose.”

“He must think this is the highway,” said Ronde. Amherst Street was a dead end, and kids were always playing in the middle of the road. That was one of the great things about living here, in his opinion. Cars came by only every ten minutes or so.

“Come on,” Tiki said. “Let's play that down over.”

The twins were in the middle of one of their favorite pastimes—a kind of fantasy football that was the perfect way to spend a late summer afternoon. It had been eight whole months since they'd played in a real football game.
Eight months!
Every year by the end of August they were totally football-crazy.

Luckily, today was Labor Day—only a few days until
real
football started back at Hidden Valley Junior High!

“I would have had that ball, easy,” Ronde pointed out as they walked back to the manhole cover that served as the line of scrimmage. “Stupid cars.”

“Man, I can't wait till we're playing again for
real
.”

Ronde had to laugh. “I never thought I'd see the day when we couldn't wait for school to start.”

The next day school would be back in session, and they would be ninth graders at last—not to mention that they'd be team co-captains of the Hidden Valley Eagles, reigning champions of the entire state of Virginia!

“This year's going to be awesome,” Tiki said. “Our last year, and we're gonna go out with a bang!”

“A
big
bang,” Ronde said, a huge smile on his face. “Can you say ‘all-star'?”

“Can you say ‘two-time state champs'?”

“Can you say ‘undefeated'?”

“Can you say ‘record books'?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Uh-huh.”

They exchanged their special handshake—not the one everybody on the team used to celebrate big moments, but the one known to just the two of them, that they brought out only for very special occasions.

“Can you say ‘NFL'?” Ronde said, voicing their deepest wish, the one they both dreamed about at night.

BOOK: Goal Line
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