"Finally!" Maddie said as Gage skidded into the yard.
"You're twenty minutes late!"
"Football practice ran late again, sorry!"
Gage started madly raking leaves.
Maddie sighed.
Gage was small and shy, and he had never been into sports before.
But this year he seemed to care about nothing else.
"How was practice?" she asked, trying to sound supportive.
He grinned. "Great. I'm the fastest runner on the team."
"Cool." Maddie just wished he was a little faster at getting to their after-school job.
They were helping their neighbor, Mrs. Famer, with some yard work for an hour a few days every week.
"Ready to trim those tree branches?"
"Sure." Gage grabbed the shears and raced up the ladder.
As Maddie picked up the branches he cut, frustrated thoughts crowded her mind.
If Gage had been on time, they might have been finished by now.
The ladder suddenly shook, and a branch flew past her head.
"What are you doing up there?"
"Just practicing a football pass." Gage sounded embarrassed.
"I guess it works better on the ground."
Maddie bit back angry words.
At this rate trimming the trees was going to take twice as long as it should.
Sure enough, their hour of work was up before the trees were done.
But Mrs. Famer thanked and paid them.
She smiled at Gage.
"You must have a different schedule these days.
You two never show up at the same time anymore."
"I know," Gage mumbled guiltily.
As she and Gage walked home, Maddie clutched the money in her hand.
Normally, she halved it right away.
"You've been late a lot, Gage!" she finally blurted out.
"Football just . . ." Gage's voice trailed away.
All of Maddie's frustration bubbled up.
"Football!" she exploded.
"Is that the most important thing in the world now?
You don't care about your friends, or doing a good job?
I wish you'd never made the team!"
Gage winced. "I'm really sorry," he said.
Maddie deflated.
Gage looked hurt now, and she wished she hadn't lost her temper.
She took a deep breath, fighting to keep her voice calm.
"I've been working the full hour we promised Mrs. Famer.
You've been coming late, but still getting half the money. It isn't fair."
"You're right," Gage said.
"You should keep all the money, Maddie.
I just don't think I can get here any earlier."
"I don't want all the money," she murmured.
"You earned some of it."
She carefully divided the handful of dollar bills—two thirds for herself, one third for Gage.
"Do you think that's fair?" she asked awkwardly.
He nodded, looking more embarrassed than ever.
Maddie tried to fill the uncomfortable silence.
"It's not much fun, working by myself," she said.
"I wish we could—hey!" She had a sudden thought.
"Maybe we could work more on the weekend and less during the week.
Then you wouldn't be late, and we could split everything half and half again!"
Gage hesitated.
"Sometimes I have football games on Saturdays. Could we work around that?"
Maddie held out her hand. "Let's try. Deal?"
They shook on it.
"Now I won't have to feel bad about being late anymore," Gage added.
"I didn't want to cancel on you completely."
"You always seem so happy after practice," Maddie said.
"I didn't want to ruin it with a big argument—"
"Until you started yelling about football today?" Gage gave her a small smile.
"Next time, tell me what the problem is before you get all mad."
Maddie grinned. "That's a deal too!"