“What’s going on?” she asked. “Why’s everyone acting weird?”
Stumpy nodded towards center field. “Look at the scoreboard.”
Lisa frowned. Illinois had one run in the third, another in the fifth, and two in the sixth. Northwestern had been blanked. She stared, then blinked. No runs. No hits!
She gasped. “Michael’s throwing a no-hitter!”
“Oh, there you go,” the older man said, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Now you’ve ruined it.”
“Huh?”
“Look into the dugout,” he said. Michael was a lonely figure in a corner. “They’re ignoring him. Bad luck to talk about a no-hitter.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth, as if she could pull the words back. “Oh, don’t worry,” he continued. “You probably didn’t jinx him.
“Probably.”
*****
Nervousness built in Lisa’s stomach as the game went into t
