“I thought you guys were my friends. But it sure doesn’t feel like that right now! Everyone is against me and I hate it!”

"Rafi, your friends are here!” called Noam.

Rafi raced to the door to let Shmuli and Meir in. The three boys headed straight for Rafi’s bedroom for some privacy. As soon as they shut the door, Shmuli asked what had happened at the meeting with Coach Kahan.

“Well, you know how I was worried that my old teammates were trying to get me kicked off the team?” asked Rafi.

“Yeah — so did they? I can’t imagine Coach Kahan would agree to that,” said Meir. “You may be too competitive, but you’re also his absolute best player!”

“Well, Coach said the other guys don’t want me on the team, but that it’s really up to me to decide if I want to play or not.”

Shmuli and Meir both laughed with relief. “Okay, great,” Meir said. “Obviously, you want to play, so that’s that.”

“Wait,” piped in Shmuli. “If Coach Kahan is keeping you on the team, what’s with this emergency meeting?”

“Well, it’s not so simple,” began Rafi. “Coach said that I can only be on the team this year if I learn how to be a team player and a real mentsh.”

“Ooooo-kaaaay,” said Meir, looking perplexed. “That sounds fair enough. What’s the problem?”

“The problem,” Rafi jumped in, “is that I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m just playing my best! Honestly, I think I’m too good for these other guys! Those boys are just jealous of me and intimidated by my skills. They told Coach that I ruin the games by being a one-man fielding team. Well, of course, I have to field all the hits — they can’t make those plays without me! And they said that I make them feel bad when they miss a catch or when they strike out. How is it my fault that they feel bad for striking out? I mean, honestly, I don’t have a problem — they do!”