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I now knew what Coach Hope felt when he called a play and had to watch it unfold. Trent took the snap and pump-faked to Roc in the corner. That was all that was needed to get the defense to react. Wolf got a little separation, and Trent let it fly. The Springfield defender grabbed Wolf as he leaped up. That was what Connor had been working with him for. Wolf had been building up his strength so he could jump with a defensive back hanging on him. Wolf powered up and carried the defender as he caught the ball. He dropped to one knee, and it was called a touchdown.

In the second game, we just outclassed Trinity. They’d lost all their games. It gave us a chance to play some of our younger players to provide them with experience.

◊◊◊

On the way back, I received a text from my mom saying that I was to come home instead of going to dinner at Zoe’s. I called Zoe and gave her the news. She was disappointed but said she would see me at school. When we arrived home, I found Saul Gessler, my agent, in my kitchen, talking to Mom, Dad, and Caryn.

“Good to see you, but why are you here?” I asked.

“I have some good news. You might want to sit down for this,” he said with a smile.

I looked at Caryn, and she shrugged, so I sat. Saul must not have told anyone what his news was.

“I received a contract for you to play the young Han Solo,” Saul said.

That was huge. I thought my face might crack, I smiled so big.

“Wow,” was all I got out. I was stunned.

“Of course, you need to fly out next week to film your cameo in Rogue One. The studio is excited and will want you to do a small press tour when you get done filming,” Saul said.

“We just made plans for a vacation,” Mom said.

“You’ll have to change them. This is the big break every actor looks for. After this movie, you can just print money,” Saul predicted.

“What all is David expected to do?” Caryn asked.

Saul pulled out the contract and started reading.

“You’ll leave to shoot the Rogue One part this Thursday. They want you to work with CGI and a dialogue coach through Monday, and then you’ll shoot the rest of the week,” he said, and then flipped the page. “In April you’ll start the press junket the second week and return around the first of May.”

That would mean I would miss our vacation and most of the rest of the school year. I could see the lines on my mom’s forehead deepen, a sure sign she wasn’t happy. Saul flipped through a few pages.

“Next fall you’ll go to the UK a couple of times for about a week each so they can map your body for CGI. They also want you to do some voice work for a cartoon based in the Star Wars universe,” he said, and then found what he was looking for. “Here it is. You would be needed in the UK starting the last week of the year … and … you would be done August fifteenth,” he said, pointing to a line in the contract.

Saul looked up and smiled.

“That would give you about a week before you had to fly to New Zealand to do the two Star Academy movies.”

“They want him to lose the rest of his school year this year and be gone for eight months. That means he wouldn’t graduate,” Caryn said.

That had my mom’s full attention.

“We would get him tutors, and we might look into him graduating early or getting his GED,” Saul suggested, and then he noticed the looks on my parents’ faces. “I know this is sudden. Part of the reason I flew in was that I want to stress what this could potentially mean for your son. I also want to be clear what turning it down might mean.”

“What about the James Bond movie?” I asked.

“We only have a letter of commitment because of the problems with Daniel Craig. The tentative shoot schedule is for next summer. All we have to do is give them notice, and they’ll let you out of the agreement. Star Wars is a sure thing,” Saul said, then he laid out the fee schedule.

Star Wars was one of the very few franchises where they could guarantee a profit. They’d offered a payout schedule when different milestones were met, and an eighth of a point. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the third movie to break the two-billion-dollar mark. No one knew what these spin-off movies would do, but if it hit two billion, I would dance all the way to the bank.

I felt the enormity of the situation for the first time. I could actually retire before I hit 20 if I did this. It would also mean that I might never play football or baseball. This was happening too fast. I’d planned to have at least a year before I needed to firm up what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I leaned forward and cupped my face in both of my hands with my elbows on the table. It felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest.

“David,” my mom said tentatively.