by Alex Morgan
Frida marched up to me and saluted. “I failed in my mission, Colonel,” she said, hanging her head. “It’s up to you now to keep the base safe. The fate of the world is in your hands.”
“You can count on me,” I said in my best serious voice, but I wasn’t an actress like Frida, and I started cracking up.
It might have seemed like a small change to add one more player to the midfield, but it was exactly what we needed to recover. The Roses had a much harder time getting past our midfielders, and we got a lot more passes from the midfielders than before.
The first one came from Maya to Jessi, who zipped past a Roses defender and sent the ball wailing over the goalie’s head. We had scored—in the first minute of the half!
Maya and Jessi high-fived.
“Nice pass!” Jessi said.
Maya grinned. “Nice goal!”
Sometimes it amazed me how things could turn around when all seemed hopeless. Once you got momentum going, it raised the energy level of the whole team. Taylor intercepted a pass from one of the Roses midfielders and sent it my way. I had to chase it a little bit, but once I was on it, I kept the ball close. All three of the Roses defenders ran up to stop me, so I quickly looked to my right and saw I had a clear path to Jessi; I sent her a lateral pass, and luckily, she saw it coming. She stopped the ball and then charged forward as the Roses defenders scrambled to block her.
Whoosh! She sent another ball sailing over the goalie’s head.
I ran up and slapped her hand. “You are on fire!” I told her, and Jessi grinned.
I scored a goal after that, and Brianna scored one too, making it Kicks 4, Roses 2. During one weak moment in the Kicks’ defense, a Roses midfielder made an amazing drive down the side of the field and sent a ball whizzing into the corner of the goal, out of Zarine’s reach. But that was the Roses’ last point. We ended the game 4–3 and lined up to shake the hands of the Roses.
When I got to the end of the line, the captain smiled at me. She was a tall girl who wore her hair in a ponytail.
“Thanks for being nice about it,” she said. “When we played the Rams, they didn’t even shake our hands. They pretended to, but then they pulled their hands away at the last second.”
“Really?” I asked.
She nodded. “I know. Rude, right? Their captain, Jamie, is the worst one. She fouled me, like, three times.”
I jogged back to the sideline, shaking my head. We still hadn’t faced the Rams yet, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
“Great game, everybody!” Coach Flores called out.
“She means ‘great second half,’ ” Emma said as we gathered up our equipment. “I thought we were going to lose this one.”
“You did an amazing job in the first half,” I told her. “You let only two goals past you. That made it easier for us to catch up.”
Emma grinned. “Thanks!”
After a brief talk from Coach we left the field. Cody and Steven were hanging out by the fence, so we had to walk past them, and I couldn’t help wondering if they had put themselves there on purpose.
Steven smiled at me again. “Good game.”
“Thanks,” I replied, and suddenly all I could think about was Kara singing, “Devin and Steven.” I could feel my cheeks get warm.
“That was a little crazy there in the beginning,” Cody remarked. “Leaving your midfield open like that.”
I blushed even harder; the whole thing had been kind of embarrassing. “Well, Zoe’s still out, and Grace and Megan were out today, so we were trying to compensate for losing some of our strongest players.”
“Guess that didn’t work out so well,” Steven said with a grin, and there was nothing mean about the way he said it, so I laughed.
“No, I guess not.” Then I realized that both boys were in uniform. “Are you guys playing today?”
Steven nodded. “Our game’s next.”
“Yeah, Devin and I were going to stay and watch,” Jessi said.
I looked at Jessi. “We were?” I asked, and she gave me a look.
“Oh, yeah,” I said. “We were. I just need to, um, check in with my parents.”
Jessi and I quickly walked to the stands, and I started giggling. “Why did you say that?”
“Come on. It’ll be fun,” Jessi said. “They watched our game, so it’s the nice thing to do.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And it has nothing to do with your crush on Cody?”
“Maybe . . . ,” Jessi said slowly. “Anyway, we won! So think of it as a celebration.”
“Definitely!” I agreed, and a wave of relief swept over me. Despite a terrible first half, we had recovered, which meant we were one step closer to the play-offs.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jessi and I headed to the stands and found our parents, who were making their way to the exit together, talking and laughing. I guess they were starting to become friends since Jessi and I had become friends, which was kind of nice.
“It looks like the Kicks are on the Play-offs Express with no exits!” Dad joked when he saw me.
“I sure hope so!” I smiled. “Hey, do you think it would be okay if Jessi and I stayed to watch the boys’ game?”
My mom and dad exchanged glances and nodded. “That should be fine, honey,” my mom answered. “We’ll pick you up on our way back from getting Maisie. She’s having a playdate at Riley’s house.”
Then she turned to Mrs. Dukes. “We could give Jessi a ride home.”
“That would be great,” Jessi’s mom replied. “I’ve got to bake a bunch of cookies for the bake sale tomorrow, and Jerry’s got to go back to his office for a few hours.”
I gave Mom a hug. “Thanks! We’ll see you later.”
Before we could step away, my mom handed me a water bottle. “You played hard; you need to replace the fluids you lost,” she said seriously.
“Mom, I have so many fluids in me, I could fill a swimming pool!” I said. “Seriously, I’m practically floating out on the field.”
“Then my work here is done,” Mom said smugly, but with a smile.
Jessi and I headed to the part of the stands where the kids always hung out, and we got ready to support our fellow Kangaroos. Emma and Zoe were already there and waved to us.
“You guys are staying too?” I asked.
“Sure, it should be a good game,” Emma replied. “The boys’ team is awesome.”
“Well, most of the boys’ team,” Jessi said, and we all knew what she meant. After we’d had our disastrous loss against Pinewood, some of the boys—led by the eighth grade captain, Trey Bishop—had completely embarrassed us in front of everybody at the school dance. They’d called us losers while Mirabelle, our own teammate at the time, had laughed. It had been the lowest of the low points for the Kicks.
“Well, maybe, but they made it up to us with that pizza party,” Emma reminded us. “And they even apologized.”
“Well, I need something to take my mind off my wrist,” Zoe added. “It is such a pain! And it’s so boring not to be able to play. I can’t wait until I can get back on the field.”
“Me too,” I agreed. “Hey, where’s Frida?”
“Some acting class thing,” Zoe replied. Then the boys’ team ran onto the field, and everybody stood up and clapped.
“We’re blue, we’re white, we’re ready to fight,” Emma cheered. “We’re white, we’re blue, we’ll stomp all over you! Goooooo, Kangaroos!”
“Look! The game is starting!” Jessi interrupted. “I bet Cody is going to do great.”
I let that go by without a comment. I didn’t want to tease Jessi anymore about her crush on Cody, because I didn’t want to get teased in return. I still didn’t really know how I felt about Steven; he was super nice and cute, but it was all so confusing.
It was much more fun to get into the game on the field, anyway. The Kangaroos were like an unstoppable blue-and-white wave, sweeping up and down the field and getting the first two goals of the game within minutes. Stev
en, a striker, made the second one.
“Way to go!” I gave an extra loud cheer. I couldn’t help it. It just popped out! Jessi looked at me with an eyebrow raised, but I ignored her.
The Roses managed to get it together and pushed back, moving the ball fluidly and connecting passes. One of the Roses stole the ball from a Kangaroos defender and fed it to a Roses striker, who passed it across the goal. The action was intense, and we all had our eyes glued to the field the entire time.
At the beginning of the second half the teams were tied up. The Kangaroos had control of the ball. Michael, a midfielder, swung back his leg, ready to give the ball a hard smack toward Cody. But when his foot connected, the ball exploded! The black inner lining oozed out of the top, making the ball look like a fat bowling pin.
Michael watched the ball as it rolled listlessly for a few short feet before stopping. He grabbed it and with a bemused smile threw it to the referee, who called time. While the players waited for a new ball and the game to resume, Jessi turned to me, Emma, and Zoe and motioned for us to get close.
“Sabotage!” she said in a loud whisper, her eyes wide. I felt her fingers digging into my skin.
“Ouch!” I said, shaking her hand off, before rubbing my arm. “Jessi, you’ve got to relax.”
She pointed a finger at me. “Mark my words. Something funny is going on. And I want to know what it is!”
“I think Jessi’s right,” Emma agreed. “There are too many weird things happening.”
“Yeah, like who’s ever heard of a soccer ball exploding?” Zoe asked.
“Soccer balls explode sometimes,” I said, although I really wasn’t sure. To be honest, all the sabotage talk was making me nervous. I didn’t want the team to lose focus on our upcoming games.
“It can’t just be a coincidence,” Jessi pressed on.
“Then who did it?” I asked. “If it’s Mirabelle, why would she sabotage the boys’ team? She doesn’t care about them, does she?”
“Well, maybe she . . . ,” Jessi began, but her voice trailed off.
Then the crowd burst into a cheer and we turned our attention back to the field. Cody had control of the new ball and was furiously dribbling toward the goal. A Roses defender got in front of him, but Cody body-faked the defender, acting like he was crossing right for the ball, when in reality he let it roll to his left. That gave him space to send a hard shot to Steven. I held my breath as Steven kicked it hard and over the goalie’s head . . . right into the goal!
We all leaped to our feet, clapping and shouting at the spectacular goal. The Roses lost momentum after that, and the Kangaroos won the game, 3–2. It looked like both the girls’ and boys’ Kangaroos were on the Play-offs Express!
When I woke up the next morning, my usual morning text from Kara was waiting for me.
Blue button-up shirt, skinny jeans, ballet flats w/ bows. Wish I could wear flip-flops too, but it’s getting cold here!
I looked at the attached photo and at Kara’s grinning face, her long, brown hair pulled into a ponytail with a cute ribbon. When I’d lived in Connecticut, Kara and I had always picked out our school outfits together. With a three-hour time difference and a totally different climate, that had become impossible. But I was so glad we kept the tradition as much as we could. As soon as I got dressed, I snapped a pic of myself and sent it to her:
Layered blue and orange tanks, jeans, and of course flip-flops :)
What people wore at Kentville Middle School was a lot different from the preppy Connecticut school I had gone to, but I found myself liking the relaxed Cali style.
Jessi, Zoe, Emma, and I sat in the courtyard behind the library at lunch, in our usual spot. (Frida sat with us sometimes, but mostly she hung with her drama club friends.) The sky was bright blue and the sun was shining, with big, fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. I thought of the cool, autumn air that was descending on Connecticut (and Kara!) right then and shivered. California definitely had its perks!
I had just finished the yogurt parfait my mom had packed for me and was licking the spoon (it was so delish!) when Jessi pulled me aside.
“Devin, come with?” she asked.
“Where?” I said nervously. She had that I’m-up-to-something look in her eyes.
“I want to go to the cafeteria to find Cody and Steven,” she said. “As Kangaroos I think they need to know that someone has been targeting the Kicks. And now it looks as if the boys’ team is in danger too!”
Boy, and I thought Frida was the dramatic one. But I could tell there would be no point in arguing with Jessi. It would just be easier to get it over with.
“Fine,” I sighed as I slowly got to my feet. Emma and Zoe were deep in conversation about a social studies project they were working on together and barely noticed we were leaving.
We walked through the crowded cafeteria and found Cody and Steven eating with a bunch of the other boy soccer players.
“Hey, can we talk to you guys alone?” Jessi asked, her hands on her hips.
“Ooooooooooh,” one of the boys at the table called out, while another made kissing noises.
“Oh, grow up,” Jessi said with an eye roll.
But Cody just laughed. “Sure,” he said, while Steven gave me a grin and a wave.
We walked over to an empty table in the very back of the cafeteria, and before we even had our butts in the chairs, Jessi launched into it.
“The Kicks are being sabotaged and we think someone is after your team too!” she said urgently.
“What?” Cody asked, surprised, while Steven’s eyes grew wide.
Jessi outlined everything that had happened so far: the fake e-mail from Coach Flores, the stolen duffel bag, and the canceled practice.
“And then at your game against the Roses, the exploding soccer ball. When has that ever happened in all the years you’ve played soccer?” she asked. “Someone is out to get us. And I’m pretty sure that someone is the Pinewood Panthers.” She leaned back in her chair and looked expectantly at Cody, waiting for him to see her point.
But instead Cody opened his mouth and started to laugh, like someone had told him a really funny joke. Jessi looked angry.
“The Panthers aren’t even in the picture this year, not after their last couple of games,” Cody said once he’d stopped chuckling. “The boys’ team has zero chance of making it to the play-offs. So why would they try to take us out?”
Steven nodded. “Cody’s right. Our main competition right now is the Rams.”
“Yeah, and their girls’ team is awesome too,” Cody said. “Well, they were last year, anyway. Have you seen their captain, Jamie, play? She’s so fast.”
Jessi scowled, annoyed. “Everyone knows the Panthers-Kangaroos rivalry goes way back. And you remember what Mirabelle’s like,” Jessi insisted.
“Okay, say for a second it’s true. That soccer ball bursting didn’t even hurt us. We still won the game,” Cody said. “Besides, I’ve heard that soccer balls explode sometimes.”
“That’s what I said,” I chimed in.
Jessi placed her palms on the table and leaned toward Cody. “Don’t you get it—they’re mind games! They are meant to psych us out. When Devin’s uniform was stolen, we didn’t lose either. But it totally got under Devin’s skin.”
I blushed at that. I didn’t want Steven to think I was easily rattled, but he gave me a sympathetic grin.
“But how would someone even do that to a soccer ball?” Cody shook his head. “It was just a freak accident.”
“It happened right after halftime,” Jessi said, not backing down. “Someone could have easily swapped one of the game balls with one that was rigged to go kablooey.”
Cody laughed again. “Seriously, Jessi, I didn’t think you were the type to go in for all this drama stuff.”
Uh-oh, I thought. I nervously looked at Jessi, waiting for her to erupt. Her eyes flashed for a second. “Okay. Sorry to bother you,” she said in a voice full of sarcasm.
She got up and
stalked away from the table. I followed her. As I was leaving, Steven gave me another grin while shrugging his shoulders helplessly. That had not gone well.
As soon as we got out of the cafeteria, Jessi whirled around to face me. “And to think he wanted me to go to the fall carnival with him!” she huffed. “Well, he’d better think again now!”
“Wait. What fall carnival?” I asked.
Jessi sighed. “It’s a big fund-raiser the middle school does every November. There are games, food, rides—it’s really fun. A lot of boys and girls go together. You know, like on a date. Cody said that Steven might ask you and we could double-date.”
Double-date? I gulped. I wasn’t even sure how I felt about Steven. And I had never been on a date in my life! I didn’t know if my parents would let me go on a date or not.
Trying to make the play-offs. Schoolwork. The possibility (according to Jessi) that someone was trying to sabotage our teams. And now dating? It was all too much!
CHAPTER EIGHT
“He asked you on a date?” Kara shrieked over the webcam.
“No, he told Cody he might,” I emphasized the word. It was a relief to talk to Kara. I felt like she was the only person in the world I could confide in about all this Steven stuff. Don’t get me wrong. I was so glad I’d met Jessi, Emma, and Zoe, and they were awesome friends. But I’d known Kara for practically as long as I could remember. It just felt way too embarrassing to talk to the other Kicks about Steven.
Kara broke into her little “Devin and Steven” song. I had to admit, it was kind of catchy. She even got up and started doing a funny dance in front of the webcam. I started cracking up, and to encourage her to keep going, I started singing along. Loudly. So of course my dad picked that embarrassing moment to come into my bedroom!
“Devin, it’s time for dinner,” he said. Kara didn’t hear him and couldn’t see him, so she kept on singing.
“So who exactly is this Steven?” Dad asked. He had a little grin on his face.