Mrs. James’ and Vee’s eyes met.
“LJ’s home,” they said together with a shared smile.
“Can you wait until Lily comes up to take off the rest of the bandage?” Vee asked excitedly.
“Sure,” Mrs. James replied. Spontaneously, Vee jumped up and gave her a quick hug. She had totally forgotten about all the drama at soccer and felt suddenly so grateful to Lily’s mother. She couldn’t wait to share it with her friend.
“Lily!” Vee cried, heading down the hall. “You gotta come see this!”
Chapter 7.
“Hey! I didn’t know you were coming over. What’s up?” Lily asked coming up the stairs. She was still in her uniform from the game.
“Oh, you gotta see this stuff, dude! Your mom is doing the coolest …” Vee tried to finish her sentence but a blur of red hair, orange uniform, and nine-year-old energy came barreling past Lily like a ginger bull running through the streets of Spain.
“Hey! Watch it!” Lily yelled as her brother Billy pushed her to the side.
“MOM! MOM! MOM!” Billy screamed. Vee pressed her back against the wall to get out of the way.
“MOM! I SCORED THE GAME WINNER TODAY!”
Lily rolled her eyes at Vee and said, “Beyond annoying.”
Vee laughed. Lily’s younger brother Billy was pretty entertaining most of the time, but she knew that he drove Lily crazy. She liked to call him her “little bother.” Vee was an only child and had always been a little envious that Lily had a brother. There was always someone else to hang out with. She would have loved to have a sister or brother, even if he was a bother.
“How was his game?” Vee asked.
“Oh, it was regular nine-year old soccer. Bunching up and stealing the ball from each other. At least Billy knows better than that.”
“Did he score the game winner, really?” Vee asked.
“Yeah. It wasn’t a bad goal, but now he thinks his name is Billy Messi or something. Like he was the first person in the world to score a goal.”
Vee definitely heard a tinge of jealousy in her friend’s voice. Lily did not like sharing the soccer spotlight with her brother. Vee tried to imagine Billy as the next Lionel Messi, an Argentine left-footer who played for Barcelona and is considered perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time.
“The next Messi?” Vee joked. “Maybe Nike will name a line of soccer shoes after him sometime soon?”
“Exactly,” Lily answered, heading down the hallway. “With a big orange stripe like his crazy hair!”
Lily stopped in front of her mom’s office and waved. Vee could hear Billy telling his mother the play-by-play of his goal. Vee couldn’t admit it to Lily, but she was happy for Billy. For so long, Lily was the only member of the James family to get all the praise for her soccer playing. Lily stomped away.
“She didn’t even ask me about my game!” Lily was annoyed; Vee could tell.
“Oh, I told her we won,” Vee said quickly, hoping to assuage her friend.
“What did you want to show me before?” Lily asked, opening the door to her bedroom.
“Oh, your mom is doing totally cool stuff with honey and bees,” Vee told her. “It’s so awesome.”
“Oh, right. Putting the honey on her cut or something weird like that?” Lily asked, bored.
“Yeah, dude, it’s so cool.”
Lily gave Vee a look that made it clear she did not think it was cool at all.
“My mom and her bugs.” She rolled her eyes again. “Let’s go hang out in my room.”
Vee followed Lily into her room. Posters of famous soccer players were plastered all over the wall. Abby Wambach. Alex Morgan. Ronaldo. Messi. Vee had most of the same ones in her bedroom too, although Vee’s room was about one-quarter the size.
Vee flopped on the bed and watched as Lily took off her shoes, socks, and shin guards. She was dying to hear Lily say that Olivia was out of her mind. That she had no idea what she was talking about. But, Vee also realized that she hadn’t told Lily about all of Olivia’s weird behavior lately. It was like Vee was the only one who was noticing. She didn’t know where to start.
“Hey LJ, remember before the game when I said there was something I wanted to talk about?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Lily answered. “What’s up?”
Vee searched for the right words. Even in her mind, Olivia’s claim that they didn’t want her on the team anymore sounded dumb and impossible. She didn’t even want to say it out loud. But she knew she could talk to Lily. Lily was her best friend in the world. Lily was her Soccer Sister. Lily was her family. They shared everything.
“Well, it’s just that lately, Olivia … “
Just as she was about to spit the words out, Lily’s door burst open like a Navy SEAL raid.
“Where are my headphones?” Billy demanded, filling the room in an instant. “You had them last.”
“Will you get out of my room?!” Lily barked at her brother, as he rummaged through her desk, opening drawers and shoving piles of papers and toys onto the ground.
“Give me my headphones and I’ll leave,” Billy grunted. He moved from the desk to the dresser.
“Stop touching all my stuff!” Lily yelled. “I don’t have your stupid headphones.”
“Oh, what’s this?” Billy held up what looked like a camisole of some kind. “Is this a bra?” He cracked up laughing.
“Yes, it’s a sports bra, you moron,” Lily answered. Vee could tell her friend was starting to fume. Lily had had temper problems in the past, but had learned to control herself. The true test of her newfound patience was often her brother, who could push all her buttons. Vee could tell he was blowing the limits, like a race car zooming through a school safety zone.
Vee tried to help. “Billy, I think I saw your headphones in the front entry,” she said, hoping he would leave before Lily went nuclear.
No luck.
“What the heck is this?” Billy was in Lily’s closet now. “Is this some kind of Halloween costume?”
Billy emerged from the closet with a dress on a hanger. Attached to the hanger was a dainty pair of high heels.
“Put that down!” Lily screamed.
“Since when are you prom queen?” Billy asked with a sour face. Clearly, he didn’t approve of Lily’s dress. “You trying out for a Disney Princess job or something?” Billy did a fake parade wave, and Vee stifled a laugh.
“It’s my dress for the Snow Fairy Dance. Get your dirty hands off of it,” Lily went over to wrestle the hanger out of his hands. The dress was pale yellow and made of flowing layers. The shoes matched perfectly. Vee had never seen Lily with anything like it.
“Wow!” Vee said, almost unintentionally. It was one of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen.
Lily grabbed the hanger. Shoved her brother roughly out the door as he began humming the theme from Sleeping Beauty. Lily slammed the door shut, turned around, and began to smooth out the dress.
“You like it?” Lily asked, a little shyly.
“Dude, it’s awesome.” Vee said honestly. “Are those matching shoes?”
Lily nodded and flashed a radiant smile. Vee could tell she was excited.
“Where did you get it?”
“The mall,” Lily answered.
“You and your mom?” Vee asked.
“No, I went with Tabitha and Olivia before practice on Saturday,” Lily answered, putting the dress back into her closet. “Olivia spotted it in this tiny store. She said it went with my freckles.”
Vee had no idea Lily had had an outing with Olivia and Tabitha. She felt rotten. Not only was she not invited, she hadn’t even known about it. Something else felt weird too, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
“You bought a dress before you asked someone to the dance?” Vee asked.
“Oh, no, you know my mom would never let me do that,” Lily answered, gesturing towards her mother’s office.
Vee was confused. Did this mean Lily had asked a bo
y to the Snow Fairy Dance?
“You asked someone?” Vee was scared to hear the answer.
“Yeah,” Lily answered casually. “I asked that kid from homeroom, Justin. It wasn’t that big a deal after all. Some girls are freaking out, but I decided to just get it over with. Right in the morning. I told you, right?”
Vee didn’t answer right away. She was trying to calculate what she was hearing. Trying to figure out what it all meant. Lily James, her best friend in the world, tom-boy extraordinaire, had asked a boy to a dance, shopped for a dress, and Vee knew nothing about any of it.
“Yeah, yeah,” Vee played it off. “I’m sure.”
Vee watched as Lily carefully hung the dress back in her closet. Vee thought back to what Olivia had said at the game. Maybe she wasn’t making it all up? Maybe that’s what Lily, Tabitha, and Olivia had talked about at the mall when they were shopping?
Something on the ground caught Vee’s eye. It was a long black cord with a pointed silver tip. Vee grabbed the cord and started to pull. Something bulky started to emerge from under the bed. Vee knew immediately what it was: Billy’s headphones. He loved to listen to rap music and Lily and Vee always laughed when he tried to sing the words. He mangled all the lyrics at the top of his lungs, unaware that everyone could hear him.
“Look what I found,” Vee said, holding them up.
“Chuck ‘em in the garbage,” Lily suggested.
“I’ll bring them to him,” Vee said. She was happy for the distraction. She had been so certain that Olivia was dead wrong, but now the queasiness of doubt had returned. She needed to clear her head and then talk to Lily.
Vee exited Lily’s bedroom in search of Billy.
“Oh, there you are, Vee,” Mrs. James’ called out as Vee passed her office. “Did you still want to see my big reveal? Did you tell Lily?”
Vee stopped walking. She stood in the hallway, holding Billy’s headphones, feeling lost in a familiar place.
“I told Lily, but …” Vee felt shy about finishing the sentence. Mrs. James finished it for her.
“She wasn’t interested?”
Vee shrugged. She flashed Vee a knowing smile. “Don’t worry, Vee. Lately, Lily’s been a little distracted. She used to be mommy’s little helper, but now she thinks my work is boring,” Mrs. James said, chuckling to herself.
“She said that?” Vee asked.
“Oh, no, of course not. She’s growing up. Both of you girls are. Interests change, and I understand. She still pretends like she’s interested, but I know she’s not.” Lily’s mom paused for a moment. “Honestly, Vee, I think she just doesn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
Vee’s head began to spin. She dropped the headphones on the ground.
“Vee? You look pale, sweetheart. Are you okay?” Mrs. James asked.
“Uh,” she stammered, “I just remembered something I was supposed to do.”
“Vee, what’s the matter?” Mrs. James asked, getting up from her chair.
“I gotta go!” Vee turned and ran down the stairs, flung open the front door and started to run.
Chapter 8.
Vee ran. She sprinted through the frigid streets of tony Brookville, the leafless trees a blur through her tear-filled eyes. Manicured lawns and fancy houses for big families flooded Vee’s peripheral vision, further proof of her outsider status.
She sprinted for another few blocks and suddenly felt a twinge in her knee. She knew she should slow down, but couldn’t. She needed to feel the burn in her muscles. In her chest. She longed for physical pain to drown out her internal heartache.
She. Doesn’t. Want. To. Hurt. My. Feelings. The words pounded in Vee’s head each time her feet hit the pavement. She turned away from town and up the hill. She felt another sharp pain in her knee. The orthopedist had told her to always warm up before she ran. But, in this moment, she didn’t care. She felt her whole world slipping away from her, and if she couldn’t be a Soccer Sister, what did her knee matter anyway?
She pushed herself up a steep hill. Her heart thudding in her chest. Flashes of her team, of her friends, of Lily and Tabitha, her coach, filled her vision. Olivia’s words ricocheted through her mind. She saw a car approaching and slowed, veering to the right side of the road. She didn’t notice the slick and icy gravel. The black ice. She was still wearing her indoor soccer shoes, which provided no traction. As the car passed, Vee’s feet went out from under her. She tumbled, falling hard to the ground in a heap. Her hands were scraped and bloodied, she felt something pull in her leg and twist in her knee.
The car passed. She lay by the side of the road unnoticed - heaving, hurting, and defeated. The girl who would never give up on the field was ready to give up on the game. Vee lay by the side of the road, her exhausted body not yet feeling the cold winter air. Her hands stung and her knee ached, but a memory began to fill her mind. Her very first soccer game. Before travel soccer. Before she was a Bomber. Or a Soccer Sister. The first team she ever played on was part of a recreational league, where little six-year-old girls played against other six-year-old girls from the same town.
Vee struggled to remember the name of the team. She could see their bright yellow uniforms and remembered how insanely excited and proud she and LJ were to be able to put them on for the very first time.
The day of that first game was a different kind of memory. Sharper and brighter than most. Less images than feelings. A real uniform. Vee was part of a team. Even better, she and Lily were on the same team. How could it get any better? She knew her father must have arranged that. Vee remembered struggling to pull up her tube socks and get her shin guards in place. Forget tying her shoes. She hadn’t even learned how to do that yet. Tomas did that for her too. They played that first game in the spring. It was chilly, but sunny. Most of the game was just a bunch of little girls chasing the ball in a giant pack. These were the days before passing and teamwork; soccer was nothing more than the disorganized, joyful exuberance of six-year-old energy.
She could still remember the feeling of running down the tiny field with her only mission: get that ball. Their coach was a woman named Stacey. She was kind and smart and a really good soccer player. She coached them gently but firmly, guiding them in a no-nonsense kind of way. Vee liked that she never treated them like babies. She taught them seriously, so they learned to take it seriously. At least some of them did. There were always a few lost ones picking at the grass and doing cartwheels across the goal.
Vee still could remember how Coach Stacey tried to break soccer down into the most simple of ideas: be safe on defense, be in control in the midfield, and take chances on offense. Soccer was simple. Beautiful. Uncomplicated.
Vee sighed. When did everything change? She wondered.
“The Daffodils!” Vee suddenly said out loud, to no one. All the girls’ teams were named after flowers: the Daffodils, the Tiger Lilies, the Clovers. Vee also remembered that she, Lily, and the Daffodils had lost that very first game by some ridiculous score. Six to five, or something like that. Coach Stacey told them they had learned a very important lesson that day about defense and maybe they should start playing some. Vee smiled at the memory.
“The Daffodils,” she said again. She sat up and rubbed her knee. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed there was someone standing nearby, watching her.
“I don’t think daffodils are quite in bloom yet, Vee.”
It was Mark Gordon.
He was standing on the hill with a bemused look on his face. He had Bubba in one hand and a large red bag slung over his shoulder. Vee had no idea how long he had been watching her.
“Uh …” Vee stammered, totally at a loss for what to say. “Yeah. Uh. Actually I was just thinking about something.”
Mark tilted his head to the side and grinned. “Do you always lie by the side of the road, in a pile of leaves, in the middle of winter, to do your ‘thinking’?” he asked.
Vee couldn’t help but laugh. She was covered in twigs and mud. She brushed them off an
d started to get up, wincing as pain shot through her upper leg.
“Ouch,” she said, involuntarily grasping at her knee.
Mark moved quickly to help her.
“Are you okay?” he asked laying his lacrosse bag and stick down by the side of the road.
Vee’s first instinct was to say she was fine. To pretend there was nothing wrong. But her rawness had left her incapable. Plus, he did kind of find her muttering to herself by the side of the road. So instead, she just told him the truth.
“Well, I’m having a particularly awful day,” Vee’s said, her voice cracking slightly. “I tried to run to forget about it all, and then I slipped and fell and hurt my leg, if you must know the truth.” Her voice cracked again. “So no, I guess I’m not okay. I’m kind of a mess right now.”
Mark nodded in agreement, then moved closer to offer his arm. He too slipped on the ice.
“Whoa,” he said, steadying himself.
“It’s slippery,” Vee offered with a weak chuckle. “Black ice. It got me.”
“I see that,” Mark said. “Hang on a second.” He reached back and grabbed his long lacrosse stick.
“Bubba, at your service,” he said with a wobbly bow. He passed Bubba to Vee, and she grabbed ahold, lacing her fingers into the basket where the ball goes. He held it steady until she got past the ice and onto the road. He held her up by the arm as they stood on the steep hill.
“Thanks,” Vee said sincerely. “I might have stayed there all day.”
“No problem. But we better get out of the middle of the road. People come flying down this hill all the time.” Mark said. “Where are you headed?”
Vee really didn’t know. She shrugged. “I guess I’ll just walk, uh, limp, into town.”
“That works,” Mark replied. “I’m going to practice some shooting at the school. I didn’t have a very good practice today. I’ll walk with you.”
Vee and Mark maneuvered down the hill carefully. Vee’s knee was still sore, but she felt like it was stable enough to walk on.
“So is that the same knee you hurt in the tournament last summer?” Mark asked as they reached the bottom of the hill.
Vee Caught Offside Page 6