by Alex Morgan
But things weren’t perfect. There was one teammate who didn’t want anything to do with team building, or even being nice: Jamie of the Riverdale Rams. During the Kicks’ regular season she had actually tried to sabotage the Kicks so that we would lose! Jessi and I had been pretty upset when we’d ended up on a winter league team with Jamie. Even though we had put the sabotage behind us, it was hard to be on a team with someone who had no team spirit and hogged the ball whenever she could.
Even as we jogged around the track, Jamie didn’t participate in the spontaneous high-fiving. She kept her eyes straight ahead. Her blond hair bounced in a ponytail against her neck as she ran, barely breaking a sweat.
There must be ice running through her veins, I thought, which felt a little mean, but it was a pretty honest description of Jamie. I had even tried being nice to her, but she hadn’t warmed up to me at all.
By the time I finished the eighth lap, my legs were starting to feel like jelly. It was a relief when Coach Darby blew her whistle.
“Gather round!” she called out.
All eighteen Griffons jogged up to Coach Darby. The last rays of the afternoon sun cast an orange glow on her spiky blond hair.
“I want to see everyone here at noon on Saturday,” she said. “One second late, and you’ll be sitting on the bench. Got it?”
We all nodded.
“Get plenty of sleep the night before. No texting your friends all night, or whatever it is you do that makes you all look so tired in the morning. We need to win this game on Saturday. We can win this game on Saturday. But the Gators are undefeated. We’ve got to give them all we’ve got. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Coach!” we all shouted.
“Good,” she said. “See you Saturday!”
Then everyone started milling around. Some girls were stretching, while others collapsed onto the grass.
“Hey, everybody, I was thinking we could go out for pizza on Saturday after the game,” I said. “Win or lose.”
“Who says we’re going to lose?” Jessi asked.
“You know what I mean,” I said. “We haven’t gone out as a team in a while. I just thought it might be nice.”
“It’s a good idea, but does it have to be pizza, again?” Kristin asked.
“Yeah, but it’s our tradition!” Zarine pointed out.
The other girls had started chiming in, saying they’d do it, and pizza was okay, when I noticed that Jamie was headed out to the parking lot.
“Be right back,” I told my other teammates as I walked over to Jamie.
As I approached her, Jamie rolled her eyes, and I knew what she was thinking. Why was I even bothering? But even though Jamie might have been made of ice, I kept thinking I might be able to thaw her out somehow. She was the only player keeping us from having complete team unity. And that was something I really wanted. But besides that, I kind of felt sorry for Jamie. She didn’t seem to have any real friends on the team, and it made her an outsider. I could at least try to make her feel included.
“Hey, Jamie!” I said. “I was just making plans with everybody to go out for pizza after the game on Saturday.”
“How nice for you,” she said, in that sarcastic way of hers. Her eyes darted around the parking lot, ignoring me.
“Well, it will be nice,” I said, “and it would also be nice if you came with us.”
Now, I’m sure I sounded like a dork. But I wasn’t going to get caught up in being sarcastic back to Jamie. That was her game, not mine.
To my surprise Jamie turned to look at me. “Yeah, well, thanks for asking,” she said. “I’m just not into celebrating, I guess. Not for myself, anyway.” And then she walked away without another word.
That was a strange comment, I thought. Not into celebrating? I had a feeling that I would never figure Jamie out. But at least I had tried.
Jessi ran up to me. “I think I see the Marshmallow,” she said, pointing to my mom’s white van as it pulled into the parking lot. “I think you’re going to have to carry me inside.”
I laughed. “Come on, was that practice really too much for you?”
“Yes!” Jessi replied. “And you’re lying if you say it was easy.”
“Nobody said winning was going to be easy,” I told her, and Jessi shook her head.
“You sound like Coach Darby.”
I put on my best Coach Darby voice. “Drop and give me a thousand!” I barked, and we were both cracking up as we piled into the van.
“So you’re nervous about playing against Zoe?” Kara asked. Kara was my best friend back in Connecticut. She was the thing I missed most about leaving there, and we made it a point to video chat almost every day.
I was in my bedroom, talking to Kara on my laptop, and wearing my pink, white, and blue Griffons uniform.
“Not nervous, exactly,” I said. “Just feeling weird. How can I want to beat the Gators when I know that Zoe wants to win as much as I do?”
Kara nodded sympathetically. “I get it. But I think you have to put it aside. I bet this happens all the time to the pros. Players are traded or move to other teams, and suddenly best friends are dueling it out on the field.”
“I didn’t think of that,” I said. “Yeah, I just need to suck it up and do my best.”
“Plus, it may give you an advantage,” Kara pointed out. “I mean, you know the strengths and weaknesses of some of the Gators already.”
“I didn’t think of that either,” I said. “Is it possible you’re getting even smarter?”
Kara grinned. “Go, Griffons!” she cheered. “Let me know how it goes tonight. I should be back from ice-skating by seven.”
“Ice-skating?” I still had a hard time remembering that it was winter back in Connecticut, when it was so warm and sunny in California.
“Yeah, Matt Solomon asked me, and—”
“You’re going ice-skating with Matt Solomon? Like, on a date?” I interrupted.
“No. I mean, kind of,” Kara said, blushing a little. “There’s a whole bunch of us going. But Matt is the one who asked me if I would go.”
“I didn’t know you liked him,” I said. “I thought you said he was weird, after he ate those banana sandwiches every day for lunch for a whole year.”
Kara shrugged. “Weird, but cute,” she said, blushing again. “Hey, don’t you need to get to your game?”
I looked at the time. “Oh yeah! Have fun skating.”
“Have fun beating the Gators!” she called out, and then we both signed off.
Mom, Dad, and Maisie were all waiting downstairs to go to the game with me—my own personal cheering section. My dad had never missed a single one of my games, which I thought was pretty impressive. And most of the time I had all three of my biggest fans there to watch me play.
The winter league games were held at fields around the county, and the Gators game was taking place at the Rancho Verdes Middle School field. We pulled up in the Marshmallow at eleven forty-five, fifteen minutes earlier than Coach Darby had required. I saw a bunch of other Griffons on the field, which made me feel good—until I saw the mob of Gators in their purple uniforms jogging around the track. They had started their practice even earlier than we’d been planning to!
I saw Zoe’s strawberry-blond head bobbing in the group of Gators. She had a look of determination on her face like I’d never seen. When Mom parked the Marshmallow, I jogged toward my teammates, trying to put that same look on my own face. The Gators were clearly in it to win, and the Griffons had to be too.
As soon as I reached the field, Coach Darby started having us do skill drills. It was earlier than noon, but I guessed that she was feeling the pressure too. After our warm-up we performed our pregame cartwheel ritual (each one of us did a cartwheel and then named someone else to do one) and then cooled down with some stretching. I gazed up into the stands.
Mom, Dad, and Maisie were all holding a long GO, DEVIN! banner. I hadn’t known they were going to do that. Sometimes I thought I had the sweetest
family ever.
And behind them I saw a big pink sign with GO, GRIFFONS and a big purple sign with GO, GATORS on it, right next to each other. I had a feeling I knew who was behind those, and then I saw their faces—Emma held the Griffons sign, and Frida held the Gators sign. They had figured out a way to root for both teams.
I gave them a wave as Coach Darby called us over to the sidelines. The game was about to start.
“All right, the Gators are going to be tough to beat,” she said. “So I want to see everybody give a hundred and ten percent out there. You got it?”
“Yes, Coach!” we replied.
“Let’s keep that energy going!” she said. “Now let’s talk about the lineup. Devin, Jamie, and Kelly, I want you on forward. My midfielders are . . .”
I didn’t hear any more after that, because Coach Darby had just said she was starting me as forward! It was the first time she’d started me since my soccer slump. I felt pumped!
Jamie took the center spot as we faced off against the Gators. The ref blew his whistle, and the ball dropped. Jamie got it and kicked it sideways to Kelly, but before Kelly could receive it, one of the Gators swooped in and took control. She dribbled it down and across the field and then passed it to the Gator nearest to me—Grace from the Kicks.
An eighth grader, Grace was tall and blond, and when she moved on the field, her name said it all. I knew from playing with her that she was fast, and with her long legs she could make her way down the field in no time. I also knew that when she dribbled, she didn’t keep the ball close to her. Instead she kicked it ahead and caught up to it with long strides. So I knew just what to do.
I swept in front of Grace from the side, waiting for her to pass to one of her teammates, and then bam! I was on it. I took the ball and dashed down toward the Gators goal, my heart pounding.
Then a purple streak whizzed by me. Zoe! She stole the ball right from under my feet and then zigzagged down the field with it. She was a real speed demon sometimes, and I knew her agility was tough to beat. But that didn’t erase the sting.
As Zoe neared the Griffons goal line, she passed the ball to one of her teammates—and Katie, one of our defenders, intercepted it. I was glad that the Gators hadn’t scored, because I’d let Zoe get the ball from me!
The rest of the first quarter was pretty much the same—the Gators got the ball, then the Griffons stole it. Then the Gators stole it back. Nobody scored. In the second quarter Coach Darby swapped out Kelly for Sasha as forward but left me and Jamie in.
Things got off to a good start. Jamie got control of the ball and passed it to me. I saw Zoe coming for me again and sent the ball to Jessi, who was playing midfield. Jessi took it toward the goal, and I stayed close by her. When one of the Gators came for Jessi, she passed the ball to me.
I was in the goal zone now, and I knew I had about five seconds before the Gators defenders would descend on me. But I had a long, clear shot, and I took it. I sent the ball low and fast toward the goal.
The Gators goalie had to dive for it, and she missed! I had scored.
“Go, Devin!” roared Mom, Dad, Maisie, Emma, and Frida in the stands. If I had felt pumped up before, I felt superpumped now!
Then, right before the whistle blew to end the first half, the Gators scored. Grace made one of her long drives, and our defenders just couldn’t catch her. She sent one sailing over the head of Courtney, our goalie.
The ref’s whistle blew, and we ended the half with a score of 1–1. Coach Darby wasn’t happy.
“You’re letting them steal from you too much!” she reprimanded, and I felt a small pang of guilt—but only a small one, since I had been the one to score our only goal, after all. When she finished her pep talk (more like a scolding, actually), she announced the new lineup. Jessi, Jamie, and I were on the bench. This time around she put in Kelly, Sasha, and Mirabelle as forwards.
“Go, Devin!” I heard from the stands, and I looked up to see my mom, dad, and Maisie going crazy. Next to me Jamie rolled her eyes.
“They cheer for you even when you’re not playing?” Jamie said. “How much do you pay them to do that?”
I just ignored her. Behind my family, I noticed that Emma and Frida had switched signs! Emma was holding the Gators sign, and Frida held the Griffons sign. They must have figured switching at the half was the fairest thing to do.
Then the whistle blew, and I kept my eyes on the game. The Griffons looked good, getting the ball down the field with a series of short passes that kept the Gators guessing. Then Mirabelle took a shot at the goal—but the Gators goalie blocked it.
Kelly, Mirabelle, and Sasha each made another goal attempt during the quarter, but they couldn’t get past the goalie. The good news was, none of the Gators got past Courtney either. The third quarter ended with a score of 1–1.
“Devin, Jamie, you’re back in!” Coach Darby called out, pulling out Kelly and Sasha from the forward line. Now I was back on the field with Zoe and Grace, and it was anybody’s game. I felt like I had enough adrenaline running through me to rocket to the moon.
Early on I made a strong drive to the goal. I passed the ball to Jamie, and she shot it in so hard and fast that I was shocked when the goalie swatted it away. Mirabelle went for the goal again a few minutes later, but her high kick soared over the top of the net. We just couldn’t score again!
And until the last few seconds of the game, it looked like the Gators couldn’t score either. Until Zoe made another zigzag drive down the field, avoiding every Griffon who crossed her path. She passed the ball to one of her teammates, who found a hole in the right goal pocket and sank it in. It was 2–1.
I tried not to give up hope. There had to be a chance for the Griffons to score again! But before the next play could be set up, the ref blew his whistle. The game was over, and the Gators had won.
Both teams lined up to slap palms. I made sure to look Grace and Zoe in the eyes when I did. Zoe had such a happy look on her face that any other time I would have been thrilled for her.
But now . . . well, I wasn’t feeling thrilled at all!
Screeeeeeeeech!
The metal table legs made a deafening sound as we pushed four tables together at Pizza Kitchen to make room for all seventeen Griffons. We should have been eighteen, but Jamie hadn’t showed up, even though I’d tried inviting her again after the game.
“Sounds like fun. We can all cry into our pepperoni,” she had said before walking away.
Looking around the table now, I knew Jamie kind of had a point. Nobody looked happy at all, and nobody was really talking with one another. Even though our play-off hopes hadn’t been dashed yet, this was a tough loss. Luckily, it was two thirty, and the lunch crowd was mostly gone, so if we were going to cry into our pepperoni, nobody would see us.
“Okay, so how many pizzas do we want?” I asked, just as a commotion came through the front door. A great, purple commotion of victorious Gators.
Unlike the Griffons, the Gators were talking and laughing—loudly. I caught Zoe’s eye, and she flashed me an apologetic smile, but she didn’t come over to talk to me or anything. She and the Gators pushed some tables together and started their victory celebration.
“Root beer for everyone!” one of the Gators yelled, and her teammates let out a cheer. I guessed that root beer must have been their victory tradition or something.
Over at our table Kelly and Sasha were whispering to each other. Then Kelly spoke up.
“Listen, it was a nice idea to come out for pizza and everything, but we should leave,” she said. “I don’t want to witness the Gators’ victory celebration.”
“It’s too depressing,” chimed in Sasha, and some of the other girls started to murmur in agreement.
I looked at Jessi, and she just shrugged.
“Come on. Leaving will be even more depressing,” I said. “We haven’t had our pizza yet. And let’s not forget, if we win next week’s game, we’ll go to the semifinals. We might have another chance to beat
the Gators.”
“If we win next week,” Tracey said.
“Of course we’ll win next week!” I said. “And then we’ll go on to the semifinals, and then we’ll go to our championship game and crush it!”
“Yeah!” Jessi cheered, and I was so grateful that she had come around. Soon all the Griffons were cheering and pounding our fists on the table.
We calmed down long enough to figure out our pizza order, and while we waited for it, everyone was talking and laughing, just like normal. I was glad we had all decided to stay. We felt like a team—except, of course, that Jamie was missing.
“I don’t understand why Jamie never comes out with us,” I said.
Mirabelle was sitting next to me. “You know that I used to be friends with her, right?” she asked, and I nodded. “Well, I might know what’s bugging her. She loves soccer, but her parents don’t take it seriously. Her older brother plays football and basketball, and her younger sister is a ballet dancer, and Jamie’s got this whole middle-child problem.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Jessi’s eyes lit up. “Wait, it’s like Addison on RTOBH!” she said. “Her parents adore her oldest sister, who’s a model, and her little sister is like a genius or something, and they ignore Addison. Jasmine said on one episode that’s why Addison acts out.”
“Yeah, kind of like that,” agreed Mirabelle. “Jamie’s parents almost never come to her soccer games. They work all the time, and when they take off work, it’s to go to a football game or a dance recital. It really bothers Jamie.”
“Wow, I totally get that,” I said. And then it hit me—Jamie had been dropping hints all along. I just hadn’t understood them.
A few games ago, when my dad had been late to my game, Jamie had told me to “get used to it.” And the other day she’d said that she didn’t like celebrating, and just today she had made fun of my cheering section.
“That must be hard, to see other people’s parents cheering on their kids and have nobody cheering for you,” I said. “Poor Jamie!”