Settle the Score

by Alex Morgan

  I felt my palms begin to sweat. Jamie looked mad! I didn’t want her to think we’d been talking about her behind her back. We had been talking about her, but it hadn’t been in a mean way.

  Before I could answer, she crossed her arms and turned her head away from me, looking out the window. “So this is some kind of pity invitation, huh? I should have known.”

  “Jamie, no, it’s not like that,” I tried to explain, but Jamie just stared out the window, not turning her head.

  I sighed quietly. To be honest, I did feel sorry for Jamie. That was part of the reason why I’d invited her. Nobody deserved to miss out on celebrating our team’s win. I didn’t think it was fair that Jamie’s parents couldn’t understand that.

  Oh well, I thought. At least I had tried, and we’d managed to have a real conversation for about two and a half seconds. I wished I hadn’t mentioned her sister.

  Luckily, Maisie helped ease the awkwardness of the situation. “Jamie,” she called into the back. “Do you have a dog? Because I really want one!”

  “No, Maisie,” Jamie answered her. “My parents say it’s too much work, so we’ve never had one.”

  “That’s what my parents say too!” Maisie grumbled. “But I would walk it every day, and feed it, and it could sleep in bed with me at night too.”

  Usually I got annoyed when Maisie tried to take over the conversation when I had a friend around. Today I was relieved. Jamie uncrossed her arms and seemed to thaw out a bit, and I felt better. I didn’t want Jamie to be uncomfortable. I silently thought, Thank you as Maisie chatted on about wanting a dog, her latest obsession.

  When we pulled up in front of the Burrito Bowl, as Jamie and I wormed our way out of the backseats, Maisie gave Jamie a big smile and said “Woof!”

  Jamie shook her head and started laughing. Again, I felt grateful to my little sister for lightening the mood.

  Most of the Griffons were already inside the restaurant and had pulled tables together in the back, saving enough seats for all of us. Jamie and I went up to order our food. The guy taking the orders was pretty cute, and I felt really dorky asking for the Cluck-cluck-tacular Chicken Burrito Bowl, but he didn’t seem to notice. I guessed he was used to it.

  I met up with Jessi at the soda machine. It was this really cool one where you could pick from what seemed like hundreds of different flavors. We weren’t allowed soda at home. My mom called it poison. But I decided I needed a treat after our win. So I started mixing a bunch of different flavors of soda in the same cup.

  “Raspberry cola, fruit punch, and supersour limeade?” Jessi watched, wrinkling her nose. “Yuck.”

  I tasted it and made a face. Yuck was right. It actually did taste like poison! I dumped it out and started my soda experiment over again.

  “So how’d it go?” Jessi asked as she shot a glance at Jamie, who was sitting at the Griffons’ table.

  I sighed. “Pretty good, until I ruined it by asking about her sister and she got suspicious and accused me of inviting her out of pity.”

  Jessi shook her head. “Devin, I don’t know why you’re bothering.”

  “We’re all in this together, Jessi. We’re a team,” I reminded her. “And Jamie should be part of celebrating our win. We are going to the championships, after all!”

  “Yes we are!” Jessi cheered. “We did it!”

  “Did you hear yet about the Gators game?” I asked, curious as to who we’d be facing in the finals.

  “I texted Zoe, Frida, and Emma, but they didn’t reply yet,” Jessi said. “I guess we’ll find out soon!”

  I decided to stick with a mix of cherry vanilla cola and root beer. I took a sip. It was delicious.

  Everyone was chatting excitedly as we sat down to eat. “It’s getting rowdy in here!” I said above the din.

  “Rowdy?” Kristin asked. “You haven’t seen anything yet!” She stood up and started clapping her hands. “P is for ‘party,’ and A is for ‘all right,’ ” she chanted, and soon some of the other girls joined in on the cheer.

  “R is for ‘rowdy,’ and T is for ‘tonight.’ Y is for ‘you,’ and you know what to do.” At this part, Kristin pointed at all of us.

  “Party!” we yelled as we jumped to our feet, cheering.

  We were getting some weird looks from the other people eating at the Burrito Bowl. I smiled apologetically at the couple sitting closest to us.

  “Sorry,” I said. “We’re just super-excited. Our soccer team made it to the winter league championship game!”

  They smiled at me. “Congratulations, sweetie,” the woman said.

  “And we’re not the only ones!” Jessi announced. She was holding her cell phone in her hand. “The Gators beat the Gazelles. We’ll be facing the Gators in the championship game!”

  The room grew quiet for a second as everyone thought back to our last game against the Gators and how it had ended in defeat. Then the silence was broken.

  “We’ll beat them this time!” Tracey said encouragingly.

  “We’ve got this!” Kelly added.

  Courtney chimed in. “We will not be defeated!”

  For everyone else on the team, it was Griffons versus Gators for the title of winter league champs. But for me and Jessi, it was also Kicks versus Kicks!

  After our celebratory meal, my family picked me and Jamie up in front of the Burrito Bowl. Maisie was sitting in her usual chair behind the driver’s seat, with a smear of ketchup on her cheek.

  “Hey, Devin, can I listen to the new Brady McCoy song on your phone?” she asked as we climbed into the van.

  Jamie looked at me. “You’re a Real McCoy?” she asked in a way that instantly made me feel embarrassed for liking Brady McCoy. I was no mega fan like Emma, but I had downloaded all his songs.

  “His latest single, ‘Beat of My Heart,’ is great to run to,” I explained, trying not to sound too defensive.

  “So can I, Devin, please?” Maisie pleaded.

  I dug my phone and earbuds out of my bag and handed them to her. “Here you go, Maisie.”

  Maisie put the earbuds in and was bouncing in her seat, singing along to herself, while Jamie and I got settled in the back. My mom and dad were in a deep conversation about repainting the dining room, so I knew Jamie and I would have some privacy. I hoped our conversation would go better this time.

  “Do you think we can beat the Gators?” I asked, thinking it was a safe bet to talk about soccer.

  Jamie frowned. “Maybe if we can take your friend out, the little one. She’s too fast.”

  What did Jamie mean, take Zoe out? I had heard that sometimes, in more aggressive soccer games, opposing players who were threats were targeted with rough play. If they were injured, they couldn’t cause as much damage on the field. While I wanted to win the championship game, there were some things I would never do. And this was one of them.

  “Zoe is my friend, but even if she weren’t, I’d never agree to playing dirty like that,” I said, a little heatedly.

  “I know. Devin the Girl Scout,” Jamie said in a mocking tone.

  “You know, maybe I am a Girl Scout,” I said. I couldn’t help but get angry. “But if I remember right, the Girl Scout beat the cheater last time the Kicks played the Rams.”

  The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. Part of me was glad I’d said them. Jamie had tried a lot of underhanded tricks to undermine the Kicks’ confidence during the play-offs. It hadn’t worked. In fact, it had made the Kicks even more determined to beat the Rams on the field, fair and square.

  I braced myself, ready for a nasty retort, or at the very least the silent treatment for the rest of the ride home.

  “Yeah, well, it’s easy to be a Girl Scout when you’ve got the perfect family,” Jamie replied. “Not all of us do, you know.”

  “I don’t see how your family has anything to do with you cheating and playing dirty tricks on the Kicks,” I answered.

  Jamie shifted in her seat, her gaze focused on her
sneakers. She shrugged. “Of course you wouldn’t. You’re perfect Devin, who even tries to be nice to me after what a jerk I’ve been to you. I don’t expect you to understand.”

  “I’m not perfect, Jamie,” I said as I thought back to that time right after the earthquake. “In fact, a few weeks ago I felt like everything was coming apart. You saw me and how I was playing. I was going through a really tough time. So if you want to talk about it, I might understand more than you’d think.”

  Jamie grinned. “Yeah, you were really biting it on the field big-time, Devin.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I said, but she was right. I couldn’t argue with that!

  “You’ve got your groove back now,” Jamie admitted. “And it’s part of the reason why I think we’ve got a shot at the championship. If I could be on a winning team, maybe my family would be proud of me. Maybe they’d want to come to my games and watch me play.”

  I felt instant sympathy for Jamie. Imagine having to win to get your family’s approval. My family was there for me all the time, win or lose. Once again I felt so lucky. But I didn’t want to show Jamie how sorry I felt for her, in case she stopped talking again. Instead I just nodded without saying a word.

  “That’s why I tried to sabotage the Kicks,” Jamie confessed. “Before you showed up, they weren’t even a threat. I thought the Rams had a shot at making it to the play-offs. But then the Kicks started winning game after game. And the play-offs started to seem out of reach. I kept picturing myself at the play-offs with my family in the stands, cheering me on. So I decided to try to give the Rams an advantage by messing with the Kicks.”

  Wow. I was totally shocked. All along I’d thought Jamie was just a bad sport. Now I realized the issue was much deeper than that. Hurting others to try to get her parents’ attention seemed like the absolute worst way for Jamie to try to fix her problems, but I still felt sorry for her.

  “You should know you’re an awesome player,” I told her. “You don’t have to resort to dirty tricks to win. You’ve got the talent. Try focusing on teamwork instead. That’s what will help us win against the Gators next Saturday.”

  I waited, figuring Jamie would just call me a Girl Scout again and roll her eyes. Yet I was in for another surprise.

  “You know what, Devin, you just might be right about that,” Jamie said. “I’ve tried it my way in the past, and it didn’t get me far. I might as well give teamwork a shot.”

  I smiled. “So you’ll do the cartwheels? And other team building stuff?”

  “I guess so,” she said. “And I really liked going to the retirement home, especially when we got the dirt on Coach Darby from her mother. Barbie Darby!” Jamie snorted.

  “Maybe she’ll marry someone named Ken,” I joked, and we both started laughing.

  Although we continued joking around, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. I still wanted to fix Jamie’s problem. Everyone deserved to have someone cheering them on. Jessi had been right. I couldn’t change Jamie’s family. But at least I could show her I cared.

  “Hey, I heard you guys made the finals,” Hailey said, approaching me, Jessi, Emma, and Frida at our lunch table on Monday. “Congratulations!”

  “Thanks!” Jessi and I said at the same time.

  Then Hailey turned toward Frida. “Steven told me you’re in a TV movie with Brady McCoy. That’s awesome,” she said shyly.

  Frida sat straight up in her chair, like she always did when she was receiving compliments. “It was really fun,” she said. “You know, I’m having a party at my house the night it premieres. You should come.”

  She handed Hailey her cell phone. “Put in your number, and I’ll text you the deets,” she said.

  Hailey looked thrilled. “Okay, wow, thanks!” she said. She typed in her number and handed the phone back to Frida. Then she smiled at all of us. “See you.”

  “Wow, that was nice of you,” Emma remarked as Hailey walked away.

  “Well, I made a promise to myself that I would always be nice to my fans when I got famous,” Frida said, entirely seriously.

  Jessi grinned. “Oh, so you’re famous now?” she teased.

  “Maybe not yet, but it’s never too early to act like you’re famous,” Frida countered.

  Emma shook her head. “Oh my gosh, Frida, now you’re seriously starting to sound like one of the Real Teenagers of Beverly Hills!”

  “Am not!” Frida protested. “And if I ever do, promise me you’ll stop me. Hit me or something.”

  Emma looked horrified. “I would never do that!”

  Jessi playfully punched Frida’s arms. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep you in line,” she said. Then she turned to me. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. How was the car ride home with Jamie?”

  I chewed my chicken salad slowly, wanting some extra time to choose my words carefully. I really wanted to confide in my friends what Jamie had shared with me. But at the same time I didn’t want to gossip. I couldn’t help thinking that since Jamie had started to open up to me because I had been friendly to her, it might help her if she had some more friends in her life. It would be great if my friends could try a little bit with Jamie too. Yet I knew they didn’t feel too kindly toward her, and I completely understood why. I thought that if I could share with them just a little bit of what Jamie had told me, they might be more open-minded.

  “It wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was kind of fun,” I decided to start with.

  “Fun?” Emma sounded surprised. “Are you saying she wasn’t totally rude like usual?”

  “Look,” I tried to explain. “Jamie is Jamie. She can be pretty sarcastic. But she can also be really funny, too. And she is an awesome soccer player.”

  Jessi nodded. “Yeah, I guess I actually had a good time playing Scrabble with her at the retirement home.”

  “See!” I said triumphantly. “She’s not all bad.”

  “Devin, are you for real right now?” Frida asked, upset. “Are you forgetting that Jamie is the one behind stealing your duffel bag, ruining the Kangaroos’ banner, and canceling one of our practices—not to mention that her final stunt could have gotten us all suspended!”

  Frida was talking about how Jamie had planned to spray-paint the field with “Kangaroos Rule” in big blue letters before the Rams played the Kicks. Her hope had been that the Kicks would get blamed for it and be disqualified so that the Rams would win by default. But Frida had discovered the plan, and we’d been able to put a stop to it.

  I sighed. My friends were right. But I really believed that Jamie was starting to change. A few more good influences around her would help.

  “I already told you how her parents never come to her games—” I started, but Emma interrupted me.

  “What does that have to do with cheating?” Emma wondered.

  “That’s exactly what I asked her,” I said. Before I continued, I thought about what I should say. I didn’t want to gossip, but what Jamie had done affected all of us. The other girls deserved to know why she’d done it.

  “Jamie told me the reason she sabotaged the Kicks was to make sure the Rams got into the play-offs,” I shared. “She thought if they did, her parents would come to one of her games. That’s why she did it.”

  Emma’s eyes got wide. “That’s so sad,” she said. “I’m going to go home and hug my mom extra hard today.”

  “That does put a different spin on it, Devin,” Jessi admitted. “But Jamie can be so unfriendly, not to mention downright mean. It doesn’t really excuse her behavior.”

  “You’ll see,” I told Jessi. “She’s going to try harder with teamwork. I think you’ll notice a difference in her.”

  “Um, hello?” Frida interrupted impatiently. “Enough with all the soccer talk and Jamie drama. I’ve got a party to plan and a premiere I need to get a dress for, remember?”

  “You would never let us forget, Frida,” Jessi said, laughing. “What can we do to help?”

  “We need to pick a date when we can all go dress shopping together. A
nd I mean all of us.” With that, Frida stood up and marched over to the table Zoe was sitting at. Zoe looked up in surprise. Soon she was standing up and following Frida back to our table.

  “Everyone, let’s figure out a date and a time when we can all do this.” Frida sat at the head of the table and stared all of us down. I thought I heard Zoe give a gulp as she sat down next to me. I couldn’t blame her. Frida could be very intimidating when she wanted to be.

  “After all, this is the red carpet,” she continued. “My picture might be in magazines. Or on TV. I need to look my best!”

  I imagined myself walking down the red carpet. The idea was kind of frightening, what with all those people looking at you, taking your picture, and judging what you were wearing. Frida liked being the center of attention much more than I did, but maybe she was acting more dramatic than usual because she was a little nervous, too.

  “We’re here for you,” I told her. “We’ll make sure you get the best dress in the world!”

  Frida smiled at me. “Thanks, Devin. Now, what about tonight?”

  “Gators practice at three,” Zoe said quickly.

  “Griffons practice at four,” I said at the same time.

  “Tomorrow?” Frida asked. “Wednesday?”

  “Griffons tomorrow,” Jessi said.

  “And Gators Wednesday,” said Zoe.

  “Thursday?” Frida sounded totally exasperated by this point.

  “We’ve got practice at three,” Jessi answered.

  “So do the Gators,” Zoe answered softly. She had been sitting on the edge of her chair the entire time, like she was going to bolt at any second. I couldn’t stand the tension between us anymore, but I didn’t know what to say to Zoe to make it better.

  “So how about after practice on Thursday?” Frida asked.

  “Where are we going?” Jessi asked.

  “Back to Debi’s Discount Dresses,” Frida replied. “She’s expanded and upgraded her store, and she’s got the biggest selection around. She’s even changed her name. The store is called Debi’s Designs now.”