Settle the Score

by Alex Morgan

  Jessi shook her head. “Wow, I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say, ‘poor Jamie,’ especially after what she did to the Kicks,” she said. “But I get it. That’s got to be hard for her.”

  Then Jessi looked at me intently. “Devin, I can see those wheels turning in your brain. I know you want to fix this. But what are you going to do? You can’t change Jamie’s parents.”

  “I know,” I said, but Jessi was right. The wheels in my head were turning. When I saw a problem, I always wanted to fix it, no matter how hard it was.

  But this problem—I realized this one might be impossible to solve!

  “Go, Maisie!” I yelled as my sister zigzagged around a defender and charged at the goal. When another defender threatened her from the left, Maisie looked around and called out a teammate’s name—“Juliet!”—before passing her the ball.

  Juliet received the pass and took a shot. Goal!

  Bursting with pride for my little sister, I jumped up from the camp chair I had been sitting in on the side of the field, knocking it over.

  “Woo-hoo!” I yelled. My mom, sitting next to me, gave a little shriek as my chair toppled onto her. Then she shook her head and laughed before getting up to cheer too.

  “Soccer families stick together,” Mom said as she righted my chair.

  I frowned, thinking of Jamie. Her family was definitely not a soccer family, and she had no one to cheer her on. Which was why I was cheering a little bit more for Maisie today. It made me realize how lucky I was to have such a supportive family. If I couldn’t fix Jamie’s problem, at least I could show my sister how much I cared.

  Maisie jogged past Mom and me. “Way to go, Maisie!” I yelled. She flashed me a smile and gave a thumbs-up before putting her game face on again.

  “Great communication! Way to share the ball!” my dad called out encouragingly. He was the coach of Maisie’s third-grade elementary school soccer team, the Panthers. We were watching them play in the field next to Maisie’s school.

  Emma and Frida, his assistant coaches, were on the sidelines too. Mom and I were sitting close by. Emma was comforting a Panther named Mindy.

  “I’m so embarrassed,” Mindy sobbed, tears running down her cheeks. “I kicked the ball into the wrong goal!”

  I felt so bad for Mindy. In her excitement after getting the ball, she had kicked it into the Panthers’ goal instead of the Comets’ goal. Emma knew exactly how Mindy was feeling. She had once done the same thing, scoring for the opposite team. It had happened when I’d first started playing with the Kicks. Emma had been able to laugh it off, along with the teasing that had followed. If anyone could make Mindy feel better about what had happened, it was Emma.

  Emma leaned over and began talking softly to Mindy. I couldn’t hear what she said, but I saw Mindy’s face brighten. The tears stopped and she started to laugh. Emma continued to talk to her, and then Mindy stood up and gave Emma a high five. My dad put Mindy back into the game, and she ran onto the field, her two long braids flapping behind her and all traces of tears gone from her cheeks. Emma watched, smiling, from the sideline.

  Meanwhile, Frida was passing the ball back and forth between some of the other Panthers, keeping them warmed up and ready to jump into the game.

  “Imagine that inside the ball is the ancient treasure of Atlantis. You must guard the ball to keep the treasure safe,” I overheard Frida say.

  Frida always played soccer better when she pretended she was someone else on the field, since she needed to be acting in order to be happy. It worked for her when she was on the Kicks, and it was fun to see her use it while coaching the little girls. They totally responded to it.

  “I will protect the treasure, Princess Frida,” Maisie’s friend Kaylin said solemnly.

  Frida’s eyes shone, and I knew how much she must have loved having all these kids to playact with and to call her princess! I was laughing to myself when my phone vibrated in the pocket of my shorts. I slipped it out and saw I had a text from Zoe. I hadn’t heard from her since the Gators had beaten us yesterday.

  Gr8 game yesterday! It was close.

  I sighed. It had been close. I had really wanted to win that game and guarantee the Griffons a place in the semifinals. Thankfully, we still had one more chance.

  If we win next week’s game, we might have a rematch! I texted back. What I really wanted to say is, We’ll get you next time. But part of me held back. Zoe didn’t seem comfortable competing against me and Jessi. I didn’t think she’d take it as I intended it, as a good-natured rivalry.

  But her answer totally surprised me.

  I hope not.

  What? Zoe hoped the Griffons didn’t win their next game? I frowned as I reread her text, thinking I must have gotten it wrong. Maybe it was the glare from the sun. I held my palm over the screen of the phone. No. That was what she’d said. I had read it right the first time.

  Wait, what? You hope we don’t win? I texted back, shocked. I couldn’t believe Zoe would say something like that. It was totally out of character for her. Yet she had been acting kind of strange lately. . . .

  No! Sorry! Zoe texted back right away. I meant I hope we don’t have a rematch. I didn’t like playing against my friends.

  I understood where Zoe was coming from. It was weird playing against good friends. However, I couldn’t help but think that if Zoe didn’t want to have a rematch with the Griffons, one of our teams would have to lose along the way. I didn’t want it to be the Griffons, and I was sure Zoe didn’t want it to be the Gators, either. So in a way she had to be hoping we would lose our game. Knowing Zoe, I had to believe she didn’t mean it in a nasty way. I knew that I wanted the Griffons to win. If that meant the Gators losing, what could I do?

  I stared at my phone as I thought about how I would reply to Zoe. I decided to just let it go. Clearly she was getting way too stressed out about the possibility of us facing off against each other on the soccer field again. Besides, I had other things to worry about, like winning our next game and securing a spot in the semifinals.

  “Excuse me, Devin?” My mom’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “You’re here to watch your sister’s soccer game, not to text.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” I said, feeling guilty. I did want to cheer on Maisie and the Panthers. I quickly texted back to Zoe G2G before putting my phone back into my pocket.

  I put the phone away at just the right moment. Mindy had the ball, and she was racing down the field toward the opposite team’s goal, not her own, with a big smile on her face. As she got closer, two defenders charged her. She looked around and spotted Maisie.

  “Maisie!” Mindy called. She got the ball through the defenders, and Maisie caught it. She hit the ball, low and hard, to the right corner of the net. The goalie missed it. Maisie had scored!

  “Yay, Maisie!” I cried, this time using one hand to steady my chair before leaping to my feet.

  “Way to go, Maisie!” my mom shouted next to me.

  “Awesome teamwork, girls!” my dad yelled to his players with a huge grin on his face. Emma and Frida jumped up and down and were cheering loudly.

  A few minutes later the whistle sounded. The game was over and the Panthers had won, 2–1.

  “Yes!” Maisie pumped her fist into the air and then started doing this cute little victory dance. Her friends joined in, and Mindy, who had been crying her eyes out only a few minutes before, was celebrating right along with them.

  I smiled, and I was clapping and cheering for the girls’ victory when something struck me. Mindy had been sobbing, yet now she was dancing and laughing. Soccer had its ups and downs. Playing against your friends was just one of them. If it freaked Zoe out, she would come around. Soon we’d be laughing and joking together again. In the meantime I wouldn’t let it slow me down. I had a soccer game to win!

  “So, another mysterious text from Frida. It must be Monday,” Jessi deadpanned as we sat down the next day at the lunch table we usually shared with Zoe, Emma, and Frida.

 
; This morning we’d gotten a group text from Frida saying, Meet me at our usual lunch table today. Big news! Frida always knew how to bring the drama, whether it was in a text or onstage. It wasn’t the first secretive text we had gotten from her. Usually her news was pretty big. Like, starring-in-a-movie big. I was excited to hear what she had to say.

  Emma sat down next to me, with a big grin on her face. “So, do you think Frida is going to be in another movie? Or maybe Brady McCoy remembers me from the soccer fund-raiser and has fallen totally in love with me?” She got a faraway look in her eyes when she said this.

  “Uh-oh!” Jessi said, alarmed. “Emma, don’t go all fan girl on us again. You know it means disaster.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Yes, Emma, please try to stay sane. We need you!”

  At Frida’s last big announcement, she’d revealed she would be starring in a movie with Brady McCoy, a teen pop star who was Emma’s favorite singer in the world. Emma had all his posters up in her room, knew the lyrics to every one of his songs, and even belonged to his fan club, the Real McCoys. When she’d heard Frida would be starring in a movie with Brady, she had completely wigged out. It was what had caused her to blow her winter league soccer tryout.

  Emma shook her head like she was trying to shake the image of Brady McCoy from her mind. She let out a big sigh. “Since I’m not even allowed to date yet, it would be hard for me to get together with Brady McCoy. But maybe I could convince my mom.”

  “Brady McCoy?” Zoe asked as she took the empty seat next to Emma. “I heard he was dating that singer Star Evans.”

  “You guys are such downers,” Emma complained. “Can’t I have a daydream without you all ruining it?”

  “Hi, Zoe!” Jessi said cheerfully. “What a game on Saturday, huh? We almost had you.”

  “Yeah, great game.” Zoe shifted in her chair, looking uncomfortable. “Hey, Devin,” she said, and looked at me. “I’m sorry about that text. I hope you didn’t misunderstand me.”

  “What text?” Emma asked loudly and innocently, having no idea what we were talking about.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” I said, waving my hand in the air. “It’s no big deal, Zoe. I promise.”

  “The Panthers won!” Emma jumped into the conversation with enthusiasm, thankfully forgetting about the text. “They did such a good job. I was so proud of them.”

  “You’re a great coach, Emma. A total natural,” I told her.

  Emma blushed a little bit. “Aw, well, so is Frida.”

  “Speaking of Frida, where is she? Her fan club is here and waiting,” Jessi joked as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

  For some reason the phrase “fan club” made me think of Jamie and how she didn’t have one. I frowned.

  Noticing my expression change, Emma asked, “What’s wrong, Devin?”

  “Saturday after the game the Griffons all went out for pizza. Jamie’s the only one who didn’t come—” I started to explain, but got cut off.

  “Good! Lucky you,” Emma said. I understood why Emma, who was usually a total sweetie, would say something like that. Jamie had gotten all of the Kicks really upset when she had tried to sabotage our team.

  “That’s what I would have thought a couple of weeks ago, but now I’m not so sure. Jamie is the outsider on the team, and Mirabelle told me some stuff that made me feel bad for Jamie,” I said.

  “Like she felt bad when she was writing ‘Loser’ on your jersey, Devin?” Zoe asked, reminding me of just one of the many nasty tricks Jamie had pulled.

  “I know, I know,” I said. Zoe had a point. “Jamie did a lot of mean things. But Mirabelle was saying how her parents work all the time and never go to her games, yet they take time off to go to her brother’s football games and her sister’s dance recitals. Her parents aren’t really into soccer. I’m not sure if they’ve even been to one of her games!” I couldn’t keep the shock out of my voice as I said that. It was hard to imagine my parents not being excited about my games. It made me sad to even think about it.

  “That is terrible,” Emma, who always looked for the best in everyone, said. “But be careful around Jamie, Devin. You can’t trust her.”

  “Jessi has a good theory on Jamie, about Addison on RTOBH,” I said, looking to Jessi for support. But before I could get that conversation going, Frida appeared.

  “I’m sorry. Am I late?” Frida asked as she placed a hand dramatically on her forehead.

  “Knock it off, Frida, and tell us your news!” said Jessi, direct as always.

  “Well.” Frida brushed her long, auburn curls off her shoulder as she stood at the head of the table, not taking a seat. She was making this announcement standing up and as the center of attention. So Frida. “I’m here to tell you that Mall Mania has a release date. It will air in one month on the BubblePop cable network.”

  “We’ll finally get to see it! Cool!” Emma said, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

  “Yes, and that’s not all,” Frida said, her voice full of excitement. “There’s going to be a big premiere in Los Angeles the night before the movie airs on television. I’m going to get to walk the red carpet!”

  “Wow!” Zoe said, awestruck. “The red carpet! What are you going to wear?”

  “That’s where I’ll need all of you. Especially you, Zoe. I need help picking out the perfect dress,” Frida said.

  “Of course!” Zoe answered as she clapped her hands together. “It’ll be so much fun.”

  “I wish you could all be there at the red carpet premiere with me.” Frida made a frowny face. “But the television premiere will be the next night, and I’ll throw a party for that at my house. We can watch it together.”

  “Now, this is something right out of RTOBH,” Jessi said. “How cool! Can Cody and Steven come?”

  “Well, I haven’t worked out the guest list yet, but I’m sure we can squeeze them in,” she joked.

  I was excited about Frida’s news too. I actually knew someone who was going to walk on the red carpet! And her party sounded like fun. Yet I had to do a quick mental calendar check. “What day of the week is the party at your house?” I asked.

  “Saturday night, in four weeks, and you all just have to be there, or I will cancel this party,” Frida threatened dramatically.

  Four weeks. The regular season games would be over this weekend. I did the math for the semifinals game and then the championship game.

  “Oh good,” I said before I could stop myself. “That would be the week after the winter league championship game, so there’s no conflict.”

  “No conflict? This could be a disaster! What if it’s Griffons versus Gators?” Frida asked, her voice rising. “One of you would be the winners and one would be the losers. That could mean serious conflict at my party!” The way she said it, she almost sounded a little hopeful. Like she wouldn’t mind some conflict at her party.

  The vibe at our table got slightly uncomfortable. Zoe shifted in her seat, not making eye contact with anyone. Emma looked upset. I felt a little annoyed with Frida for getting everyone worried about nothing.

  Jessi and I exchanged glances. “Relax, Frida. It’s just a game,” Jessi said, trying to talk her down. “We’re friends. There wouldn’t be any fighting.”

  I looked at Zoe’s face as Jessi said that, and she looked a little pale. “We don’t even know who will be in the championships yet,” she said softly.

  “Yeah, so let’s not worry about it,” Jessi added.

  Emma forced a smile. “Well, if it is Griffons versus Gators, Frida’s party might be just what we’d all need to take our minds off the outcome!”

  “Yes, or it could be where all the tension boils over!” Frida said, and I could tell she was imagining a crazy scene in her mind, with Zoe and me pulling each other’s hair out or something.

  I had to put a stop to this. It was getting ridiculous.

  “We’re all worrying about something that may not happen,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. “First of all, the Gri
ffons haven’t made it to the semifinals. And if we do, there’s no predicting if we’ll make it to the championships, or if the Gators will either.” I was kind of lying when I said this last part. I had every intention of making it to the championship game. But I didn’t want to give Frida—or Zoe—any more of a reason to worry at the moment. I knew we had to beat two other teams. And if we lost the game this Saturday, we wouldn’t even be playing in the semifinals. But I was going to do everything I could to make sure that didn’t happen.

  “All right, Devin. If you say so, I won’t worry about it,” Frida said as she sat down and pulled a notebook out of her backpack. “I’ve got tons of party planning to do, anyway. Where should we begin?”

  The tension eased as everyone started sharing ideas. As they all chatted, I thought back to the last game we’d had with the Gators. It had been tough. The other teams in the winter league were just as good as the Gators too. I had been feeling positive we could beat the Giraffes in our last regular season game this Saturday and ensure our spot in the semifinals. Now I wasn’t so sure. If it means being in the championship game, I thought, I’d rather have drama at Frida’s party than be on a losing team that doesn’t even make it to the semifinals!

  “Are you crazy?” Jessi asked me in disbelief. “My legs feel like spaghetti right now. Devin, you are some kind of machine!”

  That was her reaction after practice the next day when I told her I was going for a run. It had been another practice where Coach Darby had pushed us to the limit.

  “We’ve got to win our game against the Giraffes,” I reminded her. “So I’m amping up my training. You’re welcome to join me.”

  Jessi shook her head, her long braids swinging. “I’m going to go home, take a shower, eat dinner, and do some homework. Then I’ll reward myself with some Real Teenagers. Taylor has a plan to get even with Addison for ruining her birthday party!”

  When I got home, as I jogged through our neighborhood, I thought of Jessi taking a refreshing shower and watching television. Maybe she had the right idea. Crashing on the couch with some TV was tempting. My legs ached as I pumped them. But I gritted my teeth and kept going. I had to be tougher and faster than the Giraffes on Saturday, so this was what I needed to do.