Shaken Up (4 page)

And that would lead to another problem. In order to play on a soccer team, I had to get good grades. That was the rule of the school league, but Mom and Dad had always made it clear that it was their rule too, even though they knew I was a good student. How would I explain this failed test to them? How would an F affect my World Civ grade?

I looked at the clock and then frantically started trying to fill in the answers I had skipped. But I had only filled in a few when Mr. Emmet called out to the class.

“Time's up. Please pass up your papers,” he said, and I sighed and put down my pen. As he collected the papers, I mentally tried to figure out my current class grade based
on the work I'd done so far. If I failed this test, would I fail the class? But I'd gotten an 85 on my first project, and a 93 on the last quiz. . . .

Then the bell rang. I was looking forward to walking to English class with Steven. I knew he would probably say something funny or nice that would help me forget all about failing the test and freaking out about the earthquake.

But when I got up from my desk, Steven was not in his seat, waiting for me like he usually did. He and Hailey were walking out the door together!

I guess I could have caught up to them and introduced myself to Hailey. That was probably what I should have done. But instead I just stood there, confused.

Why was Steven walking with Hailey and not me? We
always
walked together. Always. This change made me feel strange.

I walked by myself to English class, and Steven noticed me as he took his seat.

“Oh, hey, Devin,” he said. “Have you met Hailey yet?”

“Yeah. I mean, not really. You know, just in our last class,” I said, not making any sense at all.

“Nice to meet you,” Hailey said in a perfectly nice way, but I was feeling flustered and awkward, and I quickly took my seat.

Jessi sat next to me in English. She had been chatting with Cody but stopped when I sat down, and she leaned over to me. “What's up, Devin?” she said with a look of
concern on her face. I guessed she could tell just by looking at me that something was wrong.

I was starting to whisper into her ear, when our English teacher said loudly, “Quiet! Books out. Turn to page ninety-six.”

I shrugged and mouthed “Talk to you later” as class began. Luckily, I didn't have an English test to fail. But I was still rattled when the final bell rang, and we had to hustle to get to practice since it was now at Pinewood. I didn't have a chance to talk with Jessi until we were dressed and warming up on the field.

“So what do you think?” I asked after I had told her the whole story about Hailey.

“Well, he's probably just being nice because she's new,” Jessi said. “That's why you like him, right? Because he's nice?” She bent her right knee and started doing lunges.

“Yeah, you're right,” I said, but it still didn't feel right. To be honest, nothing felt right. Between the earthquake, and failing the test, and Steven not walking with me to English, I was feeling pretty shaken up!

Then Coach blew her whistle, and we jogged out onto the field. I liked the feel of my feet pounding on the neatly trimmed grass. I fell into a rhythm as Coach had the team do some laps.

At least there's one place where I don't feel shaky,
I thought.
The soccer field!

On Saturday morning I jumped out of bed as soon as my alarm clock went off at seven a.m. On a school morning I'd have hit the snooze button and rolled over. But today was a game day, and every game day felt like Christmas morning. I had to admit, I hadn't felt that way when I'd first joined the Griffons. But now that we were acting more like a team, I loved going to games again.

I hurried to get dressed in my pink, white, and blue Griffons uniform. I didn't like it as much as my Kicks uniform, but it did have a cool emblem of a griffon on the front. A griffon was a mythical beast that was half lion, half eagle, which I thought was a pretty cool mascot for a soccer team. It was a combination of two swift and deadly predators.

Maybe that's why most of the Griffons are so ruthless on the field,
I mused as I pulled my hair into a ponytail. Some
of our players were so aggressive during games that it was a wonder we didn't get more penalties. The Kicks weren't like that at all. Our mascot was a kangaroo, a cute, friendly animal that hopped around—but a kangaroo was also an amazingly strong kicker. Both teams were equally strong, I thought. But the style of play was really different on each team, and I thought I liked the Kicks style better.

I ran downstairs, where Mom had breakfast ready for me. We'd been trying out new carb-protein combinations before a game to see what gave me the most energy. This morning she'd made me a bowl of her homemade granola with low-fat milk and fresh blueberries, and two hard-boiled eggs.

“I'm eating the same breakfast as you,” Maisie announced as I sat down at the table. “I have a big practice today.”

“But you hate hard-boiled eggs!” I said.

Maisie took a big bite out of one of her eggs. “Not anymore.” She started to make a face, but then she gulped it down without complaining.

Then I realized something. “Maisie has a practice? Does that mean you won't be at the game?” I asked Dad. He'd never missed any of my games. Once, he had a bad cold, but he came anyway, and I could hear him sneezing all the way out on the field!

“Of course I'll be at your game,” Dad said. “I scheduled Maisie's practice for later this afternoon.”

After breakfast Mom, Dad, Maisie, and I left for the
Pinewood Rec Center. Pinewood was a nearby town that was a lot fancier than Kentville, which meant it had a super nice soccer field. When the school league started up and I was playing with the Kicks again, the nice soccer field would probably be the thing I missed most about being on the Griffons. The Kicks' field was decent, but not as fancy as Pinewood's.

We got to the field at eight fifteen sharp. The game started at nine, so Mom, Dad, and Maisie went to stake out the best spot in the bleachers, while I went to warm up with the team.

There were eighteen players on the Griffons, and eleven at a time were on the field during a game. When I'd first joined the Griffons, the only players I'd known had been Jessi, Zarine, and Sarah, all from the Kicks; Mirabelle, who'd been on the Kicks briefly, before transferring to Pinewood; and Jamie, who had tried to sabotage the Kicks.

It hadn't been easy getting to know the other twelve members of the team—not because they'd been unfriendly (although a few of them had been, to begin with) but because Coach Darby hadn't done a lot of teamwork exercises with us. That had changed a little bit once she'd seen that we played better once we had learned how to communicate with one another.

“Devin, ready?” Coach called out to me.

“Ready!” I called back, and then I launched into our pregame ritual—which I had taught the team.

I did a cartwheel. “Lauren!” I cried, naming one of my teammates.

Lauren did a cartwheel. “Katie!” she called out.

Every player took a turn until every girl had been called on. By the time the last girl had done her cartwheel, our energy was pumped up for the game. We got even more pumped up by getting together in a circle and doing the “I Believe” chant together.

“All right, girls. Let's do some passing drills to warm up!” Coach shouted, and everyone hurried to line up.

Before the drills started, I looked up into the stands. There were Dad, Mom, and Maisie. I checked to see if Steven and Cody were there, like they had said they would be, but I didn't see them anywhere. That bugged me a little bit. On Thursday and Friday, Steven had walked with Hailey to English class again, and I hadn't had a chance to remind him about the game.

“Devin, look alive!” Coach called out, and that was when I noticed the ball whizzing past my feet. The drill had started, but I hadn't been paying attention.

“Sorry, Coach!” I called out, and chased after the ball.

It wasn't the best way to start things off. I tried to really focus for the rest of the warm-up, to get my head in the game. The Griffons had just started winning, and we couldn't afford to lose if we were going to win the championship!

When warm-up was over, Coach Darby called out the starting lineup. I was psyched that she put me in midfield
with Jessi and Sasha. I hadn't had a strong start to the winter season, but I had worked hard to prove to Coach Darby that I was a good player. The fact that she was starting me showed that she believed in me.

So I was feeling pretty good when I got out onto the field. The Gophers got control of the ball first. Jessi swiped the ball from the Gophers' forward as the girl was dribbling down the field. Then Jessi passed it to me.

I dribbled toward the Gophers' goal. From the corner of my eye, I could see one of the Gophers coming for me. I needed to pass, and Jamie was open. I slowed down, and then I kicked.

As I connected with the ball, I felt my foot slip. Instead of shooting straight to Jamie, the ball veered sharply to the right—and directly in front of the feet of one of the Gophers!

Jamie scowled and chased after the ball. I looked down. What had happened? And then I noticed that my right shoe was untied.

What an embarrassing pass! And I couldn't just stop and fix my shoe, so I ran around with my lace flapping until the next time-out was called.

“Nice pass back there, Devin,” Jamie said, walking past me. “You know you're on the
Griffons
, right?”

I cringed inside but didn't answer her. That had been a horrible attempt at a pass. Yes, it had been an accident, but I felt like I deserved her comment.

I didn't do anything else embarrassing for the rest of
the quarter, thank goodness—but I didn't score any goals either. So I wasn't surprised that Coach Darby benched me when the quarter was up—although, thanks to goals by Jamie and Sasha, the Griffons were up, 2–0.

Jessi flashed me a sympathetic look as I jogged off the field and Tracey ran in to replace me.

I watched the second quarter from the bench. The Gophers were having a rough game. Jessi, Jamie, and Tracey each scored—and the Gophers couldn't manage a single goal.

At halftime Tracey ran back to the bench, her dark eyes shining.

“I scored a goal! Finally!” she said. “This must be my lucky game.”

Jessi was grinning too. “I'm one third of the way to my hat trick,” she boasted. Then she looked up at the stands. “Even though it doesn't look like Cody's here to see it.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Although, I'm kind of glad Steven wasn't here to see me make that pass.”

I was itching to get back into the game, to prove to Coach that I was a better player than that pass. But I didn't get my way. She kept me on the bench for the rest of the game.

Jessi got to play one more quarter. She made a second goal, but she didn't get her hat trick. The Gophers managed to score twice, but that wasn't enough to save them. The Griffons won, 7–2.

When the game was over, I stood up, pasted a smile
onto my face, and cheered with the rest of my team. But I didn't jump up and down or hug anybody. I just didn't want to, which was not like me at all. Normally I'd have been really happy for my team, no matter what.

What is wrong with me?
I wondered.

“Devin, what's bugging you?” Jessi asked me.

“Being benched,” I replied, but that wasn't all of it. Something was wrong, and I could feel it.

Was I losing my soccer mojo?