said.
My four friends demonstrated the drill again, and this time Emma was a little more challenged to intercept the ball. Jessi, Zoe, and Frida completed ten passes and won the round.
âThink you guys can do this?â Emma asked the younger girls, and they all cheered, âYes!â Then Emma picked Maisie and three other girls to give the drill a try.
I moved away from the action and leaned against a tree.
So much for confidence. The only thing I was confident of now was that my soccer mojo was gone, and I had no idea how to get it back!
When Maisieâs practice was done, I said good-bye to my friends and climbed into the Marshmallow with Dad and Maisie.
âThanks for your help today, Devin,â Dad said.
âYeah,â said Maisie. âThat was fun.â
âUh-huh,â I said lamely, staring out the window. I couldnât even enjoy Maisie acting like a human toward me, because I was so depressed about losing my soccer mojo.
When we got home, I showered, did homework, and ate dinner, feeling blah with every step. The only thing that nudged me out of my mood was a group text I got after dinner, originating from Emma.
Devin, your best friends are cordially inviting you to Pizza Kitchen tomorrow after soccer practice. RSVP ASAP.
I giggled when I saw the message, and then I went downand asked Mom if it was okay. She said yes, and I texted back right away.
Iâll be there. Whatâs up?
Wouldnât you like to know? Emma replied.
I had no idea what my friends were planning, but just getting the text made me feel a lot better. I went to sleep looking forward to the next day, and I actually slept through the night. I felt a little more like myself the next morning.
Not that the next day was perfect or anything. Far from it. Things didnât get annoying until after lunch (where I begged everyone to tell me what was up, but nobody would), when I went to World Civ class. Mr. Emmet handed back our tests on the Roman empire, and mine had a big red 58 on it, just like Iâd feared. I knew that was an F.
âSome of you in the class had trouble with this test,â Mr. Emmet announced. âIâm wondering if it had something to do with the earthquake the night before. If youâre interested in taking a retest, come talk to me after class.â
At first I felt relieved. A retest meant the chance to improve my grade! And that thought made me happy, until the bell rang. As I headed toward Mr. Emmetâs desk, I saw Steven move toward me, like he was going to ask me to walk with him. Hailey was hanging right behind him.
But I had to talk to Mr. Emmet, so I shrugged and kind of motioned toward the desk, where a few other kids had gathered. Now Steven and Hailey knew that I had failedthe test! So embarrassing. I felt like melting into the floor.
Mr. Emmet put me on the list for the retest, and I headed to English. Steven and Hailey were laughing about something, and I felt a pang of jealousy as I took my seat. I did my best to shrug it off. It shouldnât have bothered me that Steven was talking to another girl. I just sort of missed having his attention on me.
Then, after school, Mom brought me to practice. We had a scrimmage, and because we had to divide up our team to play against each other, I got to play the whole game.
I played okay, but not my best. I didnât mess upâwell, not badly, anyway.
A couple of times I lost focus and wasnât on top of the ball when I should have been.
âLook alive, Devin!â Coach Darby called out.
I tried to stop being a soccer zombie and made a few good passes, but I didnât score any goals. I had probably failed to really impress Coach Darby.
So what was to blame? Bad luck? Not-so-good luck? Or had I really, truly lost my soccer skills? As I walked off the field, I imagined a poster in my head: MISSING! DEVINâS SOCCER MOJO. LAST SEEN ON THE PINEWOOD SOCCER FIELD.
After practice Jessi was all
My four friends demonstrated the drill again, and this time Emma was a little more challenged to intercept the ball. Jessi, Zoe, and Frida completed ten passes and won the round.
âThink you guys can do this?â Emma asked the younger girls, and they all cheered, âYes!â Then Emma picked Maisie and three other girls to give the drill a try.
I moved away from the action and leaned against a tree.
So much for confidence. The only thing I was confident of now was that my soccer mojo was gone, and I had no idea how to get it back!
When Maisieâs practice was done, I said good-bye to my friends and climbed into the Marshmallow with Dad and Maisie.
âThanks for your help today, Devin,â Dad said.
âYeah,â said Maisie. âThat was fun.â
âUh-huh,â I said lamely, staring out the window. I couldnât even enjoy Maisie acting like a human toward me, because I was so depressed about losing my soccer mojo.
When we got home, I showered, did homework, and ate dinner, feeling blah with every step. The only thing that nudged me out of my mood was a group text I got after dinner, originating from Emma.
Devin, your best friends are cordially inviting you to Pizza Kitchen tomorrow after soccer practice. RSVP ASAP.
I giggled when I saw the message, and then I went downand asked Mom if it was okay. She said yes, and I texted back right away.
Iâll be there. Whatâs up?
Wouldnât you like to know? Emma replied.
I had no idea what my friends were planning, but just getting the text made me feel a lot better. I went to sleep looking forward to the next day, and I actually slept through the night. I felt a little more like myself the next morning.
Not that the next day was perfect or anything. Far from it. Things didnât get annoying until after lunch (where I begged everyone to tell me what was up, but nobody would), when I went to World Civ class. Mr. Emmet handed back our tests on the Roman empire, and mine had a big red 58 on it, just like Iâd feared. I knew that was an F.
âSome of you in the class had trouble with this test,â Mr. Emmet announced. âIâm wondering if it had something to do with the earthquake the night before. If youâre interested in taking a retest, come talk to me after class.â
At first I felt relieved. A retest meant the chance to improve my grade! And that thought made me happy, until the bell rang. As I headed toward Mr. Emmetâs desk, I saw Steven move toward me, like he was going to ask me to walk with him. Hailey was hanging right behind him.
But I had to talk to Mr. Emmet, so I shrugged and kind of motioned toward the desk, where a few other kids had gathered. Now Steven and Hailey knew that I had failedthe test! So embarrassing. I felt like melting into the floor.
Mr. Emmet put me on the list for the retest, and I headed to English. Steven and Hailey were laughing about something, and I felt a pang of jealousy as I took my seat. I did my best to shrug it off. It shouldnât have bothered me that Steven was talking to another girl. I just sort of missed having his attention on me.
Then, after school, Mom brought me to practice. We had a scrimmage, and because we had to divide up our team to play against each other, I got to play the whole game.
I played okay, but not my best. I didnât mess upâwell, not badly, anyway.
A couple of times I lost focus and wasnât on top of the ball when I should have been.
âLook alive, Devin!â Coach Darby called out.
I tried to stop being a soccer zombie and made a few good passes, but I didnât score any goals. I had probably failed to really impress Coach Darby.
So what was to blame? Bad luck? Not-so-good luck? Or had I really, truly lost my soccer skills? As I walked off the field, I imagined a poster in my head: MISSING! DEVINâS SOCCER MOJO. LAST SEEN ON THE PINEWOOD SOCCER FIELD.
After practice Jessi was all
Similar Books
