Read Online Soccer Duel by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online Page B

to be a first-class nightmare — all because Renny had found out the truth about him and Turk Walters.
    “Did you see that shot he took in the first half?”
    Bryce knew that voice. He turned to see Coach Harrelson talking with another man. Both of them had notepads and pens. They were looking out on the field, where Renny Harding was dancing around with the ball again.
    “I thought you said he had a weak shot,” the other man said.
    “Guess I was wrong,” Coach Harrelson said. “Or else he's just getting better with age.”
    The two men laughed, and Bryce felt tears filling his eyes. He sank down on the bench and turned away from them.
    A minute later, defenseman Steve Weintraub came out of the game and sat down with him. “This really stinks,” he said to Bryce,
    “Tell me about it. Say, who's the guy with Coach Harrelson?” Bryce asked.
    “Don't you know him?” Steve asked. “That's Coach Johnson — he runs the high school varsity team.”
    “Oh, great,” Bryce said. “Just great.” Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse.
    It was a mercy when the final whistle blew. No other goals had been scored, but the first game of the championship had been a massacre all the way.
    The kid had drawn first blood. Bryce sat there steaming, thinking not about the past, but about the future. I'm not through yet, he swore to himself. It's not over till it's over, Renny Harding.

15
    R enny couldn't sleep. Today's game had been incredible. In fact, the whole last two-plus weeks had been like something out of a dream. He'd become the soccer sensation of the whole town — even Norm Harvey had called to congratulate him.
    “You appear to have an excellent probability of winning the championship at this point,” he had said. “In fact, the odds are three to one in your favor. And your stats would appear to put you in line for the play-off's Most Valuable Player!”
    “Hey, it was only one game,” Renny pointed out.
    “But you've got momentum on your side,” Norm said. “The psychological edge. Fascinating. It's a lot like chess, actually.”
    “Hey!” Renny said with a laugh. “That's my line!”
    Norm had also mentioned that the high school coaches had been there. He heard they'd been very impressed with Renny.
    So now Renny lay awake, thinking about the possibilities. Maybe someday he'd play center striker in high school. Probably not, though. After all, Isaac Mendez and Bryce were both bigger and stronger than he was, and almost as fast. They'd been playing here in town for years, while he had only emerged two weekends ago.
    Still, the fantasy was sweet. Renny saw himself playing while Bryce fumed on the bench, waiting to play his paltry few minutes of garbage time when the game was already decided one way or the other. Ha!
    It had been fantastic to see the look of pain and fury on Bryce's face at the end of the game today. As his teammates lifted him to their shoulders and chanted his name, Renny, had caught a glimpse of Bryce, kicking a Styrofoam cooler to pieces.
    Well, good, Renny thought. He deserved it. He'd pretended to be Renny's friend while plotting against him with Turk. “I could have been hurt,” Renny muttered.
    He had really thought Bryce wanted to be his friend. “What an idiot I was,” Renny said to himself bitterly as he stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. Why would a popular lad like Bryce Mc-Cormack want to be my friend? No, he was just scoping me out, trying to find my weak points. I guess he thought I didn't have any guts. Well, now he knows I do.
    Renny closed his eyes, but sleep just wouldn't come. He thought about what Norm had said about the MVP trophy. It would be nice to get, he conceded.
    But then he realized it would also be okay if he didn't win it. It didn't matter to Renny, so long as his team won the championship. He'd had so much success already, it was beyond what had been his wildest dreams at the start of the season. But Bryce…
    “He's