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with her elbow. “Yes, Coach!” she said, and then everyone else joined in, me included.
    The sooner Coach Flores got back, the better!

CHAPTER EIGHT

    â€œPlease, please tell me you have good news for me,” I pleaded as I draped my bag around the cafeteria chair before sitting down.
    Coach Flores still hadn’t been back on Tuesday, but I had all of my fingers crossed that she’d be back in time for today’s practice.
    I looked hopefully at Jessi, Emma, Zoe, and Frida.
    Jessi slowly shook her head. “Sorry, Devin, but we’ve got another practice with Coach Valentine to look forward to today.”
    â€œCoach Flores is still out,” Emma added sadly.
    â€œOh, no!” I said. “I don’t know if I can take another practice with him.”
    Frida shuddered. “Yesterday was even worse than Monday. ‘Hollywood! Get the lead out!’ ” Frida did a perfect imitation of Coach Valentine’s gruff voice. Ever since he’d heard about Frida’s acting classes,he’d started calling her “Hollywood.”
    â€œMy arms are still sore from all the push-ups,” Zoe complained.
    I rubbed my own arms. They were a little sore too. When Olivia had showed up late at yesterday’s practice, we’d all had to run laps. It had gotten worse when Gabriela had come late too. We’d had to do, like, a zillion push-ups.
    â€œWell, at least we got a great workout,” I said jokingly.
    â€œYeah, at the expense of me missing my acting class,” Frida complained.
    â€œAnd me missing my meeting with my party planner,” Zoe said. “We were going to do a cake tasting!”
    Jessi raised an eyebrow. “It sounds more like you’re planning a wedding than a bat mitzvah!”
    â€œI told you, everything has to be perfect, down to the last detail,” Zoe said, totally serious. “You guys don’t get it. All of my older sisters had perfect bat mitzvahs. Every single person in my family will be there, including my cousins from New Jersey. If I have to taste every cake in the Kentville area, so be it.”
    Emma started cracking up. “Let Zoe eat cake!”
    â€œNow, that’s the kind of party planning I can do! Do you need some help eating all that cake, Zoe?” Jessi asked.
    Zoe laughed. “I know I sound nuts, but I really want this to be a day everyone will remember,” she said.
    â€œI wish I could forget practice with Coach Valentine,” Frida said dramatically, dropping her head into her hands. “I’mtraumatized. And I’m not sure which is more traumatic—his corny jokes or his constant yelling.”
    Jessi shuddered. “It’s like having Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as a soccer coach!”
    I let out a big sigh. Even though Coach Valentine’s methods were way different from anything I had ever experienced before, I felt like I was learning some good pointers from his practices. But I needed to talk to Coach Flores about the problems we were having as a team!
    Emma heard me sigh and gave me a sympathetic grin. “Have there been any more problems with the eighth graders, Devin?”
    I nodded. “Grace still won’t talk to me.” I had filled them in yesterday at lunch about our conversation in the bathroom. “I tried messaging her on MyBook last night, but she wouldn’t answer.”
    â€œThere’s definitely tension between the eighth graders and the seventh graders,” Zoe added. “Anna told me that she takes the same bus as Giselle, and usually they sit together, but today Giselle sat with someone else.”
    I shook my head. “This is all getting so blown out of proportion.”
    â€œHopefully Coach Flores will be back soon and everything will be back to normal,” Emma said, putting a positive spin on things as usual. “And maybe Coach Valentine will ease up a little bit at today’s practice.”
    But Emma’s