Read Online Win or Lose by Alex Morgan - Free Book Online Page A

optimism was no match for Coach Valentine’s drill-sergeant coaching style. If anything, heseemed even tougher than usual at practice that day.
    â€œMove it, move it, move it!” he hollered as we did our warm-up laps. Every single Kicks player had made sure to be on time for today’s practice!
    â€œYou should be glad I’m not making you run in front of a car, girls,” he yelled. “Do you know why? Because it would make you tired! Get it, tires, cars?” He started cracking up again. His laugh was just like his voice, gruff and loud.
    His laugh was so funny, I couldn’t help but laugh along with him, and I noticed a few other girls doing the same.
    But then he was right back to drill sergeant. He broke us up into two groups for a one-on-one soccer drill to strengthen our defense and attacks. “Defenders, you have to stay low,” he yelled.
    I could tell his constant barking was rattling my teammates’ concentration. When we began our scrimmage, I could see that a lot of solid players, like Sarah and Maya, were off their game.
    Sarah immediately went offsides. “You need to be aware of where you are at all times!” Coach barked at her.
    Maya tripped over the ball, almost taking Anna down with her. “Watch it!” Coach shouted.
    He tooted his whistle. “Never mind. We’ll run some drills instead. Hey, do you know what a dentist and a soccer coach have in common. They both use drills!” Again, he cracked himself up.
    I started laughing, and so did Jessi and Emma. “There’splenty more where that came from, girls,” Coach Valentine said. He seemed pleased we were laughing, but not so pleased that he didn’t start barking at all of us as soon as the drill started.
    We were all missing Coach Flores. I felt burned out as I walked off the field with Jessi when practice was over.
    â€œYou know what we need?” I asked Jessi excitedly as an idea popped into my head. “A team building exercise. Just something fun where we can all relax. We haven’t done one in ages.”
    â€œFun? Relax? Don’t let Coach Valentine hear you saying those words,” Jessi joked. “But I agree. We could all use it! What did you have in mind?”
    I shrugged. “Let’s keep it simple. Maybe we can all go out for pizza after tomorrow’s practice.”
    â€œThat’s a great idea,” Jessi said. “Count me in!”
    â€œI’ll text everybody and invite them!” I said, smiling. Maybe this would be just the thing to cheer everybody up and bring the team together again!
    As soon as I climbed into our van, I whipped out my phone and sent a text to everyone on the team.
    Pizza after practice tomorrow at Vinnie’s?
    Before I even got home, my phone began beeping with replies.
    Fun! Zoe texted.
    U know I’ll be there! came from Jessi.
    Only if I can get anchovies on mine, Frida texted back.
    â€œWow!Are you having a text fest?” My dad joked as he steered the van into our driveway.
    â€œJust some soccer business!” I said as I raced into the house and up the stairs. I kept an eye on my phone all night, waiting to see who was coming. I heard from Emma and Sarah. Later on I got texts from Anna and Olivia, and it wasn’t until I was ready to go to bed that I heard back from Brianna. They all said they would come. They were also all seventh graders. Not one of the eighth graders had even bothered to reply. Some team building exercise this is , I thought miserably as I turned off my lamp and burrowed under my covers. More like half-a-team building exercise !

    The next day at school I tried not to think about how none of the eighth graders had texted me back. Instead I tried to concentrate on my schoolwork. But when I got to seventh-period World Civ class, I started thinking of something else: Steven. I hadn’t talked to him since he’d brushed me off after the play-off game. I twisted around in