Choosing Sides Read online

  The Roses didn’t improve as the game went on. I spent some time on the bench, and I watched Sasha. A headband held back her wispy blond hair, and her mouth was set in a firm line of determination as she played. On the Griffons she had been one of our coach’s favorite players, with an aggressive playing style that had earned her a lot of fouls, until she’d calmed down. We hadn’t gotten along great at first, but by the end of the season we’d been friends.

  On the field now, Sasha never stopped hustling. She kept running after the ball. At one point she used some nice footwork to get past Frida and then sent the ball flying over Emma’s head and into the net. But it was the only goal the Roses scored all game.

  When the final whistle blew, the Kicks had won 10–1. We gathered together for victory hugs and slaps on the back, but none of us were feeling too good about this win.

  “They remind me of us at the start of the fall season,” Jessi said, shaking her head. “I feel really bad for them.”

  “Me too,” I sighed. “Come on. Let’s go shake hands with them.”

  The other Kicks were walking up to the line of Roses, and I started shaking hands.

  “Good game, good game,” I said to all the players I shook hands with. Most of them looked down and didn’t even make eye contact. Then I came to Sasha.

  “Hey, Sasha,” I said gently as I offered her my hand. “That was tough out there.”

  Sasha looked up at me, her hazel eyes brimming with tears. She nodded without saying anything. I had the feeling that if she’d tried to talk, she would have burst out crying.

  “Look, I know what it’s like.” I wanted to say something, anything that would make her feel better. “The Kicks used to be the same exact way. It was so frustrating. But we got better. I know the Roses can too.”

  Sasha gave a gulp as if she were swallowing her tears. “Thanks,” she said in a voice that was just a little louder than a whisper.

  I made my way down the rest of the line. When I was finished, Jessi was waiting for me.

  “My mom said we’ll pick you up at six. Okay?” she asked.

  “Can’t wait!” I said as Jessi darted away to meet her mom.

  Mrs. Dukes was expecting a baby. Her stomach was starting to look really big, like she had a soccer ball tucked into her shirt. I wondered if Jessi was going to have a little brother or a little sister. Mr. and Mrs. Dukes knew, but they were keeping it a surprise. Jessi couldn’t wait to find out, because she really wanted a little sister. I told her she could have Maisie anytime.

  As I went looking for my mom, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I twirled around to see Sasha behind me.

  “I really miss playing with you on the Griffons,” Sasha said. “Coach Darby was tough, but I didn’t mind. At least she helped us win games. When our old coach retired, we got stuck with Coach Doyle, who’s never played soccer in her life. She’s constantly saying stuff like how soccer ‘builds character,’ and she doesn’t care if we win, as long as we do our best. But I care about winning, and I’m not the only one.”

  She looked so sad and angry at the same time. I knew exactly how she felt.

  “I totally get it,” I said sympathetically. “Coach Flores used to be the same way.”

  “Really?” Sasha asked. “Because I can’t believe that anyone could be as disorganized as Coach Doyle. You should have seen her handing out positions at the start of the game. ‘Who feels like playing forward? Who wants to play defense?’ It was total chaos.”

  I nodded. “It sounds like she just wants to make sure that everyone has a fair chance. Coach Flores used to do the same thing. She still makes sure everyone has game time and gets to try positions they’re interested in, but now she has a lot more strategy when it comes to games.”

  “How did you fix it? What changed?” Sasha asked eagerly.

  “A lot of things,” I said. “First we had to let Coach Flores know that we wanted to win. Then we had to get all of our teammates on board. And we did a lot of team building exercises.”

  Just then I heard my mom calling me. “Devin! Let’s go!”

  “I gotta go,” I said to Sasha, who frowned. “Hey, here’s my cell phone number.” I told her the digits and she keyed them into her phone. “Feel free to text if you need anything. Good luck!”

  “Thanks, Devin,” she said, and I jogged off the field and toward the parking lot, where my mom was waiting for me.

  “Great game, sweetie,” she said. “Now I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Maisie’s team won their game too, and Dad and I are taking you both out to lunch to celebrate. We’re going to meet Dad and Maisie at the restaurant.”

  “Ugh!” I groaned. I knew what was coming next. “Don’t tell me. The bad news is that we’re going to Pirate Pete’s.”

  Mom laughed. “It is Maisie’s turn to pick.”

  There are worse things, I thought. I’d rather be celebrating a win at Maisie’s favorite, corny pirate-themed restaurant than going home feeling totally hopeless like poor Sasha!

  Chapter Three

  I survived Pirate Pete’s, and later that night Jessi and I sang along to our new favorite song as her mom drove us to meet Steven and Cody at Loaded Lanes, a bowling alley that had cool laser lights, a full arcade, and all kinds of yummy food that a waiter would bring to you while you bowled.

  “I’ll see you in the headlines.” Jessi crooned the last line of the song while I sang backup.

  As the song ended, Mrs. Dukes said, “I’m impressed. Sure you two don’t want to give up soccer and join the school’s chorus instead?”

  “No thanks!” Jessi said immediately and emphatically. “I’ll stick to singing in the shower.”

  I laughed. “Right. Soccer comes first!”

  “Although, Sebastian is in chorus,” Jessi said with a sly smile. “He’s got a really great voice.”

  “I’ll have to go to the spring concert, then,” I said. “Are you going?”

  Jessi nodded. “Sebastian wants to go out for ice cream afterward.”

  “I’m so glad you figured out a way to be friends with both Sebastian and Cody,” I said. Part of why I was so happy was because Cody and Steven were best friends, and I wouldn’t see Steven as much if Jessi and Cody weren’t friends too. But I didn’t want to say that part out loud in front of Mrs. Dukes.

  “Me too!” Jessi grinned.

  “Me three!” Mrs. Dukes chimed. “You are both too young for this boyfriend stuff.”

  Jessi rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. We’re all just friends. And it’s not like I’m going to have much of a social life soon, after my baby brother or sister comes.”

  Mrs. Dukes laughed at that. “I think my social life will be way more on hold than yours, Jessi.”

  “I told you I am totally going to help you out,” Jessi reminded her mom.

  “Yes, and I appreciate that. But you still need to have fun and do things with your friends,” Mrs. Dukes replied.

  “When is the baby due?” I asked.

  “In about six weeks,” answered Mrs. Dukes. “And in case he or she comes early, we are all ready. The room is done and we’ve got everything set up.”

  “Yes, and I am all moved into my closet,” Jessi joked. She’d had to give up her room for the baby, and the room she’d moved into was a lot smaller than her old one.

  “You are already an amazing and kind big sister, and your sibling hasn’t even been born yet,” Mrs. Dukes said, not taking the bait. Then she pulled up in front of Loaded Lanes.

  “I’ll pick you up at nine,” she told us. “If you want to come home earlier, just give me a call.”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Jessi said, and I said “Thanks, Mrs. Dukes!” simultaneously as we got out of the car. We headed into the bowling alley, and Jessi glanced down at her phone.

  “Cody and Steven are here. They’ve got a lane reserved for us,” she said as we walked in.

  “Over here!” Cody called from a lane. He waved an arm in the air, a smile spread
ing across his face. Steven stood beside him, smiling and waving too.

  “We’ll be right there!” Jessi called. “Let’s get our shoes.”

  We got in line to rent our bowling shoes. It was a busy night, and lots of people were bowling. The place was dark, with colorful lights reflecting off the gleaming lanes. Sound effects blared from the video games in the arcade, and music blasted through the speakers near the lanes. I smiled. It was going to be a fun night!

  We got our hideous shoes—half red, half blue, with rounded toes—and Jessi laughed. “Do you think Zoe would be caught dead in these?”

  I shook my head. “No way. She’d probably refuse to put them on and sit on the bench all night.”

  We slipped on our ugly shoes and walked over to the lane where Cody and Steven were. Cody’s smile grew bigger.

  “Are you ready to witness my awesome bowling skills?” he said, and smirked.

  Jessi smirked back. “Yes, I’m going to be pretty amazed at how many gutter balls you bowl.”

  “I’ll show you!” Cody laughed, and the two of them began bantering back and forth.

  Steven grinned at me. “Here we go,” he said, and we both laughed. We were used to how Cody and Jessi loved to tease each other.

  Then Jessi and I searched the racks to find bowling balls that fit our fingers and weren’t too heavy—but weren’t too light, either. I found a blue, speckled one that reminded me of the Kicks, so I chose that one. Jessi picked a red ball and then entered our names into the electronic scoreboard: Jessi, Devin, Steven, Cody.

  “Aw, how come you get to go first?” Cody complained. “And I’m last?”

  Jessi grinned. “Because I got to the scoreboard first,” she said. “Now watch and learn.”

  Jessi got a serious look on her face, and she held up her ball in her right hand, supporting it with her left. Then she did a series of comical, silly steps before throwing her ball, which had all of us cracking up. Bam! She knocked down all ten pins.

  “Strike!” I cheered.

  “Woo-hoo!” she called as she gave me a high five. “Your turn, Devin.”

  I picked up my ball, feeling a little nervous. I’d only been bowling a few times in my life, usually when my friends in Connecticut had bowling birthday parties. And I hadn’t bowled at all since we’d moved to California. So I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get a strike.

  I held up the ball. I tried to keep my eye on the center pin. I took three steps up to the line, and then I let go. The ball skidded up the middle of the lane . . . and then started to drift right. It drifted all the way into the gutter!

  “You’re just warming up, Devin!” Jessi encouraged me.

  But my second ball was a gutter ball too, and that really bugged me. Even off the soccer field, I was pretty competitive.

  “You’ll do better next time, Devin,” Steven assured me, and then he knocked down seven pins on his turn, which was respectable. After him Cody grabbed his ball with confidence and bowled a strike.

  He grinned at Jessi. “You’re going to have to hustle to keep up with me,” he warned.

  “No problem,” Jessi said, jumping up. She knocked down eight pins on her first ball, and then got the last two on her second try, for a spare.

  “Nice!” I said.

  “She’s just lucky!” Cody countered.

  It was my turn. I got up and frowned. I did not want to throw gutter balls again.

  Jessi came up to me. “Keep your wrist straight when you throw,” she advised. “You were twisting yours last time.” She demonstrated.

  “Got it,” I said. I stared at the pins, then took two steps up to the line. This time I concentrated on my wrist as I released the ball. The ball zoomed down the middle of the lane, and knocked all but one pin down.

  “Yes!” Jessi yelled, and we high-fived again.

  Steven grinned, and we slapped palms too.

  “I figured you’d be a quick learner,” he said.

  We took a quick break as a waiter came over to take our order. We all got burgers and fries.

  “Does the burger have kale on it?” Jessi asked, and the waiter gave her a strange look.

  “No,” he said.

  “I’ll take it!” Jessi told him as she set down her menu, and the rest of us cracked up.

  We bowled a few more rounds while waiting for the food to arrive. By the time the waiter came back, I was one point behind Steven, and Jessi and Cody were way ahead of both of us, taking turns claiming the top spot. We had another break to eat, and as we were munching, both Jessi and I got a text message at the same time.

  “It’s Emma,” Jessi said.

  I glanced down at my phone and read the text out loud.

  Zoe didn’t show up for Real McCoys fan club meeting. I tried to text her, but she didn’t answer. Is she with you guys? Do you know where she is?

  “Real McCoys?” Steven wondered.

  “It’s a fan club that Emma and Zoe belong to for Brady McCoy,” I explained.

  “He’s so lame,” Cody sneered.

  Steven shrugged. “Some of his songs are okay.”

  “You would think so. You’ve got the same haircut,” Cody teased him.

  Steven pretended to dust off his shoulders. “You’re just jealous because I look so good.”

  Steven used to wear his hair spiky. Now he had his bangs pulled over his forehead in a messy fringe, with the rest trimmed short on the sides. It looked supercute.

  Jessi began texting. “I’m letting Emma know that I haven’t seen Zoe or heard from her. You?”

  “Nope.” I shook my head. “You know, Zoe doesn’t seem to like Brady McCoy too much anymore. She tried to tell Emma at lunch yesterday that she didn’t want to go to the fan club meeting, but Emma wasn’t paying attention.”

  Jessi sighed. “I noticed that too. Zoe and Emma have been friends since kindergarten . . . but things can change.”

  I nodded. “Yes, but sometimes they stay the same.” I couldn’t resist teasing Jessi. “After all, you still like The Sunshine Puppies.”

  The Sunshine Puppies was a kids’ show. When Frida, Emma, Zoe, and I had helped Jessi move out of her old room into her new one, we’d uncovered her stash of DVDs and stuffed animals.

  “I stand by my love of the Sunshine Puppies. They are the cutest, and I am not afraid to admit it,” Jessi said proudly.

  “What? Sunshine Puppies, seriously? Jessi, I had no idea you were such a dork,” Cody teased her.

  “I’m a dork and proud of it!” Jessi raised her voice. A couple of the other bowlers looked over at us, and I couldn’t help but laugh. They must have thought that Jessi was nuts!

  “Um, you really shouldn’t talk, Cody,” Steven said to his friend. “Isn’t there a certain bear named Freddy the Teddy that is still on your bed?”

  “Freddy the Teddy? That’s hysterical!” Jessi snorted.

  Cody, who was usually so confident, actually got a slight red blush on his cheeks. “My grandma gave him to me when I was a baby,” he said.

  “Cody sleeps with his teddy bear,” Jessi started to chime in a singsong voice.

  “Freddy the Teddy is more than just a bear. He’s a friend,” Cody joked.

  Jessi kept right on singing. Cody put down his burger and stood up.

  “I’m warning you,” he said.

  Jessi stopped to ask, “What are you going to do?”

  Cody smiled. “Chase you all around this bowling alley until you are too tired to sing.”

  Jessi laughed. “You’re on,” she said, before she started singing again as she darted away.

  Cody started chasing Jessi around Loaded Lanes.

  Steven and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

  “They’re both crazy,” I said.

  “They are. But they make everything fun,” Steven agreed.

  “True. Jessi is always cracking all of us up.” I replied, and when I said “us,” it made me think of my other friends. “I hope everything will be okay between Emma and
Zoe.”

  Steven replied, “I’m sure they’ll be fine. If Zoe isn’t that into Brady McCoy, that shouldn’t stop Emma, right?”

  Steven made it all sound so simple. I relaxed—until a loud scream filled the air, and I jumped out of my seat.

  Cody had grabbed Jessi near the bowling shoe rental booth, and she had let out a bloodcurdling screech. I saw an employee walk over to them. Cody let go of Jessi, and they both grew silent. Then I saw them nod their heads before slowly walking back to the lane.

  When they were back, they both dissolved into giggles.

  “We almost got kicked out, and it was all your fault, Cody,” Jessi laughed.

  “My fault? You were the one who screamed!” Cody said.

  I grinned. Jessi, Cody, Steven, and I were hanging out like old times. We finished the game, and even the fact that I came in last (by only two points, but who was counting) didn’t get me down. I might not have been able to win at bowling, but at least the Kicks were having a winning season!

  Chapter Four

  I lay in bed, stretching slowly as the smell of something delicious cooking for breakfast woke me up. It was such a treat to be able to sleep in. Between school during the week and soccer practices and games on the weekends, sleeping in wasn’t something I could do a lot.

  I got up and quickly used the bathroom before heading downstairs in my favorite pair of pajamas. The T-shirt said WHAT’S LIFE WITHOUT GOALS? PLAY SOCCER, and the matching pants were black and had little soccer balls all over them.

  I breathed in deeply before walking into the kitchen. The smell was so yummy!

  “Let me guess? Your world-famous chocolate chip pancakes?” I asked my dad. He stood over the stove, a spatula in his hands.

  “Yep, and I got the first one,” my sister Maisie said before my dad could answer. She was sitting at the kitchen table, chocolate from the pancakes smeared on her chin.

  “Good for you,” I replied cheerfully. Then I sat down, and my dad slid a plate of pancakes in front of me. It was too early in the morning to get into an argument with my little sister.