“Kahn and Stern!” Ms. Perez called when practice was almost over. “You’re up. One-on-one with Coach Naranjo.”
“Finally,” Nora said as she walked up to Melina. “We’re last, you know.”
“I noticed,” Melina said. She just wanted the day to be done.
Together they jogged down the field toward the head coach. She stood at the far goal, a ball under one arm. “Let’s hustle, girls!” Coach called.
Melina picked up her pace a bit, but Nora picked it up a bit more. Before long, they were racing. Each girl sprinted down the field as fast as she could.
“Go, Kahn!” someone called from behind them.
Melina’s heart sunk. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Nora’s big grin.
It was no use. Nora beat her in their sprint to Coach Naranjo. Just like she’ll probably beat me out for the center forward position, thought Melina bitterly.
“That’s more like it,” Coach Naranjo said. “This will be a good old one-on-one match, so there’s no goalkeeping.” She nodded toward the small practice goals set up on opposite sidelines.
Nora winked at Melina. “Good luck.”
“You too,” Melina mumbled.
“You can start,” Coach Naranjo said to Nora, “since you won the impromptu race down the field.”
Nora’s smile widened. It was growing more wicked by the moment.
“And I hope you two don’t mind an audience,” Coach said as she placed the ball in the center of the little one-on-one field. “It looks like the rest of the team has finished up early and wants to watch.”
“Great!” Nora said as the other players walked over from the Double Weave drill and surrounded the half of the pitch.
“Yeah,” Melina said with a sigh. “Great.”
FWEET! Coach Naranjo’s whistle pierced the air. Melina’s one-on-one with Nora had begun.
Nora toed the ball backward. She faked to the right and then darted left.
Melina rushed toward Nora to try to steal the ball. But her opponent kicked it between her feet. Nora slid around Melina to charge the goal.
Sprinting after her, Melina moved in front of the small practice net just as Nora took the shot. Melina reached out her leg. The ball hit the toe of her cleat and flew out of bounds.
FWEET! Coach Naranjo blew her whistle to stop play. “Kahn, your ball,” she said. “Take it from the center, please.”
“But it went out next to the goal,” Nora said, turning to the coach. “I should get it at the corner.”
“These are one-on-one rules,” Coach replied. “And don’t talk back, please.”
Nora’s face went slightly red as a teammate on the sidelines tossed her the ball. She stopped it with her chest and dribbled back to center.
This time, Nora charged with even more energy. Melina kept her eyes on the ball and tried to predict Nora’s movements.
But Nora was too fast. She faked twice, whipped around Melina, then sprinted toward the goal.
Melina could hardly keep up. As she struggled to get in front of the goal, she stumbled over her own feet — and fell hard face-first into the grass.
Melina looked up just in time to see Nora score. The ball sailed into the top left corner. The shot was as perfect as the one Nora had made during the weave drill.
“Nice shot, Kahn!” Coach Naranjo called.
Melina pushed herself up, brushing off the grass and dirt from her uniform. She heard some of the girls snickering from the sidelines.
“It’s your ball at the center, Stern,” Coach instructed.
Melina nodded. She retrieved the ball from the goal and brought it to the center, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment and exhaustion. As soon as Coach blew her whistle, she took the ball under her toe.
Nora narrowed her eyes as Melina pulled the ball back and dribbled right. Melina quickly switched directions, but Nora kept with her.
Melina tried the through-the-legs trick, but Nora snapped her feet together. The ball rolled up Nora’s shin guards and she snatched possession. She darted around Melina and charged for another goal.
“Come on, Stern. Step it up!” It was Rose Torrence. The girls around her tried to hide their laughter.
Melina let out a frustrated breath. Jogging slowly down the field, she didn’t even try to stop Nora. The ball sailed into the goal for another point.
Nora grabbed the ball from the goal and tossed it to Melina. “Two to nothing,” she said, smiling.
“I know,” Melina mumbled. She walked the ball to the center for another try.
“Two minutes left, girls,” Coach Naranjo said.
Melina took control of the ball and dribbled wide right, keeping her eyes on the goal. Nora stuck with her, but this time Melina managed to slip around her with a spin. The goal was wide open.
“Shoot!” called Prissy. At least someone was rooting for Melina.
Melina pulled her leg back and shot — the ball went wide left.
“Wow,” Nora said, coming up behind Melina. “Great shot, Stern,” she added loudly, sounding as sarcastic as Rose Torrence.
“Um, are you serious?” said a voice from the sidelines. It was Torrence herself. “She got around you, didn’t she?”
Rose’s gang of friends laughed again, but now they were laughing at Nora.
It was Nora’s ball. But as she drove toward the goal, Melina could tell a difference in her rival’s moves. Her footwork was suddenly sloppy, and she seemed less sure of herself. Nora took a weak shot.
Melina easily blocked it and took control of the ball. She dribbled across the field, then took aim at the goal. It wasn’t a great shot, either. But with no goalkeeper, it was good enough.
“Point for Stern!” Ms. Perez announced from the sidelines.
Prissy clapped for her, but Melina didn’t feel like celebrating.
Before Nora could start another drive, Coach Naranjo blew her whistle. The one-on-one was over. Melina had lost, 2–1.
Coach clapped twice and called out to the team, “That’s it for today. Please hustle to the locker rooms — the varsity team gets the field in five minutes.”
Melina ran to pick up the ball. She passed by Rose and her friends. They were talking as they headed off the field.
“So much for saving the best for last,” the captain muttered to the other girls.
Melina’s face burned, but she ignored the older players. After she returned the ball to the mesh bag, she watched as the rest of the JV team filed into the locker room. But she couldn’t bring herself to follow them.
She breathed hard and looked down at her shaky hands. Playing on JV was nothing like she’d hoped it would be.