School only has a half day on Fridays, so I don’t need to go back to class—I can just go straight to soccer practice. When I reach the rec center, Dan is waiting in the courtyard, hopping on one foot, then the other. I knew I was late, but I didn’t realize Dan would be waiting for me.
“What took so long?” Dan calls while I’m still on the other side of the fence. He waves his phone, pointing at a text. “Hamida got here ages ago, but Julie’s going out with her family, so we need you to make the teams even.”
“Ages?” How fast was she running?
“Five minutes. Whatever. Come on!”
I quicken to a sprint, and some of the sadness sheds off me. “What did Coach have you work on?”
“Just more passes.” Dan hurries me inside, bouncing around like a dog herding sheep. “Everyone wanted to practice their heading and chest-bouncing after what you did, so we also played with that. Benj almost got a black eye. It was awesome!”
Miss Juniper looks up from her travel book when the door dings. She smiles. “Hello, Sami. Good to see you again. Did your parents get a chance to sign those permission forms?”
“Oh! I forgot.” I hesitate. “It’s okay if my grandfather signs instead, right?”
“Sure.” She smiles, absently tapping a finger against her euro necklace. “Just bring them in soon, okay?”
“Yes, miss.” The coins are in my backpack, and I’d like to talk to her about them. But Dan’s shoving the pen and clipboard into my hands, so I guess I’ll discuss a trade after the game. I scribble my name down.
“Dan,” Miss Juniper says, “what were those magazines Coach Austin had in his bag yesterday?”
“Game Informer? Only the best guides to the best new video games.” Dan’s momentarily distracted. “It has reviews and game play and features for recent releases.”
Miss Juniper laughs, which makes the freckles on her face scrunch into a bigger blob. “That’s all? Well, you tell him I’m a pretty big fan of Zelda. I’d love to hear what the magazine says about that.”
“For real?” Dan grins. “What did you think of the final boss in—”
“Um, Dan?” I pass the clipboard to Miss Juniper, glancing at the clock over her desk.
“Right! Soccer!” Dan takes off for the hallway but spins around again. “We’re definitely talking afterward, Juniper!”
“Got it!” She waves.
I follow Dan into the gym. Everyone’s already been divided into teams, and they’re practicing bouncing the balls on their heads when we come in. Layla gets three in a row before Dan announces, “Let’s go!”
Coach tosses me a mesh shirt and puts us in our positions. Benj catches my eye and mouths, After.
I nod. I still need to arrange a trade for the iPod with Benj, too. What could he have found? I push the thought away.
Soccer now. Trades later.
* * *
After an hour, we wrap up the game in a tie: Tornado Sharks and Grizzly Bear Vampires 6–6.
“All right, everyone, good effort,” Coach says, lifting his voice to get our attention. “Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all on Monday. We’ll go over dribbling then.”
As soon as Coach finishes, Benj runs to his backpack, takes out his phone, and returns to me. “Look—I’ve got pictures!”
“Hold on. I want to see!” Dan says, joining us.
We all lean over Benj’s phone together. Benj narrates as he flicks through the photos. There’s a stack of paperback books (Dan scoffs), a painting of a flower in a cracked frame, an assortment of old T-shirts Benj has outgrown, and a box with three weird-looking small statues (Benj insists they’re figurines, which as far as I can tell is just a fancier word for small statues). The figurines are kids with pale skin and blue eyes. One is a boy carrying a girl, one is a boy with a fishing pole, and another is two girls whispering together.
“They’re made of clay or something,” Benj explains. “They’re from my great-grandparents—my aunt got them when they died. Anyway, she says they’re weird, and she’s trying to get rid of them.”
I scroll through the pictures once more, unsure if any of this would be useful to me.
Dan’s already shaking his head. “Benj, that iPod’s probably worth eighty, a hundred dollars. This is just a load of junk.”
Benj glares. “Not junk. Someone might pay a lot for this stuff.”
Dan snorts.
“I’ll think about it.” I hand Benj his phone. “I can let you know soon.”
With a doubtful nod, Benj tucks his phone into his pocket.
“Hey, Sami!” Hamida calls, trotting over. “Let me give you my number—then you can text us if you decide to join us on Sunday.”
“Oh.” I fish around in my pocket for my phone. “All right.”
“Benj, are you still coming?” Hamida asks while she waits.
“Is Omar?”
Hamida rolls her eyes. “Yes, he’ll be there with his guitar.”
“Then I’m definitely there.”
I exchange numbers with Hamida, but I slip away while she chats with Benj. Layla stands by the backpacks alone, texting, but also casting little looks at the team as they pack up and mill around. It reminds me of how I used to type on my phone while I was sitting alone in the cafeteria—trying to look busy. She stands up and pulls on her bag when I approach, and I get the bag of coins from my own backpack before I swing it over my shoulders.
She eyes my hand. “What are those?”
“Coins.” I shrug. “I thought Miss Juniper might like to trade for them.”
“Trade?” Layla echoes.
“Yeah. I’m trying to—earn extra money.” I don’t want to talk about the rebab, especially after Baba’s silence today.
“Ohh!” Layla exclaims. She leans closer to me and lowers her voice. “Don’t trade with Juniper. Trade with Coach.”
I frown at her. Why would I give them to someone who, as far as I can tell, couldn’t care less about coins?
“Coach likes Juniper,” Layla explains, rolling her eyes. “He’s been trying to talk to her forever. If you trade him the coins—”
“He can give them to her,” I finish, catching on. My mind starts racing. I glance across at Coach. Dan is with him, and I hear him say gaming and Zelda while Dan helps gather the equipment. “Thanks, Layla!”
If I make a trade with Coach instead of Miss Juniper … A plan forms in my mind.
I run over to Coach, coins clutched in my hand. Dan is heading to the wall to grab his backpack. Now or never.
“Coach, ah…” I trail off, my face getting hot, suddenly unsure how to say any of this. Even if Layla’s right and Coach likes Miss Juniper, that doesn’t make it less embarrassing to say.
Coach puts the last soccer ball in his bag and glances at me with his eyebrows raised a little. “Yes, Sami?”
I shake the bag so Coach can see the coins through the plastic. “I—um—Layla thought you might like these? Um, or Miss Juniper might…?”
His face brightens with interest, and he takes the bag. The coins shift as he angles it to examine each. “These are really cool, Sami. Where are they from? I recognize the euro.”
“Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece.” I point as I say each country.
Coach whistles. “You’ve been all those places?” He turns them over, still in the bag. “Why are you giving them away?”
“Well, not … giving, exactly.” My face grows hotter. “More like a trade. I was wondering if you’d maybe be willing to trade the coins for one of your game magazines?”
With a surprised laugh, Coach kneels by his bag. “Sure. I don’t normally keep them long anyway.” He takes a pile of eight magazines and offers them to me. “Here you go. One for every coin.”
“Thank you!” I take the magazines. Second trade complete.
“Did I see you making a deal with Benj?” Coach asks as he eases the strap over his shoulder and stands. “What are you doing all this trading for, Sami?”
Instead of meeting Coach’s eyes, I glance at the magazines’ covers. “Oh … just … trying to get something back.”
Before Coach can ask more, Dan joins us. “Wait, what’s happening here?” he asks. “How’d you get those?”
“Have a good day, Sami, Dan,” Coach says, shifting the gym bag and heading to the exit, the coins still in his hand.
I explain the trade to Dan. His eyes have grown to twice their usual size by the time I’m done. I can’t even make my proposal before he cuts in. “I’ll trade for those! I’ll check tonight. I bet I have something you could use. We’ve got plenty of stuff lying around.”
“Okay.” I slip the magazines carefully into my backpack. The gym has emptied by now, and Dan and I leave together.
In the main lobby, Coach is showing Miss Juniper the coins. She’s grinning, pushing her red hair aside to get a better look. Layla’s at the end of the hall, peering around the corner.
“What are you doing?” Dan asks loudly as we come up to her.
Layla jumps and glares. “I was trying to watch, idiot,” she retorts. Then she motions to me. “See? Wasn’t I right?”
I nod. “Thanks for the tip.”
Layla tilts her head, and the beads in her hair clink. “Are you only interested in trading with the team? Or are you open to trades from other places?”
“I want to do more—I just don’t know where to look,” I answer. “Why?”
Layla grins. “I have an idea.”
TRADE LOG
Days: 25
THINGS TO TRADE:
iPod (repaired!!)
Game Informer magazines (Dan)
COMPLETED TRADES:
1. Manchester United key chain -> iPod
2. Coins -> Game Informer magazines