Sprints and conditioning drills at practice that afternoon went about the same way they had on Friday. Kamal tried his best, but on many of the drills he just couldn’t keep up with Justin. The guy was unbeatable. Kamal had never seen a better natural athlete.

“Good try, Kamal,” Justin said, grinning. “Nice effort. Keep up the hard work and you just might beat me one day!”

Kamal was okay with Justin’s trash-talking in warm-ups. He knew that once the soccer balls came out, he would dominate again in the aspects of soccer that really mattered.

“Triangle!” shouted Coach Hayes after a short water break. “Groups of three!” It was the same drill they had done on Friday.

“Kamal!” said Justin as the team jogged toward the cones. “You, me, and Rodrigo?”

“Really?” asked Kamal. “Think you can actually do it this time?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can do it.” Kamal saw Justin wink at Rodrigo. Something was clearly up between them.

“All right,” Kamal said. “But we’re going full speed.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Justin.

“And if you kick the ball over my head again you’re finding another group,” said Kamal.

They set up at one of the sets of cones. “You want to go first?” Justin asked Kamal.

“I’m ready when you are.” Kamal positioned himself on the outside of the right cone. He took a couple quick breaths and then started the drill. He kicked the ball to Justin then moved inside the cones. Justin made a perfect pass back to him. Kamal kicked it back then moved to the other cone. Rodrigo fed him the ball. He kicked it, moved around the cone, received the pass once again from Rodrigo, and passed it back to him. He then shuffled to the other side. Justin served him another perfect pass. Kamal returned the ball to him, moved to the outside of the cone, and got another great pass from Justin. The drill continued like this for the next several minutes. Not once did Justin make a bad pass to Kamal.

“Switch!” shouted Coach Hayes.

“Not too bad, huh, Kamal?” Justin asked.

Kamal traded spots with him. He was confused. Justin was about a hundred times better at the drill than he was last Friday. How was that possible?

Justin stood outside the right cone, a ball at his foot. “Let’s do this.” He kicked it to Kamal and then danced inside the cones. Kamal kicked it back. Justin moved to the next cone. He and Rodrigo traded passes while Justin stepped from inside the cones to the outside then back again. His timing was good. And the majority of his passes were crisp, sharp, and on target. He moved back to Kamal’s side. Kamal fed him passes, watching Justin’s clean footwork. Who is this guy? thought Kamal. How in the world did he improve so much in just a couple of days?

After several minutes, Coach Hayes shouted again. “Switch!”

As Justin traded places with Rodrigo, they shared a high five. “That’s what I’m talking about! This soccer stuff isn’t so hard, am I right, Kamal?”

Rodrigo took his turn. Once again Justin was dead on with his passes. Rodrigo eased through the drill with precision.

Coach Hayes was ready with the next exercise. “Everybody, over here!” he shouted.

The players jogged toward one of the goal’s. Kamal stopped Rodrigo. “How did Justin get so good at that drill?” he asked him.

Rodrigo looked away.

“What are you not telling me?” asked Kamal.

Rodrigo looked back at him. “We worked out together on Saturday.”

“You what?”

“Justin and I worked out together,” said Rodrigo. “He asked me, so I helped him with a bunch of the drills and with his footwork and stuff.”

“So that’s why you weren’t answering my texts,” said Kamal.

“I didn’t think you’d want to join us,” said Rodrigo. “I know you don’t like the guy.”

“You’ve got that right,” said Kamal. He shook his head. “Why in the world do you want to help Justin?”

“Why not?” asked Rodrigo. “He’s a decent guy once you get to know him. And he’s part of the team now. I want us to get better. I want us to go to State. Just like you, right?”

“Of course I want to go to State,” said Kamal. “But Justin’s not going to help us do that. Besides, the guy is such a showboat.”

“It takes one to know one.” Rodrigo smiled and smacked Kamal on the shoulder. “The competition will be good for you.”