I lined up with the rest of the Kicks to slap hands with the Rams, like teams do at the end of every game. I glanced back at Emma. She was sitting on the grass with her legs stretched out in front of her, not moving. I’d never seen her look so upset. She didn’t even join the line with the rest of us.
After we finished congratulating the Rams, I jogged back to the goal and reached down to Emma. She reluctantly lifted up her hands, and I pulled her up.
“Oh my gosh, that was awful!” she said, and I saw that her eyes were tearing up a little bit. “My stupid shoe!”
Jessi, Zoe, and Frida joined us.
“It’s okay, Emma,” Jessi said. “It happens.”
“The goalie’s shoe flying off and smacking her in the head?” Emma asked. “When, exactly, does that happen?”
“Well, maybe that doesn’t happen too often,” Jessi admitted. “But goalies miss goals all the time.”
“But we’re not supposed to. We have only one job,” Emma countered. “And this was an important game. We’ll never win the championship if we can’t beat the Rams.”
“The loss isn’t just on you,” I told her. “We could have been stronger. The offense, I mean. We could have scored more points.”
“And I could have done a better job defending you,” Frida added. “But those Rams—they’re tough!”
Coach Flores blew her whistle and waved to us. I knew she wanted to go over the game with the team.
“Come on, let’s go,” I said.
Emma looked scared. “I can’t face everybody! Not after my shoe flew off like that. It’s so embarrassing!”
“I bet nobody even noticed,” Zoe said. She started running and pulling Emma along with her.
“Thanks, girls,” Coach Flores said, nodding to us. “You all played a good game today. I know it hurts to lose, but the Rams are a skilled team, and I know you played your best.”
Coach Flores was one of those coaches who never got mad and who was always positive, no matter what. Other coaches might have barked at us for losing by one point, but not her.
She looked at Emma. “It looks like you had an equipment malfunction,” she said. “Making sure our equipment is in good shape will guarantee that we can do our best. So try to get that problem fixed by the next practice, okay?”
Emma nodded, not looking at anyone else on the team. “Yes, Coach. It won’t happen again.”
Coach Flores smiled. “All right, then. Let’s shake off this loss and get focused on our next game. Go, Kicks!”
“Go, Kicks!” we echoed, but without much enthusiasm. I could tell that everyone was bummed out by the loss.
“Yum Yum Yogurt?” I asked in a loud voice, and a few of the girls chimed in.
“Yeah!”
“Sure!”
“See you there!”
We usually went somewhere to eat after a game, whether we were celebrating a win or comforting one another after a loss. Our parents were used to this, so we quickly figured out that my mom would drop me and my friends off at the yogurt shop, and Jessi’s dad would pick us all up.
Before I headed out for yogurt, though, there was one thing I had to do.
“Steven!” I called out, running toward him in the stands. He turned and smiled at me, waving the pom-poms.
“You are too funny,” I said. “Thanks for being my personal cheerleader.”
He grinned at me. “Sure. You’re always at my games, when you can make it.”
Cody was standing behind Steven, and I swear I saw him roll his eyes. I guess he wasn’t into the cheerleading thing.
“We’re going to Yum Yum. Wanna come?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Sounds good, but I’ve got to work on that science report. I put it off till the last minute.”
“All right, then,” I told him. “Maybe next time. Good luck!”
I jogged toward the parking lot, where Mom was waiting for us in front of our white minivan.
“No Maisie and Dad?” I asked.
“They took Dad’s car, straight from Maisie’s soccer practice,” Mom reminded me. “And good thing too, because now I can fit everybody.”
We all piled into the Marshmallow (that was our family’s name for the minivan), and Mom drove us to the yogurt shop. I looked out the window as we rode, watching the feathery green leaves of the palm trees silhouetted against the bright blue sky.
Less than a year before, my family had moved to Southern California from Connecticut, and we might as well have moved from another planet. It was spring now, but in Connecticut there was still snow frozen to the ground in some places, and the temperatures hadn’t climbed past 50 degrees yet. Here in California, I hadn’t seen a single snowflake all winter, and the temperature almost always hovered around 70 degrees, no matter what time of year it was.
I missed the seasons, sometimes. My best friend, Kara, and I had just started to learn how to snowboard when I’d left. I missed the orange, yellow, and red leaves in the fall—but I didn’t miss raking them up while Maisie ran through every leaf pile I’d collected, making more work for me. And the best thing about nice weather all year—soccer all year round!
We quickly got to Yum Yum Yogurt and piled out of the car. The place was pretty crowded for a Saturday afternoon, filled with other kids in team uniforms just like we were.
“I see a table!” Jessi cried. She shoved some crumpled-up bills into my hand. “Devin, get me a medium chocolate with the works, please.”
“Everything? No way. That takes too long, and I can’t do yours and mine at the same time,” I protested.
“Fine! Just make it good!” Jessi called, making a beeline for the table.
I got in line behind Emma, Zoe, and Frida. Some more Kicks came in and got behind us: Grace, my co-captain; her friend Anjali, who had gorgeous, shiny dark hair; and freckle-faced Hailey. She was the newest member of the Kicks, in seventh grade just like me—and she was really good.
“Where’s Jessi?” Hailey asked.
“Saving a table,” I said. I looked across the room to where Jessi was sitting. “Looks like there’s room for all of us.”
I approached the yogurt bar and grabbed two medium cups. I filled one with vanilla for me, and one with chocolate for Jessi. I put mango, pineapple, and blueberries on mine. Jessi’s got sprinkles, strawberries, walnuts, and breakfast cereal.
Pretty soon we were all sitting at the table, eating our yogurt and talking about the game.
“I’ve got to admit, they played a good game,” Grace was saying. “Fair and square.”
“Yeah, they’ve got some strong players and play well as a team,” Hailey agreed, shaking her head.
Emma was looking down at her yogurt, stirring it over and over again with her spoon.
“Don’t sweat it, Emma,” Grace said. “We’ll win next time.”
Emma sighed. “I hope so.”
“Cheer up, Emma,” Jessi said, putting her arm around Emma’s shoulders. Then her eyes got wide. “Look, there’s Sebastian.”
I followed her eyes to a table across the room. A family was sitting there: a mom, a dad, a little girl, and a boy who looked to be our age—a boy with wavy dark hair and darker eyes. He was laughing with his little sister.
“Sebastian?” I asked.
“Sebastian Delgado,” Jessi explained. “He’s new. I have a class with him. He’s really nice and easy to talk to.”
Hailey nodded. “Yeah, he is. He’s in my French class.”
“How do you say ‘cute boy’ in French?” Jessi asked.
Emma nudged her. “Jessi! Don’t let Cody hear you say that.”
Jessi shrugged. “Why not? Cody’s not my boyfriend.”
“Well, no, but . . .” Emma’s voice trailed off.
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, and then everyone started talking about soccer again. I got what Emma meant. I mean, Cody wasn’t Jessi’s boyfriend. Steven wasn’t mine either. But still, we did things together. And when I finally felt like I was ready to have a boyfriend, it would probably be Steven. Especially after the amazing cheerleading he’d done for me that day!
I turned to Jessi. “We’re still going to the mall with Cody and Steven tomorrow, right?”
Jessi nodded. “Yeah. Emma and Hailey are coming too. And Cody’s bringing some guys from the Kangaroos.”
Officially, every team at Kentville Middle School was called the Kangaroos. The girls’ soccer team had always been known as the Kicks, for short.
Jessi smiled and waved at Sebastian, and he waved back. I couldn’t help noticing that he had a really nice smile.
“I guess he is pretty cute,” I whispered to Jessi.
“No kidding,” Jessi said, and then she took another bite of her yogurt.