Chapter 4
It was a long week for Fiona. Selma and Aliyah did their best to be nice to her, but it didn’t help much. Jess and Paula were still giving her a hard time. Fiona kept going to field hockey practice, but she was sure she wouldn’t end up making the team.
On Friday, Coach Kelly posted the names of the girls who had made the field hockey team. Fiona was sure she wouldn’t be on the list.
“There is no way I made the team,” Fiona said to Aliyah and Selma after school. They were walking fast down the hall toward Coach Kelly’s office.
“Sure you will,” Aliyah said.
“I don’t even know the difference between a field hockey field and a soccer field!” Fiona said nervously. “The sticks look like candy canes to me. How could I make the team?”
“You’re a good athlete, that’s how,” Selma replied. “That’s the most important thing. You can learn the sport easily.”
“Right,” Aliyah agreed. “Besides, it’s not that hard to make the team.”
The three girls reached Coach Kelly’s office and waited for the crowd of girls to clear.
While Fiona waited for a space to look at the list, Jess and Paula stepped out of the crowd.
“You’re lucky, farm girl,” Jess said. She sneered at Fiona.
“Yeah,” Paula added. “You may have made the team, but trust me, you won’t like being on the team.”
“We’re not going to make this easy for you,” Jess explained, glaring at Fiona. “You can count on it.”
With that, the two mean girls strode off.
Selma and Aliyah looked at their new friend. “Well,” Selma said eventually, “at least you made the team, right?”
Aliyah chuckled. Just then, Coach Kelly stepped out of her office.
“Fiona Roth?” the coach said.
“Here, Coach,” Fiona replied.
The coach walked over to her. “First of all, good job. You made the team,” the coach said.
“I heard,” Fiona replied. “Thanks.”
The coach nodded. Then she said, “Now, I can see you’re a good athlete, but you’ll need to study up on the rules of field hockey a bit.”
“I know,” Fiona said.
The coach pulled a booklet out of her pocket. “Study this,” Coach Kelly said. She handed the booklet to Fiona.
“Um, okay,” Fiona said. She glanced at the cover of the booklet. It read “Field Hockey – Rules and Regulations.”
Coach nodded. Then she went back into her office.
“It’s like homework,” Fiona said to Selma and Aliyah. “This is so weird. I’ve been playing hockey since I knew how to walk. I really don’t think I need to study.”
Fiona flipped through the booklet. “Seriously,” she went on. “This is ridiculous. I learned to skate when I was about two. I was holding a hockey stick in no time. And now the coach expects me to study for a hockey team?”
Selma laughed. “Well, it is a little different,” she said.
“I have enough studying for math, history, and language arts,” Fiona said. “How will I have time to study hockey? This is crazy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Aliyah said. “Field hockey is really not that complicated.”
Fiona glanced at the booklet again and then shoved it into her bag. “I’m really not worried about the rules at all,” she said.
“You’re not?” Selma asked, confused.
Fiona shook her head. “I hate studying. I don’t want to do it,” she explained.
“It won’t take long,” Selma said. “Pretty soon you’ll be a pro.”
Fiona looked down. Then she said, “The truth is, I’m mostly worried about Jess and Paula making my life miserable.”