Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL by Melissa J. Morgan Page B

believe it’s only the second week of school and I already have so much homework to do.”
    “Yeah,” Trish responded. “I guess that’s middle school for you.” They shared a commiserating look.
    Just then, Coach Gregorson walked onto the field, followed by Henry and Lisa. Alex could already tell that she was going to look up to Lisa a lot. The older girl seemed so calm and confident. As she walked onto the field, her ponytail swung from side to side, and she was smiling.
    Coach blew on her whistle. “All right, team,” she said. “We’re going to start warming up now. Please stretch out, and then we’ll get moving.”
    Alex and Trish sat down on the field and stretched out their legs. As Alex reached for her toes, Trish whispered, “Are you going to get to start, do you think? In the games?”
    Alex whispered back, “No. I don’t think so.” She looked over at Trish. “What about you?”
    “They said I could if I learn some stuff,” Trish confided.
    “Me too,” Alex said. She switched legs, stretching her left leg out and reaching toward it with her arms.
    “Okay,” Coach Gregorson said. “Let’s start with some running. Henry, please go stand midfield,” she said, pointing. “Everyone, when I blow my whistle, run to Henry, and then run back, five times.”
    Alex stood up next to Trish and shook out her arms, jogging in place for a moment. When the coach’s whistle blew, she took off toward Henry, running fast enough to keep up with the group but not so fast that she’d lose too much energy. As she ran, sweat began to form on her forehead. She pulled ahead of Trish after the first lap, and heard Henry call, “Nice pace, Alex!”
    After the five laps, Lisa had brought out a big bag of balls that she handed out to the group. “Okay,” she said. “Everybody, please pair up, and let’s practice some passes.”
    Alex looked at Trish, who nodded at her happily. Lisa threw Trish a ball, and she and Alex walked a few paces away to begin kicking the ball back and forth to each other.
    As Alex ran around, returning the ball to Trish every time, her worries about not being able to play in the games started to dissipate. She didn’t notice Cindy and one of her friends watching her, and so when she missed one of the kicks Trish had passed to her, she thought nothing of it. That is, until Cindy laughed. “Oops!” Alex said with a forced laugh, trying to make light of the situation.
    “Oh, she’ll never get to play,” Cindy said to her friend, just loud enough for both Alex and Trish to hear.
    “Ignore them,” Trish said.
    But Alex’s feelings had already been hurt badly enough in the locker room; having Cindy witness her making a mistake was too much to bear. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes.
    “Uh-oh,” Cindy’s friend said loudly. “She’s totally going to cry.”
    Cindy laughed. “Oh man. If she cries about missing a pass, what’s she going to do when we’re actually playing?” she said. Then she snorted. “Oh. Right. She’s not going to get to play.”
    Alex looked furtively for the coach, but Coach Gregorson was on the other side of the field, giving pointers to another set of girls. Still laughing, Cindy and her friend moved away from Alex and Trish.
    The rest of practice was okay—they did a few more exercises with the balls, and then were split up into two teams for a scrimmage. Alex didn’t score, but she did feel like she was learning a lot. She couldn’t shake the memory of Cindy teasing her, though. For the first time in her entire life, Alex wanted to quit soccer—what was the point if she wasn’t going to get to play, and if her teammates were going to be so unfriendly?
    Alex had been playing soccer for a long time. At her elementary school, she’d been close friends with all of the girls on her team. So it was strange to be on a team where not only did she not know anyone else, but some girls were mean to her. She was used to a supportive, fun team . . .