Sabotage Season (18 page)

“Come on. We can't forget about the Rams,” Grace announced, and we calmed down so we could line up and shake hands. The Rams all looked miserable.

I shook Jamie's hand last. “Good game,” I said, trying to show some sportsmanship, but Jamie just scowled at me. As I jogged away, I had a thought. Maybe if Jamie had
worried more about practicing instead of sabotaging us, her team might have gotten that play-off spot she wanted so badly.

I caught up with the rest of the team off the field, and we started cheering and hugging and screaming again.

“We did it!” I squealed, hugging Jessi.

“Because you're a great captain,” Jessi said.

“And you're a great detective,” I told her.

Jessi smiled. “I know.”

Coach Flores raised her voice. “I'm so proud of you girls!” she said. “This means our season is extended, so I'll see you all on Monday for practice.”

I was about to raise my hand and suggest that we have an extra practice tomorrow morning, but then Grace spoke up.

“The Kicks are all going to the carnival tonight!” she called out, and everyone cheered.

I had almost forgotten about the carnival. I knew it would go late, and we might be tired, and . . . then I remembered what my Dad had said, about how the play-offs weren't everything. My friends were just as important.

“You're coming, Devin, right?” Emma asked.

“Of course I am!” I replied.

“How do I look?” I asked, spinning around in front of the webcam. Mom had bought me the cutest dress—Kicks blue with no sleeves, and a little white belt around the middle.

“Perfect!” Kara replied. “Blue looks nice on you. What shoes are you wearing?”

I held up my foot so she could see, and Kara laughed.

“Flip-flops? Seriously? I've already got my boots on,” she said.

I heard a horn beep outside, and I knew that was Jessi and her dad.

“My ride is here,” I said. “But I promise I'll chat you tomorrow morning, okay? I'll let you know everything that happens.”

“Say hi to
Steven
for me,” she teased, and I stuck out my tongue as I shut the laptop.

I ran downstairs and found Mom, Dad, and Maisie waiting for me by the front door.

“You look beautiful,” Dad said, giving me a hug.

“Just lovely,” Mom added. “Now don't forget, we want you home by ten.”

Maisie rolled her eyes. “Why can't I stay up late?”

“I better not keep them waiting,” I said quickly, anxious to avoid a Maisie scene. “See you later!”

I ran to the car and squeezed into the backseat with Emma and Zoe. Jessi sat in the passenger seat up front.

“Frida's meeting us there,” Emma informed me.

“Cool,” I said.

My friends all looked really nice. Zoe had on a white, gauzy short dress and these really cool wedge sandals. Emma wore jeans and a pink tank top, and her jeans weren't wrinkly like they usually were. I craned my head around the seat to check out Jessi, who had on skinny jeans and a gray short-sleeved top layered over a red tank top. She had these beautiful silver hoop earrings, too.

“This is such an amazing day,” Emma said. “We beat the Rams, the boys beat the Rams, and now we're going to a carnival!”

“I'm glad we're all going together,” I said. “Will everyone else be with, like, a date?”

“That's what I heard,” Emma replied a little nervously.

“My sister Opal says that everyone says they're going with a date, but not many people do,” Zoe reported, and that made me feel a little better.

We quickly reached the school, and Mr. Dukes dropped us off out front. The carnival had been set up in the teacher parking lot and the big grassy field next to it. Crowds of kids were already milling around.

“Have a nice time!” Jessi's dad said. “I'll be back for you all at around nine thirty.”

It was getting dark already, but big spotlights lit up the carnival area. We lined up to pay our admission and then looked around.

There were a bunch of booths; some of them had carnival games, and a few others sold ice cream and hot dogs and popcorn and cotton candy. On the grassy part a few rides had been set up—one of those giant inflatable slides, and a spinny thing, and even a small Ferris wheel.

“Kicks!”

Frida came running toward us, followed by Brianna, Anna, Sarah, and a bunch of other girls from the team. Everyone started talking and laughing at once.

For a second I couldn't believe it. Just a few weeks before, I'd been brand-new at the school and hadn't known anyone. Now here I was, surrounded by a whole group of friends, co-captain of a soccer team headed for the play-offs. Things were looking pretty good.

Then Jessi nudged me. “Look,” she said, pointing.

Cody, Steven, and some other guys from the boys' team were standing in front of one of the games. I had to admit, it was kind of a relief to see that Steven didn't have a date with him or anything.

“Should we talk to them?” I asked.

Jessi looked thoughtful for a few seconds. She walked off and bought a cone of blue cotton candy. Then she grabbed my arm.

“What are we doing?” I asked, but she didn't answer.

Jessi marched up to Cody and handed him the cotton candy. “I got this for you,” she announced.

Cody took it from her. “Thanks.”

Then I knew that whatever had been weird between Jessi and Cody had been settled. Now I just had to settle the weirdness between me and Steven.

“So, I'm sorry I said I didn't want to come here with you,” I said, looking down at my flip-flops. “I was just really stressed about soccer and everything.”

I looked up into his eyes then, and felt my cheeks get warm. Steven smiled.

“Do you guys want to go on the Ferris wheel?” he asked.

I didn't hesitate. I still wasn't sure about dating, but a Ferris wheel—that was easy.

“You bet,” I replied, and the four of us walked off together.

PHOTO: M. STAHLSCHMIDT/SSP © 2013

ALEX MORGAN
became the youngest member of the US women's national soccer team in 2009 and competed in the 2011 FIFA World Cup. She was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women's Professional Soccer draft, and landed a spot on the US Olympic women's soccer team in 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, Morgan won her first Olympic medal, a gold, with the American team. The team beat Japan, 2–1, in a match watched by nearly 80,300 people—the largest soccer crowd in Olympic history.

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

Simon & Schuster • New York

Also by Alex Morgan

SAVING THE TEAM

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Alex Morgan and Full Fathom Five

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Book design by Krista Vossen

Jacket design by Krista Vossen

Jacket illustration copyright © 2013 by Paula Franco

The text for this book is set in Berling.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morgan, Alex (Alexandra Patricia), 1989–

Sabotage season / Alex Morgan. — First edition.

pages cm. — (The Kicks ; [2])

Summary: “Devin and the rest of the team must figure out who is trying to sabotage them before the playoffs start”— Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4424-8574-7 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-4424-8578-5 (ebook)

[1. Soccer—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Sabotage—Fiction. 4. Family life—California—Fiction. 5. California—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M818Sab 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2013010894