Sabotage Season (6 page)

“Jessi thinks he's got some superpowers, that's for sure.” Zoe grinned.

“Maybe his superpower is kissing,” Frida said. She folded her hands across her chest and began puckering her lips, making loud smacking noises as she kissed the air. “I'm Cody,” she said in between air kisses. “Or you can call me by my secret identity superhero name, Captain Kiss!”

“Frida!” Jessi shrieked, and lunged at her. Frida took off running, with Jessi in hot pursuit.

Emma, Zoe, and I exchanged glances and then started cracking up, laughing so hard I thought I was going to cry.

Frida came back, panting hard, and hid behind me as Jessi went to grab her.

“Truce!” I yelled, putting my hands in the air to stop Jessi. “We're starving. Let's go eat some pizza. And, Frida, knock off the Captain Kiss.”

As soon as I said that, everyone started laughing again, even Jessi this time. It just sounded so ridiculous.

“Frida,” I said as the laughter died down, “for your next role at a soccer game, all I think you need to do is pretend Jessi is chasing you. I've never seen you run so fast!”

“Or maybe,” Frida said with a gleam in her eyes, “I could play Captain Kiss's loyal sidekick, Lip Stick.”

“Frida!” Jessi yelled as she jumped at her, while Frida laughed and raced away again.

I shook my head. My friends might have been crazy, but they definitely made life interesting.

“Devin, stop yawning!” Kara pleaded. “Now you're making
me
yawn!”

Kara had gotten special permission from her parents to stay up late Friday night so we wouldn't miss our webcam session. It was eight p.m. for me when I called her, but it was eleven p.m. in Connecticut.

“Sorry,” I said. “It's been a crazy week. First my uniform got stolen, and then Zoe got hurt, and then I tried out some new positions at practice, and it was a disaster. And I had a vocab test in the middle of this, and then we went to the mall tonight. . . .”

“Sounds like you need to relax,” Kara remarked.

“No way!” I replied. “There's practice tomorrow.”

“We've got practice tomorrow too,” Kara began. “And—”

“Afterward I want to research more drills for the next time I get to run practice,” I continued, too focused
on my plans for practice to really listen to Kara.

Kara's blue eyes got wide. “Whoa, are you totally obsessing on the team, or what?” She sounded a little annoyed.

“That's what Jessi and everyone else keeps saying to me,” I replied. I thought Kara, out of everybody, would understand. “You know we've both been dreaming about becoming professional soccer players ever since second grade. Except when you went through that phase of wanting to be a cowgirl.”

Kara laughed. “I still have the hat and boots, although they are way too small for me now.”

I nodded. “Well, it's just that I keep thinking if I really want to go pro, I need to start now. And being on a championship team will totally help when it's time to apply for colleges.”

“College is a long way off,” Kara reminded me. “We're only in middle school. Don't forget the reason we both dream about being pro soccer players is because of how much fun we have playing. It doesn't sound like fun to be yawning on the field all the time.”

Saying that, she let out a big yawn and frowned. “Rats! I made myself yawn that time.”

“My bed is calling me,” I said. “See you tomorrow night.”

“See ya!”

I was always a little sad when the screen went dark after our chats, but I was seriously tired. When I woke up at eight the next morning, I felt supercharged and ready for practice. I raced down the stairs.

“Want some pancakes?” my dad asked, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee.

“What Devin needs is some complex carbs for energy before practice,” Mom told him. “How about some granola cereal with a banana and a glass of OJ?” she asked me.

Whew, close one! I'd thought she was going to offer me one of her green smoothies. The granola cereal was way yummier, so I happily agreed.

When Dad dropped me off at the field, I jogged out of the car, feeling like I needed to do five laps around just to get going. But I took only a few steps before I realized that the field was occupied by a bunch of senior citizens. Puzzled, I jogged up to Coach Flores.

“What are they doing here? Are they almost done?” I asked anxiously.

“Actually, they just started,” Coach replied. “Apparently they had the field scheduled for the morning, which is very odd, because the community center knows we get the field every Saturday at this time unless we have a game.”

“Can't we ask them to leave?” I asked, but I knew what Coach would say. She was way too nice to kick a bunch of old people off a field.

“I don't have the heart,” Coach replied, just as I had guessed.

“You know, it's so unfair that we have to use the community field anyway,” I said. “Why do the boys always get the good field? We're both winning now. We should split it up or something.”

Coach Flores nodded. “I've been lobbying the school's athletic director for a new field for us, so maybe we'll get some good news soon,” she answered. “And today's not totally lost either. Mrs. Tanaka, the teacher, said that we could join her class, and I think it's a wonderful idea; tai chi can help with coordination and focus.”

My mom did yoga and tai chi, so I was kind of familiar with it. It was invented in China, and it was this series of slow, precise movements—kind of like kung fu in slow motion. But I definitely didn't feel like moving in slow motion this morning.

The rest of the players started to arrive, and confusion quickly broke out, until Coach Flores explained the situation. Some of the girls were happy about doing tai chi.

“I saw this on
The Real Teenagers of Beverly Hills
,” Jessi told me. “Belinda took a class after her pet psychic said her Yorkipoo was picking up on her nervous energy.”

“That sounds nuts!” I said. “Besides, I thought you gave up on those trashy reality shows.”

“I watch them only after I've done all my homework and studying,” Jessi said. “It's like my reward for working hard. Anyway, Belinda said tai chi is very relaxing. Her Yorkipoo agreed. According to the pet psychic, anyway.”

“We're not supposed to be relaxing. We're supposed to be practicing,” I complained.

Emma gave me a little push from behind. “I think some relaxing is just what you need this morning, Devin!”

It was no use fighting it; we spent an hour doing tai
chi on the field with the seniors. I guess I could see how it could be relaxing, but all I could think about was that we had a game against the Santa Flora Roses the next morning, and we were moving in slow motion instead of practicing. Aargh!

I'd been hoping we could practice after the tai chi was over, but some guys from an adult baseball league showed up and we had to leave.

“What about tomorrow, Coach?” I asked. “Tomorrow's game is on the home field, so maybe we could get there an hour early for a little extra warm-up time.”

“I don't see why not,” Coach answered, and then she turned to the rest of the team. “Let's report to the main field tomorrow at ten, okay? Oh, and don't forget glow bowling tonight!”

Everyone cheered. Coach Flores liked doing team building exercises with us, and the glow-in-the-dark bowling sounded like fun. I had never done it, but I was really curious to try.

I walked up to Jessi. “So, what are you doing until we go bowling?”

“Want to study math with me?” Jessi asked. “Mom said if you come over, she'll make us lunch.”

“Just as long as it's not tuna casserole,” I said.

Jessi looked at me like I was crazy. “Why would my mom make you tuna casserole?” she asked.

I shook my head and laughed. “Long story. But, yes, I'll do math with you. Let me go home and change,
and I'll see if my mom or dad will drive me.”

I got to Jessi's house about an hour later. Jessi came outside to meet me. Her dad was in the front yard, pruning some bushes. I'd met him only a couple of times before because he worked a lot, but he seemed nice. He was a big guy with a friendly smile like Jessi's.

“Hey there, Devin,” he said. “Jessi tells me you had an interesting practice this morning.”

“It was very relaxing,” Jessi said, grinning at me.

“You mean boring,” I corrected her.

Jessi nodded toward the door. “Mom made us some lunch.”

She led me inside, and we found the kitchen table set for us with tuna salad sandwiches and carrot sticks.

“I hope tuna sandwiches are okay,” Jessi said apologetically.

“Definitely,” I replied. “They're, like, in a whole different food category from casseroles.”

Jessi's mom walked in and gave me a big smile. “Thanks so much for helping Jessi with her math today, Devin,” Mrs. Dukes said. She was wearing her hair in braids like Jessi was, but you could tell that Jessi was going to be taller than her soon. “Jessi's grades are improving every day.”

Not too long ago, Jessi had been failing math and Spanish, and her mom had taken her off the team. Thankfully, Jessi had started studying hard and Mrs. Dukes had let her back on the team, and I helped Jessi study whenever I could.

“Well, I'll be out in the garden if you need me,” Mrs. Dukes said, and then she headed into the backyard.

Jessi and I ate our sandwiches, and Jessi was chatting a mile a minute about how she wanted to go back to the mall to get this shirt she'd seen in a magazine, and how there'd been a big fight between Belinda's and Julianna's pet psychics on
The Real Teenagers of Beverly Hills
, but I wasn't really listening. I couldn't stop thinking about the goof-up over the field that morning. Our team always practiced there. It didn't make any sense. While Jessi talked, I did that thing where you just said “Mmm-hmm” and “Yeah” and nodded your head every few seconds. Then Jessi's voice broke through my fog.

“Devin? Are you listening?”

“Oh, sorry,” I replied. “I'm still upset that we missed practice this morning. The whole thing about the wrong schedule is bugging me. I should call over to the community center and make sure our next practice is scheduled. Do you mind?”

Jessi shook her head. “Fine. Do whatever you need to do to clear that head of yours!”

I looked up the number on my cell phone and then called the center. Luckily, somebody picked up on the first ring.

“Hi, um, I'm wondering about the schedule for the field on King Street,” I said. “There was a mix-up this morning with our soccer practice, and I just want to make sure we're still scheduled for Monday afternoon.”

“Give me a second,” said the female voice on the other end, and I heard the sound of shuffling papers. “Let me see . . . It doesn't look like there was a mix-up. Coach Flores called yesterday to cancel the use of the field for the Kicks.”

“Coach Flores?” I asked, shocked. “I saw Coach Flores this morning, and she was just as surprised as everyone else that the field was being used by the tai chi group. I'm sure she never called, I swear.”

“I'm sorry, but that's what I have here,” the woman said. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, no,” I said, frustrated. “Just please don't cancel any more of our dates, okay?”

I hung up, upset, and Jessi was looking at me strangely. “What was that?”

“Somebody claiming to be Coach Flores called the center and canceled this morning's practice,” I told her, and her mouth dropped open.

“No way!” she cried. “Devin, don't you see? Somebody is definitely trying to sabotage our team. This can't be a coincidence.”

I frowned. “Jessi, that sounds crazy. Who would want to do that?”

“Mirabelle!” she shot back. “I've been thinking about it. Mirabelle hated being on the Kicks because she thought we were losers. When she went to the Panthers, she thought she'd be on the top team in the league, and then we beat them. She's probably trying to make sure we don't win.”

“That sounds drastic, even for Mirabelle,” I said.

“Think about it,” Jessi said, her eyes shining with excitement. “Mirabelle was at the game the day your uniform was stolen. She knows the locker room well. So she calls the office pretending to be your mom. You go to the office, and she sneaks in and grabs the duffel bag. She knew it would throw you off your game.”

I nodded, thinking. Jessi was actually kind of making sense.

“I also asked Coach Flores about the e-mail. You know, the one telling the girls that practice was moved up?” Jessi asked. “She said she never had the e-mail address [email protected]. Not ever! Someone created that e-mail address to send out the fake e-mails, I just know it!”