Settle the Score by Alex Morgan

Author:Alex Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

“Mirabelle!”

“Jamie!”

“Sasha!”

“Kelly!”

It was a sunny Saturday morning on the Rancho Verdes Middle School field, and the Griffons were performing their pregame cartwheel ritual. I had started it off, and as my teammates took their turns, I gazed at the scene.

There were no bleachers on the Rancho Verdes field, so spectators had to bring their own chairs and blankets, and some had even brought umbrellas. The brown-and-white-wearing Grizzlies fans had gathered on one side of the field, and the pink, blue, and white Griffons fans were on the other side.

I looked through the crowd and saw Mom, Dad, and Maisie, and Jessi’s parents. Emma and Frida were there, and I knew that they planned to leave at halftime to go see the end of Zoe’s game. I wondered if either of Jamie’s parents had showed up, but I realized I didn’t even know what they looked like.

Coach Darby blew her whistle. “Okay, girls, gather round!”

Jamie sidled up to me as we huddled together. “I wonder what kind of speech Barbie Darby’s going to give us,” she whispered, and I tried not to laugh. “Demolition Darby” was a great nickname for our coach, but I would never get tired of saying “Barbie Darby.”

“The Grizzlies have been defeated only once before,” Coach Darby began. “And that was by us! But don’t think they’re going to go down without a fight. I want to see a lot of energy out there. Look for passing opportunities, and don’t be afraid to score. Got it?”

“Yes, Coach!” we yelled, and then we all clapped our hands. It was game time.

Coach Darby’s faith in me had returned, and she put me in as forward along with Jessi and Jamie. It was exactly where I wanted to be. Everyone on the Griffons had one goal: to win. But I had a second one: to redeem myself. My last game against the Grizzlies had been a personal disaster. I’d started off by making a goal that didn’t count because I was offsides, and after that I had kept missing easy passes. Our team had won the game, but I wanted to do better this time.

The first quarter of this game started off with a bang, with Jamie getting possession and passing it to Mirabelle, who passed it to Jessi, who passed it to Kelly, who passed it to me. I passed it back to Jamie, who lobbed it at the goal, but the Grizzlies goalie made a spectacular save, jumping up like she had springs in her cleats, and catching the ball.

The Grizzlies made a drive to our goal, but one of our defenders, Katie, intercepted it before they could attempt to score. That started another passing chain down the field. Katie to Kelly, Kelly to Mirabelle, Mirabelle to Jessi.

Jessi took the ball down to the goal line, and I traveled with her in case she needed to pass. When she was close enough, she kicked it high toward the goal, but I could see that it was veering too sharply to the right.

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