Hat Trick by Alex Morgan Read Free Book Online Page B

she’s sitting with?” I asked.
    â€œWell, I’m going to find out,” Jessi said, and she got up and marched off. I was pretty curious, so I followed her.
    â€œHey, Emma,” Jessi said, and the tone in her voice said a lot more than those two words. It was a tone of voice that said, What the heck are you doing here with these guys and not with your best friends?
    Emma stopped talking to a girl with curly hair and looked up. “Oh, gosh! I totally forgot to tell you. I joined the Tree Huggers. We meet during lunchtime.”
    The Tree Huggers was our school’s environmental group. They were always doing stuff like making recycling posters, and they’d planted a vegetable garden on the lawn.
    â€œOh, cool,” I said. “It’s just, well, we missed you.”
    â€œYou guys should join us,” said the girl with curly hair. “I’m Michelle. We can always use new members.”
    â€œI’d love to, but the winter soccer league is taking up all my free time right now,” I said, and I saw a shadow cross Emma’s face. Then it all made sense. How could I feel bad about her joining the Tree Huggers when I was so busy with the Griffons?
    â€œAll right, so, see you later,” Jessi said, and we headed back to our table. Jessi took the lid off her packed salad and started stabbing the lettuce with a fork.
    â€œYou seem mad,” I said.
    â€œOf course I’m mad!” Jessi said. “I mean, I get that we all don’t have to do everything together all the time, but lunch is one thing we always do. That’s our thing. It’s a Kicks thing!”
    â€œYeah, but we’re not Kicks right now,” I reminded her, even though it hurt to say it.
    â€œYeah, I guess we’re not,” Jessi said, and she started stabbing at her lettuce again.
    â€œI get it,” I said. “I miss being in the Kicks. I miss Frida, too.”
    Jessi put down her fork. “We should text her. Maybe we could video chat during lunch.”
    â€œGood idea,” I said, and I picked up my phone.
    Hey Frida! How’s it going on the set? We miss you!
    I got a reply right away.
    Miss u 2! Tutor coming back in a minute. She’s no Ms. Frizzle. She’ll make me do extra math problems if she sees me on the phone.
    K ttyl! I replied.
    â€œShe’s busy,” I informed Jessi.
    Jessi sighed. “Why am I not surprised?”
    We pretty much finished our lunch without talking. It felt so weird, eating in silence when normally there’d be a bunch of us talking and laughing. Everything was so different now, and I didn’t like any of it.
    Could the winter league tear the Kicks apart?

Dad picked Jessi and me up after school to take us to practice. We didn’t run to the car like we had on the first day. In fact, we both walked extra slowly.
    â€œI hope you two look more alive on the field today than you do right now,” Dad joked.
    â€œI don’t think I’ll ever look alive enough for Coach Darby,” I said in my most miserable voice.
    When we got to the field, I saw that my shoelace was loose. I put my foot up on the bench so I could relace my shoe and tie it.
    â€œOn the bench again, Devin?” a voice behind me asked. “I guess you really like it there.”
    I didn’t have to turn around to know who was taunting me—it was Jamie. I could feel my face turn red, so I just ignored her. She walked off, laughing, and Jessi sidled up to me.
    â€œAre you kidding me?” Jessi said. “You want me to say something to her?”
    â€œForget it,” I said. “Jamie’s just trying to psych me out. That’s what she does. Which is a pretty stupid thing to do to someone on your own team, but that’s Jamie.”
    Jessi just frowned, and I could tell she was really angry.
    â€œListen, maybe she’s right,” I said. “If I want to get off the bench, then I need to start playing like