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another scrimmage. I saw some great aggressive playing at practice yesterday. Today I want you to direct that energy at the opposing team, not your own teammates. Got it?”
    Most of the players nodded, and I looked at Jessi and raised my eyebrows.
    â€œDoes this mean it will be an easier game?” I whispered.
    â€œMaybe,” Jessi whispered back.
    But of course it wasn’t. Jessi and I ended up on the same team with Jamie, and Sasha and Kelly were on the other team. Jamie listened to Coach, and even though she got close to me a few times, she didn’t steal the ball.
    The other team, though, was brutal. Sasha was trying to get the ball from me when she accidentally kicked me in the leg! It really hurt, but I didn’t want Coach to see that it bothered me, so I kept playing.
    â€œAll right, give me three laps!” Coach Darby called out when the scrimmage ended. “And I want to see you hustle!”
    Jessi let out a low groan next to me as we fell in line with the other girls on the team and started to run around the track. I looked down at my calf and saw a yellow bruise forming. “These practices are inhumane,” Jessi complained, running next to me.
    â€œWell, maybe it will get better when we’re all playing together against another team,” I said. “We can set loose Jamie and Sasha and Kelly against our enemies.”
    â€œIf they play like that in a real game, they’ll be getting penalties all the time,” Jessi pointed out. “And besides, what if the other teams play like that against us?”
    I hadn’t thought of that. “Well, I guess it’s a really competitive league,” I said. “We’re in for a lot more bruises before the season is over.”
    â€œYeah,” Jessi said with a sigh.
    Coach Darby dismissed us after our laps. Jessi and I walked toward two of the other players—Janet and Courtney.
    â€œSee you Saturday,” I said, smiling. But they didn’t answer me, or even smile back.
    I shook my head as we passed them. “There is no teamwork on this team either,” I said. “It feels familiar. Remember on the Kicks, when the eighth graders were ignoring the seventh graders?”
    â€œThis is even worse,” Jessi said. “Because nobody is sticking together.”
    â€œExcept us,” I said.
    Jessi grinned at me. “Except us.”
    Then I heard a familiar beep, and I took my phone out of my sports bag. It was a text from Emma.
    Can’t wait for the mall tomorrow!
    I texted her back. #EmmaIsExcellent .
    Emma simply replied:
    I gave her aright back. The Kicks might not have been a team right then, but that didn’t mean we weren’t still the Kicks. No matter how tough it got on the Gilmore Griffons, I still had my friends.
    The next day at school seemed to go by sooooo sloooooowly, because all I could think about was going to the mall with my friends. It wasn’t that I was in love with the mall or anything, but I missed seeing my friends at Kicks practice every week. I knew we saw each other at school, but it wasn’t the same thing.
    So when the last bell rang on Friday, Jessi, Zoe, Emma, and I raced out the door to Jessi’s mom’s minivan.
    â€œWow, you guys have lots of energy,” Mrs. Dukes said.
    â€œIt’s Emma energy,” Zoe told her. “We’re celebrating Emma today.”
    â€œOh, is it your birthday, Emma?” Jessi’s mom asked.
    â€œNope,” Emma replied cheerfully. “It’s because I’m a loser!”
    â€œEmma, that’s not true,” I said.
    â€œWell, technically it is,” Emma said. “And anyway, I don’t mind. If I get an Atomic Burrito out of all this, then I will embrace my loserness!”
    â€œI don’t even think that’s a word,” I said.
    â€œWell, it is now!” Emma said.
    Then all our phones made a noise at the same time. We all checked to see a text from