Win or Lose Read Online Free

nodded. “And you went on the Ferris wheel together. Too bad you didn’t get stuck at the top.”
    I laughed. “You watch too many TV movies!”
    â€œStuck on top of a Ferris wheel . . . with no choice but to fall in love,” Kara said in a dramatic voice.
    â€œYou definitely need to meet my friend Frida the next time you come here,” I said. “You would love her.”
    Kara made a silly sad face. “I wish you could come visit here! You could come see the Cosmos in the play-offs.”
    â€œIt would be hard to just sit in the stands and not jump in and play with you guys,” I said. “Anyway, we have our first play-off game on Saturday.”
    â€œYay!” Kara cheered. “The Cosmos and the Kicks in the play-offs at the same time. That is so cool.”
    I smiled. “It’s almost like we’re in the play-offs together.”
    â€œAlmost,” Kara said. “I have a good feeling. We’re both going to win!”
    â€œI hope so,” I replied.
    â€œI know so,” Kara said, and I realized for the millionth time how lucky I was to have her as a friend.
    I didn’t even tell Kara about the newspaper article thing. I was tired of talking about it. It was time to focus on Saturday’s game.

CHAPTER FOUR

    I was kind of nervous about practice the next day. Would Grace and the other eighth graders still be mad at me? I hoped that they had forgotten about it.
    At first everything seemed to be normal. We all got changed in the locker room in a big hurry after school. Grace and her friends were talking and laughing with one another like they always did, and I did the same with my friends.
    Then we all headed over to our practice field. The boys got to use the school field, and we had to cross the street to the community field. Instead of grass it was mostly dirt and weeds, and today it was really muddy from the rain the day before.
    â€œOh, boy. This is going to get messy,” I said as my cleats squished in the mud.
    Emma stopped suddenly. “Oh my gosh. Nets!”
    I couldn’tbelieve it. For weeks we had been practicing without any nets at the goals. We’d just had some dented garbage cans where either side of the goal would be.
    We ran up to Coach Flores, who had a big smile on her face.
    â€œCoach! Where did these come from?” Jessi asked.
    â€œIsn’t this great?” she said. “They were donated by Sally Lane, who owns the sporting goods shop in town. She read the article in the paper and wanted to do something to help the team.”
    â€œOh my gosh! They’re amazing!” Emma clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait to tell Zoe!”
    All the girls started talking excitedly about the nets. I was pretty psyched. They would definitely make our practices better, and that was a good thing, especially since we were in the play-offs.
    â€œI have a thank-you card for Ms. Lane,” Coach Flores said. “I’d like everyone to sign it, and then we’ll warm up.”
    We all gathered around to sign the card—it was one of those really big ones that are bigger than my head—and then Coach led us in warm-ups. We were all pretty pumped up about the nets, and we ran out onto the field as Coach set up our first drill.
    â€œI want us to work on finishing skills today,” she said. Then she counted us off into two groups and had us line up in front of the goal, right outside the penalty box.
    She placed three balls between the two lines of players. “Grace, get in the middle,” she instructed, and Gracejogged over to the balls. Then Coach pointed to the line of girls on the left of the goal, which I was part of.
    â€œYou guys are the attackers,” she said, and then she pointed to the right. “And you are the defenders. Grace, I want you to kick a ball to one of the attackers. When Grace kicks the ball to you, attackers, you need to take it to the goal.