In the Zone (The Kicks, Band 8) - Hardcover

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Alex Morgan became the youngest member of the US women’s national soccer team in 2009 and competed in the 2011 FIFA World Cup. She was the first overall pick in the 2011 Women’s Professional Soccer draft and landed a spot on the US Olympic women’s soccer team in 2012. At the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, Morgan won her first Olympic medal, a gold, with the American team. In 2015, she achieved her lifelong goal of winning a World Cup trophy, in the most-watched soccer match in US history. She now plays for the Orlando Pride in Orlando, Florida.

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In the Zone

CHAPTER ONE

“Devin!” a voice boomed out of the crowd.

I was warming up on the sidelines for the second game of the Kicks season, but I stopped my jumping jacks to scan the stands. I spotted my friend Steven waving a pair of white-and-blue pom-poms and doing a silly dance.

I started cracking up, laughing so hard that I doubled over with my hands around my waist.

“What’s so funny?” my friend Jessi asked.

I couldn’t stop giggling, but I pointed with my finger.

Jessi looked and broke out in a grin.

“Jessi!” Cody, sitting next to Steven, called as he waved and smiled at her. But he wasn’t holding pom-poms in our team’s colors like Steven was.

Steven had told me once that he was my biggest fan. Now I couldn’t doubt him.

Steven, Cody, Jessi, and I all hung out together sometimes. We were all in the seventh grade at Kentville Middle School. Jessi and I weren’t allowed to date yet, but we really enjoyed spending time with the boys. Not only were they both soccer players and loved to talk about all things soccer, but Steven was super cute, and his smile was the best I’d ever seen. Totally adorable.

“Ugh!” Emma cried out in frustration. I tore my gaze away from Steven’s antics to see what was wrong with my friend, the Kicks goalie.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. Emma sat slumped on the grass, her knees bent and her hands tugging on her cleat laces.

“My laces broke!” she moaned. “Ever since that growth spurt I had in the winter, my feet are in between sizes. I can’t find a pair of cleats that fit right. These are too loose. I tried pulling the laces really tight, and they ripped apart!”

I raised an eyebrow at that. The cleats’ laces were made of this strong, stretchy fabric. Emma must have really been tugging hard to break them.

“Here, let me see if I can knot it,” said Zoe, our resident fashionista and a whiz with all fabrics. She got onto the ground next to Emma and began fiddling with the laces.

“The timing is awful,” Emma complained as Zoe worked. “The Rams are tough competition. I need to bring my A game. I can’t have a problem with my cleats!”

“Don’t worry, Emma,” Frida reassured her. Not only was Frida a defender on the Kicks, but she was also an actor. She always got into character before a soccer game for motivation. “The goal is where the hidden treasure of Atlantis is buried. I am a mermaid warrior, sworn to defend it. I won’t let anyone near you!”

Emma sighed. “I know. The Kicks have great defenders, but sometimes it’s lonely at the goal. And when a ball gets through, it’s like it’s all my fault. All eyes are on me.” She shook her head. “But I’m going to shake it all off and go out there and do my best!”

Emma was so positive all the time. Hearing her complain a minute earlier had been strange. I was glad to see the usual, upbeat Emma return. But it made me think about how much of a burden there was on the goalie. I was a forward, and I usually got pretty focused on always looking for scoring opportunities. While I had played goalie in practice, I’d never really given much thought to what it must be like to be a goalie all the time. Standing in front of the goal, all alone, waiting for that ball to come at you, knowing you alone had to stop it—that was a lot of responsibility. And Emma was so good at it.

“Here you go!” Zoe said as she stood up. “I did the best I can, but it might come undone.”

“Hey, you don’t think Emma’s laces were sabotaged by the Rams, do you?” Jessi joked.

Frida rolled her eyes, Zoe sighed, and I shook my head, while Emma just laughed.

During the fall the Rams had played a lot of mean pranks on the Kicks to try to make us lose games. It hadn’t worked. We’d put a stop to what they were doing and had faced the Rams on the field and beat them fair and square. Jamie Quinn, the Rams captain, had been the ringleader. Because of that, I hadn’t liked her very much. But I’d gotten to know her when we’d both been on the Griffons winter league team together. We were sort of friendly now.

In fact, she had even texted me before our last game against the Panthers.

GLNG, she’d written, which was short for “good luck next game.” It might not have seemed like much, but for Jamie it was very warm and fuzzy.

“Nah, I’m just kidding,” Jessi said. “Now that I know her, Jamie’s not so bad.”

“In fact, she’s very good.” Emma shuddered. “It’s not fun to be in front of the goal when Jamie is taking a shot, let me tell you.”

Emma was right. Jamie, and just about everyone else on the Rams, was a solid, strong player. The Kicks had faced them a few weeks before in a scrimmage and had lost.

Today was not a scrimmage. It was a game, and we wanted to win!

As Coach Flores called us over, I spotted my mom, dad, and little sister, Maisie, in the stands, holding a long GO KICKS! banner. I smiled as I sprinted over to Coach. Steven had a lot of competition to be my biggest fan.

“Listen up,” Coach Flores said, a wide grin on her face. “You have all been killing it in practice. Your teamwork is on point, and your skills are improving every day, so go out there and do this!”

“Yes, Coach!” we all yelled back. The pregame energy was building, fueling us up.

Jamie was in the center spot as the Rams waited to receive the ball. Her long, blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had her game face on. But she broke it just for a second to give me a wink. Then the ref blew his whistle, and the ball dropped.

Jamie got it and kicked it to one of her teammates, but before she could get the ball, Grace, an eighth grader and my co-captain on the Kicks, swooped in and stole it. She dribbled it down the field, and I tried to shake off the Rams defenders so I could be open for her pass. I faked moving to the left but started running to the right. Soon I was in the clear and had the goal in my sights.

“Devin!” Grace called out, and the ball came soaring to me.

I took the ball and raced toward the goal, my heart pounding. There’s a feeling you get when the goal is in front of you and you have a clear shot. It’s hard to describe, but the exhilaration is one thing that makes me love soccer. It’s such a thrill.

Of course, it’s more of a thrill when you make the goal, so I focused on that. The goalie was crouched and waiting, trying to figure out which direction I’d kick the ball.

I tilted to the right, making it look like I was going to kick the ball to the left, but at the last minute I pivoted, using my left foot to kick the ball as hard as I could into the goal. Time seemed to stop for a second as the ball flew from my foot and the Rams’ goalie had to make a split-second decision: Go right or left?

The goalie lunged to her right, but my ball bounced into the back of the net on her other side.

The goalie and I gave shouts at the same time—hers of frustration, mine of celebration. I had made the first goal of the...