Read Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL Online
Authors: Melissa J Morgan
Camp Confidential 05 - TTYL (8 page)
Alex was unsure. “But class is about to start—” she began.
“The soccer coach is there—she’ll write you a pass,” Lucy said. “Come on!”
“Okay,” Alex agreed. She took Lucy’s hand and they ran down the hall toward the girls’ locker room.
There was a crowd of girls inside, standing around the big bulletin board next to the coach’s office. Alex pushed her way to the front of the crowd and scanned the board for her name.
There were three pieces of paper on the bulletin board, each listing a different group of girls: those who had made the team, those who hadn’t, and those who would have to go back that afternoon for one more round of tryouts. Alex first looked down the list of people who hadn’t made the team, and was totally relieved to not see her name there. Then she checked the list of people who had definitely made the team—but her name wasn’t there, either. Alex’s heart sunk deep into her stomach.
Coach Gregorson, a tall, redheaded woman who also taught Alex’s PE class, was standing next to the bulletin board with a clipboard, assigning groups of girls who were on the third list to tryout teams. “Alex,” Coach Gregorson called. “Come on over.”
Alex walked over, feeling nervous. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi, hon,” Coach Gregorson said, looking down at her clipboard. “So, I’m going to put you on the A team for tryouts tonight. That will start at four. Is that okay?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “Can I ask you a question?” Her stomach felt like it was in knots.
“Sure,” the coach said, scribbling something onto her clipboard. “What’s up?”
“Well,” Alex began. “Um . . . it’s just that in fifth grade, I was the MVP of my team . . .”
Coach smiled. “Don’t worry, Alex,” she said consolingly. “A lot of the girls who weren’t immediately placed onto the team are nervous. You’ll be fine, and if you don’t make it, you’ll try out again next year. No matter what, the second round gives me a better idea of what you can do, and it will give you valuable experience.” She patted Alex on the shoulder. “See you at four.” She grabbed her packet of passes out of her pocket and quickly scribbled one for Alex. Alex walked away, shoving her pass into her pocket.
Alex spent the last two periods of the day in a nervous haze. After school, she was so worried about the tryouts, she could hardly stand it. After the final bell rang, she put her books into her locker and walked around the halls aimlessly for a few minutes. Then she popped into the computer lab, since she knew she had an hour to kill, and checked into the Camp Lakeview blog.
Posted by: Val
Subject: Hi, everybody!
Subject: Hi, everybody!
Sorry it’s taken me so long to write anything other than a response! We didn’t have Internet access for a while. Anyway, It’s been cool to see what everyone is doing.
I’m back at school, having a great time—middle school is different, but it’s so much fun! I’ve already met a bunch of new people—it’s really great.
Love, Val
Alex wanted to post about the upcoming tryouts, about how nervous she was that she wouldn’t make the team, about feeling like she wasn’t good enough, and about how hard middle school was for her. But she just couldn’t do it. She trusted and loved her camp friends so much, but she didn’t want them to see her feeling like she might fail. She closed the browser window and got up.
After leaving the computer lab, she headed for the locker room, where she changed into her practice clothes. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, tied her sneakers in double knots, and checked the time. It was three forty-five, fifteen minutes before her tryout was scheduled to begin.
I guess I’ll go and watch the other group
, she thought, trying to get excited about playing.
I guess I’ll go and watch the other group
, she thought, trying to get excited about playing.
Outside on the field, Coach Gregorson blew on her whistle. “That’s enough, kids—great work today,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. The group of girls gathered around her. “Okay. Coach Henry, Coach Lisa, and I will be talking to you about whether you’ve made the team, and if you have, what position you’ll be playing and what your goals should be for the season. Please take a seat on the grass and come over when we call you. Let’s start with Jane.”
A girl with long, braided brown hair walked tentatively toward Coach Gregorson and Henry and Lisa, who were two high-school kids who helped Coach Gregorson. The other players scattered into small groups along the sidelines of the field. From her seat in the bleachers, Alex watched as the coaches sat down with Jane and talked to her. After a minute or so, Jane got up, looking really happy, and walked toward the school. Another girl walked over and sat down with the coaches, but it didn’t go so well. After they talked to her for just a moment, the girl’s face crumpled and she looked like she was going to cry. Seeing Jane make the team had made Alex feel a little better, but seeing this girl not make it brought the butterflies back to Alex’s stomach.
A few more girls came and sat down on the bleachers with Alex. She knew one of them from her fifth-grade soccer team and they smiled nervously at each other. “Hey, Amanda,” Alex said.
“Hi,” Amanda replied. She sat down next to Alex. “I like your shoelaces.”
Alex looked down at her shoes. She’d bought new yellow laces with smiley faces on them. “Thanks,” she said. “They make me smile.”
Amanda laughed. “That’s good,” she said. “Are you nervous?”
“Totally,” Alex said. “Are you?”
“Yeah,” Amanda admitted. “It’s weird to have to try out, since we didn’t have to in fifth grade.”
“I know,” Alex groaned. “I wish I would’ve just made it in the first cut!”
From the field, Coach Gregorson blew on her whistle. “All right, girls, let’s get started!” she called, motioning for everyone to join her on the field.
When all the girls were assembled, the coach said, “Okay, we’re going to start by warming up, and then we’re going to play a short game so that we can see everyone’s skills. You’ll play the position you’re used to. I split up the tryouts so that everyone would play the position they’ve played before. Does anyone have any questions?”
Alex looked around. One girl with short red curls raised her hand. “Yes, Debbie?” the coach asked.
“When will we find out whether we made the team?” Debbie asked tentatively.
The coach laughed. “Right after tryouts, we’ll sit you down and talk with you. Don’t worry about that right now, though—just have a good time.” She blew on her whistle. “Let’s warm up, everybody!”
Henry and Lisa walked to the center of the field, and all the girls followed. The two older kids led everyone through some simple exercises, like jumping jacks and sit-ups. Then they did some practice with the ball, passing it and pivoting and dribbling. Alex was starting to feel like she was getting a real workout, which was great—she loved the feeling of her heart pounding and sweat starting to build along her hairline.
After about ten minutes of warming up, Coach Gregorson blew her whistle. “Great work, girls,” she called. “Let’s split into teams now for the scrimmage. On team A, I have Alex, Amanda, Debbie, Carla, LaShondra, Franny, Cate, Michaela, Sara, Savannah, and Monica. Everyone else, you’re on team B.”
The group of girls split up, and the coaches walked to the sidelines. As the game began, Alex stopped feeling nervous. She ran fast and worked hard, and every time her team scored a point, she felt a little lighter. After playing for about twenty minutes, Coach Gregorson blew her whistle. “All right, that’s great, everyone,” she said. “We’ve made our decisions. We’ll start with Amanda. Everyone else, relax on the field, do some stretches.”
Alex sat down on the grass and stretched out her legs. Franny, who’d been on her team, sat down next to her. “That was fun, huh?” Franny said casually.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “It was cool.”
“Did you play at your old school?” Franny gently pulled a few blades of grass from the field.
“Yup,” Alex replied. She looked over at Amanda, who looked sort of sad as the coach talked to her. Coach Gregorson patted Amanda on the shoulder, and then they both stood up. Amanda walked slowly toward the school building.
“All right, Alex?” Coach Gregorson called. “Come on over.”
Suddenly, the butterflies returned to Alex’s tummy. She slowly stood up and walked over to Coach Gregorson, Henry, and Lisa.
“Sit down, Alex,” the coach said kindly. Alex sat down and crossed her legs, and Coach Gregorson followed suit.
“Henry, why don’t you start?” Coach Gregorson asked.
“Okay. Alex, you obviously have played soccer before,” Henry said, looking at his clipboard. “You’ve got good skills with the ball, and you’re fast. That’s really great.”
“That is really great,” Lisa put in. “We are a little worried that you aren’t as skilled as some of the other players when it comes to strategy.”
“I can learn that stuff!” Alex exclaimed. “I am a really fast—”
Coach Gregorson cut her off. “We know you can, Alex. You’re on the team.”
Relief flooded into Alex’s body. “I am?” she asked tentatively.
“You are,” Coach assured her. “But, to begin with, you might not get to play as much as some of the older girls. That isn’t a bad thing. It just means that you need to pay attention and learn about game strategy. That’s your goal for the year: Learn about strategy.”
“I don’t get to play?” Alex said softly.
“To begin with, you’ll just watch. Then, when we feel like your performance in practice shows that you’re learning, you’ll play a little. It’ll be hard work, Alex, but I know you can do it,” Coach said, reaching over and patting her on the shoulder. “After all, all of our star players have to start somewhere. Any questions?”
Alex felt tears welling up. “No,” she said quickly. “See you at practice tomorrow.” She got up and walked to the school as fast as she could. She didn’t bother to change out of her practice clothes; she just threw on her regular sneakers and put her school clothes into her bag. She couldn’t believe how disappointed she was! She’d made the team, after all. But she wanted to play.
Alex walked home quickly, and called to her mom, who was in the kitchen making dinner. “I made the team,” she yelled.
Her mom came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Honey, that’s great!” she said. “I’m so proud of you.” She reached toward Alex for a hug, but Alex drew away.
“They said I wouldn’t get to play, Mom,” she said sadly.
“What?” her mom said, pulling away.
“They said I have to learn about strategy, and so my goal for the season is to learn about strategy, and if I do, I’ll get to play a little.”
“Oh, honey,” her mom said, walking to Alex and wrapping her arms around her. “Don’t worry, you’ll show them how good you are, and you’ll play before you know it.”
“I know, Mom,” Alex said. And she did know. That didn’t stop her from feeling disappointed, though. She was used to being a star—it was going to be hard to start at the bottom.
“Dinner’s almost ready, so why don’t you go upstairs and change and wash up?”
“I’m not really hungry right now, actually. Is it okay if I eat later?”
With a concerned look on her face, Alex’s mom nodded. “Sure, honey. I’ll save a plate for you. Is your blood sugar okay?”
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