Hat Trick (9 page)

“Hey! There's tomato sauce on my binder!” Zoe said.

My friends and I were at the table in my backyard, eating pizza and starting to talk about our fund-raising plans. Zoe, as usual, had all her ideas neatly organized in a binder, along with pictures to show us.

“Sorry,” Emma said. “I don't know what it is, but when I eat, it's like I get the food everywhere but in my mouth.”

“Gross!” Zoe shrieked, and then we all started giggling. Then Zoe took a napkin and carefully cleaned off her binder.

“You know that cute key chain you got at the mall, Devin?” Zoe said. “Something like that shouldn't be too hard to make. I've been thinking about the craft fair idea. We could make a whole bunch of soccer-related crafts, or even sports-related crafts, and sell them. See, I found all these ideas online.”

Zoe opened the binder and showed us some stuff she had printed out. There were cute little soccer ball necklaces with soccer balls made out of sculpting clay, and a little stuffed teddy bear made out of felt holding a soccer ball.

“Soooooo cute!” said Emma.

“Yeah, cool,” said Jessi.

Zoe grinned. “Good, because I already made a bunch, and my sisters are helping too, and so are Mira and Tamika from my team.”

I was impressed. “Wow, Zoe, that's awesome.”

“Well, my dad said he'd bake his famous coconut cakes for us to sell,” Jessi said. “I was thinking we could do a bake sale.”

“Oh my gosh, yum!” Emma said. “Your dad's coconut cake is the best.”

I jumped in. “That's great. My idea was to do a soccer clinic for kids. Kind of like the one we did with Maisie and her friends, but with more kids, and we could charge a small fee.”

“That is genius,” Zoe said, and I smiled. I thought so too.

“Well, I was talking to the Tree Huggers about it, and they want to help us,” Emma said. “We've been researching a way to wash cars without a lot of water, and without polluting the water supply. We thought maybe we could wash cars to raise money for the soccer program. It would be educational, too.”

“Aw, that's sweet! Then you'll have to change your name to the Soccer Huggers,” Zoe joked.

Emma squeezed her. “I'm a Soccer Hugger, and I'm proud of it!”

“These are all amazing ideas,” I said. “It's going to be hard to pick one.”

“Why do we have to pick just one?” Jessi asked. “Can't we do all of them?”

Zoe nodded. “Or better yet, do them all in the same place at the same time. I already checked with the Kentville Community Center about doing a craft sale, and they said next Saturday is open.”

“We could call it a Save the Soccer League Fair!” I said, excited. Then it hit me. “Wait, next Saturday? Don't we have a game?”

Jessi shook her head. “Next week's game is on Sunday. So it would work out. But it's not a lot of time to prepare.”

“I know,” Zoe agreed. “But it wouldn't be too hard. We've got this afternoon free, right? After we confirm with the community center, we can make posters and start putting them up around town.”

“And online, too,” Emma said.

Jessi picked up her phone. “I'd better tell my dad to start baking!”

“We'll need more volunteers to bake,” Devin said. “And if you guys are busy with your stuff, I'll need help running the soccer clinic.”

“I'll help you,” Jessi said. “I'll get my dad to run the bake sale table.”

“Why don't we ask the other Kicks?” Zoe said. “I'll ask Grace. Zarine and Sarah are on the Griffons with you, right? I bet they'd help.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Hey, we could ask the other Griffons too.”

Jessi raised an eyebrow. “
All
the Griffons?”

“Well, maybe not Jamie,” I said, reading her mind. “But I bet some of them will help. It's worth a try. I mean, they're our teammates, and teammates help one another, right?”

Jessi shook her head. “Devin, you were born to be a team captain, you know that?”

I think I blushed a little at Jessi's compliment. I liked hearing it. That was one of my dreams—that I would be playing on a big field one day, maybe even in the World Cup, leading my team to victory. Hey, I could dream, right?

“So, I think we have a plan,” Zoe said. “I have the number for the community center lady. I'll call her.”

“Devin, can we use your laptop?” Emma asked. “I have an amazing idea for the poster.”

“Sure,” I said, and I went inside, feeling really good. We were within goal range of saving Maisie's soccer program. For the first time I felt like we could really do it!

*    *    *

“So, basically we would do some fun drills with the kids, and the money would go toward the elementary school soccer program,” I told some of my teammates on Monday at practice as we warmed up.

“That's an awesome idea,” said Zarine. “Sarah and I can help. Right, Sarah?”

Sarah nodded. “Definitely.”

“I'll help,” Mirabelle said.

I smiled at her. “Thanks!”

Some of the other girls heard us talking, and I started explaining the whole plan over again. Katie, Tracey, and Kristin all said they could help too.

“What time do we have to be there?” Kristin asked.

“Well, we have the community center from eleven to four on Saturday, so anytime you can come would be great,” I told them.

“What's this about making plans for Saturday?”

It was Coach Darby.

“Oh, hi, Coach,” I said. “We're organizing a Save the Soccer League Fair to raise money for the elementary school league. There's no program right now because there's no funding.”

Coach Darby frowned. “I was going to call for an extra practice on Saturday, so we'd be in shape for Sunday,” she said, and my heart sank. But then she said something amazing. “Tell you what. We can have an early-morning Sunday practice. I think your fair is a good idea.”

I beamed at her. “Thanks! It's at the Kentville Community Center. You should come.”

“Maybe I will,” she said. “Just don't forget about practice Sunday. Bright and early.”

“No problem, Coach!” I said, and I could tell that I was smiling from ear to ear.

“Wow,” Jessi said as Coach walked away.

“I know,” I said. “So cool. I will always and forever be one of the Kicks at heart. But right now it feels pretty good to be a Griffon, too!”

“Wow, this place looks amazing!” Emma said.

It was ten forty-five on the morning of the Save the Soccer League Fair. The whole week had been totally crazy! And we had all gotten to the center at seven in the morning to set up for the fair. I was tired already, but it was so worth it. Emma was right. The place looked amazing.

Outside, a big
SAVE THE SOCCER LEAGUE FAIR
banner hung over the doorway. Mom had made it and enlisted Maisie and her friends to help paint it. It looked supersweet. On the center's side lawn we had tons of soccer balls and cones ready for the soccer clinic. Zarine, Sarah, and Grace were already there to help, kicking soccer balls around as they waited for things to begin. Since they were Kicks, I had known they would come out and support us, but I felt great when I saw that Griffons Katie, Tracey, and Kristin were kicking the balls around with them too!

Over on the other side of the center, Emma's Tree Huggers were getting ready for their environmentally friendly car wash. The center had given them permission to hold the car wash on the grassy area next to the parking lot, so the dirty water wouldn't end up in the storm drain system. Michelle, one of the Tree Huggers, waved over Emma and me, a huge smile on her face. She held a bucket filled with a soapy liquid.

“It's a biodegradable, nontoxic cleaner,” she said. “It uses very little water, and it doesn't streak, so we don't have to worry about rinsing. But we'll need to make up for it with a lot of elbow grease.” She gestured to a pile of large sponges, one side soft and the other with scrubber surfaces on them. “We do the work, not the water!”

I was impressed that everyone, even people I didn't know that well, were willing to work so hard to help save the soccer program!

Inside, there were tables set up for the craft sale and the bake sale. Zoe's sisters and Jessi's dad had arrived and were making things look beautiful.

“It's perfect,” I said. “There's only one thing left to do.”

“What's that?” Jessi asked.

I grinned. “Sock swap!”

“I knew you were going to say that!” Emma cried, lifting up the leg of her jeans to show off a pair of bright purple-and-pink-striped socks. “Yay!”

We all ran outside, sat down on the grass, and took off our shoes. Then we each took off one sock and passed it to the next person—just like we had always done before each Kicks game, except this time we were swapping our everyday socks. Sarah, Zarine, and Grace saw us and came running over.

“Hey, don't leave us out!” Zarine said as they sat down on the grass with us.

“Next round!” I shouted, and we passed around our socks again, cracking up.

“You guys are so weird!”

It was Cody, who had showed up with Steven. Jessi jumped up and punched Cody in the arm.

“Weird? Did you say ‘weird'?” she asked.

Cody laughed. “Okay, I take it back!”

Jessi had had the idea to ask the boys to help us with the clinic.

“Thanks for coming,” I said. “Now I just hope some people show up.”

“Well, I would say at least fifty,” Steven said.

“How do you know that?” I asked him.

He pointed behind me. “Look!”

I turned around and saw that the parking lot of the community center had started to fill with minivans. Parents and kids were pouring out of the cars.

“Wow!” I said, starting to feel pumped up.

One of the minivans was the Marshmallow, and Mom walked up with Maisie.

“Mom!” I hugged her. “There are so many people here!”

“I asked the PTA to send an email to parents,” Mom said. “Once people found out what you girls were doing, everybody wanted to support it.”

“Thanks,” I said, and then Dad walked up behind her, carrying some more cones. He had asked if he could help with the soccer clinic.

“If we raise enough funds, the school has said I can definitely coach,” he said, “so this will be good practice.”

“Wow, Dad, that's so cool,” I said.

“It is!” Maisie said. “I'm so excited! Mom and I are going to help at the bake sale. I hope we sell a million cupcakes!”

I started to feel nervous. “I guess there's a lot riding on this.”

“Don't worry. It looks like a good turnout already,” Dad said, nodding to a line of kids and parents forming over by the side lawn. “What do you say we get things started?”

“Definitely!” I said, and Jessi and I jogged over to the side field with him, followed by Steven and Cody.

The morning went by in a flash. We had so many little kids show up! And they were all so cute! We had a lot of fun, but by one o'clock the crowds started to dwindle. Emma and the Tree Huggers had no more customers for their car wash.

I went inside and checked with Zoe.

“How are sales going?” I asked.

“Pretty good,” Zoe said. “The necklaces are a big hit.”

Emma walked up to us, taking a bite out of a white fluffy cupcake.

“Emma, that's the third time you've come in here for one!” Zoe said.

“I can't help it. They're delicious!” Emma replied. “Besides, they're for a good cause.”

I looked around. A few people were walking around, but the morning crowd was definitely gone.

“I hope we made enough this morning to get the program going,” I said. “It looks pretty dead now.”

Zoe nodded. “Yeah. But at least we tried, you know. Maybe now that we did this fund-raiser, other people will try to help the soccer program too.”

“I hope so,” I said, but I was disappointed. I had been counting on the fair to save the soccer program so I could complete my hat trick!

“Let's get this party started!”

I knew that voice, of course. Once again Frida was making a dramatic entrance. We ran to greet her.

“Yay! You made it!” I said.

Frida smiled. “And I brought a friend.”

She stepped away from the doorway to reveal a teenage boy with auburn hair and the most soulful brown eyes I had ever seen. Behind me Emma made a sound like a high-pitched fire whistle.

“Brady! Brady McCoy! Is here! He's actually here!” Emma squealed.

Brady smiled at her, totally not fazed by the fact that she was having a major meltdown in front of him.

“You must be Emma,” he said.

“Oh my gosh. He said my name!” Emma squealed again.

“Wow, it's nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand. “I'm Devin, and this is Jessi and Zoe.”

“It's so cool that you came here,” Jessi said.

“Well, Frida talks about you guys all the time,” he said. “Kicks, Kicks, Kicks. So I just had to meet you. Besides, this is a good cause.”

“That's exactly what I just said!” Emma said.

By now some of the kids outside had started to come inside. Word that Brady was here was getting around fast.

“Uh-oh,” I said. “Do you want to, like, hide somewhere?”

“I'm used to it,” Brady said. “I don't mind signing a few autographs or something if it'll help out.”

“Of course it will help!” Zoe said, excited. “Can we take a selfie with you and post it so people know that you're here?”

“Go for it!” Brady said cheerfully.

Zoe, Jessi, Emma, Frida, and I closed in around Brady, and Zoe snapped a selfie of all of us. After the flash we broke up, all of us giggling nervously. I wasn't a huge Brady fan like Emma, but he totally had this star quality about him. It was really exciting!

Emma ran to the craft table and pushed aside a display to make room for Brady.

“Here you go,” she said. “You can sign autographs here.”

“Brady McCoy is signing autographs!” somebody yelled out, and now everybody outside was inside, hoping to get a chance to meet Brady.

Zoe brought a bunch of paper over from the craft table, along with some glitter pens. A little girl stepped up with her mom.

“What's your name?” Brady asked, flashing his amazing smile.

“Haley,” said the girl in a shy, quiet voice.

“How do you spell that?” Brady asked.

“
H
-
A
-
L
-
E
-
Y
,” the girl replied slowly.

Brady quickly wrote her a note and signed his name.

“Oh, thank you so much!” Haley's mom said.

Brady flashed that smile again. “You can thank me by making a donation to the Save the Soccer League Fund!”

On hearing that, Emma grabbed an empty box from under the craft table and held it out. The mom slipped a dollar into the box, and the next kid stepped up.

Zoe sidled up to me. “Okay, I can see why Emma is crazy about him now. He's a genius.”

“And totally cute,” I added.

“Cuter than Steven?” Zoe asked, with an evil look in her eye.

“Um, you know, it's—it's a different kind of cute,” I stammered. “They're both cute!”

A few minutes later things got really crazy. Once people found out that Brady was at the soccer fair, they came right to the community center. Dad left the soccer clinic and came inside to help keep the line orderly. Jessi grabbed some of her dad's coconut cakes and worked the line, selling them. Mom had to give Emma a shopping bag to hold the donations because the box just wasn't big enough.

“This is amazing,” I told Dad as we watched Brady sign another autograph and watched another bill go into the donation bag.

Dad nodded. “Devin, I honestly think you might have made enough money today to get the program started,” he said. “If we can find another volunteer coach to help out, I'm sure the school board will give us the go-ahead.”

“Really?” I asked.

Dad nodded. “You did it, kid. Another goal scored for Devin. How'd your other two go?”

“Great,” I said. “Looks like I made my hat trick!”

“That's my girl,” Dad said, ruffling my hair.

I was pretty sure that Brady would have signed autographs all night, but we had to leave the community center by four, so Dad had a good excuse to kick everyone out. Then a limo pulled up and the crowd followed Brady outside as he got in.

“Thank you so much,” I said. “You helped save the soccer league! You're going to make a lot of kids happy.”

“That's what I do,” Brady said.

Then Emma pushed her way through the crowd. “Brady! Don't forget me!” she called out.

“Emma, believe me, you are unforgettable!” Brady said, and then the limo pulled away.

Emma looked like she might faint. “Did you hear that? Unforgettable! He called me unforgettable!”

With Brady gone, the crowds quickly cleared out. We helped clean everything up. Pretty soon it was just me, Jessi, Emma, Zoe, and Frida left. My parents and Jessi's parents waited in the parking lot to take us home.

Maisie ran up to me. “Devin, you're the best sister!” she said, hugging me. “All of you are the best!”

I had to admit, at that moment I thought Maisie was the best sister too. But I would never tell her that. It would go right to her head.

“Maisie!” Mom called, and then Maisie went running off to join her.

I looked at my friends.

“Frida, thanks for bringing Brady,” I said. “You totally saved the fair.”

Frida shook her head. “No way. You guys worked so hard on this. You did it.”

“We all did it,” said Jessi. “You know why?”

We all knew the answer.

“Because we're the Kicks!” we cried.

And right then I knew there was a better feeling than scoring a goal. Or even completing a flawless hat trick.

The best feeling of all is that feeling you get when you're with your friends and everything is awesome and nothing else in the world matters. And I knew, down to my mismatched socks, that as long as I had the Kicks, I would always, always have that feeling.