Free Just Like Me by Nancy Cavanaugh Page A

the field again after her penalty, barely staying in her lane, and blocked the ball as a player from Red Maple kicked it toward the goal.
    â€œ Awesome! ” Vanessa yelled.
    â€œWay to go, Becca!” Meredith wailed.
    Becca’s block ricocheted the ball off a different Red Maple player, slowing it way down. It rolled toward Gina, who was playing goalie. Gina pretended to run in slow motion, acting like she couldn’t get to the ball in time. And while she “pretend ran,” she turned to Vanessa and mouthed in slow motion , “ Oooooh noooooo! ” But Gina was looking at Vanessa instead of watching where she was going, so she actually stepped right on the ball and tripped. She fell facedown in the grass. The ball continued to roll toward the goal. And crossed the line.
    Red. Maple. Went. Crazy!
    They cheered for their team like they’d just won the World Cup.
    White Oak went crazy in a different way.
    It was pretty much like how I imagine the eruption of the geyser Old Faithful. An explosion coming from somewhere very, very deep inside the Earth. The kind of explosion that could easily blow a house divided against itself into a million pieces.
    I ran over to Gina and crouched next to her to make sure she was okay.
    Vanessa ran over to Gina and stood looking down at her and yelled, “Why would you goof around like that? In the middle of a game!”
    Gina rolled over and lay on her back spitting grass out of her mouth.
    Avery, Meredith, and Becca ran over to the goal too.
    When I stood up, Vanessa got in my face and said, “And you! How did you miss that perfect pass I kicked right to you?”
    All of a sudden I cared again that Vanessa was a yeller.
    Gina stood up and put her face even closer to Vanessa. “It’s a game , Vanessa! It’s supposed to be fun!”
    â€œIt’s competition,” Vanessa snarled. “You’re supposed to try! ”
    â€œEveryone is trying,” Gina said. “Why don’t you stop acting like you’re better than all of us.”
    â€œYeah, well, I know I’m better than you !” Vanessa said.
    â€œStop fighting!” Avery said. “We’re going to get in trouble.”
    â€œWe gotta get back to the game!” Becca yelled.
    â€œWhy, so you can run out of your lane forty-nine more times and get penalized again?” Vanessa said, turning on Becca.
    â€œI told you she thinks she’s better than everyone!” Gina said.
    â€œWell, how hard is it to stay in your lane?” Vanessa exclaimed in exasperation.
    â€œYeah,” Meredith agreed.
    That was the first time I realized that Meredith never really had a thought of her own.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?” Becca yelled.
    Then Vanessa, Becca, and Gina all started talking and yelling at each other at once, and the ref blew her whistle.
    â€œWhite Oak!” she exclaimed. “Your team is benched for poor sportsmanship. You forfeit the game.”
    â€œWhat?!” Vanessa wailed.
    â€œYou heard me!” the ref continued. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouths shut and walk back to your cabin without another word. No free time this afternoon. Instead you’re on silent cabin until dinner. Is that clear?”
    None of us said anything.
    â€œIs that clear?”
    â€œYes,” we all said together.
    We turned and walked back to the cabin without saying another word.
    â€¢ • •
    Back at the cabin, the room felt loud even though we weren’t allowed to talk. The anger from the lane soccer game had followed us to the cabin and just hung in the air. We heard Tori come in, and then we saw her standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. She hadn’t been at the soccer game, but we could tell she’d already talked to the counselor who had sent us back to the cabin.
    Tori didn’t look anything like on the first day of camp when we’d met her