Free Don't Tell Mother by Tara West

there.
    Nice.
    Even my BFFs thought I was old lettuce. Only one thing left to do. Athletic period was after lunch. Might as well get a head start on the game. Tonight we had a tough match against Quinten Junior High, the team we beat in overtime last year during the first division playoffs. The rest of my team didn’t care if they looked like idiots on the court, so it was up to me to bring on the game.
    ****
    Walking toward the locker room, I thought I heard voices. As I drew near the entrance, I recognized the sound of Paige’s high-pitched, girly giggle, her new irritating habit in trying to mimic Lowe.
    Was my team practicing at lunch?
    No way!
    They didn’t have the drive. Not now Carter was gone. Whatever they were doing, nobody invited me. Curiosity, and maybe a little bit of annoyance, got the best of me. What is going on in the locker-room? A sinking feeling in my gut told me Lowe had something to do with it.
    Stopping by the door, I opened it a crack and listened. Yeah, call it spying. I didn’t care. The team shouldn’t be meeting without the captain, anyway.
    “Okay, so here’s the deal,” Paige squealed. “Coach said she’s not buying us beer for the party. She did say she’d have beer in her fridge, and if we took some, she wouldn’t notice.”
    “Cool!” Several voices, who I recognized as my teammates, yelled.
    “She could get busted.” That was Keysha. Her voice was easy to pick out. She knew how to lay on the attitude.
    “No, she can’t,” Paige whined. “She’s not giving it to us.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Keysha spat.
    “How’s she gonna get busted?” Paige said. “No one’s gonna tell.”
    “AJ will tell.” Carly bawled.
    “AJ doesn’t even know about the party.”
    Who does Paige think she is? She excludes me from the party and then gives orders like she’s in charge. She’s not the captain—I am! I was so pissed I could feel the heat rise into my chest and swell my brain. I restrained my impulse to storm in there and give Paige the smack-down. I wanted to hear more.
    “The captain doesn’t know about the team sleepover?” Keysha asked.
    Well, at least one teammate was on my side.
    “Coach doesn’t want her there,” Paige said. “AJ’s not a team player.”
    Not a team-player, my butt! Besides Keysha, I’m the only one on the team who plays! What Paige meant to say was I’m not a Lowe groupie, butt-kisser.
    “AJ’s the reason we have a team,” Keysha barked.
    “Look, Keysha,” Paige groaned, “are you in or out?”
    “I don’t know if my parents will let me go.”
    I knew Keysha’s parents would let her go. Unlike my mother, they were pretty trusting. Keysha didn’t want to go. Was it because of me?
    At least one good thing came out of this. I knew I had one teammate I could count on.
    “Whatever.” Paige took on the voice of a ditzy cheerleader. “But don’t go ratting on Lowe and ruin our fun.”
    No, Keysha, don’t. That’s my job.
    The bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch. I raced out of the gym before my team caught me spying.
    Let them have their party. Let their supposed-to-be-a-responsible-adult coach get them drunk so they’d think she was cool. So she could pretend to be sixteen again and chill with her buds. So she could turn all of them against me. If this woman refused to grow up, maybe she needed a little help from the authorities. I just had to find out the date of the party.
    Lowe was so busted.
    ****
    Fifth period was English honors, a class I shared with Keysha. She was my best bet for finding the night and time of the party. I didn’t know how to get to coach’s house, but was pretty sure I could Google her address.
    Still not totally sure Keysha was on my side, I had to be cautious when asking her questions. I didn’t want her warning the team I was onto them. Lowe needed to get fired, and catching her giving beer to minors was one sure way of doing that.
    Keysha was sitting in her desk, reading from her