Free All Keyed Up by Matt Christopher, Stephanie Peters, Daniel Vasconcellos Page B

the games begin!” Jason cried, flinging his baseball cap in the air.
    “Stop horsing around and get in the goal,” growled Stookie.
    Jason bowed. “At your service,” he said. He dodged Stookie’s punch and jogged backward to the goal as the rest of the ’Cats
     laughed.
    Jerry laughed, too. He was surprised that Stookie had chosen Jason. When it came to soccer, Stookie was all business, even
     if it was just a pickup game played for fun.
    The game started. Since Stookie had had first choice of players, Bundy’s team got the ball first. Bundy toed the ball over
     to Dewey. Dewey started downfield, dribbling swiftly.
    Stookie charged him. In the blink of an eye, he’d stolen the ball and made it halfway toward the opposite goal. Lisa jumped
     forward, but Stookie dodged past her. Ted hopped like a frog in front of the goal, trying to guess where Stookie would shoot.
    He guessed wrong. Stookie faked left, but he shot right when Ted went for the fake. Goal!
    His teammates gathered round to congratulate Stookie. But Stookie impatiently waved them back to their positions.
    “It’s only one goal,” he reminded them. “They could still beat us!”
    “Oh, lighten up, Stookie,” Jason drawled. “It’s just a silly practice game.”
    Stookie’s temper flared up. “If it’s so silly to you,” he cried, “then why don’t you just leave?!”
    Jason just shrugged and strolled back to the goal. Stookie watched him with narrow eyes.
    Man,
Jerry thought to himself.
I sure would hate to get on Stookie’s bad side!

Chapter 4

    T he practice game continued. This time, Dewey started with the ball. The minute he touched it, Stookie raced forward to try
     to steal it. Jerry positioned himself between Dewey and Bundy, ready to grab the ball if Dewey passed it.
    But Dewey surprised them. Instead of sending it sideways to Bundy, he knocked it backward to Lisa.
    Lisa controlled the ball, then darted down the field, dribbling madly. Amanda squared off against her, and Lisa almost lost
     the ball. But she recovered and with a quick move sent the ball rocketing toward the goal.

    Jason ran out to meet it, but it took a strange bounce over his outstretched hands and into the goal.
    “Whoops,” Jason said, shrugging. He retrieved the ball and handed it to Stookie. Stookie didn’t say a word, but the glare
     he gave Jason was withering. Jason just stared back, chewing his gum, until Stookie walked back to the center of the field.
    After that, Stookie was unstoppable. He scored three more goals single-handedly before Bundy’s team scored their second one.
     When Bundy did finally get it into the net, Stookie shouted at Jason for not having played better. Jerry cringed, but Jason
     just rolled his eyes and told Stookie to lay off.
    Finally, when the score was eight to three, Bundy’s team had had enough.
    “Let’s go down to the town pool!” Ted suggested.
    “Yeah, maybe Stookie can cool off his hot head there!” Jason said.
    Stookie grinned. “Aw, come on, Jason,” he said. “You know my bark is worse than my bite. Anyway, I can’t go to the pool. My
     folks and I are leaving for our trip this afternoon.”
    “How about you, Jerry?” Lisa asked.
    “Sure, I’ll meet you guys there after lunch.” Everyone agreed that was a good plan. Stookie and Jerry walked home together.
    “Hey, have fun with your folks this weekend,” Jerry said as they parted to go to their houses.
    “I will. And have fun at the pool. Just make sure you’re back in time to feed my gerbils,” Stookie warned.
    Jerry patted his knapsack. “I’ve got the key right in here. Nothing to worry about.”
    “I hope not,” Stookie said as he climbed the steps into his house. “If anything happened to those gerbils, I don’t know what
     I’d do.”
    Jerry gulped.

Chapter 5

    W
hat had Stookie meant by that?
Jerry wondered as he hurried to his room to get his swim things.
Aw, he was probably just joking around. Like he said, his bark is worse