Free Hat Trick by Alex Morgan

mom talked to her too, and Coach brought it up in front of everybody. And Jamie called me a tattletale.”
    â€œWell, I’m sorry about that,” Dad said. “But I’m curious. I talked to Coach Darby because I was concerned that you girls were playing too roughly and she wasn’t stopping it. So how did she handle that today?”
    I pushed my fork around on my plate, arranging the chicken-fried brown rice into a little mountain. “Well, she had us do some drills to prevent injury. And when Jamie pushed me during the scrimmage, Coach called her out.”
    Mom’s eyes widened. “She pushed you?”
    â€œShe’s the worst,” I said.
    Dad frowned. “Well, I’m glad to hear that Coach Darby took action. I wish that she had talked to you girls about unsportsmanlike conduct, though.”
    I shrugged.
    â€œAt least you had soccer practice,” Maisie complained loudly, pieces of rice flying out of her mouth. “Some ­people don’t get to play soccer at all. And some people have sisters who don’t practice with them like they promised. And some people—”
    â€œMaisie!” My dad cut her off. “May I remind you that some people should not speak with food in their mouth? Actually, that goes for all people. Especially the ones who live in this house.”
    Maisie put a hand over her mouth. “Oops. I forgot,” she said from under it. Then she started chewing furiously, before swallowing superloudly. She took her hand away before launching into her tirade again.
    â€œI don’t get it. At least Devin has soccer. And she said she was going to help me, and she didn’t do anything!” Maisie whined.
    I felt a stab of guilt. I had promised to help my little sister, but I had been so busy with the winter league that I hadn’t had a chance to figure out what to do yet. But Maisie didn’t have to be such a brat about it. And I had bought her that cute puppy soccer key chain with my own money to try to cheer her up. Had she forgotten all about that? So instead of feeling guilty, I got angry.
    â€œMaybe because it would be a big waste of my time,” I said in a really nasty voice. I couldn’t help myself. I was feeling so angry and annoyed. “It’s not like you’re a real soccer player or anything. You haven’t even played before.”
    Maisie’s big eyes filled with tears. “Mom!” she cried.
    I saw my parents look at each other and shake their heads before my dad turned to me. “Devin, you are clearly not interested in eating,” he said, gesturing at my plate of uneaten food. “Please clear your plate and go up to your room. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
    I pushed back in my chair loudly, grabbed my plate, and stomped over to the kitchen with it. I was acting mad, but truthfully, I was feeling embarrassed over losing my temper with Maisie like that. I sprinted up the stairs and slammed the door to drown out the sound of Maisie complaining about me to my mom.
    I jumped onto the bed and landed on my stomach, burrowing my face into my pillow. So what if Maisie couldn’t play soccer? I was playing in the toughest league of my life, and it was a lot harder than I had anticipated. Not only did I have to deal with unfriendly teammates, but my own best friends seemed to be going in different directions. Frida wasn’t even in school anymore! And while dealing with all of that, I was supposed to help my little sister too? I was feeling good and sorry for myself, so sorry that I had forgotten I had been the one who’d wanted to help Maisie. I could hear my family downstairs, my mom talking in a low voice to my sister as my dad cleared the table.
    I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I hoped it wasn’t Maisie. I wasn’t ready to apologize to her yet, and I knew that was what my parents would expect me to do. There was a light knock on the door before it opened.