Free Hat Trick by Alex Morgan Page A

My dad stuck his head in.
    â€œWant to kick the soccer ball around?” he asked.
    I unstuck my head from my pillow. “Okay,” I said, still a little sulky.
    â€œMeet you in the backyard,” my dad said cheerfully, as if I hadn’t just yelled at Maisie and stormed off from the dinner table.
    I got off the bed and laced up my sneakers, already feeling a little bit better. It was always fun to play soccer with my dad.
    He was in the backyard, tapping the ball around when I got there. He had never played on a team, but he was a big soccer fan who sometimes played soccer on weekends with his friends. He passed the ball to me, and I tapped it back to him at an angle. He started running, and together we jogged the length of the backyard, tapping the ball back and forth to each other. I started to relax as I focused on this easy soccer drill.
    â€œSo,” my dad said as we moved, “anything else you want to talk about?”
    I had the ball, and I started to tap it back and forth as fast as I could between my feet, moving as quickly as possible until I started to tire myself out. I flipped the ball up and started tapping it up repeatedly on the instep of my right foot.
    â€œWell,” I said slowly as I watched the ball bounce. It was funny how sometimes I didn’t feel like talking at all, and then all of a sudden the words would come pouring out, like a waterfall. That was what was about to happen.
    â€œThe winter league is really hard, the girls are really competitive, and you know I didn’t even get to play at all that one game,” I said as I let the ball roll off my foot. I planted my foot on top of it and put my hands on my hips as I continued. “There’s no teamwork. Plus, Zoe isn’t on our team and Emma and Frida aren’t in the league at all. I feel like I might be losing some of my friends. So I was feeling pretty bummed about all that when Maisie started in about her soccer team.” I thought about that. “Or, rather, about her not having a soccer team. She’s right. I did say I would help her. There is just too much going on!”
    My dad nodded sympathetically. “The straw that broke the camel’s back, huh?”
    â€œExactly,” I said.
    â€œSo if I’ve got this straight, you’ve got three things you’re struggling with right now,” Dad said. He began a recap. “One, the new league is very competitive and your teammates are not that friendly. Is that right?” he asked me. I thought of Jamie. “Not friendly” was putting it mildly, but sure, I’d go with that. I nodded. “Second, not all of your friends are on your team, and some of them aren’t playing soccer at all right now. You’re worried how this might affect your friendships.” Again I nodded. “And, last, you wanted to help your sister find a way to play soccer because her program was canceled, but you haven’t had the time. Does that sum it all up?”
    â€œYep,” I said sadly.
    Dad walked over and put his arm around me. “Those are three big problems, Devin. No wonder you are feeling stressed out. Remember, it always helps to talk about how you’re feeling. Now, that’s something you can learn from your sister,” he said with a chuckle.
    I laughed. “We all know exactly how Maisie is feeling every second of the day,” I said.
    â€œAs far as the winter league goes, hang in there,” Dad said. “Let me know if the roughness issue continues. And remember, it’s only for a little while, and you’ll be back playing with the Kicks again soon.”
    That was exactly what Steven had said! I needed to remember that.
    â€œYou know, it hasn’t been all bad,” I admitted to Dad, thinking about some of the things I had learned. “I am learning to play more aggressively, but I also ended up with my first yellow card ever!” I shuddered, still embarrassed by the