Yes, exactly. Finally, he was giving them useful information.

“We discussed this weeks ago, but, Vi, as team captain, I’d like you to start incorporating those goals into the practice. And Thursday we scrimmage again—just us. Yes?” he asked all of them.

They all nodded, and he gathered his things as they sat in silence.

Dan began getting ready to go. Nina sat there, using the fidget toy. Vi texted someone.

As Mr. Garcia left and the door closed on him, he added, “Keep your spirits up, scholars.”

And practice ended.

“When someone says, ‘Keep your spirits up,’ you know things are really bad,” Nina moaned.

“Yes,” Vi said, drained. “That was very, very bad.”

They all started to get ready to go, moving slowly, as if they were sore after a brutal beating in a sports game.

“We have to add another practice each week,” Vi said as she organized and reorganized the things in her backpack to make them all fit perfectly.

Dan started to protest, but Vi went on. “No, no, listen—I’m being … I’m being nice. I’m being positive here, okay?”

“No one has ever sounded less positive while saying ‘positive’…” Dan observed, and Nina and Marianne giggled.

“We have to work harder.” Vi looked to each of them, checking in. “In a positive way,” she assured them. “We have a teammate who is new to this, and we’ve gotten a little thrown off course. It’s okay … It’s okay.” She was clearly trying to convince herself. “Besides adding a practice, we should help her with her schoolwork in order to maximize her time.”

“I can’t do Wednesdays,” Dan said. “I have PT.”

“Done, no problem,” Vi said. “But if we’re going to win Regionals, we need Marianne to be on the top of her game. And”—she looked to Dan and Nina—“we need to be on top of ours. We’re not cutting it.”

True, they definitely were not cutting it. They hardly stood a chance. After viewing that catastrophe, Marianne couldn’t believe she’d ever thought they could win. Even Kylie beat them!

But still. These kids were her only chance.

Vi pulled her ponytail tighter and slicked back the front of her hair.

“Tonight, I’ll continue my sessions with Marianne, but we have to begin group sessions off the clock, too,” she said.

“Maybe we can, like, have a group hang, also?” Marianne offered, thinking of the fun she saw the kids across from them having that day, the ease of friendship and no pressure. “For ‘cohesion,’ right?”

“No time for that,” Vi answered. She checked the clock above their heads and said, “See you all on the phone.”

“Okay,” Marianne said without thinking.

They walked to the door and Vi opened it for them, motioning for Dan and Nina to go ahead. When Marianne walked out, Vi grabbed her by the arm.

“It doesn’t matter what Lucas Hayes thinks,” Vi said.

“Aw, he’s just joking around,” Marianne said, stepping forward to go.

But Vi held on.