Cover

Chapter One

“Devin, coming your way!” Jessi had just intercepted a pass from the other team, and two Panthers defenders were hot on her tail. I was closest, but I was hemmed in by Panthers too. She was desperately looking around the field to see who was open, but no one was.

At her words, I managed to slip by and free myself to receive Jessi’s pass.

As soon as I got the ball, though, the defenders swarmed me. I searched the field, frantic for a Kicks teammate to pass the ball to. This had been a tough game. The Kicks were down five players because Grace, my co-captain, and some of the other eighth-grade players had been suspended. The score was 0–0, and we were in the last quarter. We had fought hard to protect our goal, but scoring chances had been slim.

If we got this score, we could win the game!

I eyed Frida. She usually plays defense but was pressed into playing midfield because we were missing players. She was open and in striking distance of the goal.

Our eyes locked, and I could see Frida’s widening with fear. Frida is a fantastic defensive player. She defends our goal from strikers as if she were a leprechaun protecting her pot of gold. However, Frida was out of her comfort zone. Scoring opportunities were not in her bag of tricks. But I knew she had it in her. She just had to act like an offensive player!

Frida’s skill on the soccer field comes from her acting talent. She recently had a starring role in the TV movie Mall Mania and was also in a bunch of commercials. Pretty cool, huh? Now each game we play, Frida pretends to be a different character. The Kicks have had on the field everyone from an Amazon warrior to a fairy princess to an army general. It sounds crazy, but it works. Frida’s acting has given the Kicks an advantage in many games. And maybe it could now!

“You got this, Frida!” I said as I passed the ball to her, just as a Panthers defender tried to kick it away from me.

I watched as Frida expertly caught the pass, dribbled the ball closer to the goal, and then feigned a kick to the right. A second later she had planted the ball solidly in the back left corner of the net, while the goalie jumped for empty air to the right.

1–0! I looked at the clock. We only had nine seconds left in the game. Frida had just sunk the only goal in the game, which would give the Kicks the victory over the Panthers!