Amanda Humann - Out of Sync

Text copyright 2013 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

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Main text set in Janson Text LT Std 55 Roman 12/17.5
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The images in this book are used with the permission of:
Front cover: Chris Crisman/CORBIS. iStockphoto.com/
Ermin Gutenberger, (stadium lights).

Humann, Amanda.

Out of sync / by Amanda Humann.

p. cm. (Counterattack)

ISBN: 9781467703048 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

[1. SoccerFiction. 2. Best friendsFiction. 3. FriendshipFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H8882Cla 2013

[Fic]dc23

2012021987

Manufactured in the United States of America

1 BP 12/31/12

eISBN: 978-1-4677-0959-0 (pdf)

eISBN: 978-1-4677-6769-9 (ePub)

eISBN: 978-1-4677-3123-2 (mobi)

...

TO TORI, TOM, JESSICA,
TA D, AND JAY AND AUNT
MA RLENEYOU ARE THE BEST
FANS A PLAYER CAN HAVE.

I

sprint toward number 29, a tall redhead from the opposing team. As I prepare to steal the ball, closing the gap between 29 and me, I glance at the sidelines again. And then 29 zips past me. Im looking for my best friend, Dayton Frey, who plays right forward and hasnt shown up yet.

Luckily, our defense is pretty strong. One of the defenders boots the ball back up to our left forward, who dribbles it toward the goal. We havent scored yet, but that should change ASAP.

29. ASAP. My whole life is a series of letters and numbers. Some I love, like AC and OJ. Those are necessities in North Carolinasomething to cool you off, something to drink. I also love 26 (my jersey number for the last five years and the number of bones in the human foot), and my middle name, 8. As in Madison 8 Wong. Not spelled out but as an actual number. Mom insisted that my name contain the luckiest Chinese number, and Dad went with it.

Some letters and numbers I just gotta live with, like ENG II, CHEM I, SAT, and the NCAA, all of which affect my chances of getting into a good college.

And then there are some letters I just dont know what to do with, like my BFF, who is MIA. Dayton and I have been playing soccer together on the same teams since we were six. Our passes to each other are perfect. Its like we read each others minds. Our teammates on the Fleet Feet Premier U-17 Soccer Club team and the Fraser High School soccer team, the Copperheads, call it sick soccer sync.

Today was supposed to be our chance to show that sync to college recruiters at the December Club Soccer Showcase in Raleigh, a short drive from our hometown, Fraser.

Mostly, the National Collegiate Athletic Associations Division I soccer recruiters start looking at players in their sophomore year. Nita Ortiz, a junior at school and the star striker on both my club and school teams, started getting recruiter attention when she was a freshman. I hoped some of her limelight would shine on me and Dayton at the showcase. But for the first time in three years, Dayton hasnt shown for a club game. And I need her for the sync. Nobody will notice me otherwise. Im like an island at center midfield.

I keep checking the sidelines, but theres still no sign of Dayton. Shes been late before, but the first half of our game is almost over.

The opposing goalie deflects our left forwards shot. I manage to take possession of the ball and scan the field for open players.

Nita! I yell as I feint to the left and pop the ball over the nearest defender. I look for Dayton one more time as my toe scoops up and sends the ball up to Nita.

Only the ball isnt headed her way because the player I sent the ball to isnt Nita.

In fact, she isnt even on my team. Fail.

...

Failure isnt an option with the sync. The best game our club had this season was when we beat the Spring Valley FC U-17 Grizzlies. It was mostly due to Dayton and methe team within the team. After an uneventful first ten minutes, our team got into the groove and started slamming balls at the goal. Despite the chilly weather, Dayton and I were on fire.

Near the end of the half, I shot the ball between a defenders legs, sensing Dayton was right behind her. Dayton trapped it and played it at the goal past another defender. Like bear fishing for salmon, the Grizzlies keeper swatted at the ball, but it sailed straight through her clumsy mitts.

At the kickoff, Dayton got the ball and we pushed it forward, passing it back and forth with one touch. I didnt look on the last pass. I knew Dayton was exactly where she should beto the right of the goal, dodging defenders without stepping offside.

She fired the ball at the goal, but it smashed the base of the goalpost and bounced right back at me in front of the goal. I tapped it with my knee, and it went in. The play happened so quickly that the goalie was still at the other corner.

Slinky sync! You guys rock! Nita yelled as we ran back for the next kickoff.

Dayton got three more shots on goal from our sync though none of them made it in.

The Spring Valley midfielders started to play back, helping the defenders cover Day and me. We had a harder time getting around them, but we still found spaces in between. At the end of the first half, we got the ball to Nita, who nailed a hard instep kick that the goalie touched but couldnt stop, making the score 30.

In the second half, the Grizzlies threw more and more players at us on the right side of the field. It was getting crowded, so our team shifted play to the left. Nita put another goal in, and Spring Valley clumped around her after that. The Grizzlies managed to boot the ball forward a few times and even made one solid goal, but thats all they got.

After the next kickoff, I stole the ball from their midfielder. Dayton and I danced around the defenders on us, shifting left or right at the same time so that we had clear paths to pass. Back and forth, we passed it to each other in a synchronized soccer waltz. Shift, dribble, dribble. Pass, dribble, dribble.

When we got in deep, Dayton pounded the ball and it zipped into the goal over the goalies leg. Five minutes before the end of the game, we did it again.

When we finished, the score was an unbelievable 61. Our sync was responsible for two-thirds of the goals.

But there was no sync today at the showcase.

...

After the showcase game, I texted Dayton, but only after I got a rousing pep talk from Nita: What were you thinking? over and over with different emphasis each time.