1 Out of Shape Bridget crouched down on the track fixing her eyes on the finish line It’s only 100 meters she coached herself You can do this Don’t let anyone pass you Go shouted Coach Harrison Bridget sprang from her spot and began to sprint as fast as she could It was the first soccer practice of the season and this sprint was meant to test the players conditioning Bridget gasped for breath as she tried to keep up with her teammates Before she knew it she was crossing the finish line dead last Nice work team Coach Harrison called out Now let’s move on to some passing drills Bridget didn’t feel as confident as Coach Harrison seemed to be Last year she had been the star forward on Interface Blue Lake Junior 5
High’s soccer team She had been one of the team’s top scorers and she was fast too She could sprint halfway down the field before the other team’s defenders even knew she was on a breakaway But that was last year Poua Vang breezed past Bridget Looking a little slow out there Bridget Poua said Maybe we need someone else playing forward No Bridget huffed Poua bossed everyone around especially Bridget Bridget was used to it since they were in art club together and Poua was the club’s president I’m just a little out of shape You’ll see I’ll be running circles around you in a week or two I hope so Poua said Or we won’t be any good this year Bridget tried to ignore the pangs of anxiety in her stomach Why did she seem so much slower this year Bridget looked around at her teammates practicing and suddenly she realized everyone was taller Last year Bridget had been one of the taller kids at school But over the school year her teammates had shot up like weeds Some of them now towered over Bridget and their 6
long legs rippled with muscle Bridget glanced down at her short skinny legs They looked like twigs Bridget sighed Usually she kept active during the winter months to stay in shape for soccer season in the spring But this past year she’d spent a lot of time at her computer working on blog posts for Tech Club and hadn’t gotten much exercise Her teammates must have been spending all their free time working out Bridget pulled her smartphone out of her back pocket and glanced around warily Coach allowed smartphones at practice so kids could listen to music during warm-ups but after warm-ups they were strictly forbidden Bridget knew the rule but since she was totally obsessed with all things technology she sometimes had trouble following it Bridget activated the voice control as she raised her smartphone to her mouth and whispered Text Emma Emma Hein was Bridget’s best friend Way too slow at soccer Want to train together Bridget whispered into her phone and then added Send text 7
