KEEPING SCORE

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

School was over in two weeks, and that afternoon was the last soccer game of the season. Sam sprinted out of the car as soon as I pulled into a parking space. He rushed over to his friends, and I realized that being the odd man out on his new baseball team was even harder than it had looked.

At least Sam still had his friends. I looked over at Laura, Mary Beth and Jennifer, clustered together and laughing, and felt a longing like I hadn't felt since I watched Elizabeth Martucci walk off with Cindy Morris after the choir concert. Losing a friend was a lifetime wound.

I grabbed my chair and laptop and hiked to the other end of the sidelines. Someone nearby had an unsecured network, so I hopped onto that and logged onto Facebook. If my real friends didn’t want anything to do with me, at least my cyber friends could keep me company. 

“It looks like you work as hard as David does.”

I looked up. Chloe stood in front of me, looking a little worn and pale. I looked around for David and saw him pacing in the parking lot, his cell phone glued to his ear.

“Crisis in the Middle East?”

“I think he said something about Greenland. When do you ever hear about something happening in Greenland?”

“Never. Because people like David are very good at their jobs.”

Chloe forced a smile. “You’ll probably be happy to hear this, but I don’t know how much more of this relationship I can take.”

“Why would that make me happy? I like having you around. You’re the only person in my life I’m not competing with.”

Sam suddenly spied Chloe, and made a beeline for us. "You made it! You’re here! I’m going to kick a goal for you!”

"I thought you were the goalie," Chloe said.

"Just watch," he said.

Franco blew his whistle. Sam hugged Chloe and ran back toward his team.

The irony was laughable – the kid was supposed to hate the gorgeous new girlfriend and want his parents to get back together. But Sam loved her and I kind of liked having her around, too.

Chloe glanced in the direction of the parking lot. “Do you think he’s going to spend the entire game on the phone?”

“He could. It’s only an hour.”

“Maybe I should just catch a bus home. Make a statement.”

"Don’t go. Sam will be heartbroken. Besides, I have no one to talk to."

"Isn't that your posse right over there?" Chloe asked, nodding at the three witches from MacBeth.

"They're not my friends anymore," I admitted. "I don't know if they ever really were."

* * *

It's very difficult to score a goal from the opposite end of the field, but Sam gave it his best shot. Every time he grabbed the ball, he ran it out to the very end of the goalie's box and punted it as far as he could. Once the ball made it all the way to the other goalie’s box. I was just grateful that he didn't decide to fulfill his promise by tapping the ball into the goal behind him.

The game ended in a 0-0 tie. With another team waiting on the sidelines, there was no overtime.  

Since it was the last game of the season, Franco passed out trophies and said encouraging things about each player. The parents stood behind them and took pictures.  David and I flanked Chloe.