Text from: Jake Morris-Whittaker, 6:38 am
Ellie's Daily Reminder 16/180: One word. Focus.
On what's important
Like your scholarship
Shade much??
No shade. Only truth 😇
~*~
Early the next morning, when I couldn't fall back asleep after Gyeong-Ja's morning run alarm, my scrolling of William's Instagram—way more boring and far fewer posts than his brother—was interrupted by a knock at the door. I glanced up at the time—still too early for Gyeong-Ja to be back. The knocking intensified.
"All right, all right," I grumbled, rolling out of bed and trudging to the door.
Theo greeted me with a grin, decked out in practice clothes, and threw his soccer ball at me. I caught it with a yelp of surprise.
"Morning, sunshine." He shouldered his way into my room. "Get dressed. It's time for soccer tutoring with the handsomest Ellerby brother."
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be up here." I hastily checked the hallway to be sure no one had seen him before I closed the door.
Theo flopped back on my bed. "Do you really think something as silly as a school rule would keep me out of the girls' dorms?"
"Gross." I threw the ball at him. "Get your lecherous self out of my bed."
He jerked upright to catch it just before it smacked him in the head. "Then hurry up. You need a solid hour of drills before class starts if you want to get back on the starting roster."
When I opened my mouth to protest, he threw the ball back at me. "Tick tock, Emdubs. Or did you not read the athletic performance clause that says you need to be a starter for at least 75% of the season to keep your scholarship?"
I shoved the ball back at him and ripped open the closet. "How do you even know that?"
"You're not the only one here on a sports scholarship."
I frowned and dug out some workout clothes. "I thought your family was made of money. Why do you need a sports scholarship?"
"They are, but they're cheap bastards. My scholarship is one of the few reasons they let me play soccer rather than something more 'socially acceptable' like tennis or golf."
Still frowning, I closed the bathroom door to change. I didn't like the way Theo's words had sparked something in my chest—something that felt unnervingly like a crack opening in the wall I'd put up against him. He and I weren't supposed to have anything in common. He wasn't supposed to understand what it was like to have parents who would've fainted with joy if their daughter had been less into soccer and more into tennis or golf. The country club sports. Ones that encouraged networking with the elite and didn't cause as many skinned knees and bruised shins.
"Is it really 75%?" I asked as I reentered, tying my hair back.
"It is." Theo hopped to his feet. "Which means you have to make it back to starter ASAP. Your instincts are top notch, and you have a really good sense for positioning and reading plays, but some of your technical skills aren't where they should be. That's what set you back against Hargrove. The good news is, what you're missing is all very teachable. So grab a ball and let's get a move on."
His words settled like a weight on my shoulders and I shivered. I tried to do the mental math about the number of games in our season and what would constitute 75%, which only added to my panic as I followed Theo down to the empty common room and out to the soccer pitch. I tried to shake my worry off as we strode past the dew sparkling on the grass in the early morning light. If Theo's assessment was correct, more practice was exactly what I needed. I just hoped it would be enough. With another shiver, I pulled my sweatshirt tighter against the autumn bite in the air.
Theo eyed me as he dropped his ball to his feet. "Mine would've been warmer, you know."
"It's literally the exact same sweatshirt," I said. "And this one doesn't reek of cologne."
"Girls like that." He kicked his ball towards the net. "Now quit stalling and go set up a goal kick."
I grumbled all the way there, kicking my ball along and lining the two of them up. Theo had backed towards the center line.
"Show me your range," he called. "And then we'll work on accuracy."
I unloaded two of the furthest kicks I could manage and smirked when he underestimated me and had to chase the balls into the other half of the field.
"Okay, now aim for me," Theo said, kicking them back.
That part wasn't so easy. The first was accurate enough, but the second flew way too far to the left. He had me repeat the same thing over and over again until I got a little more consistent and a lot more frustrated.
"This isn't going to help me make starter," I said, when he gestured for me to meet him at the penalty mark. "I'm not even the one who takes goal kicks, let alone penalty shots."
"Yeesh, and you never will with that kind of attitude." He lined up a ball. "You've got a better leg than Audra, but your accuracy is garbage. Work on that and you'll be Patel's first choice for goal kicks."
I crossed my arms. "So why are we practicing penalty kicks?"
"Accuracy, Emdubs." He lined himself up behind the ball. "Watch. Bottom left corner." He unleashed a rocket of a penalty shot that curled into the net exactly where he'd aimed.
"Your turn." He placed the second ball. "Bottom left corner, just like mine."
My shot glanced off the post. Theo sent me to fetch it, then ordered me to do it again.
So I shot again and again and again, trying not to cringe at how right Theo had been about my accuracy being garbage. My shots all went in, but my aim wasn't nearly as accurate as Theo's.
"Get out of your head," he called out, when two of my shots pinged off the crossbar when I was supposed to be aiming for halfway up the net. He lined himself up behind the left side of the net. "Pretend you're passing the ball to me, not shooting."
This time, both balls curled in exactly where I wanted them. He moved to the right side of the net, and I scored twice again. We practiced that six more times before he collected the balls with a smile and dribbled them back to me.
"I must be the world's best tutor," he said, grinning. "Because we've already got one thing ironed out."
"Oh yay, I can score on an empty net from the penalty spot. Go me," I said flatly.
His hands landed on my shoulders. "Hey, none of that bad attitude." He gave me a little shake. "We figured out that your lack of accuracy is all in your head. When you think of it like passing a static ball, you're way better than when you think of it like taking a shot. Let's see how that translates for your goal kicks."
I kind of hated that he was totally right. Because now, instead of thinking of it like trying to kick the ball as hard and far as I could, if I thought of it like trying to pass the ball to him, my accuracy was night and day.
We stopped in time to shower and change into our uniforms, and Theo was waiting for me in the gym hallway when I emerged, still struggling with my tie. He tsked upon seeing the mess of a knot I'd made and deftly undid it, then tugged it off me to wind around his own neck.
"My new girlfriend can't be walking around with anything less than a perfect half-Windsor," he said, tying the tie as he walked. When he finished, he slipped it over his head and handed it back. "Don't go ripping that knot out, Emdubs. You can't tie a tie for shit."
It was a perfect knot, just like his. Minus the fact that his was always a little loose, of course. Almost as if he didn't want to look like he put as much effort into it as William.
"Thanks," I muttered, tightening the knot to my throat and adjusting my collar.
"What was that?" Theo bumped my shoulder with his.
I fixed him with a look. "Thank you for your help."
He inclined his head. "You're very welcome, but you know that's not what I'm fishing for."
"You tied my tie. Am I really—"
"Not the tie, silly." Theo eyed a group of seniors milling in the hall in front of us, just outside the history classroom.
"What, are you hoping I'll call you a soccer god or something? Throw myself at your feet with gratitude?"
Theo linked his arm with mine, plastering on his best, brightest smile as we passed the seniors. "Tempting as that is, no. But I do want you to admit that I'm clearly the best Ellerby tutor."
I barked a laugh. "Get me back on the starting roster, and I'll think about it."
"Oh don't you worry, Emdubs." He ruffled my hair. "When we're done, you won't just be a starter, but a star."