“It’s not what it looks like,” I yelp, holding my hands out.
“Didn’t I get through to you yesterday?” Coach asks, landing in front of us with a pointed stare.
“What happened yesterday?” Milo asks.
I open my mouth to speak, but embarrassment and shame clams me up.
“I caught her on the field, training with the boys’ team,” Coach says, with a smug smirk as he folds his arm.
Surprise lifts Milo’s facial features. “I thought you said you were helping Maddy yesterday.”
“Well, well, Jamie.” Coach leans into his smugness. “Who haven’t you lied to in the past twenty-four hours?”
I groan and roll my eyes. “It’s not a big deal.”
“I think your aunt would disagree,” Coach says. “And don’t forget, I knew your mom. I never knew her to be a liar. What do you think she’d say about this?”
I frown and my shoulders slump. “Don’t bring her into this.”
“Why, Jamie?” Coach questions. “Because she’d be disappointed?”
“She wouldn’t be if she knew the truth,” I reply, standing taller. I look at Milo and then back at Coach. “We weren’t just fooling around. I’m teaching Milo some techniques.”
“It’s true,” Milo pipes up. “I asked Jamie to give me some pointers.”
Coach gives Milo an incredulous look. “And why would you do that?”
“Because, if you haven’t noticed, I suck,” Milo replies bluntly. “The class is huge, and I feel like I get lost in it. It doesn’t seem to matter if I do well during class or not. Until it’s report card time.”
“Regardless of your soccer aptitude,” Coach responds, “you have a brother capable of teaching you.”
Milo fidgets, looking at me and then at his feet.
“Okay,” Coach sighs. “You didn’t want to go to your brother, but going to Jamie during this time wasn’t the best decision.”
“I’m studying with her every day,” Milo replies. “I didn’t think there’d be any harm.”
“Phys-ed is the only class he’s flunking,” I say. “He wanted to be better, and I thought I could help.”
“My class assignment is today,” Milo says. “After today, I won’t have any reason to kick a ball around with Jamie.”
“Show me what you’ve got,” Coach Anders says to Milo.
With a nervous exhale, Milo pushes his glasses back up his nose.
“Go on,” Coach urges, staring him down.
I roll the soccer ball under my foot and nudge it over to Milo. He stumbles, trying to stop the ball, and it’s painful to watch. The way he fidgets behind the ball looks more like nerves than poor technique. He had this before. Why does Coach watching throw him off his game?
Coach asks Milo to dribble the ball away from us and then kick it over to him. The ball gets away from Milo. When he regains control, he trips over it. When he aims at Coach, it’s easy to see it won’t reach him. Milo’s shoulders aren’t square and he’s not looking ahead before he strikes. The ball lacks power behind it and bounces as it veers to the left.
Coach strolls toward the ball and picks it up. “Okay, I want you two to see me after school.”
“What for?” I blurt.
“Looks like you’ll both need some help to boost your grades,” Coach replies. “I’ll have a new assignment ready for you. You can collect it after your last class.”
“Another assignment?” I complain. “You can’t be serious. I already have a ton of extra homework.”
