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her. And whatever happens there—if guys hit on her—you keep it together, man.”
    Seconds passed, and Tony remained silent.
    “I just don’t want any rivalries on our team,” I added. “Are we clear?”
    Mouth still shut, Tony stood and slowly walked toward the exit of the playground. He didn’t turn around when he told me, “Deal.”

    I lay awake for half of the night, wondering if I should have tried harder to talk sense into my friend. He was going to fall flat on his face, and the jerk just didn’t want to see it. If it was only because of Cloey and him, I wouldn’t have thought about it twice but let Mitchell head into the adventure and come out of it a wiser man.
    However, I knew what was going to happen, and I hated to think of Liza getting hurt in the game and my friend flushing the chance that I had always wanted, and which he had had his entire life, down the gutter.
    But it was not my job to change the world. And after so many years of having a crush on Liza, it was time to think only about myself for once. Well, about myself and her . She’d be in my house tomorrow night as part of my team. After-match parties were customary, and heck, I’d make sure to throw one for the new team members after the tryouts. I punched a short message with the dates into my phone and sent the text off to a group of sixty people. They would spread the word. My mom was on the texting list, too, just in case I forgot to tell her about the party in the morning. I never had to worry about running late to stock the fridge. Drinks and snacks were always there, and some of the kids would bring beer and the wine cooler, anyway. But the best thing was, tomorrow the girl of my dreams would be there. Sometime after midnight I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
    The next morning I went through my usual routine of showering, shaving, and getting dressed, all with music thundering from the speakers in my room. Currently, it was Pink and Nate Ruess asking for a reason. I liked the song, mostly because it was the ring tone of Liza’s cell phone, and listening to it just reminded me of her.
    I tugged the white soccer shorts up over my hips, sat down on the corner of my bed, and tied my shoes. The cleats went into my backpack to wear later on the field. I grabbed a fresh jersey and pulled it over my head. Over the lamp on my desk hung my Indians cap. It was my favorite and the one I wore most of the time at school, but as I was about to put it on this morning, I looked at myself in the large mirror attached to the door. My hair was still wet from the shower and all over the place. I knew that this chaotic look usually made girls go stupid. It was worth a try with Liza. Back in the bathroom, I pressed a tiny bit of gel into my palm; just enough to fix the style without making it look sticky or coated.
    The car keys jingled in my hand as I headed downstairs. From the dining room drifted noise, and I guessed my mother was in there. “Mom!” I shouted over my shoulder, already late. “You got the text?”
    “Yes, darling!” she answered over the distance of the hall and kitchen between her and me. “Your dad and I got an invitation to Mary Fisher’s birthday celebration. We won’t be home tonight!”
    “Yesss,” I hissed and punched my fist in the air. Parties were so much better when I had the run of the house. “I’m off to training. See you later, Mom!”
    In our double garage, my Audi A3 was dwarfed by my dad’s Chrysler, but I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel of my baby painted in shiny, nightfall silver. She had been a present from my parents for my eighteenth birthday, shortly before soccer camp. And with my own savings, I had turned the brand-new car into a real attention-catcher, with twenty-inch tires on specially designed aluminum rims, an epically mean looking front, and the body slammed to the ground. Two-hundred and forty hp let this lady race through the streets like a shark under water.
    When I climbed