Read Sabotage Season for Free Online Page B

lot lately. It’s nice that you’re going out with your friends. Just not too late.”
    â€œOf course. We have practice Saturday morning,” I replied.
    Everyone’s parents agreed, so we were all pretty excited at practice the next day. It was a good practice too, since we all played our usual positions during the scrimmageand nobody got confused. When it was over, we showered and got changed, and Zoe’s mom drove us to the mall.
    The Sun Center mall was basically like the malls back in Connecticut, except for the palm trees out front. There was a food court, and tons of stores. And lots of kids went there just to hang out and stuff. I was psyched because Mrs. Quinlan dropped us off at the entrance right by the Sports World store.
    â€œAwesome,” I said as we all walked inside. “I’ve been reading about these new limited-edition soccer cleats. They’re supposed to be for traction and for speed. I’d love to try on a pair.”
    Jessi shook her head. “I swear if they opened up your skull, they’d find a soccer ball inside there instead of a brain.”
    â€œActually, I wouldn’t mind looking at the pro jerseys,” Emma piped up. “They’ve got some cool new ones.”
    So we spent some time in Sports World, and then Jessi insisted that we check out her favorite clothing store, Shine. Jessi walked up to a display of scarves, picked up a shimmery gold one, and then draped it on Zoe’s arm.
    â€œSome bling for your sling,” she joked, and we all cracked up. Frida and Jessi tried on some outfits, but I could tell it was bumming out Zoe a little bit because she couldn’t easily try anything on.
    â€œMaybe we should get going,” I said to Jessi as I nodded toward the door. Jessi looked up, and her eyes narrowed angrily. Wow, I’d had no idea Jessi was such a serious shopper.
    â€œSorry,” I started, wondering what was up, but then I followed Jessi’s gaze and saw Mirabelle at the front of the store, browsing through a rack of earrings.
    â€œHey, Mirabelle,” Jessi called out, and Mirabelle looked up, surprised to see her. Jessi gestured toward a mirror on the wall. “There’s a mirror over here. You can take a look in it if you want to know what a real loser looks like. You may have noticed, but there are none on the Kicks anymore. Not since you left.”
    Whoa. That was pretty harsh, even though it was nothing compared to all the things Mirabelle had said and done to the Kicks when she’d been on our team. Emma and Zoe exchanged shocked glances. I was surprised to see a hurt look cross Mirabelle’s face for a moment, but she quickly recovered and put on her usual smug smile.
    â€œNo, thanks,” she said. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Jessi. “I’m a Pinewood Panther now, so I don’t have to share anything with the Kicks. Not your run-down field, your coach who is more like a babysitter, or your gross uniforms. It’s only the best for the Panthers.”
    She turned and swept out of the store, her head held high.
    â€œGood riddance,” Jessi muttered.
    â€œWow, Jessi.” Emma shook her head. “I can’t believe you said that!”
    â€œIt was kind of mean,” Zoe agreed.
    But Frida stuck up for Jessi. “Are you guys totally forgetting how awful Mirabelle was to all of us? She hadit coming. And besides, she totally just put down the Kicks— again !”
    Emma nodded. “I know our uniforms aren’t as fancy as the Panthers’, but I don’t think they are gross!”
    â€œAnd it totally wasn’t cool of her to trash Coach Flores,” Zoe said. “Coach is always so nice to everyone. She was even nice to Mirabelle!”
    Jessi sighed. “I know, and I probably shouldn’t have started with her. But seeing her at the game the other day brought back all those bad memories of how she treated us—and