Aphra has just moved to Redwood, California from Florida. She is new and needs to make new friends. However, sometimes things are harder without her dad around.
On the next practice on Wednesday, Aphra was running late. And thank god she was! Aphra was a horrible runner. After just one lap, she'd get stitches and cramps. It hurt so much. Sometimes, if she had the nerve to run enough, she'd get stomach aches.
The coaches were not happy with yesterday's practice. So when Aphra arrived, everyone was lined up in two lines lead by (you guessed it) Avery and Evelyn! Avery had icy blue eyes and straight blonde hair, unlike Evelyn's wavy hair. They had on identical ponytails with scrunchies.
"Ok, run three laps around the field," Said coach Jessica.
Everyone started up. Aphra was already last in line, but she quickly drifted behind. Literally EVERYONE wa in front of her. And by the end of lap two, she tried speed walking. But coach caught her.
"Aphra! Catch up!"
And she dragged on. 'I needed to get in shape!' Aphra thought.
The thursday practice was pretty much the same. But Aphra had made no friends so far. All she wanted was a break! But that's not how travel soccer works: Three practices a week, each one hour and thirty minutes long. Sometimes the coaches kept them longer.
The team was big! So, they were split into two teams. They played in different games. Aphra floated in between teams, though, so she had extra games. Sometimes two or three every weekend. There were about five girls on one team, and thirteen on the other.
And then Aphra realized something: this wasn't for fun, really, even though coach said so. This was training for the big leagues, for scholarships, for professional soccer. This was the beginning! This was NOT rec anymore.
