Shaken Up (10 page)

Things had gone great with Zoe, and she'd helped me relax so much that I thought for sure I'd get a good night's sleep. It seemed like I might when I started dreaming about being on the soccer field, like I had visualized with Zoe. Everything was going smoothly. In my dream I had a huge smile on my face as I was about to make a goal, but then the field started shaking under my feet. The ball bounced away from me, so high that it launched into the sky. It became a tiny dot before disappearing completely. Coach Darby blew her whistle. “Devin! For losing the ball, you're benched for the rest of the season.”

I woke up, my heart pounding. The thought of being benched for the season was a total nightmare! It took me a while before I could finally fall back asleep. Would I ever get a good night's sleep again?

Even though I spent another day at school feeling half-awake (at least this time I didn't fall asleep in class!), I got a burst of energy when I rode the bus home with Jessi. She had a surprise for me but wouldn't say what she had in store. I couldn't wait to find out what it was!

“Mmm-mnn,” she said, her lips shut tight. As soon as we had gotten onto the bus, she had pretended to zip her mouth together, lock it with an imaginary key, and throw the key over her shoulder.

“Come on. Give me a clue,” I whined in what was a very good impression of Maisie.

Jessi reached up to her lips and pretended to unlock them. “This is a real
test
of your patience,” she said, emphasizing the word “test.”

Hmmmm. Test. My World Civ makeup test was scheduled for this Monday, and I had to admit that I was a little nervous about it. But I suddenly realized I was about to get some help.

“You're going to help me study for my test!” I shrieked.

A broad grin spread across Jessi's face. “That's right. I'll never forget how you helped me with math. I just hope I'll be half as good a study buddy as you were, Devin.”

I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. My brain had gone on the fritz when it came to ancient Rome, but now I had my very own gladiator to help me battle to victory!

When we got off the bus and walked to Jessi's
house, Mrs. Dukes was waiting for us at the door.

“I've got some study snacks all ready for you girls,” she said as she smiled. “Including Jessi's favorite brain food—banana sushi!”

I couldn't help but make a face. Bananas? And seaweed, rice, and fish? I had heard of some weird California food, but this was by far the strangest.

Jessi saw my face and laughed. “Don't worry, Devin. It's not real sushi.”

Mrs. Dukes laughed along with Jessi. “All I do is take some peanut butter and spread it on a whole wheat tortilla. Then I take the entire banana and roll it up. I slice it, and ta-da! Banana sushi!” she explained.

“Yum!” I said as my stomach growled. Lunch seemed like a long time ago. “Sounds delish!”

“Let's go!” Jessi grabbed my arm and led me into her kitchen, where on the table was a plate with the banana sushi rolls, a big bowl of popcorn, and a pitcher of lemonade. “Thanks, Mom!”

“So, those gladiators did you in, huh, Devin?” Jessi asked as we spread our books and notebooks out on the table.

“It was a total slaughter,” I said, and moaned. “I didn't stand a chance.”

“You've got me now. You don't have to face the gladiators alone. Now let me see your notes.” She looked at them and raised an eyebrow. “
No soccer
is one of the things that led to the fall of the Roman empire?”

“It was just a joke!” I said defensively. Boy, did I regret writing that down!

Jessi shook her head, her braids swinging as she chuckled. “Of course you did. After all, you do have a soccer ball for a brain. Now let's go over the real reasons. First, the empire grew too large to be easily managed. Think of it like the soccer field. Imagine it about five times bigger than it is now. Our midfielders would become exhausted running back and forth. You'd have a much bigger area to try to connect with passes. And our goal would be five times as big, giving our defenders an even bigger area to guard. It would be completely unmanageable.”

As Jessi talked, it all made sense. I liked how she related it back to soccer. I knew I'd easily remember it that way. We went over the other reasons for the Roman decline and started tackling some of the Romans' contributions to the world that are still being used today. Like cement. Yep, the Romans invented that! Along with a lot of other things, which Jessi helped cram into my brain.

I was totally impressed with Jessi. She was so focused and helpful. “Wow,” I said as we took a break to munch on some popcorn and banana sushi, “you should be a teacher. You're good! But I have to say I'm kind of surprised. I remember how you used to be more interested in watching
The Real Teenagers of Beverly Hills
than doing your homework.”

Jessi got a sheepish smile on her face. “Um, yeah. I totally still watch it! Now I have a study strategy. I DVR
the show each week. For every hour of studying, I reward myself with fifteen minutes of
RTOBH
.” Jessi looked up at the clock. “In fact, we've been studying for an hour now. Want to take a reality TV show break?”

“I'd love to!” I said. I didn't usually watch shows like that. They were fun to see with Jessi, though. Her commentary was hilarious.

Jessi grabbed the bowl of popcorn, and we headed to her living room to lounge on her big, comfy couch and watch some of the silly show.

“I'll never forgive you for not inviting me to your birthday party, Taylor!” yelled a teenager named Addison with long, dark hair and makeup that looked like it had been painted on. (When I turned eighty, my mom still wouldn't let me wear that much makeup!) She was arguing with a girl who looked a lot like her, thanks to the style of makeup and clothes, except that the other girl, Taylor, had long blond hair instead.

Addison bent over and picked up a small, fluffy white dog that was yapping at her feet. “And neither will Fifi!” she added dramatically. And at that exact moment, the dog stuck its tongue out.

Jessi and I rolled with laughter as Taylor glared at Addison and Fifi. “I don't care about you or your little dog!” she shrieked. “You only want to come to my party because Nick will be there,” Taylor added smugly. “Nick likes me, not you. Get it through your head.”

Even though I thought it was the most ridiculous argument I had ever heard, I had to admit I was curious about what would happen next.

I wasn't disappointed. Addison, still holding Fifi in one hand, used the other hand to push Taylor into the swimming pool they just happened to be arguing in front of. Taylor came up from under the water, sputtering and spitting out water before she started screaming.

“These girls are crazy! But they are entertaining,” Jessie said while turning off the TV. “Fifteen minutes are up. Time goes fast when you're shoving people into pools!”

Mrs. Dukes walked into the living room, shaking her head. “That show,” she complained. “I don't know what you see in it, Jessi.”

Jessi threw her arm around my shoulder. “It definitely makes me appreciate my friends more!”

“I'd never push you into a pool,” I said, then laughed. “Oops, wait. I already did. Remember that one time at Emma's?”

We both started cracking up. Emma had a really fancy house (it was like a mansion, really) with a huge pool with a slide and everything. Sometimes we could get really crazy when we were hanging out there. And when I had pushed Jessi in, she'd been wearing her bathing suit, not a fancy outfit with high-heeled sandals and full-on makeup like Taylor had been wearing.

“For that, Devin, I will not be inviting you to my
birthday party,” Jessi said all dramatically like one of the girls on
RTOBH
.

“Then I'll tell Cody that you're secretly in love with your stuffed bear, Mr. Wiggles,” I said, playing along.

“You wouldn't dare!” Jessi gasped. “I'll get even with you, Devin Burke.” She grabbed a pillow off the couch and started swinging it at me, and before long we were having a huge pillow fight.

“Girls! Girls!” Mrs. Dukes had to yell to be heard over us laughing and carrying on. “Aren't you supposed to be studying?”

We dropped the pillows but couldn't stop giggling. “But, Mom, this is how gladiators used to battle it out. We are studying,” Jessi joked.

“How about you get in some more study time, then Devin can stay and have dinner with us?” Mrs. Dukes suggested.

“That would be great! Just let me check with my parents,” I told her.

Jessi grabbed me and started jumping up and down. “Stay for dinner! Stay for dinner!”

I called my mom and got the okay. Jessi cheered. “Too bad it's a school night; otherwise you could sleep over,” she said. “But we'll get more study time in at least. You're going to ace that test!”

Who would have thought that a study session could be this much fun? I grabbed Jessi and gave her a big bear hug. “Thanks. You're the best!” I said as she pretended to pass
out from the strength of my embrace. I laughed, and she slipped onto the couch in a fake faint.

I was starting to believe that Kara's chant had really worked. I was feeling better and better. After I retook my World Civ test on Monday and played at our next soccer game, I'd know for sure if my bad luck was gone!

The next night, before I went to bed, I practiced Zoe's relaxation and positive visualization techniques. I wanted to be ready for my Saturday morning soccer practice and prove to Coach Darby that I could be a player she could count on.

Even though I didn't think of myself as very creative, I was in for a surprise. I was picturing myself on the soccer field having everything go so perfectly that I scored goal after goal. At one point I imagined I was running so fast that I started flying! Soon I was soaring above the soccer field. Things got really crazy when I turned and saw that flying next to me was a unicorn with wings! At that point I had fallen asleep and was dreaming. It was pretty cool.

Then the dream got even stranger when Steven and Hailey started flying ahead of me. I tried to fly as fast as
I could to catch up with them, but the faster I wanted to go, the slower I went. And then I slowly sank back to the ground while I watched them fly off in the sky.

It wasn't a perfect night's sleep, but I didn't wake up with my heart pounding, so that was better than the night before, at least.

Saturday morning I felt pretty relaxed, and for the first time in a while I was looking forward to soccer practice. I definitely didn't want to quit anymore. I actually couldn't believe the thought had even crossed my mind—I was no quitter. Yet I did have a little bit of butterflies when I thought about practice. When I'd trained with Zoe, I'd felt like my soccer mojo had returned. But that wasn't quite the same as facing Coach Darby and my teammates. Would I embarrass myself again?

It's only a practice,
I told myself.
Give yourself a chance to get comfortable.