The Ball Hogs (5 page)

As they walked back to class, Ben grabbed Loop by the arm. “The only reason I wasn’t in
Tyler’s group was because I was standing up for
you.”

“Well, I got tired of wasting time,” Loop said, pushing Ben’s hand away. “All Tyler wants to do is argue. If you want to go back, go ahead.”

Now Ben felt a push from the other side, too. “Don’t bother,” Tyler said. “We don’t want either one of you back.”

Ben stopped walking. “Who do you think you’re shoving?” he asked.

Tyler took a step closer. “I
think
I’m shoving you.”

“Well, watch it.”

“What’s the matter, Ben?” Tyler said. “Wouldn’t they let you in the baby game either?”

“What baby game?”

“Loop’s baby four-square game. Did they leave you out, too?”

Ben clenched his fists and glared at Tyler. But Loop stepped between them. “It’s a better game than yours,” he said.

“It is not.”

Mr. Kane, who taught one of the other fourth-grade classes, was coming toward them quickly. “Is there a problem here?” he asked sternly.

Ben stared at Tyler. “No problem,” he said.

“It
looked
like a problem,” Mr. Kane said.

“It wasn’t,” Loop replied, but he was giving Ben an angry look. “We were just talking about four square.”

“Then get back to class,” Mr. Kane said. They were the last ones on the walkway between the playground and the school. Mr. Kane held the door open and the three boys walked in. Then the teacher went one way and Ben and the others went the other toward their classroom.

So Ben and Tyler and Loop were alone in the hall.

“You already had your chance to join us,” Tyler said to Ben.

“Who says I want to?”

“You did.”

“No, I didn’t,” Ben said. “I said I didn’t because of Loop.”

“So you
would
have joined us.”

“Would
have. Won’t now.”

“We don’t want you.”

“Big deal.” Ben walked faster to get away from Loop and Tyler. How did he end up like this when he’d just been trying to stick up for Loop? This had totally backfired. He entered the classroom and took his seat.

The three of them glared back and forth at each other for the rest of the morning.

At lunch, Ben found a table in the corner and ate quietly. Erin walked by and asked him what was wrong.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, sure,” she said. “You’re sitting by yourself and you think you can tell me nothing’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” Ben said. “I just feel like being alone.”

Erin shrugged and joined a group at another table.

Ben wasn’t alone for long. Loop walked over and took the seat across from him. “What’s the idea of getting mad at me?” Loop asked. “You could have played if you wanted. I’ll fight my own battles with Tyler. I don’t need your help.”

Ben stared at his sandwich. He’d only eaten half of it. “I belong with the best players.”

“You mean Tyler’s group?”

“Whichever group is best. Definitely not with that kid Mark.”

“He seems okay to me,” Loop said. “Listen, you can sit on the swings and feel sorry for yourself or you can join our group on Monday. I’m playing.”

Ben took a bite of his sandwich and looked away. “I’ll think about it,” he said.

“Don’t strain your brain,” Loop said. “Recess is supposed to mean we can stop thinking for a little while between classes.”

It rained the day of the Bobcats’ second game. Ben didn’t mind. The grass was wet but the air was warm. He was excited. He knew that his nice blue shirt would get muddy, but that was part of the fun.

Coach Patty asked Ben to play goalie for the first part of the game.

Ben was quick and he was good at stopping shots. But the Rabbits had fast runners with strong legs. They took some hard shots.

Ben stopped two shots, but the third one got past him.

“Nice try!” called Kim.

“Good effort!” yelled Shayna.

“I would have stopped that!” shouted Mark.

At halftime, Coach Patty called the team over. “You’re playing very well,” she said. “We’re only one goal behind. If we work hard, we should be able to tie this game.”

Ben moved to the front line for the second half, eager to score. But Mark kept hogging the ball. He missed one shot and lost the ball two other times.

“Pass it!” Ben said. “Don’t be so selfish.”

Mark did not answer.

The score stayed 1–0 for a long time. The rain stopped but the field was slippery. It was hard to keep from falling.

Late in the game, Ben finally got the ball near the Rabbits’ goal. A Rabbit player lost control near the sideline, and Ben was there to steal the ball. He dribbled up the field.
I can score
, he thought.

Ben ran closer to the goal, but some Rabbits were right with him. He was surrounded by purple shirts. The goalie was blocking his path, too.

Ben heard Mark yell, “I’m open!”

Ben looked quickly to his left. Mark was
near the goal, several yards away from Ben. A good pass would mean a goal for sure.

He never passes to me
, Ben thought.
Why should I pass to him?

Now three Rabbits were trying to take the ball from Ben. He turned and shifted and moved quickly away. His foot slipped on a muddy spot.

Mark was still open, but Ben shot the ball instead. The goalie easily stopped it.

“I was wide open!” Mark said as they ran back.

This time Ben just looked away.

Time ran out soon after that. The Bobcats had lost again.

Erin put her hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Why didn’t you pass to Mark?” she asked.

“He never passes to me,” Ben said.

“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” she said. “You just made it worse.”

Ben kicked at the mud. “I thought I could score.”

“It doesn’t matter who scores,” Erin said. “A goal is a goal. We would have tied the game if you passed.”

Ben frowned. He wiped his hands on his shirt and let out his breath. He looked down at his feet. His socks and shin guards were spotted with mud.

Across the field, the Rabbits were jumping up and down and cheering.

It must feel great to win
, Ben thought.

He was beginning to wonder if he would ever find out.

Ben pulled his sweatshirt on over his head and took a seat on the bench. Loop’s team had run onto the field, warming up for the next game.

Ben felt as if the loss was his fault. He had been the goalie when the Rabbits scored. And
he had decided not to pass the ball when Mark was open near the goal.

So it didn’t make him feel any better when Mark walked over.

Mark was holding a small bottle of juice. That reminded Ben that he was very thirsty.

“I would have scored if you’d passed the ball,” Mark said.

“I took a good shot,” Ben said.

“They stopped it easy,” Mark said with a frown. “I was the one with the clear shot. No way they would have stopped me.”

“They stopped you earlier!”

“That’s because my foot slipped!” Mark said. “It was muddy out there.”

“My foot slipped, too,” Ben said.

“That’s why you should have passed.”

“You would have missed the shot anyway!” Ben turned and looked toward the parking lot. His mom and dad were talking to Coach
Patty. They all were laughing and smiling. They didn’t seem to care that the Bobcats had lost.

Ben looked back at Mark. Mark made a fist and held it up.

“You’d better pass next time,” Mark said.

Ben swallowed hard. “You’d better pass, too,” he mumbled. Then he walked toward the parking lot.

I’ll
never
pass to that guy
, Ben thought.
Not in a million years
.

“Here’s the soccer star,” Dad said, rubbing Ben’s wet hair.

“Great game,” Mom said. “You were awesome.”

Ben rolled his eyes. He knew he wasn’t a star. And he knew he hadn’t been awesome. He’d played hard and done some good things, but he’d made a lot of mistakes, too.

“I was all right, I guess,” he said. “But we should have won. Or at least tied.”

“Your coach said she’s very happy with how hard you work,” Dad said. “Now let’s get you into some dry clothes and have lunch.”

“You’ve got plenty of games left,” Mom said.
“You’ll start winning. I was so excited when you took that last shot.”

Ben’s brother, Larry, patted him on the shoulder. “I was sure that shot was going in,” he said.

Ben nodded, but he knew better. That shot had no chance.

He wished he could do it over again. But would he shoot the ball harder or pass it to Mark?

He wasn’t sure what he would do. But he knew the chance would come again. There were many games left to play.

Mom handed him a plastic bottle filled with lemonade. Ben unscrewed the lid and fished out a couple of ice cubes. He popped them into his mouth.

He wished he could play another soccer game right now. But he’d have to wait a whole week.

He had a new soccer tip to add to his list:
Be a supportive teammate
.

That might be the hardest one for him to stick to. At least when it came to playing with Mark.