The Ball Hogs (7 page)

The next day at recess, Ben was back on the four-square court. The ball came into Ben’s square and he controlled it skillfully, letting it bounce once before slamming it toward Loop.

Loop stepped back and swatted the ball across to Mark, who spun it into Ben’s square.

Ben pivoted and sent the ball back at Mark, who bobbled it and knocked it out of play.

Ben raised his fist as Mark chased after the
ball. “Fourth square,” he said proudly. He’d held that position for several rounds.

“Sorry,” Mark said, bouncing the ball as he walked back to the game. He didn’t
sound
sorry. “You palmed the ball.”

“What?”

“You heard me. That was an illegal shot.”

“No way,” Ben said. He shifted his eyes from Mark to Loop to Erin.

Erin shook her head. “Too close to call.”

“Looked good to me,” Loop said, “but he’s got the right to call a foul.”

Ben frowned, but he said, “Okay.” He stepped out of the square and the others moved up. Another kid from Mark’s class took over the first square.

No big deal
, Ben thought.
I’ll be back in soon
. He was sure he hadn’t gripped the ball with his palm. He was way too experienced for that. He wasn’t going to let Mark drag him into an argument, though. He remembered what Loop had said about not expecting to get his way every time.

Within a minute, Ben was back in the first square, determined to reclaim the server’s position before the end of recess.

Back and forth the ball flew, with lots of
chatter coming from the players. This was turning out to be a pretty good group.
Tyler can have his dumb game
, Ben decided.
Who needs ’em?

Ben moved up to the second square, then the third. He glanced at his teacher, Mrs. Soto, who was standing near the swings and checking her watch. Recess was just about over.

Mark served the ball and Loop fired it across to Erin. Ben stayed ready, his eyes fixed on the ball as it flew from square to square.
Mark’s going out
, he thought.
He’ll pay for that bogus palming call
.

The ball came his way, but the shot forced him toward the back of his square; it’d be too tight a shot to try to send it to Mark. So Ben lobbed the ball into Erin’s square, and she easily knocked it to Loop.

This time Loop’s shot set Ben up perfectly. He leaned back, turned his hand quickly, and
swiped at the ball. It darted toward the far edge of Mark’s square and took a hard bounce. Mark lunged for it but barely got his hand on it as it rocketed out of the square.

Ben took a big step into the fourth square, but Mark said, “No way!”

“Yes, way!”

“That was a double hit.”

“Get out. It was clean.”

“It was not!” Mark stepped into the square, too, face to face with Ben.

Mark was several inches taller than Ben and certainly stronger. But Ben held his ground.

“You’re gonna call a foul every time I knock you out?” Ben asked.

“If it
is
a foul.”

“That wasn’t!”

Mark pressed the ball against Ben’s chest and pushed. Ben lifted his hand to Mark’s shoulder and pushed back. Mark’s face turned red and he stepped out of the square.

“What’s going on?” called Mrs. Soto, walking over quickly.

“He’s being a baby,” Mark said. His voice was shaky.

Ben was steaming mad, but he laughed. He could tell that Mark was backing down. “Mark calls a foul every time I outplay him.”

The other games had stopped and everyone had gathered around Ben and Mark, expecting a fight.

“Recess is over,” Mrs. Soto said. “Everyone line up.” She looked at Ben, then at Mark. “Except you two.”

She stood with her hands on her hips. “Who isn’t playing fair?” she asked.

“Him,” said Mark.

“Him,” said Ben.

Mrs. Soto let out a sigh and smiled gently. “Maybe you two should be in different games tomorrow.”

Great
, Ben thought.
I have to change games again?
“He says I did a double hit.”

“Did you?”

“No.”

Ben noticed that Mark was looking down at the pavement and biting his lip. He seemed to be afraid of Ben’s teacher.

“Ben sounds pretty sure,” Mrs. Soto said. “Is he mistaken, or are you?”

Mark shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, kicking softly at a pebble.

“Think you can try again tomorrow?” she asked.

“All right by me,” Ben said.

Mark looked away. “Sure.”

“I’ll be watching,” she said. “Play fair or find a different group. And if I see any fighting, you’ll both be staying in for recess for at least a week.”

Mrs. Soto clapped her hands and addressed
the rest of the students. “Inside,” she said. “Orderly.”

Ben sneered at Mark, but Mark wasn’t looking. So Ben followed him to the door. When they reached it, Mark turned and muttered, “Baby.”

Ben didn’t respond. But he felt stronger somehow, and not afraid of Mark anymore. He’d stood up to him and Mark had backed down.

Ben would be in the fourth square tomorrow. He knew Mark wouldn’t try to claim it. And even if he did, Ben would definitely hold his ground.

The Bobcats’ next game was against the Sharks. The Sharks had won both of their games this season. It would be a hard test.

The sun was shining brightly as Ben sat on the grass, watching the Eagles battle Loop’s team, the Falcons. Ben would be out on that field in a few minutes.

His teammates were also waiting, either watching the game as Ben was or kicking a
ball around off to the side. Ben was well aware that Mark hadn’t arrived yet.

Maybe he won’t show up
, Ben thought. Part of him hoped that would happen. He and Erin and Shayna were more than ready to work together, and Mark would keep hogging the ball. But Ben also had to admit that Mark was a pretty good athlete. He
could
be a big plus, if he’d show some teamwork. Otherwise, he did more harm than good.

The other game ended. Loop’s team had lost, and he looked frustrated.

Ben jogged onto the field, then sprinted from one end to the other. He couldn’t wait to get started.

Coach Patty was standing by one of the goals. She waved her arm and the Bobcats ran over.

“I only see seven,” Coach said. “Who’s missing?”

“Take a guess,” said Shayna, rolling her eyes.

“Well, let’s hope he gets here soon,” Coach said.

Ben turned to Erin. “Let’s hope
not
,” he whispered.

“I’ll play goalie for the warm-up,” Coach said. “Give me a passing line and a shooting line.”

Ben took the first spot in the shooting line, about ten yards in front of the goal. Jordan took the ball toward the corner and passed to Ben, who fired it toward the goal.

Coach grabbed the shot and rolled it to the corner, where Erin was waiting. “Keep it moving!” Coach yelled. “Quick passes, quick shots. Everybody keep running.”

Ben took the next pass and sent a sharp pass to the shooter. Then he angled over to the shooter’s position, bobbing up and down as he
waited. He was already starting to sweat. Things were looking good for the Bobcats; everybody seemed ready.

After Ben shot, he ran to the corner. And there was Mark, just ahead of him in line. He hadn’t seen him arrive.

Mark turned and smirked at Ben, then looked away. He fielded the ball, kicked the ball hard toward the next shooter, and ran to that line, bumping Ben with his shoulder as he went by.

What a jerk
, Ben thought. But that’s what he’d expected. Mark was going to keep doing whatever was good for himself.

The Sharks were fast and talented. They kept control of the ball for most of the first half, and the Bobcats had to work hard to keep them from scoring.

Ben spent most of the half on defense. He stole the ball twice and forced one Shark to kick the ball out of bounds.

But the Sharks kept coming back. They took several hard shots. Finally, one of the shots got past Shayna, who was doing a great job as goalie. The Sharks had the lead, 1–0.

“Keep it up,” Coach Patty said at halftime. “We’ll put Ben and Mark and Shayna on the front line for the second half. Work together, and let’s score some goals of our own.”

Ben sat on the bench and took a drink of water. He glanced over at Mark, who had taken off one of his shoes and was rubbing his foot.

Ben hadn’t spoken to Mark since the four-square game the other day. He wondered if Mark had thought about what Ben had said about passing after the last practice.

I’ll find out soon
, Ben thought.

The second half started out just like the first. The Sharks took the ball and headed toward the Bobcats’ goal, making sharp passes and dribbling quickly.

Erin stepped toward the player with the ball and blocked his path. The Shark player tried to dodge past her, but Erin got her foot on the ball and knocked it away. She ran to it and kicked it up the field. Shayna was there to get it.

Shayna took a few quick steps, running near the sideline. Ben turned and ran to the middle of the field.

“I’m here!” he called to Shayna.

Shayna passed the ball ahead of Ben. He ran it down and took control. The field was wide open ahead of him.

Ben ran up the field with the ball. Shayna was on one side of him and Mark was on the other, each about ten yards away.

Now the Sharks had caught up. Two ran over to Ben, blocking his path and coming toward the ball. But Ben was quick. He stopped short and turned his body to protect the ball. Then he kicked it along the grass toward Mark.

The Bobcats were moving now. Three good passes had done the trick. Mark was getting closer to the goal.

But two Sharks had raced over, and Mark no longer had a clear path to the goal. He moved away from them, but now he was in the corner of the field.

Ben yelled, “Triangle!” He’d noticed that they were set up just like in the drill they ran in practice. Mark was in the corner. Ben was the second point. And Shayna was the third point, right in front of the goal.

But what did Mark do? He shot the ball at the goal. It had almost no chance to get there. The ball rolled out of bounds.

“He’s hogging the ball again!” Ben said to Shayna as they ran back.

Shayna shook her head. “I know. We were both open.”

Ben looked at Mark. “Pass it!” he yelled.

Mark looked at Ben. And instead of making a face or saying something mean, he did something Ben never expected. He blushed.

“I thought I could score,” Mark said. He shook his head. Then he ran toward a Shark player who was dribbling quickly down the field.

Mark kicked the ball at the same time that the Shark did. The ball popped into the air and bounced toward the sideline.

The Shark player got to it first. He kicked it hard, but it came straight at Ben.

The ball was too high for Ben to kick it, but he knew what to do. As long as he didn’t use his hands, he could stop the ball with any part of his body.

The ball was coming toward Ben’s chest. He leaned back and tightened his muscles. The ball hit his chest and fell to the ground. Ben started running with it right away.