Lucy’s “Perfect” Summer (26 page)
Which left Lucy with the ball, and a chance to score. And not just a chance — a sure thing. With the rest of the Dreams guarded, Lucy checked out Carla Rosa. She was far over to the right, watching Oscar and Patricia instead of the ball. All Lucy had to do was aim for the left edge and she was in.
Lucy dribbled closer and set up for an instep shot. And then, suddenly, there was Carla Rosa, throwing herself at the ball, arms out as if she were coming in for a landing. It smacked into her chest and bounced off and out of the goal box.
“Way to go, C.R.!” Gabe shouted.
Lucy was so caught off guard she almost forgot to go for the rebound.
“Behind you!” Taylor said.
Lucy made a heel pass. Gabe was right there to capture it from her. Kayla swooped in like the “smokin’ defender” she was, laughter bubbling over happy calls of, “To me, Kayla!” and “Man on!”
The “man on” was Emanuel, who got the ball back down the field to J.J. With one of his best dust-blowing sliders, he sneaked the ball past Bella. Lucy didn’t know which team cheered louder.
The whistle blew to end the game. Select girls and Dream kids were in a puppy pile in the middle of the field, when Lucy heard a voice boom, “Lucy Rooney!”
J.J. got her to the top of the heap, and Hawke pulled her out.
“Got something for you and your dad to sign,” he said as he ushered her toward the bleachers.
“What?” Lucy said.
“Your application to officially try out for ODP.”
Lucy stopped just short of the still-cheering bleachers and stared up at him. “They want to see me?”
“I’ve already seen you.” Hawke’s eyes were twinkling. “I’m the ODP rep, Lucy.”
Lucy could only stare at him.
“I knew your skills were there the first day I saw you,” he said. He looked out at the pile still laughing and shouting in the middle of the field. “But today I found out what I
really
needed to know.” Hawke’s bright, sharp eyes came back to her. “Your tryout is in September.”
Dear God:
Why It’s Okay That This Isn’t the Perfect Summer
She stopped and rearranged the two cats on her lap. Lolli muttered at Marmalade under her breath, Patricia style, but the orange kitty hunkered down. This was like reading, and that was his job. Lucy picked up her pen again:
1. I still have to take a standardized reading test if
I want to be in regular classes when middle school
starts — with Dusty and Veronica and Gabe. But
Mr. Auggy says I’ll pass, no problem, and that I
can probably help J.J. too. I don’t know about him
holding a cat though.
2. Now that soccer camp is over, Januarie is back to
hanging out with us. But she isn’t as annoying as she
used to be. Maybe that’s because her team won the
junior championship. She was a pretty good goalie
for them. She yelped like a Chihuahua at anybody
that tried to score a point.
3. The Girls’ Select Team didn’t win our
championship. The Boys’ team beat us by one goal. But the whole Los Suenos Dreams Team AND the
Girls’ Select Team got VIP awards for showing the
camp what real sportsmanship is. Huh. All we did
was have fun.
Lucy wrote
4
, and felt her throat get thick. This was the hardest one, the one that made her almost cry every time she thought about it.
4. Aunt Karen is going to work from here for six
weeks while Dad is at that school in Albuquerque,
and even though I know she can’t change me, I know
she’s still going to try. It’s hard to make THAT part of
“un-perfect” an okay thing.
Lucy sank against her pillows and listened to Inez padding around in the kitchen, making breakfast for Lucy and Mora. Aunt Karen was already calling Lucy every day, telling her how she was going to “help” her redecorate her room — which she liked just fine the way her mom had done it when she was five — and get involved with the other “soccer moms” — which Lucy didn’t even know they had — and have all Lucy’s friends over for a themed sleepover — which — what
was
that anyway?
Lucy pushed the kitties off her lap and tucked the Book of Lists under her pillow and wandered out into the kitchen. Inez looked up from the scrambled eggs she was piling into tortillas as Lucy slumped into a chair.
“You are
triste?”
Inez said.
“Does that mean depressed?” Lucy said.
Inez slid a plate in front of her on the table. “
Sí.
And you are this way because . . . Senorita Karen?”
“How do you know, like, everything I’m thinking?” Lucy said.
“I was the young woman once — like you — and Senorita Esther.”
Lucy poked at a scrambled egg, wrapped snugly in a tortilla. “I don’t think I’m exactly a ‘woman,’ Inez. If I was, I wouldn’t have to have Aunt Karen come and stay with me.”
“But you are almost,” Inez said. “You are three things a girl must be to become the woman.” She held up a brown finger. “Senorita Ruth?”
“I love somebody more than I do myself,” Lucy said.
Another finger went up. “Senorita Rachel?”
“I forgave something that seemed like it couldn’t be forgiven.”
“And what do you do now, that Senora Queen Esther has teached you?”
Lucy got up on one knee. “You mean, ‘such a time as this?’ ”
“
Sí
. . .”
“I did something I didn’t really want to do because it was the right thing to do and I was the only one who could do it.” Lucy took a breath. “So — that wasn’t just about soccer.”
“No.”
“That was about putting up with Aunt Karen so Dad can go to school and not get fired. But I still — ”
Inez nodded. And then she smiled and put her lips close to Lucy’s ear and whispered, “But no one says that you must like it.”
Lucy smiled. And she nodded back. And she felt better.
Maybe not about Aunt Karen. But definitely about being an almost-woman.
Definitely.
Lucy’s Perfect Summer
is fiction, which means I mostly made it up. But I wanted it to be real too, so I got a lot of help from people who know things I was clueless about
—
like how to play soccer and what it’s like to be a tomboy. I thought that since you are now part of Lucy’s team yourself, you’d like to know who the other players are.
Jessica Moose, Elle Rickman, Danielle Cedalles, Kelly
Hainline, and Madeline U’Ren
are middle schoolers in Alamagordo, New Mexico. They told me all about what it’s like to grow up in the southern part of New Mexico and even let me come to their school without being too embarrassed by me. They were awesome.
Hannah Wathne
is a twelve-year-old friend of mine who helped me “find” Mora by taking me into the world of dance and girly-girlness. She even has an electronic diary. Hello! How cool is that?
Haili, Caitlin, and Brianna Shubert
are ten-year-old sisters (they happen to be triplets!) who took me out on the soccer field and taught me everything they could. It was hard work since I am not athletic and played about as well as Januarie. Maybe a little worse. They were patient and kind, not to mention fun, and I rewarded them with a trip to the mall.
When I went to New Mexico to discover Lucy’s world,
Robin Wolf,
Doreen Owens, Heather Carter, Linda Castorina and Madeline
U’Ren
were my research buddies. They took me everywhere I needed to go, fed me the best Mexican food on the planet, and shared in the squeals when I found just the right details. They loved Lucy before I wrote the first word about her.
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