Page 71 of Every Move You Make

“Let’s do it again, ladies!” I shout, jogging back to midfield. I shake Toni’s shoulders and cheer, “Great job!” But all shedoes is let out a huff in response.

God, I hate when games go like this. Once the team starts feeling down, it can be next to impossible to lift everyone up again.

Needless to say, we lose 33–7.

Dejected and laden with feelings of failure, we march back into the tunnel and head for the locker room. Just before I file in, there’s a high-pitch whistle, and I turn to see my personal trainer leaning against the opposite wall with a smile, blue jeans, and white Valor T-shirt. He gestures for me to hold my head up high.

I could cry this very instant from that reminder alone, but I need to keep myself together because I know what’s about to happen.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened out there,” Isaiah says once we’re all sitting in the locker room. “So I’m gonna take a back seat for a minute, and you all are gonna tell me what went wrong in your eyes.”

When no one says anything, I speak up. “I think a lot of us were in a negative head space once they had that first breakaway.”

Isaiah nods. “I’d say I agree.”

Serwaa speaks next. “But I think the forwards had a good handle on their pods. That seemed to work most of the time.”

“What does that even matter when you’re biting each other’s heads off?” he bellows.

“That’s fuckin’ rich,” Casshole mutters next to me, and I close my eyes and sigh.

“Excuse me?” Isaiah asks. “If you’re going to say something, Cass, say it with your whole fucking chest.”

“I saidthat’s richcoming from you, Coach,” she scoffs. “All you do is find the negative and push our faces in it. Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘What goes around comes around?’”

“You’re professional athletes!Youare in charge of your mental game.” Isaiah seems to realize he was too loud and he takes a deep breath. “I want you all to take these next coming weeks and find new ways to get in the right headspace when things start to go sideways. We can’t afford to have the whole team spiraling just because we make a few bad moves. Is that understood?”

A dozenYeah’s and solemn nods answer him before he turns on his heel and walks out.

Serwaa shakes her head and lifts off her jersey. “I thought you said you talked to him.”

“I did. I mean, we saw some improvement this last week at practice, didn’t we?”

“It’s not enough and you know it, Birdie.”

“Just give him some more time,” I plead. “I know he’s capable of being an amazing coach.”

“He’s right though,” Casshole says. “We should be able to pull ourselves out of these black holes instead of pulling each other in. Khaos,” Cass sighs, peeling off her sock, “I’m sorry for yelling at you like that. I know you were just trying to help.”

“Thanks,” they say with a sad smile. “I’m sorry too.”

I muster up a smile. “Let’s all take his advice and with this time off, let’s remember why we love each other and deserve to treat each other with nothing but respect and admiration on that fuckin’ field, okay? Now can I get a group hug because I need one right now or I’m gonna lose it.”

“Aww, Birdie,” Serwaa coos, and everyone scrunches in for the stankiest group hug ever.

Chapter 31

A Little Praise

Dell

Isaiah storms out of the locker room, and before I can talk myself out of it, I’m catching him off guard and blocking his path. “Is that really how you coach?” I hiss, and he jumps back.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m a fan of women’s rugby, obviously. Answer me. Because I could hear everything from where I was sitting today. Is that really how you coach?” I repeat.

He swallows. “What’s wrong with the way I coach?”

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