One early morning, during breakfast, Olivia and her family were talking about signing up for soccer.  Olivia had always wanted to play soccer ever since she moved from Chicago.  

When she lived in Chicago, the school kids would never let Olivia play soccer or almost anything with them.

The girl’s soccer team was very expensive. Olivia’s parents didn’t think it was worth it to pay a lot of money just for soccer. Her parents were still thinking about taking her to soccer.  

One day, after school, she got good news from her dad about soccer.

He said, “Olivia, I’ve got great news for you. I talked to your coach right after I left work, and I told him that you really wanted to sign up.  I said that the amount of money was a problem, so he said he would gladly give you a free session.”  

Olivia got very very excited. On the weekend, her parents took her to the sports store called “Sporting Goods.” The day she’d been waiting for was finally here! When Olivia got to the soccer field, her dad told her to meet her coach because he said it was polite. So she met her coach.

“Olivia, welcome to the team!” Olivia’s coach said, greeting her.

Suddenly, she heard her coach shout, “Practice is starting.”  

Her dad kissed her cheek and said goodbye. Olivia grabbed her ball and joined the group.   

Her coach said, “We’re going to start with 50 laps across the field.”

“50 laps?” Olivia asked, puzzled.

A girl asked, “Don’t you know what 50 laps are?”  

Olivia said, “I’m new, remember?”

But the girl just ignored her.

***

The next day at school, she found out that the girl that went to her soccer practice went to her school! Her name was Maddie. But Maddie was not doing anything very nice.  

She was looking straight at her and talking and talking. Olivia totally knew, but Maddie didn’t realize Olivia was overhearing her gossip.  

Olivia was very hurt. She rushed to the bathroom in tears. When she went on the bus, she noticed everybody starting to laugh at her.

In her head, she was asking, Why are the kids laughing at me? Then she remembered Maddie talking about her. Olivia immediately went to a seat and didn’t notice that another person was sitting there. She was in tears. Olivia felt very bad for that girl.

She asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

The girl sniffed. “No,” she said, upset. Then, she said, “Why would you even bother sitting next to me anyways? I’m just a big baby. Like what they call me.”

Olivia answered, ”Because I’ve been in the same situation as you a few minutes ago.”

Then, it came to Olivia’s stop.

Olivia said goodbye and asked, ”What is your name?”

The girl said, ”My name is Zoe.”

Then, Olivia left. When she got home, she told her mom she met a new friend named Zoe.

“Wonderful. Would you like to invite her over sometime?” her mom asked.  

“Really? You’d let me do that?” Olivia asked with excitement.  

Her mom nodded her head.

***

The next morning, Olivia sprang out of her bed to get breakfast. When she got to the table, she noticed the food was set up neatly for her to enjoy.

“Good morning, sweetie. Today, I have to leave early because of an appointment at 8:00 am, so you are going to have to take the bus,” her mom said in a hurry.

She boarded the bus and saw Zoe waving at her to sit with her. When Olivia sat down, she asked Zoe for her number so they could spend time together. So Zoe gave her the number.  The girls didn’t notice Maddie and her friends overhearing their personal things to each other! Maddie immediately told her friends what she was saying. They kept giggling until Olivia found out that they were laughing at them.

She stood up to Maddie and said, “What are you laughing about?”

“Uh… I’m…” Maddie said, trembling.  

Her friends were too shy to stand up for Maddie. So Maddie had to face Olivia and Zoe herself. But she got silent and moved to the front when the bus stopped. For the first time, Olivia saw a smile cross Zoe’s face. Olivia was glad to see that smile.

That was the story of a true friend and a nice teammate.