The Soccer Bully

The Soccer Bully

Eliot roamed through Mickey’s Sports, browsing shelves stocked with tennis rackets and baseball bats. His younger brother, Sean, was searching for a new goalkeeper’s jersey in the soccer aisle. Soccer tryouts started on Monday, and Sean wanted a new jersey for good luck. As Eliot headed back toward the soccer gear, he spotted an athletic boy looming over Sean. “ Sean must have bumped into a friend, ” he thought. Then he saw the kid jab Sean with a finger.

“ Hey! ” Eliot shouted. Sean’s face turned bright red when he saw Eliot rushing toward him. “ Stay off the soccer field, loser! ” the kid snarled before he stalked off, snickering. “ Who was that?” Eliot asked. Sean held up a lime green jersey. “ What do you think?” he joked weakly. “ Does this go with my red hair and freckles?” Before Eliot could reply, Sean shoved the jersey back in a pile on the shelf.

“ Let’s get out of here. I can’t afford a new jersey anyway. ” On Monday Eliot wasn’t expecting to see Sean until dinnertime, after his first tryout session had ended. But when Eliot entered the kitchen after school, Sean was perched on a counter stool. “ Sean! What are you doing here?” “ I live here, ” he said sarcastically. “ Remember?”

“ That’s not what I meant, ” Eliot said. “ Why aren’t you at tryouts?” “ Because I’m not trying out. ” “ What?” “ I won’t make the team. So what’s the point?” “ The point is, you love soccer, ” Eliot said. “ And you’ve been preparing for tryouts for months. ” “ That was before I—” Sean’s mouth abruptly snapped shut. “ Before what?” Eliot demanded.

Suddenly he flashed back to the scene at Mickey’s Sports. “ It’s that kid from the store! He’s the reason you skipped tryouts. You can’t let him bully you into staying on the sidelines! ” “ It’s my own fault, ” Sean said. “ I shouldn’t have bragged about my goalie skills to him. ” “ Whoa. ” Eliot held up a hand. “ It’s not your fault. That kid is a bully, plain and simple. ” He frowned. “ Has he harmed you physically?” Sean shook his head. “ George just threatens to hurt me.