Troy knew that he wasn't paying attention to what was being said. He was absent-minded and thoughts of soccer and his teammates filled his mind. When church service ended, Jordan, one of his friends caught up with him.

"Hey, Troy", Jordan said.

"Hey, Jordan. What's up?' Troy asked.

"Nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that I've noticed you're not really yourself today. Is there any way I can help?" Jordan said.

"Thanks for asking. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Troy went on to tell Jordan everything that had happened with the soccer team.

"Well, I'll see if there's anything I can do to help", Jordan said.

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. We'll talk later."

"Sure."

Troy grew more and more worried everyday. Five teammates? Even going to the training grounds was a burden to Troy. Usually, he would go to the training grounds happy, excited and eager but lately, going to the training grounds made him anxious and worried. He was on the verge of giving up but he knew he had come too far to quit. He couldn't back out. He just couldn't.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie wondered if he had made a mistake. He had joined the winning team along with some other people but things hadn't gone the way he had expected.He thought that when he joined the winning team, he would play on the team but that wasn't the case. Instead, he had to clean up after the team and he was miserable.

"Who's the smart one here?" Zac's voice boomedas he looked at the players who recently joined the team.

"Hey, you! I need this homework done by Thursday", Zac said, pushing some books in Leslie's hands and left.

Leslie groaned inwardly. He already had tons of homework he had not finished and now this. All Leslie wanted was to hold the trophy and have the excitement of winning the state championships. Leslie wanted to go back to his former team but he wasn't sure if Troy would accept him. He just had to put up with Zac and his friends.