Team8s and Counting

172. How to Take Control

Dimey was at soccer practice, passing the ball back and fourth with Capy, having a great time as always.

"Hey Dimey!" Pen exclaimed from a distance.

Dimey looked over at his coach, stoping the soccer ball with his foot. "Hold on, Capy."

Dimey went running over to Pen, ready to help him for whatever he needed.

"Could you do me a favor?" Pen asked. "While I set up this drill, gather up the other kids and send them over here, okay? I trust you can do that for me!"

Dimey nodded, "Of course Coach Pen!" Dimey ran back over to the other kids, who were scattered around the field, some chasing after stray soccer balls, others sitting on the grass, and a couple talking in a small group.

"Alright, everyone!" Dimey called out, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Coach Pen needs us all over by the cones for the next drill! Let's go!"

A few of the kids looked up but didn't move, while others completely ignored him and kept doing their own thing.

"Come on, guys!" Dimey tried again, running closer to the group of kids still kicking the ball around. "We've gotta go—Coach Pen's waiting!"

"We'll be there in a minute!" one of them shouted back before going for another kick.

Dimey sighed in frustration. He glanced back at Pen, who was busy arranging the cones, and realized he was on his own. Determined, he ran over to the group sitting in the grass.

"Guys!" Dimey exclaimed, starting to get frustrated. "Come on, Coach Pen is going to be mad at us otherwise!"

The group of kids all looked at Dimey with varying degrees of disinterest. One of them raised an eyebrow.

"Mad at us? Or just at you? You're the one he told to do this," she said with a smirk.

Dimey clenched his fists, feeling the sting of her words. "He trusted me to get us all together so that he could finish setting up the drill. Can we just...please go to the cones?"

Another kid rolled his eyes. "Relax, Dimey. It's not like practice is gonna end if we're a little late."

Dimey looked back at Pen again, who was still focused on the cones, and took a deep breath. "Fine," he said, trying to sound more confident. "If you don't want to listen, that's on you. But I'm going to the cones, and so is Capy. Right, Capy?"

Capy nodded and jogged over to stand by Dimey. "Yeah, let's go. The faster we finish the drill, the sooner we get to scrimmage again."

Seeing Capy follow Dimey seemed to sway a few of the other kids. Slowly, a couple of them stood up and started walking toward the cones, though not without some grumbling. Dimey felt a small spark of hope, but it fizzled when a few kids stayed put on the grass.

"Whatever," one of them said. "We're good here."

Dimey didn't want to give up, but he also didn't want to waste more time arguing. He led the kids who had followed him back to the cones, trying to shake off the feeling of failure.

When practice finally ended, Dimey trudged to Needle's car, dragging his soccer bag behind him. Needle immediately noticed his slouched shoulders as he climbed into the backseat.

"Everything okay, Dimey?" she asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror.

Dimey sighed. "No. Coach Pen asked me to get everyone together for a drill, but nobody listened to me. They just kept goofing off or ignoring me."

Needle felt just how annoyed Dimey was. "That sounds annoying, I'm sorry that happened buddy."

"It's not fair!" Dimey said in frustration. "I wish I could just be good at getting people to listen to me without them getting mad at me, but that seems impossible!"