The Kids Alliance, Chapter 2, By Makaila Odoom

Chapter 2

Glitch In The System

Something’s wrong.

The second I step onto the field, I know it.
The sky’s too still. The breeze has that weird, heavy feeling, like the air is watching you.

My teammates are… off.

The goalies keep missing easy saves. The defenders can’t hold their positions. One kid forgets how to tie their cleats mid-play. Like, literally stops to stare at them like they’re alien artifacts.

Coach Ellie—normally the queen of “Push through, power on!”—whacks herself in the face trying to pass the ball.

It would be hilarious… if it wasn’t kind of creepy.

I walk over after practice, carefully. “Uh, Coach? You okay?”

She looks at me. Not like normal. Her eyes are sunken, flickering, almost… wrong.

“Makaila,” she says, voice cold, unnatural. “What were you doing today?”

“What?”

“You messed us up,” she hisses. “You started this.”

I step back. “What the—no, I didn’t! You hit yourself in the face with a soccer ball!”

Something in her shifts. Like a glitch in a video game. A flicker. A hiss.

“We’re going to finish it,” she says, voice not hers. Her eyes flash green.

And that’s the part where I decide to leave.

I bolt to the car, heart in my throat.

This is not just a bad day.
Something weird is happening.

And it’s only the beginning.

Stay tuned for when I publish the book! More details along the way!!!