Jade nodded.
‘Cool. I want to be next to you.’ Isabella rolled out her mat and threw her sleeping-bag and pillow on it. ‘That’s my bed sorted.’
Jade couldn’t help smiling. Having a friend was more fun than she’d thought it would be.
Speaking of which … Jade glanced at the clock on the wall, frowning. The tight knot in her stomach wouldn’t go away.
‘What’s wrong?’ Isabella asked.
‘What if the others don’t come?’
‘Of course they’ll come. And if they don’t, we’ll have the best night anyway because we’ll get all the lollies!’
Jade nodded and gave a small smile. ‘Good point.’
‘I have something that might help pass the time until they get here.’ Isabella reached into her bag and pulled out a netball.
‘Awesome,’ Jade said. ‘There’s a ring out the back. Come on.’
The girls played in the yard, taking turns at shooting. They started up close then moved back a step each time the ball went in. They lost themselves in the game until the sound of a car horn made them turn towards the street.
Jade spotted Janet’s familiar car, out of which were spilling pillows, sleeping-bags and backpacks of various shapes, colours and sizes. Among the mess were Lily, Maia and Phoebe.
Jade and Isabella hurried down the side of the house to greet them.
‘Sorry we’re late,’ Lily said. ‘Phoebe took forever deciding what to pack.’ She nudged the other girl playfully.
‘And then I couldn’t find my netball.’ Phoebe held it up for the others to see. It was white with blue swirls and black diamonds. ‘My grandparents bought it for me. I’ve been dying to show everyone.’
‘Mine’s better.’ Sienna had just arrived with her dad. ‘See?’
Phoebe looked confused. ‘But they’re exactly the same!’
‘No, mine has “SIENNA” written on it.’ Sienna laughed. ‘So obviously it’s better.’
Phoebe laughed, too.
Once Maddy and Prani arrived, Jade led the girls to the rumpus room.
‘I have something for you all,’ Sienna said.
The girls crowded around while Sienna sat down and rummaged through her overnight bag. She took out a brown paper bag and tipped the contents into her lap. Out came a tangle of yarn in the Marrang colours of royal blue, white and pink.
‘What’s that?’ Prani asked.
Chapter Eighteen
‘Everyone sit down,’ Sienna said. ‘We’re going to make friendship bracelets.’ She handed each girl strips of coloured yarn then showed them different ways to plait the colours together to make friendship bands. ‘When we’re done, we’ll swap them so the band you make goes to someone else.’
In no time at all, the girls had each made a coloured band, which they swapped with a friend.
‘This is for you,’ Phoebe said, offering Jade the band she’d made.
‘This is so cool!’ Jade admired Phoebe’s gift. Phoebe had used double the amount of white than blue and pink, which made the blue and pink stand out brightly. ‘Thank you. I love it! Will you take the one I made?’ She offered Phoebe the band she’d woven.
‘Yes please!’
‘It’s so nice feeling part of a team and part of a group of friends,’ Maia said, admiring the band Isabella gave her. ‘When I moved here from New Zealand, I was worried I wouldn’t make any friends. But now I have lots!’
I agree, Jade thought. It feels good having friends.
‘We’ve got something fun to do, too.’ Prani motioned to Maddy.
‘Oh, yes.’ With a cheeky grin, Maddy riffled through her overnight bag and pulled out two plastic packets, one of which she tossed to Prani. The girls turned their backs and bent over as they fixed something yellow and orange on their heads.
They turned around.
Both were wearing chicken masks complete with bulging eyes, beaks and yellow feathers. They looked ridiculous.
‘It’s time for the Chicken Dance!’ Prani declared.
Maddy pressed a button on her iPod, which she’d connected to a pair of portable speakers. The Chicken Dance music started. Maddy and Prani clucked, scratched and squawked their way through two verses of the dance while the other girls rolled around on the floor in fits of laughter.
Tears ran down Jade’s cheeks and her tummy muscles ached. She’d never laughed so hard in all her life.
But a noise at the door stopped everyone in their tracks. Maddy stopped the music and she and Prani whipped off their masks. Several yellow feathers drifted to the floor.
‘Hi, girls.’ Jet waved as he sauntered in.
Stifling their cackles, the girls stared at Jet as if they’d never seen a boy before.
‘Aren’t you staying at Brock’s?’ Jade asked her brother.
‘Yep.’ Jet opened a cupboard. He took out a skateboard and helmet, which he held up. ‘I was just looking for these. See you.’ With a final wave, Jet strolled out.
Prani was the first to recover. ‘Who was that?’
‘My brother, Jet,’ Jade said.
‘Oh my God!’ Maddy gasped. ‘I can’t believe he caught us doing the Chicken Dance!’
‘Don’t worry, he’s not staying here tonight so he won’t annoy us,’ Jade said.
‘Your brother can annoy us any time he likes,’ Prani gushed, covering her mouth as she giggled. ‘He’s super-cute.’
The other girls erupted into another fit of cackles and squawks.
‘How come we’ve never seen him before?’ Maia asked.
‘He plays rugby,’ Jade said. ‘Usually when netball is on. My dad goes to watch him play.’
‘I wondered why I hadn’t seen your dad much,’ Phoebe said.
Jade nodded. ‘Jet’s really good at rugby. He might play for the Wallabies one day.’
‘You’re really good at netball, though,’ Isabella said. ‘The way you’re going, you might end up playing for the Diamonds.’
‘Thanks.’ Jade shot Isabella a grateful look. ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be awesome if we all made it into the Diamonds one day?’
‘That would be fantastic!’ Lily said.
‘Well, we are all Gems,’ Sienna said dreamily. ‘Little gems that might one day grow into big, beautiful diamonds!’
Chapter Nineteen
It was Wednesday afternoon. Training.
Janet put the girls through their warm-up exercises then called everyone over.
‘Are we playing a game?’ Maddy asked, as Janet handed out bibs.
‘We sure are,’ Janet said. ‘And I have a surprise for you.’
Janet handed the Goal Attack bibs to Jade and the Goal Shooter bibs to Phoebe.
‘Yay!’ Jade cheered. ‘We can work on our strategy for the weekend.’
‘Precisely what I want you girls to do,’ Janet said. ‘This is our last training session so I want to make it count by putting you in your best and favourite positions. Sienna, you’ll have to sit out at the start, but I’ll swap you in shortly, okay?’
‘Sure.’ Sienna nodded. ‘No problem.’
‘Who are we playing?’ Maddy asked.
‘That’s the surprise.’ Janet blew her whistle. From the change rooms, eight other girls appeared.
‘Oh my gosh, that’s the Under 14s team!’ Lily gasped.
‘They haven’t lost a game all season …’ Sienna said.
‘Make that the last two seasons,’ Jade said. The Under 14s Marrang Opals were the envy of every young team in the area. They’d won their age group grand final the last two years and seemed set to win it again this season.
‘They’re so much better than us …’ Prani said, looking nervous.
‘Don’t underestimate yourselves,’ Janet said. ‘Besides, you need strong competition so you can get some practice before the grand final. This will be good for you.’
The Opals girls said hello.
If this is what Under 14s look like, I’ve got some growing to do before next year! Jade thought.
Jade spotted Amber Flintoff, one of the star players for the Opals. Jade often saw Amber at the shops or the movies, but had never had the courage to speak to her.
‘Hi, Jade.’ Amber gave her a little wave.
Jade tried to hide her surprise. She hadn’t realised that Amber knew her name.
‘Hi, Amber,’ Jade replied shyly.
‘Right, girls, let’s get started.’ Janet tossed the ball to Prani, who was playing Centre.
The girls took their positions. Janet’s whistle blew.
Prani passed to Maddy in Wing Attack, who shot the ball down court to Jade. Amber was the Opals’ Goal Defence. She immediately put pressure on Jade, waving her arms to prevent a pass and shadowing her every move. Jade felt as though she were playing against the super-tall Barton team again – only the Opals were even better.
Amber had an incredibly long reach, which Jade struggled to get around. She tried bounce passing but the moment the netball was loose, Amber snatched it up and shot it away to the Opals’ Wing Attack. Luckily for the Gems, the Wing Attack fumbled and dropped the ball. Lily, at Wing Defence, snatched it up, scanning around for support.
‘Pass it to me!’ Jade cried.
Lily threw a chest pass to Jade, who passed to Prani, who then passed to Maddy. After Jade positioned herself deeper inside the goal third, Maddy sent the ball back to her.
‘Over here, Jade!’ called Phoebe.
Jade pivoted and shot a lightning-fast bounce pass to Phoebe.
But when Phoebe shot for goal, the ball hit the ring and rebounded out of the goal circle. Amber scooped up the ball and sent it down court.
‘Never mind,’ Jade said. ‘We’ll get the ball back again.’
Phoebe shot Jade a look of gratitude. ‘Thanks!’
As the girls watched, Prani intercepted a pass in the centre third.
‘Go, Prani!’ Jade said.
Prani winked before passing to Maddy, who then passed to Jade, who was running into the goal circle.
Jade eyed the goal ring then quickly checked everyone’s positions. Phoebe was too close to the goal to shoot and her defender was towering over her. Maddy and Prani weren’t having much luck evading their defenders, either.
‘Shoot, Jade!’ Phoebe said.
It was all the encouragement she needed.
Using a side step to get around Amber, Jade moved her weight onto her right foot and lifted her left foot off the ground. After checking her balance, Jade came up onto the ball of her right foot to generate power, then flicked the ball forward and pushed with her fingers. Amber lunged, her long arms reaching. The Opals’ Goal Keeper jumped high, as did Phoebe. But somehow the ball made it over the defenders and dropped into the goal ring.
‘She shoots! She scores!’ Phoebe cheered.
‘Great shot,’ Amber said.
Jade’s chest puffed with pride. ‘Thanks.’
The Gems continued to try their best, but the final score was 17–10 to the Opals.
‘Don’t be disappointed by the score,’ Amber told the Gems as they packed up. ‘You made it really hard for us today. Good luck in your grand final!’
Chapter Twenty
Jade couldn’t believe how quickly the week had flown by. It was Saturday already. Grand final day. Her tummy butterflies were performing loop the loops again.
She tied her rainbow-coloured shoelaces a third time then checked to make sure her Gems friendship band was secured around her ankle, under her sock.
‘Breathe,’ she told her reflection in the mirror, before she headed out to the kitchen.
Mum and Dad were at the table eating breakfast.
‘Ah, here’s our little champion.’ Dad sipped his mango smoothie. ‘All ready for your big game?’
‘I sure am.’ Jade tried to sound confident. She wanted to ask Dad if he would come to watch the game but she didn’t want to push him. She knew he worked hard and still remembered how he’d fallen asleep at the table the other night.
I know he’s busy. I’ll still enjoy the game and do my best even if he isn’t there.
Besides, nothing could spoil her good mood. Today was her big day.
‘You need a healthy breakfast,’ said Mum. ‘What can I get you?’
Jade’s stomach flipped at the thought of eating. ‘I’m really not hungry.’
‘You can’t win a game on an empty stomach,’ Dad said. He handed her a banana from the fruit basket while Mum squeezed her some fresh orange juice.
Not wanting to disappoint her parents, Jade forced herself to eat and drink. Then she packed her water bottle and sunscreen and zipped up her bag. ‘Mum, can you drop me off at the courts?’
Mum eyed the clock. ‘It’s hours before your game starts!’
‘I know, but everyone else is meeting early. We want to watch the other teams play and go over our game plan.’
Dad put his arm around Jade’s shoulders. ‘You really take netball seriously, don’t you?’
Jade laughed. ‘I have been trying to tell you that all season! I’ve really enjoyed playing with the girls. I know I can be competitive –’
‘I wonder where you get that from,’ Mum joked.
‘– But I’ve realised that everyone on the team is trying their best. And we’re all good at different things.’
‘As long as you shoot plenty of goals,’ Dad said, as he pretended to shoot.
‘I want that, too,’ Jade said. ‘That is the whole point of netball. But the Gems mean more to me than scoring goals. I love being part of a team. And I’ve made so many friends.’
‘You sound like a walking advertisement for netball.’ Mum laughed. ‘You don’t have to convince us. We know how important sport is.’
‘Yes, but you’re usually talking about individual fitness and performance and winning. I’m talking about the team as a whole, playing together and trusting each other. I thought I had to be the best player on the team but really what I want is to be part of a group of friends that has fun playing. And that’s what the Marrang Gems do.’
Dad nodded thoughtfully. ‘I hear you, Jadey. Sorry if I seem full-on at times.’ He kissed Jade on the top of her head. ‘Good luck today.’
Jade grinned. ‘Thanks, Dad.’
Chapter Twenty-one
The game was not going well.
It was the third quarter and the score was 6–3 to Thomson.
Isabella took the centre throw and passed to Jade, who was playing in her favourite position, Goal Attack. She’d spent the first half playing Goal Shooter but she hadn’t had any luck at goal. Phoebe had scored their only three goals.
Jade passed to Isabella, who then lobbed it to Maddy at Wing Attack. As Jade repositioned herself within the goal circle, Maddy returned the ball with a bounce pass, which barely made it through the solid Thomson defence. Phoebe was playing Goal Shooter but her defender was all over her. Jade decided to take a desperate long shot at goal, but she fumbled the ball. It bounced away and was picked up by the Thomson Goal Keeper.
‘Grrr!’ Jade growled.
‘Never mind,’ Isabella said. ‘You’ll nail it next time.’
Jade smiled. ‘Thanks, Izzy.’
The Thomson team was keeping Maia super-busy at Wing Defence. Jade could see she was tiring. Sienna and Lily, the other Marrang defenders, also looked frazzled. Jade didn’t know how much longer they could stop Thomson from scoring again.
Luckily, Maia intercepted a pass that was going to the Thomson Wing Attack. She bounce passed to Isabella, who sent a high lob pass to Jade in the goal third. Buffeted by the wind, the shot went wide. Jade raced to catch the ball, but her defender beat her to it, snatching it up with both hands.
‘Never mind, Jadey! Try again.’
Jade searched the crowd. ‘Dad? Dad!’
She couldn’t believe he’d made it to her game after all! What a terrific surprise! If Jade could have run over and hugged him, she would have, but right then the ball came sailing towards the Thomson Wing Attack, who was standi
ng right by her.
Here’s an opportunity, Jade thought, as she leapt up to intercept the throw. She grabbed it out of the air before passing it to Maddy, who passed it on to Phoebe. Within moments, Phoebe had shot their fourth goal.
‘Yay!’ the Gems cheered, as the three-quarter whistle blew.
‘This is where we get serious,’ Janet said, as the girls huddled around her. ‘Jade, you’ll stay in Goal Attack. Keep working to break through the Thomson defence and feed the ball to Phoebe. Lily, you’re moving to Centre and Isabella, you take Goal Defence. Maia, you’re dead on your feet and need a rest. Prani you’re back on at Wing Defence for the last quarter. Maddy and Sienna: you keep your positions.’
Jade glanced at Maia. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was messy and she looked exhausted. Although everyone took turns on the bench, Jade would have been devastated if she’d had to sit out the last quarter of the grand final. Maia, however, seemed relieved.
‘Short, quick passes,’ Janet advised them.
‘That’s if we can get the ball,’ Maddy said. ‘Those Thomson girls are everywhere.’
‘Everyone has a kryptonite,’ Sienna said.
‘What’s kryptonite?’ Phoebe asked.
‘You know, Superman’s one weakness: kryptonite,’ Sienna explained. ‘So what’s Thomson’s weakness?’
‘They don’t have a weakness,’ Maia said. ‘They’re like the Opals. Super-tall.’
‘So how do we combat tall?’ Janet said.
‘Keep the ball low?’ Jade suggested.
‘Correct,’ Janet said. ‘Use your best bounce passes and keep the ball low. And keep communicating!’
‘Got it,’ Jade said, then she raced over to Dad. ‘You made it! Thanks, Dad!’
‘When I realised how important netball is to you, I thought I’d better shuffle things around so that I could be here,’ Dad said. ‘From now on, I’m going to share my time evenly between rugby and netball. How does that sound?’
Jade smiled. ‘That sounds awesome.’
‘Good,’ Dad said. ‘You look great out there, Jadey.’
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