Winning Touch

by Ellyse Perry

  About the Book

  CATCH, RUN, SIDESTEP … SCORE!

  Ellyse is dying to start touch footy again – touchdowns are the best! But with homework piling up and training every night of the week, is it all getting too much to handle? It looks like Ellyse is going to have to make some MAJOR changes.

  There’s also drama at school with her best friends, Jazz and Charlie. One minute things are great, and the next their friendship is falling apart. Uh-oh! Maybe getting selected for the regional touch footy team will help take her mind off things … or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.

  Can Ellyse find the courage to step up and face her problems head on?

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Ellyse Perry: My World

  Copyright Notice

  Also in the Series

  ‘I’m ready!’ Ellyse called. She crouched in the doorway of the laundry, waiting for Dad’s whistle.

  Phweet! Go!

  She ran through the kitchen, caught the football Dad threw from the lounge, scooted around the corner and down the hallway and passed back to Dad in the lounge again.

  ‘Excellent,’ Dad said. ‘Once more the other way and we’ll stop before Mum gets home.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Ellyse caught the ball in the hallway, rounded the corner into the kitchen and threw it back to Dad off her other foot. Except this time the ball flew into the air. It hit the light with a sharp bang followed by the ominous tinkle of broken glass falling to the floor.

  Ellyse stared at the shattered glass in horror. ‘Mum’s going to kill me!’

  Dad shook his head. ‘I think you’ll have to wait in line. She’ll kill me first.’

  ‘Maybe if we sweep up the glass, you can replace it before she notices?’

  ‘Notice what?’ Mum said. Neither of them had heard her come through the front door. She took one look at the football and the glass and frowned. ‘No need to answer – I can see for myself.’

  ‘Sorry, Mum,’ Ellyse said. ‘It was my fault. I still haven’t got that pass off my left foot exactly right.’

  ‘I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact you shouldn’t be playing footy in the house in the first place,’ Mum said drily.

  Ellyse flushed. ‘Well … yes … I mean no …’

  ‘It was my fault,’ Dad said. ‘It was raining and … We’ll clean it up right now and I’ll get the light shade fixed tomorrow, I promise.’

  ‘All right,’ Mum sighed.

  As Ellyse helped Dad to clean up the glass, the rain continued to patter against the windows and a flash of lightning lit up the room. ‘Wow, it’s getting worse,’ she said. ‘Maybe they’ll cancel training tomorrow.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Dad said. Before he took the glass out to the bin, he whispered, ‘Go and help Mum. Get back in her good books.’

  Ellyse did as he said and was soon unpacking the dishwasher and then setting the table while Mum cooked dinner. Damien arrived just as Mum was putting the plates of spaghetti on the table.

  ‘Good timing,’ he said with a grin.

  ‘You’re on clean-up,’ Ellyse said.

  As they ate, she thought about her new touch footy team. She’d played in primary school and loved it. It was so fast and you ran all over the field. Touchdowns were the best! She vaguely heard Dad say, ‘Where would we put it?’

  ‘The garage?’ Mum suggested. ‘We’re always parking in the driveway. Might as well use the space.’

  ‘Put what in the garage?’ Ellyse asked.

  Damien nudged her. ‘Daydreaming about being captain of the Matildas again?’

  ‘No teasing,’ Mum said.

  ‘A friend has offered us their ping-pong table,’ said Dad. ‘It’ll give you kids something to do when it’s wet instead of wrecking the house.’

  ‘Cool,’ Ellyse said. ‘Can I invite Jazz and Charlie over to play? Can we buy lots of bats?’

  ‘They’re called paddles, dummy,’ Damien said. ‘And I get to ask my friends over too, you know.’

  Mum rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.’

  ‘It’ll be fine,’ Dad said. ‘Ellyse can have Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Damien can have Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And then on Sunday it’ll be our turn.’

  ‘You old people can play ping-pong?’ Ellyse said, giggling.

  ‘Enough of the old, thank you,’ Mum said. ‘I bet Dad and I can thrash both of you.’

  ‘You’re on,’ Damien said.

  ‘But you know the rules,’ Dad added. ‘Homework first, then ping-pong.’

  Ellyse nodded and finished her spaghetti, wishing she could lick the plate. I don’t know why I’m always so hungry. She grabbed an apple and headed to her room, where she pulled out her schoolbooks and spread them across her bed. Ugh, so depressing.

  She had to do six pages of maths exercises, make a start on her geography project, read a whole book for English, and tomorrow there was a test on something but she couldn’t remember what and she hadn’t written it in her diary. Ellyse groaned and started on the maths, speeding through the pages before moving on to her geography research.

  Three hours later, bleary-eyed, she turned out the light. The pattering on the roof had stopped, and she fell asleep hoping the sun would come out tomorrow and dry the soccer field.

  In the morning Ellyse couldn’t wait to get to school to tell Charlie and Jazz about the ping-pong table. Maybe they’d be able to come over on Saturday and play.

  Everything at Callinan gleamed after the rain, and the puddles in the drive were slowly drying out. Ellyse hated the heavy winter uniform and took off her blazer as soon as she could, pushing it into her locker.

  ‘Hey,’ Charlie said, doing the same four lockers along. ‘Have you seen Jazz?’

  ‘No,’ Ellyse said.

  Sheridan called from her classroom doorway. ‘Someone said she was crying in the girls’ bathroom.’

  Ellyse and Charlie looked at each other.

  ‘We’d better go and see what’s the matter,’ Charlie said.

  They rushed down the stairs and into the bathroom but nobody was there. Except one door was closed, and from behind it came the sound of crying and someone blowing their nose.

  Ellyse tapped on the door. ‘Jazzy? Are you in there?’

  There was silence for a few seconds, then a little voice said, ‘Y-yes.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Charlie asked. ‘Can you open the door?’

  After a much longer silence and a few sniffs, the lock slowly unsnicked and the door swung open to reveal Jazz’s tear-streaked face and red eyes.

  Ellyse swallowed a lump in her throat. ‘Has … has someone died?’

  ‘Might as well have,’ Jazz said, and burst into tears again. Charlie and Ellyse gathered her into a big group hug, and when Jazz had calmed down a little, she managed to get the words out. ‘Mum and Dad … They … they’ve split up.’

  ‘Oh no, that’s awful,’ Charlie said.

  ‘Why?’ The question popped out of Ellyse’s mouth before she could stop it.

  Jazz sniffed and rubbed her eyes. ‘They keep saying stuff like they’ve grown apart and they’re not happy, but I think Dad’s got a girlfriend. It’s not fair. I hate them both!’

  They all jumped as the bell rang loudly right outside the door.

  ‘Come on, we’d better not be
late,’ said Charlie. ‘I wish we were in the same class so we didn’t have to leave you.’ It had been their one gripe about Callinan – that the three of them were all in different classes.

  Ellyse gave Jazz another hug. ‘We’ll see you at recess. Can you survive without us until then?’

  ‘I guess,’ Jazz said, but her mournful face said otherwise.

  They separated in the corridor and went off to their classrooms. Ellyse made it into maths just as Mr Waugh was closing the door. She sank into her chair, still thinking about her friend. Poor Jazz, she’s totally crushed. Ellyse barely heard the teacher’s words until he placed a sheet of paper in front of her.

  ‘Of course, those who’ve been doing their homework won’t be at all worried about a little snap test,’ he said.

  Thank goodness it rained last night and I did my homework. For once a snap test doesn’t make me feel like throwing up. Ellyse managed most of it without any trouble, and then sat quietly in English, hoping the teacher wouldn’t ask her any questions about the set book. Finally, recess came and she went to find Charlie and Jazz.

  The story of how Jazz’s parents had sat her and her sister down last night and made the big announcement filled up the whole of recess.

  ‘Dad’s moving out today,’ Jazz added. ‘By the time I get home he’ll be gone. I don’t know when I’ll see him again.’ That brought on a fresh flood of tears and made them all late for third period, but strangely, none of their teachers told them off. Maybe everyone knew what had happened to Jazz.

  Ellyse sat in her art class, doodling with a stick of charcoal, filling in more and more of her picture with black until all that was left were two huge white eyes staring out of the paper.

  ‘That’s really creepy,’ said the girl next to her. ‘It looks like something from a horror story.’

  Ellyse shrugged and pushed the drawing away from her. Jazz is the one living in a horror story. I feel so bad for her. And there was nothing she could do to help, except try to be the best friend she could.

  Suddenly, she realised she hadn’t told Charlie and Jazz about the new ping-pong table. But what was the point? Compared to Jazz’s news, ping-pong seemed like a total waste of time.

  At lunchtime Charlie and Ellyse managed to persuade Jazz to come and play soccer. A game would take her mind off her parents and maybe cheer her up a bit. They linked arms and took Jazz to the field. The ground squelched under their feet as they walked over to the goal. Their coach, Ms Beattie, was talking to Hu and some of the other girls on the Callinan soccer team.

  ‘Wednesday’s game was going to be postponed but now they think the ground will be dry enough.’ She looked around them. ‘You can see that ours is saturated, so I hope you’ve brought a change of clothes.’

  After warming up, the team soon had a lively game going with much sliding and slipping.

  ‘Careful,’ Ms Beattie called. ‘You can’t play at your usual speed. This is a good opportunity to slow down and think about what your feet are doing and where your balance and control really lies.’

  Every now and then Ellyse glanced over to see Jazz standing in the goal with her arms hanging limply by her sides, staring off into space. When the ball came her way, she’d stir and make a half-hearted attempt to reach for it. Most of the shots whizzed past her into the net. A couple of times Ms Beattie opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again.

  What would it be like if my mum and dad split up? Ellyse wondered. Ugh, I can’t even bear to think about that. Her parents hardly ever argued. Besides, when would her dad ever have time for a girlfriend? She snorted. He spent most of his time driving her to all her sports training and games!

  Training finished a little earlier than usual so everyone had time to clean up and change before class.

  ‘What are you doing tonight?’ Charlie whispered to Ellyse. ‘Maybe we could go over to Jazz’s house and try to cheer her up.’

  ‘I can’t.’ Ellyse shrugged. ‘I mean, I want to, but it’s the first night of touch footy training …’ She paused and looked at Jazz, who was pulling on her school socks at the speed of a glacier, her head down. ‘No, you’re right. I can miss it once in a while.’ Even though I hate missing any training, let alone the first session.

  Charlie sat next to Jazz and nudged her. ‘Hey, how about we come over and hang out with you after school?’

  Jazz picked at a loose thread in her sock. ‘Can’t. Won’t be home.’ She sighed and pulled up the sock. ‘We’re going to family counselling. Like that’ll help. Not.’

  ‘Oh. Okay.’ Charlie gave her a hug. ‘Maybe tomorrow, then?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Jazz put on her shoes and stood. ‘See you later.’

  As she watched Jazz trudge out of the changing room, tears filled Ellyse’s eyes. Jazz looks so sad. This is horrible!

  Ellyse and Charlie walked to class in silence. ‘So you can go to touch footy after all,’ Charlie finally said.

  ‘Yeah, I guess. Want to come?’ Ellyse asked. Charlie had played with her in primary school and Ellyse always hoped she’d pick it up again.

  ‘Um … Okay. I’ll have to check with Mum first.’ She poked Ellyse in the arm. ‘I’ll be getting as bad as you soon – playing twenty different sports.’

  ‘I don’t play twenty!’ Ellyse said.

  ‘You would if you could, though.’ Charlie looked at her and laughed. ‘See? I’m right, aren’t I?’

  ‘Ha-ha, very funny.’ Ellyse grinned. ‘I’ll call you later.’

  Charlie was allowed to go to touch footy training and Ellyse met her at the field, where the grown-ups were checking how wet it was. When the team was gathered, their coach, Ben, told them to expect an easy training session.

  Ben was brand new as a coach, and this was his first team. He was still at uni, studying to be a PE teacher. Ellyse’s dad had agreed to help him out and they started training with a warm-up and some jogging around the field.

  ‘No sprints or fast turns,’ Ben called. ‘It’s slippery out there, and we don’t need any sprained ankles.’

  Afterwards, they moved on to passing drills. In touch, it was all about moving the ball around and running. No tackling or scrums!

  At least there aren’t any light shades to wreck here, Ellyse thought.

  She and Charlie weren’t the only girls, for a change – their touch team had two others and they were both called Emma. Ellyse privately named them Emma 1 and Emma 2, and nearly burst out laughing when Ben told them he’d have to call them Emma 1 and Emma 2 too.

  When they played a game, it was hard not to slip and slide a bit, and it seemed as if the one big muddy patch on the field was a magnet. Half of the kids fell over in it, and Charlie landed face first. The front of her shirt was wet and muddy and she had a blob of mud on her nose. By the end of training, Ellyse was splattered from head to foot in mud and even her face was freckled with it.

  ‘That was fun!’ Charlie said. ‘I wish Jazz would join us.’

  ‘Let’s ask her tomorrow,’ Ellyse said. ‘We’ll get her to come to training on Thursday.’

  ‘Don’t you have soccer training then?’

  ‘That’s later,’ she replied.

  ‘You’re going to do both in one night?’ Charlie said. ‘You’re crazy!’

  Ellyse made a face. ‘The training is the best part. Not getting my homework done is the worst.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Charlie agreed. ‘I have tonnes too. Mr Waugh loves maths tests and I hate them.’

  Dad took one look at Ellyse and said, ‘I’d better put an old towel down on the car seat for you, Princess Mud.’

  As soon as Ellyse got home, she raced to have a hot shower and jumped in with her training clothes on! The water turned brown then slowly cleared, and afterwards she put her clothes straight into the wash.

  Over dinner Ellyse kept thinking about Jazz.

  ‘Ellyse,’ Mum finally said, ‘you look like you’ve lost a dollar and found five cents. What’s wrong?’

  Ellyse put down
her fork and explained what had happened. ‘Jazz is so miserable that I don’t think even ping-pong would cheer her up.’

  ‘It’s not your night to have the table, anyway,’ Damien said.

  ‘Hang on,’ Dad said, ‘we don’t even have the table yet!’

  Damien grinned. ‘Just saying.’

  Mum squeezed Ellyse’s hand. ‘It must be devastating for Jazz. Just be the best friend you can be, and listen when she needs someone to talk to.’

  That doesn’t seem like nearly enough. But Ellyse just nodded and ate more chicken, then asked for seconds.

  ‘Have you got hollow legs?’ Mum said, smiling.

  Dad gave Ellyse a long look. ‘Come over here for a second.’ He pointed to the kitchen doorway, where Damien and Ellyse had had all their birthday heights marked since they were two years old.

  ‘It’s not my birthday,’ she said.

  ‘Never mind that,’ Dad said. ‘Stand up straight.’ He laid a handy breadknife across the top of her head. ‘Hmm, you’ve grown.’

  ‘I have?’ Ellyse spun around and checked the mark. ‘Wow, that’s more than two centimetres. I can’t believe it.’ She jumped up and down. ‘At last!’

  It seemed like she’d been waiting forever to grow, always being the smallest, the shortest, the one everybody thought was two years younger than her actual age. Ellyse skipped back to the table and ate more chicken, then had an apple.

  I’m going to keep growing, she thought excitedly. Watch out on that footy field, everyone!

  The next day, Charlie and Ellyse met Carla and Sheridan before school to come up with a plan to help Jazz.

  ‘Mum said to be a good friend,’ Ellyse told them, ‘but we already are. I wish we could do something more.’

  ‘How about we go shopping and then to the movies on Friday night?’ Charlie suggested. ‘Jazz loves shopping.’

  ‘Good idea. Let’s ask her,’ Ellyse said. Carla and Sheridan nodded.