The Football Trials: Dangerous Play

by John Hickman

  CONTENTS

  Lauren Fox

  The Next Big Thing

  The Walk Home

  A Little Kiss

  The Date

  Forest

  A Deal with the Devil

  No Choices

  Collared

  Puppet

  United

  Watermelon

  Bonus Bits!

  Lauren Fox

  I look down at the ball at my feet. I don’t need to look up at the goal; I already know where that is. Then I hit the ball. Hard and low, right across the keeper. It smashes against the post and into the net.

  That’s the hat-trick! The lads crowd around me and I’m absolutely buzzing.

  After the game, even the Sunderland players congratulate me and Liam, my coach at United, throws his arm around me. “You keep playing like that,” he tells me, “and the gaffer will have you in that first team in no time.”

  I still can’t believe I play for United. It’s only been a month since I signed schoolboy forms. It’s unreal. Can you imagine? Me, playing in the Premier League? How amazing is that? But Liam is always banging on about how hard it is, how only the best players can make it and how we all need to get ourselves a proper education.

  Life isn’t that different. Other than getting double the homework – from school and United.

  I have to do football training drills at home, whenever I get the chance. Plus I have to watch my diet. I’ve never eaten so many vegetables. Mum doesn’t mind; she’s been trying to get greens down me since I was little. Granddad keeps saying he’s going to turn into a rabbit!

  Mum and Granddad are waiting at the side of the pitch for me.

  “Well done, Jackson,” says Mum and she has this huge smile on her face.

  “Just the three goals today then?” says Granddad.

  “Didn’t want to embarrass them,” I tell him.

  “You were totally brilliant,” says Mum.

  “All right, Mum, calm down,” I tell her.

  Ryan jogs over. “Are you going to Wheeler’s place later?” he asks me.

  “Definitely,” I tell him.

  “Sweet,” he says. He nods at Granddad and jogs off.

  “Partying tonight then?” asks Mum.

  “If that’s OK?” I ask.

  “I think you’ve earned it,” says Granddad.

  After the game, I set off for Wheeler’s place for the party. My head is still buzzing from the match. I give Wheeler’s door a loud knock. Wheeler answers. “What’s with all the banging? Thought you were the police!” he says.

  In the living room, Ollie, Ryan, Jamal and Zeki from the academy are playing a footie game on the console.

  “Ollie beating you again?” I ask Ryan.

  “What do you think?” he answers.

  Ollie grins at me. “Can’t help being awesome,” he says.

  “Want a drink?” Wheeler asks me. “There’s some cola in the fridge.”

  I grab a can, go back into the living room and watch Ollie score a worldie against Ryan.

  Everyone is laughing when there’s a knock at the door.

  “Who could that be?” asks Wheeler, looking all shifty. He goes to the door.

  After a moment, Amy from school comes in. Then Jade. The last girl through the door is Lauren Fox. My heart stops. What’s she doing here?

  I’ve had a thing for Lauren Fox since I knew what a “thing” was. I’ve known her since infant school. Our mums are friends and she used to come over and watch DVDs, and try and sit next to me on the settee. I didn’t like it. I liked robots and dinosaurs and robot dinosaurs. Not girls. I thought girls had germs.

  So whenever she sat next to me, I would get up and sit somewhere else. Then she would come and sit next to me again. And I would move again. I would pay money to have her sit next to me now though.

  Everything about her is on point. Her hair is really dark, bobbed on one side and shaved down on the other. She’s got these big brown sparkly eyes that I could stare into all day long.

  She has a cute little stud in her nose. And an amazing smile. I mean, when she smiles, it’s like she just lights up and my insides turn to goo. She’s like the perfect combination of cool and cute and hot and…

  “Jax man, stop staring,” says Wheeler and drags me into the kitchen. He pulls open the fridge door and yanks out another can of cola.

  “You never said Lauren was coming,” I whisper.

  “She isn’t going out with Forest any more,” he says.

  My heart thuds. I’m not sure whether this is even better news than signing for United. “Since when?” I ask.

  “Since... last week, I think,” he says. “Are you going to ask her out?”

  “OK, two problems,” I say. “One. She would laugh at me. Two. What about Forest?”

  “One. She wouldn’t laugh,” says Wheeler. “Two. Forget Forest.”

  “Like I can forget Forest,” I say. “He would kill me.”

  “Here.” He hands me another can. “We’re going to talk to Lauren.”

  The Next Big Thing

  Wheeler hands Amy and Jade their drinks. I give Lauren her can of cola. She smiles at me and I can feel myself getting all hot and itchy.

  “Have you heard,” says Wheeler, “about Jackson signing for United?”

  “Yeah,” says Lauren. “That’s so cool.”

  “You could be his WAG!” says Wheeler.

  I can feel myself melting with embarrassment. But Lauren just laughs and it’s not a mickey-taking laugh. Doesn’t seem like it anyway. It seems like a nice, sweet, warm laugh.

  “So what happened with Forest, then?” asks Wheeler.

  “It’s over,” she says.

  “Why?” asks Wheeler.

  “You’re too nosy,” I tell him.

  “It’s OK,” says Lauren. “He was an idiot. I’m sick of idiots.”

  “Bad luck, Jax,” Wheeler says. “That counts you out!”

  I frown and shake my head.

  “Just playing,” says Wheeler. “Jax is a top boy. Now...” He puts his arms around Amy and Jade. “Let’s get some tunes on, ladies.” He winks at me and leads them away.

  “So,” says Lauren.

  “So,” I say back. I grin. Sort of. I glance over at Ollie and Ryan. They’re both watching me, smirking, waiting for me to make an idiot of myself.

  Ryan nods at me, as if to say, “Go on then, let’s see what you’re made of.”

  Dance music plays from Wheeler’s speakers.

  “So the United thing,” she says. “You must be buzzing?”

  “Yeah,” I tell her. “It’s just...”

  “What?”

  “Just scared I’ll mess it up,” I say.

  “You won’t,” she says. “I’ve seen you play. You’re really good.”

  A big smile fills my face. “You reckon?”

  “Yeah,” she says. “Do you remember when I used to come over to your house? When we were little?”

  “A bit,” I lie.

  “It’s weird,” she says, “how long we’ve known each other.”

  “I know, yeah,” I say.

  She smiles at me and I smile back awkwardly. Then I turn away from her. She’s so fit. I can’t bear to look at her for too long. It’s like looking at the sun or something. I should tell her that. Actually, no. That’s lame. I should never tell anyone that. Ever.

  I know I should ask her out. I should just say, “So what are you doing tomorrow night?” That’s what Wheeler would say. But I’m terrified my words won’t come out properly and will end up sounding nothing like words at all.

  “Lauren,” says Amy. She takes Lauren’s hand. “I need you a minute!” And she
drags Lauren away before I can even try and say something.

  The Walk Home

  For the rest of the night, I wait for a chance to talk to Lauren again. The problem is, the moment doesn’t seem to come. If she’s not talking with Amy, she’s talking with Jade. Or Ollie, or Ryan.

  Everyone wants to know what happened between her and Forest.

  Then I hear Lauren tell Amy and Jade she has to go and see her give them both hugs.

  Wheeler nudges me. “You’re missing your chance.” Before I can say anything, Wheeler calls out to Lauren. “Jax will walk you home,” he says.

  “You don’t have to walk with me, you know,” says Lauren, as we go along Wheeler’s street. “I’m a big girl.”

  “I don’t mind,” I tell her.

  We don’t say much else and suddenly we’re outside Lauren’s house. I wish she lived miles away, so we could just walk together all night.

  “Thanks,” she says. She smiles.

  We both stand there in silence for like a full five seconds.

  I know I should ask her out or something, but I really don’t know how.

  “Give me your phone,” she says.

  “What for?” I ask.

  “Duh, so I can get your number,” she says.

  This is why I didn’t want to speak. “Yeah, duh,” I say. I slip my hand into my pocket and pull my phone out. My hands are shaking. I type in the unlock code. The wrong code. “Just a sec,” I say. After my second attempt, I manage to unlock my phone and hand it to her.

  She types in a number. “I’ll prank myself,” she says. She lets the phone ring and ends the call. She hands my phone back. “Night then.” She walks up her path.

  I wait until she’s inside before I go. At the end of her street, I check there’s no one around. Then I blast an imaginary football into an imaginary goal!

  A Little Kiss

  The next day, Wheeler calls for me and the pair of us play a game we call squash. We each take a turn to whack the football against the wall at the back of the flats.

  Wheeler smacks the ball hard against the bricks. I’m surprised the wall doesn’t crumble with those hefty boots of his.

  “This United thing,” he says. “You’re going to have to think about representation.”

  “What you on about?” I ask. I smack the ball against the wall.

  “You need an agent,” he says. He boots the ball again. “I could do it, if you wanted?”

  “You could be my agent?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” he says. “Why not?”

  Before I can answer, my phone beeps in my pocket. I pull it out. “It’s Lauren,” I tell Wheeler.

  He laughs and pats me on the back. “Nice one. What does it say?”

  It says, “Hey how r u? x”

  “There’s a kiss,” says Wheeler.

  “What shall I say back?” I ask.

  “You need to ask her something,” he tells me. “Ask her how she’s been or something.”

  I type my message: “I’m good, how r u?”

  “Should I put a kiss?” I ask Wheeler.

  “A big one,” says Wheeler.

  I add a big X to the text. “That OK, you reckon?” I show Wheeler the text.

  “It will do,” he says. “For you.”

  I send the message.

  “How long do you think I should give her to reply?” I ask.

  “Look,” says Wheeler. “If she gets back to you straight away, she’s proper into you. If she takes a few hours, she’s interested, but she’s busy. Anything longer than a day, she’s just being nice. Forget about it.”

  “How do you know all these things?” I ask.

  “I’ve had a lot of experience,” he says. “And I’ve watched a few of those soppy, romantic films girls like. Don’t tell anyone. Just between us, yeah?”

  My phone beeps again. I pull it out. Another message from Lauren. I stare at Wheeler while my heart bounces about inside me. I read it out to him. “It says, ‘I’m good thanks. What you up to tonight?’”

  The Date

  I stare at my phone. Just after seven. I had arranged to meet Lauren outside the McDonalds in town at seven. Been standing here since half six. I was so nervous I was just walking backwards and forwards at home.

  Granddad told me to clear off, before I wore a hole in the carpet.

  Someone taps me on my shoulder.

  I spin around. Lauren is standing there. She looks stunning. Her hair is looking proper nice, all done up and she’s got these round Harry Potter glasses on that would look ridiculous on most people. But she just looks awesome. She has on a stripy top, leggings and sneakers. She doesn’t even have to try. She could rock up in Mum’s supermarket uniform and look amazing.

  And then she smiles at me and I can feel my insides melting. Like actually melting. I get why people get all mushy when they like someone. It’s because their insides literally turn to mush.

  “Been waiting long?” she asks.

  “No,” I lie. “Just a few minutes.”

  As we walk through town my nerves really kick in. What if she doesn’t like me? What if she does? What if someone sees us? What if they tell Forest? Worse still, what if we see Forest?

  Once we’re in the cinema, I get us tickets for some horror film neither of us has heard of. I don’t care what we watch. All I’m interested in is hanging out with Lauren. We could watch a washing machine on a spin cycle and I would be happy.

  The cinema is almost empty, which is cool. I would rather it was just me and Lauren. Fewer people to spot us. But also, fewer people to see if I really embarrass myself and get a slap.

  I have no idea what I’m going to do that will make Lauren slap me, but I’m terrified that I might do something stupid and mess things up.

  We have the whole middle row to ourselves.

  Lauren offers me some popcorn from her huge bag. I take a handful and smile at her.

  Then the movie starts. On screen, there are people at a Halloween party, doing a Ouija board.

  “This is going to go badly,” I whisper.

  “Totally,” she says.

  All I really want is to put my arm around Lauren. Problem is, I don’t know how. I mean I know how putting my arm around someone works, obviously. I just don’t how to start it off. So I don’t do anything. I just sit there as the movie plays.

  And before I know it, we’re sitting on the bus heading home.

  The bus pulls up at Lauren’s stop and I suddenly feel the need to do something. Now or never.

  “I’ll walk you back, if you want?” I tell her.

  “If you want,” she says.

  We get off the bus and walk along. I’m going to do it this time, I say to myself. I’m going to grab her and kiss her.

  I don’t care what happens. OK, I do care. I don’t want to hurt her when I grab her or anything. I’m just going to kiss her. Though I need to make sure I don’t bump heads with her. Or knock her glasses off. Or something embarrassing.

  “Oh no,” says Lauren.

  “What?” I ask. For a moment I wonder whether she can read my mind and she knows I’m thinking about bumping her head or knocking her glasses off.

  “Forest,” she says.

  Oh no.

  Forest

  There aren’t many people who scare me, but Forest is one of them. He’s built like a tank and the veins pop out of his forearms like he’s always doing weights. But that’s not the thing. The thing is he’s evil.

  I think that most people have some good and bad in them. But Forest, I’m not so sure. I think he might just be all bad.

  Forest heads towards us, hood up. His sidekicks, Buff and Chenner, are right behind him. It amazes me Forest has any friends. There’s no way they can actually like him. I bet even his own mum doesn’t like him.

  “Loz,” snaps Forest. “What do you think you’re doing?” He’s talking to Lauren, but he’s giving me a dirty look.

  “What are you on about?” asks Lauren.

  �
�I want to know what you’re doing,” he says. “With him.”

  A shiver goes down my spine. I’m pretty certain he tortures animals. That’s the first sign of a murderer, isn’t it? Drowning kittens. Kicking puppies.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” she says. “Not any more.”

  Forest stares at me again. “So you’re choosing him over me?”

  I want to say something, but I’m proper scared. So I just stand there and say nothing, like an idiot.

  “This has got nothing to do with Jax, or anyone else,” says Lauren. “This is about me and you.”

  “Yeah,” says Forest. “Me and you.”

  “It’s over,” she says. “Me and you. It’s over.”

  Forest stares at me like this is all my fault. “We’ll see,” he says. “Come.”

  He flicks his head and his mates follow him. He bumps into me as he passes, almost knocking me over.

  Me and Lauren stand there for ages, waiting for them to be properly gone, before either of us says anything.

  “I’m sorry,” says Lauren.

  “I don’t get it,” I say. “You’re so nice. I don’t get how you could go out with someone like Forest.”

  “I thought there was a different side to him,” she tells me.

  “Is there?” I ask.

  “If there is, it’s buried so deep no one will ever find it.” She kisses me on the cheek. “Night, Jax.”

  And then she’s gone.

  And I’ve got this horrible feeling that my chance with Lauren has gone too.

  Even if she actually liked me, Forest has seen to that. I really wish I had let her sit next to me when we were little. Things might have worked out different.

  I walk to the end of Lauren’s street. Then I look both ways.

  I’m not worried about getting hit by cars. I’m worried about getting hit by Forest. I just know he will be waiting around some corner for me.

  I don’t walk home. I run. As fast as I can. All the way.

  A Deal with the Devil

  A couple of days later, I’m on my way to training. All the way to the bus stop, I keep looking behind me. This stuff with Forest has got me really stressed. It doesn’t matter what I’m thinking about, he’s always there, at the back of my mind.