by Maddy Proud
“I just hope Betty and Jughead stay together!” Grace chimed in.
The two girls ate their lasagne and watched Riverdale in silence, tired from such a big day and engrossed by the drama unfolding in front of them. To Grace’s relief, Mia didn’t bring up the band or boys for the rest of the night.
“See you tomorrow, Gracie! Thanks again for dinner, Mrs Parker – it was amazing as usual!” Mia said with a smile.
“You know you’re always welcome here, Mia. Say hi to your mum and dad for me,” Kathy Parker replied as Mia walked towards the front door.
“Bye, loser!” Grace joked as Mia strutted out the door, blowing kisses melodramatically.
Thirty seconds after they’d said goodbye, Grace’s phone buzzed.
Mia: Next time the boys r playing at yours we are watching them!
Grace: Have fun with that!
Mia: Ur such a party-pooper, just becoz u looove Sebastian
Grace: Ew, I’ve known him so long he’s practically my brother
Mia: Your HOT brother who has a crush on u
Grace: SHUT UP
Mia: Admit it, u think he’s hot
Grace: That’s my brother ur talking about
Mia: He’s not ur brother, and he’s hot. Ur actual brother is hot 2 though
Grace: OMG stop this conversation is sooo over.
Mia: Grrr ur so boring
Grace: And ur sooooo annoying. Goodnight.
Mia: Goodnight MRS King
“Wait, so, you didn’t end up watching them play?” Stella asked, as the three girls waited in the school quadrangle for the bell to ring on Monday morning. She wanted to know every detail of what she’d missed on Friday night.
“No, Miss Boring over here just wanted to watch Riverdale. But that’s because she loves Sebastian so much that she was too nervous to see him,” Mia teased.
Grace was about to step in and defend herself, but thought better as she knew that was exactly what Mia wanted. Instead, she held her tongue.
“How good was last week’s episode! I just love Betty and Jughead,” Stella replied, distracted by the talk of her favourite TV show.
Phew, thank God for Riverdale, Grace thought to herself, sending Stella telepathic hugs for taking the focus off Sebastian.
“But we could have watched Riverdale any time. I just wanted to catch another glimpse of Sebastian,” said Mia, refusing to let Grace off the hook.
“I must admit, he’s changed a lot over the years,” said Stella.
“Not you too!” Grace burst out, unable to keep quiet anymore. “Why am I the only one who can’t get the image of his food-filled braces out of my head?”
“Oh my God, I remember that!” Stella laughed.
“Well, the braces are gone and perfect pearly whites have taken their place,” said Mia, grinning. “You’re just trying to avoid the fact that he’s drop-dead gorgeous, because you looooove him and he loooooves you,” she teased.
Grace shook her head. Just as she was about to snap at her friends, she noticed a huddle of girls gathering around the sports noticeboard. She’d been so distracted by Mia and Stella’s conversation that she’d completely forgotten that the Year 8 netball teams were being announced that morning. Now she felt a pang of nervousness compete with the Weet-Bix in her stomach from breakfast. At least she hadn’t been stressing about it all morning, but now she didn’t feel prepared to learn her fate.
The walk to the noticeboard seemed to take an eternity.
“This is it,” said Mia. “I just hope we’re all on the same team …”
The three friends made their way to the front of the board, passing groups of girls who were cheering and hi-fiving, and others who looked devastated or were complaining about not being chosen for the A team. Grace quickly scanned the list.
A huge wave of relief spread through her body as she saw Caminetti, Parker and Williams all listed in the A-grade team. All her hard work had paid off, and the fact that she would be playing with her best friends again just made it even sweeter.
“Yes! This is amazing!” Stella squealed as she high-fived Grace and Mia.
Just as the girls were about to read the rest of the names on the list, Amber barged her way in front of them, with two other girls from Bellevue – Jordan and Ashley – in tow. Mia stumbled as a well-placed bump pushed her into the wall.
“Watch where you’re going!” she shouted.
Amber ignored her as she read the list with Jordan and Ashley. When Amber turned around again, she had a huge, smug smile on her face. “You’re going to have to learn to take harder knocks than that if you’re going to play in my team,” she said, swishing her caramel hair over her shoulder as if she was in a shampoo commercial.
Mia turned to her in disgust. “How much did Daddy pay the school to make sure you got on the team?”
Amber’s father owned a construction company and their family lived in a spectacular two-storey house on the beachfront in one of Adelaide’s most prestigious suburbs. The girls had always wondered why Amber went to a school like Bellevue – and now Linwood – when her parents could afford to send her to the most expensive private schools. She was always showing off the latest technology and clothes, and whenever she had a birthday party social media would go into meltdown, with everyone posting photos and checking in to the “BEST PARTY EVER”. Of course, Grace, Mia and Stella had never been invited because they played for Oleander, but they didn’t care. Amber was so nasty on the netball court that she wasn’t someone the girls really wanted as a friend.
Amber gave Mia her best death stare then motioned to her ‘minions’, as Mia later called Amber’s posse, and strutted away, flashing a smile at a group of boys kicking a footy in front of the library.
“Ugh! How on earth are we going to play in the same team as them? I can’t even look at Amber – she makes me so angry. She thinks she’s famous just because she has over 1000 Instagram followers. I bet she pays for them,” said Mia as she scanned the rest of the list.
“Totally,” said Grace, laughing. But she added, “I guess we’re just going to have to deal with her, though … Amber is actually pretty good. As much as I hate to admit it, we need her in the team to give us the best chance of winning.”
Amber was tall and had a massive vertical jump, making her perfect for the goal keeper position. Of course, this meant she and Grace would be playing together in the goal circle. But Grace knew that no matter what went on behind the scenes, as soon as you stepped on the court, your team must be all that matters. They were going to have to put their differences aside and work together if they were ever going to take down the reigning champions, Clarkson High. Clarkson was a specialist netball school too, but it was much wealthier than Linwood. It attracted the best players and coaches to its state-of-the-art facilities. Clarkson’s ultra-modern gym was a far cry from Linwood’s ancient, run-down outdoor courts.
“You’re so annoying when you’re nice. Can you please just agree with me for once?” sighed Mia.
“I’m just saying we need everyone pulling together to beat Clarkson.” Grace paused.
“Don’t worry, Gracie,” Stella said. “There’s heaps of training sessions before we start playing, and we don’t play Clarkson until round 3. We have time to come up with a plan.”
As the girls headed to class, Grace spotted Angus walking in the opposite direction with his head hung low.
“I’ll see you guys at recess,” said Grace, and chased after her brother.
“What’s up, little bro?” she asked, grabbing the sleeve of his shirt.
“Nothing,” replied Angus, tersely.
In the distance down the corridor, Grace could see a pack of boys high-fiving and slapping each other on their backs. Grace grimaced. Of course. The football teams had been announced today too.
“Oh no, Gus. Don’t tell me they didn’t pick you?”
Angus sighed. “Even Dave ‘Meathead’ Roberts got into the As. He couldn’t tell the difference between a fo
otball and a netball,” Angus complained. “Just because he’s built like a brick wall doesn’t mean he can play footy.”
“I’m so sorry, Gus. This is ridiculous. You work harder than anyone else on the field,” Grace said, hoping her brother knew she truly believed what she said.
“Yeah, well, I guess it’s not hard work they’re after! They just want all the big guys and don’t give anyone else a look in. Just because I’m not built like a brick wall doesn’t mean I can’t get the ball!”
Grace slung her arm around her brother’s shoulder. “Well, you know what you’ve got to do now, then,” she said, looking him in the eye. “You have to be the best Year 8 B-Grade player they’ve ever seen and make them wish they picked you for the As! Then they’ll realise what a mistake they’ve made and beg you to move up into their team.”
Angus gave his sister an appreciative smile. “Thanks, Gracie,” he said.
“No problem, little bro,” Grace said to her twin, who was a whole three minutes younger than her.
“I’d better get to class. I’m really not looking forward to hearing all the guys brag about getting in the A team.”
“Don’t worry about them, Gus. You’ll prove them all wrong.”
. . . . .
Grace couldn’t concentrate during English. She couldn’t stop thinking about Angus. She imagined how she’d feel if she hadn’t made the netball A-team – he probably felt like his whole life was crumbling around him.
To try and shake off her worries and buy herself some time to think, she asked Mrs Anderson if she could go to the bathroom. She never usually skipped class but now she walked aimlessly through the corridor, her mind ticking over, trying to think of some way to help Angus.
She was in such a daze that, turning a corner, she ran straight into someone coming the other way. Reeling back, she realised with a start that it was Sebastian again.
He grabbed her arm to steady her before bending down to gather the books he’d dropped. It gave her a moment to recover her breath. As he glanced up again, she noticed that the pale blue of his school shirt seemed to do something magical to his deep blue eyes.
“Geez, you’d think someone as talented as you would have better eyesight,” Sebastian teased.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! I’m on another planet today.” Grace felt her cheeks turn a deep shade of red.
“You’ve really got to be more careful, Gracie. We don’t want Linwood’s best netballer getting injured,” he said with a grin.
Grace blushed. Why was Sebastian acting like this? Surely he was just being friendly because they’d known each other for years? And maybe he was treating her less like a kid now that she was at high school … Of course, that must be it, Grace thought. She knew the best way to get over her awkwardness was to joke around with him like she would with Tyler’s other friends.
“Well, maybe if you actually spent some time in class, I wouldn’t have run into you in the first place. But I’ve heard you pretty much run this school, so you don’t actually need to go to any classes,” Grace teased. “Is it true you’ve sung to the teachers to get out of trouble?”
“Only the female teachers,” he said. “I tried it on Mr Carrington a few weeks ago and he looked like he wanted to punch me. Thank God for the ‘no touching students’ rule. I got off easy with a week of detention.”
There it was again, that poster-boy grin beaming down at Grace. She couldn’t help but laugh. Mia was right: he was charming.
“As long as you didn’t try it on Mrs Waters – Tyler said she’s a nightmare,” replied Grace.
Mrs Waters was the school librarian. Tyler had already warned the twins that she has a permanent frown on her face and that she yells at students for no apparent reason.
“I don’t think I’d be breathing if I tried it on her,” Sebastian replied. The two started laughing simultaneously.
Grace glanced down at her watch and her face fell when she realised she had been out of class for almost fifteen minutes. That’s way longer than she needed for a ‘toilet break’.
“You’re a bad influence on me, Seb! Not all of us can sing a few chords and flash a smile at the teacher to get out of trouble. Mrs Anderson is going to kill me!”
“Just watch where you’re going next time, Gracie. Don’t want you running into too many boys.”
Shaking her head and giving him a half wave, Grace hurried back to class.
What had just happened? If she didn’t know any better, Grace could have sworn he was flirting with her. No, surely not … Still, Grace decided there was no way she would tell Mia and Stella about this encounter. They would turn it into a massive deal.
Turning the handle of the classroom door, Grace braced herself for the verbal spray she expected to receive. But fortunately Mrs Anderson appeared to be in a good mood. Everyone was working on their independent reading assignments, so Grace hadn’t missed much.
But she was angry at herself for getting caught up in conversation with Sebastian. How had she let that happen?
. . . . .
That night, Grace was sitting in her room reading the latest book in the NetGirls series when her phone buzzed.
Amber: So what’s it going 2 take 2 get u and ur loser friends out of my team?
Grace stared at her phone in disbelief. Why did Amber hate them so much? All they’d ever done was beat her in a game of netball the previous year. Grace couldn’t understand how someone could be so mean and have so much hate for someone she barely had anything to do with. Grace considered not replying but felt she needed to deal with the issue before it got out of hand.
Grace: We’re in this team 2gether whether we like it or not. Let’s just do what we can to make sure we play well and win.
Grace hoped that bringing the subject back to netball – the reason they were all in this position – would help the situation.
Amber: I’m sorry Miss Netball Nerd, but I don’t want 2 hang around with u guys any longer than I have to.
Grace was beginning to lose patience.
Grace: Well it seems ur the only one that has an issue … so maybe u should be the one to leave
Grace hated fighting with anyone, but she was getting sick of Amber acting like she could do whatever she wanted.
Amber: No way! This is MY team.
Grace threw her phone onto her bed and put her head in her hands. She’d been so excited to make the high school A team and play netball with her friends in a good team with a good coach. But now it had finally happened, Amber was turning it into a nightmare. Right now she wished she could go back to primary school, where there was no Amber and no gossip about her and Sebastian.
“Gracie, dinner’s ready!” Grace’s mum yelled from the kitchen.
“I’m not hungry,” Grace called back.
A few seconds later, her door flew open and Angus ran in, wearing nothing but a pair of footy shorts. Beads of sweat were running down his red cheeks and he was puffing like he had just run a marathon.
“Did I just hear that you, Grace Elizabeth Parker, are not hungry?” Angus asked between breaths.
“Yeah. So what?” Grace said bluntly.
“Well, well, well. This is going to have to go down in the history books as The Day Grace Said She Wasn’t Hungry. I’m going to remind you of this day every time you complain that you’re ‘starving’ or ‘need fuel’ or ‘have never been so hungry in your life’,” said Angus as he paced in circles around Grace’s room.
“Shut up, Gus, I don’t care.” Grace flopped face down onto her bed and buried her head in her pillow.
After a moment, she felt Angus sit down on the end of the bed.
As Grace lifted her head and rolled onto her back, she caught a look of concern on her brother’s face.
“What’s wrong, Gracie?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Grace, I’ve seen enough memes on Facebook to know that when a girl says it’s ‘nothing’, it really means ‘everything’. I’m your brother – talk
to me,” Angus offered.
“It’s seriously so stupid. It’s just Amber. She’s ruining everything,” Grace huffed.
“Amber Burns? That girl thinks she’s God’s greatest gift. News flash, Amber-darling, you ain’t!” Angus put on a fake American accent and snapped his fingers. Grace couldn’t help but grin.
“What’s she done now?” Angus asked, returning to his usual voice.
“She wants me, Mia and Stella out of the A-grade team. She’s still upset about last year’s grand final.”
“What? She’s still going on about that?”
“Yup. Seriously, she needs to get over it.”
“I’m sure it will all work out, G. She’s just jealous that you’re a better netballer. Trust me, once she sees you carve it up at training she’ll be begging to play with you.”
Angus sprang up from the bed and attempted to act out various netball moves.
“You’re such an idiot,” Grace said, laughing. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starving!”
Grace got up and tugged her brother’s arm to lead him out of her room.
“Told you! Hey, Grace, remember the time you said you ‘weren’t hungry’?” Angus teased.
Grace slapped her brother on the arm and shook her head as the two laughed their way to the kitchen.
In their second week at Linwood, Grace, Mia and Stella did their best to avoid any further run-ins with Amber and her posse. Grace told her friends about the messages she’d received from Amber, but begged them (especially Mia) not to do anything about it as it would just make everything worse.
Grace had also told her mum about the message, and her mum had reminded her that when people are really mean, it’s probably because they have other problems in their life. Grace guessed her mum was right, though it was hard to imagine what could be wrong in Amber Burns’ life … Still, she tried really hard not to take Amber’s nastiness to heart.
On Friday, as the girls were leaving school, they saw Amber just outside the grounds, pacing back and forth with her mobile phone held to her ear.