Grace on the Court

by Maddy Proud

  “No, I’m not coming home. I don’t want to be in the same room as you guys. I’m sleeping at Jordan’s.” Amber’s voice was raised. She listened for a moment and then hung up with a frustrated noise. She raised her arm as if she was going to throw her phone at the fence, but dropped it to her side when she spotted Grace, Stella and Mia. Amber’s face was bright red and her eyes glistened with tears, which she was clearly trying to keep from rolling down her cheeks.

  “Mind your own business, losers,” Amber huffed as she walked past them, knocking Grace’s schoolbag off her shoulder on her way.

  What was all that about? Grace wondered.

  “Ugh, she’d be the world’s worst daughter. Her poor parents,” muttered Mia.

  “She has some serious issues,” said Stella as she picked up Grace’s bag for her.

  “Hmm, yeah, I guess so,” replied Grace half-heartedly.

  Remembering her mum’s words, she wondered if she should follow Amber and ask if she was okay. But when she turned back, she saw Amber slumped against the fence and giving her the nastiest death-stare she’d ever seen. Amber had clearly realised they’d overheard her phone conversation, and she wasn’t happy about it at all.

  . . . . .

  As soon as Grace got home, her phone buzzed.

  GROUP TEXT MESSAGE

  Mia: Anyone want 2 come and egg Amber’s mansion with me tonight?

  Grace knew Mia was joking, so she was happy to play along.

  Grace: Only if I get the first shot!

  Stella: I’ll pump up my bike tires for a quick getaway.

  Mia: But seriously, what a b*tch.

  Stella: She’s horrible.

  Grace suddenly remembered Amber’s expression when she’d hung up her phone. She’d looked so sad and … lonely?

  Grace: Let’s just forget about her.

  Mia: Oh stop being so nice!

  Grace: I’m not being nice, I just dnt want 2 talk about her

  Stella: Agreed

  Mia: Fine

  OK … so when r we gonna plan the Friday @ 5 video?

  Grace: Saturday night?

  Stella: Yep

  Mia: Can’t wait!!

  Grace walked through to the living room. Angus was already home, sprawled on the couch and watching a replay of an AFL grand final. Thanks for waiting for me, Grace thought, annoyed that her brother had walked home without her.

  Grace: OK, sounds good. Gotta go, guys. Ltr!

  Grace had barely spent any time with Angus since he’d found out about the footy teams, and they hadn’t had a chance to talk about it again yet. But she was grateful he’d pushed aside his own sadness and disappointment the other night to cheer her up when she was feeling down about Amber. And she wanted to return the favour by spending some time with him now.

  “Want to have a swim?” asked Grace.

  After they’d learnt to swim at kindergarten, Angus and Grace had begged their parents for a pool. Kathy and David Parker had finally surrendered when they realised that watching the twins swim for a few hours was much better than listening to them beg for a pool every day for the rest of their lives.

  “Nah, I’m tired,” muttered Angus.

  “Come on, Gus, it’s so nice outside!” said Grace, grabbing an apple as she went into the kitchen.

  “I’m not your charity case, Grace!” Angus snapped. Grace stopped mid-step and stared at her twin. “I can look after myself!” he yelled.

  Grace reeled back in shock. Angus never spoke to her like that! She didn’t know what to do.

  “Geez, Angus! What’s your problem?”

  “My problem? You’re the one with the problem – you’ve been strutting around like you own the whole school ever since you got in the A-team. Just because you’re some superstar netballer doesn’t mean you have to feel sorry for me! Just leave me alone.”

  “Fine,” Grace shot back.

  She strode to her room and shut the door before throwing herself down on her bed. His outburst seemed to come from nowhere. She knew he must still be sad about the trials but how dare he take it out on her? Where had that come from?

  Grace rolled over onto her back and thought back over the last week. The couple of times their parents had mentioned school football, Angus had changed the subject. She’d thought he was trying to move on. But as she thought more about it, she felt a pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She had been so excited to make the A-team that she hadn’t stopped talking about it at dinner most nights. She probably could have been a bit more sensitive, she realised now. She was so used to thinking of her and Angus as a team that she never stopped to think that her success might bother him. How could she have been so selfish?

  Upset by her brother’s reaction and unsure of what to say to him, Grace did as she was told and left him alone for the rest of the evening. But that night her sleep was restless as she tossed and turned trying to figure out what she could do to make Angus happy.

  After a few hours, Grace had an idea. She remembered watching a TV show with Angus during the holidays about the Adelaide Crows football team; one of the players had told the interviewer that he hadn’t been picked in many teams when he was at school, and that it was only in his late teens that he had developed as an elite player. Grace couldn’t remember who it was or exactly the reason he hadn’t been considered talented enough to be selected as a junior, but Grace made a mental note to research it in the morning. If the roles were reversed and she hadn’t made her team, Angus would be the first to do anything to try to make her feel better. Maybe this was her chance to do something for her brother. She could write to the player and ask him to talk to Angus … maybe her dad could pull a few strings. Just thinking about it put a smile on Grace’s face.

  Grace finally began to drift off to sleep, dreaming of how excited Gus would be when he got a personal message from a professional player.

  On Saturday morning, the Linwood High Lions had their first Year 8 netball training. Grace woke up nearly jumping out of her skin she was so eager to start playing. Despite her restless night’s sleep, she woke up bursting with energy. She scoffed down her Weet-Bix and ran the whole way to the school netball courts.

  As usual, she was the first to show. Her coach arrived a few minutes later.

  “You’re eager, Grace,” said Mrs Peters, looking impressed. “Training doesn’t start for half an hour.”

  “I guess I’m just glad to be back at training. Saturday mornings haven’t felt the same without netball.” Grace couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

  “Well, let’s hope everyone shares your enthusiasm,” Mrs Peters said. “I’m really excited about this team. We’ve got some great players.”

  “I know; it’s going to be so much fun. Can I help with anything?” Grace offered.

  “Why don’t you help me get the equipment ready?” Mrs Peters asked.

  By the time they’d done two trips to the sports shed and collected bags of balls, bibs and cones, some of the others had arrived. Grace threw the ball around with Sophie and Stella while they waited for the rest of the team.

  As usual, Mia was late. At exactly 9:35 she sprinted from her dad’s car to the courts. She was definitely not a morning person and was often late, always taking too long to style her hair so it met her exceptional standards.

  “Okay, now that everyone is here I would like to officially welcome you to our very first training,” Mrs Peters said as Mia dropped her sports bag dramatically on the ground, announcing her arrival. “First, congratulations on making the team – you were all fantastic at trials and I am so excited to work with you this year.

  “Today we are going to run through some drills and play a few games so we can all get used to playing together. I want you to watch your teammates during training, because at the end of this session, we’ll be voting for our captain. I want us to be able to come together as a team as quickly as we can, and it’s up to our leader to make this happen. I know it’s early but you should all have some idea as to
who you think can best lead this team. And remember: don’t just vote for your best friend, vote for who you think will be the best person for the job.”

  The training session was lots of fun but Grace could feel the tension between the Oleander and Bellevue players, particularly between Mia and Amber.

  At the end of training Mrs Peters asked everyone to write down who they wanted to be captain, and then she went off and tallied the votes. Grace and Amber had both been captains of their primary school teams, but with so many good players among them nobody knew for sure who would win. Grace didn’t mind if she wasn’t chosen, but she really hoped Amber wasn’t appointed. She had already shown some unsportsmanlike behaviour that morning: she yelled at Stella for missing a goal, leaving Stella with almost no confidence for the remainder of training. Of course, Amber never said anything when one of her posse made a mistake.

  When Mrs Peters returned with the results, everyone stopped talking. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. “Well, well, well,” she said dramatically. “It seems we have a draw! Everyone join me in congratulating our co-captains, Grace Parker and Amber Burns.”

  Grace’s heart leapt as soon as she heard her name, honored to have been voted by her teammates. Mia and Stella ran over and hugged her fiercely. Grace’s excitement was short-lived, however, when she saw Amber glaring at her angrily, clearly disappointed to be sharing the role with Grace.

  As everyone began to leave, Mrs Peters asked Grace and Amber to stay behind. “Now, girls, I’m not stupid. Clearly, there’s a division within the team. I’m very happy that you two have been chosen as leaders, as I know you come from different schools and have different friends within the group. But this means it’s your responsibility – both of you – to bring this team together.

  “We may have a great team on paper but if we can’t work with each other and put our differences aside, then we are definitely going to struggle. I’d like you both to have a think about what we could do to bring this team closer together – maybe a team bonding exercise? Have a think about it in the next couple of days and come and see me at recess on Monday to discuss it. Have a good weekend, and congratulations again.”

  Mrs Peters had been a very good netballer when she was younger and had a lot of experience in senior and elite teams, which is why Grace admired and respected her so much. “Sounds good, Mrs Peters,” she said. “I’ll see you Monday. Thanks.”

  Amber could only manage a slight nod. Oh man, this won’t be easy, Grace thought to herself.

  . . . . .

  “Ugh, I can’t believe Amber was voted co-captain. This is going to be a disaster,” Mia said in disgust as the girls walked back to Grace’s house after training.

  “I know. How can she be a captain when she’s so mean to everyone?” Stella chimed in.

  Grace really wanted to agree with her friends, but as captain she knew she should keep her opinions to herself.

  “Well, it’s done now,” she said, “and I’m just going to have to find a way to work with her. Mrs Peters wants us to come up with a ‘team bonding’ exercise. Hopefully that will help.”

  “The only thing that’ll help is kicking Amber out of the team,” said Mia.

  Grace knew that eventually she was going to have to try to change Mia’s attitude, but she didn’t have the energy right now.

  “Let’s just forget about it for now and focus on the Friday at Five video. Have you guys thought of anything yet?” she asked.

  Although Mia had mentioned earlier in the week that she’d had a “great idea”, she’d later confessed that it just consisted of the girls performing a dance routine. While the idea wasn’t quite as crazy as Grace and Stella had thought it would be, Stella refused to do any dancing, so they were out of ideas and had a lot of brainstorming to do.

  Stella shook her head. “Let’s watch some Friday at Five vids on YouTube for inspiration.”

  “Oh yes, we need to get inspired! If I don’t get those VIP tickets and get a big kiss from Grayson Cole, I’m going to die,” said Mia.

  Stella and Grace laughed at their friend – but Grace was relieved to think about something other than Amber for a while.

  They spent the rest of the day watching videos online and singing along to the songs while Mia danced around in the background. The girls had so much fun, but when Stella and Mia left on Sunday morning they still hadn’t come up with anything. Grace didn’t know what they were going to do. Although the competition deadline wasn’t for months, Grace realised neither her, Mia or Stella were very creative or good at coming up with ideas. She was beginning to think the three of them might need a little help to stand any chance of winning the competition.

  And just like that, a light bulb went off in Grace’s brain. Maybe Friday at Five really was the answer to all her problems …

  At recess on Monday, Grace and Amber met Mrs Peters, as planned.

  “So, girls, have you had any ideas about the team bonding exercise?”

  Grace cleared her throat and began the speech she had rehearsed countless times in her head the previous night.

  “Mrs Peters, do you know who Friday at Five are?”

  “Grace, I may not be ‘hip’ or ‘cool’, but I haven’t been living under a rock this past year. Of course I know about the ‘hottest boy band of the twenty-first century’,” replied Mrs Peters sarcastically.

  Grace felt Amber flinch beside her. Her co-captain shot a puzzled glance in Grace’s direction.

  “Haha, well, in that case you’ve probably heard about the competition they are running?” Grace continued.

  “I think so, yes. I overheard my Year 9 PE class talking about it. Something about submitting a video to win tickets to their concert?” Mrs Peters answered.

  “What are you getting at with this, Grace?!” Amber interrupted, clearly not impressed by where the conversation was going.

  “Well, I figured since pretty much everyone in the team will be entering in their own groups, we might as well use the video competition as our team bonding exercise and increase our chances of winning while we’re at it! The more group members we have, the fewer groups we have to compete against!” Grace finished her speech and waited in anticipation for the response.

  “I think that’s a fantastic idea. It’s a way for you to work together on something you all love. Great thinking, Grace. This is just what I was after!” said Mrs Peters.

  Amber stared at Grace in shock, her jaw practically hitting the ground. “Jordan, Ashley and I have already come up with an idea for our Friday at Five video. We can’t change it now,” she said quickly, avoiding Grace’s eyes.

  “Come on, Amber, I think this is a great way to bond as a team. I’d hate to think you weren’t committed to working together,” Mrs Peters replied with a touch of disappointment.

  Grace looked at Amber with pleading eyes. She hoped her co-captain would buy into her plan. She really didn’t want to continue fighting with Amber’s posse, and she needed her support on this if the team was going to succeed this season.

  Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Amber replied with, “Fine, but we better come up with a good idea!”

  “I’m sure you will,” said Mrs Peters. “Make sure you let the team know about this so you can start planning. Good luck!” She added with a grin.

  . . . . .

  “I can’t believe this! Who do you think you are, sabotaging my chances of meeting Friday at Five?” Amber yelled at Grace once they were alone outside.

  “Amber, not everything is about you. We need to learn to work together as a team – and we all love Friday at Five, so it’s a chance to put our differences aside. And I really do think we can come up with something great. I want to win just as much as you do. Don’t you think I would’ve put a little thought into this before I suggested it to Mrs Peters?!”

  “You’re so selfish! Just because you, Mia and Stella couldn’t come up with a decent idea, you want to steal ours!” Amber sprayed back.

  “Yo
u know that’s not true,” said Grace.

  “Well, you at least could have spoken to me about it before you ambushed me in front of Mrs Peters. So much for us being co-captains!” Amber complained.

  Grace considered Amber’s last comment and realised she was probably right. She’d been so caught up with coming up with a good idea that she’d completely forgotten to ask Amber about it. She hadn’t even thought to ask if Amber had any ideas herself.

  “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I only thought of this last night and knew we had to come up with something fast.” Grace apologised. “Did you have any ideas?” She asked.

  “Well, no. But still, anything would be better than this,” Amber huffed.

  “Come on, Amber, think about it, we’ll be able to make something awesome with all nine of us. You know how obsessed Soph is with Friday at Five, surely she’ll come up with something good,” Grace said, trying to encourage Amber to get onboard with the idea.

  “Whatever, but you can be the one to break the news to the team!” Amber caved.

  “We should do it together. We are co-captains after all,” Grace joked with a wink, referring to Amber’s earlier comment. But Amber didn’t seem to find the joke funny as she refused to meet Grace’s eye.

  . . . . .

  The day dragged on, with every moment bringing them closer to the team meeting Grace and Amber had called for. Grace had posted in the team Facebook group, cryptically asking the girls to meet after school. Although phones weren’t supposed to be used at school, Grace knew all the girls would find a way to check Facebook. At lunchtime Mia and Stella had begged Grace to tell them what it was about, but Grace and Amber had agreed it was best if everyone was told together. Grace smiled as she realised she and Amber had finally agreed on something. Maybe they could keep this going …

  The team gathered on the netball courts after the final bell rang for the day, everyone very curious to know why the meeting had been called.

  Grace kicked things off. “So, I guess you’re all wondering why we’ve called this meeting,” she said quietly. “Well, as you know, we don’t exactly all get along that well yet, and Mrs Peters has picked up on this, so she suggested we find a team bonding activity to help us with this.”