Grace on the Court

by Maddy Proud

  The other girls, including Amber, began to nod. Grace could see each of them realise how cool this video could end up being, and how much higher their chances of getting noticed were now that they were doing something out of the ordinary.

  The rest of the afternoon raced by. Everyone seemed to gain some extra energy and were all excited and motivated to make the video the best it could be. Tyler and Adam had brought along their acoustic guitars and they played Friday at Five music while the rest of the group joked around and changed the lyrics.

  The group was in hysterics after Tyler changed the words to a section of a Friday at Five song, ‘Maria’, to use Amber’s name instead: “Amber, your eyes shine so bright, you set my world alight.”

  Grace thought Tyler was joking because he knew Amber had a bit of a crush on him, however this only played into Amber’s hands as she had been bragging about him liking her for so long. Whether it was a joke or not was irrelevant to Amber as it was clear she loved the attention.

  For about an hour, the boys and girls tossed around ideas for new lyrics, everyone getting into the spirit. Then it became a bit more serious as they all realised they needed to use this time together to achieve some results. They split into groups, with each given a song to change the lyrics and act out a scene to. They began to form groups, with Grace appreciating the fact that Sebastian had sat next to her as it meant they were grouped together covering Friday at Five’s biggest hit, ‘Crazy’. She began to push away the voice in her head that was analysing everything that happened between her and Sebastian and decided that she would just let things happen naturally.

  . . . . .

  Just as Grace had started to relax and enjoy herself and the group had begun to make some real progress, Amber’s dad stormed into the backyard, yelling on his mobile phone.

  It was obvious from the smell of alcohol that Mr Burns had been drinking. Everyone fell silent, watching as the man they knew to be one of the state’s most successful businessmen stumble towards his daughter.

  “What are they all doing here?” he slurred.

  “I already told you dad, just leave us alone.” The look of embarrassment and sadness on Amber’s face was enough for everyone to realise that this wasn’t the first time she’d had to deal with her father in a situation like this.

  Grace made eye contact with Mia, indicating they should lead towards the side gate. In record time, the Lions and the boys gathered their things and got up to leave, not knowing what to say to Amber.

  Amber tried to play cool, insisting that they didn’t have to leave, but it was clear to Grace that she was struggling to keep her composure.

  “Ty and I have to be home for dinner anyway,” she said, stepping towards Amber and giving her a hug. “Thanks for having us.”

  As the group filed through the gate, Grace hung back. “Let me know if you need anything,” she offered.

  “You’ve done enough. Thanks, Grace.” Amber forced a smile.

  On their way home, Tyler and Grace talked more than they had in years. Tyler asked if she knew if Mr Burns’ behaviour was typical and what was happening within the family, but Grace deflected the questions by pointing out that she really didn’t know Amber very well. She changed the subject and they discussed the Friday at Five competition – the first thing they’d had in common for years, Grace thought. She realised she felt happy and pretty good about her life. If only she could say the same for Amber …

  The next morning, Grace asked Tyler if he wanted to walk to school with her and Angus. She was taken aback when he brushed her off, only responding with a simple shake of his head.

  Typical grumpy teenage boy, Grace thought to herself, although she had a weird feeling there was something more to it.

  When she arrived at school, Grace spotted Sebastian and considered walking over to him. The image of a younger Sebastian with braces was beginning to fade from her memory; they had chatted so easily and had so much fun with the video planning the day before, that she felt they were actually becoming friends.

  But to her surprise, today Sebastian completely blew her off and walked in the opposite direction as she began to approach him.

  God, what is it with boys today, Grace thought as she walked to class.

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully; Grace had pretty much forgotten about it until she almost ran into Sebastian on her way to the bathroom during the lesson just before lunch.

  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” Grace joked.

  Expecting Sebastian’s usual banter, Grace was surprised to find he just flashed her a half-hearted smile and continued down the hallway.

  Grace racked her brain to recall anything she may have said or done to upset him. She hadn’t spoken to him or messaged him since they had said goodbye the night before outside Amber’s house. What could have changed between then and now?

  . . . . .

  The bell rang for the start of lunch. Grace walked like a zombie to her group’s usual gathering spot under the massive gum tree in the quadrangle, her head buzzing. She hated the idea of anyone ever being angry or upset with her, so she was pouring over every detail of her last few exchanges with Sebastian. She was the first there and breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for a few seconds in which she could gather her thoughts before her friends arrived to see how shaken she was. The last thing she needed was Mia teasing her about her crush on Sebastian.

  She looked up to see Mia practically skipping over to her, obviously happy about something.

  “You’ll never guess who just sat next to me in science,” she said.

  “Mmm, that’s good, Mia,” said Grace, still distracted.

  “Hellooooo. Earth to Grace. Did you hear what I said?”

  Grace snapped back to reality: “Sorry, what?”

  “Don’t even worry!” Mia said angrily. “Hang on, what’s up with you? You look exhausted!”

  Great, Grace thought. Not only were Tyler and Sebastian angry at her, but she looked tired too.

  “Nothing,” she said with a sigh. “I’m fine. Sorry – what were you saying?”

  Before Mia could start bombarding her with the detail of her latest drama, Stella sat down next to them in a huff.

  “I might as well quit the team now, why put off the inevitable?” she moaned.

  Mia and Grace both turned their attention to their friend.

  “What are you on about, Stell?” Mia asked.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong?” Grace added.

  “Ugh, it’s this stupid English assignment. The one I have to get an A on. It’s some Shakespeare thing and I have no idea what I’m doing! Whyeth dideth theyeth talketh liketh thisth?”

  Grace and Mia burst out laughing. They knew Stella was seriously upset but she was also usually the quiet one; for her to respond to her distress with a joke like this was totally unexpected.

  Grace had completely forgotten about what she had discovered about Angus and was eager to share the news with Stella.

  “Is Gus in your English class?” Grace asked, wanting to frame the conversation.

  “Yeah, why’s that?” Stella asked.

  “Do you know if he’s any good at it?” Grace continued.

  “I don’t really know. He’s always really into it and seems to know a lot about the books we study. So I guess he’s probably alright.” Stella said with a confused look on her face.

  “Does someone who’s alright at English get asked if his assignment can be used as an example for the class next year?” Grace asked with a grin.

  “What? For which assignment?” Stella asked, stunned.

  “Whatever the last one was. The one you got a C on.” Grace said, hoping Stella was getting the gist of where she was going with this.

  “No way, it was so hard!” complained Stella.

  “But somehow he got an A. And guess who was watching Romeo and Juliet the other night?”

  “Has he already started? Oh my God, now I’m even more stressed!” Stella cried.

&
nbsp; “Well I don’t want to state the obvious, but why don’t you ask him to help you?” Grace said, realising Stella wasn’t picking up on her hints.

  “Romeo, o Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Mia joked, waving her arms around as if performing to a crowd.

  “I don’t know … I feel weird asking him. He probably won’t even want to help.” Stella said nervously.

  “Come on Stell, it’s Gus, of course he’d love to help you!” Grace comforted Stella, knowing her brother would always be willing to help her friends.

  “It’s embarrassing though. He probably thinks I’m stupid!” Stella stressed.

  “You’re literally the smartest person I know!” Mia said matter-of-factly.

  “Not when it comes to Shakespeare,” Stella huffed.

  “Come on, what’s the harm in asking? It’s either that or you don’t play for the rest of the season … what would you prefer?” Mia asked.

  “I obviously want to play! I just feel weird texting Angus!” Stella confessed.

  “Why?” Mia asked, clearly not realising how shy Stella was around boys.

  Grace shook her head at how different her two best friends were. Mia would text any boy in a heartbeat whereas Stella couldn’t even message Grace’s brother who she’d known half her life.

  “If it makes it easier, I can just ask Gus for you?” Grace offered. She was already going to ask Angus as soon as she found out about his hidden talent but she wanted to make sure Stella was comfortable with it first.

  Grace saw Stella’s face light up, clearly relieved she wouldn’t have to ask herself.

  “Really? That would be amazing. Thanks so much, Gracie!” Stella said as she wrapped her arms around Grace in a hug.

  “You’re such a wuss!” Mia teased as she joined in on the hug, not wanting to be left out.

  . . . . .

  That night Grace was lying on her bed, trying to complete her own English homework but unable to get anything done with her mind racing a hundred miles a minute. She couldn’t do much about Sebastian, but she decided she would suck it up and go and ask Tyler why he was being so weird.

  Music blasted from the speakers in his room, Grace had to cover her ears as she made her way down the hallway. No point knocking, Grace thought to herself as she turned the door handle to enter the room.

  “Tyler,” Grace said as her brother sat at his computer downloading music.

  “TYLER!” She yelled when he didn’t reply.

  Still no reply.

  Eventually she ended up walking over to the speaker and turning the music off so she could get his attention. Bad move, she thought as she saw the expression on her brother’s face.

  “What are you doing? Turn that back on!” Tyler demanded.

  “I just wanted to ask you something,” Grace said.

  “Make it quick,” he huffed.

  Why am I even bothering? Grace thought.

  “Why are you angry at me?” Grace asked with newfound courage.

  “I’m not angry at you! Now please leave!”

  “It sure seems like you’re angry!” Grace continued.

  “I’ve spent enough time with you and your friends these last few weeks so please just let me have some peace and quiet!” Tyler begged.

  Grace walked to the speaker, turned it back on, slammed the bedroom door closed and ran back to her room.

  She threw herself down on her bed and closed her eyes. I will never understand boys, she thought to herself. Tyler’s teenage hormones were clearly running wild with this sudden moodiness. And was he really just annoyed at having to spend time with Grace and her friends? Was that all it was?

  Just as she was about to attempt to resume her English homework, Grace’s phone buzzed. With a jolt of disappointment, Grace saw it was Mia. What’s going on with me? Grace wondered as she realised she’d wanted it to be Sebastian.

  Mia: You never told me what was wrong today.

  Grace sighed to herself. She was annoyed that she’d let Mia see how upset she was. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about Tyler and Sebastian. She could already predict Mia’s response: she’d tell Grace she was overreacting about Tyler. But if Grace breathed a word about Sebastian, she’d go on and on about how Grace has a crush on him. She decided it was best to change the subject.

  Grace: Neither did you! Who’s this mystery boy who sat next to you in biology?

  Mia 101: If you ever want to change the subject, talk about boys.

  Barely ten seconds later Grace’s phone lit up with a photo of Mia in her best modelling pose – sure enough, it was an incoming call from her ‘bestie’.

  “There’s just too much to tell you that I couldn’t write it in a message,” Mia said before Grace could even say hello.

  Over the next hour Mia gave Grace a blow-by-blow account of what happened when a new boy called Brodie sat next to her in class. She told Grace he was a sexier version of Zac Efron, which Grace knew wasn’t possible but she went along with it anyway.

  As she listened, Grace thought about how ironic it was that the one thing she preferred not to talk about was her best friend’s favourite topic. But that, she knew, was part of what made them such good friends. By the time Mia stopped talking and Grace could place her phone next to her bed it was almost eleven o’clock. Grace went straight to sleep, exhausted.

  But her sleep was restless as her thoughts drifted from worrying about what she’d done wrong with Tyler and Sebastian to worrying why she even cared what Sebastian thought in the first place …

  Over the next few weeks, Grace didn’t see much of Sebastian. He didn’t stay over for dinner after band practice like he had the previous weeks and avoided her in the corridors. He even missed a few video competition rehearsals.

  Tyler seemed to calm down over time, but Grace hadn’t become as close to her brother as she thought they would have after spending more time together.

  The Lions had won their last few games of the minor rounds, securing themselves a spot in the semi-final the following week. Amber had managed to control her emotions and avoid any other mid-game meltdowns, and the Lions were in good form heading into the finals. Everyone was anxious, particularly Stella. Angus had agreed to help her, as Grace knew he would, and had been working with Stella twice a week to try and get a good mark on her English assignment. Her confidence was gradually building but Grace knew she wouldn’t be able to relax until she had that piece of paper with a big red A on it in her hands, assuring her that she could keep playing netball.

  Grace liked watching Stella and Angus working together. They were a weird pairing – Angus over-enthusiastic and offering jokes every two seconds and Stella all quiet and shy. But they seemed to get along extremely well. Stella laughed at all of Angus’s jokes and Angus was so patient with her when she struggled with any aspect of the assignment.

  “You’ve just got to try to think of how this relates to real life,” Grace heard Angus telling Stella during one homework session in the Parkers’ kitchen. Stella was struggling to grasp the key themes of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

  “I don’t see how confessing my love for someone while talking with a weird accent relates to my life at all,” Stella complained.

  “Well, when you think about it like that then no, of course it doesn’t. But isn’t it sort of like the situation with your parents?” Angus asked carefully.

  “My parents? Are you serious?”

  “Well, Romeo’s and Juliet’s families didn’t want them to be together. It was all about their forbidden love. Your parents are forbidding you from playing netball if you don’t do well on this assignment. So try to think about it like that. Put yourself in their position and think about how you feel about what’s going on with your parents.”

  It was so strange to see Angus act so serious. Grace knew from the little Stella told her that her friend was realising there was definitely more to Angus than his love for football and jokes, you needed to know him better to find it.

  “
Wow, you’re really good at this stuff. Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher?” Stella asked him, impressed by his teaching skills.

  “Why would I be a teacher when I’m going to be an AFL player?” Angus asked so seriously that it made Stella laugh.

  Angus had been doing really well at football, having overcome the disappointment of not making the A-team. Grace could tell his conversation with Rory Sloane had changed his perspective and he’d even been named captain of the B-grade team. His coach had praised him for his leadership skills; he had the ability to motivate the group and still be funny. His dedication and determination on the field were also inspiring the other players to step up. Unfortunately, his team had finished fifth and had just missed out on making the finals. Angus was shattered but his disappointment was softened when he won the team’s Best & Fairest award at their presentation during the week. “Maybe next year they’ll come to their senses and put you in the A-team,” Grace had told him when he came home carrying the trophy. Angus had laughed but Grace could tell he was pretty chuffed with himself and also hoped the A-grade coaches would finally realise that size doesn’t always matter.

  “But seriously, thanks for all your help. I actually think I’ve got the hang of this now,” Stella said as she gave Angus an appreciative slap on the shoulder.

  “Don’t thank me yet,” he responded. “We have to wait and see what Mrs Green thinks of your masterpiece.”

  Grace, still in her room pretending to do homework, could hear Stella get up to leave. She realised with a pang of sadness that Stella had spent more time with her twin than she had over the past few weeks. With Tyler and Sebastian already mad at her, Grace was beginning to think something was seriously wrong with her.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Grace said as she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling.

  “Umm – are you okay?” Stella asked.

  “What? Oh! Hey, Stell, didn’t see you there!” Grace said as she jumped up, surprised to see her friend standing in the doorway. She had thought it would just be her mum coming in with her washing or something equally as boring.