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  I turned and ran for the goal. Ben took on his man and then found Byron, who ran for the touchline.

  Two Streetly defenders went to him and I was free. Byron saw me and squared the ball. It trickled slowly along the goal line, beating the goalkeeper and the defenders.

  Everything slowed right down. The ball was right there in front of me, on the goal line. All I had to do was tap it home. But just as I lunged for the ball I felt myself being tugged back. It was Abs! As he pulled on my shirt I tried in vain to reach the ball.

  ‘Leave it – it’s mine!’ Abs shouted. He kicked out his foot and made contact with the ball. But instead of scoring, he somehow managed to scoop the ball up and away, just past the left-hand post.

  The Streetly players began to laugh.

  ‘You’d better get those girls on the pitch,’ Mo said to me as he ran past.

  Abs held up his hands. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to score.’

  I shrugged and walked away. He just wanted to look good in front of the television crew!

  Two minutes later we did score though. Parvy started another move and this time Byron made no mistake. He played a one-two with me and then smashed the ball past the Streetly keeper.

  2–1!

  No one on our team celebrated the goal. Instead Jason picked up the ball and ran back to the centre circle. We were back in the game: now we had to score at least two more goals to win!

  At half-time Wendy and Ian told us that Steve had gone home.

  ‘He said he couldn’t stay and watch this nonsense,’ Wendy told us. ‘And he was right too. You are all so much better than that. What’s going on out there?’

  Everyone spoke at once.

  ‘OK! OK!’ said Wendy. ‘Just get out there and change things around. Pass the ball to each other – the simple pass – and move into good spaces. Little triangles . . .’

  Ian cleared his throat. ‘We’re making two substitutions before the restart,’ he told us. ‘Emma is coming on for Leon – he’d better rest that ankle a bit – and Lily is replacing Abs.’

  ‘NAH!’ shouted Abs. ‘That’s not fair . . .’

  Ian shook his head. ‘You don’t question,’ he told Abs. ‘This is for the good of the team. You’ve had the first half, Abs, and now it’s Lily’s turn . . .’

  I put up my hand.

  ‘Yes, Chris?’ asked Wendy.

  ‘Who’s going to play up front with me then?’ I asked.

  ‘I am,’ replied Lily, beaming a smile in my direction.

  ‘Oh,’ I said.

  Lily was a winger and I wasn’t sure she could play as a striker. But then again she would at least pass the ball. She turned to Dal.

  ‘Now, husband dearest, just get the ball to me and I’ll set up Chris for the goals . . . is that clear?’

  Dal looked confused. He wasn’t sure if Lily was joking or not and I wasn’t either. But after her last game I wasn’t going to question her. She was a good player.

  ‘Football ninjas to the rescue,’ she declared. The rest of the girls laughed.

  ‘What does that mean?’ I asked.

  Parvy shook her head. ‘It’s not a boy thing,’ she told me. ‘It’s for girls only . . .’

  ‘Come on, REDS!’ shouted Wendy. ‘Let’s kick some butt!’

  And that’s exactly what we did. We ended up winning 3–2. Byron scored the second and I scored the winner. Lily set both of them up, backed up by Ben and Emma, who played really well together on the right. As we walked off the pitch at the end, joking and laughing, I saw Abs mooching about. He looked really unhappy.

  ‘You OK, Abs?’ I asked.

  ‘No!’ he snapped like a five-year-old. ‘Ain’t fair – that’s my position, not hers!’

  I was going to say something, but he didn’t wait for me. Instead he walked off in a strop.

  Chapter 3

  Tuesday

  WHEN I WALKED into the youth club where we play, everyone was already there. I saw Abs standing talking with Gurinder and Ant.

  ‘Smells in here,’ I said to him.

  Abs shrugged. ‘Maybe,’ he said.

  I gave him a funny look. Was there something up with him? ‘You OK?’ I asked.

  He nodded and then continued his conversation with the other two. Wondering if I’d done something wrong, I turned to Lily and Penny, who were standing close by.

  ‘Do you think it smells?’ I asked them.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Penny. ‘Too many boys . . .’

  I grinned. ‘I’m being serious,’ I told her. I was too. There was a really strange smell in the youth club – like bleach mixed with flowers. And it was really strong. My nose was itching and my eyes were beginning to sting.

  ‘Now that you come to mention it,’ said Lily, ‘it does pong a bit.’

  ‘Told you.’

  ‘I’m going to find Wendy,’ replied Lily.

  She walked off towards the corridor which led to some offices and down to the changing rooms. But she didn’t get very far. As she reached the door, it opened, and Wendy came through with the people from the TV station.

  ‘Hey!’ Wendy said to everyone. ‘The TV crew are here . . . Oh, my God – what’s that smell?’

  ‘I was just coming to tell you, Wendy,’ Lily told her.

  ‘It’s awful!’ said Wendy.

  ‘My eyes are stinging,’ I complained.

  Wendy said something to the TV people and then she turned to us.

  ‘I think there’s been some sort of accident with bleach in here. Whatever it is, I think we need to go and stand outside . . .’

  She went over to the door and propped it open.

  ‘OK, REDS – LET’S GO!’ she shouted.

  Lily and Penny led the way as we trudged outside where the wind was strong and cold.

  ‘It’s freezing out here!’ said Dal, who had suddenly appeared at my side like a ghost. Jason was next to him.

  ‘Where did you come from?’ I asked him.

  ‘Just there,’ he said, without showing me where he meant.

  ‘Oh, there you are, my darling husband,’ Lily said to Dal, teasing him like she always did.

  ‘Don’t say that!’ complained Dal.

  ‘Why not?’ said Lily with a smile.

  ‘Because I’m not your husband, am I?’ Dal reminded her.

  Lily’s face fell. Her bottom lip began to quiver. I looked at Dal. His face started to go red. He’d obviously really upset Lily and I could tell that he was starting to feel bad about it.

  ‘I . . . I . . .’ he stuttered.

  ‘GOTCHA!’ laughed Lily and Penny started to giggle.

  ‘That’s not fair!’ said Dal as me and Jason started laughing at him too.

  ‘Oh, do be quiet,’ replied Lily. ‘You sound like Abs . . .’

  We walked over to the edge of the football pitch, where Wendy was talking to the TV people. The rest of the team were standing around chatting.

  ‘What are we doing today?’ Penny asked Wendy.

  Wendy gave her a big smile. ‘OK, Reds,’ she said to all of us. ‘Gather round.’

  The whole squad stopped what they were doing and listened.

  ‘Today we are going to have a slightly different training session. Ian and Steve aren’t here so I’ll be running it. I’d also like to introduce you all to Hayley, Brian and John.’

  The three people from the TV station said hello.

  ‘Are you going to make us famous?’ asked Byron.

  ‘Er . . . maybe,’ replied Hayley.

  She was about the same height as Wendy, with curly brown hair.

  ‘Do you think we’ll be talent-spotted by the Premiership?’ said Abs.

  ‘Who knows?’ Hayley told him. ‘Anything is possible.’

  ‘Never mind about all of that,’ Wendy added. ‘Let’s just get on with the training session. Go and get changed and I’ll see you all out here in ten minutes.’

  ‘But what about the nasty smell?’ asked Penny.

  ‘If al
l the girls go home, it’ll stop,’ replied Gurinder meanly.

  Some of the lads started to laugh. Abs and Ant joined in. The girls looked angry. Wendy held up her hand and told them to stop.

  ‘It’s very simple,’ she told us. ‘As you all know, Rushton Reds is a special team and anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of it is welcome to leave.’

  I looked at the faces of my team-mates.

  Everyone looked shocked. Wendy was normally really cheerful. She must have been really upset at what Gurinder had said. Her voice had been very stern.

  ‘No?’ she added when no one spoke up. ‘Good. Now go and get changed. I’ve checked the changing rooms and they are OK. The problem is with the clubroom.’

  As we walked into the changing rooms, I asked Dal and Jason if they thought that Abs was acting strangely.

  ‘Yeah,’ Dal told me. ‘He hasn’t even spoken to me.’

  ‘Wonder what’s up with him?’ I added.

  ‘Dunno,’ said Jason, ‘but he isn’t even hanging out with us.’

  I decided to see how Abs acted during the training session. We were normally paired together and if there was something wrong, I’d find out.

  Chapter 4

  WENDY SPLIT US into two groups and told us that we’d be practising set plays. She explained that we needed to work on free kicks, corners and shooting. She sent my group to the goal at the far end from where we were standing. Abs and Gurinder were in the same group as me, and as we made our way to the other end, I asked Abs if he was OK.

  ‘Suppose,’ he replied before turning to start a conversation with Gurinder.

  Jason, who was also in my group, saw what Abs did and came up to me.

  ‘There is something wrong with him, Chris, isn’t there?’ he asked.

  I nodded. ‘Don’t know what, though,’ I replied. ‘I haven’t said anything to him.’

  As we started to kick some balls around, Wendy walked over and split our group into two again.

  ‘Chris’s team are going to attack,’ she told us. ‘And Abs’s team will defend. And after five plays, you’ll switch. Is that clear?’

  ‘What are plays?’ asked Byron, who was with us too.

  ‘Five attempts, silly,’ explained Parvy. ‘We get to try five corners first, and then Abs’s team do the same.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Byron. ‘That’s easy . . .’

  ‘We’ll see,’ said Wendy.

  She told us that she wanted us to think about where we stood when a corner kick was taken. The attacking team needed to look for spaces and the defenders needed to make sure that there weren’t any.

  ‘And let’s try and get the ball right into the box from the kick,’ she added. ‘I know it’s quite far to kick the ball, but with practice it’ll get easier.’

  I nodded as she explained a bit more and then smiled when she mentioned that we’d be practising penalties too. I loved taking penalties. I had never missed one. Not ever. But I hadn’t taken a single penalty for the Reds and I was hoping that when Wendy saw how good I was at them, she’d make me the team’s first-choice penalty-taker.

  ‘OK, people – let’s get to it!’ she shouted. ‘Oh, and please try and ignore Hayley and her crew. They will just be watching for now, but later on you’ll get the chance to speak to them so you can all try and be stars then. Right now I want to see you working hard on these plays – got it?’

  ‘Yes, Wendy,’ a few of us said.

  We didn’t score a single goal during the corner practice, and nor did Abs’s team. But when we got to the free kicks, my team scored twice.

  Abs had a face like thunder when his attempt missed, and when I said, ‘Better luck next time,’ he just scowled at me and walked away. Then Parvy scored with her free kick too and Abs started to moan. But I was used to him moaning so I ignored him.

  We practised some more plays and then Wendy came back over and told us to start a penalty shoot-out.

  Abs’s team had the first penalty. I had to decide who would go in goal for us. My mini-team was me, Parvy, Jason and Byron.

  ‘I’ll go in,’ I told them, pulling on the goalie gloves.

  ‘Good,’ replied Parvy. ‘I hate playing in goal. Goalkeepers are weird . . .’

  ‘What’s weird about goalkeepers?’ I asked her.

  ‘Dunno,’ she said. ‘They’re just weird . . .’

  Abs had Gurinder, Emma and Corky on his side and Corky was the first to take a shot at goal. I bounced up and down on the line like proper goalkeepers do on the telly, and when Corky took his shot I dived to my left. But the ball went the other way and they led 1–0.

  ‘EASY!’ shouted Abs and Gurinder together.

  I walked back to my team and let Gurinder go in goal. Byron got a football and set it down on the penalty spot. He turned and took five steps, winked at us, and then spun round to face the ball. Gurinder was moving along the line, from side to side, and pulling really strange faces – like people do when they’ve eaten too much. When Byron kicked the ball, Gurinder went the right way, but Byron’s shot was too strong. It flew past the goalie and into the net.

  1–1.

  ‘Who’s scoring easy now then?’ shouted Jason, getting excited.

  ‘You lot are rubbish!’ shouted Gurinder as I took up my position in goal. This time it was Emma’s turn to take a penalty. And this time I guessed the right way and saved her shot. I ran back to my team – happy that I’d saved a goal.

  ‘OH NO!’ groaned Abs. ‘I knew we shouldn’t have let her take it! She’s a girl . . .’ He and Gurinder smirked together.

  Parvy looked at me. ‘Your friend is really, really, really horrible,’ she said.

  ‘He’s only messing about,’ I replied, trying to defend Abs.

  ‘He’s just made Emma cry,’ Jason said.

  I looked over and saw that Jason was right. And Abs was still moaning about her missing her penalty too. I walked over and told Emma that missing the shot was no big deal. Then I turned to Abs.

  ‘You aren’t being fair,’ I told him.

  ‘So?’ he asked.

  ‘You have to say sorry to Emma.’

  ‘No,’ he replied, acting like a five-year-old.

  Emma told me that she was OK now anyway and walked over to Parvy and the others. Corky went with her. Abs went and got the ball.

  ‘Your go next, Chris,’ he told me.

  I looked at Jason and Parvy. I didn’t want to take my turn.

  ‘I’m not playing,’ I told Abs.

  ‘But you have to,’ he replied. ‘Wendy will tell you off.’

  ‘No she won’t,’ I told him.

  I walked over to the others and left Abs standing with Gurinder. If he was going to be so silly, I didn’t want to play with him.

  Emma and the rest of the girls were part of the team. They were part of Rushton Reds. You weren’t supposed to pick on your own team-mates. And without the girls, where would our team be?

  Chapter 5

  WENDY TOOK ABS and Gurinder to one side after we’d told her what had happened. I watched from a distance as Abs pulled his ‘being told off’ face. I felt bad that I’d sided against him, but then Dal told me that I had done the right thing.

  ‘He’s the one who’s being silly, Chris,’ he said.

  ‘I know, but he’s still our friend . . .’I replied.

  ‘Doesn’t act like it,’ added Jason. ‘I can’t believe how he’s going on. He’s like a baby.’

  I looked over again and saw that Abs was really angry. He said something to Wendy and walked off. Wendy turned round and walked over to us.

  ‘OK, Reds – let’s get on with the session,’ she said.

  ‘Where’s Abs going?’ asked Lily.

  ‘He’s going to cool off,’ Wendy replied. ‘Nothing serious. Now let’s get some shooting practice set up!’

  The TV people watched us as we took turns to shoot at Gem in one of the goals. We were standing in a line, facing the goal, and Wendy was to our right, halfway between the first
person in line and the goal. Each time she blew on her whistle, the first person ran forward and Wendy passed them the ball. They took a maximum of three touches and then shot at goal.

  Gem was great. She saved the first three shots, and when I took mine, she tipped it over the bar. It was like watching a real proper Premiership keeper, only Gem was much smaller and a girl.

  The first person to score was Lily. She lifted the ball up over Gem’s head and it sailed in. The rest of us clapped as Lily pretended to do a silly celebration dance. She stood and moved her arms up and down in a jerking motion, pretending that she was a robot. It was well funny.

  Wendy made us run through the exercise three more times. Then she told half of us to go and talk to the TV crew.

  Lily, Jason, Dal, Parvy, Emma, Byron, Ben and Leon followed me over to where Hayley was standing. Brian was holding the camera, which was really small, and John was looking at his clipboard.

  ‘OK, kids!’ Hayley said cheerfully. ‘We’re going to do a little question and answer session, OK?’

  We all nodded.

  ‘Now,’ she continued, ‘I’m going to ask you some questions and I want you to tell me your thoughts. Don’t all speak at once, please. If you have something you want to say, put up your hand and I’ll get round to you. Is that clear?’

  ‘YESSS!’ we all replied.

  ‘Will this be on the television tonight?’ asked Ben.

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ Emma told him. ‘They haven’t even made the show yet.’

  ‘I was only asking,’ moaned Ben. He looked a bit upset.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ replied Emma. She punched him on the arm.

  ‘’S OK,’ Ben told her, smiling as he did so.

  Hayley told us to stand in a semi-circle and then she asked Brian to come over and start filming us. John, who was still looking at his clipboard, asked us to call out our names so that he could tick them off.

  ‘BEN!’ ‘BYRON!’ ‘EMMA!’ ‘LEON!’ ‘DAL!’ ‘LILY!’ ‘JASON!’ ‘CHRIS!’ ‘PARVY!’ we all said in turn.

  ‘OK – now I’m going to ask the first question,’ Hayley told us. ‘Try and act naturally and forget that there is a camera filming you. Look at me when you reply rather than over at Brian . . .’