Play the Game Page 5

  As I watched them, I thought about the fact that Tess and I would probably never play another netball game together. Maybe when we were old and playing seniors, but not when we were young. I could keep playing with the Sapphires because I could fit it in around the school play, but Tess was on her way now. The thought made me really sad.

  Now I felt sure that was why she was so angry with me. Not because I’d chosen to be Juliet, but because I hadn’t chosen her. No more training together. No more jelly snakes to celebrate our big wins. No more spending hours dissecting every game. She would find someone else to do those things with, and soon there would be a huge chunk of her life that I wouldn’t be a part of.

  I had to shake myself out of it. I was playing Juliet. That was huge, and super exciting too, even if Tess didn’t see it that way. I just had to find a way to make her understand. I took a deep breath and walked over to where they were shooting. Tess shot a goal, and I grabbed the ball and threw it back to her, like we always did.

  ‘Hi, Edie,’ said Tess.

  ‘Hi, Tess.’ Talk about awkward. It sounded like we didn’t even know each other.

  ‘Remember Saskia?’

  ‘Yeah, hi,’ I said, without really looking at her.

  ‘Hey, Edie, I really want to thank you. Because of you, I’m trying out for a spot on the state team tonight,’ said Saskia. I think she was trying to keep it all light and friendly, but my stomach sank as she said it. Obviously when I’d turned down my spot on the team, they’d decided to run tryouts for my replacement. Great. If Saskia got in, she’d probably replace me completely, and she’d become Tess’s new best friend.

  ‘Good luck,’ I said to Saskia, not really meaning it.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said smiling, then picked up the ball and shot another goal. Tess passed it back to her and I decided it was time I found somewhere else to be. Obviously they didn’t want me around.

  ‘See you, Tess,’ I said as I walked off.

  ‘Bye, Edie.’

  Tess and I had been best friends since we were seven – around the same time we’d first started playing netball together. What if netball had been our glue? What if, without it, our friendship was nothing? I hated the thought. And despite being super excited about the play, I just couldn’t shake the idea that giving up the chance to play state netball meant I’d be missing out on much more than just the sport.

  The rest of the day dragged by. As soon as the last class finished, I headed for the theatre. As I got closer, I could see some of the other kids from drama class running towards the theatre. Everyone was racing to see the list. Freddy came thundering up behind me, and ran straight past.

  ‘Come on, Edie!’ he yelled over his shoulder.

  Laughing, I tried to catch him, but he was too fast. It was a mad scramble. Everyone banged through the front doors, across the foyer to the corridor that led backstage. Freddy was in front. All around me, people were laughing – it was like a crazy marathon. I reached the wall where the list was pinned, but there were so many people crammed around it, trying to see their names, I couldn’t see anything at all.

  I wasn’t as desperate as everyone else, because I already knew what part I’d been given, but I still wanted to see my name on the list. I squeezed my way through the crowd of students, closed my eyes and took a huge breath. I knew what I was going to see, but I wanted to feel the buzz of the surprise. I slowly opened my eyes and started scanning. I read Freddy’s name opposite Romeo, and grinned. I was going to star in one of the most beautiful tragic love stories ever written – with the cutest boy in school! We’d get to kiss every single night on stage!

  I looked under Romeo and found Juliet, then scanned across to see my name. I just wanted to yell with happiness, and finally share my big news with everyone else. But it didn’t say Edie. It said Belle. I looked again. Wait, that couldn’t be right.

  I scanned down the list and found my name. Next to my part. The part that Kerry had referred to wasn’t Juliet. It was the Nurse. Juliet’s Nurse. All of a sudden I felt dizzy. I stepped back from the list, and leant against the wall. My mind was spinning. The Nurse? I tried to remember exactly what Kerry had said about my part.

  I hope you don’t feel too young to carry some of the weight of the play …

  I felt my stomach drop. She never said I was the lead. I’d heard what I wanted to hear. All she said was that I’d done a great audition, that I’d be playing an important role. And she was right. The Nurse was one of the major roles – but it wasn’t Juliet.

  What was I going to do? How would I ever face Tess? It was bad enough having to give up state netball to play Juliet, but to play the Nurse?

  All around me other students were celebrating. I heard Belle squealing and Freddy singing. I had to get out of there before I started to cry. That would be the worst.

  I pushed my way through towards the foyer, keeping my eyes down so I didn’t have to talk to anyone. I felt so embarrassed. How was I going to tell Jean? What about Tess? Oh god.

  Before I could make it outside a girl called Mel, who was in my English class, appeared at my side, grinning. ‘Congrats, Edie!’

  I must’ve frowned at her. ‘Thanks,’ I said, sounding anything but happy.

  ‘Don’t you want to play the Nurse?’ she asked, surprised.

  ‘Not really,’ I said honestly. ‘It wasn’t what I’d expected.’

  She laughed. ‘Tell me about it. I’m backstage!’

  I felt awful. Here I was complaining about my role, which actually wasn’t a bad role, and she didn’t even have a part. ‘Oh no, sorry. I didn’t mean to …’

  She laughed. ‘Actually, it’s fine. Sure, I was hoping to be on stage, but I don’t mind the behind-the-scenes stuff, either. I still think it’ll be fun.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said, surprised at how fine she sounded. ‘But aren’t you upset?’

  A girl called Sam pushed past us, crying, and Mel pulled a face. ‘Yeah, sure, a bit, but I’m not going to cry about it. I get it. It’s not just about being able to act – you have to be right for the part.’

  I nodded. What Mel said made sense, but I still wanted to cry. I’d spent days imagining myself as Juliet. I was having a hard time adjusting.

  ‘Besides, being backstage means I get to boss you guys around. Make sure you don’t break the props!’ she said, laughing.

  Mel was being really good about the fact that she hadn’t got the part she wanted, and what she was saying made sense, but I just couldn’t make myself see it that way. I’d given up state netball for this.

  ‘I’m really happy for you, Edie. You’ll be great in that role. And it’ll be fun hanging out,’ said Mel warmly.

  I managed to nod. ‘Thanks, Mel. Yeah, it should be fun.’

  I looked down the hall and saw Belle and Freddy laughing together. That’s when I realised there was something even worse than losing the part of Juliet to Belle. I would have to watch Belle and Freddy together on stage, kissing, and being amazing, for the next two months. Now I really felt sick.

  I looked at my watch. Netball training would be just about getting started. If I rode my bike faster than I’d ever ridden before, I could still make it to the netball centre. Maybe I could explain that I’d changed my mind, and beg to be put back on the team. Maybe I could still play state netball after all. But I’d already told my sister and Tess how excited I was to be playing the part. How could I admit that I only wanted to act if I got to play the lead? If I really wanted to be an actor, then surely I should be happy to play any role – not just the lead role?

  What was worse? Accepting the part of the Nurse – and admitting to everyone that I wasn’t Juliet after all – or grovelling my way back
onto the state netball team? I couldn’t decide which one would be more embarrassing.

  ‘Break’s over, girls,’ yelled Coach Justine. ‘Back on the court.’

  Everyone else jumped up, raring to go, but I still had to put my sneakers back on. I was stalling because my foot was aching. In fact, my whole body ached. I didn’t know muscles could hurt so much.

  ‘Come on, Edie,’ said Tess impatiently. She was sipping from her drink bottle, her face red and sweaty.

  ‘Ergh,’ I said as I examined the blister on my heel. It was a gruesome, bloody mess.

  ‘Yuck!’ said Tess.

  I ripped open a new band-aid, but it only covered half the blister.

  ‘I don’t think that’s going to hold it, Edie,’ said Tess with a smile. She started ripping open band-aid after band-aid until my foot looked like it had been mummified.

  ‘That should do it,’ she said hopefully. ‘Actually, it’ll have to – you’ve used them all.’ She shook the empty box.

  ‘Lucky they supply us with band-aids, or I’d be using up all my babysitting money,’ I joked. I winced as I pulled my sock back on.

  ‘I think we’re supposed to be doing drills,’ said Tess. Everyone else was already hard at it.

  ‘Coming,’ I said, sounding cranky. I didn’t mean to. I loved training, but we’d been at it for nearly two hours and I was ready for a real break. And maybe dinner. And a footbath. And about ten hours of sleep.

  I managed to get my sneaker on, ignoring the pain as it rubbed against the blister. Then I hobbled down from the stand and followed Tess back onto the court. We’d only been training for a week, but already I was beginning to understand what Kathryn Fraser had meant when she’d said that state netball would become my whole life. She wasn’t kidding. Netball had even taken over my dreams.

  We trained at least twice a week for two hours, and once the season actually started we’d be playing games all over the place. Some weekends we’d be driving for hours just to get to the game. Tess and I were excited about that idea – we loved the thought of sitting in a minivan together for a whole day, just chatting.

  The rest of the team seemed really nice. Most of them already knew each other from netball camps and other teams, but they’d made us feel really welcome. The only downside to choosing netball (apart from not seeing Freddy at rehearsals twice a week) had been breaking it to Kerry. She made me promise I wouldn’t give up acting forever, and that I’d come back to classes soon. But even though I’d promised, I wasn’t sure when it would happen. As long as I was playing state netball there wouldn’t be time for anything else – just homework, school and training.

  ‘Think quick,’ called Tess as she shot me the ball. I didn’t, and it hit me in the face.

  ‘Ow!’ I yelped, feeling my eyes water.

  ‘Sorry, Edie,’ said Tess, jogging over to check my nose. ‘Don’t think it’s broken.’ She smiled and scooped up the ball. ‘Try it again?’

  ‘Sure.’ I groaned, wondering what sort of state I’d be in by the end of the training session. I felt totally broken.

  As we practiced our passes, our coach Justine moved from pair to pair, checking our technique. She was tough, but I liked her.

  ‘Tess, I want to see you throwing more one-handed passes. From the shoulder, remember. You’ll get more power behind you, and more power means more distance.’

  Tess threw me the ball from her shoulder, but it went off track. I jumped for it half-heartedly – I didn’t want to land too heavily on my blister. I missed, and had to hobble over and pick it up. I heard Justine call after me. ‘Faster, Edie. We haven’t got all day.’

  ‘Sorry, I have a bad blister. My foot’s killing me.’

  Justine nodded. ‘Salt water. Best thing for it. But you’ll have to learn to play on it. It won’t be the only blister you’ll get this season.’

  Without meaning to, I sighed. Justine raised an eyebrow at me. ‘Hope you’re not questioning your commitment already? The season hasn’t even started yet.’

  I could feel Tess glaring at me, wanting me to say the right thing. I nodded. ‘I know. Sorry. I’m totally up for playing, I just have a sore foot. Salt water, right. I’ll do it tonight.’

  ‘Okay. Keep passing,’ Justine said, and walked off to grill someone else.

  She wasn’t like our old coach Lisa, who made practice fun. Training with Justine was like boot camp. But I guess that’s how she built such strong teams.

  ‘Girls, I’m calling an extra training session next week. Our first game is coming up soon and it’s going to be a big one. I want you ready,’ yelled Justine.

  ‘Which night?’ I asked, biting back a groan at the thought of extra training. As if my feet didn’t hurt enough already.

  ‘I’ll let you know,’ she said.

  We threw the ball back and forth for what felt like another hour, but was probably only ten minutes. By the time Justine told us to stop, I could barely shuffle over to the stands. My foot was killing me and I just wanted to go home. But Tess had a different idea.

  ‘Maggie’s invited us to her house to watch the Vixens game. Her mum recorded it so we could all watch it together. Cool, huh?’ said Tess.

  We’d been spending quite a bit of time with Maggie. She was great, but I sometimes missed hanging out with just Tess. It seemed like overnight we’d gone from being a duo to a trio, and I wasn’t sure that was quite what I wanted. I also had a big blister, aching legs and a burning desire to watch hours of bad TV while eating ice-cream from the tub.

  ‘Now?’ I asked, shocked that they could think of doing anything other than lying down.

  ‘Yeah, now,’ said Tess, smiling at my reaction.

  I started to say no, but Tess gave me her best pleading look, then said the words she knew I could never refuse. ‘Her mum’s buying pizza for dinner. With extra salami!’

  Tess always knew exactly how to win me over. I never got pizza at home because Mum was on this constant health thing. Salami was also off the shopping list, despite being just about my favourite food in the whole world. Except maybe chocolate cake. Besides, Tess and I hadn’t spent much time together lately outside of training. It would be nice to just hang out.

  ‘Extra salami, you say?’

  She grinned. ‘I’ll go tell her we’re coming,’ said Tess, disappearing before I could change my mind.

  I’d always been a bit envious of Tess’s endless energy, but never more than then. She never seemed to get tired. Then again, she didn’t have a blister the size of a tennis ball on her heel. I packed my things, moving carefully, and waved to the other girls as they left. Tess ran back.

  ‘Come on, Edie,’ she said.

  I limped towards her and she pulled a face. ‘Salt water is what you need, young lady.’

  ‘Thanks, coach.’

  By the time we’d made it to our bikes, my foot was killing me and I was glad to be able to sit down. We rode next to each other so we could talk.

  ‘Did you see that pass Brigid made today? It was perfect. She knew exactly where Eleanor would be,’ Tess said excitedly.

  ‘Well, it helps that they’ve played together for ages,’ I said.

  ‘I know. I can’t wait for the season to start,’ said Tess, ‘so we can see how we play as a team. Training’s great, but it’s weird starting again, don’t you think?’

  I knew exactly what she meant. We’d played with the Sapphires for so long, we understood everything about each other’s games. But on this team, we were all still testing each other out.

  ‘Mum’s worried about me getting behind with my homework,’ Tess continued. ‘She says she understands that I want to play state netball, but it shouldn’t be the only thing I do. It’s the on
ly thing I’ve ever done – I can’t believe she hasn’t realised!’

  I laughed. ‘Yeah, it’s not like homework has ever really featured in your life.’

  ‘I just don’t get the point of it. Don’t we do enough learning at school?’ Tess complained as we coasted down the big hill near my house.

  ‘Maybe your mum’s right, though. Netball shouldn’t be the only thing we think about.’

  Tess shot me a horrified look. ‘Why not?’

  I tried to think of an answer, then smiled. Maybe Tess was right. Why not?

  We pulled up outside Maggie’s house. Tess knew where to go – she’d obviously been here before. She hadn’t mentioned it, though, which made me feel a bit weird.

  Maggie opened the front gate. ‘Hi! You can bring your bikes in if you like,’ she said with a smile.

  I followed Tess into the front yard and we locked our bikes up together.

  ‘My brother’s home, so I’ll just apologise now,’ said Maggie, pulling a face.

  ‘Ergh, brothers. At least yours isn’t nine-year-old twins!’ said Tess dramatically. It was always funny hearing Tess whinge about her brothers. She actually adored them, and they worshipped her. She was the reason they could shoot a perfect goal from three metres out.

  ‘Maggie would love it if I was a twin!’ came a voice from inside the house.

  Maggie groaned loudly. ‘Finn, you promised!’

  A boy popped his head around the doorway, grinning at me. ‘Hi, I’m Finn. You must be the other netty girl.’

  I couldn’t help but stare. He wasn’t a younger brother. He was older. And he was gorgeous. He had really dark brown eyes and scruffy hair, and he was even taller than Maggie – and she was super tall.

  Rolling her eyes, Maggie introduced us. ‘This is Edie, and you already know Tess.’

  Finn smiled at both of us. Tess clearly wasn’t interested – she just barged past him into the house. Maggie went after her, clearly relieved that her big brother wasn’t going to spoil the netball game. I moved to follow, but Finn was leaning in the doorway, and I’d have had to squeeze past him.