The Kick Off (9 page)

 

 

 

After assembly, Jamie caught up with Ollie and Tesh. He hadn't spoken to them since his sharp exit on Saturday night. He wanted to get the low-down on what had happened after he'd left.

“Here he is,” said Ollie, with a smile. “Did you go to your
other
party?”

“Nah, I was getting a bit knackered and I had a footy game on Sunday so I called it a night,” Jamie managed to pull from somewhere. He'd completely forgotten telling them that he was going to another party. “What about you? Did you meet up with the girls, by the way?”

“You left too early, man. The girls came round and Tesh got off with Steph Thompson!”

Jamie switched his eyes to a proud-looking Tesh, who nodded to confirm the deed.

“Ah, what I would give for that!” said Jamie, shaking his head. “Why do I always miss the good stuff?”

“Don't be greedy, Johnson,” said Ollie, flicking his eyes in Jack's direction. She was walking across the assembly hall on her way to lessons. She gave Jamie a quick glance but her face stayed cold. Then she looked away.

She'd put some highlights in her hair. She looked nice.

At first Jamie didn't know what Ollie was going on about. Then he remembered what he'd told them about him and Jack.

“You know what?” said Ollie, looking around shiftily, trying his best to lower his booming voice. “She still fancies you. I reckon you could get quite far with her. You should go for it!”

He gave Jamie a little punch of encouragement on his shoulder.

“Get off,” laughed Jamie. “And how do you know I haven't already?”

It was too late for Jamie to own up now. And anyway, Ollie seemed pretty jealous, so it was worth keeping it going just for that. They carried on laughing about it as they headed for maths.

The only problem was that someone behind Jamie, Ollie and Tesh had heard their whole conversation and didn't find it funny at all.

 

 

 

Jamie's heart stopped. He'd checked the list for the B team twice. His name wasn't there. Hitchcock must have told Marsden that Jamie was too much of a liability to have in
any
Kingfield team. He'd been dropped.

And to make matters even worse, the games tomorrow were against The Grove, Jamie's old school. How would he be able to tell all the people he knew at The Grove that he'd gone from being practically the best player there to not even being able to get into Kingfield's B team?

At the age of thirteen, Jamie's football career was falling apart. How much worse could things get? Maybe he should just give it up. Stop playing altogether. Maybe that was the answer.

As he went to leave, his eyes quickly scanned though the A team.

And then Jamie saw something incredible.

There, at the bottom of the A team list, next to the number eleven, was his name. Jamie Johnson.

 

 

Jamie looked around. He thought it might be a trick. He thought Dillon might come out from a doorway and start laughing, asking him how he could possibly think that he'd be in the A's. But there was no sign of him.

Jamie felt a flash of excitement sizzle through him.

Then someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Can we have a quick chat, Jamie?”

It was Marsden. He was pointing to the staff room.

 

Jamie had never been into the staff room before.

The first thing that struck him was the smoke – it reeked of cigarettes.

“Take a seat, Jamie,” said Mr Marsden, as he wandered towards the drinks machine. “Coffee?” he enquired.

“Oh – no thanks,” said Jamie. He felt a bit nervous, as if he was somewhere he shouldn't be.

“I take it you've seen the team list for tomorrow, then?” said Marsden as he returned with a cup of coffee that was so hot you could see the steam rising from it.

“Yes. Thank you so much, sir.”

“Don't thank me, Jamie. I've picked you because I think we've got a better chance of winning the game with you in the side – no other reason.”

Jamie fought the smile that was making a bid to take over his face.

“But I'm taking a risk here, Jamie,” said Marsden, taking a gulp of coffee. Jamie hated coffee.

“I know, sir.”

“I'm not going to beat around the bush with you, Jamie. You've clearly got an issue with your anger and that's something you are going to have to address and deal with in your own time.

“I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have that fire inside you, but you've got to harness it and use it to your advantage – not let it rule you. Don't make me regret this, Jamie.”

“I won't, sir. I promise I won't let you down.”

“All right, then. Just make sure you show me the talent tomorrow, not the temper.”

As he left the staff room, Jamie felt like he was six-feet tall. He couldn't wait to line up against his old teammates from The Grove. And he couldn't wait to see Dillon's face when he found out that Jamie was in the A's!

Meanwhile, Pete Marsden took a final sip of coffee from his mug and laid it on the table beside him. He was watching very closely as his latest recruit to the A team walked away.

There was something about Jamie Johnson's balance, something about the way he moved, even when he walked, that was different. It was natural . . . instinctive.

 

 

 

A strange thing happened to Jamie sometimes. When he got really good news, as well as being happy, every so often it made him feel a bit sad at the same time.

He could remember that when he lived in Grove Avenue with his mum and his dad he was happy the whole time. He could remember when his dad used to take him for walks in Sunningdale when he was really young. That was when he first learned to kick a football. In those days, he only ever smiled.

But recently he'd found that for no particular reason, and often without warning, he might lose his temper really badly or else suddenly start to feel down.

He knew it was weird and he didn't know why it happened. But it was happening again today.

He'd just been named in the A team. The A team! It was what he'd been working towards every day for the last two months. And yet, just now, right at the moment he'd actually achieved it, somewhere inside him he felt an emptiness. And he didn't know how to fill it.

 

Maybe if he told Mike the news he'd snap out of it. He knew if Mike was happy, he'd feel it too. He headed straight over to see him after school.

“Guess what?” said Jamie, standing behind Mike, who was watching football on TV.

“What's up, JJ?”

“Mike, you are looking at the new Kingfield A team left-winger,” said Jamie proudly.

“Oh, fantastic, mate! Well done!” Mike stood up to firmly shake Jamie's hand. He had such a big smile. He looked even more proud than Jamie.

“Yup,” said Jamie. “I'll be wearing the Number Eleven shirt tomorrow for my debut. And guess who we're playing? The Grove!”

“What a game to get you started, JJ! Just give it everything you've got – for the whole ninety minutes. Don't forget, one kick of the ball can change a game, like that,” he said, clicking his fingers. “It only takes a second to score a goal.

“And don't over-analyse things either. You know you've got the talent – you've always had the talent – just go where it leads you.”

“Good shout, Mike,” said Jamie, dropping to the floor for an impromptu set of press-ups. He had to get rid of some of his nervous energy.

“What does Jack reckon then, JJ? She's your biggest fan, isn't she?”

Jamie stopped doing his press-ups. When he heard Jack's name, that empty feeling from earlier came back. Except this time Jamie knew why he was feeling it: he wanted to share this with her.

And he couldn't.

 

 

 

There, standing in the doorway with her hands on hips, was Jack.

Instead of training with the Firsts tonight Jamie had gone round to hers. He had to have it out with her sooner or later. It was the only way they might get back to normal.

“What do you want, Johnson?” she shouted.

“I want to be your mate again,” said Jamie, breaking into a nervous grin. “I'm sorry I didn't call you when you got back from holiday but it's not the end of the world, is it? Can't we just forget it and go and grab a milkshake?”

“More like so you can grab a feel. Isn't that what you want to do?”

Jamie felt his stomach drop right through his body.

“What are you talking about, Jack?”

“I know what you and Ollie said about me,” Jack shot back. “I'm not an idiot, Jamie. Nicki heard the whole thing. It's disgusting. And I thought you were different!”

Her! Of course it was her. Jamie could imagine how Nicki had made it sound to Jack. Like he'd just been playing her the whole time.

He had to think quickly. He had to turn this around.

“Oh, that,” he said, trying to sound calm. “Listen, Jack, I may as well come clean. . . The thing is, Ollie really fancies you so he's jealous of me 'cos we are – or were – so . . . you know . . . close. I just wanted to wind him up a bit to make him jealous. That's all it was. Honest. I didn't know you'd find out. I'm sorry.”

“And what if I hadn't found out? That would have been OK then, would it?”

“No, that's not what I'm saying—”

“What's happened to you, Jamie? I go away for a few weeks and when I come back it's like I don't exist any more. Like you couldn't . . . care less about me. How do you think that makes me feel? Like there's no point in us being friends any more.
That's
how it makes me feel.”

Jamie was getting so frustrated. There were so many things he wanted to say to Jack. He wanted to tell her to stop. That she was his best friend. That she'd always be his best friend. That he needed her.

But Jack was angry too. Jamie knew that when she was like this there was no way of talking her round. He had to leave. Otherwise he'd lose his temper and it would get even worse. He could feel it.

“Fair enough,” said Jamie. “Your choice.”

He was trying to keep himself calm but he felt like kicking the gate to her house right off its hinges.

As he started to walk away, Jamie expected to hear the door slam shut behind him. But he didn't. Instead, he heard a sound he'd never heard before: Jack crying.

Her loud, angry shouts had been replaced by soft, sad tears.

Jamie turned and looked at his best friend. He couldn't believe he'd caused her to be in this state.

Were football and his other mates more important than Jack? Maybe that was how he'd been acting.

“Get lost, Jamie, go away!” she screamed, as he walked towards her.

But he kept on walking and put his arm around her.

“Get lost, I said,” she roared, hitting him hard in the chest, trying desperately to quell her tears. “Don't touch me.”

“I'm so sorry, Jack,” said Jamie. “Please don't cry.”

“I hate you, Jamie Johnson.”

“I know . . . and I'm sorry,” he said softly. “I'm an idiot. But you can't stay mad at me for ever.”

“Yes, I can!” said Jack, hitting him hard in the chest again. For a second Jamie thought he saw the beginnings of a smile start to replace the frown on her face.

“That's it,” he said. “Hit me. I deserve it. Not
too
hard, though!”

Now Jack was laughing as well as crying. He'd missed her laugh.

“I'll hit you as hard as I want, GINGE!” she shouted, snivelling back her tears, while her burst of punches came to an end.

As she lifted her head up from his chest and started to mess up his hair, their noses brushed together for a second.

“Never let me down again,” Jack said.

“I won't,” he whispered and they gave each other a big bear hug.