The Secrets Club (12 page)

I sink to the ground, exhausted. My
teammates pile on top of me, yelling and cheering. When they finally let me go I can
hardly stand up. Then I discover that some of the crowd have run on to the pitch and
want a piece of me too.

Lissa, Ali and Tash are hanging off my
neck, jumping up and down with excitement.

‘DAN-NI! DAN-NI! DAN-NI!'
yells Tash.

‘We never knew you were that
good!' screams Ali.

‘Awesome!' agrees Lissa, her
eyes shining. ‘You're the best.'

‘What are you doing
here?'

‘We bumped into your mum and Jade
this morning in town,' explains Tash.

‘Yeah,' says Ali.
‘Your mum thought you were with us.'

‘Jade fessed up so we all jumped on the train to Blackett
to make sure you made it back in time for the hockey trial,' says Lissa.
‘We're your police escort.'

‘All? You mean …'

‘Your mum's over there. With
Jade.'

I turn to see them on the touchline and
breathe a sigh of relief as Mum waves at me. It's OK, she's smiling.
Beside her, Mr Little gives me the thumbs-up.

‘Is that really your gran?'
asks Ali. ‘I thought she was supposed to be a frail old lady.'

‘Oh flip!' Gran is bearing
down on me. She doesn't look in the slightest like a frail old lady;
she's more scary than Tank Boy. But instead of telling me off, she flings her
arms round me and hugs me so tight I can't breathe.

‘I'm so proud of you!'
she says.

Squashed up against her, eyes closed, my
nose pressed into her neck, I hear a familiar voice.

‘Me too.'

That's all he says. But I'd
know his voice anywhere. My eyes shoot open.

It's my dad. He's really
here.

We make it to the hockey trial just in
time.

Lissa's right. They are like a
police escort. I'm in Dad's car with Mum, Jade and Gran. Mr
Little's car is in front of us with Lissa, Tash and Ali. Uncle Terry brings up
the rear with Ryan, Lofty and Marvyn. Nobody wants to miss it, you see.

I sit in the passenger seat next to my
dad.

‘Should've told you I was
coming,' he says apologetically. ‘I just came on spec see, cos I knew
you've been visiting your gran on Saturdays. It's been a while since I
caught up with you and Jade. But when I turned up, there was no one
there.'

‘I was out looking for her,'
pipes up Gran. ‘I was wondering where she'd got to.'

‘I
told
you to ring Gran and tell her you
weren't coming!' Mum scolds me from the back seat.

‘Sorry!'

‘I knew where she'd be
though. Playing football with the boys!' chuckles Gran. ‘She's a
chip off the old block, David.'

‘Playing for Blackett, just like
your old man!' Dad shakes his head in disbelief. ‘Who'd have
thought it? And Terry Jeeves coaching you! No wonder you're all so good. He
used to be skipper of the Wanderers years ago.'

‘They won't want me playing
with them any more,' I grumble. ‘Not now they know I'm a girl. All
thanks to you, Gran.'

‘Course they will,' he
chuckles. ‘You're their star player. You've earned your place in
that team. They won't want to see you go.'

And you know something? Dad's
right. When Terry's car pulls into Crowley School behind us, Ryan jumps out
and comes running over to bang on my window.

‘It's OK,' he says,
breathless with excitement. ‘Uncle Terry says it's OK. There's
nothing in the rules that says you can't play for us.'

‘D'you still want me to?' I ask shyly.

‘Yeah.' He looks at me as if
I'm mad. ‘Course we do.'

I look back at my dad and he winks at
me. ‘See?' he says softly. ‘What did I tell you?'

It's great to have the boys there
cheering me on. Though I suspect the real reason they're so keen to come along
and watch me play hockey is they get to hang out with Ali, Lissa and Tash.
It's awesome to have my three best mates there too, plus Mum and Dad and Jade
and Gran and Terry as well. Not to forget Mrs Waters. My very own supporters'
club!

The game is tough, the standard huge,
but hearing them all shouting for me helps me conquer my nerves. By the end of the
game the team I'm on is beaten, two–one, but it was me that scored for our
side with a reverse stick shot into the top corner.

I do it. I get into the Junior
Development Centre.

All my dreams come true in one day!
Everyone crowds around, congratulating me.

‘Never knew you had such a fan
club, Dani,' says Mrs Waters, laughing. When Uncle Terry
tells her the tale of me playing
football for Blackett, she can't believe her ears. Her jaw drops, then she
puts her hands on her hips and regards me sternly. Oh flip!

‘So what happens now, young
lady?'

‘What do you mean, Miss?' I
ask, quaking in my boots.

‘Well, you've got a choice
to make. Are you going to be a top-class football player or a top-class hockey
player?'

Everyone is looking at me.

I gulp. That's the crucial
question. How do I choose between them? I look at my three best friends all waiting
for me to reply.

It's like asking me to choose between Ali, Tash and Lissa. Which one do I
like best? It's impossible.

‘I don't know,' I say
sadly.

She bursts out laughing.
‘Don't look so worried, I'm only teasing you.'

‘But, Miss, you're right. I
can't play both football and hockey, can I?'

‘Why not?'

‘Because I can't fit it all
in. It was a real rush today and I got a lift. If I have to get a train every week
I'll be late for hockey and –'

‘Whoa!' She holds up both
hands. ‘The Junior
Development
squad meets for training on Monday nights –'

‘And
we
play on
Saturdays,' says Terry.

‘So what's the
problem?' asks Mrs Waters, and they smile at each other.

‘There isn't one,' I
say, smiling too.

And you know something?

There really
isn't.

‘So, Sports Diva Extraordinaire,
do you think you can find time to occasionally squeeze us into to your busy
life?' says Lissa sarcastically. But she budges up to let me sit down next to
her on the bench, checking out the contents of my lunchbox with interest.
‘Mmm. Swap you my chicken salad wrap for your sponge cake?'

Monday lunchtime: usual gang, usual
place. The Barbies are hanging around, trying to earwig our conversation.
They've caught wind of what happened at the weekend. They don't frighten
me; I've got nothing to hide any more. I give them a dirty look, Lissa-style,
and it works. They fade away, affronted.

‘I'm not a diva,' I
protest, shielding my slice of cake from her prying fingers. ‘Get your hands
off!'

‘No, you're not,' says Tash. ‘I knew
you'd never deliberately let anyone down.' She, more than anyone, knows
what it's like to try to be in two places at once.

‘I don't know how you got
away with it for so long,' says Lissa admiringly. ‘Didn't anyone
in that football team of yours ever guess that you were a girl?'

‘No. Nobody. I was a bit worried
about Marvyn after your party but even he didn't recognize me. Ryan thought I
was weird though.'

‘Why?'

‘Loads of reasons. But mainly
because he saw me putting my football shirt on over my clothes.' They all look
at me in surprise and I explain, ‘Well, I could hardly strip off in front of
him, could I?' and they start giggling.

‘Oh, I wish I'd been
there,' says Tash.

‘Yeah, why didn't you tell
us?' asks Ali. ‘We're your mates.'

‘The Gang of Four,' says
Lissa.

‘The No Secrets Club,' says
Tash.

We look at each other and burst out
laughing.

‘Maybe,' I point out,
‘it's time to change our name to the Secrets Club.'

‘It'll be you next, Lissa,' says Ali, kindly
handing her half of her blueberry muffin. ‘What's your big secret? Here
you are, greedy guts. You're like Oliver, always asking for more.'

‘No I'm not,' says
Lissa. ‘It's just that you lot have nicer treats than I do.'

‘Yeah, right,' I say,
raising a suitably sardonic eyebrow. ‘Remember your birthday party?'

‘Yes,
Elle
,' says
Tash meaningfully, and they all start giggling again. I can feel my colour
rising.

‘I meant the food!' I
protest, but it's too late.

‘Marvyn was quite taken with you
that night if I remember rightly,' Tash persists.

‘Yeah, till he found out I was a
boy!' I say, and Lissa chokes, spluttering muffin crumbs everywhere.

I thump her on the back. ‘It was
sooooo embarrassing!' I admit, recalling Marvyn's face on Saturday when
Danny, lead striker for Blackett Juniors, was finally exposed as Danielle, Year
Seven girl from Riverside Academy. I mean, everyone was surprised, but for him it
was worse, much worse. Because I could see that the penny had suddenly dropped.

‘I don't know if I should tell you lot this or
not …'

‘Tell us!'

‘No secrets, remember?'

‘We-ell … so long as you
promise not to tell anyone …'

‘Promise!' cry three voices
in unison.

I take a deep breath, my cheeks aflame.
‘He'd just told everyone in the team that he fancied me. Fancied Elle, I
mean. Now he can't look me in the face.'

‘Aaah!' says Ali.

‘Poor Marvyn,' says
Tash.

‘OHHHHHHH!!' Lissa's
wails drown them out. ‘It's not fair! Everyone I like fancies someone
else. Ajay is mad about Tash and now Marvyn fancies you.'

‘Not any more, he doesn't.
Anyway, listen: Lofty fancies you!'

‘Lofty?'

‘The tall one. Mr Little's
son.'

We all dissolve into laughter as she
goes bright red. But, actually, she looks quite pleased.

‘And Ryan likes you,
Ali.'

‘Ryan?' She smiles and
shrugs her shoulders like it's no big deal.

‘Who fancies me?' asks Tash.

‘
Everyone!
' we all
say and Tash laughs with delight.

‘I like Ajay best,' she
admits. ‘Who do you like best, Ali? Ryan or Austen?'

‘Austen, of course,' she
says. ‘But not in that way!' she adds hastily.

Who do I like best? Marvyn or Rupert?
Rupert, definitely.

I sigh deeply. I'm feeling really
happy today. It's like a cloud has lifted from over my head. I can be honest
and open with my three best mates at last. That's really important to me.
Because, although we're all having a giggle about boys, it's my girl
mates that matter to me most.

Plus I've had a good chat with my
dad. We all have. We sat round the table in our kitchen on Saturday night after the
matches – Mum, Dad, Gran, Jade and me – and we talked about all the things we
should've talked about a long time ago. All the things that had been left
unsaid. And Mum and Dad both admitted they'd made mistakes in the way
they'd handled things over the divorce and agreed that Dad would see far more
of us in the future.

You never know, we might even start going to see West Park
Wanderers again.

When I've got time, that is.

I'm mean, I'm pretty busy
these days, what with playing top-class football and hockey …

And hanging out with the rest of the
amazing Secrets Club, of course.