The Mix-Up
Page 6
Well, that’s how CJ was feeling. It was so windy that his hair pointed straight out, like a cartoon character who’d just survived a TNT explosion. BOOM! You can try to control many aspects of a football game, but no-one can control the weather.
The Jindaberg Jets were deep into the second half of their game against the Dewberry Dugongs. The very POSH Dewberry Dugongs.
It was an ‘away’ match, on the edge of the Yarra River that was swirling in the blustery wind. The Dewberry Primary School’s flagpoles almost seemed to be swaying and all the tree branches snaked around as if they were ALIVE. The parents in the crowd huddled beside the toilet blocks with the choppy water at their backs, shielding their faces with scarves, hats, expensive handbags and, in some cases, small yappy dogs. The wind even drowned out the Jets’ karaoke coach, Mr Hyants (also known as HIGHPANTS), who was belting out advice in the form of song, even though no-one could hear a word of it – which wasn’t such a bad thing.
But back to CJ …
He was shaken BIG TIME. Although not by the wind, and not even by the SWEATY TOUPEE that smacked him in the face at half-time. There was something else playing on his mind.
‘Peekaboo, CJ!’ cried Charlotte, as she whizzed past at such speed that her long ponytail was horizontal. ‘Come on, fellow co-captain! Still 0–0. Can’t be much left on the clock!’
‘Peekaboo?’ asked Benji, whose little legs pumped furiously as he sped past.
‘Yep,’ said CJ, breaking into a sprint. ‘Peekaboo.’
‘This is our last chance, dude,’ said Benji. ‘Forget that goal you missed in the first half!’
Thanks, Benji, thought CJ. Aren’t you meant to be my best mate? Not an ideal time to remind me I stuffed up a super simple shot.
Lexi had the ball. She was lining up for a corner kick in the Jets’ attack. She squinted into the wind. Her hair was even wilder than CJ’s and – given she always liked to look her best – she was hating these conditions more than anyone. She’d even snapped at the Dewberry school photographer at half-time, ‘No photos, PUH-LEASE!’
‘Peekaboo!’ yelled the Jets’ keeper, the Paulveriser, from the top of his goal box. ‘Move it, CJ! What’s your problem?’
Sprinting to keep up, CJ’s Dugong opponent narrowed his eyes. Peekaboo wasn’t a term that was used all that often on a football pitch. It was certainly not a term that seemed natural coming from the Paulveriser either. (For the record, even ooga booga would’ve seemed too advanced for the Paulveriser). But Peekaboo was a Jets’ set play. Something Charlotte had them working on at practice. It was inspired by her baby sister, Sofia.
CJ thundered towards his position. If the set play was to work, CJ needed to get himself downfield to the top of the goal box. FAST.
Lexi covered her eyes. She did an actual peekaboo. This would’ve been a clever secret signal if almost every Jet hadn’t already shouted out the term ‘peekaboo’ the moment Lexi had been awarded the corner.
Tingling all over, CJ arrived beside Saanvi, Charlotte and Benji at the top of the box.
‘Nice of you to make it,’ said Saanvi, sarcastically. The four of them jostled for position with the Dugong defenders. The eight players were all bunched up.
Charlotte glanced from Lexi to the defenders and back. She checked her angle on goal, then she prodded the grass, testing the surface. Charlotte was in the zone – she stared into the wind, weighing everything up. As CJ marvelled at Charlotte’s focus, a drop of sweat trailed down his forehead. She probably noticed that too.
Lexi ran in for the kick.
‘Now!’ cried Charlotte.
PEEKABOO WAS ON!
The Jets scrambled into position. Benji bolted for the back post, making a nuisance of himself with defenders on the far side. (Nuisance? Perfect prankster-Benji mission). Saanvi stood tall where she was, right in the way of the nearest Dugongs. This allowed Charlotte and CJ to curve around the group at the top of the box and surge towards the nearest post.
In other words, CJ and Charlotte were popping out from the group of players to say PEEKABOO! to the ball.
Lexi placed the ball perfectly. Assisted by the wind, it was rocketing towards the area just in front of the near post.
Charlotte sidestepped closer to the centre of the goals. The Dugong goalie noticed. He arched back in her direction to stop her possible shot on goal. But CJ was right there, and with the goalie worried about Charlotte, there was now a gap for CJ to score. He leapt into the sky, and at full stretch he slammed his foot into the ball.
The back of the net wouldn’t know what hit it!
Peeka-BOO-YEAH!
But the ball came off the side of CJ’s foot.
It felt wrong IMMEDIATELY. The force of Lexi’s kick meant the ball skewed upwards, high into the wind.
‘No,’ muttered CJ. ‘No, no, no!’
CJ noticed Saanvi and Fahad’s instant looks of disappointment.
The ball sailed on a gust, up into the sky, then towards the garden beside the Dewberry clubrooms. There was a gardener-type guy in overalls watering the flowers. And the ball was headed straight for him.
‘Heads up!’ warned CJ.
THONK!
Too late. The ball hit the gardener, smack on his noggin. He lost his balance and sprayed his hose. UP! Right over the top of the clubrooms. The water curved in the air and plummeted down onto the Dewberry parents huddled together on the other side.
‘This won’t end well,’ said Charlotte.
The parents went wide-eyed as the water drenched the crowd. Everything happened all at once. Their mouths dropped. They tried to fling the water away. They stepped back, sideways, into each other. And a tall dad at the front squealed. To avoid the water, he backed into the group. With FORCE. The parents were all caught up in a bunch and they fell.
Almost all of them.
SPLOOSH!
Like lemmings.
SPLOOSH! SPLOOOOOSH!
Right off the rocky bank and into the freezing cold river.
SPLOOSH! SPLOOOOOSH! SPLOOOOOOOOSH!
‘Oh, how awful,’ said Lexi. ‘So many expensive outfits ruined.’
FWWWWWEEEEEEEET!
The ref blew her whistle. GAME OVER.
CJ let out a long breath. He caught Charlotte’s eye, then stared at the ground.
‘Best unintentional prank ever, dude,’ laughed Benji, slapping CJ on the back. ‘They look like drowned rats. Classic!’
‘Thanks,’ said CJ, as the parents started helping each other out of the water.
The Jets and the Dugongs shook hands. The Jets were heading to the clubrooms when Charlotte demanded them all into the centre of the field.
‘Guys, what was that?’ said Charlotte, fuming, as they gathered around. ‘We’re better than this.’
CJ couldn’t look at her.
‘We started with a 2–2 draw this season. Okay. Fine. We barely knew each other plus it was against Lenny and the Hammerheads,’ said Charlotte. ‘But then we backed it up with a 0–0 draw. And after that, a 1–0 loss. And today, another 0–0 draw. And we had two huge chances to score.’
Two huge chances that I stuffed up, thought CJ, feeling Charlotte’s eyes on him. But it wasn’t just her glaring at CJ. Almost ALL his teammates’ eyes darted over at him, before looking away. They were all thinking the same thing. HE’D LET THEM DOWN.
‘Look, we just need to work harder, okay?’ said Charlotte. Then she sighed. ‘Come on. Let’s get out of this tornado.’
Charlotte caught up to CJ as they headed for the visitors’ clubrooms. ‘Maybe some extra goal shooting practice for you this week? We need to be able to trust our star striker!’
‘Sure,’ said CJ. But he knew that wouldn’t help. His miss-kicks weren’t just bad luck or poor prep. It was more than that.
CJ had a BIG PROBLEM that no-one knew about. And he had no idea how to fix it.
A Random House book
Published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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First published by Penguin Random House in 2018
Text copyright © Penguin Random House Australia 2018
Branding copyright © Football Federation Australia 2018
Illustrations copyright © Adele K. Thomas 2018
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted.
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ISBN: 9780143791256
Cover and internal illustrations by Adele K. Thomas
Cover design by Tasha Dixon
Internal design and typesetting by Midland Typesetters, Australia
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