Grace on the Court

by Maddy Proud

  “Well, of course you didn’t see me! The roof is so much more interesting.” Stella frowned. “You’ve been a bit quiet lately – sure you’re okay?”

  “Yep. ’Course. How’s the studying going?” Grace asked, crossing her legs and sitting upright on the bed, doing her best to change the subject.

  “Great! You were right about Angus – he knows his stuff,” Stella said with a smile.

  Grace thought about how much she liked Angus and Stella being friends but just wished the same could be said for her older brother and their groups of friends.

  Her attention wandered again – and she knew Stella had noticed. Grace and Stella had a very different relationship to Grace and Mia; whenever Mia tried to get something out of Grace she was pushy and aggressive, whereas Stella took a different approach. She liked to make Grace feel comfortable and ease her into opening up about what was going on.

  Grace looked down at her knees and felt Stella’s hand on her shoulder. “I know something’s going on with you and you don’t have to tell me what it is, but I just want you to know I’m here for you. You’re my best friend and can tell me anything. I hate seeing you like this.”

  Stella stood up and was heading for the door when Grace let out a deep sigh. “Thanks, Stell … I don’t even know where to start.”

  “The beginning is usually as good a place as any.” Stella smiled.

  So Grace told Stella all about the messages Sebastian had sent and how he’d abruptly stopped being so friendly after their session at Amber’s house.

  “I don’t even know why I care so much,” Grace huffed as she flopped onto her back, exhausted but also relieved to have finally shared her feelings with someone.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me any of this!” Stella said in disappointment. “Do you think you might actually kind of like Sebastian?” She asked carefully.

  “I was embarrassed! You know me – I never talk about this kind of stuff. I don’t even usually have anything to talk about! Which is why I felt so stupid when I got upset over Sebastian avoiding me!” Grace shook her head in frustration.

  She stared at the ceiling again, considering Stella’s question and realising this was the first time she had actually allowed herself to think of any of this stuff with Sebastian as more than a friendship gone wrong. She began to think back over the past few weeks, about how much she missed talking to him and the butterflies she felt when her phone buzzed, followed by the disappointment that it wasn’t his name flashing on the screen.

  “I think I might,” Grace admitted for the first time to anyone, including herself.

  “I get it. And you’re definitely not stupid; if I had a dollar for every time Mia has complained about boy problems I’d be a millionaire by now,” Stella said.

  “You’d be more than a millionaire! Mia’s going to be furious I didn’t tell her any of this either.”

  “Don’t worry about her, I’ll tell her so you don’t have to repeat the story again. But she will know how to deal with this better than both of us – I have even less experience with boys than you do! And Grace, stop worrying about everyone else and just worry about yourself! You always help people with their problems and it’s time to focus on yourself. So what if you like Sebastian but he’s not talking to you? No one’s going to think any less of you just because you have a crush on a boy!” Stella’s advice instantly made Grace relax.

  “Thanks, you really know how to make me feel better. Make sure you tell Mia how you broke me down. I think she needs to take a leaf out of your book – subtlety is not her strongest attribute.” Grace managed to make light of the situation. “And thank you, I didn’t realise how much I had been bottling this up and how good it would feel to get it out. I should probably listen to my own advice every now and then … I always seem to be able to get stuff out of others but when it comes to me, I put up a barrier as big as the Great Wall of China!”

  Stella smiled at her friend’s honesty and gave Grace a hug goodbye as she left to finish her English assignment, which was due the following day.

  Grace couldn’t help but think how lucky she was to have such great friends and she felt guilty for keeping them out of the loop about everything that had been going on. She knew Mia would make her feel even guiltier when she saw her at school the next day – before wrapping her in a warm hug and demanding to know what they were going to do about it.

  . . . . .

  “Are you telling me that the whole time I’ve been going on about Brodie – aka Zac Efron – you’ve been going through all this? I’m so angry at you right now,” Mia said the next morning. She kept to the script, Grace thought to herself, noting how her friend was unable to keep the sympathy from her voice even as she ranted at Grace.

  “I’m sorry, you were just so excited about it all that I didn’t want to bring you down. It’s no big deal anyway, I’m totally over it,” Grace lied.

  Mia and Stella both glared at their friend scornfully, clearly not believing her for a second.

  “So, what are we going to do about this? Am I going to have to track Sebastian down in the corridors to find out what’s really going on?” Mia offered.

  “No way!” screamed Grace, mortified at the idea of her friend asking Sebastian why he was avoiding her. “Let’s just let it go. If he actually shows up for the video rehearsal next weekend we can go from there.”

  Mia reluctantly surrendered.

  “Did you finish your assignment on time?” Grace asked Stella, out of concern for her friend but also grateful for the chance to change the subject.

  “Yep. I spent most of last night finishing it and I actually think I might do okay. I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without Angus’s help though,” Stella said appreciatively.

  “Are you blushing?” Mia teased.

  “Shut up Mia! You do know that sometimes girls and boys can be friends and nothing more,” said Stella surprisingly fiercely.

  “Ooohh, you’re defensive. You must really, really like him.” Mia couldn’t help egging her friend on.

  Stella’s expression was a priceless combination of anger and embarrassment.

  Luckily the bell rang to end their recess break, before Mia could push her any further. Stella poked her tongue out at Mia as she left to go to class and Grace chuckled at how much the topic of boys had dominated their conversations recently. Before they started high school the only boys they ever talked about were Grayson Cole, Harry Styles and Justin Bieber. Now that boys they actually knew were proving interesting, things had really started to change. Grace wasn’t sure which way she preferred it.

  Grace felt as though the netball season had flown by. The Linwood Lions had finished second on the ladder and were taking on the Greenhill Giants in the semi-final on Saturday. Grace couldn’t believe it was already time for finals, she felt like their first game was just the other day. In their competition the top four teams played in the finals, with the team that finished in first place playing the fourth-placed team and the second and third-placed sides vying for the other spot in the grand final.

  Having only lost one game for the season, the Lions should have been confident going into semi. But everyone was on edge at training on Wednesday night as they waited for Stella to arrive. She was due to find out the result of her English assignment late that afternoon. Everyone knew she needed an A or her parents wouldn’t let her play. And they needed their best shooter on Saturday! Everyone had their fingers crossed.

  It felt to Grace as if the world was moving in slow motion as Stella walked towards the group. Everyone was trying to read her expression and determine whether she looked upset or excited. They huddled around as she began to talk and Grace’s hands shook as she awaited the verdict.

  “So I have some bad news,” Stella began slowly. Everyone’s heads dropped, Mrs Peters’ included.

  “You’re all going to have to put up with me for the rest of the season – I got an A plus!!!”

  The girls all practically
fell over, half laughing in relief and the others frowning in mock anger at Stella for having them on.

  But they slapped Stella’s back and high fived her.

  “Well played, Stell, I didn’t think you had it in you to lead us along like that,” Mia said.

  “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” said Grace, not as impressed as Mia.

  “All right, now settle down, girls,” Mrs Peters had allowed them a few moments to overcome their anxiety; now they needed to turn to the hard work ahead. “Firstly, congratulations Stella, we are all very excited that you’ll be able to play with us this weekend but seriously, if you do that to me again, I don’t think I’ll survive.” Several of the girls giggled before assuming the same serious expression as their coach.

  “While it’s great that Stella will be playing, we are going to need all of you to be switched on and ready to go. It’s going to take all nine of you to win this game – a real team effort. Greenhill has been strong all season and lost only two games, and we only beat them by three goals last time so anything can happen.

  “Let’s make sure we have a really sharp training to put us in the best position going into Saturday’s game. Remember girls – you play how you train.”

  Mrs Peters was the best coach Grace had ever played under and knew her teammates felt the same way about her. She was able to find the right balance between being their friend as well as their coach, switching between the two at exactly the right times. Grace liked that she wasn’t afraid to make risky decisions and change routines at each training session to keep things interesting throughout the season. Their training sessions were intense and she was always introducing new drills and set plays. Grace appreciated that while Mrs Peters believed in hard work and commitment, she also realised the girls needed to enjoy themselves. Grace knew that for the players who didn’t love the game itself as much as she did, little things like ending training sessions with fun games were important in maintaining interest and commitment to the team.

  The team finished the session exhausted but excited and raring to go.

  “I just want it to be Saturday already!” Sophie practically screamed as the girls grabbed their bags.

  “Tell me about it, I won’t be able to sleep for the rest of the week!” Emily added.

  Grace smiled to herself and wrapped her arm around Stella who was walking next to her, “thank God you got that A plus, otherwise you’d be missing out on a sleepless week,” she joked.

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way!” Stella giggled as she wrapped her free arm around Grace with the widest smile spread across her face.

  The team walked away from the courts together, chatting about their pre-game meals and the final filming session they were having at Grace’s house the following night. Grace reflected on how far the team had come in such a short time, but her mind kept returning to the thought of whether or not Sebastian would show up the next day.

  . . . . .

  Grace’s parents had reluctantly agreed to hosting the filming session at their house on a school night as it was the only time the whole group could get together before the competition deadline the following day. Luckily, most of the scenes had been shot – except for the scene with Grace’s group. Their filming had been continually postponed due to Sebastian being a no-show at the last few sessions. Some recording of Sebastian had been done before he went AWOL, but he still hadn’t done the filming or recording for the ‘Crazy’ scene.

  While they waited for Sebastian, the girls discussed their upcoming semi-final, trying to convince the guys that they should come and watch. Grace tried her best to keep up with the conversation but kept glancing towards the door to see if Sebastian would appear.

  “Are you sure he’s even coming?” asked Amber, breaking the silence that had suddenly fallen over the group.

  “Who? Seb? Yeah he said he was,” Tyler said casually, although Grace noticed a hint of concern in her brother’s voice.

  “Well can you text him or something? I’m getting impatient,” Amber nagged.

  “Nah, he’ll come.” Tyler said without much confidence. “If not we can always just film his scene without him,” he added.

  “Are you serious? He’s the singer. As in the one who sings the songs. As in the whole thing doesn’t work without him!” Amber practically shouted.

  A sense of panic spread throughout the group and arguments began to break out about what would happen if Sebastian didn’t show. Just as it seemed like Amber might scream, Sebastian strolled through the door wearing black Ray-Ban sunglasses, despite the fact that it was almost dark, and sporting his best poster-boy smile.

  “Sorry I’m late guys, I’ve just been on the phone with Grayson Cole trying to get some tips. He reckons I should curl my hair a bit more. What do you think?” Sebastian really knew how to make an entrance. Everyone’s eyes were glued to him as he ran his hands through his hair and twirled strands around his fingers as if trying to curl it more.

  “It’s about time!” Amber said sarcastically, “and yeah, you definitely need to curl it more,” she added with a wink.

  All the girls laughed, each trying to be that little bit louder than the others. Mia and Stella looked at Grace and rolled their eyes at how pathetic they were being, but mostly to reassure Grace that they were there for her. Sebastian sat down next to Adam and started talking to him about some band they had gone to see play, completely avoiding any eye contact with Grace.

  Just as the group was about to start filming and Grace was trying to figure out how she could avoid being in the same scene as Sebastian, her mum came out to let them know that the pizzas they had ordered for dinner had arrived. Everyone piled into the Parkers’ kitchen and stood around eating pizza and sipping soft drinks, grateful to be getting takeaway on a school night.

  Grace was standing with Stella and Amber, talking about what they were going to have to do to beat Greenhill when she looked around and saw Mia in the corner in deep conversation with Sebastian. Grace’s heart beat so fast it nearly burst out of her chest and her hands began to shake.

  Why is she talking to him?

  She hoped that Mia wasn’t going to say something that would lead to a lifetime of embarrassment …

  “So, what do you reckon?” Stella asked, snapping Grace back to reality.

  When she didn’t receive a reply she followed Grace’s line of sight. Seeing Mia and Sebastian together, Stella grabbed Grace’s arm and whispered in her ear. “Are you okay? Want me to go over and stop her from saying anything?”

  Just as Grace was about to reply, Sebastian and Mia glanced her way.

  “I think it’s too late,” she said, striding from the kitchen and into her bedroom before she withered from humiliation.

  Grace heard a knock at her door and buried her face deeper into her pillow. She did not want to speak to any of her friends, especially not Mia. She just wanted everyone to film the rest of the video without her and leave. She couldn’t bear facing Sebastian after what Mia had probably said to him. They had known each other for so long that Grace didn’t want him thinking she’d gone all weird and turned into some needy thirteen-year-old who got upset when a boy didn’t talk to her.

  “Can I come in?” asked a male voice. Was that Tyler?

  “Um, okay,” she replied.

  Her brother entered the room awkwardly, as if he’d never been in there before.

  “Everyone’s waiting for you, Grace. Why don’t you come out?”

  “Why would you care? You haven’t spoken to me in weeks so why would you want to now?”

  She was sick of boys avoiding her, especially when she lived in the same house as one of them.

  “I know I’ve been acting weird lately but that’s why I’m here now. There’s something I need to tell you.” Tyler shifted from foot to foot and scratched the back of his head.

  “Well, let’s hear it then,” Grace said impatiently.

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Remember the night after we w
ent to Amber’s house?”

  “Yeah – what about it?”

  “Well, when we got home and were watching TV you left your phone on the couch.”

  Grace had absolutely no idea where Tyler was going with this.

  “Anyway, you got a message and I saw that it was from Seb.”

  Grace’s stomach dropped and her heart began to pound. Tyler knew about her and Sebastian? Aha! she thought to herself, no wonder he was acting so weird towards me. “And?” She realised she had her arms crossed, subconsciously bracing herself against what her brother had to say.

  “I was so confused why he would message you that I opened it and saw that you’d spoken before. I was pretty mad about it. He’s my best friend and you’re my sister and – well, it’s just weird! Anyway I ended up deleting his message and told him to stop messaging you,” Tyler confessed.

  Oh my God. Grace’s heart thumped in response. This is exactly what I DIDN’T want happening.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?!” she blurted out. She was sorry Tyler had seen the message, but why hadn’t he just talked to her before saying something to Sebastian?

  “I guess I just didn’t like the thought of you talking to a boy, let alone my best friend. I mean you’re my little sister, Gracie! I know what all the girls think about him. I didn’t want you to be just another one of his little fangirls.”

  “But why didn’t you just talk to me about it?” Grace asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess I was annoyed at you for not telling me about talking to him!” Tyler explained.

  “I get that. But I’ve known Seb my whole life – we pretty much grew up together, so I don’t get why it’s a problem?” Grace said.

  “It’s just different now that we go to school together. You’re older and it’s weird for me to see you talking to my friends at school.”

  “Well, I just wish this had all been spoken about before I spent the last few weeks wondering what I did to make you both hate me!” said Grace.

  “I forgot how much of a stress head you are. I’m sorry. But you’re my sister and I could never hate you. And I know Seb definitely doesn’t hate you. He was pretty annoyed when I told him to back off.”