by Maddy Proud
“I guess your hot brother and boyfriend and their friends are coming with us,” Amber said, waving the spare tickets at Grace.
Grace laughed – she was too happy to correct Amber calling Sebastian her boyfriend so she let it go and smiled back at her.
Grayson Cole and Sebastian King in the same room – this could be too much for her to handle.
. . . . .
That night, once the celebrations had finished and everyone had gone home, Grace was lying in bed when her phone buzzed. Grace smiled to herself when she saw Sebastian’s name on the screen. Her heart always beat a bit faster whenever his name appeared – any images she once had of a braces-faced Sebastian had completely faded.
Sebastian: Is it social suicide for a 15 year old boy to go to the Friday at Five concert?
Grace laughed to herself. Amber must have let the boys know about her dad’s generosity. She didn’t think they’d actually want to come, but was secretly hoping they would.
Grace: Definitely. Do you think your reputation can handle it?
Sebastian: Yep. I’ll claim it’s for ‘research purposes’ – Grayson Cole 101.
Grace: You wish you were Grayson Cole.
Sebastian: Please. He wishes he was Sebastian King.
Grace: Keep dreaming.
Sebastian: See you tomorrow night. I need to warm up my vocal cords for when I get asked on stage.
Grace: haha good luck with that.
Sebastian: :)
Grace turned her phone on silent and placed it on her bedside table. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep before the concert but knew that it was unlikely given the excitement of the day. Her body ached from the battle on court but her mind revisited all the moments that had made the day one of the best of her life. Eventually she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the moment the winning goal went through the ring and the Friday at Five concert that was soon to come.
. . . . .
Grace woke on Sunday morning to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking on the Parkers’ barbecue, and the sounds of a football commentator describing play from what she assumed was the Crows’ game the previous day. She pulled her Lions hoodie over her head and slipped on some socks, then walked into the kitchen to find her mum sipping her coffee as she read the newspaper.
“Morning, sweetheart, still on a high from yesterday?” Mrs Parker asked as Grace entered the kitchen.
“Morning, Mum,” Grace replied as she sat down at the kitchen bench. “I still can’t believe it! But my body can, I’m so sore!” she continued, rubbing her back.
“Just as well your father is cooking you a feast. You’ll need all the energy you can gather after yesterday to ‘rock out’ at Friday at Five tonight.” Mrs Parker formed her fingers to make the symbol known for ‘rocking out’. Grace shook her head and laughed.
“Don’t try that outside the walls of this house, okay?” she said, exaggerating her mother’s hand gesture. Tyler walked into the kitchen to find his mum bobbing her head and singing to Friday at Five. He rolled his eyes at Grace, who giggled. They both knew there was little chance of their mother knowing even half the lyrics.
“I still can’t believe I actually said ‘yes’ to going to this concert tonight,” Tyler said.
“You never know. Ty, you may actually enjoy yourself,” Mr Parker interjected as he entered the room with a giant platter of bacon and eggs.
“We’ll see,” Tyler replied, clearly doubtful.
“Angus! Get off that couch and eat some food!” Mr Parker yelled to his other son as he began to serve.
“You really do know the way to my heart, Dad,” Angus said as he entered the room rubbing his stomach.
Grace smiled to herself contentedly. She realised how lucky she was to have all the members of her family together and for each one of them to be in a good place. She briefly reflected on the last few days: preparing for, then winning, a tight grand final and now fortunate enough to be heading to the Friday at Five concert later in the day with her best friends and a certain boy.
Grace snapped back to reality when her mother handed her a letter addressed to a Miss Grace Parker. “This came for you the other day. I didn’t want to distract you from the big game so I thought I’d wait until today to give it to you,” Mrs Parker said as Grace stared at her name on the envelope.
Grace never received letters in the mail and this one appeared to be official and important enough to spark her curiosity. She turned it over then back again, and saw that the logo in the top left corner of the envelope said “Netball South Australia”. With that, she wasted no time ripping the envelope open and quickly scanned the first few lines of the letter.
Dear Miss Parker,
On behalf of Netball South Australia, I would like to formally invite you to try out for the fifteen and under state team on November 23 …
“OH MY GOD!” Grace screamed – so loud her family simultaneously covered their ears.
Was this really happening?! Her heart was racing as she started imagining what it would be like to play for the state team.
Now all she had to do was get accepted …
