When we’d all settled down to some maths, Frankie whispered to me:
“I think Scotty’s probably right, you know. I bet Mr Pownall doesn’t really expect any girls to turn up to his five-a-side practice.”
“Well, he’s going to be surprised then,” I told her with a grin, “because I’m definitely going.”
“You’ll only embarrass yourself,” warned Fliss from the other side of the table.
“And whose side are you on?” I asked. “As if I couldn’t guess.” I started to chant, “Felicity loves Ryan, Felicity loves Ryan!”
“Shut up!” hissed Fliss. It was her turn to do an impression of a beetroot. She and Ryan Scott certainly have a lot in common!
“Laura McKenzie!” Mrs Weaver said sharply. “I hope there’s a very good excuse for your outburst.”
“Sorry, I just got a bit carried away,” I apologised. “Maths always does that to me. I must be allergic to it!”
“This allergic reaction probably explains why your maths book is always in such a mess,” said Mrs Weaver crisply. “I think the cure for your complaint is extra maths homework. I think you’ll soon find that you’re not allergic to it any more. Would you like to try that?”
Mrs Weaver was looking at me and everyone else was falling about laughing.
“Actually, I’m feeling a lot better now, thank you,” I mumbled.
After that I kept my head down and got on with my work. I thought that if Mrs Weaver caught me talking again she just might carry out her threat and I couldn’t face that. I nearly cracked when Ryan Scott started flicking bits of rubber at me though. He was dying to get me into trouble and I was dying to bop him one. But I didn’t. I kept cool and promised myself that I’d teach him a lesson at the five-a-side practice.
It was quite a relief to get outside at break time. I did a few cartwheels on the grass next to our classroom, then went to join the others. They were all standing around watching Ryan Scott kicking a ball about with his mates.
“Aw, come on, we could do better than that!” I moaned. “They’re useless.”
“They look pretty good to me!” said Rosie.
“All right then,” I reasoned, “if you come to the five-a-side practice you’ll soon be good enough to join in with them.”
“Uurgh, we wouldn’t want to!” Frankie shuddered. “I couldn’t think of anything worse. Stupid football AND horrible boys. Gross!”
Frankie just wasn’t being reasonable, but I wasn’t giving up yet.
“You wouldn’t mind spending more time with the boys at the practice, would you Fliss?” I asked. She was going all moony-eyed looking at stupid Ryan Scott.
“Leave it out Kenny!” she snapped. “I can’t play football and everybody would laugh at me. I have enough of that with you lot!”
“Ah, diddums!” we all yelled, and grabbed her so hard in one of our group bear hugs that soon she was squealing for mercy!
“What about you, Lyndz?” I asked when we finally let Fliss go. “You’ll come to the practice won’t you? It’ll be fun, honest!”
Lyndz didn’t look too sure about that.
“I don’t think so Kenny,” she replied. “I promised Mrs McAllister that I’d go down to the stables after school on Wednesday. She’s got a show the next day and I said I’d help to groom the horses.”
“You and your horses!” I grumbled. I’d kind of been banking on Lyndz coming with me.
“Hey, what about you, Rosie?” I then asked. “You’re good at sports. Wouldn’t you love to show those boys that we’re just as good as them?”
“Well, yes,” said Rosie slowly.
“Thanks Rosie, my great mate!” I slapped her on the back. “I knew that you wouldn’t let me down!” I scowled at the others, especially Frankie.
“Hang on a minute, Kenny,” said Rosie. “I only said that I’d like to teach the boys a lesson. I don’t think I’ll be doing that at the five-a-side practice though.”
“What do you mean?” I yelled.
“Look, it’s all right for you,” Rosie explained. “You’re always playing football, so you know what it’s all about. We don’t. I can’t even kick a ball for my dog. The last thing we want is to show ourselves up in front of Ryan Scott and his stupid mates. They’ll never let us forget it. I’m afraid you’re on your own on this one. Sorry!”
I couldn’t believe it. My so-called friends were all going to let me down.
The whistle blew and the others ran inside. It was our turn to choose books from the library and they were all excited about which ones they were going to borrow. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the practice on Wednesday. It felt a bit funny knowing that I’d be going on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t scared or anything. I do tons of stuff by myself outside school. It’s just that we usually do school-based activities all together. It would have been a laugh having the others there, that’s all. As it was, it looked as though I would have to stand up for Girl Power on the football pitch all by myself!
I didn’t exactly give up hope about the others coming to the practice with me, but by Wednesday afternoon I knew for sure that I’d be going by myself. I’d spent all of Tuesday and most of Wednesday morning trying to persuade them to come along – but no joy. I mean, what does a girl have to do to get a bit of support from her friends?
I tried threatening them by saying that if they didn’t come with me I’d never speak to them again.
“Sounds like a great idea to me!” laughed Frankie. “What do you think, Lyndz?”
Lyndz giggled and said, “You bet!” so that didn’t work.
“What about if I buy you all loads of sweets?” I asked.
“You?” shrieked Rosie. “You’ve never got any money! What do you plan on buying them with? Buttons?”
Hmm, I guess I hadn’t thought that through either.
“All right then,” I told them. “If you don’t come with me, I’ll put up a poster saying how much Fliss is in love with Ryan Scott.”
Frankie just said, “Like everybody doesn’t already know!”
Fliss meanwhile blushed and went all silly and giggly. If you ask me, she actually wanted me to put up a poster. That girl has a serious problem!
Well, after that it was no surprise when the clock hit 3.30pm that the others all went home giggling and shouting, “Bye Kenny, have fun!”
And I headed for the gym – alone.
I went in to the girls’ changing rooms first and pulled from my bag my trackie bottoms and my favourite Leicester City football shirt. I couldn’t wait to take off my stupid school uniform. I hate it. It’s the only time that I EVER wear a skirt. I’m sure that I’d work much better if I could wear what I wanted at school. I’d probably even be able to do maths. But I guess if Fliss could wear what she wanted, she’d never get to school in the first place because she’d be dithering between her mini-skirts and her bootlegs. Then of course school would turn into one big fashion show. Maybe uniforms aren’t such a bad idea after all. But I still think girls should be allowed to wear trousers if we