‘No.’ Dina finally looks back up, her eyes meeting mine.‘Let’s not leave it. If your team is so confident in their abilities, maybe we should put it to the test.’
I wasn’t expecting this sudden challenge. Pitting our teams against each other is definitely not a good idea.
‘Are you sure you want to do that?’ I ask, raising an eyebrow. I haven’t seen her team play, but I don’t need to do that to form an opinion.
We have the support of the school behind us. We have kit and a team name. We’ve played matches and beaten other teams. We have access to the Westbrook football pitch for occasional practice sessions. Dina’s team is run by the council, probably to give the girls somewhere to put their energy during the summer. They have no kit to speak of and practise in the park. From what I understand, they’ve never even played a match. The only thing they have going for them is having Jen as a coach, but I don’t think that will help them beat us.
‘Yeah, I’m sure. Let’s play a match, see what aproperteam can apparently do,’ Dina says.
I know I shouldn’t take the bait, that I should be better than this. Like Jen said, Dina and I are the adults here, the coaches who should be setting better examples. But even if I know better, I can’t back down from a challenge issued by Dina. If I do, it’s just going to confirm everything that she already thinks about me. And I doubt my team will be filled with confidence if I don’t meet Dina’s challenge head on. This is more than just about Dina – it’s about proving my capabilities.
‘OK, if you can handle us, then let’s do it,’ I say. ‘We can play you tomorrow if you want.’
There’s a flash of hesitation in Dina’s eyes. She recovers quickly, but not quick enough for me to miss it.
‘End of summer,’ she says.
‘Fine, end of summer,’ I agree.
‘Dina, Maya, I don’t know if that’s the best—’ Jen tries to interject, but our teams are already excitedly agreeing to the match.
Dina gives me a wry smile.
I guess it’s game on.
Chapter 14
Dina
Twenty days to the match
‘I thought you said you didn’t think they were ready to play against another team,’ Jen states once we’re away from Maya and her awful team. I can tell – even though Jen doesn’t say it – that she’s disappointed in the way I behaved. That it’s reminded her of old times, when Maya and I were more obsessed with beating each other in any way we could than figuring out how to work together to play the best we could.
‘I underestimated them.’ My voice sounds a little too defensive.
‘Hm,’ is all Jen says.
The two of us round up the team, and Jen goes into a lecture about how she expects all of us to be better behaved, even when she’s not around –especiallywhen she’s not around.
‘Sportsmanship is something that all football players should know. We compete on the football pitch, not off it.’ Jen looks at me when she says that, and I glance down at my feet, studying the colours of my boots, instead of dealing with her judgement. This is the tried-and-tested phrase she used to say to me and Maya all the time. Clearly, it wasn’t one of the things we took away from Jen’s coaching.
‘We’re still going to play them, aren’t we?’ Sophie asks once Jen is finished speaking. It’s clear that that’s the team’s main concern.
‘Well …’ Jen looks between me and the girls. ‘It’s not until the end of the summer. And if we feel that we’re ready by then, I suppose we could.’
‘We can play some practice matches, against other teams. To … get ready,’ I pipe up. ‘You said you could arrange that, right?’
Jen’s frown deepens. ‘I could. But—’
‘Yes, let’s do that!’ Sara interrupts. She’s bouncing on her feet at the idea, and even the other girls seem excited.
‘Did you guys come up with a team name?’ I ask. ‘Because we’ll need that if we’re going to play for real.’
‘We did!’ Jade is grinning from ear to ear. She looks to her teammates, and they nod, silently indicating that they are all in agreement. It’s the first time I’ve seen them behave like this. Warmth radiates through me at the sight. They aren’t just girls playing football for the council anymore – they are a team.
‘The Divas!’ Jade says excitedly. ‘Because of Beyoncé, obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ I say. It’s not the name that I would have picked, but it’s not my team. It’s theirs. ‘I like it.’
