Hot Prospect (7 page)

“No, thanks,” said Geno quickly.

“Afterwards we're going to have a midnight feast,” said Simon. “I have a few chocolate bars, and some people smuggled up food from the dining hall. It'll be a laugh, but we'll need to take turns to keep a watch for Clutterbuck.”

“Sounds good,” said Roddy. “See you later.”

Geno watched Simon disappear into his room and turned to Roddy. “Don't get into trouble,” he warned. “You don't want to do anything to risk your place here.”

Roddy hadn't thought of that. He considered it for a moment and then patted
Geno on the shoulder. “You worry too much. This is a boarding school. Aren't pillow fights and midnight feasts what it's all about? They're not going to miss out on the best footballers for the sake of a midnight feast! Are you sure you don't want to come?”

“Well…” Geno was obviously torn.

“I'll swing by your room before I join Simon, shall I?” offered Roddy. “Then if you change your mind, we can go together.”

“OK,” agreed Geno at last. “It does sound fun. I'll see you later.”

Roddy was just about to get into bed when his phone beeped and he got a text.
Hope U had a gd day
, it said. It was from Bryn.

Roddy texted back.
Yeah tks. This place is awesome! C U 2mrw
. He was looking forward to telling Bryn all about it.

Then he received another text from his parents. Mr Clutterbuck was at the door by
the time he'd replied. “Straight to sleep now,” he said. “Don't forget, there's a lot happening tomorrow before you go home. We're all going to be up bright and early.” Then he switched off the light and closed the door.

The boys lay quietly, getting used to the darkness in the room. Slowly, Roddy began to see the outlines of the furniture. A bit of light was coming under the door so it wasn't totally black. It was very different from his room at home, where the streetlight shone through his curtains and traffic noises carried on all night long.

Here, in the middle of Stadium School's parkland, they were some way from the road. Roddy thought he'd never be able to sleep in such silence. The only sound was the wind in the nearby trees. Hearing it reminded him of the tree tunnel and the preserved stadium seats they'd been shown earlier in the day. The
whole thing had been rather creepy, especially the charred seat that no one ever sat in. He found himself wondering if something awful had happened there that they hadn't been told about.

Roddy lay quietly for a little while longer, wondering when the pillow fight was supposed to start. He'd forgotten to ask Simon, and he didn't know if any of the other boys in his room had been invited. Perhaps he'd get up in a few minutes and go along to room three to find out. If Mr Clutterbuck was still around, he could always say he was going to the bathroom, and had forgotten the way.

He stretched out in the comfortable bed and relaxed under the duvet. He told himself he'd wait another five minutes. He could look at the time on his phone, but it was on his bedside locker, and he couldn't be bothered to reach out and get it. In fact he was getting
so comfortable, he'd have to do something to make sure he didn't nod off. But, as Roddy was trying to think of a way to keeping awake, he slipped further away from consciousness. And soon he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The boys woke up to strong sunshine pouring into the room. Mr Clutterbuck was opening the curtains. Roddy groaned.

“Time to get up,” said Mr Clutterbuck. “Don't go back to sleep now, will you?” Then he turned and left the room.

Suddenly, Roddy remembered the pillow fight and midnight feast. He'd missed them! He felt really annoyed with himself for falling asleep so quickly. He'd cheated himself out of some good boarding-school fun, and Simon would think he'd wimped out.

It was tempting to drift back to sleep, but Roddy knew he had to get up, so he threw off his duvet and sat up. The other three boys
looked bleary eyed, too. Roddy tumbled out of bed, and made his way to the bathroom. Simon was there, coming out of the shower.

“Sorry about missing last night,” said Roddy, feeling rather sheepish. “It was stupid, but I fell asleep. Was it fun?”

Simon laughed. “Nothing happened,” he said. “I think we
all
fell asleep. At any rate, I wasn't aware of any pillow fight going on…”

“You're joking!” said Roddy feeling much less stupid now.

After his shower, Roddy saw Geno in the corridor.

“So much for your plans,” Geno laughed. “I got tired of waiting, so I came along to your room to see what the hold up was.”

“Did you?” said Roddy, amazed. “I didn't hear a thing.”

“You were all snoring away,” said Geno. “So I went back to bed.”

“Well, we didn't miss anything,' Roddy told him. “Apparently Simon's room fell asleep, as well.”

Before they went for breakfast, Mr Clutterbuck gathered everyone together. “I'm glad you had a good time in the boarding house last night,” he said. “But your parents are coming to collect you around midday, so there won't be time for any more table football.”

“What a shame,” said Roddy, “I really enjoyed it.”

“Don't forget to strip your beds and leave the bedding on the corridor floor.” A collective groan went up and he smiled. “This isn't a hotel. If you're lucky enough to get a place here, you'll soon become used to changing your own sheets.”

By the time they'd done their jobs and packed, Roddy was getting hungry. He hoisted
his rucksack onto his shoulder, and in no time he was downstairs. After a couple of minutes, Geno arrived, and they went over to the main building together. As soon as they'd dumped their bags in the entrance, they went into the dining hall.

Roddy was surprised that there was a full fry-up on offer. He'd imagined it would just be healthy cereal and fruit, but they were going to need a lot of energy if they were playing football every day.

After breakfast, there were some ball-control exercises, which Roddy did really well at. He and Keira were two of the best at dribbling, although she had the edge when it came to scooping up loose balls.

Then Mr Jenkins had a treat for them. “I'm going to show you how helpful technology can be in improving your game,” he said, leading them to a building they hadn't visited
before. In the media centre, full-time students had the opportunity to watch video footage of their own games and pick up on areas in need of improvement.

“As well as watching the game, like you would on TV at home, we can turn each piece of action into a computer simulation,” explained Mr Jenkins. “This allows us to view it from any angle, or to follow a specific player. It can be very helpful, and you can break down each person's playing statistics as well, to see how effectively they use the ball.”

“Wow,” said Ali.

Everyone was very impressed with the cutting-edge technology being used, and longed to see themselves on the screen. Though of course that wasn't going to happen unless they got a place at the school. Instead, they watched some footage of the Stadium School first team from the year before, playing
against Manchester United under-18s. Mr Jenkins showed them edited highlights to demonstrate how the system worked, and drew virtual circles and arrows to help his explanation. Roddy and Geno agreed that it was one of the coolest bits of technology they'd ever seen.

All too soon, it was time to think about heading home. Roddy and Geno wandered back to the main building together. Roddy felt a bit subdued. It wasn't only that this had been two of the best days of his life, and he was sad to leave the school. It was also hard to leave the new friends he'd made, especially Geno. Would he ever see him again, or Simon, or Keira?

Roddy went over to the pile of bags and picked up his rucksack.

“There are loads of cars here already,” said Geno, looking out of the open door.

He was right, and more were arriving every minute. Roddy felt his mood lift. He couldn't wait to see his dad. He had so much to tell him.

“Roddy?”

“What?”

It was Geno, with his phone in his hand. “Can I have your number?” he asked. “Maybe we could meet up some time.”

“OK!” Roddy felt very pleased. He hadn't wanted to ask, in case Geno had thought Roddy only wanted to hook up with him because of his famous dad.

“I know you live in Wales and I live in London, but you never know,” said Geno, keying in Roddy's number. “You might come to London some time.”

“And you might come to Wales,” said Roddy grinning, but that didn't seem likely.

“There's my car!” Geno picked up his bag and started for the door. Then he stopped and
looked back at Roddy. “Good luck,” he said seriously. “I hope you get in. You deserve to – you're really good.”

“Thanks,” said Roddy. “You, too. Let me know how you get on, OK?”

“OK.”

“Bye then.”

“Bye.”

Geno went down the steps and onto the gravel drive. Roddy stood in the doorway and watched. He looked at the smart, black Mercedes Geno was heading for. Roddy had hoped to catch a glimpse of Geno's famous father, but there was just a woman in the car. She leaned over and opened the passenger door. Geno went round to the boot and put his bag in before climbing into the front seat. He looked back at the school and waved. Roddy waved back. Then the car pulled away, and in a few moments it had gone.

Roddy took his rucksack and sat on the steps to wait for his dad. After a few minutes, the car arrived.

“Hey! Roddy!”

He turned round. It was Keira.

“Are you off?”

“Yeah. My dad's here.”

“Oh, right. Well, goodbye then. See you some time.”

“Yes.” Roddy wasn't going to say it. After all, she was a rival midfielder, but then he couldn't help himself. “Good luck,” he said.

Keira's face lit up and she grinned. “Good luck to you, too,” she said. “Really, I mean it.”

“And me,” agreed Roddy. “But I must go now. Bye!”

Roddy crossed the drive. His dad was already out of the car. He looked as if he wanted to hug his son, but although part of him wanted to do the same, Roddy held back.

“Well,” said Roddy's dad. “How was it?”

Roddy didn't reply until they were both in the car. He sank back in his seat and sighed. Now it had come to it, he wasn't sure how to explain. He had so many mixed-up feelings about the past two days.

“I just…” he said, searching for the right words. “I just want to go there
so
badly.” For an instant, he was afraid he might burst into tears, but that would be pathetic, so he swallowed several times and bit his lip. “It was… great,” he added and closed his eyes.

And it
had
been great, every minute of it, a sort of paradise for football-mad people like him. He'd been so lucky to get the trial, and he was incredibly grateful for the experience. But he knew that after this glimpse of football heaven, his ordinary, humdrum existence would never be the same again.

Back at home again, life felt unreal. Roddy couldn't settle down to anything. Even playing football had lost some of its appeal. Every time he looked at a ball, Roddy started wondering when he would hear if he'd got a place at Stadium School. He did his best to wait patiently, but it was
agony
not knowing. And everyone's lives seemed to be moving on, while his was stalled. His sister, Liz, had passed her GCSEs and was going to the local sixth-form college. And Bryn had already been shopping with his mum to buy his new Valley Comp uniform.

“I got some new football boots today,” he told Roddy one afternoon. “And I need to
break them in. Shall we have a kick about in the park?”

“OK,” agreed Roddy. “I'll go and get mine.” He was still using the ones he'd worn to the trial. “Dad said it isn't worth getting new ones until I know where I'm going.”

“Still not heard then?” asked Bryn sympathetically.

Roddy shook his head. “They said it would be about ten days, and that was up yesterday.”

“I'm sure you'll find out soon,” said Bryn.

“Probably,” agreed Roddy. But he knew that the more time went by, the less likely he was to get a place. Surely they'd write to all the people they had accepted first? Roddy wondered if he should text Geno to find out if he'd heard anything. But what if he'd already received a letter, and got in? Roddy knew he'd feel terrible. No, it would be best not to text. Not yet, anyway. He ought to forget about
Geno and concentrate on his friends at home, not on someone he'd probably never meet again.

Bryn was the best mate he could have, but Roddy knew that part of him was hoping he wouldn't get a place. Then they could go to Valley Comp together as they'd always planned. They'd keep their brilliant footballing partnership. They'd get into the first team and be heroes right up the school. And, at 17, they'd both turn pro with a local side and work their way up until, at last, they'd go out onto the pitch at Wembley, playing in the final of the World Cup.