The Kick Off (8 page)

“Sorry, sir. That was a complete mistake.”

“You're right,” said Hitchcock, swatting Jamie's hand away as he stood up. “It was a very big mistake.”

And with that, Hitchcock brought a red card out of his pocket and pointed very dramatically to the changing rooms.

“Ref!” appealed Jamie. “Ref, what are you doing? I didn't mean to kick it at you! I just had an argument with my teammate. You can't send me off for that.”

“I just have.”

 

 

 

Jamie sat in the changing room by himself, trying to work out what had just happened. He could hear the shouts from the games still going on outside but he was helpless to do anything.

He knew he was the best player on that pitch by an absolute mile but he'd managed to go from hero to zero in the space of one stupid kick.

Hitchcock wouldn't tell Marsden about Jamie's brilliant goal or the fact that he'd set up the first. All he would say was that Jamie Johnson had gone psycho again and got himself sent off.

Jamie punched his fist into the wall so hard his knuckles started to bleed.

Why did he always ruin things for himself?

 

 

 

Jamie grabbed his bag and headed out for the weekend. It couldn't come soon enough.

The first week back at school after the holidays always seemed like it had dragged on for a year. He'd had one bit of good news when Garrick had given him a B+ for his story about Mike's injury –
Nice shades of light and dark
, he'd written at the bottom. That would keep his mum happy. But for Jamie, the week had been pretty depressing.

The fact that the B's had held on to win 2 – 1 hadn't given him much joy. He couldn't get his sending-off out of his mind. And every time he saw Alex Marcusfield, he immediately felt angry again.

If the selfish idiot had just passed the ball, Jamie would have scored his second goal and the whole year would have been talking about how good he was instead of asking why he kept going mental when he played football. He couldn't even talk to Jack about it. She was still ignoring him and spending all her time with Nicki. They'd never had a row last as long as this before.

“Hey, Jamie!” Ollie shouted to him by the lockers. “Come over here.”

Ollie was standing with Jess Conners, one of fittest girls in the year. How did he always get in with the fit ones?

“Jamie, mate, I'm having a boys' night at mine tomorrow and then we're going to meet up with Jess and her lot later. You in?” he asked.

“Yeah, I should be up for that,” said Jamie.

If he needed something to distract him from the sending-off, Jess Conners would do just the trick!

 

On Saturday afternoon Jamie texted Jack. It was time to sort this – whatever
this
was – out. He wanted to get the words right and ended up changing the message about eight times before he sent it.

He eventually settled on:
Hey Jack! Remember me?! Really sorry 4 whatever I've done! U wanna hang out 2day?

Jamie had decided that even though he might get to see Jess Conners if he went to the party, what he really wanted to do was just chill with Jack – like any normal Saturday.

But Jack never responded to the text.

 

“All right, Jamie – come in!” said Ollie, slapping his arm around Jamie's back. He seemed even louder and happier than normal.

“We're all in the attic,” he said over his shoulder as he bounded up the stairs. “It's going to be a big night.”

Jamie followed. As he walked through the door into the attic, his eyes lit up. There, right before his eyes, were some of the fittest girls on TV.

OK, so they were in glossy magazines rather than there in the flesh . . . but it was a good start.

The room was pumping with hip-hop. A couple of Ollie's mates who Jamie didn't know were playing a football game against each other on the computer but most of the others were fully concentrated on the magazines on the floor.

“Don't let me interrupt you, boys!” said Jamie, kneeling to take his place in the row of admirers. They were looking at pictures of all the soap and pop stars at the latest glitzy parties.

Jamie couldn't believe girls like that actually existed. They were so fit.

He tried to imagine what would happen if he ever got the chance to actually talk to a girl like that. He'd definitely muck it up!

“Let's have a bundle!” shouted Ollie, with a mischievous smile. He turned the music up even louder so the speakers started to vibrate and downed a can of Red Bull. “Come on, who's up for it?”

“Nah, I've got a better idea,” Tesh said. “What about Truth or Dare?”

There were seven or eight of them. They all got round in a circle, including the ones Jamie didn't know. They must have been Ollie's mates from outside school.

“Right, Jamie's up first,” announced Ollie.

“Ah, give me a break,” said Jamie. “I've only just got here!”

“Exactly. Last in, first up. Right, the question is: you and Jack, what's the story there? Don't tell me you're just mates. Truth or Dare?”

Jamie felt his chest tighten. He should have expected that one. None of the others had a girl as a really close friend, so they were always trying to get the goss on him and Jack, find out what was “really going on”.

The others were all staring expectantly at him.

“OK. . .” said Jamie, trying to buy some time. “So what's the dare?”

“Eat five slices of pizza and down two cans of Red Bull . . . in three minutes.”

Ollie handed Jamie the cans and a box of pizza. Jamie opened it. It was Hawaiian – his worst type of pizza.

“I can't do that! I'll be sick – you know I will,” Jamie protested.

“My bro' can do it,” said Ollie proudly. “But fine, if you don't like the dare, do the truth.”

“OK, fine, I'll do the dare,” said Jamie. He didn't want the others to think he was a lightweight. So, without thinking any more, he started to stuff his face. He pushed two whole slices of pizza down his mouth and took a massive swig of Red Bull.

All the boys were cheering and clapping their hands as Jamie did his best to force the food down. It was disgusting though, and after about two and a half minutes, one of the bits of sweetcorn got stuck in Jamie's throat and he had to cough some of it back up.

“OK, time's up,” said Tesh. “Unlucky, good effort.”

“Ah, come on,” Jamie appealed. “I've done four slices and both cans. That's enough, isn't it?”

“Sorry, mate,” said Tesh. “The dare wasn't completed. That means it's the truth.”

“Yup, the truth it is,” Ollie chipped in. “Let's have it, then.”

Jamie took another gulp of Red Bull. He began to see things in a different way. He may as well just tell them what they wanted to hear. They would never believe them if he told them anything else, anyway.

“OK,” said Jamie. “Well, we're basically just friends these days but. . .” He paused to add suspense. “Obviously there've been a few kisses here and there. . .”

“I knew it!” said Ollie triumphantly, pointing at Jamie. “You're a dark horse, you are!”

Jamie smiled and comforted himself with the thought that, strictly speaking, it was the truth. The fact that they were pretend kisses, when they were about six, was beside the point.

“I bet that's not it either, is it, Johnson?” said Ollie. “How far have you two gone, then?”

Jamie could feel his heart pumping faster and his ears starting to go red. He didn't like talking about Jack like this.

 

Lots more truths, dares and Red Bulls followed over the next couple of hours.

They were all pretty hyper by the time Ollie jumped to his feet and said: “Right – let's call the girls. I reckon we're ready for them now.”

But Jamie wasn't ready for anything. In fact, at exactly that moment he felt a swell of sickness rush through his body like an evil tidal wave. There was no way he'd impress Jess in this state.

Even if he managed to kiss her – which was highly unlikely – he'd probably just end up being sick in her mouth.

He quickly made up some excuse about having another party to go to and left. He wanted to run home but he got really bad cramp. He could hear all the Red Bull swishing about in his stomach, all the way back.

 

 

 

Jamie opened his eyes. Then he closed them. He'd hardly slept all night. He'd just lain there staring at the ceiling. Even though his body was tired, his mind had kept running around in circles while his heart had kept beating faster and faster.

He'd even started thinking about his dad, which didn't help at all.

He'd probably had about two hours of sleep all night. Now he felt horrendous. And when he tried to get up everything got worse, much worse.

He suddenly felt an unstoppable surge rise up from his stomach towards his throat. He ran to the sink and watched the sick shoot out of his mouth all in one go.

It tasted of Red Bull and looked like chewed-up pizza. Bits of pineapple and sweetcorn were getting stuck around the plughole. He had to push them down through the gaps with his finger. It was rank.

 

“All right, Jamie?” said Quincy Oromuyi when Jamie arrived at Sunningdale for training with the Firsts. “Was it a big one last night, by any chance? Look at the state of you!”

Jamie forced a smile but he didn't answer the question. His ears were still ringing from the sound of the music in Ollie's attic. His mouth felt dry and his stomach ached.

And this was
before
training.

It turned out to be the worst session that Jamie had played with the Firsts. When he wanted to control the ball, it bounced off him. When he wanted to pass it, he miscued it. When he wanted to take someone on for pace, his legs felt heavy. And when he wanted to track back, he couldn't keep up. He was like Superman without his powers.

Jamie knew that it was all down to the fact that he'd completely overdone it last night. He'd been trying to show off in front of the boys but he'd ended up wasting a whole training session because of it.

His body had no more energy left in it, his brain had turned to sponge and he could still taste the sick at the back of his throat. Jamie could hardly remember what it was like to feel normal.

 

On his way home, Jamie got out his mobile to call Jack. He really needed a lift. Someone to talk to.

As he dialled the number, he rehearsed what he was going to say. He could be playful: “Hi, Jack, are you still mad with me?” Or maybe more apologetic: “Hi, Jack. Listen, I'm sorry. . .”

But the call just went straight to answerphone.

Jack's cheerful voice clicked into action:

“
Unlucky! I'm not around. Leave a message and, if I like you, I'll call you back. See ya!
”

Jamie smiled when he heard Jack's voice. But it was a sad smile.

He'd already had his dad walk out of his life without explaining. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Jack too.