Annabel's Perfect Party Page 8

  “Yaaaay! Go, Megan!” came a particularly loud cheer – it was all three triplets, yelling completely as one. Several of the other supporters looked quite disconcerted. Megan was grinning hugely as she booted the ball back up the field. It hadn’t been a very difficult save, but it had looked great! Her dad was beside himself, bouncing around all over the place and chortling, nudging her mum and pointing out how well Megan had done, while Megan’s mum patiently agreed with him.

  Becky suddenly felt really sorry for Katie. Their dad should be here, too! Two goals in her first game was absolutely fantastic, and there was no way he’d ever really be able to know what it was like, even though Mum had taken loads of photos. She felt quite cross with Dad all of a sudden – why did he have to work so far away? Megan’s dad had obviously taken time off work, but their dad wasn’t going to be popping back from Egypt to watch Katie, even if Manor Hill went all the way to the final. She wondered if Katie felt the same way.

  Neither team scored in the second half, so it was a jubilant Manor Hill side who romped off the field at fulltime. Three-nil! And Hillcrest were a good team. Katie and Megan came over to the sidelines to be congratulated, looking very pleased with themselves. Katie was looking hopeful, too. “Mum, I don’t suppose Megan could come back for tea? If that’s all right with you too, Mrs Jones?” she added politely.

  Mrs Ryan looked distant for a moment, and the triplets waited patiently. It wasn’t that Mum was annoyed, she was just trying to remember what they were having for tea and whether there was enough of it. Finally, she smiled. “That would be fine” – she turned to Megan’s parents – “if it fits in with your plans? In fact, if you wanted, Megan could stay the night. The girls are all going into town shopping tomorrow, aren’t they?”

  “Ooooh, yes! Please, Mum, that would be fab!” Megan pleaded.

  “Well, if you’re sure it’s no trouble. What clothes do you want for tomorrow, Meg?” asked Mrs Jones. “We’ll nip home and then your dad’ll run them across for you.” Then she looked Megan and Katie up and down and grinned. “You sure you’ve got enough hot water, Sue? These two look like they’ve been playing in a swamp, not a field.”

  “Might as well be,” said Katie disgustedly. “The goals are like soup.”

  So it was settled – Megan was sleeping over. She and the triplets raced for the car. There was a brief delay while Mrs Ryan covered every centimetre of upholstery that might possibly come into contact with Katie or Megan in newspaper, and then they headed home.

  The tea that Mrs Ryan had been trying to remember was pasta with tomato sauce, and there was plenty to go round, including loads of delicious cheese to melt on top. Katie and Megan were too excited to concentrate much on what they were eating, though. They couldn’t believe that they’d won their first match! And not only that, it had been the quarter-final.

  “This is only Manor Hill’s second year in the schools league,” Katie explained to the others, stabbing her fork at Mum for emphasis. “Last year we came absolutely nowhere, ’cause Mrs Ross had only just started up the team and they were useless, everyone says so. But if we win the next match, we’ll be in the final!”

  “Oh no!” exclaimed Annabel dramatically. “Does that mean I have to go to another football match?”

  “Will you definitely get to play?” asked Becky anxiously. It would be awful if Katie and Megan got demoted back to subs again.

  Katie looked thoughtful. “What do you reckon, Megan?” she asked her friend, who now had a tomatoey ring round her mouth to match her red hair.

  “I’m just not sure.” Megan sounded frustrated. “Mrs Ross told Caroline and Michelle and Lizzie that they’d be back on the team if they put the effort in, but from what the others were saying, I don’t think they’re that bothered. Got better things to do, I suppose.” Megan shrugged, as though she really couldn’t imagine what.

  “I don’t see how Mrs Ross could stop you playing after today,” said Becky stubbornly, sticking up for her triplet. “I mean, two goals! And you pulled off some brilliant saves, Megan,” she added, smiling.

  “Yeah, they were fab, especially that one that you dived for. And Cara scored as well,” Katie pointed out gloomily, “so we’re not getting rid of her either. We’ll just have to hope that Mrs Ross thinks we’re the best thing for the team. And that Cara breaks her leg,” she added with a grin. Then she had a sudden thought. “Mum, can I ring Dad’s mobile? To tell him about the match? I know it costs loads, but I’ll pay for it out of my pocket money. I know we could wait til later and Skype him when he’s home but I just want to talk to him now! Please?”

  Mum smiled at her. “Dad’s waiting for you to call. He emailed this morning to check he had the right day. Don’t forget to give the others a chance to talk too, though.”

  Katie danced over to the counter to get the phone. “You don’t mind, do you, Megan?”

  Megan shook her head. “Course not.”

  Katie dialled, and Dad must have had the phone in his hand, because he picked up immediately, and Katie burst into excited chatter. “We won, Dad! I scored two goals, and now we’re in the semi-final!” She’d pressed the speakerphone button, so they all heard his reply.

  “Fantastic! Well done, sweetheart! I knew you could do it.”

  Then they went all technical, so the others decided to have second helpings until Katie and her dad had stopped discussing footwork, and they could talk about “normal stuff”. It took quite a long time, but at last Katie passed the phone over to Becky and Annabel, who both huddled over it at the same time, and sat back down at the kitchen table.

  “More pasta, Katie?”

  “Mmmm.” Katie took seconds, and proceeded to push the pasta round her plate. Somehow, telling Dad about her triumphant game, and hearing how excited he was, had made her miss him loads – telling him all about it had been brilliant, but she really wished she hadn’t needed to. . .

  That night, Megan slept on an inflatable mattress in between the triplets’ beds. She and Katie were exhausted after the match (and the twenty minutes of mad puffing it had taken to blow up the mattress) but they were pretty hyper as well, so there was quite a bit of hysterical giggling at things that really weren’t all that funny, before Megan suddenly shut up mid-sentence, and had obviously fallen asleep. Becky and Annabel were half-snoozing already (there was only so much fantasy football team-picking they could take) so only Katie was left awake.

  She was feeling odd. It had been a brilliant day (two goals! She still couldn’t believe it!) but something was not right, and she was pretty sure she knew what it was. She loved Megan loads – she was the first really close friend Katie’d had apart from her sisters, but at 4.42 that afternoon she hadn’t liked her much. And that was making her feel really really mean. Katie hadn’t been able to help it, though. She’d been cheering Megan’s fab save and heard Becky and Annabel yelling too. She’d turned to wave at them and there he was – dancing around like he’d won the lottery – Megan’s dad. It was so unfair. No, it was worse than unfair, it was wrong. Why was Megan’s dad there to go crazy about a stupid save when her dad was in Egypt? Katie wasn’t really a crying person – she reckoned that Becky had got her share of crybabyness as well as her own – but now she could feel a choking lump in her throat that meant she really wanted to cry. Or, preferably, scream. And shout. Lots. And she wouldn’t mind kicking something either – Dad maybe.

  Katie sniffed, and sighed, and turned over with a huffy thump, snuggling the duvet around her shoulders. She didn’t need Dad there for everything. That was stupid. She had Mum, and she had Becky and Annabel, and they were like having something infinitely better than sisters (and worse, sometimes). This afternoon Annabel had watched an entire football match, and she’d only moaned about it every other sentence for the rest of the evening – for Annabel that was serious sisterly devotion. No, Katie would be fine without Dad. She was making a big fuss about noth
ing. But as she finally drifted off to sleep, all she could see was one amazingly perfect afternoon in the garden, just before her parents split up. She and Dad playing football, very carefully avoiding the rug where Becky and Annabel were sitting playing with the guinea pigs. Or rather, arguing about whether Annabel could give Maisy a furcut so she could actually see. Dad was cheering – the ball had definitely gone between the two rose bushes – Katie had scored a goal. . .

  HOLLY has always loved animals. As a child, she had two dogs, a cat, and at one point, nine gerbils (an accident). Holly’s other love is books. Holly now lives in Reading with her husband, three sons and a very spoilt cat.

  TEN QUICK QUESTIONS FOR HOLLY WEBB

  1. Kittens or puppies? Kittens

  2. Chocolate or Sweets? Chocolate

  3. Salad or chips? Chips

  4. Favourite websites? Youtube, Lolcats

  5. Text or call? Call

  6. Favourite lesson at school? Ancient Greek (you did ask. . .)

  7. Worst lesson at school? Physics

  8. Favourite colour? Green

  9. Favourite film? The Sound of Music

  10. City or countryside? Countryside, but with fast trains to the city!

  Scholastic Children’s Books

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  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2004

  This electronic edition published by Scholastic Ltd, 2014

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2004

  Cover illustration copyright © Michelle Breen, 2014

  The right of Holly Webb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.

  eISBN 978 1407 14741 3

  A CIP catalogue record for this work is available from the British Library.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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