Gracie Faltrain Takes Control Read Online Free Page B

Faltrain,’ he says.
    â€˜Yeah I did,’ I tell him. And then I take the ball and fly.
    I want to be training already, showing Coach and the rest of the team that I’m ready. It’ll be the hardest competition I’ve been in yet. If I can make that team, I’ll have proved I’m one of the best.
    I can do it; I know I can. I’m better than all of the players in my school and most of the guys in the competition willbe the ones we hammered in the off-season games. If Dan Woodbury is anything to go by, we’ll be television champions by the end of the season. It’ll be even better than winning the Championships.
    Martin and I went along to a Firsts game, once. It was a couple of years ago. I could barely sit still. My feet kicked out as if I was the one taking the goal.
    â€˜You can’t stand being in the crowd, can you?’ He was right. I wanted to be out there proving how good I was. Me. A girl. Gracie Faltrain.
    â€˜I can play better than some of them,’ I said to Martin that day.
    â€˜They’re pretty big, Faltrain.’
    â€˜Soccer’s about skill, not height.’
    â€˜I’m not talking about height.’ He pointed at a kid who looked like he was a close relation of a brick wall. ‘I’m talking about width.’
    â€˜I could take him. No problem.’
    Martin’s laugh bounced around the stand. ‘I don’t know if you could. But I would love to see you try.’
    It’s almost dark tonight by the time we stop playing. ‘Come on,’ he says. ‘I have to be home in time to cook dinner.’
    â€˜About yesterday, Martin . . .’
    â€˜Forget it, Faltrain. It doesn’t matter.’
    Martin leaves me at my gate and jogs away. He’s a shadow before the sound of his feet disappears. I know he hates to fight. I know that talking about his mum is hard. But if you keep saying that nothing matters, then sooner or later, nothing does.
    When Coach talked about playing for the state today, Martin’s eyes were wide and clear. Whatever has happenedsince he came back from the Championships, he has to face it. Maybe if we’re picked for the state team, he’ll have something to look forward to. Maybe he’ll remember what it feels like to win.

6
    Four equals a double date. Every idiot knows that.
Andrew Flemming
    â€˜Faltrain, you’re still kicking the ball too wide. You’ll miss the goal like that,’ Flemming yells from the edge of the field. He and Martin and I have scheduled in extra practice sessions every day before the tryouts.
    â€˜When have I ever missed a goal?’ I ask.
    â€˜I can remember last season you missed a few.’
    â€˜That was different,’ I say, and to prove it I run in close to Flemming and spin the ball near his feet. He moves to take it off me and I steal it back. ‘What’s that you were saying?’ I yell, running, feet skimming grass.
    â€˜Knight, tell your girlfriend to stop showing off.’
    Martin has already left the field, though. He’s sitting at the edge talking to Alyce. She can’t play sport, but she loves to watch. She comes to most matches, cheering in the crowd with my parents. Sometimes I look up into the seats and for a second, the faces blurring, I think it’s Jane.
    Alyce Fuller and I aren’t exactly twins, Faltrain , Jane wrote when I emailed her that. She was right. She’s nothing likeAlyce, except for one important point: both of them make me feel like I’m home. I can laugh so hard I almost wet my pants, and I can cry just as hard if I need to.
    Alyce’s hair falls over her eyes as she’s talking to Martin. She wears it like a curtain, pulled across so people can’t see the whole of her. I wish she’d throw back her head and laugh loudly like she does when she’s alone with me. If boys could see her like that they’d be lining up in the street to ask her