Leah’s heart drummed inside her chest as she sprinted down the length of the pitch. Overhead, the sun was shining on the school field, its light glinting off the whistle dancing madly around Miss Kaur’s neck as the football coach waved her hands above her head. Next to her, the lens of George’s camera twinkled as he snapped pictures for the school newspaper. But Leah wasn’t concentrating on that. Her eyes were glued to the football.

In a few days’ time, St Anne’s, the best team in the area, were coming to play Leah’s school team, Crickle End High. In order to prepare, Miss Kaur had the team playing practice games every day. By the time the match rolled around, Crickle End High had to be the best they’d ever been if they wanted to win.

This thought was at the front of Leah’s mind as she watched the opposing team pass the ball around quickly. Mimi tried, and failed, to tackle a blonde Year Eight who towered over her. At the last second, the player saw she was coming and skipped away, the ball staying safely between her feet. Mimi screwed up her nose in frustration.

Leah knew how she felt. The defender marking her had barely left her alone since the match had started, sticking to Leah’s side like someone had covered him in Pritt Stick. It was one of the main reasons they had yet to score. So far, Leah’s side had done a good job of keeping the ball out of their net, too, but Leah wasn’t sure it was going to last much longer.

Suddenly, Leah heard a shout of triumph. Mimi had finally managed to win the ball back. Grinning fiercely, she raced down the pitch, her braids flying behind her. A handful of players pursued her, their arms pumping as they tried to catch up. But Mimi was too fast.

As she got closer to the goal, Mimi lifted her eyes, searching for someone to pass the ball to. Leah tried to get free, dodging desperately. The opposing defender was too good, though. He mirrored her every move with an infuriating grin.

‘Mimi!’ William Riley shouted from the opposite side of the pitch. He’d managed to break free of his defender, surging forward. Mimi kicked the ball in his direction and he caught it with his feet.

‘Yes!’ Leah breathed, watching as her teammate spun around and raced towards the goal, his eyebrows pinched in concentration.

But the other side weren’t giving up. Leah could see they were getting ready to swarm William. Players charged towards him from every direction. There was no way he was going to be able to get a clear shot at the goal.

Adrenaline surged through Leah’s body and, with a burst of speed, she twisted around the defender marking her, moving her feet in a rapid dance. It worked! The defender darted one way, whilst Leah went the other. Grinning, she sprinted forward.

‘William!’ she shouted, waving her hands to get his attention. ‘I’m open!’

Ringed by opposing players, William flicked his eyes up. Leah had a direct line to the goal. If William could just slip the ball through the legs of the players surrounding him, Leah could score. He shifted towards her, his foot hovering above the ball.

But then, William’s gaze shifted away. He changed direction and charged forward, dodging the players around him, and moving away from Leah.

‘William! What are you doing?’ Mimi shouted from behind them.

‘I’m open!’ Leah cried again.

But William ignored them both. He hunched his shoulders and barrelled forward, forcing his way towards the goal. His gaze shifted between the ball at his feet and the net in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he drew back his foot and kicked.

The ball seemed to arc through the air in slow motion. For a moment, Leah thought it might go in. But the angle wasn’t right. The team watched in dismay as the ball soared towards the goal and then over it, bouncing uselessly across the grass.

Three long pips sounded as Miss Kaur blew the whistle. The match was over.

‘What was that about?’ Mimi huffed as she jogged to a stop beside Leah. Her eyes followed William. He jogged to the side of the pitch where his friends were waiting.

Leah shook her head angrily. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘But I’m going to find out.’

Together, Mimi and Leah marched across the pitch to the sidelines. William was sniggering unpleasantly with his two friends, Katie MacIntyre and Toby Henderson. When they were together, Leah usually went out of her way to avoid them, but right then, she didn’t care. She was too angry to wait until William was alone.

‘Oh look,’ Katie said in a sing-song voice as they came to a stop before the trio, her weaselly face twisted into a sneer. ‘It’s Loser and Wee Wee.’ Toby and William howled with laughter.

Mimi rolled her eyes. ‘Well done, Katie. We haven’t heard that one before.’

Katie opened her mouth to retort, but Leah interrupted her. ‘William, what was that back there?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ the bigger boy sneered, flicking a strand of sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes.

‘That last kick!’ Leah could feel the frustration rising up in her stomach. ‘Why didn’t you pass to me?’

‘Pass to you?’ William raised an eyebrow in pretend confusion. ‘Why would I pass to you?’

‘I was open!’ Leah gestured towards the now-empty goal behind them. ‘I could have scored and we’d have won!’

‘Exactly,’ William said, taking a step closer to her.

Leah swallowed and held her ground. William Riley doesn’t frighten me, she thought fiercely. But it was difficult to remind herself of that when he was so much taller than she was and so much . . . meaner.

William was still talking. ‘I deserved that winning goal way more than you did. There’s no way I was going to let you steal the glory.’

Leah gaped at him. For a moment she didn’t know what to say.

But luckily, Mimi did.

‘That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,’ Leah’s best friend declared, flicking her braids over her shoulder in irritation. ‘Not only did you not score, but you stopped the whole team from winning!’

William shrugged, a nasty grin stretching his mouth. ‘That’s not my problem, is it? Come on, guys, let’s get out of here.’ He wafted his hand in front of his nose. ‘I think the stench of loser is starting to get to me.’ Katie and Toby roared with laughter again, and the three of them marched off towards the changing room.

‘Hey, L! Mimi!’ a familiar voice called as George jogged across the field to join them. The camera around his neck bounced against his chest. He straightened his black-rimmed glasses and looked curiously across the field towards the retreating backs of William and his friends. ‘What’s going on?’

Leah stared after them, too, her mouth set in a grim line and her hands curled into tight fists at her side. How were they ever going to win anything if they had a player like William Riley on their team?