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Charlie’s first game is horrendous, even by her standards. Her side gets ripped to shreds by Paris, who is bowling super-fast and deadly accurate. She gets both openers in her first two overs and then gets another two middle order batters in her second spell.
Charlie and one of her team mates put up a bit of a fight close to the end but they just can’t get enough runs, and Charlie runs out of partners before they even get to the sixteenth over. They score just 74 runs, and to rub their noses in it, Cities North smash out the runs in just over ten overs, losing only one wicket. Even though Charlie played well, I can see how disappointed she is when she trudges off the field.
While I wait in the stands for Charlie, Paris walks past and glares at me. I think about our run-ins at camp last year and I still have no idea why she hates me so much.
When Charlie drops down on the seat beside me, I can feel the disappointment oozing off of her. It’s unusual for Charlie, who’s normally so upbeat and unfazed. Neither of us say anything to start with. We just watch the ground staff as they sweep the pitch and pull on the covers. Ravi and the rest of my club team mates are gone, and the rest of our rep squads are packing up the buses, leaving me to commiserate with Charlie alone. I nudge her with my shoulder and she blows out a long breath.
“That was a baptism of fire,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
“At least we got them out of the way first up,” Charlie replies. She glances at me with a half-smile. “The only way is up, right?”
That’s the Charlie I know, finding the positive in a bin fire. “Well, you can’t play too much worse,” I say. “Want to go get some ice-cream?”
Charlie grins. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” We stand up and grab our bags and walk to our team buses.
“Meet me outside the motel in half an hour,” I say.
Charlie salutes and then disappears onto her team bus. As I climb up the steps to my bus, memories of Paris’s bowling and wicket celebrations flash through my mind. I’m grateful that we have a couple more games before we face Cities North. Maybe I can watch her bowl a bit more and see if I can get a handle on it so I’m ready. Hopefully we don’t play as badly against them as Charlie’s team did.
***
Charlie and I get to Nitro King just before closing. This is my Wolves team’s favourite place to unwind after games, because our captain, Nick, is the manager here. He greets us with a smile and puts the mop he’s using back into the bucket. “Give me a sec to finish this and I’ll be right with you.”
Charlie leans on the counter and reads the menu board.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to see a text from Ravi. “Ravi says they’re making a highlights package from today,” I tell Charlie.
“Wow, that’s cool,” Charlie replies, turning her attention to the ice-cream cabinet.
“And he says they’re putting it up on social media,” I say, reading the next text. Ravi texts like he talks, in short bursts. “Oh, and I’m in today’s package.”
Charlie punches me on the arm. “See? You’re already making an impression.”
“Paris is in it too, apparently,” I reply, and text Ravi back.
“She was the best bowler today,” Charlie says. By the tone of her voice, I can tell she’s still not over the shock of the loss.
“Okay,” Nick says as he washes his hands in the sink at the back. “What can I get you?”
Charlie’s phone pings and while she checks it, I say to Nick, “I’ll have my usual, thanks.”
“One triple chocolate sundae coming up,” Nick replies. “Ravi and the boys were in here earlier. Said you had a win.”
“We did. It was a pretty good game.” I give him a quick run-down of the match while he makes my sundae. Charlie’s texting on her phone and not paying attention to Nick and me.
I tap Charlie on her shoulder. “Know what you want? Nick’s got to close up soon.”
Charlie looks up, surprised. “Oh, um, I don’t know. Surprise me.” Not having an opinion on food is unusual for Charlie, but I shrug and turn to Nick.
“Charlie’s team just got hammered,” I tell Nick. “She needs a pick-me-up.”
Nick nods. “I know just what to make.” He grabs a milkshake cup and starts picking flavours at random and piling them in. “I call this Sink in a Cup,” he says as he sticks a spoon in the top and hands it to Charlie.
Charlie takes it and starts eating.
“Is that the same as the Kitchen Sink Sundae?” I ask.
“It is, except the serving sizes are smaller. It’s not an official sundae though so don’t tell my boss,” he winks.
“I don’t want to get you in trouble,” Charlie says through a mouthful of food.
“He is the boss,” I explain.
Charlie laughs. “Oh, right.”
Nick walks from behind the counter. “Sorry I have to kick you out. I’ve got to get some rosters finalised before I go home.” He follows us to the front door. “I’m hoping to catch one of your games this week. When’s your next one?”
“Tomorrow afternoon, three o’clock start against Central.”
“I’m working morning shift tomorrow so I’ll come down and watch.”
“See you there,” I reply, and he waves us off as we head back to the motel.
Charlie and I walk in silence, except for Charlie’s slurping. “Trust you to know what I need to make me feel better,” Charlie says around a mouthful of ice-cream.
“You’re an easy one, Charlie Montgomery,” I reply. “Anything to do with food works.”
Charlie nudges me with her shoulder and laughs. “Thank you.”
Later that night, Charlie’s laying on her back on my bed while I sit cross-legged on the floor flicking through a cricket magazine.
“Can you die from a food coma?” she asks.
“You haven’t yet,” I reply.
Charlie laughs and rubs her belly. “Don’t tell my coach how much ice-cream I ate. He’ll make me run extra laps.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
Charlie sits up. “Hey, did you hear the rumour that Jules might be signing with a different Super League team?”
I shake my head. “Where did you hear that?”
“I’m in the media now,” Charlie says. “It’s my job to hear about that stuff.”
I laugh and throw a cushion at her. “You’re starting to sound like Ravi.”
“Speaking of Ravi,” Charlie asks. “Did he say when the highlights are going up?”
“He was going to send through a link,” I reply. “But I haven’t checked my emails.”
Charlie checks her phone and after a minute or two she says, “Found it. The tournament’s got an official Twitter account. Check this out.”
She sits down beside me and leans in so we can watch the highlights package. There are clips of a few batters hitting fours and sixes including me, and then Paris when she got three wickets in two overs. Maybe I’m imagining it but she looks faster on video.
“That won’t do your profile any harm,” Charlie says, laying back on my pillows.
“What profile?” I ask.
Charlie rolls her eyes. “You know, for someone who wants to make it to pro, you have no idea.”
I toss my magazine at her and she catches it.
“Hey, don’t mess with the ‘keeper,” she says, laughing.
There’s a knock on the door, then it opens and Ashley comes in with an armful of snacks.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she says, dumping the snacks on her bed.
“It’s not interrupting if you brought snacks,” Charlie says, eyeing off Ashley’s haul.
“I like to stock up,” Ashley replies. She spreads the bags of chips and chocolates out on her bed. “Do you want anything?”
Charlie leans over and assesses her options. She points to a Mars Bar. “May I?”
Ashley tosses the chocolate to Charlie and she catches it, grinning. “Thanks. Don’t tell my coach.” She rips open the packet and takes a bite.
“I thought you were full?” I tease.
“Never too full for a Mars Bar,” Charlie replies with a chocolatey grin.
Ashley offers the snacks to me, but I shake my head. She shrugs, pops open a bag of chips and starts crunching on them. “Are the stats on the website yet?” she asks.
Charlie shakes her head. “Not yet. Tomorrow, I think.”
I roll my eyes. “Please don’t start talking about stats with Charlie. She’ll never leave.”
Charlie pokes out her tongue. “I probably should get going anyway,” she says, pushing herself off my bed. She stretches and walks to the door. “I’ll see you at breakfast tomorrow, Alice.”
“Before you go,” I say. “Was Paris as hard to hit as she seemed?”
“Harder,” Charlie replies. “And she’s got a slower ball now too. That’s what got two of her wickets.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
“No worries. If anyone can face her, it’s you.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see when we play them,” I reply. “Night.”
“Night,” Charlie replies. “Thanks for the chocolate, Ashley. I owe you one.”
“No problem,” Ashley replies.
After Charlie’s gone, Ashley gathers up her snacks, piles them on her bedside table, and lays back on her bed. “Sorry if I interrupted you two.”
“You didn’t. Charlie was trying to recover from an ice-cream coma before she went back to her room.”
Ashley pushes up onto her elbows. “Ice-cream? Who has ice-cream?”
“There’s a place up the road. It’s closed, but I can show you where it is tomorrow. Actually, it’d be right up your alley. It’s called Nitro King.”
“Well that’s a match made in heaven,” Ashley smiles. She lays back on her bed. “We should get some sleep. We’ve got an early start tomorrow.”
I jump up and turn off the light and climb into bed. I think about what Charlie said about Paris being faster than last time we played her and wonder whether I really can hold my own against her. I’ve done it before, but that was months ago. From what I saw of Paris today, she’s improved a lot. I hope I’ve improved my game enough to take her on.