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I don’t stick around to watch the night games because I have to do the podcast interview with Karen. It helps that Karen is also asked some questions because it takes me a while to get rid of my nerves, but as soon as we start talking cricket, I’m fine. Mary and her co-host Brittany ask me about my rivalry with Adam, which is cool, and I don’t know where they found out about my fight to play in grade cricket last year but it’s great to talk about that.
Apparently I’m not the only girl who has had trouble with signing up to play in a boys’ comp. Even though knowing that other girls are going through the same thing I went through makes me angry, at least I don’t feel so alone.
And it makes me appreciate playing in an all-girls tournament so much more, considering there still aren’t that many around.
They also ask about my growing rivalry with Paris, which I try to fob off, but it makes me wonder how many other people are speculating how I’ll go against her tomorrow. After the interview, I go up to my room and watch a couple of the videos of her bowling from the tournament YouTube channel. I really want to play my best against her tomorrow morning so she stops trying to intimidate me.
I’m half-way through the highlights of the Cities North game from this morning when Charlie and Ashley burst into the room laughing.
“Hey, Alice,” Charlie says, dropping onto my bed. “Heard you dropped a sitter today.”
I don’t know why, but hearing Charlie say that annoys me. “Paris put me off.”
“How?” Ashley asks. “She was playing at the same time we were.”
I put my phone on my bed and sit up. “She was fielding near where I was and she yelled out ‘Wannabe can’t catch’ just when I was about to catch the ball. It put me off.”
“That sucks,” Ashley says.
“You have to stop listening to her,” Charlie says.
“I’m trying to,” I reply. “But she just seems to be showing up everywhere I am.”
“It’s a cricket tournament, Alice,” Charlie says, rolling onto her stomach. “She’s going to be around.”
“I know that,” I snap. I take a breath. “She just goes out of her way to get in my face.”
“Well, she’s going to get in your face tomorrow,” Charlie says. “Wannabe.” She waggles her eyebrows and grins. Ashley stifles a laugh, apparently thinking Charlie is funny. I don’t.
“Don’t call me that,” I say, my jaw clenching. I can hear the annoyance in my voice, but Charlie misses it.
“It’s just a stupid name made up by a stupid person,” Charlie says.
“Well I hate it.” I can feel myself bristling, even though I know Charlie is trying to make me laugh. It’s not working.
“If you own it,” Charlie says. “It can’t affect you.”
“I don’t want to own it,” I reply, standing up and heading to the door.
Charlie puts her hands up. “Woah, Alice. Calm down.”
“I’m going for a walk,” I say. “And anyway, shouldn’t you be going back to your room? You don’t want to fraternise with the enemy.”
Charlie shrugs. “That doesn’t start until tomorrow morning.”
“Do you want us to come with you?” Ashley asks.
I shake my head. “I want to be by myself.”
I shut the door behind me and lean on it. I can hear Charlie and Ashley laughing in the room, and I don’t know why, but I feel a tightness in my chest. I don’t know what is up with Charlie, breaking her own fraternising rule. Not to mention annoying me with Paris’s stupid nickname.
I go to Karen’s room and ask if I can go and hit some balls, and she tells me I need to rest. So I ask if we can go over some footage of Paris’s bowling and come up with a strategy, and she tells me I need to stop worrying so much about what other players are doing and concentrate on myself.
Finally, I ask if I can go and visit my Nan at the nursing home. At first, Karen says no, but when I tell her it’s just a couple of blocks away, she tells me I can go as long as I’m back before lights out, and promise not to do anything cricket-related.
When I get to the nursing home, Nan is having one of her good days, and is sitting in the common room crocheting. Old George and some of his friends are watching television. Normally, visitors have to be out by eight, but Mum’s working tonight so she lets me in, making me promise not to get Nan or anyone else over-excited.
I sit down beside Nan on the lounge and pull a cushion onto my chest.
“How’s the cricket going, young Alice?” Old George asks.
“It’s okay,” I say with a shrug. “What are you making?” I ask Nan.
“Squares for a quilt the craft group is making,” Nan says, her hands a blur as she works. “Mum showed us some of your game on the interweb. They’re all girls in those other teams?”
I smile and nod. “Yes. They’re all girls.”
“So no Adam to steal your thunder,” Nan says, looking at me over her glasses with a smile, her crochet needle still going a hundred miles an hour. I don’t know how she does that without looking. Practice, I guess.
“No,” I reply. “But there is another fast bowler who’s more annoying than Adam.”
“I’m sure you’ll have her measure,” Old George says.
“She made me drop a catch today,” I say. I can feel my shoulders sagging at the thought of letting my team down.
Nan pats me on the leg. “I’m sure it’s not a big deal.”
“It could have lost us the game,” I say.
“But it didn’t though?” Old George asks.
I shake my head.
“No big deal then,” Old George nods, agreeing with Nan.
“Blast it!” Nan says, holding the square she’s working on up so she can see it better. “I miss-counted a row.” She sets it back down on her lap and keeps going.
“Do you need to fix it?” I ask.
“I could pull it apart,” Nan says. “Or I could just leave it and move on. It doesn’t need to be perfect, Alice.”
“It won’t matter?” I ask.
Nan shakes her head. “Only to me, if I let it.”
“But what about the rest of the group? Won’t it mess with their squares?”
Nan stops crocheting. “Alice, everyone working on this quilt will make mistakes, and not one of us will care.” She pulls a face. “Except for Elizabeth Stronach. She’s a perfectionist that one.” She smiles at me. “I don’t care about mistakes anymore, Alice, and neither should you.”
I don’t say anything back, because deep down, I know she’s probably right. But the thing is, one mistake could mean my dream of playing professional cricket could be over.
As Nan finishes off her crochet square, she says, “How did you go today?”
I let out a breath, realising that she’s probably just completely forgotten the conversation we’ve just had. I tell her I had a good day, and she smiles at me and puts her crochet needles and wool into her basket. She pulls me in to her side for a hug and I hug her back.
Old George switches off the television. “Lights out, young Alice,” he says as he pushes himself off the lounge chair.
I say goodnight to Old George, walk Nan back to her room, and then find Mum in her office.
“I’m off,” I say, peering around the doorway.
Mum gives me a hug. “We’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You’re coming to watch?”
Mum nods. “I got the bus, so Nan and some of the other residents are coming too. It’ll be good to get them out and about. We’re getting fish and chips for tea.”
“Nan will love that,” I say.
I lean in and give Mum another hug. When I let go, Mum says, “Everything okay?”
I nod. “Yep. I have to get back or my coach might make me run extra laps tomorrow.”
I’ve told Nan and Old George how good I am all these years, and now they’re coming to watch me play, I need to be at the top of my game.