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I’m the last to leave the dressing room because I needed time to cool down and think. Karen suggests that I get Ashley to bowl to me in the nets more. I have a handle on fast bowling, except for Paris, of course, but Karen thinks spin seems to be a bit of a weakness.
I collect my bag and head out to the team bus, determined to put that ball behind me. As I round the corner, I run smack bang into Paris and her new bowling posse.
She sneers. “Tough luck, Wannabe.”
I step aside but she follows me.
“Not as good as you think you are, are you?” Paris says, getting right up into my face. “Even a no-name wicketkeeper from the middle of nowhere can get you out.”
Her posse snickers and it takes all my strength not to give her a shove. Instead I stand there like an idiot, not saying anything.
“Nothing to say?” Paris asks, leaning closer.
“Shove off,” I reply, and try to walk past her again. She sticks out her arm to stop me and I bat it away. My jaw is clenched so hard I’m probably going to crack a tooth.
“What do you want, Paris?” I ask.
Paris huffs out a laugh and looks at her posse, who all laugh and giggle with her. I really do not like Paris one little bit.
She doesn’t say anything for what seems like ages. Then she lowers her voice and says, “You’re not as good as you think.”
I’m trying to think of a comeback and work out how I’m going to get past her when Charlie and Ashley rush over.
“Hey, get lost,” Charlie says, standing beside me.
For some reason, seeing Charlie and Ashley together again, and having Charlie step in between me and Paris, again, doesn’t make me feel any better.
Paris and her posse turn and walk away without saying another word.
“You okay?” Ashley asks.
I throw my bag over my shoulder and stalk towards the buses. “Fine.”
“Hey,” Charlie calls, rushing to keep up. “Sure?”
I stop abruptly and turn. “I said I’m fine.”
Charlie puts her hands up. “Woah, Alice. Okay.”
Ashley touches Charlie on the arm. “I’ll catch up with you later. I’ll see you on the bus, Alice.”
Once Ashley is gone, Charlie says, “She’s just trying to get into your head, you know that right?”
I don’t reply.
“Because you’re a threat,” Charlie continues. “If she didn’t think you were good, she wouldn’t even care about you.”
When I don’t reply, Charlie says, “Come on. The buses will leave without us. And that means we’ll miss out on dessert.” She turns to walk away.
“Are you two swapping tactics now?” I ask.
Charlie stops dead and turns around. “What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Charlie shakes her head. “Paris has obviously upset you.”
“It’s got nothing to do with Paris.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Charlie crosses her arms and cocks her head. “You’re angry with me for getting you out.”
“You cheated to do it,” I reply.
Charlie snorts. “Cheated? How?”
“I knew you were competitive, but to go and get info from opposition bowlers, that takes the cake.”
“Inside info? From who?”
“Ashley!” I reply, waving madly in the direction of the team bus. “She wasn’t giving you interview questions, she was telling you how to get me out.”
Charlie has the audacity to laugh at me. “You’re so far away from what’s going on that you’re not even in the same suburb,” Charlie says. She turns to walk away. “I’m not going to talk to you when you’re like this, Alice. Let me know when you’ve calmed down.”
I stomp after her. She’s not going to leave until she admits Ashley told her how to get me out. “Calm down? You stumped me before I even got a chance to get going.”
Charlie spins back around. “That’s not my fault.”
“You could’ve dropped the ball.”
“What? Deliberately let you off the hook so you could get your eye in? Never going to happen.”
“The people that came today? They came because of my batting. MY batting.”
Charlie yells back. “And you think that somehow makes you immune to getting out?”
“No but—“
“We’re not playing backyard cricket, Alice. There aren’t any second chances.”
“I don’t expect second chances.”
“No. You’re just expecting me to not play my best so that you can have a chance to play your best.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t want to play pro. Or at least, that’s what you keep telling me.”
“And why does that make you matter more than me?” Charlie yells.
I throw my hands into the air. “Because I’m the one who wants to make it big. I’m the one who needs to impress the coaches.”
Charlie’s face hardens. “So you want everyone to just not play well so you can shine? If that’s what you want, go back to playing Seconds.”
“Oh, real funny.”
Charlie doesn’t speak for a moment and then she lets out a long breath. She lowers her voice. “Alice, I don’t know what you think is supposed to happen this week, but just because you’re apparently the face of the tournament doesn’t give you the right to demand how other people play.”
I now know exactly what Charlie’s problem is. “You’re jealous.”
Charlie snorts. “I’m nowhere even close to jealous.”
“Yes you are.”
“You can’t even see past your own ego,” Charlie says, shaking her head.
“My ego? You were the one who wrote the articles that got me the attention.”
“Because I wanted to help you get noticed.”
“Well, I am getting noticed. And I don’t think you can handle it.”
“You’re just...” She chews on her lip. “You don’t even read them so why do you care anyway?”
“Yes I—“
“I can’t believe what you’re turning in to.”
I can feel my jaw tightening. I can’t believe Charlie would speak to me like this. “What, Charlie? What am I turning into?”
Charlie looks away, like she can’t even look at me anymore. “An entitled brat who thinks they’re too good for everyone else.”
“That’s what you think?”
“Everyone thinks that.”
“Everyone? Who’s everyone?”
Charlie doesn’t say anything.
“Come on. Who else thinks that?” Charlie doesn’t reply and I guess that’s my answer anyway. “Fine. Go write articles about someone else then.”
I can see the hurt in Charlie’s eyes, but right now, I don’t really care. She looks like she wants to say something, but then she just shakes her head and pushes past me.
I turn around only to see Mum, Nan and Old George standing there, mouths open. I guess they heard everything between me and Charlie, but I don’t wait around to find out. I stalk off toward the gate. I don’t know where I’m going but I need to clear my head. I don’t want to be on the team bus right now because it means I have to see Ashley, and I have no idea what to even say to her.