On the way to school on Monday, it was so cloudy it was almost dark.
Leo and Calum didn’t notice the weather, though. All they could talk about was the trial and who would get picked for Caleytown’s first match, a friendly against local rivals Muckleton. When Calum looked them up on Scotland Stars F.C., he found out Muckleton had only lost one game all of last year.
They joined the rest of the trialists on their way to the sports noticeboard to see if the team list was up.
Calum’s heart sank before he even saw the sheet. Jordan was standing with his chest puffed out and his collar turned up.
“It’s Clown-Shoes Calum,” Jordan said, a little too loudly. “Look! You’ve been picked in your best position, left-back… left back in the changing room!” Jordan laughed at his own joke.
Lewis, Janek and some of the other players wouldn’t look at Calum.
Leo and Calum caught sight of the team sheet.
Even though he’d played so well, Calum was still a sub. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t even close to being fair.
Calum walked to class with his head down. His shoelace had come undone, but he didn’t care.
“Don’t worry, Calum… it’s rolling subs, I’m sure you’ll get a chance. Plus we’ve got training after school, remember? You can change the coach’s mind then,” said Leo as they walked into their classroom.
Calum could only nod in reply. His best position was up front, but he didn’t think Mr McPride would ever leave Jordan out for him.
“Glad you could join us, lads!” an unfamiliar voice said.
Leo and Calum looked up to see a man with a mop of brown hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a corduroy suit.
“Take a seat. I’m your new teacher,” the man said. He pointed to the board where he had scrawled his name, in huge messy letters.
