Read an Excerpt
Rainbow stuffed an orange quarter in her mouth. It was the middle of their Thursday-night footy training and the girls were all dipping into a container of cut up oranges and apples.
‘My brother’s started playing lacrosse,’ said Lucy.
Rainbow smiled, showing orange peel instead of teeth.
Lucy giggled. ‘And do you know what my dad said to him?’
‘Mmmfmf rimfrffmfmnn rimfmfmmmmrr.’ Rainbow tried to talk with her orange peel teeth. It was taking all of her control not to laugh.
‘He said, “Why are you playing La Cross? You should play La Happy!”’
Rainbow couldn’t hold her laugh in any longer. The orange peel burst out of her mouth and flew across the group of girls to land two metres away. Wiping her messy face with the back of her hand, Rainbow wondered if there was a world record in orange peel spitting, because she was pretty sure she had come close to breaking it.
Footy training was Rainbow’s second-favourite part of the week. Of course her first-favourite part was Saturdays, when they played their games and she got to lead her footy team, the Flyers, out on to the field as their captain. But it didn’t matter whether they were training or playing, being a part of the team meant this – laughing and mucking around, and never feeling weird or dumb. At school she felt like that all the time. But not with the Flyers. At footy, she could shout silly things and make up rhymes, like: CHEWY ON YOUR BOOT, SWALLOW A FLUTE, SWAP YOUR FOOTY JUMPER FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY SUIT! She could chase pigeons, do cartwheels or play Truth or Dare and always choose Dare.
‘OK FRUIT TINGLES!’’ Shawna yelled, even though she was standing right in the middle of their group. Rainbow and the other girls jumped to attention.
Shawna pulled out an iPad. ‘RIGHT. THESE ARE. THE BEST MARKS. EVER TAKEN IN FOOTY.’
The girls crowded around to get a better view of the video. Shot after shot of death-defying players, reaching for a footy high in the air as if they were hanging off invisible flying foxes. They were amazing.
‘NOW LOOK AT THE PLAYER. BENEATH THE ONE TAKIN’ THE MARK. WHAT DO YA SEE?’ Shawna asked.
The girls shuffled closer, peering at the screen.
Rainbow saw the screwed-up, straining faces of the footy players underneath the soaring player above, as they staggered and fell awkwardly, and laughed. ‘Looks like someone’s done the worst fart in the world right into their face,’ she said.
‘D’YA RECKON, RAINBOW, YOU COULD HAVE SOMEONE’S FOOTY BOOTS IN YA SHOULDERS AND KEEP SMILIN’?’ Shawna asked through her wheezy, chesty laugh. ‘WHAT ELSE DO YA SEE?’
The girls looked closer.
‘That player on the bottom must be very strong,’ Hanh observed.
‘YES!’ Shawna said, so suddenly it made Hanh jump. ‘THIS ONE ON THE BOTTOM IS STOPPIN’ THIS ONE ON TOP FROM FALLIN’ – SPLAT! – LIKE A ROTTEN TOMATO.’ Shawna paused. She did that a lot. Like she was waiting for the words to reach the girls’ ears, and travel into their brains. ‘YOU CAN DO THAT FOR EACH OTHER. WHATEVER YA DOIN’. I DON’T MEAN LIFT SOMEONE OVER YA HEAD LIKE A MUSCLE WOMAN. I MEAN, HELP EACH OTHER REACH AS HIGH AS YOU CAN. THAT’S WHAT BEIN’ IN A TEAM IS ABOUT. OK?’
The girls nodded.
Rainbow thought about how Gran was like that for her. She smiled, imagining Gran in a footy jumper, holding Rainbow up in the air so she could take a mark.
Shawna looked around. ‘NOW WHERE’S OUR CAPTAIN? RAINBOW, YOU GOT SOMETHIN’ TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE?’
‘YES, Coach!’ Rainbow pulled the crumpled notice from her pocket and read: ‘In two weeks Milly West Footy Club will be holding its major fundraiser for Junior Footy. All the teams from Under 12s down are invited to a DISCO!’
The team of girls exploded with the news. Rainbow joined in. She had never been to a disco before, but she imagined the dancing and the music, just like in a video clip, and could almost feel the beat in her arms and legs. It was thrilling to think about. Right now though, she needed to finish her important announcement.
‘And it’s fancy dress, and the theme is ROCK’N’ROLL!’ Rainbow strummed an air-guitar with one big sweeping rock’n’roll movement. It was awesome to be the person in charge of sharing such exciting news.
‘Also,’ Rainbow said, trying to give her voice a serious, listen-to-me tone. ‘The Flyers are responsible for the decorations. So, who would like to help me?
Lucy put her hand up, waving eagerly.
‘Thanks, Goosey!’ Rainbow said.
‘You can come to my house. I have heaps of paints and craft supplies,’ Lucy said.
‘AWESOME!’ Now Rainbow was going to Lucy Goosey’s house! She hadn’t expected that. It was like a cherry on top of the best ice-cream ever. At school, other girls had playdates and sleepovers and crafting days together, but she was never invited. Rainbow felt like she might burst into a million pieces from excitement.
The girls giggled and chatted like excited monkeys at the zoo. Shawna watched on, grinning. With her blue spiky hair and tattoos up and down her arms, she would fit right in at the rock’n’roll disco, even though she seemed as old as Rainbow’s gran.
Now Shawna stepped forward and took charge again. ‘RIGHTO, DANCIN’ QUEENS!’
The team immediately went quiet, and turned to her, ready for whatever came next.
‘THIS WEEK WE PLAY THE SHARKS. WE’RE ONLY TWO WEEKS. AWAY FROM THE FINALS. AND IF YOU WORK HARD. THIS CAN BE OUR YEAR. TO WIN. THE GRAND. FINAL!’ The moment Shawna said GRAND FINAL every member of the Flyers roared as though they had already won.
‘LET’S TRAIN!’ Shawna held up an old CD player and pressed play. Screechy guitar music blared through the speakers.
Rainbow laughed, waiting to hear what weird or unusual exercise Shawna had planned for them. This day their warm-up was a perfect blend of footy and dance.
‘MOVE YA BODY, AND BE READY FOR ANYTHIN’!’
Rainbow listened to the crazy music and wiggled and jerked her whole body. She loved feeling free and loose. Around her girls shook and twisted in their own way, only stopping to return the handball Shawna sent their way.
Rainbow laughed until she almost ran out of breath. Out of all the different parts of her life – boring school and the cold playground and living with Gran in their tiny flat – being a part of the Flyers was the part that fit her the best. Footy made her happier than anything else. And now she was going to Lucy Goosey’s house!
