Grace on the Court

By Maddy Proud

Grace Parker tries to figure out how to handle the 3Bs- boys, boy bands and ball sports.

Things were simple for netball nerd Grace Parker at primary school. She was captain of her school team - and with her best friends, Stella and Mia, by her side, they won the grand final. Back then, her biggest problem was persuading her parents to buy her tickets to see Friday at Five, the world's hottest boy band.

But high school's a whole new story ... Grace's greatest rival on the court, Amber Burns, just made the same netball team as her. Her twin brother, Gus, is devastated he didn't make the A-grade AFL side. Her older brother, Tyler, is ignoring her. And as if that wasn't enough for a 13-year-old girl to handle, gorgeous aspiring rockstar Sebastian King is suddenly paying her a lot of attention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Inc. Books
• Release date: Jan 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781743820230

Maddy Proud

Maddy Proud is the co-captain of the NSW Swifts, the 2021 Super Netball Premiers, and also a member of the Australian Netball Diamonds Squad. She previously played for the Adelaide Thunderbirds, who signed her at 16, as the youngest player ever contracted in the Trans-Tasman ANZ Championships.

Book preview

Go Aussies! Grace Parker yelled at the top of her lungs.

She gazed around the packed stadium, taking in the sea of yellow and green. The Australian Diamonds were battling their arch rivals, the New Zealand Silver Ferns. It had been a nail-biter of a match. The Diamonds were down by one goal with only a few minutes left in the final quarter.

The Silver Ferns had possession of the ball and were passing it around carefully. The Diamonds needed to act fast to stop the Ferns from scoring and gaining a two-goal lead.

On the edge of the circle, the Silver Ferns’ wing attack released the ball, but just as the goal shooter moved to catch it, the Australian goal defence came flying in from the other side of the goal circle, tipping the ball just before it went into the shooter’s hands and grabbing possession of it in the air.

The crowd erupted as the Diamonds worked the ball down the court and scored. The Aussie goal defence’s turnover had kept the Diamonds’ hopes alive – the scores were now even.

That could be you one day, Mia Caminetti whispered in her best friend’s ear.

Yeah, right, replied Grace, rolling her eyes at Mia.

Grace loved netball, and she was pretty good at it – she’d even been captain of her Year 7 team. She had always dreamt of playing for the Diamonds, but she knew it was incredibly tough to get selected. Thousands of girls tried out to represent their state, let alone their country. And Grace was only thirteen. She hadn’t even tried out for a high school team yet. But still, maybe one day.

Excuse me. A woman carrying a large tray of drinks pushed roughly past Grace and Mia.

Why say excuse me if you’re going to barge through anyway? Grace thought to herself, but she tucked her legs in and smiled politely.

Mia glared at the woman’s back, and stuck her tongue out. What a cow!

Mia!

Oh, don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing, grumbled Mia.

Grace just rolled her eyes. She was used to Mia’s bluntness – and Mia was used to what she called Grace’s good girl image.

The saying ‘opposites attract’ definitely applied to Grace and Mia. Their personalities balanced each other out, with Grace the angel to Mia’s devil. In looks, the two friends were polar opposites too. Grace was tall with long brown hair and lots of freckles from all the time she spent playing netball in the sun, whereas Mia was short with jet-black hair and a fiery personality.

Grace and her twin brother, Angus, had known Mia nearly their whole life. They had attended the same childcare centre, and their parents had become close friends. While Mia and Angus were no longer quite as close, the two girls had been inseparable all through primary school, and since the age of six they had shared a love of netball too.

Shh, stop fidgeting, girls, said Grace’s mum, There’s only two minutes to go!

Grace didn’t need to be reminded twice: any mistake was costly at this point and would lose them the game. She sat forward on her seat, anxiously.

The Australians took the centre pass and scored quickly, not wasting any time. The Diamonds needed a turnover to take control of the game. The New Zealand wing attack had possession of the ball and stepped forward to feed into her team’s star goal shooter, who hadn’t missed a shot all game. The Australian goal keeper read the play perfectly and lunged in front of the shooter.

Grace and Mia gasped in appreciation – it was one of the most impressive intercepts of the game.

The Australians didn’t waste the opportunity and within seconds led by two goals.

Grace glanced up at the timer. Only ten seconds left. I think we’ve got it! She hugged Mia.

The whistle blew and the crowd erupted. Grace and Mia leapt to their feet, cheering and stamping.

What a great game! Grace’s mum yelled over the crowd.

The best – so close, Grace replied. Thanks for bringing us, Mum!

It was Grace’s mum who had introduced Grace and Mia to netball, dragging them along to her social games when they were younger. Kathy Parker had played in the district team as a teenager and was still a very skilful player.

You’re welcome, honey! she said. Now, let’s see if we can beat the crowds out of here – you two need a good sleep before your big day tomorrow.

. . . . .

On the way home, Grace’s phone buzzed.

Is that Stella? asked Mia.

Grace checked her phone. Yup.

Stella: What a game! I can’t believe I missed it :(

Grace: I know! Next time u HAVE to come!

Stella: Sure. If Mr and Mrs let’s-ruin-our-daughter’s-life let me out of the house!

Grace laughed at the exaggeration, but she really did feel sorry for her friend. Stella’s parents were both university professors and put a lot of pressure on her to do well academically. They often made her stay in to do homework while Mia and Grace hung out with their other friends on the weekends. And Stella’s parents never came to any of the social activities that Grace’s and Mia’s parents organised.

Grace: I’ll kidnap you!

Stella: Yes! Do it!!!

Stella Williams had started at Grace and Mia’s primary school only two years earlier, but it felt as if they had known each other forever. It hadn’t taken them long to discover that Stella was a netball nerd, as Mia called her. She knew every detail not only about the school competitions, but about Suncorp Super Netball and international leagues, too. She always knew who was playing who, where, how much they won by, who played which game and how many goals they shot and missed. She was great at maths and statistics came naturally to her. She and Grace – who knew everything about how the game was played – could talk for hours.

Stella had also bonded with Mia over their mutual crush on Grayson Cole, the lead singer of Friday at Five. Grace thought Grayson was pretty hot too, if she was honest, and the three friends were always sharing clips and links about their favourite band.

Stella: Still cant believe Caitlin Bassett shot at 99%! She’s #goals

Grace: I know! And Sharni had 6 intercepts!

Let me guess. You and Stella are discussing stats and who shot the most goals and who took the most intercepts and how many more turnovers the other team had and who should have got more rebounds and blah, blah, blah, Mia joked.

Just the shooting percentages and intercepts, actually, Grace replied sarcastically.

Although Mia loved netball, she just liked to play, rather than talk about it every minute of the day.

Remind her we’re meeting at your place tomorrow, said Mia, leaning over Grace’s shoulder to peer at Stella’s messages, giggling at how accurate she had been about the conversation between her two ‘netball nerd’ friends.

Tomorrow was their first day of high school. Mia hadn’t stopped talking about it all holidays. She claimed she’d been waiting for high school her whole life and she was always complaining about how other states started high school in Year 7, but South Australia was so behind the times not starting until Year 8. She kept saying she felt as though she’d outgrown everyone at primary school. Grace hoped Mia didn’t mean her and Stella!

Stella didn’t share Mia’s excitement. Grace knew her friend was worried that her parents would put even more pressure on her at high school.

As for Grace herself, she wasn’t sure how she felt about going to a new school. She had loved Oleander Primary. Apart from being captain of the netball team, she got along really well with her classmates and even her teachers. Although she was excited about the new adventure, Grace felt a little bit nervous about going to a bigger school with lots of older kids. (She’d never admit that to Mia though!) And she knew she would have a lot more competition on the court too …

Grace and Angus’s house was closest to Linwood High, so Stella and Mia had agreed to meet there and walk to school with the twins. Grace was glad she would have her friends around her on her first day.

Grace: We can discuss the kidnapping plan 2moro at Linwood!

Stella: OMG, don’t remind me. I don’t know how I’m going to survive high school!

Survive?! said Mia, peering over Grace’s shoulder to read the text. You guys just wait! This is going to be the greatest year ever!

Hurry up, Gus! I need to have a shower! Grace shouted as she banged on the bathroom door.

One minute! Angus yelled back.

I need to use it too, huffed Tyler, Grace and Angus’s older brother. Go use Mum and Dad’s shower. He pushed past Grace and began thumping repeatedly on the bathroom door.

But their shower sucks! Plus, all my stuff is in this one, Grace complained.

So? Tyler replied.

Just as Grace was about to argue back, the door opened and Angus strolled out, heading towards the kitchen. Within half a second, Tyler had bolted into the bathroom, shut and locked the door, leaving Grace standing outside with her mouth hanging open.

MUM! Tyler locked me out of the bathroom and it was my turn! Grace yelled.

Grow up, Grace! replied Tyler from behind the door. You don’t need to dob.

Grace rolled her eyes and made her way to her parents’ bathroom, knowing there was no point trying to fight with Tyler, especially so early in the morning.

Grace and Tyler had once been as close as she and Angus were now, but they had drifted apart over the last few years. Although he was only two years older and was starting Year 10 this year, in her eyes there was a lifetime between them. Tyler seemed to spend all his time either practising with his band or playing guitar in his bedroom, whereas she was always outside playing sport with Angus, who was equally sports-crazy. Grace had always admired her big brother, though, and she felt sad that they weren’t very close anymore.

Grace had loved sports ever since she could remember. Her dad was a footballer and an exercise junkie, and had her throwing and catching almost before she could walk. Sport was in her blood, and she couldn’t have been happier about it. Grace and Angus had been so keen to do well at their high school sports trials – her in netball, him in Aussie rules – that they had set up a fitness-training program in the summer holidays. Every day during their mini-Olympics, as they called it, they would compete in a different sport, making sure they kept fit and strong over their break. They mostly did it for fun – they loved being outside – but they also wanted to make sure they were ready to go when trials came around. Angus wasn’t the flashiest or most talented footballer, but what he lacked in skill (and height) he definitely made up for in effort and determination.

Just as Grace was getting dressed after her shower, her phone buzzed with a text message from Mia.

Mia: We’re here!!!

Classic Mia, thought Grace, rolling her eyes. Too lazy to even knock on the front door, I’m surprised she didn’t just Snapchat me. She quickly finished in the bathroom and yelled out to Angus that it was time to leave.

Want to walk with us? Grace asked Tyler as she passed the kitchen. He was eating toast in what seemed like slow motion.

Yeah … I’m going to go with no, Tyler replied sarcastically, clearly not impressed by the thought of walking through the school gates with his two younger siblings.

That would be total social suicide, Angus joked as he ran into the kitchen and grabbed his lunchbox. He was happy to walk with Grace and her friends, as Mia and Stella were like sisters to him and they all got along well. Plus, it was definitely better than the other option: being dropped off by his mum in her mini-van.

Grace and Angus left the house, leaving their grumpy older brother to be late by himself. Okay, this is it, Gracie. Our lives are about to change forever, Mia announced dramatically as soon as the twins came outside.

Was that lipgloss on Mia’s lips? Wow, we are SO different, Grace thought to herself. Mia focused a lot more on her appearance than her best friends did. She always read fashion magazines and knew which clothes and accessories to buy when they went shopping. She had obviously got better at applying