Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jamie she’d made six goals from a similar position this season, but the angle was a little trickier here. The ref blew her whistle, and the crowd collectively held their breath.
She ran up and struck the ball with force. It arched over the opposition’s wall, out of reach of the goalkeeper, and into the top corner of the net. The stadium erupted. Everyone leaped to their feet. Jamie linked her arm around Maya, and they cheered as the Millton players celebrated on the field.
Just fifteen more minutes, and they’d be playing WSL football next year.
* * *
They were all riding the high of the Millton FC promotion as they stepped inside Hannah and Maddie’s apartment. Chris, in particular, wouldn’t stop talking. Maya seriously thought about strangling him with her Millton City scarf.
“What a game!” he enthused, kicking off his shoes at the door. “Did you see Rider’s free kick? Inch perfect.”
Maya was sick of his motormouth. She’d bitten her tongue more than a few times for Hannah’s sake, but now she was eager to get the evening over with. His last test was awaiting him in the cupboard.
Little did Jamie know, it was awaiting her too.
She and Jamie collapsed on the sofa, and Maya draped her legs over her. While Chris continued spewing word vomit at anyone who’d listen, Hannah filled and boiled the kettle. Once he’d finished talking about what qualities would make a better ref, he turned to Hannah, catching her putting a selection of Pot Noodles on the counter.
He huffed. “This isn’t what I pictured when you said leftover noodles.”
He wasn’t what I pictured when Hannah said “the nice guy from badminton” was joining us, either .
“Do you have a problem with Pot Noodles?” Maddie asked deadpan, her eyes burning into him.
Maya had to press her lips together not to laugh. All Maddie needed was a wig and gavel.
“Nuh. They’re okay. Kinda makes the pie and Hendo’s look more appealing though, eh?”
Any attempts to coax Maddie into joining his laughter were ignored. Maddie 1 – Chris 0.
“What about you?” Maddie directed at Jamie.
Maya felt her fidget under her on the sofa. She shot her a questioning glance. “I, uh, like them.”
“Oh, yeah? What flavour?”
“Sweet and sour is my favourite. What about you, Maddie?”
Without cracking a smile, she answered, “Bombay bad boy.”
“My alter ego.” Chris nudged Alex, before breaking out into bellowing laughter.
Maya didn’t even know how to respond to that. Hannah looked about ready to empty the boiling kettle on his head. Whether he ate the sandwich or not, it looked like game over. Thank the lord.
Time to rip off the plaster and get this over with.
She jumped up from the sofa, shifting Jamie’s legs off her. “Who’s up for a sandwich, then?”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She glanced at her watch. Mum. She was probably wondering how Millton City got on. Maya would call her back. There was no way she wanted to miss this .
The members of the Pot Noodle Club huddled by the counter, constructing their culinary masterpieces and trying to contain their giggles. Chris and Jamie shifted awkwardly, trying to peek over their shoulders while Alex looked on from the other side of the room.
“Should we be afraid?” Jamie asked, a bite of laughter in her voice.
“Maybe,” Hannah teased. “Depends which path you choose.” She offered up her hands, one with a sandwich and the other with the Pot Noodle.
Chris shook his head. “Hard pass.”
Jamie locked eyes with Maya, shaking her head. “I’ll take the sandwich, I guess.”
“A good choice.” They saluted sandwiches and each took a bite.
“You really not going to have anything?” Hannah asked Chris.
He scrunched up his nose. “I’ll eat at home.”
“Knew it,” Maddie muttered next to Maya. “He’s out.”
Maya lowered her voice. “He was out as soon as he started heckling the ref.”
As Chris left to “lay some pipework” in the bathroom, Hannah sank down onto the sofa with a sigh, twirling a fork in her noodles. “That’s it. It’s official. I’m going to die alone.”
“At least you have a spare Pot Noodle now,” Maddie commented. She shrugged when Hannah gave her a death stare. “What? It would be wasted on him. ”
Alex chuckled, flattening down the brown curls on his head that had shifted out of place. “You guys and this theory. It’s nuts.”
“What theory?” Jamie asked, through a mouthful of noodle sandwich.
Hannah and Maddie shared a look but didn’t answer, stuffing their mouths full instead.
Jamie turned to Maya, but she just shrugged, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. Her phone vibrated again, and she pulled it out and answered.
The soft, shallow breaths on the other end of the line made Maya’s stomach turn over.
“Maya?” The wobble in her mum’s voice cut through the air in the room. “It’s Grandpa…I need you to come home.”