Alice Henderson On Debut

Forty-six

Charlie's brothers are more hyperactive than Charlie is. They're so excited to see her that she has to wrestle them off of her when they jump out of the car. Except Ethan, of course, whose arm is in a sling. She gives him a hug, and then she introduces me to them all, including her dad and grandma, who's brought a huge bag full of food. Charlie's a bit embarrassed by it but I think it's the coolest thing ever.

"So this is the famous Alice Henderson," Charlie's dad says as I shake his hand.

I look at Charlie, who just grins. "That's me, I guess," I reply.

"Charlie's been talking about you non-stop," he says. "Said you're a pretty good batter."

Charlie looks down at her feet. "Dad, don't be embarrassing."

Charlie's dad laughs.

"Well, Charlie's a great wicketkeeper," I reply.

Charlie rolls her eyes and grabs her dad's arm. "Come on. I want to introduce you to the coaches and show you where you can sit."

"I guess we'll catch you later," Charlie's dad says as Charlie pulls him away.

By the time Dad arrives, it's only an hour before the game is due to start, so I don't have much time to catch up. When I get to the car, I'm surprised to see Mum and Adam are with him. No wonder he was late.

Mum wraps me up in a hug. "Couldn't miss my little girl playing in a real match," she says.

"Oh. I'm, um, not playing today."

Mum holds me out at arms length. "What do you mean you're not playing? Of course you're playing. Your father said everyone gets to play in the graduation game."

"Not today, Mum. I'm carrying the drinks."

Adam laughs his stupid laugh. "You came all the way down here to carry drinks? You could've done that at home and it would've been cheaper."

I take a step towards him to punch him, but Mum still has hold of my arm.

Dad says, "Adam, that's enough. If Alice is carrying the drinks it must mean the girls on the camp were super talented."

I know Dad means that as a compliment but Adam smirks. I can tell he wants to say something more but one look from Mum and he keeps his mouth shut. I turn my attention back to Mum. "Come on. I really want you to meet my friend Charlie and her family. They're really cool. You'll love them."

Mum lets me pull her over to where Charlie is trying to convince her Grandma that she's had plenty to eat and shouldn't have anything else so close to game time.

Charlie and I introduce our families, and leave them to decide which of Grandma Montgomery's goodies they'll try first, and head back over to our teams. Other people are starting to arrive to watch the game as well. According to Charlie, it was advertised in the local newspaper right on the inside of the back page. She's so excited that's it's hard to not be excited for her.

We both head out onto the field for our warm-ups, and as Charlie turns to head to the Brisbane team, I say, "Charlie?"

She turns back. "Yeah?"

"Have fun."

She grins. "You too. See you in the middle."

I watch as she jogs over to her team and starts warming up, like she's always been there. I swallow down the smallest twinge of jealousy and walk over to my team. Is it bad to hope that someone just accidentally twists an ankle so I get to play?