Hot Prospect by Cindy Jefferies Read Free Book Online Page A

school. But staff members were waiting to collect the used kit. Reluctantly, Roddy handed it over and went for his shower wondering if he’d
ever
have the chance to play in the blue and green again?

6. School Life
    At lunch, Roddy and Geno sat at a table opposite Keira. She was with two girls Roddy hadn’t met before, who had been playing in other matches.
    â€œThis is great food!” said Keira through a mouthful of chicken pie. “Does anyone know what we’re doing next?”
    â€œSwimming?” said Roddy, trying to remember what was on the itinerary.
    â€œAren’t we meeting in the hall?” said Polly, one of the girls with Keira. “Someone said the headmaster was going to talk to us.”
    â€œBor…ing,” said the other girl, Tanni.
    Keira frowned. “The talk might be interesting,” she said.
    Polly shrugged, and turned to Roddy. “How did you get on in your match?” she asked. “We saw the ambulance from where we were. It was really unsettling. Poor girl, I hope she’s OK.”
    â€œMr Jenkins said she would be,” Roddy said. “But it was hard to get back into the game afterwards. I think everyone was shaken up.”
    â€œWhat position do you play?” asked Tanni.
    Roddy told her and she grinned. “Me, too,” she said. “And so do you, don’t you, Keira?”
    Keira nodded and Tanni smiled again. “There are lots of midfielders here,” she said. “Did you score any goals?”
    Roddy shook his head. “No, I only got one shot on target and it hit the post.”
    â€œShame,” said Tanni, looking pleased rather than sympathetic. “I got one in and had several shots at goal. Quality always shows,” she bragged.
    â€œWell, if we hadn’t been down to ten players…” said Roddy. But he left the comment hanging. There was no point in arguing over who had been best. It was Mr Jenkins who would decide.
    â€œCome on, let’s find a good seat in the hall,” said Keira, getting to her feet.
    â€œOK,” agreed Roddy. “Come on, Geno, leave that!”
    Geno had been concentrating on eating. He scowled at Roddy, scraped up the last bit of potato, then put his knife and fork tidily at the edge of his plate, making Roddy wait. “OK,” he said at last, with an infuriating grin, glancing at Roddy’s messy, abandoned plate.
    Roddy grinned back. Geno might be slightly built, but he obviously wasn’t the type to be pushed around.
    There was still plenty of room in the hall, so they got good seats near the front. After afew minutes, Mr Jenkins came in, accompanied by a man dressed in a dark suit.
    â€œHello, everyone,” said the man in the suit. “My name is Paul Wender, and I’m the head of Stadium School.”
    Roddy was surprised. He had assumed that the head would be wearing blue and green like everyone else, but he was dressed like a bank manager.
    â€œI hope you all enjoyed the trial this morning,” the head went on. “Mr Jenkins tells me that the standard this year is very high, which is terrific. We like to keep ahead in the league we play in, but as more and more top clubs improve their youth squads, the opposition is getting tougher.”
    â€œWe accept about 50 students each year,” Mr Wender told them. “And as there are almost 100 people here today, unfortunately many of you won’t get places. I’m sorry wecan’t take more. However,” he went on, “those of you who miss out mustn’t think of yourselves as failures. Just to have been offered a trial here means you have heaps of talent. If you’re serious about making it as a professional footballer then you still have a chance that a club will sign you at some point. And if you think you’ve performed badly this morning, don’t give up hope quite yet,” he said.
    Roddy crossed his fingers, and Geno did the same.
    â€œYou