Free The Life and Times of Gracie Faltrain by Cath Crowley

and holding hands. I wanted to yell out at them, ‘You’re not meant for each other.’ I mean, who is organising all this? Why give me all those signs only to snatch Nick away at the last minute? Mum and Dad were wrong. There’s no such thing as fate. Fatal yes. Fate no.
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ANNABELLE
    Did you see those undies?
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NICK
    You have to admit, she has a great body.
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MARTIN
    Geez, Faltrain, what were you thinking, wearing those things?
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ANNABELLE
    You never see her dad. He’s left town, I bet. Ask Nick; he wasn’t there when they went on their ‘date’.
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MARTIN
    Shut up, Annabelle. Just shut your mouth about things you don’t understand.
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ALYCE
    I laugh when Annabelle tells the story in class, even though I wish everyone would just shut up and leave Gracie alone. I laugh even though it’s not funny at all.
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MARTIN
    I went looking for Faltrain after school today. I’d seen her face when she heard Annabelle talking about her dad. She looked like she’d lost everything.
    I found her at the nursery, watering the plants. All I did was talk to her about soccer and she squirts me with the hose, left me completely soaked.
    Bloody girls.
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GRACIE
    â€˜I told you before, Martin, I’m finished with soccer.’
    â€˜Just like that? The team’s going to the Championships and you’re not coming?’
    â€˜Yep.’
    â€˜Faltrain, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Play like you used to and everything will be all right.’
    â€˜I’m not feeling sorry for myself.’
    â€˜Right. Giving up soccer, waiting around for that idiot Johnson to talk to you again, that’s not feeling sorry for yourself? He doesn’t like you anymore, Faltrain. Get over it.’
    â€˜What would you know about anything, Martin? Just leave me alone.’
    What would Martin know about losing the one good thing you have? I want to go to New South Wales with them more than anything. I keep thinking about them coming back with the trophy. It has everyone’s names engraved on it. Except mine.
    Yesterday at assembly Coach introduced the Championship team to the school. One by one he called their names out. Everyone clapped. I should have been up there.
    Without Jane, without soccer, every second at school is an hour. Everything is broken. Like a bike after a run-in with a semitrailer. What would Martin know about any of that? What would anyone know?
    â€˜I know a lot, Faltrain,’ he says. And that’s when I squirt him with the hose. Just so he’ll shut up .
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JANE
    Faltrain, forget Nick. What about Martin?
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GRACIE
    There’s no way, Jane, I text back. Clearly the high altitude on the flight over has done something to her brain.
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MARTIN
    I remember once one of the guys asked what sort of a girl would play soccer on a boys’ team. She just kicked him one in his shins with her boot. I laughed my head off all the way home at the look of surprise on his face. I said to myself, now there’s a girl you don’t want to mess with.
    What does she see in Johnson? I heard him last week badmouthing her to his mates. I thought, if he says one more thing, I’ll crack his head against the wall.
    What would I know? More than you think, Faltrain. I know that getting on with it is more than just something you say. It takes guts. It takes going to sleep at night even though you know you might dream. It takes waking up, even though you know that for a second you’ll forget that she’s gone and for the rest of the day you’ll have to remember all over again.
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HELEN
    Gracie looks like a ghost at the nursery tonight. I can’t stand to watch her. Some things tell you who you are. They can’t be taken away. It’s not that simple. You have to cut them out if you’re going to leave them behind. That’s what she’s doing with soccer. What will happen when she finds out about her dad?
    I could