Free T.J. and the Winning Goal by Theo Walcott

might decide it’s better to play the others. He might drop me
.
    And suddenly, for the first time, he really understood how Tulsi had been feeling.

C HAPTER 17
    WHEN TJ LEFT school after training his sister was waiting for him. ‘Hey, TJ,’ she said, ‘I’ll walk home with you.’
    TJ groaned. He knew he couldn’t stop her. When Lou decided to do something then she did it, whether you liked it or not. ‘Hi, Rob,’ she said, as he joined them. ‘Nice work with those girls. Did they all get in the team?’
    ‘Tulsi, Ebony and Leila did. Diane’s goalkeeper in the B team. Mr Wood’s entered them into a league. Actually, the B team could probably beat most other teams around here.’
    ‘So, who else is in the squad?’ demanded Lou. ‘I want to hear it first!’
    ‘Jamie in goal,’ replied Rob with a grin. ‘Tommy, Rodrigo and Danny in defence. You were right about Danny, TJ. He makes a lot of tackles.’
    ‘Danny got in!’ said Lou. ‘That’s great. You should see those little twins, Rob. They are so cool. I went round to Danny’s house with Mum the other day.’
    ‘What twins?’ asked Rob.
    ‘He’s got little sisters,’ said Lou. ‘He’s been looking after them lots. That’s why he wasn’t going to training. And they were keeping him up at night too, and . . . ’
    ‘And he told me not to tell anyone,’ TJ said, with a look at his sister.
    ‘So, who else is in the team then?’ said Lou after a pause.
    ‘Well, there’s Rafi in midfield and me and TJ and that’s it,’ said Rob.
    ‘You’re not saying much, TJ,’ Lou said.
    ‘He’s worrying about his place in the team.’
    ‘No way! Is that true, TJ?’
    TJ nodded. ‘You saw Ebony playing with Tulsi. Mr Wood could easily play both of them up front. Why not?’
    ‘You are a fool, little bro,’ his sister told him. ‘You’ve just spent ages helping Tulsi get back in the team because you know you need a strong squad for this tournament. And now you’ve got a strong squad, here you are moaning about it.’
    ‘You’re right,’ replied TJ. ‘I suppose I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.’
    ‘You should be,’ Lou said, smiling. ‘We’re all coming to watch and I’m expecting something big.’
    *
    The tournament was taking place on Saturday in a big city nearly a hundred miles away. The squad were going to travel there on Friday afternoon with Mr Wood and Miss Berry, leaving school at lunch time and staying the night in a Youth Centre close to the ground. On Friday morning TJ was awake long before his alarm went off. He had dreamed in the night that they had reached the final, and Ebony had scored a hat-trick. He couldn’t remember if he’d been playing or not.
    He got up and checked his kit again, then looked at his overnight bag. He had never spent the night in a strange place on his own before. Well, he knew he wouldn’t be on his own, but his mum and dad wouldn’t be there until the next day, or his gran either. He told himself he was being stupid. It was only one night. He could guess what Lou would say.
    His alarm went off, and the day began. They were eating breakfast when they heard the clatter of the letterbox. TJ’s dad came back into the kitchen with a bundle of letters in his hand. He was reading one of them.
    ‘What is it?’ asked TJ’s mum. ‘I know that look. It’s something important, isn’t it?’
    ‘No, no,’ said Mr Wilson. ‘We have to get TJ off on his big adventure. I’ll tell you about it later. Now then, TJ, are you ready? Have a good trip. We’ll see you at the ground tomorrow.’
    ‘Here,’ said his mum, squeezing a large plastic box into the top of one of his bags. ‘Snacks for the journey,’ she said, giving him a kiss. ‘Good luck, love.’
    ‘Has anyone seen Danny?’ Mr Wood asked them, when he had finished calling the register. ‘TJ, you’re his friend, aren’t you?’
    ‘He’s not here,’ TJ said. ‘Maybe he’s ill.’
    Mr Wood looked worried. ‘I hope