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time.”
    â€œOK!” Roddy felt very pleased. He hadn’t wanted to ask, in case Geno had thought Roddy only wanted to hook up with him because of his famous dad.
    â€œI know you live in Wales and I live in London, but you never know,” said Geno, keying in Roddy’s number. “You might come to London some time.”
    â€œAnd you might come to Wales,” said Roddy grinning, but that didn’t seem likely.
    â€œThere’s my car!” Geno picked up his bag and started for the door. Then he stopped andlooked back at Roddy. “Good luck,” he said seriously. “I hope you get in. You deserve to – you’re really good.”
    â€œThanks,” said Roddy. “You, too. Let me know how you get on, OK?”
    â€œOK.”
    â€œBye then.”
    â€œBye.”
    Geno went down the steps and onto the gravel drive. Roddy stood in the doorway and watched. He looked at the smart, black Mercedes Geno was heading for. Roddy had hoped to catch a glimpse of Geno’s famous father, but there was just a woman in the car. She leaned over and opened the passenger door. Geno went round to the boot and put his bag in before climbing into the front seat. He looked back at the school and waved. Roddy waved back. Then the car pulled away, and in a few moments it had gone.
    Roddy took his rucksack and sat on the steps to wait for his dad. After a few minutes, the car arrived.
    â€œHey! Roddy!”
    He turned round. It was Keira.
    â€œAre you off?”
    â€œYeah. My dad’s here.”
    â€œOh, right. Well, goodbye then. See you some time.”
    â€œYes.” Roddy wasn’t going to say it. After all, she was a rival midfielder, but then he couldn’t help himself. “Good luck,” he said.
    Keira’s face lit up and she grinned. “Good luck to you, too,” she said. “Really, I mean it.”
    â€œAnd me,” agreed Roddy. “But I must go now. Bye!”
    Roddy crossed the drive. His dad was already out of the car. He looked as if he wanted to hug his son, but although part of him wanted to do the same, Roddy held back.
    â€œWell,” said Roddy’s dad. “How was it?”
    Roddy didn’t reply until they were both in the car. He sank back in his seat and sighed. Now it had come to it, he wasn’t sure how to explain. He had so many mixed-up feelings about the past two days.
    â€œI just…” he said, searching for the right words. “I just want to go there
so
badly.” For an instant, he was afraid he might burst into tears, but that would be pathetic, so he swallowed several times and bit his lip. “It was… great,” he added and closed his eyes.
    And it
had
been great, every minute of it, a sort of paradise for football-mad people like him. He’d been so lucky to get the trial, and he was incredibly grateful for the experience. But he knew that after this glimpse of football heaven, his ordinary, humdrum existence would never be the same again.

9. The Waiting Game
    Back at home again, life felt unreal. Roddy couldn’t settle down to anything. Even playing football had lost some of its appeal. Every time he looked at a ball, Roddy started wondering when he would hear if he’d got a place at Stadium School. He did his best to wait patiently, but it was
agony
not knowing. And everyone’s lives seemed to be moving on, while his was stalled. His sister, Liz, had passed her GCSEs and was going to the local sixth-form college. And Bryn had already been shopping with his mum to buy his new Valley Comp uniform.
    â€œI got some new football boots today,” he told Roddy one afternoon. “And I need tobreak them in. Shall we have a kick about in the park?”
    â€œOK,” agreed Roddy. “I’ll go and get mine.” He was still using the ones he’d worn to the trial. “Dad said it isn’t worth getting new ones until I know where I’m