glory hunter,’ said Abs.
The rest of us looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
‘What?’ asked Abs, looking confused.
‘Cabbage-faced?’ said Chris. ‘Where’d you get that . . .?’
At lunch time I didn’t wait for the other lads. I was starving and they wouldn’t hurry up. Instead they were having the same conversation as before, about the Premier League and what had happened over the weekend. Only this time Chris was talking about
our
favourite team, Liverpool FC. I was the first to get to the dinner hall and I went straight for the sausages and chips – my favourite. The dinner lady knew me and she was really nice.
‘Do you want an extra sausage and some more chips, love?’ she asked me.
‘Yes please, Miss Jones!’ I said.
She gave me three fat sausages and a pile of chips. My plate looked like it had a small mountain of food on it. The smell was amazing and I’d put loads of tomato ketchup on it too! My stomach was rumbling even before I’d sat down. By the time the other lads had joined me, I was nearly halfway through my lunch.
‘We wondered where you’d gone,’ said Chris as they sat down with their lunches too.
‘I was
hungry
,’ I explained. ‘And besides, you were talking about the same things as before.’
‘Abs was saying Liverpool are rubbish,’ Chris told me.
‘They
are
!’ said Abs through a mouthful of pizza. Bits of it flew out and landed all over the table.
‘
Ehhh!
’ said Jason. ‘Can’t you wait until after you’ve swallowed your food?’ he asked. ‘My mum would kill me if I did that.’
‘She’s not here though, is she?’ replied Abs.
‘That’s not the point,’ said Jason, going red and looking a bit angry.
‘Oh, stop arguing,’ I told them. ‘Let’s talk about something else . . .’
‘Yeah, like how your team was lucky to beat Aston Villa four–nil on Sunday,’ said Jason, his face becoming one big silly grin.
Despite not wanting to talk about the weekend I couldn’t help myself. Jason was talking about Liverpool and they were my favourite thing ever. There wasn’t a song or a TV show that matched them. There was no way he was going to get away with it, even though we spent ages every day winding each other up.
‘
Lucky?
’ I asked. ‘How can it be
lucky
when we scored four goals?
Four!
’
I held up four fingers to show Jason exactly what I meant.
‘Lucky . . .’ replied Jason, only this time he said it quietly.
‘EAT YOUR LUNCHES IN SILENCE!’ came a shout from behind us.
We didn’t need to look to know who it was. It was Mr Williams, the deputy headmaster, and he was always shouting at everyone.
‘I bet he even shouts at home,’ said Chris in a whisper.
I nodded.
‘
Get me my slippers! Where’s my toast?
’ Chris said in a slightly louder voice.
‘I feel sorry for his wife,’ said Jason.
‘He’s too ugly to have a wife,’ added Abs.
We laughed as quietly as we could manage and then I went back to worrying about the football trials.
Chapter 2
Tuesday
WE SPENT THE whole of the next day talking about the football trials, which started straight after school.
‘I hope I can play in my best position,’ Abs said during morning break. ‘I love being a striker!’
‘What – from the bench? Because that’s where you’ll be watching us play from!’ asked Chris, before opening a bag of cashew nuts. He was always eating nuts.
‘Leave it,’ said Abs. ‘Your jokes are rubbish .’ He pulled a face.
‘Like
your
jokes?’ replied Chris. ‘You tell some of the unfunniest jokes in the world.’
‘I don’t think “unfunniest” is a proper word,’ Jason said.
‘Yes it is – my sister uses it,’ replied Chris, throwing a cashew nut at Jason.
Jason dodged and the nut flew past his head. ‘Oi!’ he shouted as Chris smirked.
‘Bet it’s not in the dictionary,’ continued Abs, still going on about the word ‘unfunniest’.
‘You think the other players will be better
The rest of us looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
‘What?’ asked Abs, looking confused.
‘Cabbage-faced?’ said Chris. ‘Where’d you get that . . .?’
At lunch time I didn’t wait for the other lads. I was starving and they wouldn’t hurry up. Instead they were having the same conversation as before, about the Premier League and what had happened over the weekend. Only this time Chris was talking about
our
favourite team, Liverpool FC. I was the first to get to the dinner hall and I went straight for the sausages and chips – my favourite. The dinner lady knew me and she was really nice.
‘Do you want an extra sausage and some more chips, love?’ she asked me.
‘Yes please, Miss Jones!’ I said.
She gave me three fat sausages and a pile of chips. My plate looked like it had a small mountain of food on it. The smell was amazing and I’d put loads of tomato ketchup on it too! My stomach was rumbling even before I’d sat down. By the time the other lads had joined me, I was nearly halfway through my lunch.
‘We wondered where you’d gone,’ said Chris as they sat down with their lunches too.
‘I was
hungry
,’ I explained. ‘And besides, you were talking about the same things as before.’
‘Abs was saying Liverpool are rubbish,’ Chris told me.
‘They
are
!’ said Abs through a mouthful of pizza. Bits of it flew out and landed all over the table.
‘
Ehhh!
’ said Jason. ‘Can’t you wait until after you’ve swallowed your food?’ he asked. ‘My mum would kill me if I did that.’
‘She’s not here though, is she?’ replied Abs.
‘That’s not the point,’ said Jason, going red and looking a bit angry.
‘Oh, stop arguing,’ I told them. ‘Let’s talk about something else . . .’
‘Yeah, like how your team was lucky to beat Aston Villa four–nil on Sunday,’ said Jason, his face becoming one big silly grin.
Despite not wanting to talk about the weekend I couldn’t help myself. Jason was talking about Liverpool and they were my favourite thing ever. There wasn’t a song or a TV show that matched them. There was no way he was going to get away with it, even though we spent ages every day winding each other up.
‘
Lucky?
’ I asked. ‘How can it be
lucky
when we scored four goals?
Four!
’
I held up four fingers to show Jason exactly what I meant.
‘Lucky . . .’ replied Jason, only this time he said it quietly.
‘EAT YOUR LUNCHES IN SILENCE!’ came a shout from behind us.
We didn’t need to look to know who it was. It was Mr Williams, the deputy headmaster, and he was always shouting at everyone.
‘I bet he even shouts at home,’ said Chris in a whisper.
I nodded.
‘
Get me my slippers! Where’s my toast?
’ Chris said in a slightly louder voice.
‘I feel sorry for his wife,’ said Jason.
‘He’s too ugly to have a wife,’ added Abs.
We laughed as quietly as we could manage and then I went back to worrying about the football trials.
Chapter 2
Tuesday
WE SPENT THE whole of the next day talking about the football trials, which started straight after school.
‘I hope I can play in my best position,’ Abs said during morning break. ‘I love being a striker!’
‘What – from the bench? Because that’s where you’ll be watching us play from!’ asked Chris, before opening a bag of cashew nuts. He was always eating nuts.
‘Leave it,’ said Abs. ‘Your jokes are rubbish .’ He pulled a face.
‘Like
your
jokes?’ replied Chris. ‘You tell some of the unfunniest jokes in the world.’
‘I don’t think “unfunniest” is a proper word,’ Jason said.
‘Yes it is – my sister uses it,’ replied Chris, throwing a cashew nut at Jason.
Jason dodged and the nut flew past his head. ‘Oi!’ he shouted as Chris smirked.
‘Bet it’s not in the dictionary,’ continued Abs, still going on about the word ‘unfunniest’.
‘You think the other players will be better
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