‘Oh, really?’ Maddi says, instantly looking down at her plate. ‘Is it that soon?’

  There’s something weird about the way Maddi says this. I can’t put my finger on what it is, but it’s a very un-Maddi response. My sister loves her family as much as she loves shopping, so what’s with the disinterested tone?

  ‘Wow, I had no idea you’ve been married that long,’ Levi adds.

  ‘Twenty-five years,’ Mum says. ‘My goodness that has gone so fast.’

  ‘Your mother was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen,’ Dad says, smiling at Mum. ‘And she fell head over heels in love the minute she laid eyes on me.’

  ‘I think it might have been the other way around actually,’ Mum says, her eyes twinkling. ‘As I recall, you literally did fall. Almost right into my lap. Remember?’

  Dad laughs. ‘It was all part of my devious plan!’

  The four of us Kerr kids have heard this story a million times, but Maddi, Levi and I all smile and laugh in all the right places as Mum and Dad continue to reminisce.

  Twenty minutes later, I walk into my bedroom to find our chocolate brown kelpie, Penny, lying on my bed, waiting for me. Just as I’m closing the door behind me, it flies open again, scaring the life out of me.

  ‘Hey!’ I shout.

  Totally ignoring me, Maddi and Levi come all the way in and shut the door.

  ‘Shush!’ Maddi orders.

  ‘Yeah, shush!’ Levi hisses.

  ‘What?’ I frown. My older brother and sister NEVER come into my room. Maddi says it stinks of dirty socks and dog. To be fair, Penny does sleep on my bed every night, and she does enjoy a good roll in the grass, so she can be pretty stinky sometimes. I don’t mind though. I’d rather have a stinky Penny on my bed than no Penny on my bed at all.

  ‘Why do I have to shush?’ I say, folding my arms and glaring at them.

  ‘Because we don’t want Mum and Dad to know we’re in here,’ Maddi says, pushing a pile of soccer magazines off my green fluffy stool in the corner and sitting down. Levi plonks himself down on the floor and leans against my wardrobe.

  ‘Okay, what’s going on?’ I ask.

  ‘We’re organising a surprise party for Mum and Dad’s wedding anniversary,’ Maddi says.

  ‘Really?’ I say, flopping on my bed to stare at them.

  ‘My idea,’ Levi says, puffing his chest out proudly.

  ‘No, it wasn’t,’ Maddi snaps. ‘It was mine!’

  ‘Anyway, what’s the plan?’ I say, interrupting before they get stuck in a ‘No, you didn’t’, ‘Yes, I did’ loop.

  ‘So, their anniversary is on the fourteenth, which is a Friday,’ Maddi begins. ‘Daniel is going to take them to a fancy afternoon tea somewhere in the city so they’re out of the house when we get home from school. Then we’ll have a couple of hours to get the house ready for the surprise party.’

  ‘That’s why we had to pretend we hadn’t remembered when Dad said it at dinner,’ Levi says, who is obviously very happy with his acting skills.

  ‘I’m in charge of the invites,’ Maddi continues. ‘Levi is organising the food. Daniel is getting drinks sorted and you’re in charge of picking a theme for the decorations.’

  ‘A theme?’ I splutter. ‘But I don’t know anything about party themes or decorations!’

  Levi shrugs. ‘So, do some research.’

  ‘We’re all pitching in,’ Maddi says in her stern ‘trying to sound like Mum’ voice. ‘And you can’t give anything away to Mum and Dad, okay? It’s a surprise.’

  ‘Yeah, I know what surprise means,’ I say, rolling my eyes, as Maddi and Levi get up to leave.

  As soon as they close the door behind them I turn to Penny. ‘An anniversary party theme? I have no clue!’

  But Penny just blinks up at me, her tongue hanging out of her mouth, and lays one paw on my leg as if to say, ‘Yep. I hear ya, sister.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  MY SCHOOL

  THURSDAY

  9.45 am

  ‘What is it?’ Abbie frowns at the piece of paper I’ve just slid across the table to her.

  ‘It’s a petition to let us have a soccer match on Sports Day,’ I whisper.

  ‘Soccer?’ Abbie screws up her face. ‘Who cares about soccer?’

  Everything in my body wants to scream, ‘I DO!’ but I try to keep my voice friendly. ‘It’s actually a really cool sport,’ I say quietly. ‘I reckon everyone would love it if they –’

  ‘SAM KERR!’

  I look up to see Mr Morton glaring at me over his black-rimmed frames. I quickly cover the petition by sliding my English folder over the top of it.

  ‘Sorry, Mr Morton,’ I say.

  ‘Silent reading means being SILENT,’ he says. ‘Do you think you can manage that?’

  I can hear Indi snorting into her sleeve at the table behind me but I don’t dare turn around or I’ll burst out laughing, too. Then I’ll be in even worse trouble than I already am.

  ‘Yes, Mr Morton,’ I mutter, swallowing down the giggle burbling around in my throat.

  Mr Morton turns away again, and I look down at my book. But the words all blur into one. I can’t concentrate. All I can think about is how to convince Abbie and everyone else in Grade Six to sign my ‘Starting a Soccer Team for Sports Day’ petition.

  Once I’m sure that Mr Morton is distracted with his work again, I slowly and quietly slide the sheet across to Josh who is sitting on the other side of the table.

  ‘Hey, can you sign this?’ I whisper.

  Without even checking to see what it is, Josh picks up his pen and signs his name under Dylan’s.

  I don’t believe it. How easy was that!

  ‘Thanks!’ I mouth as he slides it back.

  ‘What is it?’ he whispers.

  I hold the sheet up and point to the title at the top. Josh’s brow instantly furrows.

  ‘I hadn’t planned on playing anything… but I guess… maybe…’

  ‘Thanks, Josh!’ I say, quickly slipping the sheet inside my folder before he grabs it back to rub his name out. Anyway, once he starts training and realises how cool soccer is, he’ll thank me.

  As soon as the bell goes for recess, I head straight for Chelsea’s table. Chelsea is usually a bit calmer after silent reading so this morning I decided that today was the day to ask her to sign.

  I place the sheet down in front of her. ‘Hey, can you sign this please? I’m trying to get Miss McLeish to include a soccer match as part of Sports Day.’

  Chelsea glances at the sheet then back up at me with a sickly sweet smile on her face. My heart sinks. I know what that fake smile means.

  ‘Nup,’ she chirps. ‘I’m not signing that.’

  Nikita leans over to take a look. ‘What is it?’ she asks.

  ‘It’s a petition,’ I say, trying not to sound as desperate as I feel. ‘I need a bunch of signatures to take to Miss McLeish.’

  I turn back to Chelsea. ‘I thought you’d want to play soccer on Sports Day since you, ya know, play it and all.’

  Chelsea shrugs. ‘I don’t want to sign it,’ she says, standing up. ‘Come on, Nik.’

  The two of them walk out and I stare after them in total disbelief. Indi appears behind me and slings her arm around my shoulders.

  ‘What is wrong with her?’ I say, turning to Indi. ‘Why won’t she sign it?’

  ‘She doesn’t want you taking the glory for creating the first school soccer team,’ Indi says matter-of-factly. ‘You know what Chelsea’s like.’

  ‘But she PLAYS soccer! I thought she’d want to show off her skills in front of the whole school!’

  ‘Nah,’ Indi says, shaking her head. ‘She’d hate for you to show her up in front of everyone.’

  ‘Yep,’ Dylan says, popping up next to Indi and shaking his head. ‘That’s Chelsea. The consummate attention-seeker.’

  I have no idea what ‘consummate’ means, but I know my friends are right. I probably have zero chance of getting Chelsea to sign my petition.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ I moan to my friends. ‘We only have five signatures, including mine and Dylan’s, and we have to get this petition to Miss McLeish in a week. That’s not enough time!’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  MY SCHOOL

  FRIDAY

  4.15 pm

  The following afternoon I’m still wracking my brain to think of a way to get more signatures while I wait for Indi to come out of her Peter Pan audition. I wanted to be there to give her moral support in case it all went badly, which I’m 99.999 per cent sure it won’t.

  Sitting alone in the quiet schoolyard is actually the perfect time to think about my petition problem.

  Maybe I could offer a free chocolate bar with every signature?

  Nah… there’s no way my pocket money would cover that.

  What if I organised for the whole Perth soccer team to come and do a demo at the school to prove how awesome it is?

  Nah, probably not. I don’t have any of the players’ phone numbers.

  ‘SAM!’

  Indi runs down the steps, glowing with happiness. A dozen or so other kids trail behind her.

  I stand up and grin. ‘So, from the look on your face, I’m guessing you totally nailed it in there?’

  ‘Ssshhh!’ Indi says, pulling me away from the rest of the kids. ‘I don’t know yet. They didn’t tell us who got what parts, but…’

  ‘But?’

  She looks around to make sure no one can hear. ‘But yeah, I totally nailed it!’

  ‘YES!’ I shout.

  We high-five and I launch into two backflips on the grass, one after another, before running back to throw my arms around her shoulders.

  Indi laughs. ‘Man, I hope I get it.’

  ‘Of course you will,’ I say. I’ve watched Indi act heaps of times and she’s a natural. How could she not get the role?

  ‘It was SO much fun!’ she says as we walk out of the school gate and onto the street. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to audition, too? Maybe for a Lost Boy or a pirate? I could totally see you sword-fighting your way across the stage!’

  ‘Nah, I’m good thanks,’ I say.

  ‘Maybe I can talk Dylan into auditioning,’ Indi says. ‘Miss Mitchell said they need more boys in the show.’

  ‘No way! He’d be even more freaked out than me!’

  ‘Probably,’ Indi says. ‘Hey, do you reckon he got any more signatures on the petition?’

  ‘I hope so…’

  As I went off to wait for Indi, Dylan said he’d stand at the school gate and try to get some more signatures as kids headed home. I’m worried he might not have been pushy enough. Or that he would have used his big words that no one understands. That would definitely put people off.

  ‘Come on,’ Indi says, pulling me along the street. ‘He’ll be at my place soon so we can find out how many he got.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  INDI’S HOUSE

  FRIDAY

  4.40 pm

  ‘Three?’ I groan. ‘Only three more signatures?’ I slump onto the floor. That makes it just eight in total, which is nowhere near the twenty-two we need.

  Indi throws her bag next to the couch then sits cross-legged next to me, her knee touching mine.

  ‘I tried to get more,’ Dylan says, still standing in the doorway to Indi’s lounge room, ‘but as soon as I said the word “soccer” everyone screwed up their faces like I’d just offered them a poo sandwich.’

  Dylan grabs a handful of Cheezels out of the bowl on the coffee table and collapses into the velvet bean bag in the corner.

  ‘Why is everyone hating on soccer?’ I say, throwing my hands up.

  Dylan raises one eyebrow. ‘Don’t you remember how you recoiled when I first asked you to play soccer at the start of this year?’ he says, shoving three whole Cheezels in his mouth.

  ‘Yeah, okay,’ I mutter. Dylan’s right. I’d never given soccer a second thought until earlier this year. I’d been playing footy since I was seven and was an AFL girl through and through.

  Suddenly Indi sighs loudly enough to put out a small fire and falls backwards onto the grey fluffy rug, arms splayed out at her sides, in typical dramatic Indi style.

  ‘Okay, I’ll sign up,’ she says.

  Dylan and I stare at her.

  ‘You?’ I say.

  ‘Yeah, why not,’ she says, sitting up.

  ‘But… you… don’t… know… anything… about… soccer.’ I speak really slowly, the way I do when I want Penny to understand what I’m saying.

  ‘Neither did you a few months ago,’ Indi says.

  ‘But you… I mean, you’re not…’ Dylan says, looking as shocked as I feel.

  ‘Sporty?’ Indi says. ‘I know, but last term you both came to my acting class, right? Even though I know you HATE getting up in front of people. So, why can’t I play sport for you now? That’s how it’s supposed to work with friends, right?’

  Part of me is totally grateful to my best friend for wanting to help us out like this, but a bigger part knows that Indi can barely catch or throw a ball, let alone kick one along the grass in a straight line.

  ‘Well, I don’t know if…’

  Indi explodes. ‘I thought you needed names! I’m trying to help you out!’

  ‘I’ve got it!’ Dylan slaps the bean bag making us both jump. ‘What if Indi was a goalie?’

  ‘Uh…’

  ‘What does a goalie do?’ Indi asks.

  ‘Stands in front of the net and tries to stop balls going into it,’ Dylan says.

  Indi nods firmly as if it’s a done deal. ‘Cool, I can do that,’ she says.

  I’m still not 100 per cent convinced that this is a good idea, but I’m also not in any position to say no to someone who wants to sign our petition.

  ‘Okay,’ I say. ‘Deal!’

  ‘Hey, gang!’

  Indi’s mum, Mrs Pappas, enters the loungeroom wearing denim overalls and holding some kind of dirt-covered gardening tool in her hand.

  ‘Hi Mrs Pappas,’ Dylan and I chime in unison.

  ‘Hey Mum, guess what?’ Indi says proudly. ‘I’m gonna be a goalie on the school soccer team.’

  Mrs Pappas bursts out laughing, then stops when she notices her daughter’s hurt expression.

  ‘Oh, sorry darling,’ she says, leaning down to stroke Indi’s auburn curls. ‘I thought you were joking. I’m sure you’ll be fovero!’

  Indi rolls her eyes, but I can tell she’s not as upset as she’s pretending to be.

  ‘Shall I order the pizza now?’ Mrs Pappas asks. ‘Same as usual?’

  We all nod vigorously. ‘Yes, please!’

  Every third Friday night, Dylan, Indi and I have a pizza and movie night at one of our houses and our orders never change. It’s a Capricciosa for Dylan, Margherita with salami for Indi, and Pepperoni for me.

  ‘Hey!’ Dylan slaps the bean bag again, making us jump for the second time in two minutes.

  ‘Will you stop doing that?’ I say.

  ‘Sorry,’ Dylan says, then turns to Indi. ‘How did the audition go?’

  ‘She was fantastikós!’ Mrs Pappas cries.

  ‘Mum!’ Indi squeals. ‘You weren’t even there! And I was not fantastic.’

  ‘Of course you were!’ Mrs Pappas grabs one of Indi’s cheeks with her spare hand and squeezes it. ‘My little Nicole Kidman!’

  Dylan and I rock with laughter as Indi squirms out of her mum’s grasp.

  ‘You do kind of resemble Nicole Kidman,’ Dylan says. ‘You have the same curly hair.’

  Indi rolls her eyes. ‘Yeah, if Nicole Kidman was Greek and wore glasses,’ she says, but I can tell she’s flattered by the comparison.

  ‘Nicole Kidman wishes she was Greek,’ Indi’s brother George says as he enters the room and grabs a handful of Cheezels.

  ‘George!’ says Mrs Pappas. ‘Those aren’t for you!’

  ‘Sorry,’ he says, grinning at me as he shoves a whole handful in his mouth.

  ‘Come on,’ Mrs Pappas says, pushing George towards the door. ‘I need you to come and help me move some of the outdoor pots before Dad gets home.’

  ‘He won’t be happy,’ George says, shaking his head.

  The two of them walk out and I smile at the thought of Mr Pappas coming home and finding that his wife has moved all his pot plants around. Uh-oh. That reminds me. I haven’t even thought about the theme for my mum and dad’s party yet.

  ‘I need your help,’ I say, turning back to my friends.

  ‘We know, Sam!’ Indi says. ‘We’re trying to think of a way to get more signatures!’

  I shake my head. ‘No, I have ANOTHER problem.’

  ‘Oh, geez,’ Dylan drops his head in his hands. ‘What now?’

  ‘Do either of you have any theme ideas for my mum and dad’s surprise anniversary party?’ I ask. ‘Maddi and Levi put me in charge, and I have no idea where to –’

  ‘Oh my god,’ Indi squeals, leaping to her feet and clapping her hands together. ‘I have LOADS of ideas! Wait, just let me grab my design scrapbook!’

  She runs out of the room and Dylan and I turn to stare at each other in amazement.

  ‘Did she just say “scrapbook”?’

  ‘Um, yeah. She did,’ Dylan says, looking just as confused as me.

  ‘Wow,’ I say. ‘Our best friend is a scrapbooker. Who knew?’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE KNIGHTS’ HOME ground

  SATURDAY

  3.15 pm

  ‘Ky, just remember to be aware of where your teammates are. You had a great opportunity to get the ball to Jai near goal at one point,’ Ted says. ‘Dylan, great work anticipating where the ball was going. And fantastic passing, Archie and Sam. Chelsea, excellent defence!’

  It’s half-time in our game against the Avengers, and the score is 1–2 their way. Noah has scored our only goal so far, and we just have to hope we can get more goals in the next half.

  My whole family is here today – Mum, Dad, Maddi, Levi and Daniel – but at least half of them come every week. As I’m walking back onto the pitch, Levi waves his sausage sandwich at me and a big glob of tomato sauce drips onto his hoodie. Mum immediately opens her handbag to get a tissue and Maddi rolls her eyes. Daniel gives me a thumbs up and Dad cups his hands around his mouth and shouts, ‘GO KNIGHTS!’