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‘Poor Marco,’ one of them cried.
    Kimmi, who had been focused on the game, turned to watch the girls. ‘Who are they?’ she muttered. ‘And why are they talking about Marco?’
    Annabel glanced across at the group. ‘Probably Fairmount girls,’ she said. ‘The one with black hair lives in my street.’
    ‘You know her?’ Kimmi asked.
    Annabel shook her head. ‘I just recognise her. Can’t say we’ve ever spoken.’
    Kimmi seemed completely put out by the girls, who were now whispering to each other and pointing to different players.
    ‘Look how dressed up they are,’ said Kimmi. ‘Who are they trying to impress?’
    ‘Totes overdressed,’ Annabel said.
    I nodded, deciding not to mention the fact that we’d spent hours last night texting each other with possible outfits for the rugby game, and that Kimmi was wearing a brand-new top. She clearly wasn’t happy about the competition.
    I still had my eye on the Fairmount girls when Annabel nudged me. ‘You might want to pay attention. Your boyfriend’s about to score.’
    ‘He’s not my …’ I began, and then squealed as Saia pounded up the pitch (or was it an oval?) with the ball under his arm. ‘Go Saia!’ I whispered excitedly.
    He had one player to get past to reach the goal end. Saia ran straight at him. Then, just as the guy lunged, Saia swerved to the right. The guy missed him completely. Saia shot to the line and put the ball down right between the goalposts.
    The girls beside us screamed and I watched Saia’s teammates jump on top of him. I was so proud.
    ‘Saia made a goal!’ I shouted.
    ‘It’s called a try,’ Annabel corrected me, suddenly the expert on rugby. ‘And look! Ryan’s about to kick the conversion.’
    ‘The what?’
    ‘They get a kick at goal, like a free shot, after they score a try – for extra points,’ Annabel said.
    I watched as Ryan kicked the ball high and long. It sailed right between the posts and over the crossbar. Judging by the squealing that came from the Fairmount girls, it seemed like Ryan had done the right thing. The referee blew his whistle and then the siren went for the end of the game.
    The Highgrove guys all jumped on top of each other, celebrating their win.
    ‘Let’s go and congratulate the guys,’ Annabel said, dragging us across the field.
    The guys had gathered on the far side for a war cry. I was so excited, I just wanted to give Saia a big hug. But as we moved closer, they left the field and huddled under a tree. Then they sat down while a guy, who I guessed was their rabid-dog coach, started barking at them. It seemed he did that whether they won or lost.
    ‘Oh, man,’ Annabel complained. ‘How am I going to give Ryan a kiss with the coach there?’
    We hovered for a few minutes, not far from the players, waiting for our chance to talk to the guys, but it seemed they were going to be stuck there forever. Saia was practically facing me, but his head was down.
    ‘Hurry up, crazy coach,’ Annabel said impatiently. ‘I’ve got a hair appointment to get to.’
    ‘We should go,’ I said. ‘We might get the guys into trouble, hanging around here. Or he might just turn round and shout at us.’
    Kimmi nodded. ‘Yeah, we’ve still got the banner to do, too.’ She glanced at the Fairmount girls.
    ‘Okay,’ Annabel sighed. ‘We can congratulate the guys tonight. Ryan totes deserves a kiss for that!’ She waved to him even though he had his back to her.
    Kimmi blew a kiss to Marco. He didn’t see it either, so I thought it would be safe to blow one to Saia, but just as I did it, he looked up – right at me. He smiled and gave me a wink.
    Awkward! I turned away, feeling my cheeks burn. ‘Saia saw me blowing him a kiss!’
    ‘That’s so cute!’ Annabel squealed.
    ‘Guess who else was watching?’ Kimmi said, nodding to the Fairmount girls, who were looking at us and sniggering.
    ‘Double awkward,’ I said, grabbing Kimmi’s arm and rushing off.
    Annabel caught up to us.