Soccer Queen
by Andrew ( anr )
Chapter 13

The sound of a horn from outside their house caused a fresh burst of cursing to come from Gail's room. Gail hobbled down the hall with one show on and her face half made-up, cursing David soundly as she went.

David loved getting a rise out of his sister. He just looked at her with an expression of injured innocence.

A semi-presentable Gail, still struggling to complete her makeup, and David went out to Ted's car. As they drove away, they noticed another car pulling into their drive.

****

Leslie Everrett had spent an uncomfortable afternoon. She was troubled by her decision to ignore her suspicions about Davina. Eventually, she could stand it no more and turned on her computer.

When she was connected to the Web, she started a search for "Edinburgh School Cup 1998/9". This resulted in a list of teams and fixtures. She clicked on the winners of the final and read the names of the team-members.

There were no girls in the team; the only McCall listed was a "David". How could Davina have won this championship if no girls were on the team ? Suspicions fully aroused, she determined to visit the McCall's after dinner to discuss this matter.

As she entered the driveway, she noticed a car with a number of young people in it driving away. *Good,* thought Leslie, *I can discuss this with Mrs. McCall without the distraction of Davina/David.*

She range the bell and greeted the woman who opened the door.

"Good evening, Mrs. McCall. I'm Leslie Everrett, the coach for the Gilroy Gazelles. Is Davina in ?"

She was relieved when she was answered "No, she's just gone out for the evening with her sister and their boyfriends. Can I help you ?"

"Actually, Mrs. McCall, it's you I want to speak to. Can I come in ?"

"Certainly, and call me Andrea. Would you like a cup of coffee ?"

She replied "Thank you, Andrea." as she entered the house. Looking round the room, she could see from the lack of personal items that they had moved in very recently.

When Andrea returned with the coffee, they sat facing each other. Leslie paused to gather her thoughts while Andrea looked back at her with a concerned expression.

"I hope Davina's not in any trouble," Andrea remarked.

Leslie looked up at her hostess and replied "Not at all, Andrea. Or, not exactly.

"She said that she was on the winning team for the Edinburgh School Cup last year. I was suspicious, and searched the Web for the winners. I discovered that there were no girls on the team, and the only McCall listed was a David. Can you explain this ?"

Andrea McCall sighed and leaned back in her chair. She looked at her guest and wondered how much to tell her.

"When Bob received the promotion to America, I resolved that it would be a new start for all of us. David had been really horrible to his younger sister - you saw her at the field today - and I wanted to do something about it.

"Samantha Davis - the daughter of our next-door neighbours - was playing football outside when we arrived. David saw her and immediately went over to play - leaving Bob and I to unpack the car, of course.

"After tea, Samantha came over and they went into David's room to play. I heard Samantha laughing, then she literally pulled David out of the house.

"About two hours later, they returned. David was dressed in your strip.

"At first I thought it was Gail standing in the door. I was really surprised - she was at Guide camp and wasn't due to arrive for two weeks. She's only here now because Bob had an accident and is now in a coma.

"Then I saw Samantha standing behind her and realised it was David. After I had stopped laughing, I realised that this might be the solution to Gail's problems.

"It turned out that Samantha got the idea from a necklace David was presented with before we left Scotland. She took David to his room and put it round his neck.

"He was always being teased by his team-mates because of his size and delicate features. They called him Davina, after a television presenter in the UK.

"Anyway, they had all clubbed together and had bought him a necklace in the shape of a football with his championships inscribed on it. They had also inscribed the nickname they gave him, so he was too embarrassed to show us.

"From that time, I have referred to David as Davina, and kept him dressed as a girl. Over the past week, *she* has begun to respond more and more as a girl.

"I can assure you that David will never make an appearance again."

Leslie Everrett sat thinking about what she had been told. If what Andrea had said was true, then perhaps she could use Davina after all. After commiserating with Andrea on the injury to her husband, she continued

"How far are you taking this ? Do you need any help ?"

Andrea looked at her guest again with respect dawning in her eyes. She thought about Leslie's offer, and decided to trust her totally.

"Well, I have quite a few changes planned for her. Sit there while I freshen the coffee, then we can discuss this further."

****

Completely oblivious to the discussion that was deciding his future, David was at that moment on the dance floor with Jack again. He looked over at his sister and watched her dancing with Alex.

*He's getting better at dancing,* he thought. *And Gail seems to really like him. I've never seen her happier.*

Brother and sister continued dancing with their dates until forced off the floor by shortness of breath. They joined up with Samantha and Becky and their dates at a table just beside the floor.

Everybody sat there, catching their breath and soothing their throats with copious amounts of coke. They began discussing what they had done that day. The boys were amazed at Samantha's description of Davina's skill, and Jack promised to watch the next time the Gazelles played at home.

David then embarrassed his sister by describing what she had done at the skating park. *I really wish she could have forgotten about that wall,* she thought.

Ted, Jim and Jack described a baseball game they had been involved in, with their team completing a home run in the last innings to win the game. They then started to make fun of Alex, who had not been there that afternoon.

Gail glared angrily at these oafs, and thought they were just as bad as her brother had been before he became her sister. She took Alex's hand and asked him what he had done that day.

He started talking enthusiastically about the chess tournament he had attended, claiming first place in the under-16 category. The other boys hooted at this, but were quickly silenced when the girls and David all slapped their dates on the head.

When they were all rested, they returned to the dance floor for more dancing. It was a slow number and the girls all snuggled up to the boys and followed their lead.

This pattern was repeated throughout the night, as the couples danced until they couldn't dance any more, then rested and talked for a while. Too soon for everybody, it was time to return home, and they trooped out to Ted's car.

Once Alex had been delivered to his house, they made their way to David and Gail's house. As they were turning into the street, they noticed the car they saw arriving earlier was just leaving. *I wonder who that was,* thought David.

At their house, Jack got out of the car with him and Gail. He escorted them to their door, then turned David towards him- self. his arms went round David's back. The only thing that David could do was to fling his arms round Jack's neck to stop himself falling.

Jack pulled David in tight, then kissed him hard on the lips. David was nearly swooning when Jack released him. His eyes were a little glazed, and he clung to Jack for balance until his senses returned to normal.

After another couple of light kisses, Jack bounded back to the car, which started up with a screech of rubber. The car with the boys in it disappeared down the road, accelerating as it went.

David and Gail hugged each other as David took his key from his bag and opened the door. They walked in together, very much in harmony.

Mrs. McCall saw her children coming in hugging each other, and smiled. *Things are really coming together now.* she thought.

"That was Coach Everrett," she informed them. "She just wanted to discuss your availability on Saturdays and Sundays, Davina."

Somehow, David was sure that his mother was lying. *You don't stay all night just discussing availability,* he thought. He knew that he would not find out for sure until she chose to tell him, or something happened to confirm or deny her story.

"Get a good night's sleep, children," their mother told them. "Tomorrow's Sunday, and we'll have to get ready for church."

David and Gail looked at each other, severely puzzled. Their mother had not been to church, much less taken them, for years. It was as if she was trying to see as many people in as short a time as possible.

Getting dressed in a night gown for sleep was becoming routine for David now. He and Gail kissed their mother goodnight and headed off for their rooms.

As David was going to sleep he thought to himself, *Will this never end ?*

More Soccer Queen Coming Soon!