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‘I hope you’re as good as everyone says you are,’ a guy called Jackson said, glaring at Dylan. ‘Becausemy best mate, Nathan, got dropped for you and he’s not happy. Nor am I.He’s played with us all the way until now and then he just got dumped.’

The rest of the team looked at Dylan. He chewed his pasta slowly. It was sticking to the roof of his mouth. He tried to swallow it. He needed to get this guy onside. He didn’t want any aggro. He just wanted to play football, but he had to tread carefully.The guy was angry.

He raised his hands. ‘Look, mate, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here. Jordan came to see me play and he liked what he saw. He’s a class coach. I came here because of him. I want to improve and hopefully help St Jude’s win the cup. I’m sorry about your mate, but football is all about moving forward and making the team stronger.’

‘Well, I hope you bring your A game topractice. I’d like to be impressed,’ Jackson said.

Dylan nodded. ‘I always do.’ He held Jackson’s gaze.

‘Don’t mind him. He’s just pissed off about Nathan being dropped,’ Conor whispered.

Dylan smiled. Jackson was a pussy cat compared to some of the nutters he’d had to deal with in his old school. Generally, people left him alone because he was a local football hero, but there had still beena few lads who were always looking for a fight. Dylan could look after himself.

As they were finishing their lunch a stunning blonde girl, with tanned skin, sparkling blue eyes and a very short uniform skirt, strutted by their table.

‘Hi, Taylor,’ one of the lads said.

‘Oh, hi, David.’ She stopped and turned to face them. Her blouse was open so you could just see the top of her bra. Man, shehad a great set of boobs. Dylan could feel his temperature rising.

‘How was your summer?’ David asked.

‘Amazeballs. We went to St Tropez and partied hard.’

‘You look good, nice tan.’

‘Thanks, I worked hard on it.’ Turning to Dylan, she asked, ‘Who’s this?’

‘Dylan’s the new striker.’

Taylor’s eyes locked with Dylan’s. ‘What’s a striker?’

Dylan gave her his best smile. He hoped it was sexyand not creepy. ‘The striker is the guy who scores all the goals.’

She smiled back at him. ‘Well, good luck with your striking.’ She swung her hips away from the table, and as she got to the door she turned, obviously to check if he was still looking at her. Dylan wasn’t looking, he was staring.

‘Dude, you’re dribbling,’ Conor said, with a laugh.

‘Who is she?’ Dylan asked.

‘Taylor Lyons.’

‘She’s –’

‘Sizzling.’ Conor grinned.

‘Is she going out with anyone?’

‘She was with an older guy who was in first-year medicine, but they broke up over the summer.’

Dylan smiled. ‘So she’s single.’

‘I guess so.’

Today just kept getting better. Dylan finished his pasta and hoped Taylor would turn up in some of his classes.

As he was walking across the yard to the science lab he caught a glimpseof Kelly. She was sitting in a corner, half hidden by a tree, with her headphones on. He was about to go over to her when Conor grabbed his sleeve. ‘Come on, Mrs Long goes mad if you’re late.’

Dylan felt bad seeing his sister like that, all alone. He hoped she’d settle in. He knew she missed her old pals, but this school was pretty amazing, and if she gave it a go, he reckoned she’d enjoy it.After only half a day he loved it. Besides, she could go and see them all after school and atweekends. He missed his old teammates, who had been in school with him too, but he’d make new friends.

That’s what you did. You moved on, you looked forward, you went for your goals. Dylan reckoned it was simple – life was like football: you could never sit still, you had to keep moving.