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the course. There were two bases marked on it too, either side of a stream which had only four bridges shown across it. The bases were coloured red and blue. Also marked were an assault course area and five sets of sniper huts. These seemed to be directly opposite each other, which meant that they were going to be difficult to get past without getting hit. Therewere also thickets of trees marked all along the pathway, and beyond them, areas marked out of bounds. It looked great!
    â€˜I
love
paintballing,’ I heard someone say.
    I turned to see Penny, Gem and Emma standing behind me, smiling. It was Penny who had spoken. I didn’t know what to say so I smiled and asked a stupid question.
    â€˜Have you been before?’ I said. ‘I thought Mr Turner said we were too young normally, so this was a day arranged just for us.’
    Penny smiled at me. ‘Well, they must do it for special groups, ‘cause I went to a centre just like this one last year and I loved it! So yeah, I have been before – that’s why I
like
it,’ she replied.
    â€˜Oh, OK,’ I said.
    â€˜I hope it’s girls versus boys,’ said Emma. ‘We’ll beat you easily . . .’
    I shrugged. ‘That’s what Abs keeps saying – about boys v girls,’ I explained.
    â€˜He doesn’t like us, does he?’ said Gem.
    I shrugged again. ‘He’s just a bit funny about you playing for the team,’ I replied. ‘We didn’t know that there’d be girls playing when we joined up so it was like a shock . . .’
    Gem nodded and smiled at me. ‘We don’t like Abs,’ she said, like she was talking for all of the girls.
    â€˜He’s OK,’ I said. I didn’t want them to not like my mate. Abs could be silly sometimes, but he was a great friend.
    â€˜He’s always having a go at us,’ added Penny. ‘Even after Lily scored that brilliant goal in the last game.’
    Just then Byron, Ben and Leon turned up.
    â€˜What you doing, Jason?’ asked Leon.
    â€˜Nothing,’ I replied. ‘Just looking at a map of the course.’
    â€˜It’s going to be wicked!’ said Byron with a huge grin.
    â€˜Yeah!’ added Emma. ‘Especially if it’s boys versus girls . . .’
    Ben shook his head. ‘I asked Steve Turner and he said it won’t be. They’ve already decided on the teams.’
    â€˜Have they?’ I asked.
    Ben nodded. ‘All the defenders and the goalkeepers on one side and the midfielders on the other. The strikers are going to draw straws and the parents are going to join in too,’ he told us.
    Straight away I wondered if my mum would be on my side. I hoped not. That would so lame. But then I thought about how the teams would be split and I realized that I’d be on a different team from Dal.
    â€˜I can’t wait,’ said Gem. ‘Let’s go and see if we can get ready . . .’
    Ready for what?’ I asked.
    Gem smiled at me, but it was a nice smile. She wasn’t teasing me. ‘Mr Turner told us allabout it on our way here,’ she said. ‘You get given overalls to wear and safety goggles and hats and things.’
    I’d come with Dal in his dad’s car with my mum so I didn’t know anything about it.
    â€˜Oh,’ I replied.
    â€˜That way we won’t get paint in our eyes,’ Gem explained.
    â€˜Or our hair,’ added Emma. ‘That would just be soooo horrible.’
    I heard cars pull into the car park and saw Chris and his dad get out of one and Ian and Wendy get out of another.
    â€˜That’s everyone then,’ said Byron. ‘Let’s have some fun!’
    We were split into two teams: Red and Blue. I was on the Red team and thankfully my mum wasn’t, although I would have to shoot at her now. Instead I had Corky, Lily, Byron and Chris with me as well as Ant, Penny anEmma. The adult