Strictly Friends? (9 page)

Megan blushed. ‘Well, that helps, I suppose. But he is really amazing. I mean, look at that! How does he do it?'

‘Oh dear,' said Mari, smirking, ‘you have got it bad. Shouldn't you dash down there now? Aren't you afraid someone else is going to become his pet pupil?'

‘I hadn't even thought of that,' said Megan, startled.
‘But then there are these two girls who hang around him. One of them's his sister. They're not very friendly. They nearly scared me off.'

Mari laughed. ‘Nice. He must be worth it, to put up with them!'

‘He is. Well, I like him. And I'm sure the girls are nice really. It's just taking a while to get to know them.' A movement behind Danny caught her eye. ‘There they are. Those two, just coming down the steps from the playground.'

Mari glanced across, amused. Then, suddenly, she stiffened all over. Her eyes turned hard and cold. ‘Those two girls?' she said icily. ‘The blonde one and her friend?'

‘Yes. The blonde one is his sister. Danny's sister, I mean.'

Mari grabbed her arm, and Megan jumped at the tightness of her grip. ‘But that's
Samantha
,' she hissed.

Megan was startled. ‘Samantha, yes, that's right. Do you know her?'

‘Samantha Brooks,' said Mari urgently. ‘That's her! That's the girl who injured Fliss in the play!'

Megan gaped. ‘
What?
'

Mari pulled Megan back towards the arts centre and out of sight of the skate park. ‘Oh my God, have
you not been listening to a word I said? That's Samantha Brooks! She's only the most evil cow-bag ever!'

‘But . . . but . . .'

‘And you've been
hanging out with her
?' Mari suddenly dropped Megan's arm, a horrified expression on her face.

‘I didn't know it was her!' protested Megan, suddenly defensive though she had no idea why. ‘I've only just moved in! How would I know anything about what happened?' A sudden thought struck her. Danny had said something about Samantha being ‘off track' since what happened in the summer . . .

Mari was glaring at the ground. ‘Megan, you've got to stay away from her. She's a nasty piece of work.'

Megan felt uncomfortable. ‘Well, it's not that easy, if I'm going out with her brother.'

Mari actually took a step backwards. ‘You're GOING OUT WITH HIM?'

‘Not like that, not like that! Mari, you've got it all wrong!' Megan gabbled. ‘We're not going out like boyfriend and girlfriend, it's just I only ever see him at the skate park and I said it would be nice to go somewhere just the two of us and so he said he'd take me somewhere really cool and we could . . .' Her voice trailed off under Mari's steely expression. ‘He's really nice,' she ended lamely.

‘He can't be nice,' Mari said in a decided tone. ‘He's a Brooks. He's Samantha's brother.'

‘Exactly,' said Megan, feeling a little more sure of herself. ‘He's her brother. He's not
her
. I mean, you can't say just because she's nasty that he is too. Have you even met him before?'

‘No,' admitted Mari.

‘Well, then.'

Mari shifted from foot to foot. ‘But if you hang out with him, you have to hang out with her,' she said. ‘That's what you said. She's always around.'

Megan felt frustrated. ‘Well, what do you want me to do? I like him. He's really cool on a skateboard and he wants to teach me. She's not very friendly, but I don't have to be friends with her, do I?' She took a breath. ‘Look, Mari, I know why you feel the way you do, but I only just moved here. I haven't got many friends yet. Danny's been nice to me. I don't want to stop seeing him.'

Mari sighed. ‘Sorry, Megan. I didn't mean to go off the deep end. I know I put my foot in it sometimes. It's just that Samantha and I – we have a bit of history, let's say.'

‘I know, but . . .'

‘And I will
never
forgive her for what she did to Fliss,' Mari went on. ‘But I don't know Danny at all.
He could be nothing like her. And you have a right to be friends with whoever you want, of course you do.' She glanced back towards the skate park. ‘Just be careful, that's all. You don't want to get on the wrong side of Samantha.'

Megan grinned. ‘All right. And thanks for looking out for me.'

‘He's waving at you,' said Mari. ‘I should go.'

‘No, don't.' Megan grabbed her arm. ‘I'm showing you where I live, remember?' She waved back at Danny and then firmly turned away, although she really wanted to run over to him. ‘I can talk to him tomorrow.'

‘I'm impressed,' joked Mari as they walked away from the skate park. ‘You may be smitten, but you're staying strong. Good on you, girl.'

‘Mari,' said Megan affectionately, ‘you are an idiot.'

MEGAN'S JAW DROPPED.
She'd never seen anything like this before.

‘Cool, isn't it?' said Danny enthusiastically.

Everywhere she looked, Megan saw red and white stripes, rubber tyres, steel beams, tarmac . . . And the
noise
! ‘I never realized go-karting was so loud!' she said, raising her voice.

‘What?' Danny called back. ‘Oh, yeah! I know, it's the engines!'

Megan wanted to put her hands over her ears. She could see them, the low-slung karts, racing around the track. The whole building was like some giant aircraft hangar, and the ceiling was criss-crossed with what looked like scaffolding and steel struts. Big banners advertising brand names – Pirelli, Dunlop, Ferrari – adorned the walls. To her right was the reception desk, and beyond that a seated area with a TV screen. The other side of this was a snack bar, and several
people were already seated and tucking into pizzas, laughing and joking around with their friends.

But the really fascinating sight was the track itself. Bordered by concrete and tyres, striped red and white, it snaked tightly round corners and even up and over itself. The karts whizzed dizzyingly past, some overtaking, the odd one crashing into the barrier with a body-stunning jolt. Megan felt her mouth go dry. The drivers were completely anonymous, dressed identically in boiler suits and full helmets. She glanced at Danny. His face was lit up as he watched the karts. His eyes seemed to be fizzing with sparks. Megan felt a slight quiver somewhere in the pit of her stomach. It was the first time she'd been somewhere with a boy who wasn't Jake. And Danny was so definitely
not
like Jake, she wasn't sure exactly how to behave.

‘Are you sure . . .' Megan started to say, and then swallowed. ‘Are you sure it's safe? I mean, it looks kind of dangerous.'

Danny laughed. ‘That's half the fun. Come on, let's get you kitted up.' He glanced at her feet. ‘Good, you wore trainers like I said. You just need the rest of the stuff.' He lifted his right hand and waved his helmet at her. ‘I brought my own.'

Megan followed him to the reception desk, where
the assistant booked them in and looked her up and down critically before passing over a boiler suit and helmet. ‘Take them to the briefing area,' he said. ‘Someone will show you how to put them on.'

‘I can help her,' said Danny. ‘I've been here before.'

The assistant shook his head. ‘Sorry, mate. Everyone has to sit through the briefing. Doesn't matter how many times you've been.'

Danny tapped his hand on the desk impatiently. ‘It takes time away from racing.'

The assistant grinned. ‘Don't worry, we won't dock your track time. It's just the rules, mate.'

Danny rolled his eyes and turned to Megan. ‘Come on then. Let's go and do the health-and-safety stuff.'

Megan sat clutching her suit and helmet as a burly man in a red fleece explained to a small group of them how the karts worked, how to speed up and brake, what to do if you crashed and how to overtake. Megan decided straight away she wouldn't be overtaking anyone! Her legs felt oddly as though they belonged to someone else. And her mind was playing strange tricks on her too. She had a ridiculous impulse to put her hand on Danny's leg for reassurance as she sat next to him. How embarrassing would that be! Megan gripped her suit even tighter, her knuckles turning white.

‘Now,' said the burly bloke, whose name badge said ‘Bodge', ‘as you can appreciate, this is a high-speed sport. Although we take all reasonable steps to keep you safe, it's up to you to take final responsibility. Injuries, though rare here, can and do happen. If anyone has a back or neck problem, you can't drive. Simple as that – you need to be in tip-top condition to race.' He glared at them all. ‘No heroics. If you don't think you're safe to drive, then don't. It's not just yourself you could be putting at risk.' He reached behind him and produced a sheaf of papers. ‘These are your disclaimer forms. You need to sign them to say you're in good health.' He started handing them out. ‘Most important thing is to have fun though. Racing is a real buzz, and if you haven't tried it before, you're in for a treat!' He grinned as he handed Megan her sheet.

Megan tried to smile back but her facial muscles didn't seem to be working. Her head was swimming with everything Bodge had just said.
Injuries?
‘What sort of injuries?' she whispered to Danny, who was struggling to get his pen to work. ‘I mean, does he mean serious ones or just cuts and grazes and things like that?' The words were tumbling out of her in a nervous rush. ‘How often do people get hurt? Once a week? Once a
day
?'

‘What?'

‘Has anyone actually
died
?' Megan asked urgently.

Danny turned to her, amused. ‘What are you on about? I don't know. Don't think so – we'd have heard, wouldn't we? Why? You scared?'

Megan opened her mouth to say, ‘Of course I'm scared, I'm so terrified I don't think I can stand up,' but the words froze in her throat. Danny was looking at her as though being frightened was a completely alien notion to him.
It can't be that dangerous
, Megan told herself,
otherwise they wouldn't let people do it. And Danny brought me here to share something he likes
. She glanced again at the track. The steady
whumm-whumm
of the engines thumped through her head. They were whizzing round so fast. What if she broke a leg or an arm, or . . . her
neck
? She might never be able to dance again!

But you wanted to try something new
, Megan scolded herself.
Just because it's a bit scary, you can't back out now. Besides, Danny would think you were a complete wimp
. And, she realized, she definitely didn't want him to think that.

She took a breath and turned to Danny. ‘Raring to go!' she said in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

He beamed back at her. ‘You're going to love it.'

Bodge came round to each person and checked
they'd put on their helmets correctly. Megan felt very silly in her boiler suit, which was about two sizes too large for her. The helmet was very tight, and she wished she'd taken out her ponytail because the band was digging uncomfortably into the back of her head.

‘You look really cute,' Danny said, regarding her in her outfit.

Megan blushed hotly. ‘I look ridiculous.'

‘No you don't.' There was a strange look in Danny's silver eyes. ‘You look cute.'

Megan tried to laugh casually, but a strand of hair caught in her mouth and made her cough.
I must look like such an idiot!

‘Gloves,' said Bodge bluntly, shoving some into Megan's hands. ‘You two ready then?'

Megan followed the rest of the group to the side of the track. A bell shrilled, and the racing go-karts zoomed, one by one, into the pit. Their drivers got out, shouting and jeering at each other. ‘Ready?' asked Danny in an excited voice.

Not really!
thought Megan, but there was no time to think any more because she was climbing into her kart and Bodge was pointing out the controls he had explained earlier. The instructions whirled around Megan's head and she was just about to say, ‘Sorry,
could you repeat that?' when another bell shrilled and Bodge jumped to safety as the engines roared into life and the karts suddenly shot off around the track.

Megan saw Danny's kart disappear round the first corner and panic rose in her throat. Desperately, she tried to remember what she had been told. Push down on the accelerator . . . The kart leaped forward, and Megan frantically gripped the wheel as the engine roared behind her.

The noise filled her whole body; it felt as though every internal organ was vibrating to the noise of the engine. Megan had no idea how fast she was going, but the low-slung seat made it feel very fast indeed. She swung the wheel desperately from one side to the other, and the kart zigzagged across the track. Other karts zoomed past her. One or two of the drivers made rude gestures to her as they passed, but Megan couldn't hear what they shouted.
Come on
, she told herself.
It's not that hard
.
Everyone else can do it. Get a grip!
She took a breath, grasped the wheel firmly with her gloved hands, and pressed down gradually on the pedal.

The kart gathered speed along a straight. Megan felt the shudder of the seat and eased off the accelerator as she approached the corner. The wheel turned smoothly and she navigated the bend without mishap.
Two more karts zoomed past her, but she ignored them. It was just a matter of practice, wasn't it? Just like dance – the more you did it, the better you got.

After a couple of laps, Megan felt more confident and increased her speed. ‘Whoa!' The breath whooshed out of her, and she felt a tingle of excitement in her feet. ‘That's fast! Wheeee!' Eagerly, she pushed down harder and felt the world rush past her even faster. But there was a corner coming up, and suddenly she was going too fast to turn . . .