Success at Silver Spires (6 page)

I'd left her quite quickly, though, because I could see she was in the middle of watching something on TV, and also she looked really tired. Then I'd rushed off on cloud nine, just like I was rushing to the gym right now.

It was only seven twenty-six as I went into the sports block. I walked along the corridor, round the corner and up the stairs, my footsteps getting faster and faster, till I was right outside the gym. And then I got a horrible shock.

There was a note on the door, which said:

MISS VERNON IS UNWELL. TODAY'S INDUCTIONS ARE CANCELLED.

N.B. ON NO ACCOUNT MUST EQUIPMENT BE USED BY STUDENTS WITHOUT A MEMBER OF STAFF PRESENT.

A terrible feeling of disappointment mixed with frustration seemed to whizz round my veins as I stood there staring at the notice and remembering how Miss Vernon had been watching TV in her flat on a nice summer's afternoon and how tired she'd looked. Of course. She hadn't been well. Now I felt terrible for having disturbed her. But I also felt disappointed and let down. I couldn't help it. All my pent-up energy was collapsing.

I tried to walk away but something was rooting me to the spot and my hand couldn't help itself pushing the door open, so I could at least say I'd looked inside the gym. Maybe there were even teachers inside, so it would be okay to just pop my head around the door.

What I saw was a whole new world to me. It was a proper gym, like the one at the leisure centre where we live that Dad goes to sometimes on Sunday mornings. I stared round at the different machines and wondered what they were all for. Then I saw the rowing machine. There wasn't a teacher in sight, but I couldn't help walking towards it. I was desperate to find out how the machine worked. There was some sort of a computer on it. Maybe it could show you how fast you were going, or how far you'd rowed. Or maybe both. A little discussion between me and myself started up in my head.

Just pressing a few buttons on a machine isn't exactly using the equipment, is it?

No, that'll be fine because there's no physical danger involved. That's what you have to have the induction for, and why the member of staff has to be present – to check you're not in physical danger.

Just do it quickly. No one will ever know.

So I pressed the menu button beside the little computer screen, but absolutely nothing happened.

Of course! It wasn't plugged in.

I stared at the plug for ages, and also at the socket on the wall. To plug it in seemed like going one step further in breaking the rules. But then I reminded myself that no one would ever know, and I could unplug again the moment I'd had a look at the computer.

I picked up the plug and pushed it into its socket. At once, the little screen filled up with options. I pressed the one that said
JUST ROW
, because that was exactly what I was wishing I could do, but then there were three different screens to choose from, and I wasn't exactly sure what they all meant. One was just like a stopwatch, counting the minutes and the seconds, but the others looked as though they were showing how many metres you could travel per stroke and things like that. Until I actually started rowing I wouldn't be able to tell what they meant. But I ought to switch the machine off now and go back to the others.

I didn't though.

My mind was racing. The notice on the door made it much less likely that anyone would come in, so why didn't I just try a couple of strokes? It would be all right… Wouldn't it?

I sat down on the seat with a bit of a clunk, I was in such a hurry, and slid my feet into the foot rests, doing up the Velcro straps to make them fit tightly, so they wouldn't move when I started rowing. Then I reached for the handle and gripped it with both hands. It wasn't exactly the same as being in a scull, but it wasn't that much different. I pulled hard and it felt brilliant, especially watching the figures turn over on the little computer screen and imagining I was swishing across Pollington Water. Just a few more strokes then I'd stop.

But I'm in the swing of it now. I really want to carry on.

All the same I'd better not. It would be terrible if anyone caught me.

Okay, just one more…

“You're not supposed to use the equipment without an adult present! It says so on the door.”

I turned sharply and felt my cheeks going bright red at the sound of Holly's voice right behind me.

“I…I know…I was just…”

She'd come round the side of me and was giving me a really cold look with her hands on her hips. “Anyway, I haven't seen you in here before. I bet you've not even had an induction, have you?” I shook my head, shamefully, and Holly carried on. “It's like a proper gym, you know. You have to be taught how to use the equipment. That's what Mrs. Truman says.”

I swallowed, feeling really alarmed. I didn't like the way Holly had mentioned Mrs. Truman. I had an awful feeling she might report me. That would be terrible.

“I…was just trying it out to see how the computer worked. I wasn't doing it properly. Just…seeing how it worked…” My voice faded pathetically and I got off the machine and switched off the computer quickly, then switched it off at the wall as well, wondering whether Holly had had an induction herself. I noticed she was wearing cycling shorts and a skimpy top and had a towel round her neck, so she'd obviously been planning to work out. It took quite a lot of courage to ask. “Have
you
had an induction?”

“Course I have. Ages ago.” She was watching me, eyebrows raised in an arch as though she couldn't believe what I'd been doing. And finally I couldn't bear her staring at me like that so I scurried out of the gym mumbling something about going to breakfast. As soon as I was in the corridor I broke into a jog, and kept it up all the way to the dining hall.

There were loos just along the corridor from the dining hall and I nipped in there to change into my uniform, then went to find my friends. It was such a relief to see Izzy and the others. There was an empty space at their table, which Izzy must have been saving for me, because she beckoned me over as I walked in, and patted the bench beside her.

“Hey! You're early. I thought you'd be much longer than this. Was it good?” she asked, as I put my cereal and toast on the table and sat down.

Emily chipped in before I had a chance to answer Izzy's question. “Did you use loads of stuff or just the rower?”

“I never actually got to do anything,” I said, feeling my cheeks getting hot, because I was about to admit how silly I'd been. “There was a note on the door which said that Miss Vernon was ill.” I didn't add the bit about not using the equipment on any account unless a teacher was present, because my friends would think I was stupid. And they'd be right. I felt ashamed of what I'd done now, and very, very guilty. “I thought it would be okay to have the teensiest go on the rowing machine, just to see how it actually worked, because it's got its own little computer and you can see how far you've gone and how long it's taken you and everything…”

“Oh no!” said Nicole, her hand going to her mouth as though I'd done something really bad. “You didn't try it out, did you?”

This was exactly what I'd been dreading. All the way back from the gym I'd been telling myself that everything was fine and my friends would say I was being silly imagining that Holly might report me. But already they were looking shocked and I hadn't even mentioned Holly yet.

“I…I just did a few strokes and I was about to stop…”

A little gasp came out of Antonia. “…When someone came in…” She finished off my sentence in a breathy whisper, her eyes big and round, as though she'd seen a ghost.

“Y-yes… Holly.”

This time it was Izzy who gasped, but then she must have seen that she'd got me worried. “At least it wasn't a teacher,” she said quickly. “Did you tell her you were just doing a few strokes, not actually using the machine properly?”

“Yes…but she kept staring at me, and saying you have to be taught how to use the equipment…and things like that…”

“Look!” hissed Emily. “She's just come into the hall.”

Of course, we all looked round then and my eyes met Holly's. She was leaning forwards talking to Mikki as she stared at me with that same look in her eyes that I'd seen in the gym. Then Mikki turned round and looked at me too.

“Ignore them,” said Bryony, gulping down her last mouthful of hot chocolate.

“But what if she tells Mrs. Truman?” I asked in a rush.

“Tell the truth. Say you're sorry, you know you shouldn't have done it but you thought it would be okay to see how the computer worked.”

It sounded such a sensible and obvious thing to say when Bryony put it like that, but I still felt myself shuddering at the thought of having to face Mrs. Truman. Bryony and the others hadn't seen the note on the door, after all. I just had to cross my fingers and pray that Holly wouldn't tell her.

I didn't enjoy the rest of that day at all because I kept on worrying about coming across Holly and wondering whether she'd told Mrs. Truman that I'd broken the gym rules. Year Sevens are divided into classes for most subjects, and sets for English, science and maths. Holly and I are only together for English, and we didn't have it that day, thank goodness.

All the same, just thinking about her made me feel guilty, and when I saw her at lunch, and later on in the corridor, I felt a big wave of worry that she'd reported me.

I could have gone to the gym after school to see if the note had been removed, but I knew it was pointless because, even if Miss Vernon had miraculously recovered, she'd already told me there wasn't another slot that day for me to have my induction. So I decided to go for a run round the athletics track. I know running isn't the same as rowing, but Mrs. Truman had stressed to us that general fitness is important in all sports, so at least it'd be doing me a bit of good.

The athletics field is huge and flat and lies near the boundary of the Silver Spires grounds. It feels very peaceful and remote, with nothing but fields stretching beyond it. You can lose yourself, as though you're in another world, when you're down there on your own. As I jogged round the track I thought back to the phone call I'd had with Mum the day before. We'd talked for ages and she'd sounded really pleased for me, but again, as I'd been talking, I'd had that feeling I so often get, that she wasn't listening properly, and that she was doing other things at the same time as talking to me. I kept on hearing her footsteps going up or down the stairs and then I'd hear her whispering something to Dad, and I had to hang on quite a few times while she popped one of the twins into a high chair or something.

“Yes, what were you saying, Sasha?” she'd say, each time she came back on the phone. But after a while I couldn't be bothered to remind her what I'd just been saying and in the end I asked if Dad was around. It took him ages to come to the phone and I think he might have been having a nap, because he sounded kind of dopey, which made me feel guilty because he works so hard all week.

He asked me straight away how the rowing had gone, and I told him it was great and I really loved it.

“We'll have to see if there's a rowing club you could go to in the summer holidays, Sash!”

“Ooh, yes! That would be brilliant!” I quickly replied.

But then after I'd rung off I wondered if Dad would remember about the rowing club or whether I'd have to remind him. I really hoped he'd be the one to bring it up, then that would prove that he was taking my big new passion seriously. Or better still, it would be great if Mum called to see how my rowing was going.

I enjoyed running round the athletics field right until the last minute when Mrs. Truman came jogging up to me just as I was about to go and get changed for supper. My heart began to pound even more than it was already after all my running. But she only said, “Well done, Sasha! Good to see someone making the effort to keep fit. It'll pay off, you'll see!”

It was the most enormous relief to realize that Holly couldn't have told her about me breaking the rules and that gave me the courage to ask, “I was supposed to be having a gym induction with Miss Vernon this morning, only she's ill. Do you know if she's better yet?”

“She's coming back to work tomorrow but I don't know if she's got any spaces for inductions.”

“Shall I go and ask her?”

“No, don't disturb her now. I'll try and remember to mention it to her when I see her and she'll sort something out for you.”

If only I could make Mrs. Truman understand that I actually needed to make a proper appointment as soon as I possibly could. “Erm…shall I go the gym before breakfast tomorrow so I've got a better chance of getting an induction soon?”