Rivalry at Silver Spires

by Ann Bryant

  By Thursday I’d even got myself worked up about the swimming lesson the next day. But it was Jess who brought up the subject when we were walking across to afternoon lessons.

  “Couldn’t you just go round asking people what their usernames are, Georgie?”

  “But I’ve got such a massive contact list, like I said,” Georgie answered.

  “Like the whole of Year Seven,” said Mia, rolling her eyes.

  “Plus people change their usernames all the time,” Georgie went on. “Like if the weather suddenly got cold they might have the username Isn’t it cold?”

  I sighed a deep sigh and spoke quietly because I didn’t seem to have much energy. “I can’t bear to be called a show-off.”

  “You’re totally not a show-off!” said Jess, raising her voice and looking cross. “That’s why I don’t see how that message can have been about you!”

  “Anyway, whoever it was is just jealous,” said Mia firmly.

  Every single one of my friends had said these things lots of times already, but what Katy said next, in a low voice, hadn’t actually been said by anyone, not even me.

  “I bet it’s Felissia Streeter.”

  “I was wondering about her too,” admitted Mia, “but I didn’t dare say it.”

  I swallowed.

  “It’s true that she hates it when you beat her in athletics,” said Georgie, “like that time she pretended she’d sprained a muscle when you won the two hundred metres.”

  That was exactly the thought I’d been having myself. You see, I once heard Felissia boasting to her friends that she’d got a sports bursary to Silver Spires, which means that her parents pay less fees. She said that the main reason she got the bursary was because she was easily the best swimmer at her primary school, and also because she’d once swum in the under-elevens team for her county. So I knew that swimming meant a lot to Felissia and I guessed she probably wanted to be the best. From what I’d seen in the lesson last week, I thought she probably was the best too.

  “Maybe she got fed up with always coming second to Grace in athletics and things,” said Katy.

  Mia nodded, but I could tell she felt a bit nervous. “And now she wants to be the very best at swimming, because that’s kind of…her thing.”

  “Hang on a sec,” said Naomi. “We’ve got no proof who Torpedo Gal is, or even that she’s talking about Grace. I think you should just forget about it, Grace, and carry on as normal. Whoever it is, they haven’t been back online since, so maybe that’s the last Georgie will hear from them.”

  “Yes, and whenever you want to go swimming training, you should go right ahead!” said Jess. “I might not be able to join the squad, but I can always come training with you, Grace, and do a bit of floating!”

  I felt lucky to have all my friends caring so much about me. And I knew Naomi was right – it would be stupid to let some anonymous message worry me.

  “Right, quick change! Chop-chop! No messing about!” said Mrs. Mellor, smiling round at everyone. “Last week I was gentle with you. This week I want action! First one in the pool gets three credits! And leave your towels in the changing room, please.” Then she went through to the pool herself and the Australian gap-year student, Miss Snow, stayed with us. I moved to the far end of the bench away from the others, as we were all a bit squashed, and there was a mad scramble to get changed quickly because credits count towards the end-of-term House Cup. “Mrs. Mellor says if anyone leaves clothes on the floor, the credits don’t count, I’m afraid, girls,” said Miss Snow.

  I got quite excited as I stuffed my clothes deep into my swimming bag, because I’ve always been quick at changing and guessed I was in with a good chance of being first. I don’t usually mind not wrapping myself in my towel to go through to the pool, but right now I was wishing it was allowed. It would be good to hide under it. I wouldn’t feel on view so much.

  “See you in the pool!” I called to Naomi and Katy as I shot out of the changing room.

  It was weird seeing the pool completely empty because even when I’d done free swimming there had always been at least one other person there. I didn’t have time to think about that now, though. All I had to do was get straight in and I’d have three credits, just like that. My feet hardly touched the steps at all as I slithered in.

  “Well done, Grace!” said Mrs. Mellor, as a chilly gasp surged through my body. Then immediately afterwards I heard a splash and saw that Katy and a girl called Jemima had got in at exactly the same time. “Bad luck, Katy and Jemima. Grace just beat you. But I’ll give you one credit each for being so close behind. Get yourselves warmed up while the others are coming through, girls.”

  I’d already started swimming to get warm, but I turned to give Katy a thumbs up and that’s when I saw Felissia standing on the edge, dipping her toe in the water.

  “Wow! That’s got to be a designer costume she’s wearing,” said Katy quietly, swimming alongside me on her back.

  I wanted to forget about Felissia, so I just said, “Mmm,” then turned over and did front crawl up to the other end, hearing the laughter and dramatic screeches of more and more girls getting in the pool. By the time my hand touched the far wall I felt completely warm and realized I wasn’t half so nervous any more. There’s something about being held up by water that calms my body, and for a little while, as I swam up and down without looking around, I felt completely happy. I told myself to try not to look at Felissia at all, right through the lesson, and then everything would be fine. It was getting noisier and noisier but Mrs. Mellor didn’t seem to mind. She was watching everyone carefully though, and I knew she’d be assessing us all.

  Once everyone was warmed up, Mrs. Mellor split us into three groups of six and asked the first group – which included me, but unfortunately Felissia too – to come up to the deep end. She told all the others to go with Miss Snow to the shallow end to work on breaststroke leg kicks. All my friends were with Miss Snow.

  “I don’t usually teach techniques for races in normal swimming lessons,” Mrs. Mellor began, crouching down at the side and looking at us, “but you six have all signed up for swimming squad so I want to get started on practising the turnaround.” My spirits sank a little now I knew that Felissia was definitely going to be in the swimming squad. “Line yourselves up ready to go across the width of the pool,” Mrs. Mellor said, “and on my whistle, starting with Felissia, swim front crawl to the other side, then turn around and swim straight back. When you’ve each had a go we’ll talk about the way you turned around, so watch each other carefully.”

  Felissia set off smoothly and when she got to the other side she did a tumble turn, which is the proper way to turn around in swimming races.

  “Right, Grace, off you go,” said Mrs. Mellor.

  I’d worked hard on my tumble turns in Thailand with my coach and he’d told me they were technically very good, but I was quite scared of trying it out now in front of Felissia in case she thought I was showing off. In my heart though, I wanted to show Mrs. Mellor what I could do. In the end I decided to go for it, but I was so tense that it didn’t turn out very well after all. In fact I probably just looked silly.

  “Well done, Grace,” said Mrs. Mellor when I got back, which made me feel a bit happier. “Bibi, your turn.”

  Bibi is a really strong swimmer. I noticed that last term, when we occasionally swam at the weekend for fun. She’s much bigger and taller than me and seems to cut through the water like a torpedo as she swims. That word, torpedo, made me do a little shudder with the memory of what I’d seen on Georgie’s computer. I glanced at Felissia and she flicked her head round, sensing me looking. Our eyes met for a second, then we both turned away and I concentrated on watching Bibi’s turnaround. I think she was trying to do a tumble turn but, like mine, it didn’t quite work out, and slowed her down.

  “Nice try, Bibi,” said Mrs. Mellor. “Hannah, would you like to go next?”

  Hannah and Bibi are really close friends. They’re both from Willowha
ven House and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them apart. Hannah is even bigger and stronger than Bibi and she swam amazingly powerfully, which made me worry that I was too small and thin. I knew I’d got a lot of work to do to reach their standard. When Hannah reached the other side she didn’t attempt a tumble turn, and neither did the next girl, but the last girl in the group, Cassie, who’s a friend of Felissia’s, did quite a good one.

  “Right, has anyone got a comment to make about that?” Mrs. Mellor asked.

  “Erm…I tried to do a tumble turn but it didn’t really work…” said Bibi.

  “Never mind! At least you had a shot at it!” Mrs. Mellor smiled. “And tumble turns are the best way to turn around if you’re doing front crawl…”

  “But for breaststroke it’s a two-handed touch, isn’t it?” said Felissia.

  “That’s right,” said Mrs. Mellor. “We’ll come to that later. For now, I’d like you all to watch Grace again and notice how she breaks into the tumble as a continuation of her stroke when she’s about a metre away, planting both feet firmly on the wall for a vigorous push-off.”

  My heart sank. If only she’d chosen Felissia. I was sure Felissia’s turn was better than mine. I didn’t dare look to see how she was reacting, I just set off nervously. Surprisingly, my tumble turn worked a bit better the second time though, and afterwards everyone had a go. I was relieved when Felissia managed to do a perfect one straight away, and I decided impulsively to try and be friendly. “That was really good, Felissia! Much better than mine!”

  The moment I’d spoken I regretted it, because she didn’t even bother to reply, let alone smile. It must have sounded as though I thought I was something special and I hoped I hadn’t made matters even worse. But then I remembered what Naomi had said, that the message could have been from anyone and might not have been aimed at me at all, and I gave myself a sharp telling-off for thinking about it so often instead of concentrating on swimming.

  After all the four groups had had a go at the deep end with Mrs. Mellor, we were allowed to do free swimming, and I noticed Hannah and Bibi ploughing up and down, doing length after length, not seeming to get at all tired. I knew it would take an awful lot of work for me to be as good as them. Felissia stayed at the shallow end and showed her other best friend, Stella, how to do a tumble turn. I didn’t think Stella was all that interested because she never tried one out herself, but Felissia just kept doing more and more, and I realized she was actually brilliant at them.

  My legs were a bit shaky as I walked back through to the changing room with Jess and the others. Still, I’d survived the lesson, even though I’d been dreading it, and now I was filled with determination to come back on both the weekend days and train like mad. When I got inside the changing room, though, it was more than just my legs that started to feel shaky. Mrs. Mellor was picking up my bag from the floor, with my school skirt poking out of it. She pursed her lips and said, “Whose is this?”

  “M…mine, but…I’m certain I left it on the bench.”

  A look of puzzlement crept over Mrs. Mellor’s face. “Oh dear, Grace…” She paused and I knew she was thinking that she had to take the credits away from me, and maybe she was wondering whether that would be too harsh. My heart beat faster as I waited.

  “I did warn them all,” said Miss Snow quietly, meeting Mrs. Mellor’s eyes. It was a horrible moment, because the changing room was completely silent and I could feel lots of pairs of eyes on me.

  “You obviously left your bag too near the edge of the bench, Grace,” said Mrs. Mellor. She looked a bit sad as she carried on and I wondered whether she really believed what she’d just said. “I’m afraid I’ll have to take two of the credits away. I think that’s the fairest thing…so you and Jemima and Katy get one credit each.”

  I nodded and tried not to go red as I took the bag from her and took my towel out to dry myself. I was thinking back to what had happened before I’d rushed through to the swimming pool, and I knew I’d been careful to put the bag right to the back of the bench. I was also quite sure I’d pushed my skirt in properly. I could feel myself getting upset as I got dressed, but then told myself firmly to forget it. I’d still got one credit, after all, and I hadn’t been expecting any before swimming started.

  My friends didn’t say anything about it at first because they probably didn’t want me to feel embarrassed, but when we were back at Hazeldean, Jess suddenly came out with, “I don’t get it, Grace. You’re always so organized and tidy.”

  The others nodded, so it was obvious they knew what Jess was talking about, and Georgie then said exactly what I’d been wondering.

  “Do you reckon someone deliberately knocked it off the bench?” She narrowed her eyes. “Like…Felissia?”

  “I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter,” I quickly said.

  I felt five pairs of eyes on me and realized I’d spoken quite snappily. I couldn’t help it. I knew this conversation was about to lead back to that chat-room message and I was still trying my best to forget about that.

  “Maybe someone did it by accident,” said Mia, “and didn’t realize.”

  “Mrs. Mellor looked kind of puzzled, though, Grace, didn’t she?” Katy said.

  Lovely Jess must have seen the tense look on my face. “Let’s change the conversation,” she said. “How did the tumble turns go? We saw you all practising them.”

  “Fine,” I said, keeping my sigh inside, because this wasn’t a big enough change of conversation for me to forget about Felissia.

  Jess knows me so well that she must have realized I was still anxious. “Oh yes,” she said brightly, “I forgot to tell you, I had a plan about half-term. I thought I’d ask Mum if you can come to our house instead of staying with your guardians. My big brother’s staying with one of his friends and Mum and Dad’ll both be out at work so we’ll have the house to ourselves!” Jess’s green eyes, which are normally very dreamy, were really sparkling and she looked so pretty with her curly coppery hair.

  “That’d be brilliant! I’ll just have to check with Mum.”

  I was going to go home to Thailand for all the long holidays, like Christmas, but it’s an eleven-hour journey each way on the plane, so for the short half-term holidays I stay with my guardians in England. They’re called Jan and Pete and I’ve known them for ages because they made friends with our family when they came on holiday to Thailand years ago, and we’ve met up loads of times since. They’re both really nice and I knew they were planning a trip to Thorpe Park over half-term, but I still preferred the thought of being with Jess.

  After prep that evening I made my way to the computer room at Hazeldean. I’ve had to get used to calling it prep instead of homework, but I don’t mind the way we do it at Silver Spires, sitting silently in a room with one of the house staff supervising. Jess had already texted her mum to ask about me staying for half-term, but we hadn’t heard back from her, which Jess said wasn’t surprising because her mum’s an accountant and often gets home late from work. I thought it was a bit of an important thing to ask my own mum in a text, so I’d decided to e-mail her, and make it a nice newsy one.

  Georgie was the only other person in the room and I couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous when I realized she was chatting online.

  “Don’t look so worried, Grace,” she said. “It’s been a whole week since that last message.” Her eyes went straight back to the screen. “I don’t know who on earth this is online at the moment, but she certainly knows some good jokes!”

  I sat down at the next-door computer and looked at my watch. It would be two thirty in the morning in Thailand so my parents would be fast asleep in bed and wouldn’t get my e-mail till the next day. That didn’t matter though. I typed away, telling them all about today’s swimming lesson, concentrating on how my Christmas holiday training sessions had definitely paid off, because I knew that would please Mum and Dad. Then I told them about the history lesson when Mr. Wilson had praised the essay I’d done for prep. I left it til
l the very end to ask about staying with Jess for half-term. And only after I’d pressed send did I look at Georgie and see that she was staring at her screen with a look of major concentration on her face.

  My heart beat a little bit faster. “What’s up, Georgie?”

  She didn’t speak, so I got up and read what was written on her screen over her shoulder, but it didn’t make sense because it just said, Don’t you think?

  “What’s that mean?” I asked her.

  Her voice sounded suddenly weak. “Have you seen who’s written it?”

  I read the username that she was pointing to. One credit too many.

  And something tightened in my stomach.

  Chapter Three

  “Text from Mum!” said Jess, when we all met up in the courtyard at morning break the next day. “Let’s see what she says.”

  It had been such a disappointment the previous evening when Jess’s mum had phoned her just before bedtime to say she was sorry but she had to work all through the half-term week with only one day off in the middle, so Jess was going to be spending the daytimes with her twin cousins who still went to primary, and their mum, Jess’s Aunt Lyn.

  “Daisy and Emma are perfectly nice,” Jess had said with a sigh, “but they don’t like doing the same things as me. They’re into magazines and horoscopes, and they’re quite happy to just sit in their bedroom with the TV on, but I prefer…you know…exploring with my camera.”

  But then today at breakfast she’d suddenly come up with a solution. “I could ask Mum if you can come to Aunty Lyn’s too! I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” She giggled. “We could escape the twins and go off for walks together!”

  So now we were both desperate to see what Jess’s mum thought about that idea.

  I knew it wasn’t going to be good news from the face Jess was pulling as she read the text. “Oh no! Mum says she doesn’t like to ask Aunty Lyn to be responsible for an extra person, and that she’d prefer to be around herself when you come to stay anyway. She’s going on about the Easter holidays, but you’ll be going home then, won’t you?”