Olivia's Fantastic Gymnastics

by Holly Bell

  Olivia’s Fantastic Gymnastics

  published in 2013 by

  Chirpy Bird, an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

  eISBN 9781743580332

  Text and design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Illustration copyright © 2013 Forever Clover Pty Ltd

  With thanks to Jaclyn Crupi.

  Illustrations by Elizabeth Botté

  Design by Julie Thompson

  Text design and typesetting by Ektavo

  Forever Clover is a registered trademark of Forever Clover Pty Ltd.

  www.foreverclover.com.au

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Olivia was showing Maddie her gymnastics floor routine. It was a little tricky on the stone floor of the clubhouse, but Olivia was careful not to hurt herself.

  She glided through the turns, tumbles and acrobatics with ease. It was as though her body had memorised every movement.

  Olivia launched into the final back handspring and landed perfectly. A huge smile spread across her face. It felt good.

  ‘That was great,’ Maddie said, clapping her hands. ‘You hit it!’

  ‘Listen to you, talking the gymnastics talk,’ Olivia grinned, slightly out of breath.

  ‘Well, I am the best friend of a future Olympic gymnast,’ Maddie said.

  Olivia knew she was lucky to have a best friend like Maddie. Maddie came to all her competitions to cheer her on. Olivia always went to Maddie’s soccer and basketball matches, too. They supported each other through everything.

  ‘Thanks for meeting me before the others get here,’ Olivia said.

  ‘Of course!’ Maddie said. ‘I really wanted to see your routine before the comp.’

  Olivia was buzzing with energy. The competition was only a week away, and she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  She hopped from foot to foot. ‘I’m so excited about it, Maddie,’ she said. ‘Natalie told me that she’s really pleased with how my routines have come together.’ Natalie was Olivia’s gymnastics coach.

  ‘You’ll be great!’ Maddie said, smiling. ‘You’ll hit it for sure.’

  Olivia laughed as she flopped onto the beanbag next to her bestie.

  The sound of giggling floated through the door. Olivia looked out and saw Emma, Kate, Abbey and Matilda walking through the quarry to the clubhouse.

  The quarry was an old stone mine that had been abandoned a long time ago. Its huge walls were now surrounded by flowers, trees and lots of clover.

  Once, on a really hot day, Olivia, Maddie and their friends had found a rare four-leaf clover at the quarry. Finding it had made the girls feel very lucky, so they all decided to wear a four-leaf clover charm as a symbol of their friendship. After all, best friends are like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have!

  The girls often joked about who saw the four-leaf clover first. But Olivia was sure it was her.

  Soon after, the girls found an old miners’ shed that had been carved into the quarry wall. It was hidden behind hanging trees and overgrown bushes. Olivia, Maddie, Abbey, Kate, Matilda and Emma were the only people who knew it was there. It became their very own secret clubhouse.

  The giggling grew louder, and then Abbey burst into the clubhouse. Emma, Matilda and Kate followed close behind her. The dusty space was quickly filled with girls and chatter.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re having another maths test on Friday,’ Abbey groaned.

  ‘Did I tell you guys about Quest’s new saddle?’ said Matilda.

  ‘I found out today that dolphins sleep with half of their brain awake!’ said Kate.

  ‘Look at my new bead necklace!’ said Emma, showing it around. ‘Mum and I made it yesterday.’

  Olivia loved hanging out with her friends. It was nice to be distracted from the gymnastics competition. But she could only stay for a little while, and soon her watch ticked over to 4.30 p.m.

  Olivia jumped off the beanbag and gathered up her things. ‘I have to get to training,’ she said with a wave. ‘See you all later!’

  ‘I’ll walk you up to the road,’ Maddie offered. ‘I’d better get home anyway.’

  The two friends said their goodbyes and left the quarry. It was only a short walk to the main road, and Olivia’s mum was waiting there in the car.

  ‘Thanks for walking me,’ Olivia said as she hugged Maddie goodbye.

  ‘No problem,’ Maddie said. ‘Knock them dead at practice.’

  Olivia grinned as she got into the car. That was exactly her plan!

  Gymnastics was everything to Olivia. The other gymnasts were like a second family to her, especially since she spent so much time with them training.

  Olivia often thought of her coach like a second mum, too. Natalie was always pushing and encouraging her, and Olivia loved it. Secretly, she knew she was the best gymnast at the gym. She even hoped to make it to the Olympics one day. She liked being so good at something – it made her feel special.

  The excitement inside the gym hit Olivia as she pushed open the heavy doors. The place was buzzing, but not in the usual way. There weren’t gymnasts balancing on the beams, swinging on the bars, chalking their hands or stretching. In fact, all the apparatus sat empty, even though the music was playing.

  Everyone was watching one gymnast on the floor. Olivia pushed her way closer to see what everyone was looking at.

  The gymnast on the floor was mid-routine. The music hung in the air as she glided through the movements. Olivia couldn’t stop watching. She was perfect.

  As the gymnast finished her routine, Olivia realised that she’d been holding her breath. She let out a long gush of air as the music stopped.

  The gym exploded with applause. Olivia was too stunned to even clap.

  The gymnast was beaming and jiggling around excitedly. Olivia’s coach put her arm around her.

  ‘That was wonderful, Sasha,’ Natalie said warmly. Then she spun the new girl around to face the other gymnasts. ‘Everyone, please make Sasha feel welcome at our gym. She’s going to be hard to beat at the competition next week!’

  Olivia couldn’t believe her ears. Oh no, she thought. I’m supposed to be the only one going to the competition! Is she taking my place?

  This question whirled around Olivia’s head as everyone got back to training. Her fellow gymnasts were stretching, vaulting and tumbling as Olivia stood there, stuck to the spot.

  All of a sudden, Sasha’s beaming face popped up in front of her like a jack-in-the-box. ‘Hi! You must be the great Olivia,’ Sasha said brightly. ‘I’ve heard so much about you!’ She was speaking so fast that her words seemed to run together.

  Olivia felt a little tongue-tied. ‘Oh. You’ve heard about me?’ she said.

  ‘Of course! You’re famous, you know,’ Sasha said, just as brightly.

  Olivia couldn’t tell if Sasha was making fun of her. ‘Er, no,’ she said sheepishly. ‘I didn’t know that.’

  Sasha shrugged happily. ‘Well anyway, it’s great to finally meet you. I know I’ll be seeing a lot more of you. I can’t w
ait to watch your floor routine later – you know, to see what I’m up against in the comp!’

  It sounded like she and Sasha would be competing together. Olivia didn’t know what else to say, so she gave an awkward smile. When Natalie called them over for exercises on the mat, Olivia was relieved. She ran off, leaving Sasha standing there.

  For the rest of training, Olivia felt unsettled. She couldn’t quite concentrate on her movements, and kept making silly mistakes. To make it even worse, Sasha’s moves were perfect – every single time.

  As soon as the clock ticked over to six-thirty, Olivia grabbed her bag and got out of there. This new Sasha girl was bad news. Olivia could just tell!

  The next afternoon, Olivia walked into the clubhouse just as Abbey was finishing a funny story about her dog, Moby. The other girls were falling about laughing at her. But when Olivia waved hello at her best friend, Maddie instantly sensed that something was wrong.

  ‘Olivia!’ she said, her grin disappearing. ‘What happened?’

  Olivia managed a half-smile as Maddie, Abbey, Kate, Matilda and Emma gathered around her.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Maddie asked. ‘Are you injured?’ She knew this was an athlete’s worst nightmare.

  ‘No, nothing like that,’ Olivia said. ‘In fact, it’s probably nothing at all.’ She was feeling embarrassed now. Maybe she was making a big deal about nothing.

  She wanted to get her thoughts straight in her head, but they all seemed jumbled. She took a deep breath, and tried to start from the beginning.

  ‘It’s just that there’s this new girl at the gym,’ she said. ‘And she’s kind of weird.’ Olivia told them about Natalie entering Sasha in the competition, and how Sasha had called her famous afterwards.

  The more Olivia spoke about Sasha, the more upset she started to feel. Sasha was her first gymnastics rival, and Olivia didn’t like it. Not one bit!

  ‘It’s just not fair,’ Olivia grumbled. ‘I’ve been at the gym much longer than she has.’

  Olivia knew she sounded jealous and whiny, just like her little sister Alice when she didn’t get her way. But she couldn’t help it.

  ‘It’s normal to feel that way,’ Kate said, putting a reassuring arm around Olivia’s shoulders. ‘We all get jealous sometimes.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Emma agreed. ‘It’s just hard being the new kid, and Sasha was probably trying to be friendly.’

  Olivia knew her friends were trying to make her feel better, but there was more to her feelings than jealousy. She just couldn’t find the words to explain it.

  Olivia noticed Maddie watching her worriedly. She gave Maddie a quick smile. ‘You guys are right, I know,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Sasha just got to me. I’m sure I’ll feel fine about it in a day or two.’

  Olivia didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she was relieved when the girls started to talk about other things.

  After a while, Maddie pulled Olivia aside. ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ she asked.

  Olivia shrugged. ‘Yeah, I guess. It’s just that she’s really good, Maddie. I think she’s better than I am. And now I’m up against her in the comp.’

  ‘I’m sure you’re just as good as she is,’ said Maddie softly. ‘And you know, maybe this will be a good thing.’

  Olivia looked unconvinced, and Maddie laughed at the expression on her face.

  ‘You’ve been the best gymnast at your club for ages,’ Maddie pointed out. ‘Training with someone really good might push you to get even better.’

  Maddie knew all about competition from her own training, but Olivia couldn’t see how Sasha would make her a better gymnast.

  ‘I don’t think you’re jealous,’ Maddie said, putting an arm around Olivia. ‘You’re probably just a bit threatened because you’ve never trained with someone as good as you are. Give it time. It’ll all be OK.’

  Olivia smiled at her bestie, and tried to put Sasha out of her mind. Maybe Maddie was right, and Olivia just needed some time.

  Olivia tried to focus on her training for the rest of the week, but it wasn’t easy. Sasha always seemed to get through her routines easily, whereas Olivia was still making dumb mistakes.

  Still, Olivia kept her head up and tried to remember what Maddie had told her. Maybe training with Sasha would make her a better gymnast, if she just gave it time.

  Finally, it was the last training session before the comp. Olivia hit the final twirl of her floor routine and glanced at Natalie as she finished.

  ‘OK, Olivia. That was much better,’ said Natalie. ‘Don’t forget to smile at the comp, though.’

  It wasn’t exactly high praise, but Olivia was pleased. Maybe things were getting back to normal.

  ‘By the way,’ Natalie said, ‘I want you and Sasha to drive to the competition with me tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh,’ Olivia said. ‘But I think my mum was going to drive me.’

  ‘I think it’s important we go as a team,’ said Natalie. ‘It will be a good chance for you and Sasha to get to know each other.’

  Olivia could feel the dread rising in her tummy. Sasha was the last person she wanted to get to know.

  In that moment, Olivia knew Maddie was right. She did feel threatened, and it wasn’t a feeling she was used to. It wasn’t making her a better gymnast, either – it was making her worse! She’d never felt this way before. She didn’t know what to do.

  Then Sasha popped up, doing her jack-in-the-box impression again.

  ‘Did you hear?’ Sasha asked.

  ‘Hear what?’ Olivia asked curtly.

  ‘That we’re all driving down to the competition together, the whole team.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Olivia said grumpily. ‘We’re not a team, though. I mean, we’re both competing for our own scores.’

  Sasha’s face fell. ‘Well, I guess so,’ she said, sounding hurt. ‘But at my last club, we supported each other through every comp. I mean, competing is hard work …’

  Olivia suddenly felt awful. Sasha did seem like a nice person, but Olivia could only think of her as a rival.

  Actually, Olivia was surprised that Sasha thought comps were hard. Gymnastics seemed to come so easily to her. Sasha never seemed to struggle with a new move.

  But Olivia couldn’t find the words for any of that. Instead, she picked up her gym bag and mumbled, ‘I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  Then she walked out of the gym to meet her mum in the car park. She couldn’t tell if she was upset with Sasha, or with herself.

  The next morning, the drive with Natalie and Sasha to the comp was uneventful. When they arrived, Olivia and Sasha walked into the big hall where it was being held. They both stopped in their tracks and looked around in amazement.

  It was the biggest competition either of them had ever seen! There were hundreds of gymnasts there already, warming up and waiting to compete. It all seemed so big and serious.

  Olivia noticed Sasha’s hand moving towards hers. She quickly moved her hand away and crossed her arms. She needed to focus without distractions from Sasha. After all, it was only since she’d arrived that Olivia had struggled with her routine.

  ‘OK, let’s do this,’ Natalie said, putting her arms around the girls’ shoulders. ‘Warm-up time, then we’re first on floor.’

  Olivia and Sasha put their bags down and started to get ready. As Olivia looked through her bag for a hair tie, her EpiPen fell out.

  ‘Oh, are you allergic to something?’ asked Sasha.

  ‘Yeah, peanuts,’ Olivia said.

  ‘So is my older brother,’ Sasha said. ‘He carries an EpiPen too.’

  Olivia shrugged and put the EpiPen in her bag’s side pocket. Then she turned away and started to warm up. Olivia heard Sasha sigh before getting on with her own warm-up.

  Olivia stretched out her legs, wishing that she was performing first. Natalie had already decided that Sasha would be first on the floor.

  Typical, Olivia thought grumpily. Perfect Sasha gets to go first.

  Then a competi
tion official came over. He wished the girls luck and gave them a welcome pack. Sasha immediately opened hers and scoffed a muesli bar. Olivia was a little surprised – she never ate before going on the floor.

  Then Sasha gave Olivia a small smile and approached the floor, ready to compete.

  Olivia shook out her arms, trying to stay focused as the music started. She didn’t want to watch Sasha perform, but she could tell from the crowd’s reaction that it was already a perfect performance.

  Olivia looked into the crowd and saw the smiling faces of her mum, sisters and Maddie. The other girls were there, too. Emma was waving a sign that she’d made. It had Olivia’s name on it in sparkly paint.

  Olivia’s grumpiness seemed to dissolve a little. In fact, she was starting to feel excited about competing. For the first time in more than a week, she felt ready to go out there. Ready to do her best. So what if Sasha was good? Olivia was too!

  As the music finished, Sasha came bouncing off the mats. She was obviously happy with her performance.

  Olivia tried to catch her eye, but Sasha wouldn’t look at her. Olivia knew that she had to make things up to Sasha, straight after the comp. Right now, though, she had to concentrate.

  Olivia’s name was announced over the loudspeaker. Her tummy did a big flip.

  On impulse, Olivia grabbed the muesli bar from her welcome pack and took a big bite. If it worked for Sasha, maybe it would help her too.

  Olivia did a final stretch and approached the floor. She was ready to shine!

  Olivia could hear her family and friends clapping and cheering for her. This was it! Olivia took a deep breath and moved into her starting pose.

  As the music floated across the hall, Olivia’s body began to move through her routine. It felt good again. It felt right.

  She was just about to do a standing full twist when her entire body started to feel itchy. Her lips began to swell and she couldn’t breathe properly.

  Oh no! Olivia thought. She knew exactly what this feeling was. She was having an allergic reaction! But to what? She was always so careful not to eat peanuts.