The pool attendant returned with a starter gun. He seemed to be enjoying the commotion. ‘All right, people, I’ll call “Take your mark” and when you’re both settled on the blocks, I’ll fire this gun.’
‘All right,’ said Levi, dancing back to a bench seat and pulling his boxing gown off.
As I peeled away my coat I shivered in the winter air. My hair was still wet. But I sucked in a breath and kept my eyes on the pool. It was choppy from the other lap swimmers but also steamy, like a tropical bay just waiting to be swum in.
‘Take your mark,’ called the attendant. While our gangs of cheerleaders and hyenas went quiet, other lap swimmers turned to ask each other what was going on. I ignored them all, sucking in my focus as I stepped onto the block. Two clear breaths. Then my mind was calm.
That’s it, Jade. Time to focus. For now, nothing else . . .
Crack!
At the sound of the gun I pushed and plunged, pulling hard into my first stroke. I could sense the intensity of movement beside me, and as I slapped and breathed, reached and pulled, I started to realise that this wasn’t going to be the race I’d been expecting. The lightning bolt in the next lane was a total surprise.
I knew that Marco would have been giving Levi tips and drilling him on technique, but what I hadn’t expected was the bolt of raw determination – a hundred and ten per cent. It was as if his whole being, his entire focus, could see nothing but the finish line.
Slap, slap, slap, slap went my arms – pounding, reaching, straining. Part of my plan was to swim fast and efficiently, not trying to win the early laps, but saving my energy for the end.
I didn’t want to change my plan, but Levi had set the pace way faster than I’d expected. If he pulled too far ahead, it wouldn’t matter how fast my turns were, I still wouldn’t be able to catch him.
Levi reached the end nearly two body lengths before me. I sensed a drop in his momentum as he turned and came crashing back.
Now was the time for my secret weapon.
At my marker, I tucked under and spun forwards. Then I pushed off like a torpedo and accelerated into my stroke. It was enough for me to gain a good second or two. Soon I was on the end of his tail. So what if we have different muscle structures? This girl knows how to use her brain.
At the 200 metre mark, Levi hadn’t pulled further ahead, but he wasn’t slowing either. And I was starting to hurt. My muscles were screaming at being pushed so fast but I wasn’t going to ease off for anything. Keep your stroke clean, Jade. Just stick with the plan . . .
By 400 metres I was busting everything to keep up. It wasn’t strength or stamina keeping me going now, it was sheer determination. The only thing keeping my muscles working was the fact that slowing down wasn’t an option.
Then when Levi turned at the 500 metre mark I sensed . . . something. A slight heaviness in his stroke? A subtle drop of his body in the water? Whatever it was, I drank it in like a shark sensing blood. Harder, faster . . .
If my body had anything left.
I pushed on, willing my muscles to find something hidden . . . somewhere. I didn’t think I had increased in speed but as I spun and turned at 600 metres, I realised I had pulled slightly ahead.
By 700 metres I could hear Levi breathing hard between the splashes of his arms. I sensed another sag in his stroke.
When we turned for the last time before our final lap, I tucked tighter than ever, pushing even further ahead.
All I had to do now was swim my girly guts out.
Levi started roaring home when he sensed the finish, breathing in gulping gasps. But the speed of his early laps had disappeared.
Everything went into those final strokes. As I stretched to touch, my muscles cried out with a blinding effort that used all my will.
When I looked up, panting and gulping, Levi was only just reaching in for his touch. The pool attendant was pointing to my lane and raising a single finger in the air. First.
Yelling and cheering filled the air as I turned to Levi. Chest heaving, his face and shoulders were red with the strain. He was frowning at me, his mouth slowly opening as he came to comprehend the finish.
I beamed. I made it, Levi! But he turned as if he hadn’t even seen me and was already pulling his dripping bulk up the ladder.
‘Levi!’ I ducked under the lane rope and came up in time to see him stick a middle finger up at the hyenas. As I pulled myself up the ladder the air felt light and empty.
I tried again. ‘Leeeeevi! Don’t be like this!’
But he was headed to the changerooms like a lion escaping the hunter’s gun. Belinda and her friends were leaping off the concrete steps. To one side, Marco was shaking his head.
I laughed. ‘Who’s soft now, Marco!’
He frowned and began to say something but Rene pushed past him. Then all I could feel was her arms grabbing me in a hug – too happy to care I was wet.
‘We did it, Rene!’ I cried.
She was almost screaming with laughter. ‘You mean, you did it, babe!’
Then I felt more arms around me – Belinda and the other girls, cheering even louder than a pack of hyenas.
‘Viiiiictory for the sisterhood!’ Belinda screamed in my ear as I peered past her and up the path leading to the changerooms. I couldn’t see anyone there.
Levi had disappeared.
CHAPTER 10
On Monday morning I dashed through the school gate early, stopping only for a quick curtsey and queen-like wave at the clapping and sprinkled laughter from a group of Year Twelves.
‘Good on you, Jade!’ someone called.
I waved again but kept going. Can’t stop now. Places to go. People to see. Well, one person in particular.
I’d sent Levi a text the day before and even looked up his home number and called it but got no answer. I was pretty sure that he was keeping his head down and his bottom lip firmly stuck out in a loser’s pout.
Fair enough. I didn’t have to be a Supergirl rocket surgeon to work out what was going on. Levi hated losing. Didn’t we all! But there was such a thing as being gracious in defeat. After all, he’d swum an awesome race – even better than I’d expected. I definitely respected him more now that I’d seen him compete seriously. And besides, my whole point had been to prove that girls could be as fast as guys. Not that we always were.
Though, in our case the girl was a clear second or two faster over 800 metres. I wasn’t going to let him ignore that delicious fact.
There were only a few guys playing kick-to-kick on the oval. When I saw Levi I couldn’t help a little intake of breath. He was standing rock still with calm confidence while the others dodged around him. When the ball came close, he jogged a few slow steps and caught it easily, as if no one else was there.
I dropped my bag, and leant forwards on the fence as Levi took two steps into a kick. The ball curved up, spinning slowly and flying over the outstretched arms of three guys waiting on the other side.
‘Hey, Levi!’ I cried, loud enough for all of them to turn my way. The only one who didn’t turn was Levi.
One of the guys said something that made Levi turn towards me slightly. Then he turned back to face the kick-to-kick crowd.
‘Leeevi!’ I called again, trying to show that he wasn’t going to get away with avoiding me. At the same time, Saxon yelled something which made Levi turn to face him, jerking his head as he replied. Saxon said something else.
By now the ball was on its way back to Levi. As the group moved towards the ball, Levi ran towards Saxon and didn’t stop until he’d pushed a broad shoulder right through him, like a bowling ball rolling through its last pin.
With a cry, Saxon ended up flat on his back.
Righty-o then. There obviously wasn’t any room for me out there, not with all the testosterone around. I rolled my eyes for the benefit of the sisterhood and turned away. It would probably be best for me to speak to Levi without any footy mates nearby, anyway. The whole macho scene was getting on my nerves.
Rene squished her mouth to one side. ‘Aw . . . I’d rather go to our normal spot?’ She had a sheepish, shy look in her eye that didn’t seem right.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked, glancing up the hall at the double doors leading to the bus road. I was starting to regret that I hadn’t chased Levi after our swim and made sure he was okay. Judging from how he’d been acting in class, Levi’s response to losing the race was one huge silent sulk.
Rene nodded fast as locker doors were slammed shut around us. Then her dark eyes filled with tears and her whole face crumpled. ‘Oh, Jade . . .’ she said, and sobbed.
I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close. ‘Rene, what’s wrong?’
‘Marco and I had a fight,’ she said into my shoulder. ‘I think we broke up.’ She took a breath and looked at me, waiting for the I told you so that I’d been keeping ready all these weeks.
It was strange, I’d waited so long for this moment but I didn’t feel at all like I thought I would.
‘Come on.’ I hugged her gently, feeling bad for her crying in front of the locker crowd. ‘Let’s go to the tree.’
Five minutes later we sank into the pine needles, heads close and backs resting against the bulk of the trunk.
‘So . . . ?’ I said. ‘What happened?’
Rene sighed and shifted her feet. ‘I dunno . . . I suppose it’s his dad really. Giving Marco a hard time.’ She looked at me and frowned as if unsure how to explain it all. Then she lifted her hands, stroking one of her fingernails like a tiny pet.
‘So, yesterday?’ Rene continued. ‘They lost the game, and Marco’s dad had a go at him. I wasn’t there, but when I came over Marco started yelling at me, saying that I wasn’t there when he needed me.’
‘Well that’s completely stupid,’ I said, and was glad when Rene nodded.
‘He was being so awful . . . I said that if he didn’t stop yelling, it would be over between us.’ She glanced at me quickly then back at her hands. ‘I’m not a pushover, you know.’
I felt really guilty then, partly because she’d kept it all to herself instead of calling me straight away, but mostly because that was exactly how I’d treated her, as if she was a weak little girl who needed to be saved from Marco.
Rene sighed and shook her head. ‘He just totally lost it. Yelling that I was meant to be on his side . . . that I was letting him down.’ She snorted. ‘His veins were totally popping out of his neck!’ Then she glanced at me and went serious again. ‘So I just walked out.’
She looked so sad, trying to smile because we both knew that she’d done the right thing.
At least now I knew what to say. ‘You didn’t have any choice, Rene. He just can’t treat you like that. No matter what.’
She was nodding, still trying to smile, even though tears were falling.
I pulled her into a hug. ‘Even if he’s got problems . . . he still can’t be awful to you.’ I was holding her tight, speaking over her shoulder and looking at the mottled grey-brown lumps of the tree trunk.
Then I felt a change in Rene’s breathing and pulled out of the hug to see Marco standing just beyond the edge of our tree. He looked terrible. Not sick or anything, just . . . tight. Stressed. As if all the stuff going on in his head was creeping out of the pores in his skin.
Rene looked at me, a scared spark of hope in her eyes, and I placed a hand on her shoulder. Then we stepped out from under the branches. Marco took a step back when we reached him.
I made sure there was no doubt what I thought about all this. Be a bastard and I’ll make your life a misery was the look on my face. Not that anyone was watching me at that point.
Marco’s eyes were darting over Rene’s face, as if he was frightened of what he might find in her eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I might have started feeling sorry for the guy.
Rene just looked sad. Disappointed. At that point I would have done anything to change the look on her face.
‘Do you want me to stay?’ I whispered, squeezing her hand.
‘No,’ Rene said, looking at Marco. Then she turned to me. ‘Unless . . . will you be okay?’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m okay! Will you be okay is the point!’
We both laughed. Then Rene nodded gently. ‘Yeah . . . I . . .’ She took a breath. ‘I’ll be okay. Thanks, Jade.’
As I turned and walked away I sent a heartfelt prayer back at Marco – Say the right thing, don’t disappoint her. Even though I’d expected it, I didn’t really want Marco to stuff it up. More than anything, I wanted Rene to be happy.
Maybe she was a soppy romantic, but that girl was strong too. And I was starting to realise something else. The strength that helped her stay loyal to Marco, was the same strength that helped Rene stay loyal to me.
Of course, Levi was playing kick-to-kick when I reached the oval. But I’d decided that wasn’t going to stop me. We needed to talk. And besides, who says that the kick-to-kick area was off-limits to the rest of the school?
I vaulted the fence and jogged towards Levi, keeping out of his line of sight until I was right beside him. ‘Hi there, stranger,’ I said.
Levi jerked in surprise as he turned to me, then he glanced back at the footy guys as if worried about what they were thinking.
‘You don’t have to avoid me, okay?’ I said brightly. ‘You swam a great race, Levi. You were only this far off winning.’ I held up my thumb and forefinger to show a couple of centimetres. ‘Well, maybe this much,’ I laughed, holding out both hands to show a good half-metre.
Levi didn’t take the bait. His frown deepened, if that was possible. Then he turned and started walking towards the fence, drawing me away from the footy crowd.
‘Woo hoo, Jade! Great swim!’ Saxon yelled from halfway across the oval, and a few of his mates clapped.
I waved back then broke into a jog to catch up with Levi.
Near the fence, he stopped and turned. ‘Congratulations, Jade. You swam . . . well.’ His voice was stiff and robotic as if he had programmed himself to say the right thing.
I resisted the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake. Snap out of it! It’s me you’re talking to, remember?
‘So . . . when do I get my slave for a week?’ I asked. I was deliberately ignoring the tension in his shoulders and his two balled fists.
Levi shook his head, frowning. ‘You think you still deserve a prize after that?’
‘After what?’
‘That . . . those turns,’ Levi spat. ‘You never once did them when we were training, did you? You hid them from me on purpose.’
‘Well . . . yeah . . . that was one of my tactics. One of many. It was all part of my training plan.’ I laughed, but it sounded tinny. Inside I was feeling weird and slippery, as if we were on the edge of a cliff and Levi was about to slide out of my reach.
He was breathing hard. ‘Tactics and training plans . . . are you serious? What you did was plain unfair.’
A stab of anger hit me in the chest. ‘Unfair? Unfair! No one stopped you from learning those turns! You had Marco to help you the whole way.’ I held out an arm and shook it in the air. ‘Look at the length of your arm compared to mine! The size of your shoulder muscles! You want to start talking about being fair, Levi? You’re the one who said it could never be a level playing field. I never asked you to go easy on me. All I did was use my brain.’
He had his mouth open, as if he couldn’t understand what I was saying. After a while he swallowed, and walked around me.
‘Oh right, I get it,’ I said, my voice rising as he kept walking. ‘It’s okay to lose a footy game to a bunch of guys, but it’s not okay to lose a race to a GIRL?’ I yelled the last few words, challenging him to feel ashamed of what he was doing . . . to face the reality of what was going on here.
He stopped and turned. His voice was cold. ‘No, you don’t get it, Jade. All you see is that you
won.’
I put my hands on my hips, eyes narrow. ‘Yes, I do. It’s about respect. You just can’t cope with the fact that I won, because I’m a girl!’ I knew I was right, but at the same time there was the hopeless, slippery feeling behind my words. I was trying to hold on for dear life.
Levi shook his head angrily. ‘Just leave it alone, Jade!’
For an awful split second his eyes went wide and his lips parted, as we both came to realised what his words really meant.
Just leave me alone . . .
Levi shut his mouth and swallowed. Then he turned and walked away.
My mouth was dry. It wasn’t meant to be like this. It didn’t have to be like this. If Levi actually faced up to what was going on, then it wouldn’t be like this . . .
Slowly I turned, vaguely aware that some kids had been watching us. I felt like screaming at them. But I kept breathing, head high, and went straight to the toilet block.
I knew Rene might be waiting for me but I couldn’t face her now. If I opened my mouth I wasn’t sure what would come out. A bloodcurdling war cry? Or just a flood of sorrow?
I passed a few groups of friends, but no one said hi or tried to stop me, maybe because of the look in my eyes.
Spinning the lock was a relief. I leant against the door and pressed the back of my head into the hard wood, letting a long breath out. My throat felt tight but I was too angry to cry.
It wasn’t meant to turn out like this.
CHAPTER 11
It was like being sliced in half – a sharp, shining sword hitting me between the eyes then sliding down to crack my breastbone. My two sides shivered, then fell apart.
Of course, Supergirl was the angry side. Geez, was she wild with fury. If Levi is going to be like this, then he can just stick it. Be strong. Be independent, Jade.
Imagined passing Levi in the corridor and letting Supergirl fly at him – laser beams of logic and cold, hard jabs of truth. This all happened because you’re just plain sexist. You don’t need to be ashamed, for crying out loud!
The problem was, every time I actually did pass Levi in the corridor, the other side of me piped up. I just wanted to grab his hands and force him to listen. We can sort through this. Talk to me . . . Pathetic, I know. The dialogue was straight out of one of Rene’s soppy romantic movies – and the love song stuck in my throat.
What Supergirl Did Next Page 8
