Handsprings and Homework

by Jane Lawes

  She put her hands on the blocks, which felt much sturdier than Lindsay’s hands, and lifted one leg off the ground so that her knee was bent and pointing up to the ceiling. Then she did the same with the other leg. The blocks didn’t wobble like Lindsay’s arms, so she was able to start straightening her legs. But she didn’t get far before she couldn’t hold them up any more. This was going to be harder work than she’d ever imagined.

  Clare sent Lindsay to work on her somersaults on the trampoline. It was going to be a long time until Tara was ready to try the balance on her partner’s hands.

  After some practice, Tara managed to get her legs straight in a straddle position, but that still wasn’t right. Her feet were pointing downwards. Clare said her legs should be parallel to the floor, even pointing slightly upwards. They should never point down towards the floor.

  “Think of it as if you’re trying to balance something on each leg without it rolling off onto the floor,” advised Clare.

  Tara tried again. “I can’t,” she sighed, landing back on the floor.

  “It’s mainly strength in your arms and legs that you need,” said Clare. “If you keep practising for long enough you’ll get there.”

  At the end of Sunday’s training session Tara spent some more time working on the blocks, and Clare made Lindsay practise balancing weights on her hands so that she could build up strength too. The rest of their routine was coming together well, but Tara felt like it was nothing without the straddle lever balance.

  “It’s so hard,” she sighed, rubbing her sore hands together. Lindsay gave her a sympathetic look. But Sam had heard, too.

  “We’re working towards a National competition,” she said. “Of course it’s hard! Just because you won gold at Regionals, that doesn’t mean you can stop working. Anyone who’s ever done a competition knows that!”

  She turned and walked off before anyone could say anything. Tara stared at the back of the older girl’s pink and purple leotard. Sam seemed to have had it in for her ever since Clare had asked Tara to join the Acro squad, and Tara had no idea why. But Sam had been almost nice since the Regional competition. Now it looked like it didn’t take much for her to start being nasty again.

  “Shall we go through the routine?” Lindsay asked, knowing that would make Tara forget about Sam.

  Tara shook her head and glared at the wooden blocks. “We’re going to get this balance,” she said.

  Tara was working so hard that she didn’t notice when the others wandered out to the changing room at the end of the session.

  “Your dad phoned,” Clare said, coming up behind her. “He said he’s stuck in traffic so he’ll be a bit late.”

  “Okay.” Tara smiled, glad of the chance to practise for a bit longer. She picked the wooden blocks up and moved into one corner of the floor, so that she could carry on working while another group of gymnasts used the rest of the space.

  “Home time, Tara!” she heard Dad call a little later. She came down from a neat straddle lever balance and grinned at him.

  “Did you see that?” she asked excitedly. “That was my best one yet!”

  “Looked great,” said Dad. “I’ve been watching you for a while – it looks difficult! Go and get your things now, Mum’s doing a roast dinner.”

  In the car on the way home, Dad quizzed Tara about what she’d been doing and what she needed to use the blocks for. She explained the balance and how the blocks were easier to start learning it with and would help her build up strength. She was really glad that Dad was so interested, but couldn’t help giggling when he kept getting all the names of the skills wrong.

  “Mum and I thought it would be nice to go for a family walk after lunch,” said Dad. “Have you got much homework to do?”

  “Quite a lot.” Tara grimaced. She still had some left from during the week, as well as the things she’d been set on Friday. “And I’m going round to Kate’s at six to watch a film.”

  Dad frowned. “Why didn’t you do it yesterday?”

  “I did some, but they’ve given us loads and loads this week, Dad.” Tara didn’t mention that she should have done most of it on Wednesday. With two hours in the gym straight after a whole day at school, she’d been exhausted when she got home and homework hadn’t even crossed her mind. Dad would probably understand that, she thought, but for some reason she still didn’t tell him. Parents got funny about things like homework. It was better to let them think it was all under control.

  Chapter Six

  When Mum heard how much work Tara had to do, she decided that going for a walk wasn’t such a good idea. So there was just enough time for Tara to dash through her homework before going over to Kate’s house.

  “Did you finish all that homework?” Mum asked, while she was driving Tara over to Kate’s. “I’m worried that all this gymnastics and so much schoolwork is going to get too much for you. Are you sure you’ll be able to cope with it?”

  “Yes,” Tara said, rolling her eyes and wishing Mum hadn’t asked. She knew that she hadn’t done any of the homework as well as she could have done if she’d spent more time on it, but she tried to push that thought out of her mind and focus on enjoying a film with her friends.

  But even at Kate’s she couldn’t escape the subject of homework.

  “Did you write up our science experiment?” Emily asked, while Kate was tipping popcorn into a bowl.

  “Yeah, this afternoon,” Tara replied. “How much did you write for each section?”

  “About half a page,” said Emily, taking a few pieces of popcorn. “I didn’t know how much we were meant to do.”

  “Me neither,” Tara agreed. She bit her lip worriedly – she’d only written a couple of sentences about each part of the experiment.

  When she got home from school on Monday, she went straight up to her room, determined to spend more time on homework and do it all properly this week. She got out her geography book and put it on her desk. She was just about to start answering the questions they’d been set when she noticed a scrap of paper she’d been doodling gymnasts on the day before, and she started to daydream. She pictured herself at the Nationals: a huge gym with a cheering crowd, all watching as she and Lindsay performed a perfect routine packed with stunning balances…

  She knew her daydreams would never come true if she didn’t keep training hard. She’d have to wait until Wednesday to practise straddle levers on the wooden blocks again, but she was desperate to keep improving even on days when she couldn’t go to the gym. She looked at her watch; it was still early. A little bit of stretching wouldn’t take too long…

  After her usual stretches, Tara couldn’t resist practising a few handstands in the middle of the room, counting how long she could hold them before she had to come down. Trying not to make any noise made it harder – she didn’t want to disturb her parents downstairs. Then she remembered that Clare had said she could try building up strength in her arms and wrists by practising straddle levers on the floor. She got into position and gave it her best, but it was much harder than on the blocks.

  After a while, Tara sat in the middle of her bedroom floor, gazing at the posters of gymnasts she’d put up on the walls. She wondered if they’d practised in their bedrooms, too. She smiled up at the poster of Beth Tweddle flying between the asymmetric bars. Tara wondered how many hours of training champion gymnasts like Beth had to do to be that good. A lot more than eight hours a week, she bet.

  After dinner, she watched TV with Anna for a while.

  “Have you done your homework, Tara?” asked Mum, while Dad was clearing up in the kitchen.

  “I don’t have any today,” Tara lied. The truth was that, as well as geography, she had some science questions and another one of Mr. Bruce’s history research tasks, but none of it was due in the next day. The science could wait until tomorrow, and the history wasn�
��t due in until next week, so she could leave it for the weekend if she wanted to. Mum would only nag if she knew Tara was putting it off. So even though she felt a bit guilty, it was easier to pretend.

  Even though she’d planned to get the science questions done on Tuesday evening, it was harder to fit in than Tara had thought. First of all, her bus home got stuck in traffic and she had to sit there for ages while the minutes ticked away, taking her chance to get everything done with them. It was actually quite fun being stuck on the bus with loads of people from school (especially because she and Emily had been lucky enough to get seats) – someone was playing music on their phone, and everyone was talking and laughing. But although Tara joined in, she couldn’t get rid of the little homework worry in the back of her mind.

  When she finally got home, she stood in the kitchen chatting to Mum and telling her all about school, helping to grate cheese and chop vegetables for a pasta bake while she talked. Dad came home from work and told them all funny stories from his day while they ate dinner. Tara asked him lots of questions, trying to keep him talking. She didn’t want anyone to ask about her homework.

  Eventually, she had no other choice. The pasta bake had been eaten, and the plates cleared away. Tara went up to her room and started the maths homework Mr. Spencer had given them, which they had to give back to him the next day. It took longer than she’d thought it would, especially when she gave herself a little break to do some stretches. She’d just sat back down at her desk to start on the science questions when Mum knocked on her door and came in.

  “Stop working now,” she said. “It’s time for bed.”

  “But I’ve got to finish this,” Tara protested.

  “You need to sleep or you’ll be too tired for school and gymnastics tomorrow,” said Mum. Tara nodded and put her book away – being too tired to train properly at Silverdale was unthinkable. “Goodnight,” said Mum, giving her a kiss.

  “Night,” mumbled Tara. She got ready for bed and tried to sleep. But she couldn’t stop thinking about her homework – she was supposed to hand the science questions in the next morning! For the first time in her life, Tara had not done her homework on time, and she knew she was going to be in trouble.

  On the way to school on Wednesday, she thought of a way to avoid that. She hadn’t done the science questions, but she knew Emily had. Her best friend had done them on Monday night, and she’d said they were easy but long. There wouldn’t be time to actually do the questions before she had to hand them in…but there would be time to copy Emily’s.

  Tara waited anxiously at the school gate for her best friends. She had her rucksack on her back and her gym bag slung over her shoulder – she had training straight after school so she’d had to bring her leotard with her. Lindsay and Megan went to Tara’s school too – they were in Year Nine – so the three of them always walked to the gym together on Wednesdays and Fridays. It was one of Tara’s favourite times of the week – walking along with her gym friends, knowing that school was finished for the day and they were on their way to two whole hours of gymnastics.

  “Hi,” said Kate, coming up to Tara with a wave and a smile.

  “Where’s Em?” asked Tara. “She wasn’t on my bus.”

  “She texted me to say she missed it,” said Kate. “Her dad’s giving her a lift.”

  Tara looked at her phone and saw she had the same message. “Come on, Emily,” she muttered.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Kate.

  Tara didn’t have time to answer, because at that moment Emily rushed up to them, out of breath. “My stupid brothers made me miss the bus,” she said, already walking ahead. “Come on, we’ll be late.”

  “Em,” said Tara, catching up with her. “You know those science questions?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Um…” Tara paused. Suddenly she realized that Emily might not want her to copy her homework. After all, Emily had worked hard on it. It wasn’t fair that Tara could do nothing and get the same mark.

  “Please tell me you’ve done them,” said Emily. “I’ve heard Mrs. Long gives out detentions for the tiniest thing. After-school ones, sometimes.”

  Tara swallowed. She couldn’t have detention after school. Not today. “Of course,” she said quickly. “I just wanted to check something. The last ones were a bit confusing.”

  Emily looked at her strangely. Tara bit her lip. “Sure,” said Emily. She looked in her school bag and pulled out her science book. “Take it and give it back to me in the lesson. We’re going to miss registration if we don’t hurry.”

  “Thanks,” Tara said.

  When Tara got to her form room she found out that Mrs. James, her form teacher, was running late – which meant that she had time to copy Emily’s answers onto her own worksheet before her teacher arrived. Then she shoved her book back into her bag along with Emily’s and sat quietly waiting for the register. She could see two of the boys in her form copying the science answers from someone else’s book too. Perhaps that should have made her feel better… But it didn’t.

  When she arrived at the science block later, she handed Emily’s book back to her without a word. She felt sick – she couldn’t even look at her best friend. But it was done now. When Mrs. Long collected in their books, Tara was sure she’d somehow be caught out. But nothing happened. Her book went into the pile with all the others, just as if she had done the homework properly. It’s surprisingly easy to get away with it, Tara thought. Though she felt so guilty that she vowed she’d never do it again.

  Chapter Seven

  On Friday, Mr. Spencer gave them fifty maths questions to do over the weekend. The class groaned.

  “That’s going to take for ever!” said Alex, the boy who sat next to Tara.

  Tara nodded, worried. She had geography and history homework to do as well. She definitely didn’t have for ever to do it all in as she had gym after school that night, and then on Saturday morning and again on Sunday. When she added in Sunday lunch at Auntie Hazel’s, and hanging out with Emily and Kate on Sunday night, she was left with only a few hours to do all that homework.

  She was quiet on the way to the gym with Lindsay and Megan, still trying to figure out how she could fit everything in. But as soon as she walked through the doors at Silverdale, her worries disappeared and she thought only about gymnastics. She loved the way the gym could make her forget about everything else.

  She was getting pretty good at backflips now, and Clare had finally agreed to put one in Tara and Lindsay’s Nationals routine. She was also getting better at straddle levers on the blocks, so she and Lindsay had decided to try the full balance again. And this time, for a split second, they managed to get it right. Tara felt her heart bounce in excitement. They could do it! An image flashed through her mind: herself and Lindsay at the Nationals, wowing the audience with a steady straddle lever balance.

  Then they fell. Tara just wasn’t strong enough to hold the balance for more than a second.

  “So close!” said Clare. “Keep working on the blocks,” she told Tara. “You’re really nearly there.”

  Tara grinned and got back to work. All that practising in her bedroom had been worth it!

  Clare was also teaching Tara to do a round-off straight into a backflip. It was the basic beginning of tumble runs that Tara had seen Olympic gymnasts doing, and she couldn’t believe she was finally doing it herself. Of course, the great champion gymnasts followed their round-off flicks with somersaults – doubles and triples and sometimes with twists. Tara hoped she had that to look forward to one day.

  Tara left the gym on Saturday after another great training session. She was finally beginning to feel like a National medal might actually be just within her reach.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” said Dad, as soon as Tara and Mum got back from Silverdale.

  “What is it?” Tara asked.<
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  “Close your eyes.” She did, leaning against the kitchen counter, and kept them closed while she heard the back door open. Something knocked against the tiled floor. “Okay, open!” said Dad, and Tara’s eyelids flew up.

  “Wow!” she gasped. “Where did you get it?” On the kitchen floor was a set of wooden blocks, just like the one she used at Silverdale.

  “I made it,” said Dad. “I thought you’d like to practise your stuff at home.”

  “Thanks! It’s great,” said Tara. She ran her fingertips over the smooth blocks. She put her hands on them and tried leaning over so that the blocks took most of her weight. She grinned up at Dad, then leaped over the blocks to give him a big hug.

  “Go on then,” he said. “Show me what you can do.”

  Tara showed him a pretty good straddle lever. “Can I take it up to my room?” she asked.

  “I think that’s best,” said Dad. “It’ll get in the way down here. But no gymnastics tricks in the middle of the night. Gymnasts need their sleep.”

  “Dad!” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “They’re not called tricks!” He looked at her seriously. “I won’t use it at night. Promise.”

  “And not until all your homework is done,” added Mum.

  “Okay,” said Tara, as usual throwing her eyes up to the ceiling at the mention of homework.

  She set the blocks down in the middle of her bedroom floor. She’d rushed through her history homework after gym on Friday but her geography and maths books still sat, untouched, on her desk. But Clare had told her to keep working on the straddle lever. That was a bit like homework, too – and she should really try out her new blocks properly. Just a few minutes of practising and then she’d get on with the boring geography questions…

  But when Tara got stuck into training, a few minutes could turn into an hour. Her straddle levers were starting to feel great. She was so close to being able to hold the full balance with Lindsay, and she was determined to push herself more than ever until they could do it.