Sleepover Girls Go Karting

by Narinder Dhami

  “OK, Josh can be a bit of a bully on the track,” Charlie began, and I rolled my eyes. That was no surprise. “He’ll do everything he can to get past you if you’re in front of him. When you’re coming up to a corner, he’ll try to cut in on you, even if there’s no room for him to overtake. What he wants you to do is back off and let him slip through. So you don’t.”

  “What if we crash, though?” Lyndz asked.

  “You won’t,” Charlie said confidently. “Josh will pull back at the very last minute, but only if he thinks you won’t give way.”

  “What else?” I asked.

  “He likes to try and confuse you about which side he’s going to overtake you on a corner,” Charlie went on. “So he’ll keep moving over to the outside of one of the bends on every lap. Then when you suss out what he’s doing and you move to the outside of the bend to block him, he’ll overtake you on the inside.”

  “Sneaky!” Frankie remarked.

  Charlie gave us loads more useful advice. She was still talking when the start of the races was announced over the loudspeaker. This was it. Now we were on our own.

  “Good luck,” Charlie said, slapping me on the back. “I’ll be cheering for you all!”

  “Thanks, Coach!” I grinned.

  There were eight teams taking part, and we’d all be driving in two races each. Everyone would get points, depending on where they finished. I was going in the first race for us, along with Robin from Josh’s team and six other competitors. I couldn’t help feeling a bit sick as everyone went over to their karts. I didn’t usually get nervous, but I really wanted to do well this time.

  “Welcome to the Silver Streak karting centre for our very first day of team racing!” The commentator’s voice boomed out over the loudspeaker. “And before we start, can I just say good luck to one of our teams who go by the name, the Sleepover Club?”

  I almost jumped out of my skin. I wasn’t expecting that at all! The crowd started cheering and clapping, and so I waved at them and took a bow. I don’t know why the commentator had singled us out like that – maybe he thought we were bound to win?

  “A little bird tells me that these brave girls have made a bet with boys’ team, the Kings of the Track,” the commentator went on. “And if the girls lose, they’ve got to be Josh Stevens’s cheerleaders!”

  Everyone burst out laughing, and I nearly turned purple with embarrassment. I glanced over at the others, who were all red in the face and trying to hide behind each other. That little toad Stevens must be spreading it all around the track! That meant we couldn’t go back on the bet if we lost…Unless we never came to the track again. But anyway, Alana Banana Palmer would be bound to tell the M&Ms. It’d be all over Cuddington Primary in minutes.

  I gritted my teeth. There was nothing else for it – we had to win!

  I dunno what came over me when the race started, but I went for it. I scorched out of the starting grid like I had a rocket up my bottom – none of the other eight karts had a chance! Fifteen laps later I crossed the finishing line miles ahead of Robin, who was second. What a start!

  ’Course, we were all celebrating like mad when I came off the track, but we didn’t have a lot of time because the race marshalls wanted to get on to the next race. Next up was Fliss, and she was racing against Alex, along with, amongst others, Alana Banana.

  Guess what?

  Fliss came first too!!!

  She had a really difficult race because she and Alex were neck and neck most of the time, but she just about managed to get across the line ahead of him. Class! And guess who came last?

  No, you don’t get a prize for saying Alana Banana did. She’s so dozy, I don’t think she even realised it was a race!

  “Look, we’re winning!” Frankie said gleefully, as the team’s scores flashed up on to the display board. We were, too! We were ahead of Josh’s team by two points.

  “It’s me next,” Rosie wailed, looking scared to death. “And Josh is in my race!”

  “Look, don’t panic,” Lyndz said. “You don’t have to beat him, just do your best.”

  “Yeah, remember what Charlie said,” I reminded her. “All the points count.”

  Rosie did do her best, but she was never going to catch Snooty Stevens. She did OK, though – she came third. But Josh came in first, which meant that the boys were catching up with us.

  I nudged Frankie when the scores came up again on the display board. “Look, we’re level,” I said anxiously. “We really need to get a few wins in now, and pull ahead.”

  “It’s Lyndz next,” Frankie said, “and she’s up against Nathan.”

  “Don’t worry,” Lyndz said calmly, putting on her helmet. “His horse isn’t as fast as mine!”

  We all watched with our hearts in our mouths as the fourth race began. Lyndz did really well, but she didn’t win. She did come second though – and luckily for us, Nathan finished behind her in third place. Phew! That meant our score was higher than the boys again.

  “I’m so nervous!” Fliss complained, pacing to and fro as we waited for the fifth race to start. “It’s driving me mad!” She brightened up a bit. “Hey, driving me mad – get it?”

  We all groaned.

  “Come on, Frankie,” I muttered, as we watched her climb into Silver Flash, ready to start the race. “You can do it!”

  Silver Flash stood out against all the other boring karts in the race – it really looked fantastic. Frankie was going against Ben this time. If we could just win it, our lead over the boys would be even bigger.

  We all waited in silence for the marshall’s flag to drop. Then, when it did, we started screaming our heads off.

  “Go, Frankie!”

  “Go, Silver Flash!”

  “Come on, Sleepover Club!”

  Not that Frankie actually needed us to yell for her – she was doing all right on her own! Silver Flash shot into the lead from the start, and nobody could catch her. She completed the fifteen laps as if she was on the track on her own, and cruised over the finishing line in first place while everyone else still had half of the last lap to complete. The best thing was, Ben only finished in fourth place. The first five races were over, and we were four points ahead of the boys!

  We were all getting really excited and doing lots of woo-hooing at this point. Charlie kept trying to calm us down.

  “There’s still five races to go,” she kept saying. “Anything can happen.”

  And you’ve guessed it. It did.

  I think it was me who put everyone off. I was zooming round the track in my second race, when I misjudged a corner badly. I spun right off the track and hit the barrier, and half of the other karts, including Alex, swept past me.

  I was really mad with myself. I managed to get my kart going again, and I guess I did pretty well to come in fourth after all that. Luckily Alex didn’t win, but he did come second, which cut our lead down to two points.

  After that, everything seemed to go a bit pear-shaped. Lyndz could only manage third place in her second race, while Robin was second, and Fliss just about managed to hang on for second place in the next race ahead of Nathan. Then Rosie went against Ben and came fourth, while Ben was second. That meant trouble.

  “We’re level again,” I groaned, as the display board flashed up the latest figures. “I don’t believe it!”

  And there was only one race left.

  Frankie versus Josh. And whoever finished in front of the other, their team would win the prize.

  “It’s all down to you, Frankie,” Rosie said solemnly.

  “And Silver Flash,” Frankie replied. She looked a bit sick, and I didn’t blame her.

  We all watched in silence as the eight karts lined up for the very last race. All the members of the other teams and the spectators were wittering on, saying how exciting it was that it was so close for the final race. But we didn’t think it was exciting at all. We were all wetting ourselves!

  We soon cheered up when the race started. Frankie swooped off
the starting grid, and took the lead immediately in Silver Flash!

  “Yes!” Rosie yelled. “Keep going, Frankie!”

  “You can do it, Frankie!” Lyndz shouted.

  “Oh, I can’t watch!” Fliss moaned, and covered her eyes. But half a second later she was glued to the track again.

  I was glad Frankie was in the lead, of course, but as the race settled down, I began to feel a bit worried. Josh wasn’t challenging Frankie for first place. He seemed quite happy to stay behind her in second, and just keep watching and waiting for the right moment to overtake. But when was he going to do it?

  Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen laps. There were only two laps left, and Frankie was still just about in the lead. We were all hoarse from cheering too much, and Josh was still in second place.

  And THEN it happened.

  Alana Banana was right at the back of everyone else. In fact, she was so slow that Frankie was about to lap her, but Alana was blocking her way. The marshall started signalling to Alana to pull over. Guess what? She’s such a dozy idiot, she just waved back at him!

  Anyway, it took about a minute or two before Alana Banana realised what was happening, and then she pulled over – right into Frankie’s path! Frankie had to brake to avoid her, and guess who shot through the gap like an arrow and took the lead?

  Josh flippin’ Stevens, that’s who!

  The whole crowd gasped, but the rest of the Sleepover Club and Charlie were speechless. Josh was in front – with one lap to go!

  “I’m gonna kill Alana Banana!” I yelled, stomping up and down in a rage. “She’s a stupid, dozy, dopey idiot! You wait till I see her at school next week—”

  “Frankie’s catching Josh up!” Rosie shrieked in my ear.

  “What!”

  Sure enough, Silver Flash was gaining ground on the black and gold kart.

  “If Frankie’s brave enough to go for it, Silver Flash has got the speed to do it,” muttered Charlie, who’d chewed her fingernails nearly down to the bone.

  “Oh, Frankie’s got the guts to do it,” I said confidently. “No problem!”

  But would she have the time? There was only half a lap left.

  We all clung on to each other as Silver Flash drew up behind Josh’s kart. Fliss was hanging on to my hand so hard her fingernails were digging into me, but I hardly noticed. Rosie and Lyndz were jumping up and down, holding on to each other. Half a lap to go…

  Less than half a lap…

  Suddenly Frankie seemed to put her foot down and find an extra burst of speed. She revved up her engine and shot past Josh, taking him by surprise. Next second the silver nose of Charlie’s kart was crossing the finishing line. We’d done it!

  “Yee-hah!” I yelled, leaping on top of the others and almost crushing them. “We beat them – by one point!”

  We all went mad, hugging each other and Charlie, and dancing round in circles and punching the air. Thank goodness we were saved from being girly cheerleaders for Snotty Stevens – it was a miracle!

  “And the winner is – Francesca Thomas for the Sleepover Club team,” the commentator boomed out. “Which means that they are our winners today by one point over the Kings of the Track. Well done, girls – but I think you’d have made great cheerleaders!”

  When Frankie rushed over to us, we all leapt on her, and nearly crushed her to bits.

  “You were fab, Francesca Thomas!” I announced, slapping her on the back and nearly knocking her over.

  “Yeah, class, Frankie,” Rosie agreed, giving her a friendly punch on the arm.

  “We knew you wouldn’t let us down,” Fliss chimed in, giving Frankie a hug which nearly choked her.

  “You deserve a special champion’s sleepover tonight,” Lyndz suggested, punching her on the other arm.

  “Thanks,” Frankie grinned modestly. “But it was all down to Silver Flash really.” She looked around. “Where’s Charlie?”

  Then we saw her. She was holding Josh’s arm and pulling him towards us, while they argued furiously.

  “I think Josh has got something to say to you,” Charlie said, giving her brother a shove.

  “Ow!” Josh said sullenly.

  We all waited. It was ace to see Snotty Stevens red in the face, looking like he wished he was a million miles away!

  “Well?” Charlie raised her eyebrows.

  “They only won because they had Silver Flash,” Josh muttered furiously.

  “You can’t have it both ways, Josh,” Charlie pointed out calmly. “Either Frankie’s a great driver, or your sister’s a great mechanic.”

  “Either way, us girls win!” I announced gleefully.

  Josh glared at me, but we weren’t about to let him off the hook. “OK,” he admitted reluctantly. “Maybe some girls are not too bad at karting…”

  “Not too bad!” we all chorused scornfully.

  “All right, some girls are good at karting,” Josh muttered. “But I bet I can beat you in the individual races next!”

  “Says who?” I began crossly, but Frankie and Charlie looked at each other and nodded. Charlie took Josh’s arm and pulled him away, and Frankie blocked my path so I couldn’t go after him.

  “No, Kenny,” she said firmly. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day!”

  “Not quite,” Fliss said. “It’s time to collect our prizes!”

  “I’ve never won a gold medal before!” I said, examining it for about the millionth time. “It’s so cool!”

  It was later that day, and we were round at Fliss’s, in the Proudloves’ garden. Actually, we’d been round all our houses, showing off our medals. Everyone was dead impressed. We’d ended up at the Proudloves because Fliss had invited us all for tea, although I don’t think her mum was too pleased when she found out.

  “Show us again how you beat Josh, Frankie,” Lyndz said.

  Frankie didn’t need asking twice. She’d already acted out her victory race for us at least three times.

  “OK, so this is the start of the race.” Frankie charged down the garden and positioned herself near a tree. “I knew I had to get a good start to get ahead of Josh.”

  “Did you feel nervous?” Rosie asked.

  “You bet!” Frankie replied. “I knew Kenny would kill me if I lost.”

  “Ha ha,” I said.

  “I’m not joking!” Frankie winked at me. “Anyway, the race started, and I couldn’t believe I was out in front.”

  She zoomed up the garden towards us, turning an imaginary steering wheel. “Josh was trying to get past me at first, and then he stopped. I got a bit worried, but I just concentrated on staying in front.”

  Fliss came out of the house just then, carrying a tray with some glasses on it and a mega-sized bottle of lemonade.

  “What happened then?” I asked.

  “Well, I could see that Alana Banana was going to be in my way because she wasn’t going fast enough,” Frankie went on. “I was just waiting for her to move – and then she went and blocked my path. I was really stressed out! Josh overtook me, but I put my foot down –” she ran up the garden and flopped into one of the chairs – “and I just managed to catch him!”

  We all cheered.

  “Hey, I’ve got a great idea.” I grabbed the big bottle of lemonade, and began shaking it up. “You know what the racing drivers do with champagne, don’t you?”

  “No, Kenny!” the others shrieked, as I loosened the top of the bottle.

  The lemonade shot out in this massive spray which went everywhere. We all got soaked!

  And so did Mr Watson-Wade, whose angry, dripping wet face appeared over the fence right at that moment. He’d been weeding the flowerbed near the fence and got in the way…

  Oops! Time for me to put my foot down and zoom off, I think. See ya!

  Have you been invited to all these sleepovers?

  1 The Sleepover Club at Frankie’s

  2 The Sleepover Club at Lyndsey’s

  3 The Sleepover Club at Felicity’s

&n
bsp; 4 The Sleepover Club at Rosie’s

  5 The Sleepover Club at Laura’s

  6 Starring the Sleepover Club

  7 Sleepover Girls go Pop!

  8 The 24-Hour Sleepover Club

  9 The Sleepover Club Sleeps Out

  10 Happy Birthday Sleepover Club

  11 Sleepover Girls on Horseback

  12 Sleepover in Spain

  13 Sleepover on Friday 13th

  14 Sleepover Girls go Camping

  15 Sleepover Girls go Detective

  16 Sleepover Girls go Designer

  17 The Sleep over Club Surfs the Net

  18 Sleepover Girls on Screen

  19 Sleepover Girls and Friends

  20 Sleepover Girls on the Catwalk

  21 The Sleepover Club Goes for Goal!

  22 Sleepover Girls go Babysitting

  23 Sleepover Girls go Snowboarding

  24 Happy New Year, Sleepover Club!

  25 Sleepover Girls go Green

  26 We Love You Sleepover Club

  27 Vive le Sleepover Club!

  28 Sleepover Club Eggstravaganza

  29 Emergency Sleepover

  30 Sleepover Girls on the Range

  31 The Sleepover Club Bridesmaids

  32 Sleepover Girls See Stars

  33 Sleepover Club Blitz

  34 Sleepover Girls in die Ring

  35 Sari Sleepover

  36 Merry Christmas Sleepover Club!

  37 The Sleepover Club Down Under

  38 Sleepover Girls go Splash!

  39 Sleepover Girls go Karting

  40 Sleepover Girls go Wild!

  41 The Sleepover Club at the Carnival

  42 The Sleepover Club on the Beach

  43 Sleepover Club Vampires

  44 sleepoverclub.com

  45 Sleepover Girls go Dancing

  46 The Sleepover Club on the Farm

  47 Sleepover Girls go Gymtastic!

  48 Sleepover Girls on die Ball

  49 Sleepover Club Witches