Super Sporty

by Chrissie Perry

  It was five o’clock when she finished. Lola sat on the couch and looked around. The lounge room seemed really different.

  She heard Will banging through the front door, and throwing his schoolbag down in the hallway.

  ‘I’m STARVING!’ he called out. ‘What’s that smell, Dad? Did you make …’

  Will raced into the lounge room and right through to the kitchen. It seemed as though he hadn’t noticed anything.

  But then, he turned around sharply and came back into the lounge with Rex right behind him.

  As Will looked around, his face broke into a huge grin.

  ‘Dad, did you …?’ he began.

  Rex handed Will an Anzac biscuit.

  ‘Nup, Lola did it all,’ he said softly.

  For a minute, Will just stood there, munching on his biscuit. Finally, he looked at Lola.

  ‘If you want to join the karate class I’d better teach you some of the moves,’ he said. ‘You’re already three classes behind the others.’

  Lola smiled and got up from the couch and stood beside Will.

  He balanced a biscuit on his head.

  ‘So, this is how you do the Attention Stance,’ he said.

  Will was a really good teacher. Over the next few days he gave Lola karate lessons after school. They would push the furniture to the side of the lounge room so there was more space to practise in.

  ‘OK, I think you have the Attention Stance nailed, Grasshopper,’ he said on the third afternoon.

  Lola bowed to him.

  ‘Why, thank you for your noble lesson, Grasshopper Will,’ she said.

  Will laughed. He put his head on the couch, flipped his legs up in the air and waggled them around wildly.

  For a moment, as he was upside down, he kind of looked like a grasshopper. Lola cracked up laughing, but soon she was on the armchair next to him and copying his leg movements.

  ‘You look funny in that baby photo,’ Will said.

  ‘Of course it looks funny when you’re upside down. Your baby photo looks funny from here too,’ Lola said.

  ‘Nup, you look funny anyway,’ Will replied.

  Lola giggled. The blood was rushing to her head and it began to feel weird. She sat upright.

  ‘It’s actually kind of nice having your photos up there too,’ she said. ‘At Abbey’s place there are heaps of photos of her with her brothers. Sometimes I used to look at them and wish …’ Lola’s voice trailed off.

  Will flung his legs down to the floor and stared at the photos.

  ‘Me too,’ he said. ‘Being an only child is a bit boring sometimes, isn’t it?’

  Lola nodded.

  ‘I used to wonder what it would be like if there were more kids in my family,’ he continued. ‘Like, a little brother to do karate with would be perfect!’ he teased.

  Lola narrowed her eyes and shook her head at Will.

  ‘I actually wanted a sister or two, myself,’ she joked.

  Will jumped up and started chasing Lola around the lounge room. It was hard to run and laugh at the same time. But she was still quicker than Will and eventually he gave up.

  They moved all the furniture back from the sides of the room together. Lola was puffing and panting when she looked at the clock.

  ‘Excellent!’ she said, ‘We’re just in time for Neighbours.’

  Will rolled his eyes. ‘I’m outta here,’ he said, racing around the sofa and out of the lounge room. Lola waited for the sound of his footsteps up the stairs. But his footsteps seemed to stop suddenly.

  From where she was sitting, Lola could just see a shadow of someone in the hallway. It looked like the person had their head turned towards the television. And the person looked suspiciously like Will.

  Lola was excited about her first karate class. Her mum had even bought her a karate uniform with a pink collar and a matching head band.

  She felt really special in the uniform. It was loose, and easy to move and kick in. It was as though just putting it on made Lola a real karate student. She couldn’t wait to try out the Attention Stance in a real class, with the proper karate clothes.

  They were the first ones to turn up at the hall. Lola remembered to bow her head at the door.

  Then the instructor arrived, chatting with a group of kids.

  ‘Come and I’ll show you how to warm up,’ Will said. They took off their shoes and stood on the mat. As they stretched, Patrick squeezed in between Lola and Will.

  ‘Geez mate, did they make you bring your unco sister in the end? That sucks! And what’s with her pink, girly uniform?’ Patrick was kind of whispering. But it was a loud, hoarse whisper, as though he really wanted Lola to hear.

  Lola kept her head down, but turned it to one side so she could see Will. She wished he would say something to Patrick. She wished he would tell Patrick to stop talking about her. But all Will did was look down at his feet.

  Lola felt as though her heart had stopped. Suddenly, her karate costume felt like a silly dress-up. She was unco. She had never won a trophy like Will. Of course she would be hopeless at karate.

  But there was one thing that bothered her even more than the thought that she might be hopeless at karate. It was that Will didn’t even stick up for her.

  Lola had really enjoyed practising karate with Will. She felt like she’d finally got to know him. But now it just felt as though he was a stranger. As though all the time they had spent together practising karate didn’t mean anything!

  Lola moved into the front row. She wished the mat was bigger, so she could be further away from Will and Patrick.

  Lola concentrated really hard once the class started and followed all the moves the instructor called out. As they were doing the Horse Stance, the instructor walked around the class commenting on their stances.

  ‘You are doing very well for your first lesson,’ he said to Lola. ‘Did someone help you?’

  Lola looked over her shoulder at Will.

  ‘Not really,’ she fibbed. She didn’t feel like giving Will any credit at the moment. As far as Lola was concerned, she was on her own in this class. And she certainly wouldn’t be asking for any more help from him!

  The rest of the class went well. Lola was surprised, but it seemed that feeling angry made her quite strong.

  The instructor put them in pairs. One student had to try to push the other one over, and the other had to use a special sideways move to avoid them. Lola teamed up with Lisa.

  ‘I really like your pink uniform, Lola,’ Lisa said before they started the exercise. That made Lola feel better. It also made her feel better that Lisa had been doing karate for years, but Lola managed to keep up with her quite well. She was so involved that she almost forgot about Will and Patrick. Almost.

  ‘That was great guys,’ the instructor said at the end of the lesson. ‘Next Saturday we are going to have a special training session. I will divide you into teams on the day, and we’ll have a competition in the park outside the hall.’

  A few kids cheered. They had obviously been looking forward to the special training session. Lola was keen too. It sounded cool. But she hoped she wouldn’t be on the same team as Will and Patrick.

  Lola didn’t feel like speaking on the way home from the class. She sat right on the edge of the back seat. Will sat on the other side. Both of them wound down their windows.

  ‘So, how did it go?’ asked her mum.

  ‘Fine,’ Will said into the wind.

  ‘Yeah, fine,’ Lola repeated.

  ‘I like the way you have to bow before you enter the hall,’ said Lola’s mum. ‘It’s a great way of remembering to have respect for each other, don’t you think?’

  This time, neither of them answered. Lola snuck a look at Will. He avoided her eyes but Lola could tell he felt guilty. And so he should! Lola tried to move even further away from him. The rest of the trip was completely silent.

  When they got home, Lola watched Neighbours and Will went to his room.

  At dinner, only their
parents were talking.

  ‘You guys are very quiet. You must be exhausted. It’s normally a zoo around here,’ Rex said. He had a worried look on his face. Lola noticed that her mum had the same expression.

  ‘So, what’s on this weekend?’ Lola’s mum asked. Will and Lola both shrugged.

  ‘Well, you have Patrick coming to stay tomorrow night, Will,’ Rex said brightly.

  Lola put down her fork. Even though spaghetti bolognaise was her favourite, she couldn’t eat another bite. It was bad enough sharing her house with Will at the moment. She couldn’t bear to share it with Patrick as well.

  ‘Can I stay at Abbey’s place tomorrow night, mum?’ Lola asked.

  Her mum frowned. ‘I guess so, sweetie,’ she said sadly.

  The next day Abbey came to Lola’s house to pick her up for the sleep-over. She had a long list of things she wanted Lola to bring. When Abbey saw the biscuits Rex had made, her list grew even longer!

  After she had packed some bickies, Lola fished around in her drawers for her best pyjamas.

  Abbey sat on the bed. ‘What time is Dorkas coming over?’ she asked.

  Lola had told Abbey all about Patrick and the first karate class. Ever since then, Abbey had called Patrick ‘Dorkas’. The way Abbey said it, in a low voice, always made Lola laugh.

  ‘Dorkas should be here in about half an hour,’ Lola replied, finally finding the yellow pyjamas with grey elephants on them under her bed. Lola put them in her backpack and sat on the bed with Abbey.

  ‘So I think that’s everything,’ she said.

  ‘Not quite,’ said Abbey.

  Lola rolled her eyes and fell back on the bed. ‘All right, slave driver,’ she joked, ‘what else do you want me to do?’

  Abbey clasped her hands together and narrowed her eyes. ‘I want you to plant your walkie-talkie in Will’s room,’ she whispered.

  Lola screwed up her nose. ‘Why?’ she asked.

  Abbey walked to the window, and pointed up at her room. ‘You know, I can see into Will’s bedroom very clearly from up there,’ she said.

  ‘I know,’ said Lola. ‘So?’

  ‘So, we have the picture, but not the sound. Don’t you want to hear what the boys talk about?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Lola.

  ‘Yes you do!’ Abbey insisted. ‘It would be fun. We might even get to hear their secrets!’

  Lola thought about it for a moment.

  It wasn’t very nice to spy on someone. But then again, Will hadn’t been very nice to her lately. He hadn’t even stuck up for her at karate. Maybe he deserved to be spied on?

  ‘I reckon we’d be able to hear them if we put the walkie-talkie under Will’s bed,’ Lola suggested.

  ‘No, go left. Push the X button. Now try to go through that door.’

  Patrick’s voice came through over the walkie-talkie, together with zooming and crashing noises from the computer game they were playing.

  Abbey lay on the bed, sharing out the biscuits.

  ‘Hey, you’ve got an extra one!’ Lola complained. Abbey broke the biscuit in half and handed one of the pieces to Lola.

  ‘How long can they play that game for?’ Abbey asked.

  ‘Well, if they had enough food and water, I reckon about twenty years!’ Lola laughed.

  Abbey turned down the volume on the walkie-talkie. The crashing noises faded.

  Then she got up from the bed, and stared out the window. Abbey had a funny look in her eyes.

  ‘What?’ Lola demanded.

  ‘Don’t you think Patrick looks a bit like the guy from X-Press?’ Abbey asked.

  ‘Abbey!’ Lola exclaimed. ‘He’s a dorkas, remember? You gave him that name yourself!’

  Abbey grinned. ‘That was before I saw him,’ she said softly.

  Lola shook her head, and turned up the volume of the walkie-talkie. This time there was no crash-bashing from the game.

  ‘Hey, they’re actually talking,’ Lola said. Lola and Abbey stood side by side at the window, with the walkie-talkie between them.

  ‘The training session is going to be so cool,’ Patrick said. ‘So long as your unco sister isn’t on our team, I think we’ll win.’

  ‘She’s not really my sister,’ Will said.

  Lola held her breath. She knew that she wasn’t really Will’s sister. But the way he said it was as though he was embarrassed by her. She was nervous about what he would say next.

  Suddenly, putting Lola’s walkie-talkie under Will’s bed seemed like a very bad idea.

  Abbey seemed to sense Lola’s nerves. She put her arms around Lola’s shoulder. It seemed like forever until Will spoke again.

  ‘And she’s actually not that uncoordinated,’ he said.

  Lola let the breath out.

  ‘You were the one that told me Lola was unco,’ Patrick said.

  ‘Yeah, but that was ages ago,’ Will replied. ‘And I just thought that because she was hopeless at footy. She’s actually pretty good at karate.’

  Then Patrick spoke again. ‘Did you see how Lola was blocking Lisa? And Lisa’s been doing karate for ages,’ Patrick said.

  Will laughed. ‘Yeah, I reckon Lisa got a bit of a shock,’ he said. ‘You know, Lola learned the hand blocking really quickly,’ Will continued. ‘It took me ages to get it right. I can usually block Mario now. And I can trip him about half the time. The only one in the class I’ve never beaten is Big Ben. He’s so strong, that guy.’

  ‘Yeah, let’s face it Will. You’re just like an insect to Big Ben. Like a little, annoying fly.’ Patrick started making buzzing noises, and soon the boys were play fighting again.

  ‘Will finally stood up for you, Lola,’ Abbey said. Lola noticed that Abbey was watching all of Patrick’s moves through the window.

  ‘Yeah, I guess he did, kind of,’ she began. ‘But I don’t know if I really trust him anymore. He should have stood up for me in the class. Or at least, he should have said sorry afterwards.’

  Abbey sighed. ‘You’re right, Lola. But you know it’s never perfect living with boys.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ asked Lola.

  Abbey grinned. ‘I’ll show you what I mean. Listen to this.’ Abbey opened her bedroom door.

  ‘Robert, can I borrow your CD player?’ she yelled down the hallway. Robert’s voice instantly boomed back.

  ‘You touch my CD player, and I’ll break you in half!’

  Abbey came back into her room and closed the door. ‘See?’ she said.

  Lola smiled. ‘Yeah, I see,’ she said. ‘I know Will and I will have fights. But I just want to know I can trust him, deep down. Robert might be a pain, but I remember when he told Tom off for picking on you at school …’

  Lola stopped talking.

  Abbey wasn’t listening. She was still looking out the window.

  ‘Maybe I’ll come and watch the training session,’ Abbey said dreamily.

  Lola giggled into her pillow. ‘Your sudden interest in karate doesn’t have anything to do with Patrick, does it?’ she asked.

  ‘What? Dorkas? Of course not,’ Abbey said.

  ‘The team lists are up on the noticeboard,’ said the instructor. ‘Have a look at who you are with and then we’ll start the competition. And don’t forget that we’ll be having a barbecue afterwards, thanks to all the parents who provided the food!’

  Lola looked over to the side of the hall. Rex and her mum were sitting with all the other parents. Abbey was sitting on the bench beside them. Lola noticed that she was wearing her favourite jeans and a new T-shirt.

  There was a rush as everyone went to look at the list. Lola craned her neck, looking for her name.

  Lola gasped. She hadn’t expected the teams to be divided this way. When she had thought about the training session, she’d always thought that Will and Patrick would be on the same team.

  Sometimes she’d thought she’d be on the opposite team to them, and sometimes she’d thought she would be on the same team. But the idea of her and Patrick being
against Will hadn’t even crossed her mind.

  ‘OK, teams. Outside now,’ said the instructor. ‘Team B will be the first attackers. Try to make a surprise attack on a member of Team A. Team A, your job is to deal with the surprise attack, using any of the moves we’ve learned in class. Remember, there is to be no violence and no hard contact. The attackers will only try to push, and the defenders will try to stop them. Are we clear?’

  Everyone nodded. Patrick and Lola walked outside with the rest of their team.

  ‘Hey, who’s your friend?’ Patrick asked, pointing to Abbey. Lola noticed that he was spiking up his hair with his fingers.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Lola said. ‘Right now, we should be preparing for –’

  Just that second, Lisa jumped out of the bushes and pushed Patrick. He was totally unprepared and went down quickly.

  ‘Hey, I wasn’t ready!’ he complained.

  But Lola wasn’t listening.

  She got ready for an attack. She pivoted, using the Horse Stance to keep her steady.

  Suddenly, Big Ben jumped out from behind a tree. His hands were coming towards her. But Lola was ready.

  She grabbed him by the arm, and put her foot behind his leg.

  She was winning!

  Big Ben was going down.

  But the next thing she knew, Lola had lost her balance. Big Ben was down, but Lola had tripped over him. She lunged forward. Her foot hit a tree stump. Her ankle twisted painfully.

  Lola sat by the stump, holding her ankle. She squeezed her eyes closed, trying not to cry. Everyone stopped, and rushed over to her.

  Lola heard Big Ben apologising.

  Then she heard Will’s voice. ‘Go and get an ice-pack, Patrick. And some bandages. Run!’

  Will crouched beside Lola. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked. His voice was full of concern.

  The instructor ran over to them. He examined Lola’s ankle. ‘It’s OK, Will,’ he said. ‘It’s just a bad sprain. I’ll take care of Lola. You go back to the competition.’