by Jane Lawes
They were next, but she realized she wasn’t doing those right either. She watched the others first. Their legs were perfectly straight as they went over, most of them even passing through the splits. After her talk with Lucy earlier, Tara guessed hers didn’t look quite so impressive.
“Try to straighten your legs, Tara,” said Clare, when she did her first one. She did try, but it was much harder when you couldn’t cheat by bending them. She couldn’t get all the way over with straight legs. She tried all the way across until the last one, and then gave in and did it the old way. She just wanted to feel like she could do it again, like she had the first time she’d managed it in her bedroom. But now she knew she was cheating, it didn’t feel as good. She sighed and leaned against the wall, while she waited for the next instruction.
She knew her handsprings weren’t very good as soon as she saw the others landing with only a little bend of the knees. Her own handsprings landed in a deep squat – almost sitting down. She did her best, and was relieved when Clare told everyone that was enough. If they’d had to practise anything more difficult, she wouldn’t have been able to do it at all. She’d known that real gymnastics would be hard work, but she hadn’t expected to be so far behind everyone else. When they did gymnastics at school, and when she was practising in the garden, she’d felt like she was doing well. Maybe she was a terrible gymnast after all.
“You did pretty well,” Clare said to her as the group drifted, still chatting, into pairs, trios and one group of four boys, “especially as you haven’t had any proper training before.” Tara wondered if Clare was just trying to make her feel better. “I think it’s remarkable that you managed to teach yourself all that,” said Clare. Tara’s face lit up. Did the coach really think that?
“Yeah,” a girl with short brown hair chimed in. “I couldn’t do half of that floor stuff when I first started. It took me ages and ages to do a backward walkover.”
“You have got into some bad habits,” Clare said to Tara, “but those can be sorted out.”
Tara smiled, determined to work hard once again.
“This is Lindsay,” said Clare, putting her hand on the shoulder of the blonde girl who had smiled at Tara and explained the second part of the warm-up. “I think you two will work well together. I know you’ve never done balances before, so we need to get started on that right away. You’ll be the top, Tara, and Lindsay’s the base. We can probably skip the really basic ones and start with standing on shoulders.”
Tara’s eyes opened wide. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to do this. She looked at tall, thin Lindsay, and thought the girl couldn’t possibly be strong enough to lift her all on her own.
“Don’t worry.” Lindsay smiled, seeing Tara’s fear. “I’ve been a base for a few years, and you’re tiny. I can easily take your weight. We can start with me kneeling down.”
Clare showed Tara how to get up into the balance by standing behind Lindsay and holding her up-stretched hands. She put one foot hesitantly on Lindsay’s shoulder, and looked anxiously at the coach.
“Go on,” said Clare. “I’ll support you.” Tara gripped Lindsay’s hands tightly and pulled herself up so that she was standing on the taller girl’s shoulders. She could feel Clare holding her waist so she knew she wouldn’t fall.
“Good,” said Clare. “Now straighten your knees. Let go of Lindsay’s hands.” Tara did. She was surprised – it was much easier than she’d thought. Clare’s hands were only just supporting her, and soon the coach let go completely. Lindsay’s hands held the backs of Tara’s calves. She was balancing all by herself.
“How do I get down?” she asked.
“Take Lindsay’s hands again.” Tara did as she was told. “Now bring your feet down between her arms so that you land on the floor in front of her.” Tara half stepped, half jumped down, and only wobbled a tiny bit when she landed on the floor, her feet neatly together and her arms in front.
“You’re a natural,” said Clare, grinning.
Later, Clare showed Tara how to do the balance with Lindsay standing up. To get up onto her shoulders at that height, she had to put her right foot on Lindsay’s right thigh from behind, holding the taller girl’s hands. She used this position as a step to put her left foot on Lindsay’s left shoulder. Lindsay straightened her legs and brought her feet together while Tara pulled her other foot up to the other shoulder. They were still holding hands, so Tara was bending forwards. She could see some of the others watching from across the floor.
“Now try to let go of Lindsay’s hands and straighten up,” called Clare. Tara didn’t think she could. Her knees were bent and unsteady, there was only room for half of each foot on Lindsay’s shoulders and she was sure she could never stand up straight. “Go on, Tara,” urged Clare. “There are mats if you fall.”
Tara let go. Lindsay moved her hands to hold the backs of Tara’s legs…but Tara was still leaning forward too much. She tried desperately to grip Lindsay’s shoulders with her toes but it was no good. She tumbled forwards onto the mat at Clare’s feet.
“Sorry,” she said to the coach, rubbing her elbow where she’d knocked it on the floor. She tried not to cry. She wanted to be a good gymnast so much and she wanted to show the others that she could be part of this group. Now she was messing everything up.
“Don’t worry. It’s difficult when you’re first learning. You’ll get there.” Clare was surprisingly comforting. “Ready to go up again?”
Tara got to her feet and nodded, determined. Now that she’d fallen once, she knew that it didn’t really hurt, so she wasn’t scared of that any more. But she was afraid that she’d never be able to do the balance. She was afraid that she would fail on her first day in Clare’s group, and that would be the end of her gymnastics dream.
She tried again, and fell again. Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to let them spill onto her cheeks. Up on Lindsay’s shoulders a third time, she managed to stand up and stretch her arms to the ceiling.
“Good!” said Clare. “Now straighten those knees!” Tara did, and found that it was easier to hold the balance when all her muscles were working hard. She felt like she was on top of the entire universe! “Okay, take Lindsay’s hands to come down,” Clare told her. Lindsay let go of her legs and Tara looked down to find her hands. But before she could hold onto them, she was falling forwards again. She was frustrated, but Clare was pleased that she’d managed the balance.
Again and again they tried, and by the time they finished, Tara had performed three successful balances. She was exhausted, but she felt great.
Everyone stopped to have a drink of water and Clare went to talk to another coach by the door to the lobby. Tara remembered that she’d left her water bottle in the lobby and ran off to get it. She grabbed the bottle from her bag and gulped water down for a few seconds, before wandering back towards the gym, glancing at the photos on the walls again as she passed them. Then she noticed that another gymnast from her group was standing in the lobby. She was tall and strong, and looked a bit older than most of the others. She had dyed blonde hair and blue eyes that Tara remembered staring at her when she was learning to stand on Lindsay’s shoulders. The girl was standing by the door into the gym, and as Tara got closer, she heard voices coming from just beyond the door, and realized that the older gymnast was listening to Clare’s conversation. Tara paused, not knowing what to do. The other girl hadn’t noticed her.
“…it’s only her first session, of course. It’s too early to tell,” Clare was saying. Tara’s heart started beating faster. They were talking about her.
“From what you’ve said it sounds like you’re right,” said the other coach. Right about what? Tara wished she’d reached the lobby a few seconds earlier.
“We’ll see,” replied Clare. “She’ll be one to keep an eye on, anyway…”
The voices moved away, and the older gymnast
went back into the gym. Tara wondered if the girl heard the whole conversation. One to keep an eye on. What did that mean? Did Clare think she was doing well in her first session? Or did they have to keep an eye on her because she wasn’t going to cope with the difficult skills she was trying to learn?
There was one gymnast who knew what Clare had said, and that thought made Tara feel uncomfortable.
Next, Tara’s group worked on the trampoline. Some of the gymnasts practised somersaults – one or two were beginning to learn to do them with twists. Clare told Tara to stick to handsprings for today. When Lucy had worked with her on them during the summer camp, Tara had been thrilled to find that handsprings were much easier on the bouncy trampoline than they were in the garden. If only the floor was as bouncy, she thought. They had to take turns on the trampoline, so while they waited, the gymnasts chatted together. They were all eager to talk to Tara. A small dark-haired girl with olive skin and large brown eyes came and sat next to her on the edge of the tumbling track.
“Hey, it’s Tara, right?” She smiled. “I’m Jasmine. That’s Sophie.” Jasmine pointed out a taller girl who was doing a handstand behind them. “We’ll be in Year Ten at school together in September, although I’m so short you’d never know I was fourteen!” Jasmine laughed and Tara immediately felt at ease with her.
“I’m Megan.” The girl with short brown hair who’d spoken to Tara earlier jumped into the conversation. “I’m Sophie’s partner. You already know Lindsay – she’s thirteen. And so am I,” she gabbled, clearly not willing to let anyone do their own introductions. Tara looked over at Lindsay, who was bouncing high into the air on the trampoline. She couldn’t believe her new partner was only two years older than her – Lindsay was seriously tall for her age. “This is Sam, Jasmine’s partner,” Megan continued as the girl Tara had seen in the lobby came over to them. “She’s the oldest in the group. The bossiest, too.”
“How old are you, anyway?” demanded Sam, ignoring Megan. She crossed her arms and stared at Tara.
“I’ll be eleven tomorrow,” Tara answered.
“And you’ve never done gym before?” she sneered. “I just hope you’re up to it, that’s all. I don’t know why Clare put you in a competition squad. Silverdale’s got a great reputation for Acro. We don’t need anyone messing up our chances next time we compete. Clare should have got someone who’s actually done gymnastics before.”
Tara felt her face going bright red and she didn’t know where to look. Did everyone else think the same thing as Sam? Maybe it was to do with what Clare had said to the other coach. Whatever it was, Sam had overhead it. Was that why she was being so nasty?
“Ignore her,” murmured Megan, as Sam turned away to watch Lindsay practising front somersaults on the trampoline. “She’s just jealous that she wasn’t in this group at your age. Honestly, she’s only fifteen, but she acts like she’s twenty the way she talks to us!”
Sam turned back to the group and raised an eyebrow at Tara. “As long as you know it’s not going to be all glitter and glory and medals. We work hard at this club. Probably harder than you’ve ever worked in your life.” She walked away to talk to two of the boys.
“She’s okay once you get to know her,” said Jasmine. “I’ve been her Acro partner for three years, and she can be nice sometimes.”
“You’d just better hope you’re not ever partnered with her,” Megan whispered to Tara. “I was, when I first started. Tough work, I can tell you. If anything went wrong it was always my fault – she’d never admit when she made a mistake!”
Tara’s turn on the trampoline was next, so Megan didn’t have time to tell her who the four boys and three other girls in the group were. Tara already had a lot to think about as she began bouncing though. She could feel Sam’s eyes on her, noticing every little mistake she made, but she tried hard to ignore it and think only about how to do a perfect handspring. When she bounced off onto the crash mat, she found Clare at her side.
“You’ve done really well today, Tara,” said the coach.
“Not well enough,” mumbled Tara. “There’s loads I can’t do.”
“You’ve certainly got passion,” said Clare. “And that’s key for a good gymnast. I think you’ve got natural talent as well.” She nodded towards the trampoline. “You seemed very confident up there.”
“I just sort of forgot about everything else,” said Tara.
“I think you’re going to do very well here,” said Clare. “If you want to come back, that is?”
“Definitely!” Tara grinned. “I love it already.”
“Good,” laughed Clare. “How about you start properly on Wednesday? Your mum said it’s your birthday tomorrow, so I’m sure you’d like to spend the day with your friends.” She looked at the clock above the double doors. “Time’s up!” she called towards the group. “See you on Wednesday,” she said to Tara with a smile.
Tara smiled back. “I can’t wait.” And it was true – she couldn’t wait for more gymnastics. But she wasn’t looking forward to seeing Sam again.
Chapter Seven
The next day was Tara’s eleventh birthday. She woke up early with the sun in her eyes, and snuggled further under the bedcovers, grinning to herself and thinking about the party she was having later that day. Emily and Kate were coming, of course, and some other friends from school. They were going to have a barbecue in the garden and then her two best friends were sleeping over.
She could hear the sounds of Mum and Dad getting up and going downstairs, so she scrambled out of bed and hurried down to see them.
“Happy birthday!” they said and both hugged her at the same time. There was a stack of presents wrapped in pink paper on the kitchen table, and Mum had already set four places. Birthdays always meant special breakfasts in the Bailey house. Tara stared at the presents and the pile of cards in front of her plate.
“Not until Anna’s up,” said Dad, who could tell she was itching to open them.
Tara grinned, headed for the door and dashed up the stairs and into Anna’s bedroom.
“Wake up!” she shouted, laughing. Anna was curled up in her bed, talking to her favourite toy cat.
“Kitty says happy birthday,” said Anna.
“Don’t you want breakfast, Anna? Mum’s making pancakes.”
Anna was out of bed instantly, Kitty forgotten on her pillow. The sisters raced each other down the stairs to sit at the table. Mum made the pancakes while Tara opened her birthday cards – from aunts and uncles and cousins, from Mum and Dad, and one that Anna had made herself. She’d folded a piece of white card and tried to draw a gymnast on the front. Inside, she’d written (probably with help from Mum):
To Tara,
happy birthday
I love you lots
from Anna xxxxx
Tara smiled at the six-year-old scrawl and stood the card up next to her glass of juice. Presents were next – some of her relatives had sent money in their cards, but there was a parcel from Auntie Hazel. She opened the pretty pink and silver paper to find three new books. She skimmed over the backs to see what they were about – they all sounded great.
“Let’s see,” said Mum, turning around from the cooker. Tara handed her the books and picked up the present from Anna. It was obvious that Mum had wrapped it up. Tara guessed that she’d chosen it, too – it was a lovely new top that Tara had seen a few weeks ago in one of the shops in town. It was pale blue with little white flowers scattered over it. Tara decided she’d wear it for the party later.
“Thanks, Anna!” she said.
There were three presents from Mum and Dad – a film on DVD that she’d asked for and a new pair of jeans were the first two. When she came to the third one, Mum and Dad looked at each other and smiled. Tara unfolded the paper carefully and gasped when she saw what was inside. It was the beautiful black and silver leotard! S
he held it up to look at it properly. The silver sparkles glittered like tiny stars and the velvety material felt soft in her hands. There was also a black velvet scrunchie to go with it.
“Thank you,” she gushed, leaping up to hug Mum and then Dad. She couldn’t wait to try it on – but she’d have to, as just then Mum put the plate of pancakes down in the middle of the table. Dad cleared away the wrapping paper and sat down, then he held up his glass of juice in a toast.
“Happy birthday, Tara,” he said. “Eleven years old!”
“Happy birthday!” echoed Mum and Anna, and everyone clinked their glasses together.
As soon as breakfast was finished, Tara ran up to her room to try on her new leotard. The moment she’d pulled it on, she stood in front of the mirror and scraped her hair back into a ponytail with the matching scrunchie. Then she stretched her arms up as if she was just about to begin a routine, watching the silver sparkles shine in her reflection. A shiver of excitement ran through her – the girl in the mirror was really a gymnast! She just wished she didn’t have to wait until Wednesday to wear the leotard at Silverdale – that felt like ages away.
Tara was restless all morning. She started reading one of her new books, but she kept thinking about the party later. She tried watching TV with Anna, but she couldn’t focus on that either. Then she thought about working on her solo routine for the dance show with Kate and Emily, but even that couldn’t stop her imagining how much fun the party was going to be!
Finally, Mum gave her some balloons to blow up, and she began to feel like the party was actually getting closer. Outside, she and Anna tied streamers and balloons to branches and chairs and the washing line – anything they could reach. Tara had to move most of Anna’s, because she tied them onto branches that were too low down.
Mum banned Tara from the kitchen, where the birthday cake was being iced. So instead she went to help Dad set the barbecue up, but she made sure not to get any dust from the coals on her new clothes.