Strictly Friends? (12 page)

‘Yes,' said Megan. ‘The others wanted me to show them some steps. I thought the jive would be a good one to start with.'

Mari was puffing with the exertion. ‘It certainly keeps you fit! Can we do some more jive, Corinne?'

Corinne smiled and put her bags down at the front of the class. ‘I'm afraid I don't know any. You'll have to be taught by Megan.'

‘That's all right,' said Mari, a little too eagerly.

Corinne laughed. ‘I'm being paid to teach you, Mari. I can't just sit by and let someone else take my class.'

Mari bit her lip and flushed.

‘But I can see you're all really getting into this,' Corinne went on, ‘so maybe we could think about putting together a routine. You could practise in the last few minutes of each lesson.'

Mari brightened up. ‘That sounds fab! Could we
do a performance somewhere?' This announcement was met by noises of horror from the other girls. Mari looked crestfallen. ‘Only a suggestion.'

‘I don't think you're quite there yet.' Corinne smiled at her. ‘But you never know, if you work hard. Right, back to the new steps we were practising last week.'

Megan meekly took her place in the class again, but inside she was buzzing. She'd never tried to teach a whole class before. She couldn't believe how much she'd enjoyed it! And the girls were so enthusiastic and supportive!

She looked around warmly at the other girls. She was starting to feel as though she had real friends again. Especially Mari – she was such fun to be around.

And then there was always Danny . . . her heart skipped a beat as she thought of him.

Maybe moving to Parchester had been a good idea after all?

SAMANTHA EXAMINED A
nail. ‘You wouldn't catch
me
wearing that,' she commented, nodding towards the start line, where Danny and Paul were lined up with a crowd of others on BMX bikes. Both of them were fully kitted out with knee and elbow pads, plus helmets with visors.

‘Me neither,' echoed Jasmine.

Megan wondered what on earth the two of them were doing here. When Danny had invited her along, she had thought it would be some kind of friends get-together thing, where everyone had a bit of a go on the bikes and they had some silly races. But this was serious. There were marshals organizing the groups on their bikes, and even a St John's Ambulance crew on standby in case of accidents. The three girls were standing on the edge of a muddy track, and while Megan had dressed in an unattractive yet warm anorak, Jasmine and Samantha were attired in
matching denim jackets. Both of them were shivering and they'd only arrived half an hour ago.

Megan wasn't sure whether to feel amused or exasperated. ‘I didn't realize it would be quite like this,' she muttered.

Samantha gave a snort. ‘Thought you'd be having a nice cosy one-to-one on a bike?'

‘No, of course not. But I didn't realize it was such a big deal.' She looked curiously at Samantha. ‘Do you
like
coming to these things?'

Jasmine laughed and then tried to turn it into a cough. Samantha glared at her. ‘Not much else to do, is there?' she said carelessly. ‘Saturday afternoons are so boring in Parchester.'

‘You could go – I don't know – shopping, or something,' suggested Megan.

‘Got no money,' said Samantha flatly.

Megan was surprised. Samantha always looked so neatly turned out, with her polished nails and her sleek hair. ‘Oh. I thought . . . well, never mind.'

‘She had her allowance docked,' Jasmine whispered when Samantha was looking the other way. ‘After what happened in the summer.' She narrowed her eyes. ‘There was this thing she did when she was in a play . . .'

‘Yes.' Megan was uncomfortable. ‘Yes, I heard.'

‘Most people stopped talking to her after that,' Jasmine went on confidentially. ‘She used to be really popular. She had a friend called Eloise but she went off with someone else.'

‘She didn't go off with someone else,' said Samantha coldly. Jasmine gulped. ‘I told her she was a useless piece of debris and I didn't want to see her again.'

‘Right.' Megan shook her head in disbelief. The way Samantha behaved – it was so
rude
. How could she treat people like that? ‘Are you – were you sorry? About what happened, I mean?' The moment the words were out of her mouth, she knew it was completely the wrong thing to say.

Samantha's gaze turned as icy as the wind. ‘I don't know what you're talking about.' She turned her back on Megan.

Megan glanced at Jasmine, who shrugged. Megan wanted to say, ‘But if you know she's so awful, why do you hang out with her?' And then Jasmine glanced over at the boys waiting to start the race, and Megan knew the answer.
Danny
. As if he knew Megan was looking at him he lifted his visor and waved, grinning. She waved back, and then he snapped his visor down again and the gun went to start the race.

Megan had never realized before just how much skill was needed to navigate a BMX track. Her jaw
dropped as she saw the group charge towards the first set of small hillocks and almost bounce from one to the next. Several fell, but Danny flew over them as if they were merely bumps in the road. As the group rounded the first corner, Danny was already pulling away from the majority. Megan clenched her fists without even noticing. She couldn't take her eyes off him. Every hole in the track; every hump – Megan felt her heart thud in case he fell off. Beside her, Jasmine too was standing riveted to the spot, her gaze never leaving Danny's figure.

When he crossed the finishing line first, Megan burst out cheering. ‘That was amazing!'

Jasmine was nodding as though her head would fall off, but she hadn't uttered a sound. Her almond-shaped eyes blazed with intensity.

Danny punched the air, and then pulled off his helmet. His dark spiky hair was a mess of tangles, and his cheeks were flushed. He slapped hands with Paul, who had come in an unimpressive seventh, and then glanced over towards the girls. Megan caught her breath. He radiated energy. You could almost feel it pouring out of him, even at this distance. And now he was coming over . . .

‘What did you think?'

Megan threw her arms around him, heedless of the
mud spatters. Behind her, Samantha made a noise of disgust. ‘You were
brilliant
!'

Danny hugged her back. ‘Thanks! It was a great race. I didn't think I was going to take that guy in front of me to start with.'

‘But you did!' Megan pulled back, suddenly embarrassed. She had hugged him in front of everyone! But he didn't seem to mind . . . She started talking again to hide her confusion. ‘I can't believe you didn't fall off. How do you even cycle on ground like that?'

‘Do you want a go?' asked Danny. ‘I can show you.'

Megan hesitated. She
did
want a go. It looked mad and crazy, and a bit dangerous – and she really wanted to try it. She opened her mouth to say, ‘YES', but all of a sudden she was very aware of Jasmine standing next to her. Jasmine seemed to have shrunk in some way. Her dark curtain of hair had fallen back across her face, and she was examining the ground. Megan felt a wave of something like pity. Why was Jasmine so shy all the time? If she hung out with Samantha so often, surely she wanted to be part of things? On an impulse, she said, ‘Why don't you show
both
of us? Jasmine and me. I bet she'd like a go too.'

Jasmine's head snapped up in alarm. ‘Oh no,' she
said, stuttering a little. ‘I don't think . . . I mean, I wouldn't be any good . . .'

Megan grabbed her hand. Jasmine's fingers were freezing. ‘You'll be fine,' she said firmly. ‘What do you think, Danny?'

Danny looked taken aback. ‘Uh . . . yeah, I guess. If you say so.'

‘Cool,' Megan said.

Danny grinned. ‘You want a go too, Sam?'

Samantha made a noise that sounded like, ‘Tchuh!' Paul, who had been bringing up the rear as usual, looked disappointed. ‘Come on, Sam,' he said encouragingly. ‘If the others are having a go, you might find you like it.'

Samantha gave him a withering look. ‘As
if
,' she said. ‘I wouldn't get on that thing for a million pounds.'

‘I thought you had no money?' Megan said before she could stop herself.

Danny shouted with laughter. ‘Gotcha there, sis. Come on, don't be a spoilsport.'

Samantha, two pink spots glowing on her cheeks, glared at him. ‘I am
not
,' she said clearly, ‘getting on a bike.' She cast a look at Paul. ‘I'm
hungry
.'

He jumped into action. ‘I'll get you something to eat. You want a burger?'

‘Come on,' Danny said to Megan. ‘We'll go find somewhere quieter.'

Megan dragged Jasmine along beside her. Danny led them to a section of field that was less crowded than the rest. It was still very muddy though, and Megan wished she'd worn wellies instead of trainers. ‘Hold this,' Danny jerked the bike towards Megan and started to take off his elbow and knee pads.

‘I think Jasmine should go first,' said Megan.

Danny threw her an odd look. ‘If you say so.'

Jasmine was still protesting. ‘I don't think this is really . . . oh, do you think they'll fit? My head is kind of small, you know . . . I don't think this helmet is . . . how do you see out of it?'

Megan felt mildly irritated. Couldn't Jasmine just get on with it?

Danny snapped the visor shut and Jasmine squeaked. He glanced at Megan. ‘Why did you want her to have a go? She's going to be useless.'

‘She hasn't even tried yet,' Megan pointed out.

‘I can still hear you, you know,' said Jasmine in a small voice.

Danny sighed. ‘All right. Get on the bike.' He started to show her the gears and the brakes, and how to balance on the pedals. Megan could tell Jasmine was
hanging on his every word, but she was so nervous she kept forgetting what he told her. ‘No!' Danny snapped in exasperation. ‘Push
back
on the right foot, and
forward
on the left foot. Are you deaf or something?'

‘Sorry,' said Jasmine miserably, wobbling so hard she nearly fell off. She sounded close to tears. ‘I'm trying.'

Megan knew she should feel sorry for Jasmine, but it was exasperating how
wet
the girl was being! Didn't she have any backbone at all? Watching her wobble around was so frustrating! Megan was becoming impatient to try it out herself. ‘Shall I have a go now?' she offered. ‘Then maybe Jasmine could have another try later.' She wished she hadn't bothered involving Jasmine.

Jasmine got off the bike. ‘Yeah, maybe,' she said in a muffled voice.

‘No way,' said Danny decidedly. ‘She'll break my bike if she's not careful. And I'm signed up for another race later.'

Jasmine held out the helmet to Megan, shaking her hair into her face as usual. ‘There you go.'

‘I thought you did really well,' Megan lied, but she was taken aback by the venomous look Jasmine gave her.

‘No you didn't,' Jasmine muttered. ‘You just wanted me to go first so I'd make you look good.'

Megan's mouth fell open. ‘What?' She couldn't believe what she was hearing! And after she had made an extra effort to involve Jasmine, too!

‘Come on, come on,' said Danny impatiently.

Megan hastily pulled on the helmet, remembering to pull her hairband out this time. She didn't want another headache from her ponytail. Jasmine turned away. Megan ignored her. If Jasmine wanted to sulk, she could do it on her own.

‘You have ridden a bike before, right?'

‘Of course I have,' said Megan, offended.

‘Well, this isn't like riding any ordinary bike,' said Danny. ‘I'll talk you through it.' He was soon lost in explaining the balance and steering. Megan listened closely and tried to follow his instructions. ‘That's good,' he told her. ‘Keep your knees flexible.'

‘Can I try going over some of those hump things?'

Danny grinned. ‘You're keen. I think there's a practice track round the other side of the field. You want to go over and see it?'

‘Yeah!' Megan said enthusiastically. ‘Oh. Hang on.' She looked around. ‘Where's Jasmine?'

Danny shrugged. ‘Dunno. Why?'

Megan hesitated. She knew that she ought to go
after Jasmine; make sure she was all right. Jasmine had no one else to hang around with, and Samantha and Paul had disappeared off to the burger vans. But something in Megan rebelled. Why should
she
be the one to look after Jasmine? Especially as Jasmine had just been rude to her. If Jasmine didn't like it here, she could just go home, couldn't she?

Megan made up her mind. ‘Oh, no reason. Come on then, let's go to the practice track.'

As they walked over, Danny commented, ‘You should be wearing proper kit if you're going to ride, but I guess it'll be OK.'

‘Proper kit?'

‘Yeah. Protection. Leathers.' He glanced sideways. ‘If you're going to come regularly we should get you some. Jeans won't last long if you fall.'

‘Oh, right.' Megan felt a sudden qualm. For a moment she had completely forgotten about the risk of injury.
Maybe I'm becoming more of a daredevil?
she wondered to herself. For some reason, the thought made her feel quite excited.

Danny was holding out a hand. ‘You see these gloves? They're extra tough. You have to practically stab them with a carving knife to make a dent.'

‘Wow. They look kind of expensive.'

He nodded. ‘They are. And the trousers are about a
million times more expensive. I only got them because they were second hand. Even then I had to use my modelling money.' He glanced sideways at Megan. ‘I do modelling for catalogues.' His voice sounded both proud and slightly self-conscious.