Sleepover Girls Go Karting (2 page)

“And Mrs McKenzie’s right at the back of the queue!” I was pretending I was talking into an imaginary microphone, and the others, who were squashed into the back of the car, were laughing their heads off. “If she doesn’t put her foot down and spin some wheels, we won’t even make it to the karting centre before it closes!”

“And if Laura McKenzie doesn’t shut up,” my mum replied calmly, as she stopped at some traffic lights, “she won’t even make it to the karting centre, full stop.”

“Oh, come on, Mum,” I pleaded. “Can’t you
go a bit faster? You’ve got no chance of winning a Grand Prix!”

“I can see you’re going to be a great driver, Kenny,” my mum said sarcastically as we drove out of Cuddington. “If you come home in one piece, I’ll be surprised!”

“Don’t worry, Mrs McKenzie,” Rosie chimed in. “We can carry Kenny back to the car if we have to!”

“Listen, you lot, it takes skill to drive a kart,” I snorted. “And I’ve got plenty of it!”

Secretly, I didn’t have a
clue
what driving a kart involved – but I wasn’t going to tell the others that. After all, how hard could it be?

“I’m not looking forward to wearing a helmet,” Fliss moaned. “I bet it won’t go with my new jumper!”

“Oh, give it up, Flissy,” I retorted. “It won’t matter anyway – we have to wear race suits over our clothes.”

“What are those?” Lyndz asked.

“These kind of all-in-one overall things,” I said airily. My dad had bought a computer last month, and I’d done a bit of research into karting on the Net the night before.

“Well, I hope mine’s pink!” Fliss said, and everyone groaned.

“I think we have to wear gloves too,” Frankie added, winking at me. “You’re not the only one who went on the Net last night, Kenny!”

The karting centre was about fifteen miles from Cuddington. None of us quite knew what to expect, so when we arrived at the Silver Streak about twenty minutes later, we could hardly believe our eyes.

“Is that it?” Fliss gasped.

“It’s
huge
!” Rosie murmured, her eyes almost popping out of her head.

It was
massive
. The building was shaped a bit like a big dome, and there was a large carpark outside, which already had quite a few cars parked in it.

“Look!” Lyndz pointed at the big sign, as we drove into the carpark. “It says there’s an adults’ track, and a separate track for the under-elevens.”

“Come on, Mum!” I yelled, bouncing up and down in my seat. I was getting well excited by now. “Put your foot down, and grab that empty parking space before that Mercedes gets it!”

“Oh, really, Kenny!” my mum said sternly. She reversed neatly into the empty space, just ahead of the Mercedes, and I cheered loudly. “I dread to think what you’re going to be like what you get on to that karting track.”

“Yeah, Kenny, haven’t you heard of road rage?” Fliss said.

“Or in this case,
track
rage!” Frankie grinned.

“Yeah, you lot had better stay out of my way,” I said, climbing out of the car. “If we have a race, I’m out to win!”

Frankie turned to Fliss.

“I bet you 50p Kenny crashes her kart,” she said confidently, holding out her hand. “Shake on it?”

“No, thanks,” Fliss retorted. “I can’t afford to lose 50p!”

“What a cheek!” I grumbled, as we went over to the entrance. “I’m going to be the fastest out of you lot.”

“I reckon Frankie will be a good driver,” Lyndz said. “She was the only one who didn’t get bumped when we went on the dodgems.”

“I think Fliss could be quite good,” Frankie remarked, “if she stops worrying about her hairdo for five minutes!”

“Well, I reckon Lyndz is going to be the best,” Rosie added. “She’s always good at things like this.”

“Mum, have you got those free passes?” I asked impatiently, as we went up to the ticket office.

My mum stared at me. “No, I thought Fliss gave them to you.”

“What!” I howled. “She did – but then I thought I gave them to you to look after! Oh no, that means we’ll have to go back home for them—”

“Oh, wait a minute.” My mum grinned at me, and then pulled them out of her handbag. “Here they are.”

I glared at her while the others roared.

“Looks like you’re not the only queen of the wind-up, Kenny!” Frankie spluttered.

“Oh, very funny, Mum!” I said crossly, as
we went into the arena. Then I stopped and stared round. “
Wow!
Hey, you guys, look at this!”

There were karts hurtling round the tracks, right before our eyes. The track close to us was the kids’ one, and the adults’ track was on the other side of the building. The tracks weren’t just straight and flat, they had lots of bends as well as ramps leading up to bridges. They were surrounded by these banks, which must have been there to stop the karts coming off. There were men in overalls with flags, standing at the side watching everything that was going on – I think they were the race marshalls. The noise was pretty loud, but it looked incredibly exciting. I couldn’t wait to be out there doing exactly the same thing!

“Look, there’s a café and a restaurant as well,” Lyndz said as we made our way further into the arena.

“And somewhere for spectators,” Frankie added, pointing at a large, fenced-off area filled with seating.

“You’ll be able to sit there and watch us, Mum,” I said eagerly.

“Yes, and I’ve brought a book to read in case I get bored,” my mum replied.

“Bored!” I repeated, amazed. “How could anyone get bored watching the Sleepover Club go karting?”

Parents! Don’t you just love ’em?

“Well, I’ll try not to,” my mum said with a grin. “I’m off to have a cup of tea in the café. The girl at the ticket office said you’re to wait here, and someone will be along to get you kitted up and give you some driving instruction before you’re allowed out on the track.”

Fliss was looking a bit sick as my mum went off.

“Those karts go really fast, don’t they?” she muttered. “What if I can’t keep up?”

“And look, this is only a practice session,” Lyndz pointed out, glancing up. An illuminated board above our heads was flashing the words
Practice Session
at us. “It’s not even a race.”

“Don’t worry, Flissy,” I said. “I’ll just give you a bit of a bump up the backside with my kart!”

“Don’t you dare, Kenny!” Fliss squealed.

“Yeah, Kenny, this isn’t the dodgem cars now,” Frankie chimed in.

“You’ll probably get thrown off the track if you do something like that,” Rosie added.

We stood there watching the karts zoom round the track. There were eight of them going round, and there was one which was always at the front. It looked very different from the other karts, which were red, blue, green and white. This kart was black with gold flashes on it, and the driver was wearing a black race suit and a black helmet with gold writing on the front, which read
King of the Track
.

I nudged Frankie.

“Seen that one?” I pointed it out. “Bit flash, isn’t it?”

Frankie nodded. “I wonder who it is?”

Just then one of the race marshalls jumped out and waved a chequered flag. The karts started pulling off the track into the pit stop, the black and gold one at the front.

“Come on,” I said to the others. “Let’s go and have a nose!”

We went over to the side of the track, and hung around watching what was going on. Mr
King of the Track
got out of his kart, and took his helmet off. He was about our age. He had dark hair, and the name
Josh
was embroidered on his black race suit in gold. I dunno why, but he looked really steaming mad!

“Hey, you!” He was glaring at another boy, who was just getting out of his kart. “Don’t you know the rules? You’re not supposed to race during a practice session!”

“I only tried to overtake you because you cut me up,” the other boy retorted. “You were swinging about all over the place.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Josh snapped. “My dad owns this track, and I can get you banned from it any time I like!”

The other boy didn’t say anything this time, he just stormed off. Meanwhile, our eyes were out on stalks.

“What a bighead!” I whispered to Frankie. “I’m surprised he can find a helmet to fit him!”

“Yeah, he really thinks he’s something else, doesn’t he?” she said, looking disgusted.

Fliss was looking worried. “I hope we don’t have to race against
him
,” she muttered.

“Look, he’s having a go at someone else now,” Rosie hissed.

“You’re never going to be a good driver if you don’t take risks, Alex,” Josh was explaining in this snooty voice to one of the other drivers, a weedy-looking boy with red hair. “You’ve got to try and improve your cornering.”

“I know,” Alex said. “But it won’t make much difference – your kart’s so much faster than anyone else’s.”

A smug smile spread across Josh’s already-smug face. “I know,” he replied.

“Urgh!” I rolled my eyes at the others. “Pass me the sickbag, someone – and make it a giant-sized one!”

“Hi, girls.” Josh had just noticed us all staring, and was looking down his nose at us. “Like the kart? It’s mine, not the centre’s. Brilliant, isn’t it?”

“We’re not looking at your kart – we’re looking at you and wondering why you’re such an annoying twit!” is what I
wanted
to
say, but I didn’t because Frankie kicked my ankle as soon as I opened my mouth. What I actually said was “Ow!”

“I’m Josh Stevens,” Josh went on. “My dad owns this karting centre. And these are my two mates, Alex and Robin.”

Robin was another weedy-looking kid with blond hair and specs. It was obvious that Josh
my dad owns this karting centre
Stevens liked having mates he could boss around, because they were both standing there looking up at him as if he was the best thing since sliced bread.

“So, girls.” Josh said the word
girls
in a way that made me want to punch him on the nose. “Have you been karting before?”

I was dying to say that I was the World Under-Eleven Karting Champion, but I knew that would be a mistake. So I just said, “No.”

“Oh, right.” Josh grinned at us in this really annoying way. “Just take it slowly, and you’ll be OK. It’s not a sport for girls, really, anyway.”

I clenched my fists. “Why not?”

“Kenny!” Frankie hissed in my ear, but I
took no notice. Meanwhile Rosie, Lyndz and Fliss had shuffled in closer to me, as if they thought they were going to have to hold me back from thumping the little creep. They were right!

“Well…” Josh shrugged his shoulders in this
incredibly
patronising way. “Everyone knows men are better at things like football and motor sport. Girls are better at things like netball and sewing!” He sniggered, and Alex and Robin sniggered too. “It’s the same with karting. It’s a man’s sport!”

“Oh?” I said. “And is it a sport for slimy little creeps, too?”

Josh’s mouth fell open, and his mates looked as if they were about to faint. “What did you say?”

“You heard me!” I snapped.

“And there are loads of girls here anyway,” Frankie added, glancing round the arena. “There’s no reason why girls can’t be as good at karting as boys.”

Josh looked down his nose at us. “That just goes to show you don’t know anything about karting!” he sneered. “I’ve been karting
since I was five years old, and I’m an expert!” Then he looked alarmed and took a step backwards, as I took one forwards.

“We’ll see!” I said, eyeballing him grimly.

“You’ve got no chance!” Josh retorted, and then stalked off, with his two sheep – sorry, mates – hurrying along behind him.

I turned to the others.

“Right, that’s it!” I said firmly. “We’ve got to show Mr Creep that girls are as good as boys. We’re all going to be
champion
karters!”

OK, so the others moaned a bit, but they didn’t really mean it. They hated Josh as much as I did. We were all determined to show him that he was talking rubbish, and that girls could be brilliant karters too.

Well, that was
before
we were taken off to be given driving instruction by Mike, the race director. There was so much to remember, it was almost impossible! First of all Mike took the five of us, plus some other kids, over to the beginners’ area. There, we were given a number each, as well as safety helmets, gloves and race suits.

“Mine’s too big,” Fliss grumbled, as she rolled up her sleeves. “And it’s not pink either!” she added sadly.

“Good,” I retorted, as I struggled into my own race suit. “We don’t want that idiot Josh thinking we’re all weak and feeble girlies.”

“He was the pits, wasn’t he?” Frankie said. “Hey, guys, did you hear that? The pits – you know, the pit stop? That’s a karting joke for you!”

“It’s nowhere near a joke,” I said. “It’s not even funny! Look, we’ve got to show this creep just how wrong he is. So make sure you all listen up to Mike so you know what you’re doing, OK?”

Everyone agreed, and there were lots of
woo hoo!
s and high fives. But when we finally got started, it was a different matter. Like I said, there was just
so
much to remember.

First of all, Mike showed us some of the karts. We all had the chance to sit in one and test out the pedals without actually moving.

“Now, unlike a proper car, there are only two pedals to worry about and no gears,”

Mike explained, pointing them out. “This is the brake, and that’s the accelerator.”

“I hope I don’t mix them up!” Fliss whispered to me anxiously.

So did I. I could just see Fliss trying to brake, and going smack into the kart in front, headfirst. Josh Stevens would laugh himself silly!

Fliss looked even more worried when Mike explained that the karts could go up to thirty miles an hour. He told us that the steering wheel didn’t turn very far, but turning it just a little had a big effect on how the kart moved. He also said that it was important to keep accelerating and not to slow down, as it was difficult to build up speed again. That made Fliss look even greener – I don’t think she was looking forward to going fast at all!

We were given so many tips, my head was spinning by the end of it. You couldn’t be too heavy on the brakes, especially if you were cornering, because then your kart might start twirling on the spot. I thought that sounded quite cool, but it wouldn’t be if I
was racing against Josh at the time. Then there were lots of hints about how to steer the kart round corners, and how to get the best acceleration. Then Mike went on for ages about the rules of the track, like moving over to let a faster kart get past you if the race marshall waves his flag, and not deliberately bumping into other people (that got you a black flag, which meant you were disqualified!).

By the end of it all, my head was ready to explode. The others were looking pretty dazed as well.

“I don’t think I remember any of that,” Frankie said.

“Do we really have to go at thirty miles an hour?” Fliss wailed.

“We’ll never beat Josh and his mates,” Lyndz groaned.

“We’re going to be rubbish,” Rosie said dismally.

“No, we’re not!” I said firmly. “Come on you lot – we’re the Sleepover Club, remember? We’re not going to let that little toad get the better of us!”

So we all started woo-hooing and doing high fives again, as Mike led us over to the starting grid. The last practice session had just finished, and the karts were ready for us to have our first drive. Unfortunately, Josh and his mates were right there in the front row of the spectator area, watching us with big grins on their faces.

“Ignore them,” I said to the others. “Just concentrate on driving—Ow!”

Great start. Fliss had just dropped her helmet, and it landed right on my toe.

“Sorry, Kenny,” Fliss said, as we went over to our karts. “I’m a bit nervous.”

“It’s OK,” I said through gritted teeth. Josh and his mates were rolling around having a right laugh. “Just keep calm, and you’ll be fine.” I was number 5, and I found my kart and climbed in. For one horrible second I couldn’t remember which pedal was the brake and which one was the accelerator, but then it all came back to me. Phew!

“Good luck,” Frankie called over to me. She was sitting in number 8, which was right next to me.

“Same to you,” I called back, keeping an eye on the race marshall who was going to start us off. “Let’s show that little creep Josh just how wrong he is!”

We didn’t have time to say anything else, because the marshall was ready with his flag. I kept my eyes fixed on it until it dropped – and then we were away!

I put my foot down on the accelerator, and scorched away like I had a rocket up my bottom. No-one got
near
me as I zoomed off!

“I’m winning! I’m winning!” I grinned to myself. But next minute I got a black flag waved at me! Mike had said that if we were black-flagged, we
had
to leave the track, so sulkily I pulled off into the pit stop. As I did so, Frankie, Rosie and Lyndz roared past me. At least they were doing all right, although I couldn’t see Fliss anywhere.

“Why did I get a black flag?” I asked crossly, pulling my helmet off as Mike ran over.

“Kenny, this is a
practice
,” Mike said sternly. “You were warned beforehand to take it easy – no racing! You can go again in the practice session after this one.”

“Oh.” I felt a bit of an idiot. I’d completely forgotten the rule about not racing.

Then I spotted Fliss, in kart number 9. She was still sitting on the starting grid while everyone else was halfway round the track!

“What’s the matter with Fliss?” I asked.

“She must have her steering lock on,” Mike replied. “It’s very difficult to get the kart to move from a standing position if the wheels aren’t straight – ah, there she goes!”

Fliss was
finally
moving. I risked a quick look at Josh, although I knew it would wind me up. Him and his mates were red in the face from laughing. When Josh saw me looking, he gave me a mocking wave. I was dying to go over there and give him a slap!

Frankie, Rosie and Lyndz were doing OK, though, and so was Fliss now that she was on the move. Then, suddenly, everything went wrong for Rosie. She was heading towards one of the tight corners, and she was going pretty fast. Mike had warned us about braking hard when you turned corners, but Rosie had obviously forgotten. She hit the brakes and the kart went into a
fast spin, twirling round and round several times, and then bumping into the bank at the side.

“Oh no!” I groaned, covering my eyes. This was a Sleepover Club disaster!

Lyndz was next to give Josh and his mates a good laugh. Somehow she got too close to the kart in front of her, and the front of Lyndz’s kart hooked on to the back of the other one and she couldn’t get it free. They drove round the track like that until the marshall made them come off and separate the karts.

Anyway, it turned out that Frankie and Fliss were our best drivers, although Fliss was a bit slow because she was nervous. But Frankie was ace! She was twisting and turning her way round those corners like she’d been karting for years.

“That was brill, Franks!” I said, when the practice session was over, and she and Fliss had pulled off the track along with the other drivers.

Frankie grinned. “I didn’t do too badly, did I?”

“No, and nor did Fliss.” I slapped Fliss on the back, as she took her helmet off. “Well done, Flissy!”

Fliss pulled a face. “I wasn’t as good as Frankie. I didn’t go fast enough.”

“You will!” I assured her. “We’ll all get better when we’ve practised a bit more.”

“Enjoy your spin?” Josh was sauntering towards us with Alex and Robin. He grinned at Rosie, who turned red.

“Take no notice,” Frankie said, grabbing my arm. “Kenny, I forbid you to attack him!”

“Spoilsport,” I muttered, as Josh and his mates got closer.

“That was a great laugh!” Josh sniggered. “You girls should give up karting and take up comedy!”

“Shut up,” I snapped. “We’ll be loads better when we’ve practised a bit.”

“Yeah, I bet
you
weren’t much good either when you first started,” Frankie added, glaring at Josh.

“Yeah, Josh, remember how you smashed up the very first kart your dad bought you—” Robin began. Then he turned pink as Josh
glared at
him
. I reckon Robin was a bit like Alana Banana! You remember her, that dozy mate of the M&Ms in our class?

“I reckon you lot should give up and go home now,” Josh remarked rudely. “Don’t bother waiting for the races this afternoon.”

“Races?” My ears pricked up at that. “What races?”

“We have races every day after the practice sessions,” Josh explained in that smug voice of his. “There are six fifteen-lap heats, and the winner of each heat goes through to the final. The winner of the final gets a prize too.” He grinned an evil grin. “Like I said, don’t bother entering. You don’t stand a chance!”

“Oh really?” I snapped. “Well, I can tell you this for nothing – one of
us
is going to win that final. You don’t stand a chance!”