Sleepover Girls Go Karting (6 page)

“How did you get on, Charlie?”

“Did you find us another driver?”

“Did you talk to Josh?”

“Is he going to let Frankie race?”

“What did the little creep say?” (That was me.)

We’d just arrived at the track the following morning, and the minute we spotted Charlie, we rushed over to her. But one look at her face told us the news wasn’t good.

“Sorry, girls,” she muttered, looking embarrassed. “I did my best, but he won’t withdraw that complaint. He was saying
something about salt in a glass of Coke?”

I turned pink. “Yeah, well, he deserved it.”

“So now we’ve got to see about getting you another driver,” Charlie said briskly. “I’ve asked around some of my mates, but all their younger brothers and sisters are already in teams.”

“So what are we going to do?” Fliss wailed.

“Watch the practice sessions before the races,” Charlie advised us. “Then you can see which drivers are good, and ask them if they’d be interested in joining your team. And I’ll keep asking around, OK?”

We all nodded gloomily. We hadn’t really expected Charlie to persuade Josh, but I guess we’d all been secretly hoping that she would. Now we knew for sure that Frankie wasn’t going to be taking part, we all felt a bit sick.

“Oh, well, I didn’t really think Snooty Stevens would back down,” Frankie remarked, trying not to sound gutted as Charlie hurried off.

“No,” we all agreed sadly.

To make things worse, Alana Banana
suddenly appeared, and wandered over to us.

“Hi,” she said dozily. “Have you found someone to take Frankie’s place yet?”

“No,” I muttered. If Alana Banana was the only person at the track that morning who wasn’t in a team, we’d either have to have her in ours or go home without competing. Either way, Josh Stevens would be laughing his head off.

“Oh,” Alana shrugged. “Well, I just came to tell you I can’t race with you. I’m going to be in Kevin’s team after all, because one of his mates dropped out.”

“He must be pleased,” I whispered to Frankie. We both looked across at Kevin Palmer, who was stomping around in what looked like a complete sulk. I think I’d have been the same if I’d had to have useless Alana Banana on my team!

“Well, that’s one problem solved at least!” Fliss breathed a sigh of relief as Alana drifted away.

“Look, the first practice session’s starting.” Rosie pointed at the track. “We’d better go and check it out.”

“Hang on a minute…” A brilliant plan had just popped right into my head. “I’ve got an idea!”

The others didn’t react
quite
like I was hoping.

“Not another of your mad ideas, Kenny!” Frankie groaned.

“I hope you’re not going to attack Josh Stevens,” Fliss said sternly.

“Then we’d
all
get banned from the race,” Rosie added.

“Just forget about it, Kenny,” Lyndz suggested.

“You lot are weedier than Alex and Robin!” I grumbled. “This is a great idea – and it might just work. Follow me!”

I marched over to where Josh Stevens was standing with Alex and Robin, plus two other guys who had to be his other team-mates, Ben and Nathan. They had exactly the same weedy look as the other two. The others reluctantly followed me, muttering amongst themselves. I think they were sorting out a back-up plan in case I attacked Snotty Stevens!

But it wasn’t violence I had in mind – not this time anyway! I went straight up to Josh,
who looked pretty surprised to see me.

“Hello, girlies!” he sneered. “I didn’t expect to see
you
again after your pathetic attempt to beat me yesterday.”

“Oh, we’re not giving up,” I retorted, keeping my cool even though my blood was boiling. “We still think we’ve got a pretty good chance in the race, even without Frankie.”

Snooty Stevens laughed. “What makes you think that?”

I went in for the kill. “Well,
you
obviously thought we could beat your team – that’s why you deliberately got Frankie chucked out of the race. You were scared we’d beat you, so you set us up!”

I knew that was probably true, but I was secretly hoping that Josh would immediately deny it, get mad and say Frankie
could
take part in the race and he’d beat us fair and square. My dad calls it
reverse psychology
!

Josh had turned red with fury. “That’s a load of rubbish!” he declared. Then suddenly he started laughing himself silly. “Hey, I know what you’re up to. You’re playing mind-games…”

“It’s reverse psychology,” put in Alex, who obviously wasn’t as stupid as he looked.

“Yeah, you want me to get mad and say
OK, let her race, and I’ll beat you all
.” Josh grinned mockingly at me. “Well, tough! Because I’m not going to.”

OK, so I’d been rumbled. It was our last shot, and I’d run out of ideas.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” I muttered to the others, my face bright red.

“Hang on a minute,” Snotty Stevens called after us, as we sloped off. “You really want Frankie to take part in that race, don’t you? Well, maybe she can…”

That made us all turn round.

“If this is a stupid trick, I’m gonna thump him this time, and no-one’s going to stop me!” I growled, as Josh strolled over to us.

“I’ve been thinking,” he began. I didn’t like the look of the nasty gleam in his eyes. “Maybe I
will
go to Mike and ask him to let Frankie race.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked suspiciously. There just
had
to be a catch.

There was.

“OK, here’s the deal.” Josh hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his combat trousers in a pathetic effort to look cool. “I’ll get Frankie back into the race, but if my team beats yours, you stay off this track from now on…”

I was a bit surprised as I looked at the others. That sounded OK. I mean, we all enjoyed karting, but it was quite expensive if you didn’t have free passes, so we weren’t sure how often we’d come back anyway. Besides, there were other karting centres we could go to if we wanted.

“OK?” I raised my eyebrows at the others, and they all nodded. I turned to Josh.

“All right,” I agreed, hardly believing we were getting off so lightly. “We’ll stay away from the centre if you beat us.”

“Hang on…” Snooty Stevens gave us an evil grin. “I didn’t say I wanted you to keep away from the
centre
. Just to stay off the
track
.”

We all looked really confused.

“But why would we bother coming here if we can’t race?” Frankie asked, puzzled.

“Oh, you’ll be here all right,” Josh replied
airily. “As my cheerleading squad!”

We all stared at him in amazement.

“Your
what
?” I roared.

“Yep, I fancy having a cheerleading squad to support me when I’m racing,” Josh explained smugly. “You’d have to sort out a uniform. You could have T-shirts with my name printed on the front or something.”

“You’re joking!” Lyndz’s mouth had dropped open.

“And you’d have to jump up and down and cheer me while I’m racing,” Josh went on, ignoring her. “And if you could dance like Britney Spears, that’d be good.”

“You’re not
serious
!” Frankie spluttered.

“Yeah, I am.” Smarmy Stevens grinned at us. “I go to loads of race meetings, and no-one’s got cheerleaders. I’d be the first!”

“That’s it!” I charged forward. “Let me at him!’

Everyone rushed in between us right at that moment, so Smarmy Stevens just about got away in one piece.

“That’s my offer,” he yelled from behind the rest of his team-mates. “Take it or leave it!”

“We’ll leave it, thanks very much,” Frankie began, but stopped when I grabbed her arm.

“Hang on a sec, Franks. Let’s think about this.”

“
What
?” the others all said together, staring at me.

“Well, why not?” I’d calmed down a bit, and I was thinking things out. “We’ve got a great chance of winning with Frankie back on our team.”

“But what if we lose?” Frankie pointed out in a tragic voice. “We’ll be Smarty-pants Stevens’ cheerleaders – we’ll look like a bunch of twits!”

“I’d quite like to be a cheerleader,” Fliss remarked. “But not for
him
,” she added hastily, as we all glared at her.

“We’ll win,” I said confidently. “So, are we in?” I looked round at everyone. “Or are we out?”

After a moment or two, everyone nodded. I turned back to Josh.

“All right,” I snapped. “We accept your offer!”

“Cool.” Josh and his mates began sniggering.
“See you on the race track.”

“Yeah, you will,” I said coldly. “Because we’ll all be in front of you!”

Just then Charlie came hurrying over to us.

“I thought you were going to watch the practice sessions,” she began. Then she spotted Josh and frowned. “What’re you up to
now
, Joshua Roland Stevens?”

“
Roland!
” I spluttered, and we all howled with laughter as Charlie winked at us. Even Alex and the others were smirking.

“Actually, I’m just about to go and talk to Mike,” Josh snapped, his face bright red. “I’m going to withdraw my complaint about Frankie.”

Charlie looked totally amazed as Josh went off, surrounded by his team-mates. “Oh, that’s brilliant!” she gasped.

“Yeah, but things aren’t quite that simple,” I said grimly, and explained what would happen if we lost. Charlie looked stunned.

“That little creep!” she said crossly. “That’s just like him.” Then her eyes narrowed, and she grinned. “Well, we’d better make sure he
doesn’t win then, hadn’t we? Come on.”

And she hurried off across the arena. Curiously we all followed her outside to where the karts were parked behind the building.

“Here we are!” Charlie pulled off the tarpaulin which was covering
Silver Flash
, and we all gasped. Charlie had finished the painting, and the kart looked fantastic. “It’s all yours, Frankie,” she went on.

“You mean…?” Frankie gasped.

“Yep, you can drive
Silver Flash
in the team races today,” Charlie said with a grin. “All you’ve got to do now is win!”

Frankie couldn’t believe her luck – and neither could the rest of us!

“It’s a shame we haven’t got our team T-shirts with us,” Rosie said. “The purple and silver would have gone really well with
Silver Flash
.”

Fliss grinned at us. “Just call me a genius!” she said modestly. She put her hand in her bag, and pulled out – the team T-shirts! And she’d finished them off too, painting
Sleepover Club Forever!
underneath the purple hearts.

“I got up early this morning when the rest of you were still asleep, and finished them off,” Fliss confessed. “Just in case! And look…” She delved into her bag again, and pulled out a tube of silver hair mascara.

We all cheered.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. “The Sleepover Club is back in business!”

“Now listen up, all of you,” Charlie said, as we gathered round her in a huddle like a team of American football players. “Josh has got quite a few tricks up his sleeve that you need to know about.”

We all nodded solemnly. It was nearly time for the races to start, and we were already kitted up with our race suits open at the front so that everyone could see our T-shirts. We all had a silver streak in our hair too – we looked fab!

We were really hyped up about the races, but we knew that Charlie would give us some
really good advice, so we were trying to listen hard. She’d just brought
Silver Flash
into the arena, and the look on Josh’s face when he’d realised that Frankie was going to be driving Charlie’s kart made us all laugh our heads off.

“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!