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
“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
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