Success at Silver Spires by Ann Bryant

thing to say when Bryony put it like that, but I still felt myself shuddering at the thought of having to face Mrs. Truman. Bryony and the others hadn’t seen the note on the door, after all. I just had to cross my fingers and pray that Holly wouldn’t tell her.

Chapter Five

    I didn’t enjoy the rest of that day at all because I kept on worrying about coming across Holly and wondering whether she’d told Mrs. Truman that I’d broken the gym rules. Year Sevens are divided into classes for most subjects, and sets for English, science and maths. Holly and I are only together for English, and we didn’t have it that day, thank goodness.
    All the same, just thinking about her made me feel guilty, and when I saw her at lunch, and later on in the corridor, I felt a big wave of worry that she’d reported me.
    I could have gone to the gym after school to see if the note had been removed, but I knew it was pointless because, even if Miss Vernon had miraculously recovered, she’d already told me there wasn’t another slot that day for me to have my induction. So I decided to go for a run round the athletics track. I know running isn’t the same as rowing, but Mrs. Truman had stressed to us that general fitness is important in all sports, so at least it’d be doing me a bit of good.
    The athletics field is huge and flat and lies near the boundary of the Silver Spires grounds. It feels very peaceful and remote, with nothing but fields stretching beyond it. You can lose yourself, as though you’re in another world, when you’re down there on your own. As I jogged round the track I thought back to the phone call I’d had with Mum the day before. We’d talked for ages and she’d sounded really pleased for me, but again, as I’d been talking, I’d had that feeling I so often get, that she wasn’t listening properly, and that she was doing other things at the same time as talking to me. I kept on hearing her footsteps going up or down the stairs and then I’d hear her whispering something to Dad, and I had to hang on quite a few times while she popped one of the twins into a high chair or something.
    â€œYes, what were you saying, Sasha?” she’d say, each time she came back on the phone. But after a while I couldn’t be bothered to remind her what I’d just been saying and in the end I asked if Dad was around. It took him ages to come to the phone and I think he might have been having a nap, because he sounded kind of dopey, which made me feel guilty because he works so hard all week.
    He asked me straight away how the rowing had gone, and I told him it was great and I really loved it.
    â€œWe’ll have to see if there’s a rowing club you could go to in the summer holidays, Sash!”
    â€œOoh, yes! That would be brilliant!” I quickly replied.
    But then after I’d rung off I wondered if Dad would remember about the rowing club or whether I’d have to remind him. I really hoped he’d be the one to bring it up, then that would prove that he was taking my big new passion seriously. Or better still, it would be great if Mum called to see how my rowing was going.
    I enjoyed running round the athletics field right until the last minute when Mrs. Truman came jogging up to me just as I was about to go and get changed for supper. My heart began to pound even more than it was already after all my running. But she only said, “Well done, Sasha! Good to see someone making the effort to keep fit. It’ll pay off, you’ll see!”
    It was the most enormous relief to realize that Holly couldn’t have told her about me breaking the rules and that gave me the courage to ask, “I was supposed to be having a gym induction with Miss Vernon this morning, only she’s ill. Do you know if she’s better yet?”
    â€œShe’s coming back to work tomorrow but I don’t know if she’s got any spaces