“Oh, don’t tell me – you and Anna are big buddies again!” I said sarcastically. I was pleased to see that it looked like Maria was telling Anna off for speaking to Rosie too! At this rate, there wouldn’t be any contest if everyone started being mates again… Deep down I wasn’t sure if I was glad or sorry. But if Maria wasn’t giving in, then neither was I!
The rest of the school was already out on the field by the time our class got there. There were lots of parents there too, sitting on chairs next to the track so that they got a good view. There was a refreshments stall, and a little platform where Mrs Poole stood to present the prizes at the end.
“There’s my mum!” Fliss started waving madly at Mrs Sidebotham, who was sitting next to Mrs Thomas, Frankie’s mum. Mrs Thomas was a few months pregnant, and a bump was beginning to show.
“Save your energy for the skipping race, Fliss!” I told her.
The first race for our year was the girls’ sprint. I was in that, and so was Frankie. So were Maria and Pilar! I nudged Frankie as they lined up next to us.
“Go for it, Franks!” I whispered. Frankie was faster than me, and I reckoned she could easily beat Pilar and Maria too! But if I could get second place, I’d win a prize too. That would put us ahead in the contest right from the start!
“You have no chance!” Maria said as we waited for Mrs Weaver to blow her whistle. “We beat the trousers off you!”
“You mean beat the pants off us!” I corrected her. “And you won’t, so dream on!”
“On your marks!” Mrs Weaver shouted. “Get set!” And then she blew the whistle. Frankie shot off like a bullet from a gun, and she was halfway down the track before I’d even moved. I ran as fast as I could, but Pilar overtook me easily, although she couldn’t catch Frankie. I could hear Fliss, Rosie and Lyndz cheering me on, and I tried even harder, but I couldn’t overtake Pilar. Then I heard footsteps behind me – Maria was catching me up!
I had to really push it to stay ahead of her. Frankie got to the tape first, followed by Pilar and I was third – with Maria about a millimetre behind me! Panting hard, I slapped Frankie on the back.
“Nice one! We got two prizes – that means we’re in the lead!”
“You were lucky!” Maria snapped. “We beat you in the next race!” And she stormed off.
“Well done, Frankie,” Pilar said quickly, before she ran off after Maria.
Frankie looked surprised. “That was nice of her,” she said.
“Don’t you go all soft on me!” I said crossly, giving her a shove.
There were some other races next, involving some of the other kids, so we sat and watched. Then it was time for our year again. It was the sack race, and Rosie and Isabella were taking part in it.
“Watch out for Ryan Scott, Rosie-Posie!” I told her as Rosie lined up inside her sack. It was a mixed race so there were boys and girls in it together. “He’s pretty fast.”
“Yeah, he can jump like a frog!” Frankie added with a grin.
“He looks like one too!” I said under my breath, and we all giggled.
“Hey, I heard that!” Ryan shouted, poking me in the back.
“On your marks!” Mrs Weaver called.
“I wonder if Isabella’s any good at sack racing?” Lyndz said as we waited for the whistle to blow.
“She’s got no chance against Rosie!” I said confidently.
The race began. We were all yelling and cheering loudly for Rosie, but although she was jumping along so fast she was purple in the face, we could see that she wasn’t going to win. Ryan Scott was leaping along in front of everyone else, and he was miles ahead. Emma Hughes was second, and Danny McCloud was third, close behind her!
I groaned. “We haven’t got a chance of winning a prize!”
“Well, neither has Isabella!” Frankie pointed out. Isabella was ahead of Rosie, but she was only in fourth place.
Then, all of a sudden, Ryan Scott tried to jump too far. He fell forward and landed flat on his face! Emma Hughes began grinning, thinking that she was going to win, when next second Danny McCloud stumbled, fell over and knocked the Queen over too! We all started cheering – but then I stopped. Isabella was in the lead now and she was jumping neatly towards the finishing-line!
“Come on, Rosie!” I yelled, but it was too late. Isabella had won! And Rosie was last – that meant we were equal with two prizes each…
Maria tapped me on the shoulder. “We catch you up – and now we beat you!” she said with a big grin.
“We’ll see!” I retorted, as Rosie trailed over to us, looking a bit sheepish.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” Lyndz told her.
“What d’you mean? Of course it matters!” I yelled. “We’ve got to beat Maria and that lot out of sight! And that means you’ve all got to try harder!”
The others didn’t look that keen, and that made me mad. Just because they were all being wimps and wanting to be friends with the Spanish girls again – well, I wasn’t! Although I might have given in if Maria had been a bit nicer… But she was too busy shouting at the other girls in Spanish – probably telling them they had to try harder too!
Anyway, we had some ups and some downs during the next few races. Lyndz and Frankie won the three-legged race which put us ahead, but then Anna evened things up by winning the obstacle race. Maria and Elena came second and third in the Potato Grab, but then Frankie won the egg and spoon and I was second in the hurdles. So by the time we got to the last race, the skipping race, we were on a dead heat with five prizes each.
“You’d better win this, Fliss!” I said in a determined voice.
Fliss looked a bit pale. “I’m not very good at skipping,” she muttered.
“You’re going to win this race if it kills you!” I told her.
“I feel sick!” Fliss moaned. “I don’t want to do it!”
“Hey, that’s an idea!” I bounced to my feet. “Fliss, go and tell Mrs W. you feel ill, and you don’t want to be in the race. Then Frankie can take your place – she’s the best skipper out of all of us! And she would have been in the race anyway if Ryan Scott hadn’t knocked her over in the heats.”
“Do I have to?” Frankie grumbled, looking less than keen.
“Yeah, you do!” I said firmly. What was going on here? Looked like I was trying to run this feud single-handed, because the others just didn’t seem interested…
Looking relieved, Fliss went off to speak to Mrs Weaver. Meanwhile I glanced over at Maria and the others. Maria was having a real go at Pilar in Spanish, waving her arms about and talking really loudly. I guessed that Maria was saying that Pilar had to win the race – but Pilar looked about as keen as Frankie did.
“OK, it’s all sorted.” Fliss came back. “Frankie’s in.”
“Oh, great,” Frankie muttered.
They all lined up for the skipping race. Maria looked well sick when she saw that Frankie had taken Fliss’s place, and she came storming over to me.
“Where is Fliss? She should be in this race!”
“Fliss isn’t very well,” I said coolly, “so Frankie’s doing it instead.”
“You make that up!” Maria snapped. “You know Fliss will not beat Pilar!”
“Prove it!” I retorted, glaring at her until