In the early-morning September sunshine, the red brick building of the Academy shone brightly as a gaggle of Academy students sat on the steps, catching up on summer gossip before training began. As she approached, Ellie felt the same thrill of excitement she’d experienced on her very first day, last year. She reckoned she’d always feel that same buzz, however long she kept going.
Katya bounced up the steps beside her and Ellie grinned.
‘It’s like having a puppy,’ Tam joked, waving goodbye to the girls as he headed off into the boys’ gym.
Ellie and Nancy showed Katya to the girls’ changing room, where they found a gaggle of smaller gymnasts giggling in a corner. The younger girls fell silent at the sight of the two Pre-Elite girls.
‘Ah – the new kids in Development,’ said Nancy. ‘They make me feel so old and wise!’
‘You might be old but you’ll never be wise, Nancy!’ said Ellie with a grin. She recognised several of the younger girls who had been in Beginner’s squad last term, and she introduced them to Katya as the people she would be training with. Katya greeted every single one of them with a giant bear hug.
‘She doesn’t seem to have any problem making friends, does she?’ Nancy observed as she and Ellie pulled off their tracksuits and tugged their hair into ponytails, ready for training.
Katya was already giggling and swapping scrunchies with a girl who had a doll-like face and curly brown hair that fell in ringlets nearly as far as her bottom.
‘Who’s that?’ asked Ellie.
‘I haven’t seen her before,’ said Nancy. ‘I guess she must be new too.’
They didn’t have to wait long to find out the identity of Katya’s new friend. As the other members of Development headed off for warm-up, Katya tugged the little girl over to Ellie and Nancy.
‘Nancy, Ellie – this my new friend Lexi Davies!’ she squeaked.
‘Hello,’ said Lexi, blushing a deep crimson and lowering her eyes.
‘Lexi is new to Academy – like me,’ Katya declared.
‘We didn’t think we’d seen you before,’ said Ellie. ‘Where have you come from?’
‘I was training in Liverpool,’ Lexi explained shyly. ‘But my father got a new job, so we had to move.’
‘Oh, Liverpool is a great gym,’ said Ellie.
‘Even if they are our biggest rivals,’ added Nancy with a grin. ‘Were you training with Eva Reddle?’
‘Oh yes!’ Lexi’s eyes lit up. ‘She’s absolutely lovely – and she’s the Junior British Champion, you know.’
‘She is for now,’ said Scarlett, who had just appeared in the changing room, sporting a new leotard and matching training shorts with her name emblazoned in diamantés across her bottom. ‘Until I knock her off the top spot, that is!’
‘Oh, so you reckon you’re going to win gold at British Champs now?’ asked Nancy, rolling her eyes.
‘Just watch me!’ said Scarlett coolly, picking up her guard bag which she’d forgotten. ‘Oh no, you won’t be able to – because you haven’t even qualified yet!’
‘Well I only started at the Academy in January,’ Ellie told Lexi, changing the subject quickly. ‘But everyone was really nice . . .’
‘Nearly everyone!’ said Nancy, rolling her eyes in Scarlett’s direction.
‘And your coach, Sasha, she’s super lovely!’ said Ellie, who kind of wished she was still training with her old coach who’d helped her so much.
‘Unless you get on the wrong side of her,’ added Scarlett, pulling a diamanté-studded scrunchie over her perfect bun. ‘If you do that she’s super strict, the scariest coach in the whole gym.’
‘I am not scared of Sasha Darling,’ said Katya with a little shrug. ‘I hear she was once in circus like me, so I think we will get on very well. Just like friends!’
‘Well, you’re not going to get on well if you’re late!’ said Nancy. ‘Come on!’
The girls all hurried into the gym. Ellie and Nancy waved goodbye to Katya and Lexi and went to join the other Pre-Elite girls, who were already lined up on the blue mat waiting for Oleg Petrescu.
The eccentric and brilliant coach had once been an international gymnast, training alongside many of the greats. He had a reputation for being fierce one minute and cuddly the next. ‘A bit like a bear,’ Nancy whispered as they waited for him to come over. ‘Only you don’t know if he’s going to be a teddy bear or a grizzly from one minute to the next.’
Oleg had a comical appearance. Like many gymnasts he was small, but since he had retired from competing he was nearly as round as he was tall. He had a large curling moustache like an old-fashioned strongman, and he liked to wear flamboyantly coloured tracksuits, usually in patterns that were about twenty years out of date.
Today he was looking incredibly fierce, despite sporting a pink and yellow tracksuit in a shiny material that made him look a bit like a small round spaceman. He did not even smile as he walked along the line of gymnasts, inspecting each of them as if he were a sergeant-major in front of a parade. Ellie felt nerves flutter in her stomach.
‘This year I am bringing a new regime to the Academy,’ Oleg announced in a loud booming voice that seemed too big for his little body. ‘In holidays I spend time in Romanian gymnastic school, where I train as boy. Things are very different over there.’
‘Uh-oh,’ whispered Nancy under her breath. ‘This sounds worrying.’
Oleg shot her a look. ‘In Romania, coach is like god,’ he said, his voice booming off the high roof of the gym. ‘The gymnasts, they obey without question.’
‘He thinks he’s a god now?’ whispered Kashvi.
‘In England there is not so good discipline,’ said Oleg glaring even more fiercely. ‘But in Oleg’s class, no more!’ he declared, waving his arms wildly to stress his point. Next to her, Ellie could feel Nancy trying hard not to giggle. ‘We will train Romanian-style. We will work like in army – bootcamp, drill, silence! And in this way I will make great gymnasts of you all.’
Bootcamp – army style – drills! This was worse than Oleg’s healthy eating obsession! Ellie glanced at Camille, Kashvi and Bella, all of whom were looking as alarmed as she felt. Of course, Scarlett wore her usual smug smile, as if she had nothing to fear from Oleg’s terrifying new training regime.
‘Well, I might as well give up now,’ muttered Nancy.
‘Does anyone want to quit?’ asked Oleg, fixing his stare on Nancy, his eyes bulging. ‘Because if you cannot take the heat, is time to get out of Oleg’s kitchen.’
‘Um . . .’ Nancy started to say, but Ellie jabbed her hard in the ribs.
‘You!’ said Oleg, transferring his gaze to Ellie and eyeballing
