Everything We Keep by Di Walker (inspirational books .TXT) 📕

‘That’s not fair,’ Jax mumbled just loud enough for others to hear. Taking their cue from Ms Faber, everyone ignored him.

‘Come on Agatha,’ Tully said, heading back across the gym with their deflated balloon. ‘What could we do to make it lighter?’

Agatha had caught a glimpse of Arnold and Val’s design. Both balloons were so similar that they she didn’t see how it could be changed. ‘It’s not the design Tully. It’s the angle of the line and how tight it is,’ she whispered, not wanting Arnold to overhear their strategy.

‘Okay teams, time to race again,’ Ms Faber was in the middle of the gym, ‘I want the other teams to gather around, on each side.’

Most of the students went to the finishing end. The tension in the gym started to rise and cheering began for both teams. Ms Faber positioned herself so that she could see Tully’s and Val’s hands. She raised her arm. ‘Ready . . . ’ Agatha pulled the line tighter and lowered her hand, so its angle was almost flat. She glanced over at Arnold, who was doing almost the exact same thing. ‘Success is in the angle and tension,’ he said to her.

‘Set . . . ’

Agatha looked down the line and saw Tully’s face staring right back at her. ‘We’ve got this,’ Tully’s face said to Agatha. ‘Go!’

The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. Agatha let go of the neck of the balloon and then pulled back on the line. She watched their balloon race across the gym, with Arnold’s right next to it. The students on either side were jumping up and down, cheering the balloon rockets along. The sound blurred. Agatha couldn’t make out any of the words. Finally, Ms Faber’s arm raised again, as she declared a winner.

‘Well done,’ Arnold said, patting her on the shoulder.

‘Who one?’

‘You did. Just. Come on.’

They raced across the gym just in time to see Ms Faber hold up her hands to show the difference at the finish line. It was barely a few centimetres. ‘Great work, both teams, really clever work. Arnold can you tell us a design tip?’

‘We kept our balloon really simple. Ms Faber’s decorations were tempting, but in reality, the more added the greater the weight, therefore the slower the speed.’

‘Excellent tip. And Agatha, what about you, do you have a tip?’

Agatha hesitated, with all of the others gathered around and now listening to her, eyes focused on her.

‘She doesn’t have one,’ Jax said mockingly.

‘I think you would be wise to listen, Jax,’ said Ms Faber. ‘Considering your design didn’t make it to the end; now is the time to get some ideas.’

There was a mummering in the gathered group. Jax folded his arms and scowled.

‘Less is more, Ms Faber,’ Agatha said. ‘Just like Arnold said, less in the design and also less in the angle. Keep the line as tight as possible, all the way to the end.’

‘Excellent Agatha. Rightio everyone. You have a couple of tips from the winning teams, so you now have a few minutes to rethink you design and get ready to race again.’

The gym came alive with pre-race excitement and Agatha found herself surrounded by others wanting advice on their design. She looked for Tully, but she was also being questioned, as were Val and Arnold.

When the teams settled into their positions preparing for their second race, Tully and Agatha readjusted the tape on their balloon. ‘That was just the best,’ Tully said. ‘You’re so smart Agatha, to think about the angle and stuff.’

Agatha felt her chest tighten; her throat become dry. She moved the strands of hair that had fallen onto her face behind her ear and kept her eyes on the balloon.

‘Are you okay? What did I say?’ Tully whispered.

‘People have called me a lot of names but never smart.’

‘Well, I think you are.’

Agatha shrugged.

‘Well done, to both of you,’ Ms Faber said, breaking the silence between them. ‘I’m really looking forward to reading your assignment.’ She moved on to speak with Arnold and Val.

‘How are we going to do the assignment?’ Agatha asked Tully, with a sudden feeling of dread coming over her. She pictured Tully’s mum on Katherine’s doorstep, again demanding to keep her away from Tully.

‘We’ll figure it out,’ Tully replied. ‘We can work on it here at school and then we’ll find a way.’

Agatha didn’t have the same confidence that Tully seemed to have. She had had years of parents coming between her and anything to do with their children. Agatha knew how this was going to end.

Ms Faber called for the teams to line up for the final chance to race before the lunch break. Agatha looked down the start line at the row of simple balloon designs; only one team was missing.

Jax sat on the floor at the side of the gym, alone. His partner had joined another team. Agatha knew what it was like to sit out because no one had wanted her on their team, she couldn’t imagine why Jax would want to sit himself out.

Arnold saw her looking at Jax. ‘If he can’t win, he won’t play. He’s always been like that.’

‘If he doesn’t play then he can’t win,’ she said.

Arnold just shrugged.

Agatha looked back down the line, lowered its angle and pulled it tight.

‘Ready, set, go!’

29

Cora and Morgan listened to every detail of the balloon race. ‘That’s unbelievable, that you beat Arnold. He is like the science brain of brains.’

‘It was all Agatha’s idea,’ said Tully. ‘She was the one who figured out about the angle and stuff.’

Agatha could feel her face heat up and become red. Cora, Morgan and Tully were looking at her, wide eyed, as if waiting for her to say something. She just shrugged.

‘Well, now we know what to do tomorrow, when we have science,’ Morgan said.

‘Uh-uh. Ms Faber said each class is getting a different challenge.’ Tully was still smiling over their win. ‘We should get started on our report, Agatha. Write up