LITMIR.BIZ

      “Gymnastics?” Frankie shrieked when I’d told them all my news. “I don’t think so, Kenny. I mean, look at me. I don’t exactly look like a gymnast, do I? Gymnasts are small. I’d be laughed out of the place for looking like a freak.”

      “But that’s exactly the point of the competition,” I assured her. “Gymnastics isn’t just for delicate little people…”

      “Like me!” piped up Fliss.

      “Yep, like you Fliss. It’s for everyone. They’re trying to get more people to join in and benefit from it. Oh come on, it’ll be fun. What do you think, Lyndz?”

      Lyndz was looking pretty sick actually.

      “I agree with Frankie,” she said. “You know that I’m hopeless at gym, Kenny. I even get stuck on forward rolls sometimes. And do you remember that time Mrs Weaver asked us to try a handstand and I lost my balance and crashed down on top of Alana Banana? She was so dazed everyone thought she had concussion. She was off school for ages.”

      “But the presenter said each person only has to do a short solo performance, Lyndz,” I reassured her. “There must be lots of gymnastic-type balances and stuff you can do. And the rest of us can cover for you when we do the routine all together.”

      “I suppose.” Lyndz shuffled her feet and didn’t sound too convinced.

      “So Rosie-Posie, are you up for it?” I demanded.

      Rosie smiled warily. “Yeah, I guess so. As long as it doesn’t interfere with SATs too much. I’ve promised Mum I’m going to work really hard for these tests.”

      “When is the competition exactly?” Frankie wanted to know.

      “Dunno,” I shrugged. “Ages away, I think. Anyway, wouldn’t it be great to have something to look forward to after the SATs? And in the meantime, practising for it will help us clear our minds a bit. What do you say?”

      The others all looked at each other. Only Fliss was jumping about like she’d got ants in her pants.

      “It’ll be so cool!” Fliss twittered. “This competition was made for me… I mean, us!”

      I sighed. I just knew that that was because she thought she was little and perfect and would capture the judges’ hearts the moment they saw her. PUKE!

      To be honest I was well cheesed off with the others. You’d think they could have mustered some enthusiasm when I was offering them the chance of stardom.

      “Look guys, don’t you realise that if we win this thing, we actually get to star in our own TV programme?” I told them in exasperation. “And that’s not just going to be about gymnastics, is it? It’s going to be about us. Everybody will get to see us and we’ll be famous. Lyndz, they’ll probably film you at Mrs McAllister’s stables. You’ll be able to show everyone how much you love horses and you’ll be offered some top job where you can ride the best horses in the world all day. Isn’t that what you want?”

      Lyndz’s eyes had begun to sparkle. She beamed and nodded.

      “And Frankie, you’ll bowl everyone over with how witty and clever you are and no one will even notice that you’re as tall as a giraffe!”

      Frankie batted me playfully on the arm. But I could see that she was beginning to realise what a mega-opportunity we were looking at here.

      “And I’ll be spotted by a model agency, won’t I? It’s going to be totally cool!” Fliss gushed again. “It’s a brilliant idea, Kenny. Have you sent off for the factsheet yet? We’ve got to start planning everything. I mean, I’m brilliant at gymnastics, but you knew that, right? I’m sure I can teach you all a few moves, even you Lyndz.”

      And with that she cartwheeled across the grass in front of us.

      “Charming!” Lyndz tutted, but she was laughing really.

      “So are we about to be famous TV stars then?” I shouted.

      “YES!” the others chorused.

      “We should start rehearsing right away!” Fliss reappeared, a little breathless from her exertion. “What about after school?”

      “Revision!” the others reminded her.

      “Who cares about stuffy old SATs when we’re going to be on TV?” she retaliated.

      “I think you’re being just a tad hasty there, Fliss,” Rosie reminded her. “We’ve got to actually win the competition first, you know.”

      But you could tell that there was no stopping Fliss now. She had that look on her face which spelt trouble with a capital T.

      “Oh-oh, she’s in Cloud Cuckoo Land again,” Frankie whispered. And we just knew that Fliss’s fluffy little brain was filling up with images of herself being mobbed by adoring fans whenever she went out. Revision for SATs was going to have a really tough time competing with that.

      To be honest with you, it was hard enough finding time to see each other at all, what with after-school revision clubs and the masses of homework that Mrs Weaver kept piling on top of us. But as soon as I’d received the factsheet about the competition, we made a firm arrangement to meet round at my place.

      “So how was the science revision club?” I asked as Lyndz, Rosie and Fliss staggered through the door.

      “I just don’t get it,” Lyndz moaned. “I mean, reversible changes? What’s that all about then?”

      “Oh come on Lyndz, Mrs Weaver’s been going on about it for the last hour. You’ve got to understand it by now!” Rosie sounded really exasperated. “Water turns into ice when it freezes, doesn’t it? But you can melt ice when the conditions are warm enough, right? So that’s a reversible change.”

      “And salt dissolves in water,” added Frankie. “But you can recover it again through evaporation, so that’s a reversible change too.”

      “But

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