Yeah... Diet's important. Um… What you eat…" He looked at Mrs Budgen. "What you drink…. And, um… sleep- sleep's important too… Um… You've just got to make a plan and stick to it." He stared into the crowd; none of them seemed particularly interested.
He didn't know what to say- well, he knew everything he wanted to say, but he didn't know how to say it. He'd told Byrne that he didn't want to do a talk, and now what was he doing? Mortifying.
Finally, I came to an end. After a particularly long pause, Mr Byrne stood up and asked if there was any questions from the audience.
Kenzie spoke up, a smirk on her face. Dale could almost feel his cheeks burning already.
"The night before a big race, can you…" She elaborated. Dale's eyes widened- he never thought she'd ask that! And the answer was yes, you could do that the night before a big race. He'd done it with a number of girls the night before, and it hadn't effected his performance. He hoped. And he'd never done it before a big race- there was too much pressure to even think about that.
But he didn't say any of these thoughts, and even if he had, he wouldn't have been heard. At Kenzie's comments, the whole hall went into uproar- both Havolock and Waterloo road. It was the first thing they'd done together without being forced to all day.
After it had all died down, Mr Byrne stood up and led the applause- although Dale couldn't think why; it had been awful. He hated talking in front of people- probably one of the reasons why he spent so much time on a bike. People stood up and sat back down whilst he- finally- took his seat. He ran his hands through his hair, blowing air out through his mouth. It was over- and the relief was massive- like a balloon that had been popped.
"And let's hope that this time next week, we have a champion in our ranks."
Next week the trial. The thing he'd prepared months for, as soon as he'd hear there was a space on that team. That team was a gateway to everything else Dale wanted- to being a professional rider, to being an Olympic athlete, and to all the sponsorship that came with it. Oh yes, he'd make sure he made the team- or he'd die trying,
"Thank you Dale," the woman said, snapping him out of his day dream of Olympic stadiums and the sunny landscape of France. "Ad thank you all for coming. So, if the parents would like to stay behind, perhaps we can all try and draw some final conclusions from the forum."
They all filed out.
Dale was one of the last to leave, as he wanted to avoid the whole crowd of people who might tease him about his horrible presentation- or worse, laugh at him. Dale looked around. The only people that were left in the hall were the parents, a group of Waterloo Road kids from the year below him, and a pair from Havlock.
D*+ale recognised one of the girls vaguely- she had been in his science class, but he hadn't paid much attention to her, or the science class. He had more on his mind than fusion- and more interesting things at that.
Heaving his rucksack over his shoulder, he made his way out. The waterloo road and one of the Havolock girls had left, leaving only one left. She seemed to be rummaging through her bag- maybe sorting it? Dale didn't care. While he didn't really care about the merger, he wasn't fond of Havolock, either. Really, he just had too many things on his mind to worry about a school that he'd only been at a few weeks.
In the corridor, he felt someone tap him on his back.
He whipped around, startled. It was the Havalock girl, the one from the science class. She was smiling at him- she didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with startling him. Either that, or she hadn't noticed. His heart was thundering in his chest.
Her grin was big; bashful. It spread throughout her entire face, from her cheeks to her eyes. Dale didn't think he'd seen a smile like it. When she noticed him glaring at her, the smile faded.
"Um… sorry. I… I didn't mean to startle you." She was posh, with a thick accent that made him think of the Christmas Queen's speeches his Aunt used to make him watch.
Dale raised an eyebrow.
"Then what did you want?"
The girl ran a hand through her hair, before her face broke into a smile again. Dale continued to stare- the girl seemed nuts. She wore a green Havolock blazer, tight black trousers and shiny black loafers. Her shirt was tucked into her trousers, and she had wavy brunette hair that went just to her chest.
"I just wanted to say that I liked your presentation. It was very interesting." The girl woke Dale out of his super, so it took him a few moments to process her words.
"Are you kidding me? It was terrible."
"No!" The girl replied quickly, almost as soon as he'd finished. "No…" Some girls barged past them, chatting about some fit guy from the voice and how he better win and how that other contestant kept obviously flirting with him. They looked at Dale and the girl and giggled.
Dale didn't know who they were laughing at- him or the girl. Really, he didn't care. He wanted this conversation to be other so he could get ready for training- every second counted. It was only a few minutes until the end of the day, so he was edgy. But when they'd finally past and their conversation could no longer be heard, the girl started to talk again. She'd stopped smiling. "No, your presentation was interesting- especially the stuff about diets and stuff."
Dale eyed her from the corner of his eye.
"Honest. I've read some stuff about all that. Athletes diets and stuff. High protein, for growth and repair. Not many carbohydrates either, I suppose. They're just quick energy and make you pile on the pounds."
Again, Dale eyed the girl. Although he still wanted to leave, he was mildly interested. And, alright, he was curious. It wasn't every day you came across someone who was interested in athlete stuff like diet. Even Lennie wasn't that interested offering him sugary cereal bars.
Of course, it was hard to talk about food, seeming as he wasn't eating it. He knew it was bad, bad because of what it was doing to his body, bad because of the headaches it was giving him, but it was good good good when the weight came off and his times became faster and faster.
Because that was the only thing that mattered.
He should be practising now, but somehow, he was still standing here, with the girl.
"You're interested into diets, then? PE science and stuff?"
"Well, yeah…" the girl frowned. "But…. Promise you won't laugh. Most people laugh."
Dale looked at the girl. Laugh about what?
"I promise I won't laugh."
The girl looked up and smiled at him, twisting the strap of her satchel. The smile wasn't like the one she'd given him before, this one was smaller; this one seemed more genuine. She walked over to one of the windows and sat on it, plonking her bag beside her.
Dale joined her.
"Physics. It's the best really. How things work…" She said, leaning back against the window sill. The sunlight made her dark locks shine, casting shadows onto the paint work?"
"So, the lesson today, then. You actually enjoyed it?" Dale asked. The girl didn't seem to be joking, but physics, really? It was quite possibly the most boring thing known to man- actually, scratch that, thought Dale. Maths or English were the worst subjects- at least in physics, things sometimes exploded.
"Yeah. The lesson here are way more interesting than Havalock." She looked at him, squinting in the sunlight. Then she quickly changed the subject. "Do things always explode here?"
Dale laughed. She did too.
"Sometimes. But way worse things have happened." He said.
"Like what?" She asked.
"One we set up a bike bank, you know, to impress parents. I got roped in; Mr Fitzgerald wanted me to lead it, seeming as I cycle… and then…" Suddenly he was leaping into the story of the bike bank, of how Scott had taken the bikes apart and how he'd ended up lying flat on his face, tasting gravel.
He made gestures of how they'd all landed on the floor, laughing as he remembered the expressions on everyone's faces, especially Fitzgerald's, when all the bikes had fallen over- he'd been angry then, but it was funny now.
The girl was laughing too, and they got talking about the merger. The girl surprised Dale. She sounded posh, but she laughed and cracked jokes like anyone else. And she was nice. Nicer than he'd expected, nicer than most strangers he randomly started to talk to- especially someone from the 'enemy side.'
"I thought you'd be horrible." He said, without thinking. The girl shot him a look. Oh no! That had come out wrong!
"No, that came out wrong!" The girl burst out in a fit of giggles, and so did he. "I mean, coming from Havalock. You're supposed to be the enemy."
"Well," she spoke, her voice calm. "That's where you're wrong. I'll have you know I only get my black cape and mask out on the weekends. It's much to tiring to terrorise Greenock on the weekdays. You know, with it being a school night."
Dale smiled. She did the same.
Then the bell went, starting them.
"Shit! What's the time?" She shouted, grabbing his wrist and checking the time on the watch. "Shit! I've got to get to the bus!" She grabbed her bag and dropped off the window, before turning round. "It was nice talking to you, Dale. I meant it- good presentation."
She turned, running down the corridor.
"Wait!" He shouted, jumping down off the window. "What's your name?"
Further down the corridor, the girl turned round.
"Name's Eloise- call me El. Eloise makes me sound like a middle aged woman who knits her own clothing."
With that she turned, her brown her flying behind her.
"Bye," Dale murmured, a faint smile still on his lips.
Hello! Thank you for talking the time to read this story. I had this idea when I was watching series 10, and it wouldn't go away; so I just had to write it. This story will have a proper story line, not only for Dale but for El too, so I hope that you'll stick around to read it! I'll be running the story beyond the end of series 10, because I think the show was cut way too short and that the characters had way more to tell.
I'll update usually once a week.
If you want to talk to me about anything in the story (E.g. themes, if all the characters are in character, storyline) please don't hesitate to message me. I'd be very happy to answer any of your messages. (Tumblr Loric101)
By the way, what do you guys think of El? I hope you like her!
Please review!
