Lina at the Games (2 page)

L
INA
and Sarah knocked on the Mother Superior's office door. Finally the deadline to submit their magazine had arrived. Lina glanced down at the moons of blue paint still wedged under her fingernails, even though she had scrubbed them. She had just come from Art, where they had been painting enormous Olympic rings to decorate the school. Just like the rest of Melbourne, St Brigid's was infected with Olympic fever. In English they wrote essays about their favourite athletes and in Home Economics girls baked Olympic torch cookies or embroidered the Olympic logo on handkerchiefs. It was madness! But in the best possible way.

Lina breathed deeply and wiped her damp palms on her uniform. The last time she had sat in this office she had been in big trouble.

‘Enter,' the Mother Superior's voice came from behind the door.

Lina and Sarah shuffled nervously into the sunlit office and closed the door behind them.

‘Sit,' the Mother Superior commanded, not looking up from the papers in front of her.

Lina and Sarah obeyed, perching themselves on the big leather armchairs in front of the Mother Superior's enormous desk. Sarah was anxiously chewing her thumbnail and Lina almost felt a rush of affection towards her former enemy. It was nice to know that there was someone else in the world who cared about this magazine as much as she did. Especially now that Mary had lost interest. All Mary seemed to do now when she saw Lina in the corridors was look the other way or talk extra loudly to whomever she happened to be walking with. Lina realised at that moment that she hadn't missed Mary much at all.

Maybe it's because working with Sarah hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be? she wondered. Both girls had been trying their hardest to get along for the sake of the magazine. In fact, there were times when they were working side by side in the library that Lina almost began to enjoy Sarah's company. She always made good suggestions, and she was a good writer, too, though sometimes this made Lina nervous. Secretly she hoped that people would still see the magazine as
her
idea, not Sarah's.

Finally, the Mother Superior looked up and removed her glasses. This instantly made her appear friendlier. Lina was always amazed at how quickly the Mother Superior could transform from severe owl to warm mother hen. ‘So, girls, I suppose you're here with your ideas for our school magazine. Is that correct?'

‘Yes, Ma'am,' Lina said. She glanced down at the bundle of papers on her lap. ‘I hope you like it. Sarah and I have worked very hard . . .'

The Mother Superior nodded then raised her eyebrows. ‘And Mary Doveton? What has happened to her?'

Lina shifted uncomfortably and looked to Sarah for help.

‘She . . . er . . . has been very busy with another project,' Sarah offered.

‘So I have heard,' the Mother Superior said, smiling wryly. ‘Well, I can't force her to work on the magazine, I suppose. Especially as she seems so . . . distracted of late. It seems that new television contraption Mr Doveton bought is quite the talk of the school. Terrible things, in my opinion,' she sniffed. ‘Time-wasters designed only to turn us into mindless money-spending robots. It will never last.' She grimaced and Lina suppressed a giggle.

‘Now, what have you put together to show me? Here,' she said clearing her papers with a swoop of her hand. ‘Spread it out, if you like? I am most curious!'

Lina jumped up and placed the bundle of crinkled papers on the desk. Then she and Sarah turned the draft pages carefully.

‘So, this page is where we want to include book reviews . . .' Lina began.

‘And this is where we'll have profiles on the Year Twelve prefects . . .' Sarah added.

‘And this is where we want to put all the students' stories and poems . . .'

Lina blushed when they came to the page on rock-and-roll stars, with a feature on Elvis Presley. It had been one of Mary's early suggestions and a popular interview topic with the girls, but now that the page was in front of the Mother Superior, Lina suddenly worried that rock and roll might not be considered appropriate for a St Brigid's magazine.

But the Mother Superior chuckled. ‘Perhaps you could include some classical music, too?' she suggested. ‘Just to balance out your selection.'

‘Of course!' Lina promised, quickly flipping to the next section.

The girls went over page after page, getting more and more excited by the Mother Superior's response. When they finished, they both looked up at the elderly nun, breathless and hopeful, waiting on her final verdict.

‘It's marvellous,' the Mother Superior said, smiling broadly. ‘Truly marvellous. You girls have done a splendid job. I will remind the students in assembly to submit their work by the end of the month. How does that sound?'

‘Great!' said Lina. ‘Sister Rosemary said we could set up a submission box in the library.'

‘Good idea,' said the Mother Superior. ‘Well, I think all that's missing now is our Olympic coverage, don't you?' She reached into her top drawer and pulled out three paper tickets. ‘How would you two like to accompany me to the Opening Ceremony next weekend?'

Lina and Sarah squealed and clutched at each other's hands.

‘Girls! Girls!' the Mother Superior said, pulling her face back into an owl-like glare. ‘I hope it goes without saying that as representatives of St Brigid's you will carry yourself with decorum at all times?'

‘Of course!' they assured her, sucking back their excitement and sitting as straight as pokers.

The Mother Superior leant back in her chair and smiled at them fondly. ‘Just imagine! Your grandchildren may ask you one day if you were lucky enough to have seen the Olympics come to Melbourne. It's such a momentous occasion. I think it would be splendid to have a feature article on the Games for the cover, don't you?' The Mother Superior paused for a moment, considering her idea further. ‘What about a profile on one of our female Olympic athletes? I think that would be a great thing for St Brigid's girls to read. I'm rather fond of Dawn Fraser, myself.  A good female role model. You could call it something like
The Story of a True Australian Girl
. What do you think?'

Lina and Sarah both nodded eagerly, but the bubble of excitement in Lina's chest rapidly dissolved into concern. That's who
I'm
writing about! she panicked. And I've already started! I hope Sarah won't want to write about Dawn Fraser, too, just to have her article on the front cover. Dawn Fraser is
my
hero. And this magazine was
my
idea! The more Lina thought about it, the more worried she became.

‘I
CAN
'
T
believe the Opening Ceremony is only three days away!' Lina said to Sarah, as they worked side by side in the school library.

Sarah giggled. ‘I know! It will be funny going with the Mother Superior, though, don't you think? I hadn't really pictured her as being interested in sport!'

‘Well, it's not just about sport, Sarah,' Sister Rosemary said, appearing from behind a shelf, a load of books in her arms. ‘It's about countries from all over the world coming together in friendship.' She placed a hardback book on the history of the Olympic Games on the table in front of them.

‘I know,' Sarah sighed. ‘We've been talking about it for
weeks
in class. And it's a symbol of global unity and all that. But it's still sport!'

Lina always felt a little shocked at the disrespectful tone Sarah used towards Sister Rosemary. She might only be an old nun to Sarah, but Sister Rosemary had read more books than anyone Lina knew and this made her the most interesting person in the school.

Lina opened the book she had put in front of them and read the introduction aloud:

‘In ancient Greece, wars would stop for the Olympic Games. It was not merely a time out for recreation, but rather an opportunity for humans to honour the gods by achieving acts of human excellence.'

‘Boring!' Sarah whispered when Sister Rosemary had wandered off.

Lina forced a giggle. She actually found the history of the Olympics quite interesting but she didn't want to seem like a square.

‘Who are you going to write about for your Olympics article?' Lina asked a little nervously.

‘Oh, I don't know yet,' said Sarah shrugging. ‘I haven't really thought about it.'

‘Well, I'm writing about Dawn Fraser,' Lina said as firmly as she dared, hoping this would be enough to discourage Sarah from doing the same.

The bell went, and they packed up and made their way out. A warm wind swept through the courtyard and the paving stones were covered in a swirling sea of pink and white blossom. Butterflies and dandelion spores spun in the air.

‘Oh, I love springtime!' Lina said, breathing in deeply. ‘Don't you?' She turned to face Sarah, who was pinching her nose with her head tipped back.

‘Except for all the pollen,' Sarah groaned, then sneezed noisily and the two girls laughed.‘I'm going back to my locker for my handkerchief.'

‘Okay,' said Lina. ‘See you next lunchtime?'

‘Sure thing,' said Sarah. ‘Bye, Lina!'

Lina watched Sarah go, feeling springtime happy.

On her way home from school, Lina gazed out of the bus window, thinking about how her life at school had taken an unexpected turn for the better. Only a month ago she could never have imagined spending all her lunchtimes with someone who had once been her enemy, working together on a project they loved. Who could have guessed Sarah Buttersworth would turn out to be an almost-friend? Lina thought.

‘Um, hello,' came a voice from the corridor. Lina spun around to see John, the boy who occasionally smiled at her, hovering next to her seat. ‘Is it okay if I sit here?' he asked shyly.

Lina scanned the bus and saw that it was almost empty. Why does he want to sit next to me? she worried, but heard herself say, ‘Sure.'

Lina shuffled over and the young man slid into the seat beside her. ‘John Ian Wing,' he said, sticking his hand out for Lina to shake.

‘I know,' she said, feeling her cheeks heat up as she shook his hand. ‘We spoke once before. I mean, I knew your name was John. I didn't know your last name. I'm, um, Carmelina Gattuso. Most people call me Lina. I think you knew my name already. Lina, that is. Not Carmelina.'

Oh gosh, I'm babbling! Lina thought. For some reason she felt nervous talking to John, even though she'd spent her entire life around boys. But this was different. John wasn't her brother. Or a cousin. Or even a primary school friend. Plus, Lina had always thought he was cute. Not movie star handsome, but definitely cute. Having him sit this close to her made her heart jump about like a rabbit.

‘I see you on the bus almost every day so, er, I thought maybe we could get to know each other?' he said in a hurry, his cheeks turning pink. Lina was relieved to see that he looked almost as nervous as she was. ‘Do you go to St Brigid's?' he asked, gesturing to the emblem on the straw hat that lay in her lap.

Lina nodded. ‘I'm in Year Seven. How about you?'

‘I'm studying carpentry at Swinburne,' John said proudly. ‘I've nearly finished my first year.'

‘Oh!' said Lina, a little shocked. It hadn't occurred to her that he was
that
much older. Then she became aware that sitting silently, mouth open, probably wasn't her most attractive look so she tried to think of something to add to the conversation. ‘So, er . . . are you still living with your parents?'

John shook his head. ‘My mother died when I was only a baby. My father couldn't look after me so I grew up in a children's home.' He grinned at Lina's look of concern. ‘It wasn't like a Dickens novel or anything. It was actually fun sometimes. I moved back with my dad when he remarried. I actually preferred it in the home, to tell you the truth.' He looked away. ‘We don't have much in common, my dad and I. He's still . . . very traditionally Chinese, if you know what I mean?'

‘I do!' said Lina, smiling sympathetically. ‘I mean, I don't know about Chinese, of course, but my parents are Italian. My dad's not too bad, but my Nonna is
very
traditional. She'll only eat Italian food, she refuses to learn English and she's made it quite clear that we all have to marry Italians.' Lina blushed again. ‘Not that I'm even thinking about marrying, of course,' she mumbled. She couldn't believe how much she was telling a total stranger. But something about John's gentle face put her at ease.

John grinned. ‘Would she be okay with you being friends with a Chinese boy?'

‘Definitely not!' Lina giggled. ‘But maybe she would prefer it to an Australian boy. She says that Australians have no respect for their elders. There was this time on a tram when an Australian boy wouldn't get out of his seat for her to sit down and she started abusing him in Italian. She scared him so much he got off at the next stop. Now if he's at the tram stop and sees she's on the tram, he waits for the next one. My nonna is fierce!'

John laughed loudly. Lina liked the way he tipped his head right back and his eyes crinkled at the corners.

‘Oh! This is my stop!' Lina said, standing up and pressing the bell. She rapidly gathered up her things and shuffled past John.

‘See you next time?' he called. ‘You can tell me some more funny stories about your nonna!'

‘I've got heaps!' Lina shouted as she bounded down the steps.

As the bus pulled out of the curb, Lina looked up at the windows. John Ian Wing waved back and she felt her stomach ripple with butterflies.