Chapter
* SIX *

Lauren usually enjoyed school, but over the next few days she couldn’t wait to get home. The second she got back, she shot straight upstairs and spent every spare moment before supper, and an hour or two before bed, too, skating on the rink in her magically transformed bedroom.

“I think I’d better have a quiet word with your class teacher,” Lauren’s dad decided on Friday evening, when Lauren and Storm came downstairs to get a drink in between figure-skating practice.

Taken by surprise, Lauren blinked at him. “Why?”

“You’ve been spending hours upstairs on your homework this past week. Your mom and I have hardly seen you. We’re worried that you’re having problems with your schoolwork,” he said, looking concerned.

“No! I . . . um, haven’t! Everything’s fine . . . ,” Lauren burbled, trying to think of an explanation. It would be really embarrassing if her dad went to the school and made a fuss. How was she going to get out of this? She threw a desperate glance at Storm.

Storm pricked his ears, and tiny gold sparks flicked out of the ends. Lauren heard a thud behind her and turned to see that the library book was on the floor.

She quickly bent down to pick it up. “Oops, I . . . um, left it on the chair. I must have just knocked it off!”

Her dad frowned in surprise as he reached out and took the book from her. “What’s this? Figure-Skating Techniques?” he read.

“It’s for my . . . um . . . new school project on figure skating,” Lauren fibbed. “I want it to be the best project I’ve ever done. That’s why I’ve been spending lots of time on it. But I didn’t tell you about it because . . .” —she had a flash of inspiration—“. . . because I thought you’d just think I was trying to get you to let me take figure-skating classes,” she finished in a rush.

“Ah, I see.” Her dad gave her a searching look. “You’re sure this isn’t some new version of ‘pester power’?”

“Definitely not!” Lauren said indignantly. “But I am still crazy about figure skating, like I said I would be.”

Her dad raised his eyebrows. “Hmm. It’s still early. As I remember it, BMX biking lasted a little while before you completely lost interest.”

Lauren pulled a wry face. She couldn’t deny that. “This is different, Dad. Just you wait and see!”

“I’ll do that,” her dad said, grinning. “I’d be happy to be proved wrong.” He gave her arm a friendly squeeze before he went out into the yard to cut the grass.

Lauren’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Phew! Thank goodness Dad fell for it. I just hope he doesn’t ask me to show him my figure-skating project!”

Storm’s bright eyes lit up. “It is no problem if he does!”

There was another small spurt of golden sparkles, and Lauren found herself holding a folder. She opened it. It was stuffed full of printed pages and pictures of ice-skaters.

“Just in case you need it,” Storm yapped.

She gaped at the folder in amazement. “Where did all this work come from?”

Storm gave her a doggy grin. “There was a machine in the school library. It had lots of colored pictures on it. I sat and watched someone using it and saw how they got words and pictures to come out onto paper.”

“You used your magic on a computer? Cool!” Lauren raised her eyebrows and smiled at Storm. He was certainly full of surprises. What else could he do?

Lauren was really excited on Saturday morning when her mom dropped her and Storm off at the White Water ice rink. Lauren shouldered her red gym bag, with Storm inside it, as she went toward the girls’ locker room.

She couldn’t wait to see Jemila and her other school friends and show them how much her skating had improved.

“It’s probably best if you watch from the rink-side seats. It can get crowded on the ice, and you might get hurt,” Lauren whispered to Storm as she tied her skates.

Storm nodded and scampered off to find an empty chair.

Lauren came out of the locker room and made her way toward the ice.

“Hi, Lauren!” Jemila called as Lauren glided onto the ice. She was with Padmini, Katie, and Becky. They were all wearing their short pleated skirts and matching T-shirts, with ICE ACADEMY in white letters.

Lauren skated over to join her friends. She felt a bit odd in her ordinary jeans and plain top. Becky might not have liked the uniform, but Lauren would’ve loved to be wearing it. “Hi, everyone!” she said brightly.

“Hi, Lauren!”

The girls linked arms and skated around the rink together for a while. Then Becky, Padmini, and Katie showed Lauren a new routine they were learning. Lauren began joining in, pleased to be included for once.

“You’re really good, Lauren,” Becky said. “Anyone would think you’ve been practicing as much as we have!”

Lauren grinned to herself. She stood by with her friends as Jemila demonstrated a more complicated move from the show. She watched closely, admiring the graceful swirls and sweeping movements. Jemila finished by doing an impressive spin and came to a stop with both arms raised in the air.

“Wow! That was fantastic!” Lauren exclaimed. “Watch me! I’ve learned some new moves. I might try and do a spin, too!”

“Wait! Be careful . . . ,” Jemila warned.

But Lauren wasn’t listening. She zoomed across the ice to get up speed. All her hours spent skating on her secret magical rink over the past week had given her confidence, and she felt as if she could do anything.

As Lauren came out of a long curve, she leaned forward and balanced on one leg while raising the other one behind her. Jemila and the other girls cheered. Lauren was enjoying herself so much that she got totally carried away. She took a deep breath and began to go into a twirl.

Lauren spun around faster and faster. Suddenly one skate seemed to slip out from under her. She went over on one ankle, lost her balance, and went sprawling backward.

“Oh!” she gasped as she sat down hard on her bottom.

Jemila rushed over to help Lauren get to her feet. “Are you okay? I tried to warn you about doing spins. It takes a lot of practice to get them right.”

Lauren dusted powdery ice from her jeans, her face flushed. “I’m fine.”

Padmini and Becky were both looking sympathetic.

Katie let out a shout of laughter. “Sorry, Lauren, but you looked so funny. You went down like a sack of potatoes!”

A group of older girls who were standing nearby nudged each other and laughed, too. “Yeah, she did!” one of them mocked.

Lauren ignored them. “Thanks a lot, Katie,” she murmured, still feeling a bit shaken up.

She felt really silly for showing off in front of her friends, especially since the older girls had been watching, too. Lauren realized that she still had a long way to go before she was even half as good as Jemila. Having her own secret ice rink was fantastic, but it would never be a substitute for belonging to the Ice Academy.

A slim woman with a ponytail came onto the ice. She waved and blew a whistle.

“There’s Maggie, our coach. It’s time for our class. We have to go over into the roped-off area now. Why don’t you come and watch us, Lauren?” Padmini suggested.

“You might pick up a few tips,” Becky said.

“I think I need to,” Lauren agreed in a subdued voice. “I’m just going to get changed first. I won’t be long.” As she came off the ice and hobbled toward the changing rooms she saw Storm jump down from his chair beside the rink.

He pricked up his little black ears as he came scampering toward her. “I saw you fall. Have you hurt yourself?”

Lauren shook her head. “No. Just my pride. I’m fine now,” she replied. There was no one else in the locker room as she sat on a bench to take off her skates. Lauren’s red gym bag lay open next to her. Storm leaped straight inside in a whoosh of sparks and curled up.

“Hey! What are you doing with my gym bag?” called an annoyed voice.

Lauren looked up to see a girl who looked about thirteen years old coming toward her. It was the ringleader of the older girls who had laughed when she’d fallen over on the ice. She looked tough and unfriendly.

“It’s not your bag. It’s mine,” Lauren said nervously.

“Yeah, right!” The older girl marched up to the bench, held up her hand, and prepared to drop her heavy skates into Lauren’s bag—right on top of Storm!