‘Yes,’ she said curtly.
‘So you’ve done this before?’
Before Allie could reply, Mr Patel spoke again. ‘Each pair choose one to act as an attacker, the other is the attacked.”
‘I’ll be the attacker,’ Zoe volunteered.
‘Awesome,’ Allie muttered.
‘The attack will come from the left side,’ Mr Patel called, walking around the room to study the students’ preparation. ‘The attacked will attempt to throw the attacker to the ground and subdue them.’
This all sounded very bad to Allie, who had no idea how to throw an attacker to the ground. But then, Zoe was little. How hard could it be?
‘In three,’ Mr Patel called. ‘Two …’
Allie braced herself, shoulders stiff. Zoe stepped out of her sightline.
‘One!’ Mr Patel called out.
Hands grabbed her arm. When Allie tried to pull free the room whirled and she landed flat on her back looking up at the ornate plaster ceiling. Zoe’s foot rested on her abdomen.
‘Pathetic.’ Zoe lifted her foot and stepped back.
‘What the hell …’ Allie groaned, ‘just happened?’
‘I dropped you.’ Zoe’s tone was matter-of-fact.
‘Good!’ Mr Patel said to a pair across the room. ‘Now … Switch!’
Allie looked up at Zoe in confusion. The younger girl sighed. ‘Now you try and attack me.’
Allie scrambled to her feet. For a second she looked around the room desperately to see what everyone else was doing. Her eyes met Sylvain’s and she saw concern on his face.
Focus, Allie, she told herself.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to figure out what Zoe had done when she’d attacked her. Then she lunged at her.
The room whirled again. She hit the ground hard.
‘How?’ she gasped. Her ribcage felt assaulted.
Standing with her hands on her hips, Zoe looked down at her as if she were a maths problem she didn’t know how to solve.
‘Why aren’t you better?’ she asked.
Mr Patel appeared above Allie, his head blocking the fluorescent ceiling light.
‘Nice job, Zoe.’ Mr Patel leaned down to help Allie to her feet. ‘Now why don’t you try teaching instead of just hurting?’
‘I don’t get it,’ Zoe said, cocking her head to one side with the alertness of a robin.
‘This is Allie’s first class,’ he explained. ‘She’s never done this before. I didn’t pair you with her so you could put her in hospital. I paired you with her so you could teach her.’ He turned to Allie. ‘Zoe is one of the best in the class – she’s a natural – so I thought it would be good to put you two together. But she’s never taught anyone before.’ Turning back to Zoe, he said, ‘Stop hurting her and just help her, OK? You win when Allie learns.’
‘Ok.’ Zoe’s voice held no rancour. She turned to Allie. ‘Want me to show you how to knock me down?’
‘God yes.’ Allie spoke through gritted teeth.
‘Put your hands here.’ Zoe pulled Allie’s hands into place on her own arm as Mr Patel walked away. ‘Then you just do this …’
But Allie was not a natural. This became apparent almost immediately. Although she tried very hard to flip the smaller girl over, all she managed was to drag her around a bit. Once or twice Zoe fell to the ground helpfully to illustrate how the move should work but, despite the fact that she was small and slim, Allie couldn’t seem to flip her.
Looking around, she saw other students performing the move to perfection. In a corner, Jules flipped Carter without obvious effort. He laughed as she helped him up and she patted his shoulder warmly. The longer she was unable to perform what she knew must be a simple move, the more anxious Allie became. Her chest tightened and she tried to keep her face expressionless. But by the end she was panicked; breathing in small, desperate gasps.
‘OK, everyone.’ Mr Patel’s voice stopped the torture at last. ‘That’s enough.’ He moved to the centre of the room. ‘That’s pretty easy for most of you, I know. But tomorrow it starts to get harder. If you had any trouble with today’s exercise, I suggest you start practising. This is just the beginning.’
Allie kept her eyes on the floor. She was the only one who hadn’t been able to do it. That message was for her.
As the others began leaving the room she lagged behind, bruised and defeated, hoping to slip out unnoticed. She didn’t hear Mr Patel walk up to her.
‘If you want some extra help, come in early tomorrow,’ he said quietly. ‘I think Zoe will be a good partner for you. But sometimes it takes a little time for a partnership to gel. You’ll both learn together.’
Biting her lip, Allie nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
I will not let them see me cry, she told herself. But she could feel tears burning her eyes. Across the room she saw Carter looking at her with concern – but that only made it worse.
So she walked away before he could see her face and know how miserable she was. Blindly, she stumbled down the hall and up the stairs to the ground floor. She wasn’t sure where she was going or if anybody was following her. She really didn’t want to talk to Carter right now. Or Mr Patel.
Or anyone.
It was just all so embarrassing.
She shoved open the back door and darted down the footpath.
One hundred and twelve steps. One hundred and thirteen. One hundred and fourteen …