My heart was in my mouth as I was physically pushed into the ring. Amelia had just come off her tightrope, and we were next. My performance was very subdued, and my double forward somersault on the springboard went totally wrong. I landed on my knees, having turned over in the air only once. The crowd usually threw gingerbread or chocolate or fizzy sweets called ‘Fiery Suckers’ but today, the big top was only half full and my rewards were low. A group of older girls threw two bruised apples and a small hard Easter egg, but my share of that was small. One young boy threw a brown banana, yelping with laughter when it landed with a plop and no one went to pick it up.
Things really turned black when Rose Quartz tumbled over and over four times, neatly spun around and had just landed, when I misjudged my simple double walkover and bumped straight into her, knocking both of us over like dominoes. We both landed on our bottoms. She blushed a painful shade of peony, while baby tears started under my eyelids and started to seep through.
“You hateful pig! You did that on purpose! Oh, Sapphire Burne, you’ll regret this!” Rose Quartz rounded on me after I ran out of the ring. She reached up and slapped my face angrily, breaking our rules about not fighting straight away. With that, she took hold of Diamond’s arm and flounced off, head up.
“Rosy? Rosy! You know I didn’t do it on purpose! Stop being so unfair. You’re half my age!” I shouted at her back.
“Shut up! You’re seven years older than me, and much heavier! I’m only eleven! You spoilt my entire fantastic round-off double flick somersault!” She almost screamed with rage and ran full tilt away from me, sobbing with despair.
“Well done, Sapphy! Now everyone’s in a bad mood.” Gem walked away, sighing.
“Great work, Sapphire. Honestly, you’re eighteen, not eight! Grow up, for God’s sake.” Emerald rolled her eyes, making me feel terrible.
“Don’t worry, Sapphy! They’re just ruffled ‘cos they put on a terrible performance. Worried that Riel will have a go at them.” Topaz smiled at me. “You put on a wicked performance – apart from that one double walkover.”
I knew she was just trying to make me feel better, and she was always genuinely kind to everyone, but it made me feel better and I gave her a grateful smile.