Page 130 of Oar Than Friends

Yep. I was definitely going to be sick.

Will hitched his backpack over his shoulder and moved to follow the rest of the boys off the bus, ‘Come on, Asters. Get up. Let’s go and meet our public.’

‘What?’ I screeched, another wave of panic crashing through me as I looked back out of the window at the hordes and hordes of people. ‘No one said anything about meeting them. I don’t have to meet them, do I?’

All I heard in response was Will’s chuckle.

‘That’s not funny,’ I hissed, and stood up. ‘I’ve not been here before. Don’t do that to me!’

‘We’re here every week,’ he grinned, clearly enjoying my misery.

‘Not like this, we’re not.’

He spun around and gripped onto my shoulder, ‘Kate, you’re going to be fine. You’ll see. All you have to do is go out there and absorb the noise like it’s your life source. It’ll be the energy you need to power us through to the finish line. They’re cheering for you.’

I listened again. It was hard to decipher anything at all from the cacophony, and certainly not my name. ‘They’re cheering for Cambridge.’

‘You’re part of Cambridge. A key part. The most important part, I’d say. You’re our eyes and ears. You’re in charge of us.’ He squeezed my shoulder, but his smile dropped. ‘Now, take a deep breath, and calm the fuck down, before any of the boys see you falling apart. Coach will be looking for you, so you need to get your shit together. You can do this, Kate. You’ve got it.’

I looked up into his warm brown eyes. I could probably have done with a slap to the face too, but his pep talk would need to do. I opened my lungs and drew in as much air as I could, instantly feeling myself calm.

‘Okay, I got it.’ I offered up a nervous smile, but definitely felt better than I had five minutes ago. ‘Yeah, thanks Will. First time nerves, I guess.’

‘We’ve all had them.’ He took my sunglasses from my head and slipped them onto my nose. ‘Now, let’s get off this bloody bus.’

I followed closely behind, concentrating on keeping my anxiety in check enough to put one foot in front of the other until I reached the safety of the boathouse. I nearly faltered as I took my first step into the outdoors. I don’t know how but the windows had muffled the volume of the crowds, and I realized why most of the boys had been wearing their headphones as they left the bus. As for me, I was certain my ears were bleeding from the thunderous combination of helicopters and cheering.

Then the deafening noise was silenced as I was sucked into a vacuum of my own creation. For there, in the doorway of his own bus a hundred yards away, was Oz.

Arthur

I jerked forward, almost tripping down the bus steps as Charlie knocked into me.

‘Ouch, fuck,’ he grumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose where it had made contact with my shoulder. ‘Why d’you stop?’

I glanced back to where Kate had been standing, but she’d already disappeared, swept away in the light blue of the Cambridge boys. I hadn’t expected to see her so early. I thought it was unlikely I’d even lay eyes on her before we stepped into our boats for warming up before the race.

But fate had a different plan.

‘Oz! Move!’

‘Sorry,’ I mumbled, marching forward and keeping my head down as we passed the crowds of Oxford supportersdressed in their dark blues lining the entranceway to the Westminster School Boat Club, all cheering our arrival.

I barely had time to unpack my bag and sit down before my name was called.

‘Will the Oxford President please make his way outside to the bank?’ a voice barked over the tannoys positioned around the boathouse, ‘Oxford President outside, please.’

I stood up and looked over to Pete, who was pulling on his boots. Over the past month, the crew had been in deep discussion over which side of the river we wanted if we won the coin toss. Even though Pete preferred Surrey, we’d lost on that side last year and in the vote we’d taken yesterday the results were unanimous for Middlesex, but I still wanted to double check because Pete was the one who’d be driving us through the slipstream.

‘Middlesex?’

He nodded, ‘Yeah. Let’s do it.’

I zipped up my Oxford rowing jacket and made my way outside to the podium where the coin toss would take place. The cheering from the crowds surrounding the boathouse, which had been on a constant but low rumble, boomed louder as they spied me walking. Their excitement was palpable. Addictive, almost. I’d rowed in the Henley Regatta, the World Championships, the Olympics, and nothing,nothingrivalled the crowds at the Boat Race where it was just Oxford and Cambridge, two sides always against each other.

Television cameras followed my path as I stepped up onto the dark-blue carpet laid out on the Oxford side of the podium to find Will Norris standing on the other in his Cambridge blue colours.

‘Hi mate, how’re you doing?’ Will winked, as he shook my hand. ‘Ready to lose again?’

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