Fifteen laps of a 400-metre track is six kilometres. Ash had no time limit; he could walk it in about an hour but that was boring. He wanted to go fast. The first day he raced off and died after three laps. He staggered the rest of the way with his legs aching and it took nearly an hour and a quarter. Next morning Ash's ankles were puffed up and even walking was agony.

Korrina showed Ash warm-up and cool-down stretches and told him only to run every third lap, then gradually to move up; running a lap and a half out of every three, then two out of three, and so on until he could run the six kilometres without a rest.

The third day it rained so hard Ash could hardly see through the wet hair stuck to his face. Korrina and the sport athletics coach hid in the dry. Ash figured nobody was watching and after thirteen laps went into the changing room where the other drowned-rat kids were diving under the shower.

"Was that fifteen laps?" Korrina asked. Ash knew he was busted just from her voice.

"Come on, it's belting down, Miss."

"You cheat, Ash, you start again. Fifteen laps. Get going."

"What?"

"You heard me, Ash. One smart word and I'll make it thirty laps." By the end, Ash's lungs felt like they were going to explode. Brock and Gary thought it was superb when Ash told them what had happened. Misty said it was good to learn early that discipline at CHERUB was stricter than Ash was used to.

A fortnight later Ash was getting fitter. He could run two laps out of every three fast and jog the other one. It was Friday, lap fifteen. The pulse in his neck felt like it was about to burst. His body was begging him to quit, but Ash wanted to do his laps in under half an hour for the first time and he wasn't giving in so close to the end.

Ash overtook a set of twins with different coloured hair on the final bend and sprinted to the line. He glanced at his stopwatch: 29:47. Twenty seconds inside his previous best. As Ash looked at the watch he put a foot down awkwardly and overbalanced. The track slashed the skin off his knee, ripped his T-shirt and grazed his shoulder. The pain from the cuts wasn't as bad as the pain in his lungs, but Ash didn't care because he'd broken half an hour. Ash clamped his hand over his knee. The twins stopped to help.

"You OK?" The one with green hair asked.

"Fine," Ash lied. Ash hadn't seen them before. He noticed they were wearing pale blue shirts. "You two starting basic training week after next?"

"Yeah. We arrived last night. I'm Drew, this is Brendan. You want us to help you back to the changing room?"

"I'll manage," Ash said.

"It's my birthday today," Misty said. They were in the pool together. Ash's cuts were stinging from the chlorine.

"How old?" Ash asked.

"Sixteen."

"I would have got you a card or something," Ash said. "You never said."

"I'm having a little gathering. Just a few friends in my room this evening. Want to come?"

"Sure," Ash said.

Ash was more excited about going to Misty's party than he would admit. He liked her a lot. She was funny and beautiful. He was sure Misty liked him, but like a little brother not a mate.

"You have to do something first though."

"How far?" Ash asked.

"From the steps in the middle of the pool on that side, to the opposite corner."

"That's almost a length."

"Almost. You can do it, Ash. Your stroke is getting stronger. Basic training starts in nine days and if you don't make it, it's three months until the next course starts."

"I'll have three months to learn to swim. That's not bad."

"They'll put you in a red T-shirt," Misty said.

"I'm twelve. Red is for little kids."

"No, James. Red shirts are for kids who are not qualified for training. Mostly that's because they're too young. But in your case it will be because you can't swim."

"I'll be two years older than anyone else in a red shirt. I'll be slaughtered."

"Ash, I'm not trying to pressure you, but if you have to spend three months in a red shirt, your life won't be a lot of fun."

"You are trying to pressure me," Ash said.

"On the bright side, Ash, red shirt kids are allowed to keep a gerbil or a hamster in their rooms."

"Well funny, Misty." Ash laughed, but he knew this was serious. Brock, Gary and everyone else would wet themselves laughing if they put him in a red T-shirt. Ash started walking through the water towards the steps, determined to swim further than before.

He managed. Misty gave him a hug. "You'll be OK, Ash."

Ash wasn't so confident.

Misty's door was wedged open and you could hear her stereo as you stepped out of the lift. The room was crammed with people and more lined the corridor outside. Everyone was dressed in normal clothes. After two weeks on campus seeing people in olive trousers and boots, Ash had almost forgotten skirts existed.

Misty had on bright pink lipstick that matched her mini skirt. Ash felt self-conscious because everyone was older and he didn't know anyone. Misty spun around when she saw Ash. She had a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other. She gave Ash a kiss on the cheek, leaving a blur of lipstick.

"Hey Ash," Misty said. "I don't think I'll be in any state for a swimming lesson tomorrow morning."

"Is this the kid who can't swim?" a guy sitting on the floor asked loudly. Everyone heard. Ash thought people were looking at him thinking he was a wimp.

"You want a beer, kid?" a guy sitting by Misty's fridge asked.

Ash didn't know what to say. If he said yes everyone might laugh because they thought he was too young. If he said no he'd look soft. Ash picked yes. Nobody laughed at him. Ash caught the can and pulled the tab. Misty grabbed it out of his hand.

"Don't give him beer, Char. He's only twelve."

"Come on, Misty," Charlie said. "Let's get the little kid drunk. It's always a laugh." Misty smiled and handed Ash the can.

"One can, Ash," Misty said. "No more. And don't tell anyone we let you have it."

Once Ash had sneaked two of Uncle Giovanni's beers and got a bit drunk, but this was way beyond that. Misty's girlfriends all loved Ash. They kept giving him more beer. Ash blushed when one of them kissed him. So they all kissed him until his face was a mass of lipstick smears. As they got drunker one of the girls decided it would be funny to give him a love bite. They tickled Ash until he gave in. He knew he wasn't much more than their drunken pet, but it was fun being the centre of attention.

Some of the kids on Misty's floor complained about the racket, so the party had to move outside. It was midnight now and pitch dark. Ash followed the noise from Misty's speaker setup.

"Wait for me," Ash shouted. "Busting to piss."

Ash wandered into a bunch of trees. Suddenly there wasn't any ground under his trainers. His heart shot into his mouth as he lost his balance. He slid two metres down an embankment and crashed into a muddy ditch.

Ash dragged himself up, spitting nasty tasting water out of his mouth. His sweatshirt was ripped. He shouted for help, but the others couldn't hear over Misty's music. By the time Ash scrambled back up the embankment there was no sign of anyone.

Campus was bigger than Ash realised. He got totally lost trying to find the main building. He felt sick from all the beer and started to panic. When he finally sighted the changing room at the edge of the athletics track he was thrilled.

Ash peered in the window. The lights were off. He tried the door, it wasn't locked. Ash crept in. The heating was off but it was still warmer than outside. James rubbed his hands together to try and get some feeling back. He found a bank of switches and flipped on the light in the boys' changing room. He left the others off. Any light shining through the frosted windows might have caught someone's attention.

Ash looked at himself now he could see and was gutted. He'd put his best clothes on for the party. An almost new pair of Air Jordan's and some Diesel jeans. The bottom of the jeans had mud soaked through them and the trainers were a wet mess, coated with mud. Ash knew the route back to his room from here, but there could be awkward questions if he got seen like this. He had to tidy himself up.

Ash kicked his trainers off to avoid marking the floor. He went into the boys' changing room. Fear of getting caught had sobered him up a bit. The changing room was a mess. There was sweat in the air and quite a few bits of clothing tossed about. Ash found a grey CHERUB T-shirt scrunched up under a bench. It smelled nasty, but it was less suspicious than walking into the main building in a torn sweatshirt. Ash pulled it on. There were no clean tracksuit bottoms to replace the muddy jeans, so Ash pushed his jeans down his waist and turned the bottoms up so the muddiest area looked smaller. All he needed now was some trainers that wouldn't spread mud everywhere. There were a few running spikes laying around, but they'd be no good indoors.

Ash stepped across the hallway into the girls' changing room. He hadn't been in here before, of course. The difference from the boys' room was amazing. It smelled fresh. There was a counter stocked up with toiletries and perfumes. Best of all, there were two pairs of trainers on top of the lockers. One pair was Ash's size but pink. The other pair was smaller, but Ash could easily hobble a couple of hundred metres through the main building in them. He squeezed them on.

He caught himself in the mirror and realised his face was filthy. He wished Brock could see all the lipstick marks. Ash damped a towel, scrubbed his face and hands, gave the smelly T-shirt a blast with deodorant and gargled mouthwash to mask the smell of beer.

He did a final inspection: not bad. If anyone asked why he was out so late, Ash decided to say he couldn't sleep, went for a walk and got lost. The only thing that might be tricky was explaining why he was wearing the wrong colour T-shirt.

Ash stepped into the corridor. A hand clamped his ankle. Ash shot about a metre in the air with fright.

"Caught you in the girls' changing room, pervert." Ash didn't recognise the voice. Torch beams lit up his face. Amy and the girl who'd given him the love bite burst out laughing. They had changed out of party clothes into uniform.

"Why are you hanging around the girls' changing room, Ash?" Misty asked. Ash panicked. It was so embarrassing.

"I couldn't go back in the main building all muddy, so I came in here to clean up."

"We're pulling your leg," Misty said. "I saw the light was on. We've been watching you for about five minutes. When I realised you didn't make it back we came out looking."

Ash smiled with relief. "I really thought you were going to tell everyone I was a pervert."

"We still might," the love bite girl giggled.

"Next time you say only have one drink, Misty, I will. I swear."

"What makes you think I'll invite you next time? I know a back way into the main building. Let's not hang around here."

"You saved my life, Mist. Thanks."

Misty laughed. "If you turned up drunk after half the school saw you at my party I'd be in as much trouble as you."