The Call of the Wild (11 page)

Feeling OK now
, the message read. It came with a picture of a new skateboard.
Guess where I’ll be this afternoon?

I looked at the picture for a moment and then handed the phone to Kimmi. Her face broke into a smile.

‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ she asked.

I was thinking a lot of things, but mainly I was relieved. Liam had survived the dog-biscuit brownies and was still talking to me – which was way more than I had expected. ‘That depends,’ I said. ‘Are you thinking it’s weird how guys get so excited about a short plank of wood?’

Kimmi slapped me playfully on the arm. ‘I’m thinking we should go to the skate park.’

‘Are you serious? You want to just randomly turn up?’

Kimmi nodded. ‘I’d say that text was basically an invitation to do just that.’

I re-read the text. I couldn’t see an invitation in there at all. ‘I think he’s just letting me know that he’s alive.’

Kimmi shrugged. ‘The skate park is almost on the way back to your house, so we could swing by and check it out.’

I gave it some thought. ‘Couldn’t hurt, I guess.’

I grabbed Lulu’s hand and we walked off towards the skate park. I really didn’t want to seem like a skater groupie, but Liam and I were friends. Surely it would be okay to take a look, just to make sure he really was all right after the brownies. I was pretty sure he hadn’t invited me to the skate park, but it would be cool to see him on his new board. I made sure I had my lucky four-leaf clover in my pocket, hoping it would work some more magic.

Kimmi, Lulu and I paused behind a tree not far from the skate park to check out the situation. The ramps were busy and the guys were wearing helmets, so it was hard to spot Liam. I thought I’d know him straight away, but there were a lot of guys who looked just like him. The one that stood out was a tall guy, a bit on the lanky side.

‘That’s Jack, isn’t it? With the black helmet. He’s just about to go down the ramp.’

Kimmi peered at the guy. ‘I think it is. Guess he’s down here with Liam.’

‘We should go over and say hey.’

‘Yeah,’ Kimmi said, but she didn’t move. She just stood watching Jack negotiate the ramp. He was pretty unreal.

‘Kimmi?’ I said nudging her. ‘Oh my god, are you checking out Jack?’

‘I might be,’ Kimmi said coyly.

I laughed. ‘I thought you only had eyes for Marco.’

She sighed. ‘I do, but I wonder if he’s ever going to see
me
.’

‘Of course he will.’

Kimmi paused. ‘But what if he’s not into me at all?’

Now it was my turn to offer support. ‘Oh, come on. Everything will work out at the party. You’ll see. I bet you two are hooking up by the end of the night.’

The smile returned to Kimmi’s face. ‘You’re right,’ she giggled. ‘How could he resist me?’

‘Let’s go ask Jack where Liam is hiding,’ I said, taking Lulu by the hand. But I’d only taken a few steps when I froze, then dived back behind the tree, dragging Lulu with me.

‘What’s going on?’ Kimmi asked.

I nodded to the far side of the skate park. I’d just spotted a guy with his helmet under his arm and hair flopping into his eyes. It was definitely Liam. But it was the girl who was with him that was giving me heart palpitations. She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder as she chatted to Liam. It was painful to watch, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

‘It’s Annabel,’ Kimmi gasped.

Just as she said that, Lulu jumped out from behind the tree. ‘Annabel!’ she shouted. Annabel spent a lot of time at our house and Lulu adored her.

I grabbed my little sister and jerked her back behind the tree. ‘Shh,’ I hissed. ‘It’s like hide-and-seek and Annabel’s up. We can’t let her know we’re here.’

We edged back the way we’d come, then raced around the corner so there was no chance we’d get caught spying on them. When we stopped, I could feel my heart thumping. There was a sick feeling rising in my stomach.

‘This is worse than I thought,’ Kimmi puffed. ‘Annabel must really like Liam.’

I winced. A sharp pain was developing in my chest. ‘Well, I did tell her we were just friends.’

Kimmi looked down, distracted by something on her phone. Then her face froze. ‘Oh no,’ she frowned. ‘Do you want to see this?’

I shook my head, but looked anyway. My heart sank as I saw Annabel’s latest post. It was a picture of her and Liam at the skate park. Annabel was wearing Liam’s helmet. The post read:
How do I look?

It had been up only a few minutes and it already had ten ‘likes’ and three comments – everyone telling Annabel how cute she looked and asking about Liam.

That was when I knew for sure: I had no chance with him at all. If Liam had to choose between Annabel and me, he’d definitely choose her. She was confident and pretty. Guys just loved her.

All I had to look forward to was a status update from Annabel announcing that she and Liam were ‘in a relationship’. I wondered if that would happen before the end of the weekend.

On Monday morning, I took my seat on the bus next to Annabel and Kimmi, still not feeling great after possibly the worst weekend ever.

‘Looks like you had a good weekend,’ I said to Annabel, trying to manage a smile. I’m not sure why I mentioned it, because I didn’t want to hear about Annabel’s weekend. If she went on about how much fun she’d had with Liam, I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it.

‘Not too bad,’ she said mysteriously, giving us a slight smile.

‘Cute pic of you in Liam’s helmet,’ said Kimmi. ‘What’s going on?’

Annabel shrugged. ‘He’s like a cryptic crossword – so hard to work out. But I think I’m getting it. I’m hoping to unlock his secrets at the Wild Club meeting at lunchtime.’

‘Yeah, should be a great chance,’ I muttered.

‘Something wrong?’ Annabel asked. ‘You don’t mind me hanging out with Liam, do you? You said you were just friends.’

I laughed. ‘Me? Mind? Of course I don’t mind.’

I could see Kimmi was about to say something, but she closed her mouth when I glared at her. I didn’t want Annabel to know what was really going on in my head. If Liam and Annabel were into each other, I’d deal with it. I’d just go back to being friends with Liam. I didn’t want to fight with Annabel over a guy.

Annabel looked out the window dreamily. ‘Liam’s so gorgeous. You should have seen him at the skate park.’

‘Wish I’d been there,’ I said, relieved that Annabel was too caught up in Liam to notice how my voice wobbled. I took a deep breath, determined to be a good friend. ‘So, what did you find out about him?’

Annabel shrugged. ‘He doesn’t talk much, really. More of an action man.’

I nodded. But I was surprised to hear that Liam was quiet. He was always chatty with me in the Wild Club and he’d had loads to say when we were building the mermaid together. Once I started thinking about that, all I could feel was the electric current that had run through my body when our fingers touched in the tunnel. I looked away from Annabel in case she could tell what I was thinking. Why had it taken me so long to work out that I liked Liam?

‘Do you think we make a good couple?’ Annabel asked.

‘Aren’t you forgetting about someone?’ Kimmi interrupted before I had a chance to answer.

Annabel raised her eyebrows.

‘A certain guy called Ryan Baker?’ Kimmi said. ‘We’re going to his party on Saturday, remember?‘

Annabel giggled. ‘Of course I haven’t forgotten about Ryan. But he’s at Highgrove and Liam’s at Westway. And I get to see Liam at lunchtime to talk about the slushie stall. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Weird, huh?’

‘Yeah,’ I said. But I knew just how she felt, because I was feeling exactly the same way. The hairs on my neck stood on end at the thought of meeting up with Liam. ‘When are you going to tell him you’re not going to the movie night?’ I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

Annabel grimaced, looking uncomfortable. ‘Not today. Do you mind not saying anything to them yet? I don’t want Liam to think I’m an airhead who only cares about parties.’

I glanced across at Kimmi. She was shaking her head at me.

‘Sure,’ I smiled, ignoring Kimmi. But a little bit of me was dying inside. Now I wasn’t just standing aside to let Liam and Annabel get to know each other, I was actually agreeing to deceive Liam, so he would like Annabel more.

But what else could I do? I had to stick by my friend. I’d told her Liam and I were just friends. It was too late to change my tune now.

I gazed out the window, trying to work things out in my mind. At least I’d have Liam to myself at the movie night. But I wondered how I’d survive until then. Watching Annabel flirt with him was going to drive me crazy.

Beside me, Annabel was telling Kimmi about how she was getting into skating now. She had some money saved, and was going to buy a board. Liam was going to teach her how to ride it.

I sighed to myself. There was no way I’d be able to endure this all week.

‘All set to meet the guys?’ Annabel asked as the bell rang for lunchtime. ‘I can’t wait to tell them my ideas for the slushie stall.’

‘I think we should tell them that we’re not going to the movie night,’ Kimmi said. ‘It’s not fair to spring it on them at the last minute. They’ll be expecting us to help.’

Annabel stopped in her tracks. ‘Please,’ she said, grabbing Kimmi by the arm. ‘We’ll tell them later. Soon, I promise. Just not today.’

Kimmi rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. But Liam’s going to find out sooner or later, and he’s going to be more annoyed if it’s later.’

Annabel didn’t seem to hear. She was striding ahead towards the science block where the meeting was being held. I knew I couldn’t follow. There was no way I could sit in a room with Annabel and Liam.

‘Oh my god!’ I cried suddenly. Kimmi and Annabel both turned to look at me. ‘I’ve just remembered I’ve got a debating team meeting today,’ I said, slapping my forehead.

‘But what about our Wild Club meeting?’ Kimmi asked.

I shook my head. ‘I can’t make it after all.’ I turned and started running in the opposite direction. ‘Say sorry to Liam and Jack for me!’