The Call of the Wild (13 page)

Kimmi re-read the text, shaking her head. ‘I have no idea. You’ll have to ask her.’

‘Kimmi! Where are you?’ Annabel called.

‘No more secrets,’ Kimmi whispered. ‘You need to find out what’s going on.’

I nodded. ‘Okay.’

Annabel appeared at the kitchen door. She stiffened for a moment when she saw me. ‘What are you guys doing in here?’

‘Just grabbing a drink,’ I replied, helping myself to a glass and grabbing some water from the fridge. I glugged it down.

‘Has Kimmi told you the news?’

My heart thumped as I wondered what she was going to tell me. ‘What news?’

‘We’re coming to the movie night!’

‘Yeah, I know,’ I said, still confused. ‘To set up.’

‘No, we’re staying to help on the stall. We decided not to go to the party after all. We’re going to stay and hang out with you all night!’

I glanced at Kimmi. No wonder she’d been so vague about going to the party.

‘Oh, great,’ I said, trying desperately to sound enthusiastic. It wasn’t easy with my insides twisting. This was a disaster. All week I’d been thinking that I couldn’t bear to see Annabel flirting with Liam, and now it was going to happen in front of me all night.

But Liam’s text did make me think that he wanted me to be there tonight. Was he really worried that I had a boyfriend? Or did he just want me there as a friend? And if that was true, maybe we could just go back to being friends, and things could be like they were before they got all tangled up. This could be the chance for us to straighten everything out. We could all have a fun night together, working at the slushie stall.

‘Love the way you’ve done your hair, by the way,’ Annabel said.

‘Thanks.’ I don’t know what I’d expected, but I guess I didn’t think Annabel would be so nice. I’d spent ages on my hair, making it right for tonight. But was Annabel being sweet, or was she laying on the compliments because she felt guilty about lying to Liam?

Annabel grabbed my hand and led me through to Kimmi’s room. ‘I brought that top I said you could borrow.’ She pointed to a pink top on the bed. ‘And these wedges go so well with it, you could wear them too. I know we’re not going to the party, but it will be fun to dress up anyway.’

I looked at the top and then stared at the wedges. They were brand new – hardly the thing to wear to slop around in slushie spillage.

‘But you haven’t even worn them,’ I said, feeling torn. They were gorgeous.

Annabel pushed them into my hands. ‘That’s okay. They’re a bit tight for me, but they’ll look great on you.’

Annabel was being her generous self. I kicked off my old flats and bent down to put on the wedges, hoping they’d fit. They were perfect. ‘Are you sure I can wear them at the slushie stand? They might get a bit dirty.’

Annabel nodded enthusiastically and threw me her top. ‘Try that on, too.’

I hesitated for a moment, running my fingers over the texture of the fabric. It felt like real silk. Probably not the best choice for a slushie stall, either. But it was so gorgeous that I pulled off my own shirt and slipped on Annabel’s.

‘What d’you think?’ I asked, twirling around in front of the girls.

‘Perfect!’ Annabel clapped, giving me a big smile. ‘You have to wear it.’

I studied myself in the mirror. I still didn’t look as good as Kimmi or Annabel, but I looked so much better than I had when I first arrived.

‘Sure you don’t mind me wearing your stuff?’ I asked Annabel. ‘I’m going to be pouring slushies.’

‘Just wear it,’ she insisted. ‘It looks great on you.’

I glanced at Kimmi, who had a serious expression on her face. ‘I think you’ve got something to ask Annabel, haven’t you, Phoebs?’

I gulped. I didn’t want to argue with Annabel. Now definitely wasn’t the time to be accusing her of lying. Not when we were going to spend the whole night together working in the slushie stall.

‘I was?’ I said, pretending I’d forgotten. I gave Kimmi a pleading look.

But Kimmi wasn’t going to let me off that easily. ‘About Liam,’ she said. ‘You’ve got something to ask Annabel about Liam.’

My heart almost stopped beating as Annabel turned to look at me.

‘What about Liam?’ she asked.

My eyes darted from Kimmi to Annabel, wondering what to say. Did I really want to ruin everything by asking her if she’d lied to Liam? Or should I keep the peace and pretend nothing was wrong?

I watched the line at the slushie trailer growing longer, a sense of panic rising inside me. Then I did the only thing that felt right. I pulled out my phone to text Saia.

Glad you won today. Really, really sorry, but I can’t make the party. Family emergency. Have fun tonight. P xx

I pressed the send button. It felt awful to let Saia down. He might not ever talk to me again after this, but I knew that I had to stay at the slushie stall and help Jack and Liam.

I felt a twinge of jealousy at the idea of Saia being at the party with a whole bunch of private-school girls. If they were anything like those Fairmount girls I’d seen at the rugby, well … I didn’t even want to think about it. But I’d made my decision and I knew this was the right place for me to be. Now I had to face my biggest challenge: telling Kimmi and Annabel.

Jack and Liam have me tied to the slushie trailer. Can’t escape. So sorry! Have fun at the party. Told Saia it’s a family emergency. Good luck! P xxx PS Don’t come looking for me or you might get roped in too.

A reply came straight back from Annabel:
Stop being Miss Student-Rep Wild-Club girl, and get your butt up here. We’re out the front. Waiting!

Sorry. No can do
, I texted back.
My heart belongs to the orangutans. And my film’s up on the big screen! P xxx

Kimmi replied to that.
Congrats! We’re going to miss you
But we’ll try to have fun without you. XXXXXXOOOOO

I put my phone back in my bag and headed off to help the guys.

Liam stared at me anxiously as I climbed into the trailer.

‘Anyone got an apron?’ I asked, smiling.

A massive, beautiful grin spread across Liam’s face. And I got that lovely fuzzy feeling that I was used to. Yes, I’d definitely made the right choice. This was where I belonged.

Jack turned around from the slushie machine and stared at my dress. ‘Nice outfit for pouring slushies.’

‘Well, I wasn’t exactly planning to stay.’

‘Glad you changed your mind,’ Liam said, holding out a tea towel. ‘D’you want this as an apron?’

‘Thanks.’ I smiled and tied it around my waist, then nudged Liam aside from the cash drawer. ‘I’ll handle the money, if you like, and you and Jack can make the slushies.’

‘Yes, boss,’ Liam said, smiling at me. He turned to the green slushie machine. ‘Lucky I’m an expert.’

As it turned out, neither Jack nor Liam were experts at all. Even though pouring slushies looked extremely easy and both of them were very smart, slush seemed to be going everywhere. With kids shouting their orders and more and more people joining the queue, the pressure mounted. Jack spilled some slushie on Liam’s shirt, then Liam ‘accidently’ spilled a slushie on Jack.

But Liam was being weirdly nervous around me. He was super careful not to spill any slushies on me. And even though Jack kept bumping into me in the confined space, Liam made sure he didn’t. I wasn’t sure if he was on edge because he liked me, or if he was trying to avoid me. But every time he came close, my arms tingled. I snatched glances in Liam’s direction, noticing things about him that I hadn’t seen before – the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, the way he bit his lip when he concentrated, the way his voice softened when he spoke to me.

I knew that I was falling for him, but I still wasn’t sure if I should. We were friends, but did he think we were anything more than that? When there was a break in the queue I grabbed my phone and slipped out of the trailer to check my texts.

Amazing here
, Kimmi had texted.
You should see the house! Hanging out with Marco. Full report later.

Is Saia there? Is he sad I didn’t come?
I asked.

Think I saw him. He was surrounded by about 10 girls so didn’t have a chance to ask him! But I’m sure he’s missing you.