The Call of the Wild (15 page)

‘Right,’ I nodded, trying to push Liam’s face out of my mind. ‘Saia.’ I pulled out my phone and re-read his text, and his adorable smile came back to me.

‘See?’ Annabel said. ‘You’re smiling already.’

Kimmi turned around in the front seat to look back at me. ‘You can still be friends with Liam, even if things work out with Saia.’

I nodded, but I wasn’t so sure. Liam might be mad at me for a very long time. I was still thinking about the slushie stall as the car pulled up at Ryan’s. But then I saw the
house.
Looming ahead of me was a grand, stone building, three storeys high and all lit up like electricity was free. ‘Wow,’ I said, climbing out of the car. ‘Are you sure this is the right place?’

‘Uh huh,’ Annabel said, getting out behind me. ‘Pretty impressive, huh?’

‘Oh my god,’ Kimmi sighed, as she joined us on the street and her mum drove away. ‘It’s like a hotel or something.’

‘I think it’s bigger,’ I said.

‘Shh,’ Annabel hissed. ‘You sound like a pair of hillbillies who’ve never been out of your
sleepy li’l town
.’

‘Or a pair of Westway girls who’ve never been to a party at a harbour-side mansion before,’ I said. ‘What if I trip on a Persian rug and smash into an antique or something?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Annabel said. ‘Ryan’s not going to have a party in a room full of antiques.’

‘Guess not,’ I laughed, but the house was so imposing, it was hard not to feel a little intimidated.

Annabel put her arm through mine, grabbed Kimmi with the other, and we headed for the house, where two big iron gates and one very large security guard stood between us and the party.

‘Names, please,’ the guard said.

Annabel spoke for all of us and the guy ran his finger down a list, ticking off Annabel and then Kimmi. My heart thumped as he scanned the list for my name, and I wondered for a moment if I’d really been invited.

‘Right. There you are,’ he said, finally finding me. ‘Straight up the driveway and turn left. Just follow the music.’

The security guard pressed a button and the gates creaked open, letting us in.

Kimmi giggled as we hurried up the driveway. ‘Oh my god. I knew we were on a guest list but I didn’t think there’d be a security guard with an
actual
list. It’s like we’re going to an exclusive nightclub!’

Annabel nudged her. ‘If you want to fit in, don’t act so surprised about everything.’

‘Right,’ Kimmi nodded.

Then Annabel looked at me. ‘And stop fiddling with your dress. You look gorgeous.’

‘Oh, okay,’ I said. I hadn’t even noticed I was fiddling. I wasn’t worried about my dress either, until I saw the other girls standing at the top of the driveway. They were all beautiful – their dresses looked expensive, their hair shone and their faces glowed.

I tugged at my dress. I’d loved it a minute ago, but now it felt cheap. And so did I. I wasn’t wearing make-up, and I probably still had paint in my hair. I looked at my flats. The other girls were all in heels. Why hadn’t I spent more time getting ready?

‘Those are the girls we saw at the rugby game,’ Kimmi mumbled as we passed them. ‘What are they doing here?’

‘Relax,’ Annabel said. ‘Stop stressing about everything. Come on.’

We followed the noise and a trickle of guys to the back of the house and through a set of double doors into a huge room. It was like a giant cave, with strobe lights flashing in time to a throbbing beat. About a hundred guys and girls milled around in the flickering light, but it was hard to tell who was in there. The light distorted everyone’s faces, and anyone at the far end of the room was almost completely hidden by a screen of smoke. A DJ seemed to be hovering in thin air above the crowd. I’d never seen anything like it. There was no chance I’d trip over an antique in here, but I might never find Saia, either.

‘This is amazing,’ I yelled in Annabel’s ear, so she could hear me above the music.

‘Told you it would be!’ She grinned and squeezed my hand. ‘Let’s find the guys.’

I grabbed Kimmi’s hand and we pressed our way through the crowd. A few girls were swaying to the music, but most people were just hanging out, surveying the scene.

‘Can you see them?’ Kimmi shouted when we got to the far end of the room.

I shook my head, peering through the smoke to see if I could recognise anyone. I couldn’t see Marco, Ryan or Saia, but I did notice a guy staring at Kimmi.

‘There’s a guy over there,’ I said, nudging Kimmi. ‘He’s looking at you like he knows you.’

‘Where?’ Kimmi said, blatantly turning around.

‘Black shirt, blonde hair, ten o’clock,’ I said.

‘Never seen him before,’ Kimmi said, just as he looked her way again. Kimmi quickly turned away. ‘Awkward!’

‘He’s actually pretty cute,’ Annabel said, staring right at him. ‘If things don’t work out with Marco –’

‘What do you mean? They’re totes going to work out with Marco,’ Kimmi interrupted. ‘Let’s see if the guys are outside.’

Kimmi marched off into the crowd with Annabel and I right behind her. But we hadn’t gone far when a bunch of girls bounced out of nowhere and smacked right into us, sending us tumbling into a huddle of guys. Kimmi seemed to lose her footing, and reached out for the nearest stable object, which happened to be the guy in the black shirt.

‘Oops, sorry, my bad!’ she apologised. Blushing, she quickly righted herself, then let go of the guy’s arm and stepped back.

The guy spun round to face her, looking confused at first. Then he smiled, realising who had bumped into him. ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, thanks. Just tripped, sorry.’ Kimmi’s eyes darted from the guy to us. ‘Anyway, better go.’

‘Yeah, see you round,’ he called. ‘I’m James, by the way.’

‘I’m Kimmi. Hey, nice to meet you. Bye.’ Kimmi rushed off, grabbing my hand on the way past. ‘How embarrassing!’

‘Chill out,’ Annabel laughed. ‘He was sweet.’

Kimmi shook her head. ‘Oh god, that was awkward. Let’s just find the guys.’

We shuffled our way across the room and then outside onto the terrace, breathing in the cool night air and taking in the view. I’d been in such a hurry to get inside when we arrived, I hadn’t even noticed it. The terrace looked right across the harbour to the city.

‘Not a bad place to live,’ I said, watching a ferry make its way across the river. I could definitely handle waking up to this view every day.

‘Hey, you made it!’ came a voice from behind us.

I turned around to see Saia. He had a gash above his right eye – from the rugby game, I guessed. It just made him look even cuter than ever. And his shirt was almost the same colour as my dress. I felt my legs quiver when he smiled at me and said hello to the others.

‘Have you just arrived?’ he asked.

‘Pretty much,’ I said.

‘Any idea where Ryan is?’ Annabel asked.

‘And Marco?’ Kimmi added.

Saia looked around. ‘They were right behind me. Must have gone inside.’

Annabel and Kimmi looked at each other, and before I had a chance to decide if I wanted to hang out with Saia on my own, they had disappeared, to look for the guys.

I smiled at Saia shyly, silently cursing Annabel and Kimmi. I would have liked a bit of notice before being abandoned. What was I going to talk to him about? I could hardly think.

‘So, looks like a great party,’ Saia said fidgeting with a button on his shirt. Surprisingly, he looked almost as nervous as I felt.

‘Yeah,’ I nodded. ‘Hard not to have a great party in a house like this, though. It’s amazing. How many people actually live here?’

‘Just Ryan and his brother – oh, and their parents, of course.’

‘Seriously?’ I said. ‘It’s so big. Wow!’

Saia laughed and I quickly shut my mouth, realising that I had just done exactly what Annabel had told me
not
to do. I was acting really surprised about everything. It was so much easier talking to someone via text. I looked at Saia, wondering what he thought of me. He was still smiling, so that was a good sign.

‘I think my house would fit in that shed,’ Saia said, pointing to a small structure at the end of the yard. Surely that wasn’t true, but it was sweet of him to say. Annabel was right – I did have to chill out more.

‘That big? What luxury!’ I laughed, until I realised he might have thought I was mocking him. ‘Great game, today,’ I said, quickly changing the subject. ‘We didn’t see the whole thing. But that try you scored at the end? You smashed it.’

Saia beamed. ‘Just a lucky break,’ he said modestly.

‘Come on,’ I gave him a nudge. ‘You left that other guy for dead. You were a total star.’

Saia couldn’t help smiling, a broad grin spreading over his face. ‘Thanks. It’s not like that every week. But it’s kind of good when it is. What sport do you play?’

‘Ah,’ I said, trying to think of something I did that passed as sport, and coming up with nothing. ‘I do debating. Does that count?’

‘You must be really smart.’

‘No, not at all,’ I laughed. ‘I’m just weird. Instead of playing sport at lunchtime like normal people, I go to debating meetings. I’m also in a club that raises money for endangered animals. Actually, there’s a movie-night fundraiser for orangutans at our school tonight.’

I told Saia all about what we’d been doing in the Wild Club. Once I got started, it was hard to stop. I’d been going on about logging and habitat destruction for ages before I suddenly realised what I was doing. ‘Sorry, I’m probably boring you senseless.’

Saia shook his head. ‘It’s cool. Honestly. It sounds like you really care about this stuff. So why aren’t you at the movie night, instead of here?’

I shrugged, suddenly feeling awkward. ‘We had already made plans to come to this party when I found out about the movie night. So … here I am,’ I said.

Saia smiled. ‘Well, I’m glad you came.’ He edged closer and I thought he might be about to kiss me, when suddenly he stiffened. Something behind me had distracted him.

I turned to look. In the shadows, beneath a big, sprawling tree, I could see a couple. From a distance, it looked like Marco and Kimmi. But when I looked more closely I could tell from the clothes that it wasn’t Kimmi. I was almost certain the guy was Marco, though. He and the girl were so close, it definitely looked like something was going on. As I watched, she leant towards Marco and kissed him.

‘Oh, no,’ I groaned. ‘That’s not good.’

The tension that had built up between me and Saia unravelled completely. He looked down, like he was embarrassed. I didn’t know where to look either. I couldn’t stand the thought of Kimmi coming out here and seeing this.

‘Who’s that girl?’ I asked.

‘She’s from Fairmount.’

I looked at the girl again and recognised her from the rugby game. And she’d been standing at the top of the driveway when we arrived.

‘You know her?’ I asked.

Saia nodded. ‘Marco’s been after her for ages.’

‘Oh,’ I said, glumly. ‘Poor Kimmi. She thought she’d be hanging out with Marco tonight.’

‘Yeah, that’s kind of awkward.’ Saia frowned.

‘Really awkward. What am I going to say to Kimmi?’

Saia shrugged. ‘It’s probably kinder if you don’t say anything.’

Maybe Saia was right. If I told Kimmi about the Fairmount girl, she’d have a total meltdown and want to go straight home. But then again, if I said nothing, she’d spend the whole night looking for Marco, wondering what was going on. I couldn’t do that to her – it just seemed cruel.

‘I think I should find Kimmi and make sure she doesn’t see this,’ I said. I turned to go and walked straight into Annabel and Kimmi.

‘Oh, hey!’ said Annabel. ‘Here you are. Look who we found!’ She nodded at Ryan, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

Kimmi looked slightly lost. ‘Still can’t find Marco,’ she said. ‘Maybe he’s gone home.’

I stared at Kimmi, wondering what to say. If she found out the truth, she’d be so upset she’d want to leave right away. Should I lie and tell her I didn’t know where Marco was to protect her feelings? Or should I tell her the truth?