Lexi, Michi and I move to the front of the straggly queue. Whoever gets on first will get the coveted seats at the back of the bus. We jiggle around impatiently as the bus glides smoothly to a stop by the kerb, its doors opening with a hiss. I’m just about to climb up onto the first step when someone rushes up behind me and elbows me out of the way.
‘Hey!’ I say, as I start to topple backwards.
‘Careful, Mia. Watch your step,’ snickers Jess as she and Amira push past me.
Lexi and Michi haul me back up and we struggle onto the bus together. But we’re too late. By the time we get to the back of the bus Jess and Amira are already lying across the bench seat.
‘Sorry, guys,’ Amira smirks, waving frantically at Jane and Tara to join them. ‘These seats are all taken.’
By now the bus is filling up fast. ‘How about here?’ I say to the others, plonking myself down in the nearest seat. Michi slides in beside me, while Lexi takes the seat in front.
‘Where’s Alysha?’ I ask her.
‘Don’t know,’ Lexi says. ‘She was right behind me in the queue and then she just vanished.’
‘Maybe she got on the other bus,’ Michi suggests. ‘With Paige and Jayde. They’re not here either, are they?’
It wouldn’t surprise me. I quickly scan the bus. There’s no sign of any of them. Guess Michi’s right. It’s a shame. Lexi and Leesh and I always used to sit together on bus trips when we were at primary school last year. We’d tell jokes and sing silly songs and generally have a fun time. I could do with some of that cheery stuff right now. I’m looking forward to the camp, sure. I just wish it wasn’t being held in the same week as Nonno’s operation. But then I remember the promise I made to him in the hospital last week. Nonno’s right. There’s absolutely nothing for me to worry about. He’s fit and healthy and by the time I come back, he’ll have had his poor hip replaced and be well on the way to recovery.
The last kids finally settle into their seats. Hazy and Makris do a headcount and we’re off. Michi gives a yearning glance out the window as the bus pulls away from the kerb.
‘I wonder what Ben’s doing at the moment?’ she asks me.
I check my watch. ‘Having breakfast, probably.’
‘Do you think he’s thinking about me?’
How am I supposed to answer a question like that? I don’t want Michi being all miserable this week because it’s over with Ben. But then again, I don’t want to give her false hope either.
‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
‘Cos I can’t stop thinking about him. I wonder if people can tell. Like, if you have a really good connection with someone, like Ben and I did, and then you think about them hard enough, maybe it will send a little message to their brain. Like an electrical impulse or something. And then they’ll start thinking about you, too. What do you think?’
‘Umm … maybe …’
‘Cos that’s what I’m going to do. Hey, you know what? I think it’s a really good thing we’re going on camp. It will give Ben a chance to miss me. He’ll go to orchestra practice tomorrow and I won’t be there. And I won’t be in the library, or the music room, or on my phone if he needs to talk …’
Poor Michi. She really has got it bad. I lean across and give her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. Hopefully, a week away from school and orchestra and everything to do with Ben will be a good thing for her as well.
Two hours later the buses dump us at the camp. Some trip. Lexi listened to her iPod the whole time, and Michi fell asleep on my shoulder. So even though it would have been a great chance to de-stress with them about Nonno, I ended up spending most of the time staring out the window, watching the changing scenery.
We stumble blearily out into the cold mountain air, stretching and yawning after our cramped ride and early start.
‘Guess this is it, then,’ says Lexi. I look around at the neat rows of cabins surrounded on all sides by towering gum trees. The air is slightly damp but fresh and crisp after the smelly closeness of the bus.
‘At least it’s not raining,’ Michi says. ‘Hey, do you think we’ll have lunch soon? I’m starving.’
I look around for Alysha. There she is, over with Paige and Jayde and a few of the other girls in her class, just as Michi had predicted. I give her a little wave and she bounds over, her face a happy shade of pink.
‘OMG,’ she tells me. ‘This is going to be the best week ever.’
I stare at her. ‘Seriously? I thought you weren’t into all this outdoorsy stuff. Last week you were telling me you didn’t really want to come.’
Alysha leans in closer, lowering her voice. ‘I didn’t. But that was before I met Daniel.’
‘Who?’ I ask.
‘Daniel. Look, there he is over there,’ she says, jutting her chin to the left. I follow her gaze to the group of guys from one of the other classes helping Mr C unload the luggage from the buses. I recognise all of them except for one.
‘You mean that tall guy with the dark hoodie?’ I say.
‘Uh-huh,’ says Alysha. ‘Cute, hey? He just arrived this term. He hangs out with Seb and Jase from Class C. And they were sitting next to us on the bus and we all got talking and …’
‘And you really, really like him,’ I finish for her.
‘Well, duh,’ says Alysha. ‘What’s not to like? Look at him.’
I try to take a closer look but apart from the fact that he’s pretty well built, there’s not much else to see, given most of his head is hidden by a black hood. And then just as I’m thinking that, the hood flops down and all is revealed.
Ah. I see what she means. Yep, he’s pretty hot all right. In fact, he looks just like a guy I saw on one of those posters they staple inside Crave magazine. Some new pop star or movie star – I can’t remember which – with all that thick blond surfie boy hair. No wonder Alysha’s so smitten. He’s just her type. Then again, lots of guys are Alysha’s type.
‘Yeah, he’s okay,’ I tell her. ‘But what about Ben’s friend Nick? Or – hang on – Rory Hogan? I thought he was your crush at the moment.’
Alysha tosses her hair. ‘Oh, he is so last term, Mia. Don’t you remember me telling you?’
‘Vaguely,’ I tell her. It’s hard to keep up with Alysha’s crushes. She seems to have a new one every five minutes.
Lexi suddenly appears at my side. ‘Come on, you guys. You’re supposed to be collecting your gear. What are you two whispering about anyway?’
‘Nothing,’ Alysha says quickly, turning her back on Daniel and his mates before Lexi notices him. Not that it’s going to take her long. He stands out a mile with all that blond hair.
Mr Makris’s foghorn voice cuts through the chatter, making everyone jump.
‘Okay, campers. Now that you’ve all got your bags, I want everyone to assemble over near the rec hut so we can assign you your cabins. The quicker you get yourselves organised, the faster we can get you all unpacked and ready to start the day. Oh. Wait. Hang on a minute, everyone.’
There’s a short pause and some random shuffling noises, then the announcement starts up again.
‘Right, Ms Hayes has just asked me to say there are still two unclaimed bags in the parking area, waiting to be picked up. Remember, we can’t start till that area’s clear. Okay? Now, move it.’
I look over to where the buses are, horrified. Two bags are still sitting there, all right. Mine and Alysha’s. OMG. What if we get into trouble for holding everyone up? Hazy told us anyone caught slacking or causing trouble would have to stay behind doing extra kitchen duties while everyone else went outside to have fun.
Alysha grins wickedly. ‘You really don’t have a clue about boys, do you, Mia?’ She sends a series of hand gestures to Daniel, who’s still waiting near the bags with his mates. Moments later he’s picked up both our bags, crossed the gravel area to where we’re standing and set them down at our feet.
‘Here you go, ladies,’ he says, flashing me a smile that extends from his perfect white teeth to the
crinkles around his electric blue eyes.
‘Umm … thanks,’ I say, willing the blush that’s creeping across my face to disappear and failing miserably.
Alysha’s much more composed. ‘That was so sweet of you,’ she gushes.
‘No worries,’ Daniel tells her. ‘Catch you later, okay?’
And then he’s gone, back to hang out with his mates.
Lexi and Michi stare at his departing back, openmouthed. ‘Who was that?’ Lexi chokes out, stunned.
‘Oh, just this guy I met on the bus,’ Alysha answers vaguely. Then she leans in closer to her, her voice dropping a full octave. Her eyes turn cold. ‘And I saw him first, okay? So mitts off.’
Yep, it’s going to be an interesting week, all right.
Chapter 6
monday mid-morning
Michi and I stand in the doorway of our cabin, peering into the gloom. There’s not much to see. Three bunk beds, arranged around the room, with some empty space in the middle. And that’s about it, unless you count the window and the unpainted wooden planks that make up the walls, floor and ceiling. Real pioneer stuff.
I switch on the light. If there are any spiders or creepy crawlies in here, they better show themselves.
‘Which bunk do you want?’ I ask Michi. ‘Top or bottom?’
‘Neither,’ says Michi, wrinkling her nose. ‘I don’t even want to be in this stupid cabin. Why couldn’t Hazy have put us in with Lexi and Leesh?’
‘Cos then you wouldn’t get to experience the pleasure of sharing with us,’ chimes in Amira, pushing past us and dumping the biggest bag I’ve ever seen on the top bunk nearest the window. ‘Would she, guys?’
‘Nope,’ says Jess, who’s close behind her. She flashes us a fake smile, then commandeers the bottom tier of the next best bunk with her own bag. ‘You can take the top bunk,’ she tells Jane.
‘Which leaves you, Tara,’ says Amira, as she crowds into the tiny room. ‘Guess you better have the bunk under me. Unless you’d like to, Michi?’ she croons, patting the lumpy mattress. ‘Come on, it will be like old times.’
Michi flushes. ‘No, thanks,’ she mutters, dumping her bag on the top tier of the third bunk. ‘Here will be fine.’
‘Whatever,’ Amira sniffs, unzipping her bag and pulling out various items of clothing, then draping them around her bed. ‘Just trying to be friendly.’
Is she, though? It’s hard to tell. I wait till she’s engaged in conversation with her friends, then move over to Michi.
‘Leave your stuff for now,’ I whisper to her. ‘Let’s go and find the others.’
We stumble back outside into the cool mountain air, keeping an eye out for Cabin 14, where Lexi and Leesh have been assigned. None of us could believe it when Hazy read out the cabin lists. We’d all been asked to provide the names of three people we’d like to share with, so of course the Pink HQ crew all put each other. Well, I know for sure Michi and Lex did. You can never be one hundred per cent certain of anything Alysha does these days. She’s just as likely to have put down her shiny friends’ names instead.
But then Hazy reckons with so many kids involved it became too difficult to work out. So the teachers just made up the lists class by class themselves, working from what they called ‘friendship groups’. Shows you how much attention teachers pay to what’s going on under their noses. Michi hasn’t been in a ‘friendship group’ with Amira and the Js since Amira launched a hate campaign against her last term, and neither have I. Well, sure, we all talk to each other. If anything, Amira’s almost trying too hard to make up for the lousy things she did to Michi. But they don’t hang out together anymore, or invite each other to sleepovers, or anything like that. Poor Michi. Sharing a cabin with Amira after what’s just happened with Ben is so not what she needs right now.
We finally find Cabin 14, tucked away behind a group of trees on the other side of the rec hut. Lexi’s sprawled on her bunk, chatting to a girl from her class. ‘Hi, guys,’ she says, straightening up so we can squeeze onto the bunk beside her. ‘How’s your cabin? Is it the same as this one? Bigger? Smaller?’
‘Identical,’ I say, looking around. ‘No cupboards. No hanging space. Obviously designed by someone without any clothes. Where’s Leesh?’
Lexi shrugs. ‘Dunno. Gone off with Paige and Jayde somewhere. They put on about a ton of lip gloss before they went, so I guess it must have something to do with a guy.’
‘Probably that Daniel guy then,’ I say.
‘For sure.’
I’m about to ask Lexi if she’s brought any snacks when Mr Makris’s voice suddenly comes blasting over the camp speakers, making us all jump.
‘Hello again, campers. You have exactly five minutes to get changed into sports gear, then get yourselves over to the rec hut. Anyone who turns up later than that will be on potato-peeling duty for the rest of the week.’
Lexi rolls her eyes. ‘I thought that kind of stuff only happened in the army.’
‘You’re just lucky you don’t have him for PE,’ I tell her. ‘He makes us do star jumps and laps if we turn up late or come without our uniform. Come on, we better get going or we won’t make it in time.’
Michi flings herself onto the ground, her sides heaving.
‘Help me,’ she wails. ‘I’m going to die.’
Alysha collapses next to her. ‘No. It’s me! I’m the one who’s dying here.’
Lexi pulls a face. ‘I can’t believe you guys are so unfit. Look at me. I’m not even puffing.’
Alysha throws a bunch of leaves at her. ‘You are too puffing, fibber. You’re just holding your breath so it looks like you’re not.’
‘Okay, so I’m puffing,’ Lexi says, flopping down beside her. ‘So shoot me.’
She’s not puffing that much, though. In fact compared to the rest of us, she’s doing really well. Lexi’s always been the most sporty one in our group. So she’s coping heaps better with our orienteering task. The teachers divided us into groups of four, then sent us off with maps and a goal: to bring back a numbered flag hidden somewhere in the bush. And we’ve only got thirty minutes to do it in. Trust us to be the group to get the flag placed at the top of the mountain.
Michi sits up again, her arms folded across her stomach. ‘I wish someone would shoot me,’ she groans. ‘I’ve got a stitch the size of Alaska here.’
I take a long swig from my water bottle, then join them on the ground before my legs buckle and I fall down. ‘How much further have we got to go?’ I ask.
Michi pulls our map from her pocket, unfolds it and smooths it out. ‘Okay, so we just passed this group of rocks marked here,’ she says, tapping the map. ‘Which means … umm … Actually I’ve got no idea what it means. I’m not very good at reading maps.’
‘Give it to me,’ I say. I’m not that good at reading maps myself, but I don’t want to be the last group back to the camp, either.
I peer at the series of lines and symbols until they start to make sense.
Me: I reckon we’re about halfway. See? This is where we are here, and this is where our flag is.
Alysha [snatching the map from me]: Give me that. That’s miles away! And it’s all uphill.
Lexi: So?
Alysha [slyly]: I reckon we go back down now and say we got right up there to the top, no worries. And then we were just about to grab the flag when a kangaroo or a bear or something came along and ran off with it.
Lexi [eye-rolling]: Duh, Alysha. There, like, aren’t any bears in Australia?
Alysha [pouting]: Are too. How about koala bears?
Lexi: Koalas aren’t bears, moron.
Michi: Can you two just zip it for a minute? My brain hurts.
Lexi [jumping up]: Come on, you guys. It’s not that far away.
Me: Yeah. Come on. We’re running out of time.
Alysha [yawning]: So why don’t you two go, seeing how you’re so keen? Michi and I will wait right here, won’t we, Mich?
Michi: Sounds like a plan to me. And anyway, I’
m too sad about Ben to do any more physical exercise.
I can’t believe they’re being so slack. Whoever gets back first wins points for their team. And the team with the most points at the end of the week gets to win the overall camp trophy, and a write-up in the school newsletter, along with cool stuff like hamburger vouchers and movie passes. I want that trophy, big time. I can just imagine the look on Nonno’s face when I tell him I’ve helped to win it.
‘Looks like it’s down to us then, Lex,’ I tell her.
Lexi pulls me up and we consult the map again, then set off uphill without the others. I’m just pushing my way through a thick patch of bush when I hear a shriek behind me. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Stupid branch decided to attach itself to me,’ Lexi says. ‘And look at my legs! I’m covered in scratches.’
‘Me too,’ I say.
I go back and help unhook her from the thorns. Then we continue up the steep slope.
We must be getting closer to the stupid flag. I’m just bending down to re-tie my shoelace when four guys come crashing through the bush, hooting at us to get out of the way.
Alysha is going to be mad she didn’t join us. One of them’s Daniel. His blond hair stands out like a beacon against the drab grey and green of the bush. He stops for a moment, his chest heaving, and grabs Seb’s arm.
‘Look,’ he pants, pointing to a red flag hanging from a branch. ‘There it is. Just up there. See?’
I follow his gaze. The number 12 is printed on the material in thick black letters.
‘Hey!’ Lexi calls out, as Daniel starts to sprint towards it. ‘That’s our flag. We’re Team 12. Mia! Do something! Stop him!’
Me? Stop someone like Daniel? Is she serious?
Seb waggles his map in my face. ‘The teachers must have stuffed up. We’re Team 12, too. See?’
He’s right. Their map definitely has the number 12 on it. But it’s probably the teachers’ idea of a little joke, to set different teams against each other.
‘Go for it, Lexi!’ I scream at her.
And she does. Daniel’s at the flag tree now. But instead of removing the flag straight away, he turns around to give his team a triumphant thumbs-up. Big mistake. Lexi slips around behind him, rips the flag from the branch, then tears off down the slope with it before he knows what’s happened.
A Year in Girl Hell Page 17