by Julie Fison
‘Yeah, and that was right after we went looking for a waterfall and got attacked by leeches,’ Mia laughed. ‘What a day!’
The guys laughed even harder, but Persephone put her hand over her mouth.
‘Leeches?’ Tori squealed. ‘Oh my god. That’s, like, totally disgusting!’
I cringed. This wasn’t quite how I imagined the afternoon playing out. At least Izzy and Mia hadn’t mentioned that we were camping, but I figured it was only a matter of time before they started over-sharing on that subject.
‘So, what’re you guys doing this week?’ I asked, glancing at Rio.
He smiled. He was unbelievably cute.
‘Just hanging out. There’s not much surf so we might try stand-up paddleboarding. Ever done that?’
‘We’re going to this amazing restaurant tonight,’ Tori chimed in, before I had a chance to answer. ‘It’s totally exclusive and always packed with A-listers. My mother’s friend owns it. It’s going to be so divine.’
Izzy rolled her eyes. She obviously wasn’t impressed.
‘Wow! That sounds really cool,’ I said.
Tori ignored me. ‘Probably should be getting back, hey, Percy?’ she said. ‘To start getting ready.’
I saw Persephone wince at her nickname. Surely Tori knew she didn’t like it.
‘But these guys have only just arrived,’ Persephone said, getting to her feet. ‘I’m sure we have time for a walk.’
As I stood up, I saw Tori staring at my shorts and I remembered they were covered in mud. Not the best look! I hung back, waiting until the guys were up ahead to start walking.
Rio was soon showing off his acrobatics, while Izzy and Mia splashed in the waves. Persephone, Tori and I trailed behind.
Persephone nudged me. ‘I think Rio’s somersault show’s for you.’
I blushed. ‘Sure, sure.’
‘He’s always like that,’ Tori said. ‘A bit immature for me.’ She tossed her hair. ‘Anyway, I want to hear all about the luxury retreat at The Lost World. Percy said you were staying there. Brand new, is it? What’s it like?’
‘Um, well, actually it’s so unreal that it doesn’t exist.’ I laughed to try to lighten the mood, but no-one else was smiling. ‘We’re just staying at the camping ground. In a tent.’
‘You don’t say,’ Tori said.
I wasn’t sure if Tori was being sarcastic or not, but when I saw Persephone’s face fall, I realised she was really disappointed.
I felt like I’d really made a mess of things. I’d ruined any chance of a friendship with Persephone, and I’d let down my friends, too. It looked like I was embarrassed to be camping with them.
‘Well, I hope you’ve got good security,’ Tori said, half smiling. ‘Those campers are completely feral, aren’t they?’
I shrugged, trying to work out what to say. I could make out that I was a novice camper and didn’t belong at The Lost World, which was actually true – that’d keep Tori quiet and improve my friendship chances with Persephone. Or I could just tell it like it was.
I decided there was only one real option: it was time I told the truth.
‘Actually, camping is pretty cool,’ I said.
Tori groaned. ‘Nothing good ever happened in a camping ground.’
Persephone didn’t say anything, but I could tell she hated the idea of camping, too. It was written all over her face. She wasn’t the type of girl to rough it.
Who am I fooling? I thought. I’ve got great friends already. Sometimes they did the most uncool things, but I wasn’t that cool myself – especially compared with Tori and Persephone. I was nothing like them.
I saw Rio was way up ahead, wrestling with Jordan. He didn’t seem the least bit interested in me, either. I’d probably finished my chances with him as well, by turning up looking like Robinson Crusoe.
Izzy and Mia stopped to inspect something on the water’s edge with a stick. It was only when Izzy shouted ‘Catch!’ that I realised what was going on. Izzy hurled a great big blob of jellyfish at me. I stepped aside just in time to see the thing whizz past my ear and hit Persephone smack on the shoulder.
‘Eww!’ she cried.
I waited for Persephone to totally freak. But instead, she picked up the jelly lump with her bare hands and, with a precise throw, hurled it back, hitting Izzy.
Izzy screamed. I couldn’t stop laughing. I never would’ve thought that perfect Persephone would be such a crack-shot with a jellyfish.
‘Ewww!’ Tori squealed, backing away up the beach.
By this stage Rio and Jordan had discovered the jellyfish supply, too. They pelted each other and then turned on Izzy and Mia, but once Persephone got involved, they were toast.
We ran, squealing and pelting each other with jellyfish and seaweed all the way up the beach. Finally, we declared a truce and ran into the sea, diving under the waves to wash the smelly slime from our hair.
Persephone emerged with a clump of seaweed draped over her head, trying to pass herself off as a mermaid. Then she grabbed the seaweed and hurled it at Jordan. When he dived underwater to grab her legs, she raced out onto the beach.
Tori was standing at the water’s edge with her arms crossed when Persephone ran towards her, laughing, and launched another seaweed missile. Tori screamed and backed away, but the seaweed caught her legs.
We all made our way out of the water and Izzy gave Persephone a high five. ‘Nice shot, girlfriend,’ she said. ‘Where did you learn to do that?’
‘The advantages of having an older brother are that you get used to disgusting things and you learn to aim straight,’ said Persephone. By now Tori had marched off up the beach. ‘Suppose I’d better go and make up with Tori.’
‘Guess we better get back, too,’ I said, reluctantly. I’d never realised that a beach fight could be that much fun. But we had to get back. Mia’s and Izzy’s parents would probably be freaking out by now.
Then Mia came up with an idea. ‘You guys should all come to our beach tonight. We can build a fire and roast marshmallows.’
Rio looked at me for only a moment, but it was long enough to send my mind spinning. Just the idea of sharing a campfire with him was giving me goosebumps. He turned to Jordan, who was already nodding. ‘Sounds good. Can we bring a couple of friends?’
‘Of course,’ Izzy said.
Persephone looked really disappointed. ‘Sorry, we have dinner,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I can make it tonight, but I’ll come and find you tomorrow.’
I watched with mixed feelings as Persephone and the guys headed off. I couldn’t wait to see Rio again, but I was sad that Persephone couldn’t hang out with us tonight.
‘Persephone’s actually pretty cool when you get to know her,’ Mia said, as we headed back to the camping ground.
I grinned. Persephone was even cooler than I had imagined.
Izzy nodded. ‘Yeah, she’s great,’ she said. ‘But the big question is, which guys will Rio and Jordan bring along tonight?’
As Izzy, Mia and I trudged back to The Lost World, I couldn’t stop replaying the moment during our beach war when I’d hit Rio with a sand bomb. He’d stopped and stared at me, looking serious for a second, and then, he’d burst out laughing. So adorable! My body tingled just thinking about it.
Izzy, Mia and I bounced with excitement all the way back to the camping ground. The rocky headland, with its nasty barnacles and dangerous crevices, seemed like nothing more than a sandpit now we had a campfire on the beach to look forward to.
I couldn’t wait for nightfall.
I watched the firelight flicker on Rio’s face. I was trying to catch his eye, but his attention wasn’t on me.
Rio was watching the seven annoying boys who had taken over our campfire with their sharp sticks and tribal chants.
The Rodent Tribe had turned what could have been the best night ever into a scene from a horror film. At any moment, one of them was going to fall in the fire (if Izzy didn’t push one in first), or lose an eye to a f
laming marshmallow.
‘Mum, tell the boys to get away from the fire,’ Izzy called. ‘They won’t listen to me.’
‘Boys, calm down,’ Izzy’s mum half-heartedly called out, and then went back to her conversation.
‘But it’s our fire!’ BB shouted in Izzy’s face, carrying on with his rodent dance.
It wasn’t fair at all. Izzy, Mia and I had put hours of preparation into our campfire event. We had created a seating plan and even a rundown of events:
1. Welcome chat
2. Marshmallow toasting
3. Truth or dare
4. Kissing (optional – depending on the cuteness of the guys who arrived with Rio and Jordan).
We’d been so busy making plans that we’d had to outsource the stick collecting, the constructing and the lighting of the fire to the Rodent Tribe. They’d been happy to help at the time, but now they’d taken over. They claimed the fire was actually theirs. That might have been technically true, but it was totally unjust.
As soon as Rio, Jordan and their two friends had shown up (and been given the big thumbs up by Mia and Izzy), the Rodent Tribe had descended on us. They’d completely ignored our seating plan, wedging themselves where they weren’t wanted. Then they’d managed to kick sand on everyone by jumping up and down every five seconds.
To make things worse, the parents had parked themselves on one side of the fire. With everything that was going on, it was impossible to get any sort of flow happening with our ‘welcome chat’.
Mia was the only one with any chance at all. She was sitting next to a guy called Tom, who we’d nicknamed TC – short for Too Cute. He and his friend Quade, QC – or Quite Cute – were swimmers who trained at the same pool as Mia and Izzy, and Mia and TC hit it off right away. I wasn’t the only one to notice how well they were getting on.
‘Mia’s got a boyfriend,’ one of her brothers called out.
It was just an annoying distraction that Mia chose to ignore until all of the boys joined in. It became a chant, and then the Rodent Tribe incorporated their marshmallow sticks and a few stomps. Soon the whole thing became a full-blown live performance.
‘Shut up!’ Mia screamed, getting to her feet and running off towards the water.
‘You want to look for phosphorescence in the waves?’ I asked QC. He’d ended up sitting next to me when the seating plan got screwed up.
He shrugged. ‘Sure.’
‘I’ll tell Izzy and Mia,’ I said, ‘and you tell the guys.’
Izzy and I ran to join Mia by the water’s edge. She was already inspecting the waves. There was nothing glowing in there, but the sound of the waves crashing on the sand was relaxing after listening to the Rodents and their silly chants. They were still by the fire, singing and waving their sticks in the darkness – too far away to bother us. The guys arrived and I finally found myself standing next to Rio. After all those afternoons watching him on the bus, I could hardly believe that we were standing under the stars together. I couldn’t help smiling.
‘Have you drawn any dragons lately?’ Rio asked. ‘That one you did with the girl on the bridge was cool.’
Being reminded of that terrible bridge-building session made me frown, but it didn’t last long.
‘I haven’t had much time for drawing lately. I’ve been busy fighting off leeches and jellyfish,’ I told him, glancing up into his gorgeous eyes. ‘But I might get a chance to draw another dragon tomorrow. Who knows?’
‘So drawing is your thing then?’ Rio asked.
‘Don’t know,’ I said, shrugging. ‘I love drawing, but I’ve never thought about it as “my thing”. It’s just something I do.’
‘Well, maybe you should,’ Rio said. ‘Have you ever thought of being an artist, you know, professionally?’
I scoffed. I wasn’t good enough to be an artist, but it was nice of Rio to say so. ‘You really think I’m okay at drawing?’
‘Yeah!’ Rio nodded. ‘You’re amazing.’
‘Really?’ I was glad it was dark because I felt my cheeks flush and I was sure I’d gone a lovely shade of beetroot. But inside I was feeling a tiny bit pleased with myself. Everyone told me I was good at drawing. But I’d never believed them, until now. It seemed different coming from Rio. More genuine. Maybe I really did have a future in the art world.
‘Thanks,’ I said, smiling. ‘That means a lot to me.’
We stood in silence for a moment, watching the dark ocean, and I pondered how things had turned out. Only a couple of days ago I’d been too nervous to even talk to Rio, now I was so comfortable with him I didn’t feel the need to fill in the silence with chatter. I just enjoyed the moment, letting the waves do the talking for us.
The Rodent Tribe’s singing even provided the background music, which seemed kind of cute – until I realised they were singing about us!
Kitty and Rio, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage … ‘Ah …’ I scrambled to think of something to say, anything to drag Rio’s attention away from the song, but then a voice from behind beat me to it.
‘Hey, you guys! What are you doing hiding in the dark?’
Persephone! I ran to give her a hug. ‘Great! You made it!’ I said. ‘Sorry there are no five-star luxuries over here.’ I still felt bad for misleading her about the rural retreat.
But she just laughed it off. ‘Who needs five stars when you’ve got a million?’ She waved her hand at the night sky.
‘Where’s Tori?’ I asked, glancing around.
‘She just wanted to hang in the apartment after dinner,’ Persephone said.
‘What? With your parents?’
‘With my brother. I think he’s the real reason she came to Paradise Point.’ Persephone looked serious.
‘Not much fun for you, then,’ I said, watching Rio and Jordan kicking a foam float to each other.
‘Yeah, bit boring really,’ Persephone said. ‘You would have been much more fun.’
I felt my insides do a cartwheel. Persephone thought I was more fun that Tori! She didn’t think I was a loser for camping or making out we were at a rural retreat. She actually wanted to be hanging out with me.
‘Next time,’ I said.
Persephone grabbed my hand. ‘Let’s not wait for next time. C’mon. I want to have fun tonight!’ She rubbed her hands together like she was preparing for something really exciting. ‘So, who’s up for some Truth or Dare?’ she shouted with a wicked smile.
I shook my head in disbelief as everyone gathered around her. We’d been trying to move the party in this direction all night, and Persephone had got it sorted in seconds.
‘And it’s Lost World rules,’ Izzy announced. ‘We’re all friends here, so what happens in The Lost World stays in The Lost World.’
There was a ripple of excitement as we sat down in a circle to get the game started. I felt so happy. Maybe it was because Rio was sitting so close to me. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by my besties. Whatever it was, I felt like something really special was about to happen. And I was totally ready for it!
‘Okay, I’m starting,’ Persephone said, standing up. ‘Kitty? Truth or dare?’
I looked at Persephone, my heart nearly jumping out of my chest. I glanced around the circle. Everyone was watching. I didn’t look at Rio, but I could feel his eyes on me.
‘Truth,’ I said hesitantly. ‘No, dare … I mean, truth.’
Persephone looked at me with her hands on her hips. ‘Well, which is it?’
I put my hands over my face, suddenly unable to make a choice. With Rio right beside me, I felt like I was making the biggest decision of my life. Which one should I go for – truth or dare?
I was relieved to be going back to The Lost World without meeting Rio. I’d never quite been able to believe that Rio was into me. He’d seen me make a complete fool of myself in front of everyone, and then what? He’d been impressed by a dumb drawing? It wasn’t that I thought Persephone had lied when she told me all that – it just did
n’t really make any sense.
Besides, turning up to meet Rio looking like Robinson Crusoe was hardly going to create the right impression. Then there was the whole luxury-retreat story I’d told Persephone. I knew Izzy and Mia wouldn’t go along with that for more than about five seconds.
Yes, heading back to The Lost World was saving me a lot of embarrassment. Meeting Rio and Persephone at Paradise Point could have only ended one way: badly.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Mia as we scrambled back over the rocks towards The Lost World. ‘You can see Rio another time.’
‘Sure,’ I said. But I wasn’t sure at all. I had the feeling I wouldn’t see him until school went back.
I had no way to contact Rio or Persephone. I couldn’t explain anything until I finally got back to civilisation next week and could charge my phone again. But I tried to push that to the back of my mind. Deep down, I knew Persephone was too cool for me anyway. Probably better that I didn’t get excited about a friendship that wasn’t ever going to work out and a non-existent boyfriend.
‘I say we forget guys and have some fun,’ I told Mia and Izzy, ‘just the three of us.’
‘But what about the cute campers?’ Izzy asked.
Mia frowned. ‘I think they’re probably with those girls.’
Izzy shrugged, then smiled. ‘Yeah, whatevs. We don’t need guys to have a good time anyway.’
‘Yeah!’ Mia and I both called back.
Linking arms, we balanced on a big boulder and faced the ocean. ‘All for one, and one for all!’ Izzy shouted.
Mia laughed. ‘Like the Three Musketeers?’
‘The Three Musketeers!’ Izzy screamed into the wind in a squeaky voice that sounded like Mickey Mouse.
Mia and I joined in with our own silly voices. Izzy did Mickey so well that it sounded like she’d been practising it for a while.
‘The Three Musketeers,’ we shouted. ‘All for one and one for all!’
It would have been massively embarrassing if someone had appeared out of nowhere just then, but there was no-one around. We had the whole headland to ourselves. We were out of sight of all the perfect people of Paradise Point and all the campers at The Lost World.