The Call of the Wild

by Julie Fison

  ‘Thanks,’ Liam nodded. ‘It’s amazing. I’ll make sure it gets used.’

  I felt a tingle run down my spine as Liam looked at me. He seemed genuinely pleased that I’d gone to so much effort on the presentation.

  ‘It’s just a film,’ I said modestly. ‘But I wanted to do something to help. I was thinking maybe we could use it to raise awareness outside our school, too. It would be great if we could inspire some other groups to sponsor orangutans.’

  ‘That’s an epic idea,’ Liam agreed. ‘We could set up a website for other schools to access, and link it to one of the orangutan charities.’

  I couldn’t help smiling. It felt great to be in sync with Liam again. I still felt bad about missing the movie night, but I didn’t feel so guilty anymore. I knew I’d be involved in the Wild Club’s other projects.

  By the end of the meeting, Annabel was also excited about staying involved with the club, and Kimmi was determined to make the banner for the slushie stall really special.

  ‘I’ve got a few ideas,’ Kimmi said, as we walked off after the meeting. ‘Do you think we should have a jungle for the background, or should it be a sunset?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter what you do,’ Annabel said, smiling. ‘It’ll be fantastic.’

  Kimmi shook her head. ‘I don’t want to do the wrong thing.’

  ‘How about we help you work on it tomorrow?’ I looked at Annabel.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I’d love to help, but I’ve got a hair appointment in the afternoon.’

  ‘Oh,’ I sighed, turning to Kimmi. ‘Looks like you’ve just got me for artistic support. I’m useless at art, but I can wash brushes.’

  Kimmi smiled, putting her arm around me. ‘Perfect. I’m pretty good at art, but I hate cleaning up. We’ll make a great team. We’ll get started right after we watch the guys play rugby.’

  ‘Are these definitely the right guys?’ I asked as we stood on the sidelines of yet another sporting field at Highgrove. We had already spent an hour in the wrong place, watching guys we didn’t know play a game that I didn’t understand.

  ‘I’m pretty sure I can see Ryan,’ Annabel said. ‘On the far side. In the blue top.’

  ‘Duh,’ Kimmi teased. ‘The whole team is in blue.’

  ‘Obviously,’ Annabel said. ‘But I’m pretty sure it’s him.’

  I watched as a player in a red jersey charged down one of the Highgrove guys. Another three red guys piled in on top. The ball was totally lost for a while, then it dribbled out the back and the whole process started up again.

  ‘Anyone got any idea what’s going on?’ I asked.

  ‘One side has to smash the other side out of the way, get the ball to the other end, and stick the ball on the ground.’

  ‘And they call this sport?’ Kimmi frowned. And then she squealed. ‘Oh my god! That’s Marco with the ball!’

  Next to us, a bunch of girls started cheering as Marco ran. Then they groaned as he was smashed to the ground by a guy twice his size. ‘Poor Marco,’ one of them cried.

  Kimmi, who had been focused on the game, turned to watch the girls. ‘Who are they?’ she muttered. ‘And why are they talking about Marco?’

  Annabel glanced across at the group. ‘Probably Fairmount girls,’ she said. ‘The one with black hair lives in my street.’

  ‘You know her?’ Kimmi asked.

  Annabel shook her head. ‘I just recognise her. Can’t say we’ve ever spoken.’

  Kimmi seemed completely put out by the girls, who were now whispering to each other and pointing to different players.

  ‘Look how dressed up they are,’ said Kimmi. ‘Who are they trying to impress?’

  ‘Totes overdressed,’ Annabel said.

  I nodded, deciding not to mention the fact that we’d spent hours last night texting each other with possible outfits for the rugby game, and that Kimmi was wearing a brand-new top. She clearly wasn’t happy about the competition.

  I still had my eye on the Fairmount girls when Annabel nudged me. ‘You might want to pay attention. Your boyfriend’s about to score.’

  ‘He’s not my …’ I began, and then squealed as Saia pounded up the pitch (or was it an oval?) with the ball under his arm. ‘Go Saia!’ I whispered excitedly.

  He had one player to get past to reach the goal end. Saia ran straight at him. Then, just as the guy lunged, Saia swerved to the right. The guy missed him completely. Saia shot to the line and put the ball down right between the goalposts.

  The girls beside us screamed and I watched Saia’s teammates jump on top of him. I was so proud.

  ‘Saia made a goal!’ I shouted.

  ‘It’s called a try,’ Annabel corrected me, suddenly the expert on rugby. ‘And look! Ryan’s about to kick the conversion.’

  ‘The what?’

  ‘They get a kick at goal, like a free shot, after they score a try – for extra points,’ Annabel said.

  I watched as Ryan kicked the ball high and long. It sailed right between the posts and over the crossbar. Judging by the squealing that came from the Fairmount girls, it seemed like Ryan had done the right thing. The referee blew his whistle and then the siren went for the end of the game.

  The Highgrove guys all jumped on top of each other, celebrating their win.

  ‘Let’s go and congratulate the guys,’ Annabel said, dragging us across the field.

  The guys had gathered on the far side for a war cry. I was so excited, I just wanted to give Saia a big hug. But as we moved closer, they left the field and huddled under a tree. Then they sat down while a guy, who I guessed was their rabid-dog coach, started barking at them. It seemed he did that whether they won or lost.

  ‘Oh, man,’ Annabel complained. ‘How am I going to give Ryan a kiss with the coach there?’

  We hovered for a few minutes, not far from the players, waiting for our chance to talk to the guys, but it seemed they were going to be stuck there forever. Saia was practically facing me, but his head was down.

  ‘Hurry up, crazy coach,’ Annabel said impatiently. ‘I’ve got a hair appointment to get to.’

  ‘We should go,’ I said. ‘We might get the guys into trouble, hanging around here. Or he might just turn round and shout at us.’

  Kimmi nodded. ‘Yeah, we’ve still got the banner to do, too.’ She glanced at the Fairmount girls.

  ‘Okay,’ Annabel sighed. ‘We can congratulate the guys tonight. Ryan totes deserves a kiss for that!’ She waved to him even though he had his back to her.

  Kimmi blew a kiss to Marco. He didn’t see it either, so I thought it would be safe to blow one to Saia, but just as I did it, he looked up – right at me. He smiled and gave me a wink.

  Awkward! I turned away, feeling my cheeks burn. ‘Saia saw me blowing him a kiss!’

  ‘That’s so cute!’ Annabel squealed.

  ‘Guess who else was watching?’ Kimmi said, nodding to the Fairmount girls, who were looking at us and sniggering.

  ‘Double awkward,’ I said, grabbing Kimmi’s arm and rushing off.

  Annabel caught up to us. ‘I feel sorry for those Fairmount girls,’ she said. ‘They can cheer all they want, but the cutest guys on that team are already taken.’

  I lay on my stomach on Kimmi’s kitchen floor, touching up a section of sunset. Kimmi put the finishing touches on a baby orangutan that peered through the palm fronds at the other end of the ‘Slushies in Paradise’ banner.

  Finally, she took a deep breath and jumped to her feet. ‘Finished!’

  I put my brush in a jug of water and stood up beside her, admiring the sign. ‘It’s amazing!’ It looked like a professional artist had done it. ‘You’re amazing!’

  ‘So are you!’

  ‘I didn’t do anything. But thank you. Liam is going to be so impressed.’

  Kimmi frowned.

  ‘Not that it’s all about impressing Liam,’ I added quickly. ‘But you know how grumpy he got about us going to the party.’

  ‘He got grumpy about you
going to the party,’ Kimmi said. ‘With a bunch of cute Highgrove guys. Are you sure there’s nothing going on that you haven’t told me about?’

  I shook my head. ‘Of course not. Liam and I are friends. He’s great. He’s passionate about the same things I am. That’s it. And besides, he’s in the grade above.’

  ‘So you say. But there’s no law against dating older guys, you know.’

  ‘We’re just friends,’ I said.

  Kimmi raised her eyebrows. ‘So, if he asked you out – to the movies or something – you’d say no?’

  ‘Well, no. I’d say yes,’ I replied. ‘Because we’re friends.’ And then I thought about it more. Sure, I’d gone weak at the knees when I first saw him, but then I’d got to know him. He really got me. He understood what was going on in my head – sometimes better than my friends. I liked hanging out with him in the Wild Club, and of course I’d be happy to see more of him outside school. I liked spending time with him.

  ‘What about if Saia asked you to the movies?’ Kimmi asked playfully.

  ‘I think the answer would be yes to that one, too,’ I said, smiling. A shiver ran down my spine just thinking about Saia’s beautiful smile.

  ‘You’ve got goosebumps!’ Kimmi shrieked.

  I laughed, trying to stroke down the hairs on my arms. ‘That happens every time I think about him. I just melt when he smiles at me.’

  ‘So you definitely like him more than Liam?’

  I frowned, trying to work it out. ‘It’s totally different. I get a warm, fuzzy, calm feeling when I think of Liam. And with Saia my insides start bouncing up and down. I’m excited to see him tonight, but …’

  ‘You’re still worried you’re too different?’ Kimmi asked.

  ‘What if I get to the party and I really have nothing to say to him?’

  Kimmi nudged me. ‘You know what they say: opposites attract. And if you run out of things to talk about, you can just dance. Or kiss him!’

  I laughed. ‘Is that your plan?’

  ‘Totes,’ Kimmi said, smiling.

  I glanced at the kitchen clock. Annabel would be here any minute to help us with our hair and make-up. She was the closest Kimmi and I were going to get to a stylist. But we were meant to take the banner to the school before she got here. We were running really late. I touched the corner of the banner. It felt almost dry.

  ‘Annabel’s going to freak when she finds us still covered in paint,’ Kimmi said, touching her hair. It was flecked with orange and she had green smudges across her forehead.

  ‘How about you have a shower while I take the banner to school?’ I suggested. ‘Then I’ll get changed when I get back.’

  Kimmi nodded and headed to her room while I carefully rolled up the banner. I couldn’t wait to see the guys’ expressions when they saw it. But just as I called my mum to ask for a lift, the doorbell rang. I opened the front door to find Annabel in her brand-new white dress, her hair bouncing around her shoulders like she’d just walked off the red carpet.

  ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Ryan is going to pass out when he sees you.’

  ‘Thanks. But I’m not sure that’s the effect I’m going for.’ She looked at my shorts and top, frowning.

  ‘I’m not ready to go yet,’ I said.

  ‘I can see that.’

  ‘I’m just taking the banner down to the slushie stall.’

  ‘But you don’t have time!’ Annabel frowned. ‘They’ll just have to live without a banner.’

  I shook my head. There was no way I was leaving the banner when we’d spent the whole afternoon on it. ‘I’ll be back in a minute, promise.’

  Annabel sighed. ‘No, you won’t. You’ll be ages. And then we’ll be late for the party.’ She looked me up and down. ‘How about you just put on your dress now, and we’ll pick you up from school on our way to the party, It’ll be much quicker.’

  I sighed, realising I didn’t really have a choice.

  ‘Fine, but what about my hair? Don’t I need to wash it? Aren’t you going to do something with it?’

  ‘It actually looks really nice as it is. You’re lucky your hair is just naturally gorgeous.’

  Annabel sat on the bed as I slipped on my new orange dress. I put on my ballet flats and then turned around to face her. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘On fire,’ she said, fluffing up my hair. ‘You look amazing. You don’t need anything, except …’ She reached into her clutch and pulled out a lipgloss and some perfume. She sprayed some fragrance at me and then smeared some gloss across my lips. ‘Perfect.’ She spun me around to face the mirror. ‘A bit overdressed for a banner-delivery girl, but you’re gonna rock the party tonight.’

  ‘Thanks!’ I grabbed the banner and headed off for the slushie stall.

  ‘I’ll message you when we’re on our way,’ Annabel called. ‘Don’t dawdle.’

  A smattering of kids were spread out across the oval, marking out their patches of turf with blankets and towels as I picked my way across the grass, clutching the banner. I felt a bit self-conscious arriving in a bright-orange dress when everyone else was in T-shirts, but there was no way I was leaving the banner at Kimmi’s after all the work we’d put into it.

  As I reached the top of the grassy slope at the edge of the oval, I could see the slushie trailer already in position.

  I walked over and found Liam on his own in there. He had his back to me and was mixing up a slushie, even though he had no customers at all – probably testing the flavours.

  ‘I’ll have seven hundred Borneo Sunsets please,’ I called, tapping my fingernails on the counter.

  He turned, and seemed to do a double-take, looking me up and down. ‘Phoebe, hey! I almost didn’t recognise you.’ He came outside to greet me. ‘You look like a Borneo Sunset yourself.’

  I think I blushed like a sunset, too. I wasn’t used to getting compliments from Liam, and I guess he wasn’t used to seeing me out of school uniform.

  ‘Er, right. I’m not really dressed for a slushie trailer,’ I said. ‘I just came to drop off the banner.’

  His smile fell. ‘Oh … I thought maybe you’d changed your mind and decided to come and help.’

  I shook my head, feeling really guilty about going to the party when Liam needed me here. ‘Are you on your own?’

  ‘Jack’s just gone to the toilet. He’ll be back in a sec.’

  Liam looked at me intently for a moment, as if there was something important he needed to tell me. Goosebumps sprang up on my arms, and I rubbed them.

  ‘You cold?’ Liam said.

  ‘I’ll be fine once I’m at Ryan’s par–’ I stopped mid-sentence as I saw Liam’s expression change. He looked hurt. It seemed he really did have a problem with me going to the party.

  ‘So, you want to help me with this banner then?’ I said, quickly changing the subject. ‘We’ll surprise Jack with it.’

  Liam’s face brightened and his mood changed completely as we hung the banner from the front of the trailer. It looked even better up than it had on Kimmi’s floor. A sunset stretched from one side of the stall to the other, and little orangutans hung from palm fronds on either side of the words Slushies in Paradise.

  ‘Unreal,’ said Liam, nodding approvingly. ‘You sure you’re not a professional artist?’

  ‘Not much to do with me,’ I said. ‘Kimmi’s the artist. I just did what I was told.’

  ‘It is you,’ came a voice from behind.

  I turned to see Jack striding towards us.

  ‘Hey, Phoebs, what’s it like to have your work in front of the public?’

  ‘Well, only Liam’s seen it so far. And now you.’

  Jack motioned towards the oval, where a large crowd had gathered while we were fussing with the banner. ‘Not the banner!’ he said, laughing.

  It was only then that I saw what was playing on the big screen. ‘Oh my god!’ I said excitedly. ‘It’s my film.’

  ‘Polly said she was going to put it to good use.’ Liam turned back to me, spr
ead his arms wide and hugged me. ‘Congratulations! Your debut as a film director.’

  I felt my body stiffen as he held me, and then the warm fuzzy feeling that I normally got around Liam started going haywire. My heart leapt, and I couldn’t tell if it was the excitement of seeing my video or Liam’s hug that had caused it. I didn’t think he was the hugging type. Where had that come from?

  ‘I’m hardly a film director.’ I laughed awkwardly. ‘But I’m glad I could be of some use.’

  ‘I’m glad you decided the Wild Club needs you more than the Highgrove guys,’ Jack said. ‘And you’re here just in time.’ He nodded to a gang of kids that were heading up the slope towards the trailer.

  ‘Well, actually, I was just …’ I began.

  But by then Jack was climbing into the trailer and serving a customer. The queue for slushies was growing quickly.

  ‘It’d be great if you could stay,’ Liam said. ‘We could really use your help.’

  I felt a lump in my throat as he looked at me, waiting for a reply. Did Liam want me to stay just because he needed help, or was there more to it? The girls would be on their way to collect me by now. My phone had already gone off with a bunch of messages, no doubt from Annabel, telling me to hurry up.

  ‘Liam, give us a hand,’ Jack called from the trailer.

  ‘Coming,’ Liam called back, his eyes not leaving my face. He looked at me for a moment longer, and then raced off. My insides were in knots as I watched him, wondering what would happen if I stayed. Maybe we would end up on a blanket together under the stars, watching the end of the movie.

  I pulled out my phone, checking my messages. There were three from Annabel.

  We’re coming now.

  Almost there.

  Waiting out the front of the school!

  There was also a message from Saia. My tummy started cramping up as I read it.

  Thanks for bringing me good luck at the game today. Can’t wait to see you at the party. S xx

  I put my phone away and my head in my hands. What was I going to do? Should I stay to help Liam and Jack, or should I go to the party to meet up with Saia?