The Call of the Wild

by Julie Fison

  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.

  Are they pretty? I texted back, a little disappointed to hear that Saia seemed to be having fun without me.

  Not as pretty as you! How is Liam?

  Fine, I think. But weird.

  In a good way or a bad way?

  Just a weird way. Full report later. Better get back to slushies.

  Got to go too, Kimmi replied. Annabel says hi. She’s very busy with Ryan right now.

  I watched Liam through the open trailer door. He and Jack were mucking around and, for a moment, I wished things were easy between us, the way they were with him and Jack.

  ‘Everything okay?’ Liam called from the doorway to the trailer.

  ‘Sure,’ I smiled, walking towards him. ‘Just checking on the girls. Kimmi says the party’s amazing.’

  ‘Thanks for staying,’ he said softly. ‘I know you really wanted to go to the party.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said. I really wanted to know what was going on behind those bright blue eyes.

  Liam turned to go back into the trailer, then seemed to change his mind. ‘Er, Phoebs,’ he said in a serious tone.

  My heart thumped. I was sure I could sense something important coming.

  ‘Do you think –?’

  That’s as far as he got before Jack abruptly ended our conversation by pouring a slushie down the back of Liam’s shirt. Way to ruin the moment!

  ‘Cheap shot!’ Liam shouted, shaking slushie out of his shirt and turning around to chase Jack with a mop.

  Jack bounced around the trailer, howling with laughter.

  By then a bunch of kids were shouting out orders. Liam put down his mop, Jack stopped laughing – eventually – and we all got back to work. I wondered what Liam had wanted to ask me. Was it something about us, or was it just a question about the Wild Club? It might have even been a question about slushies. But we got so busy I didn’t have time to ask him.

  By the time the slushie machines finally ran dry, Liam and I still hadn’t had a chance to talk. The movie had finished without us seeing any of it, the floor was awash with multi-coloured slop and so were we. My dress was probably ruined forever. On the up side, we had made a pile of money for the orangutans. Polly came by to collect the takings. She shook her head when she saw the state of the trailer and the colour of our clothes, but she was pretty impressed by the amount of money in the cash drawer.

  ‘Great work,’ she said. ‘Good luck with the clean-up!’

  I looked around and sighed. I hated cleaning. ‘I don’t remember signing up for this,’ I said.

  ‘Sorry, princess,’ Jack said, handing me a dishcloth. ‘The servants have run away.’

  ‘Ha ha.’ I started at one end of the bench.

  Liam picked up the mop and Jack began cleaning the machines. As I was wiping down the bench, I heard my phone go off. I ignored it at first, but it went off.

  It was a message from Annabel with two words:

  In love!

  She’d sent a pic of her and Kimmi, with their arms around Marco and Ryan. The four of them were pouting like models.

  Everything went to plan? I texted.

  Nearly had a disaster, Annabel replied. I spied a Fairmount girl moving in on Marco. But I gave her the evil eye and she backed off.

  Well done! I replied. Kimmi would have been devastated if Marco had ended up with another girl.

  How is the movie night going? Annabel asked.

  Just cleaning up, I replied.

  You know how to have fun!

  Sure do! Talk later. More fun cleaning to do!

  I put my phone away and looked at the guys. Liam was mopping Jack’s legs and Jack was trying to wipe Liam’s face with his sticky cloth. This was going to take a while.

  The oval was almost deserted by the time we finally closed the door to the slushie trailer. The three of us wandered back through the school to the street in silence. The guys didn’t live far away and were walking home, but I had to wait for my mum to collect me.

  I found a bench and sat down with a heavy sigh. It had been a long night. I was also disappointed that it was going to finish like this. I still didn’t really know how Liam felt about me.

  ‘I’ll wait with you until your mum arrives, if you like,’ Liam said, sitting down beside me.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said, smiling. ‘That’d be good.’

  Jack sat down next to Liam. A bit of shuffling went on and then Jack jumped to his feet again. ‘Ewww, I’m sticky all over. I think I’ll go home and have a shower.’

  ‘Okay, dude,’ Liam said, giving him a friendly shove. ‘Why don’t you do that?’

  Jack gave Liam a fist bump. ‘I’ll be off, then,’ he said, and then disappeared into the darkness.<
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  I glanced at Liam. I couldn’t help thinking that Jack’s departure hadn’t been a coincidence, that Liam had asked Jack to leave us alone. I felt a little buzz of excitement run through my spine at the possibility that I was finally going to find out what Liam wanted to ask me. We sat in silence for a few moments before Liam eventually spoke.

  ‘So,’ he said quietly. ‘Glad you stayed to help out? Or are you sorry you missed the party?’

  ‘I’m glad I stayed,’ I replied. It wasn’t the important question I’d been hoping for, but it was a start. ‘We made some money for the Wild Club and it was great to see my film on the big screen. And it was pretty fun hanging out with you and Jack. Even though you spilled as many slushies as you sold.’

  ‘Well, Jack totally lost the slushie fight.’ Liam said, smiling. Then he shuffled his feet awkwardly and stared down the street. ‘Guess your mum’ll be here soon.’

  ‘Yeah, soon,’ I said.

  We sat in silence for what seemed like forever after that. And I began to wonder if Liam was actually going to ask me anything important. Maybe Jack really had just gone home because he wanted a shower. Liam had spilled slushies all over him, and then mopped his face and hair, after all. But as I watched Liam out of the corner of my eye, tapping his fingers on the bench, I knew I needed to find out what was going on in his head – and fast, because Mum would be here any second.

  ‘I was thinking we should go to the movies some time,’ I said, tentatively.

  I watched Liam as the tapping stopped and his expression changed. A smile spread across his face. I knew I’d said the right thing. I still didn’t know exactly what was going on in his mind, but I felt like I was getting closer.

  ‘I was just thinking the same thing,’ Liam said. ‘Yeah, that’d be really cool.’

  ‘Maybe we could go tomorrow,’ I suggested.

  Liam’s face fell. ‘Sorry, not tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh,’ I said, wishing I hadn’t pushed him.

  ‘Not because I don’t want to,’ he went on. ‘It’s just – I’m going out with my parents.’

  ‘Family lunch?’ I said. ‘Poor you.’

  Liam shook his head. ‘There’s a pod of whales off the coast. My parents are going out tomorrow to take a look and I’m going, too.’

  ‘How cool,’ I said. ‘Sounds a lot more exciting than any family outing I’ve ever been on.’

  Liam’s face brightened. ‘You want to come too?’

  ‘Are you joking?’ I asked.

  Liam shook his head. ‘It’s not a tourist boat. We’ll be going out with a bunch of scientists. They never talk – except when it’s about whales. Then they never stop.’

  I laughed. ‘Sounds like a perfect way to spend the day.’

  ‘Great,’ he said, quietly. ‘It’ll be fun.’

  Liam looked at me again with that intense expression that he’d been giving me all night, and I wondered if he was going to kiss me. But by then it was too late. Mum had pulled up beside us.

  ‘You want a lift home?’ I asked.

  ‘Nah,’ Liam shook his head. ‘Jack won’t be far away, I’ll catch up with him.’

  ‘Okay, see you tomorrow,’ I said, getting into Mum’s car.

  Mum chattered to me all the way home, but I hardly heard what she was saying.

  Tomorrow, I’ll have all day to hang out with Liam again, I kept thinking. And who knows what might happen then!

  Liam’s hurt expression stayed with me the whole time as Kimmi’s mum drove us to Ryan’s party. Beside me, Annabel was bursting with excitement, but I just felt rotten about letting down my friends in the Wild Club. To make things worse, I’d rushed off so quickly, I hadn’t even wished them good luck.

  ‘Stop moping,’ Annabel said, noticing my mood. ‘You’re going to have an amazing time. Forget Liam and start thinking about Saia.’

  ‘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.