How to Get to Rio (22 page)

‘Cool,’ I said, smiling at Izzy and Mia. They were grinning and punching the air with their fists. I think they were pretty happy to hear that Rio would bring some friends along.

‘Oh, yeah,’ I said. ‘And bring a ball and we could have a game of volleyball, if you like?’

‘Great, and maybe some beach soccer?’ Rio suggested. ‘So, I’ll text you when we’re coming?’

I ended the call feeling stunned that I might not have to move to Mars after all. Somehow, things seemed to be working out with Rio.

‘How cool was that?’ Mia cheered, interrupting my thoughts. ‘Go, Kitty!’

‘Rio and his friends are gonna come and hang out with us,’ I told them, excitedly.

‘We know … we heard. Woo hoo!’ Izzy shouted, putting her arm around my shoulders.

Mia bounced up and down. ‘Must be time for an epic handshake!’

We giggled like crazy as we tapped, slapped and bumped our way through our handshakes. Mia, Izzy and I were too wired to go back to the tent, let alone consider sleep, so we went to sit out under the stars.

As I lay on the grass with my best friends, I was feeling very lucky indeed.

It didn’t matter how it had happened, but it had. I was going to see Rio. This really was going to be the best holiday ever.

Go back and choose all over again!

I wandered slowly back to the kitchen without my phone. I imagined Rio was walking with me, this time holding my hand. I was glad of the darkness because the stars were impressive, and my fantasy was a lot more convincing without light, too. I stopped outside the kitchen and peered inside.

Mia and Izzy were at the table sorting out lollies in the torchlight. Mia inspected a mangled python and then threw it on one of the piles of lollies on the table. ‘Gross! That one’s half eaten!’

‘What’s up?’ I asked, trying to work out their system.

‘We’re sorting the lollies into piles,’ Mia said. ‘Half eaten, sat on and okay to eat.’

‘Which are the okay ones?’ I could see only two piles.

Izzy pointed to a bare patch on the table. ‘That one. Not looking good so far.’

Mia emptied her lolly bag into the sat-on pile. ‘They’re all squashed.’

Izzy picked one up. ‘I guess they’ll still taste the same.’

‘Forget the lollies and come outside,’ I said, pulling Mia to her feet. ‘The stars are amazing.’

Izzy grabbed a giant python from the sat-on pile. ‘Think this one’s okay,’ she said, feeding the snake into her mouth and following us outside.

‘See what I mean?’ I said, pointing to the stars. ‘Do you guys know any of the constellations?’

But then a voice came from behind the trees. ‘They’re over here!’ It sounded like BB.

Suddenly seven boys were upon us. Two of them tackled me to the ground. ‘Get off!’ I screamed, looking around for Mia and Izzy.

They had been tackled too. Izzy was thrashing to get away, but she couldn’t move. Her brothers were on top of her.

BB sat on her chest, shining a torch on her face. ‘Where are the lollies? We know you took them.’

‘Get lost, you rodent!’ she screamed.

BB spun round and stuck his butt in her face. ‘You want me to fire a fart missile? That’ll loosen your tongue.’

‘Do it! Do it!’ chanted the other boys.

‘Mum!’ Izzy screamed. But there was no sign of anyone’s mum.

‘The lollies are in the kitchen!’ I shouted, saving Izzy from the missile.

‘To the kitchen!’ one of the boys screamed. A moment later, I was released. Mia, Izzy and I lay on the ground, stunned. We saw lights in the kitchen come on and watched the Rodent Tribe tear inside and then run off into the dark with their lolly loot. It was all over in seconds.

I slowly got to my feet, still a little shocked by what had just happened. ‘You have really disgusting brothers.’

Mia laughed.

‘What are you laughing at?’ Izzy cried.

‘Incoming!’ called a voice in the darkness.

‘What the –?’

Splat. Something landed, loud and wet, on the ground in front of Izzy.

‘Jellyfish!’ I screamed, ducking behind a tree.

‘You’re dead, you hear!’ Izzy shouted into the darkness.

But by then the boys had run off, probably to go find more jellyfish.

When we were sure the boys weren’t coming back, we came out from behind the trees.

Mia looked up to the sky. ‘Now, what were we talking about before those stupid boys interrupted?’

I sneaked a quick look around the bushes and then finally relaxed. My eyes drifted up and across the sky. ‘We were looking for constellations. And I can see one. It’s the Cat.’

Izzy laughed. ‘There isn’t a constellation called the Cat. You’re just making that up.’

‘No, really,’ I said, pointing to a group of stars. ‘There are its ears, and there’s a tail.’

‘And I can see the Tree!’ Mia shouted excitedly. ‘Look, all those stars are like branches, full of beautiful parrots.’

Izzy laughed. ‘I can see Mr Contra eating a bowl of cabbage soup.’

I lay down on the grass to get a better view of the stars. I couldn’t see Mr Contra, but I could pick out someone else’s face. ‘I can see Rio Sanchez.’

‘Aw,’ Mia said. ‘That’s so cute. Is Tom up there, too?’

She lay down beside me. ‘Yes, I can see him. Hello, Tom Cuthbert! Look, he’s swimming across the sky to see me.’

I looked at Izzy, who was still standing, gazing at the stars. ‘Can you see someone up there, apart from stinky Mr Contra?’

She flopped down beside me. ‘Uh-huh.’

‘Is it one of the cute campers?’

‘Yeah, it’s Popeye,’ she said.

I laughed. ‘You mean Dan, or Sam?’

‘Or Calvin?’ giggled Mia.

‘Yes,’ Izzy said. ‘There he is.’ She tried to point him out. ‘It doesn’t matter what his name is. I’ve seen him in the stars!’ she said, grinning.

Mia snorted. ‘Well, it must be destiny then. You’ll definitely end up with him.’

We all laughed at that. I stared up, looking to see if I could find Rio again, but a cloud had drifted across the night sky. ‘I think I’ve lost Rio.’

Mia sighed. ‘Tom’s gone, too.’

‘I can only see Popeye’s ear,’ Izzy sighed. ‘Ah, well. Easy come, easy go. That’s what boyfriends are like.’

I smiled. Izzy was hardly an expert on boyfriends. She’d definitely had a lot of love interests, but had never actually dated anyone. She did have a point, though.

‘Let’s make a pact,’ I said, lying back down between Mia and Izzy. I took their hands. ‘Boys might come and go, but besties are forever.’

Just as I said that something raced across the sky.

‘Shooting star!’ we all shouted at once.

None of us were certain that it really was a shooting star – it might have been another flying jellyfish, or maybe even a jet-propelled set of lolly teeth, or just a plane or a satellite – but I think we all wanted it to be special.

‘Make a wish!’ I said, clutching my friends’ hands and squeezing my eyes shut. This time I didn’t wish for a kiss with Rio – I was thinking about Izzy and Mia.

Best friends forever.

One day I might be ready for a real boyfriend. And who knew, maybe it would be Rio. But right now I had everyone I needed.

What more could I wish for?

Go back and choose all over again!

‘I’d like to propose a toast,’ I said, raising my glass to Persephone’s. ‘To new friends.’ We clinked glasses.

Izzy and Mia were still busy in the pool taking on the guys at water polo. They weren’t helping the Rio situation at all, while Persephone was really looking out for me. She was doing everything she could to make things work between Rio and me.

Persephone and I ran through the whole script again. With George’s friends in the pool we had three extra people to manage. But we couldn’t make them leave because George might leave with them, and that would make it impossible for the jealousy element to work.

Persephone fiddled with the umbrella in her glass. ‘You need to do something else to get George’s attention. There’s too much going on in the pool. He’s not going to notice you sitting on your sun lounge.’

‘What about if I were more like this?’ I stood up, flicked my hair and giggled loudly about nothing. Then I pulled my phone out and took a few selfies.

‘Wow, that’s scarily good,’ Persephone said, laughing. ‘You’re totally killing it. I almost mistook you for Tori.’