How to Get to Rio (7 page)

Mia and Izzy spent a few more moments watching the guys, or the pool – I wasn’t sure which – and then came shuffling after me. We raced down onto the beach, towards the headland that separated The Lost World from Paradise Point. But then we hit the rocks.

We had to leap from one boulder to another, avoiding the sharp barnacles and finding our way around crevices. It was really slow going.

Izzy started to complain that her ankle was hurting from the leech bite. ‘Can’t we go back? We’ll see Persephone another time.’

It wasn’t like Izzy to run out of energy. She must have been angling to get back to see the campers.

‘But we’re nearly there,’ I said, trying to distract her. ‘Just think about the milkshake at the end of the bay.’

‘I don’t even like milkshakes that much,’ she grumbled.

‘I bet they have great cookies,’ I said.

‘Don’t like cookies either.’

Now Izzy was just being difficult, so I tried another tactic. ‘Thanks for coming to Paradise Point with me. I know you don’t like Persephone much, but it means a lot to me.’

‘We’re not going so you can see Persephone,’ Mia reminded me. ‘We’re going to find Rio.’

‘Yeah, of course,’ I said, taking a deep breath. ‘But, um, just one more thing …’ I knew the only way to tell them was to say it. ‘I told Persephone we were staying in a luxury villa … so it would be good if you didn’t mention we’re camping.’

Izzy stopped. ‘What?’

‘I’m not asking you to lie,’ I said quickly. ‘Just don’t say anything about where we’re staying.’

Mia frowned. ‘Are you embarrassed to be camping with us, Kitty?’

I shook my head. ‘No. I think Persephone might have just misunderstood something and thinks we’re staying in a five-star rural retreat.’

Izzy caught up with me. ‘Sorry, I’m not going to lie to impress some stuck-up girl.’

‘She’s not stuck-up and I’m not asking you to lie – I’m just asking you to avoid the subject.’ Now I was getting annoyed. ‘And I don’t know why you’re so huffy.
You
both lied to me about camping.’

Mia jumped across a crevice. ‘Yeah, that was kind of mean,’ she admitted. ‘We took it too far, didn’t we?’

‘You did,’ I said, indignantly.

‘Hey,’ Izzy protested. ‘That was different. We were thinking of you when we said all that stuff about digging your own toilet. You were just thinking of yourself when you lied about camping. That’s selfish.’

I glared at Izzy. ‘If I’m so selfish how come I just walked through a leech-infested rainforest for you?’ I said. ‘And saved you from a leech attack?’

‘Saved me? That was just –’

Izzy was stopped mid-sentence by a flying blob of jelly. It smacked her right between the eyes. She was looking around wildly, just as something whacked me in the back of the head. Then three more jelly missiles landed on the rocks beside us. I looked at the boulders above us and spied where they were coming from. Izzy’s and Mia’s brothers were pelting us with jellyfish. They dived behind the rocks, laughing like crazy.

‘Get down here, you rodents!’ Izzy shouted.

The boys responded with another volley of jellyfish.

‘You’re dead! Dead! All of you!’ Izzy screamed.

We weren’t waiting around to find out how many jellyfish the Rodent Tribe had stockpiled. We quickly scrambled off in the direction of Paradise Point, with Izzy hurling nonstop abuse at her brothers as jellyfish rained down on us. We didn’t slow down until we reached the beach on the other side of the headland.

Paradise Point was like another country. For a start, there were no boys throwing jellyfish at our heads. Then there was the beach – no slippery rocks, just white sand and lots of people. It was jammed with beautiful girls lounging on their towels and guys in board shorts throwing balls. Kids shrieked as they caught small waves on their boogie boards. The smell of coffee drifted on the breeze, and in among the beachfront shops and restaurants I could see our destination: Shake Shifter.

‘I just hope she’s still there. It must be nearly four by now,’ I said, pushing my daggy socks down to my ankles and trying to rearrange my top. ‘And, remember, we’re staying in a luxury resort.’

‘How could I forget that five-star treatment we’ve been enjoying,’ Izzy grumbled.

As we got closer to the Shake Shifter, I was relieved to see Persephone sitting outside, talking to Jordan. Even from a distance, I could see that she didn’t look as polished and perfect as usual. Her hair had a messy beach look, which made her look even prettier – if that was possible. I watched her and Jordan for a moment, until someone else caught my eye. I started backing away.

‘It’s Rio,’ I said, feeling breathless.

‘Cool,’ Mia said. ‘That’s who you wanted to see.’

‘Yes, but not now. Not like this!’ I looked down at my top and suddenly realised why it wasn’t sitting right: there was a tear down the side. My shorts were muddy and I was in filthy running shoes and grubby socks. It was bad enough meeting Persephone in this state, there was no way I could talk to Rio.

‘You look fine,’ said Mia.

‘I look like I just walked out of a
Survivor
episode!’ I told her. ‘What about my hair?’ Even without looking I knew it was not cute-messy like Persephone’s. It felt like a bird’s nest.

‘It’s not as bad as Mia’s,’ Izzy said, matter-of-factly.

‘Hey,’ Mia frowned. ‘What’s wrong with my hair?’ She ran her fingers through it and groaned as a blob of jellyfish fell out. ‘Oh. Gross.’

I gave my hair a shake in case I was also transporting jellyfish. Some seaweed dropped onto the sand. ‘No way,’ I said. ‘I can’t meet them looking like this.’

Izzy shrugged. ‘If we bail now, I’m not coming back.’

Mia gave me a nudge. ‘Go on, Kitty. Be brave. You always look cute, even with seaweed in your hair,’ she said kindly. ‘But I think you’ll have to come clean on the camping. You don’t look like you’ve just walked out of a luxury resort.’

I glanced over at the three good-looking people sitting outside Shake Shifter. Could I really face Persephone, Jordan and Rio looking like I’d survived a shipwreck? Would that be brave or just stupid? If I didn’t, I might miss my chance with Rio. Should I go and talk to Rio and Persephone, or should I go back to the camping ground and forget about them until school started again?

The view from Persephone’s holiday apartment was even more amazing than I could have imagined. From the balcony in her bedroom I felt like I could see everyone on the beach – every guy showing off his abs and every girl showing off her tan. We had front-row seats to everything that was happening at Paradise Point without even leaving the apartment. Of course, we
would
be leaving the apartment, just as soon as Persephone had decided on her bikini. She had ten to choose from.

I, on the other hand, had packed two, and had discovered right after I arrived that one didn’t actually fit anymore, so that left me with an embarrassingly small number of choices. My blue bikini was it. I had liked it when I packed it, but now, beside Persephone’s selection, it looked hopelessly last season.

While Persephone tried on her sixth bikini, I took in the view, trying to spot a celebrity. There had to be one out there. Paradise Point was a magnet for them. My eyes roamed the busy beach, from the point all the way to the headland at the other end of the bay.

‘Why’s the beach so packed here, and then, past that headland, there’s no-one?’ I asked.

‘That’s a national park,’ Persephone called. ‘You can’t see it from here, but there’s a camping ground called The Lost World on the other side of the headland.’

Hearing the word ‘camping’ immediately made me feel guilty. I’d called Mia yesterday afternoon and told her I’d sprained my ankle and wasn’t able to go with them. It was a complete lie, but I thought it was the only thing to do. I’d agonised over it for a bit. It wasn’t like I made a habit of dropping my friends when I got a better offer. But I’d been really stressed about camping, and Persephone had provided me with a perfect excuse not to go. Of course, I couldn’t tell Izzy and Mia that. I decided it was kinder just to lie and make sure I kept off Facebook, Instagram and everywhere else, so Izzy and Mia didn’t find out the truth.

‘How do I look?’ Persephone asked, doing a twirl in a cute floral bikini.

‘Amazing,’ I said, completely truthfully.

‘What about from behind?’

‘The same – perfect.’ I would have lied if I had to, but I didn’t need to. Persephone really was perfect.

She frowned. ‘What about my fat butt?’

‘Who says you’ve got a fat butt?’

Persephone waved her thumb at her brother’s bedroom. George was the male version of Persephone: smooth skin, great hair and a perfect body. He was actually impossibly gorgeous. But he totally knew it.

‘So you’re going to take the word of your dumb brother over mine?’

Persephone grinned. ‘All right, let’s go. Should we head straight to the beach or check out the shops first?’

‘Well, I could do with a new bikini,’ I said.

She clapped her hands. ‘Great! Shopping it is!’

Persephone led the way.

‘It’s a little pricey,’ she said as we walked down the beachfront, ‘but totally worth it. This shop has what everyone else at school will be wearing next season.’

I followed her inside a tiny busy shop, full of colour, music and a lot of very pretty girls who looked just like Persephone.

‘It’s not normally this packed,’ she said.

And then we saw why. The sign above the cash register read:
50% off beachwear
.

‘Cool!’ I said, and headed straight for the racks. I decided to work methodically, from one end of the shop to the other. A few minutes later, I had found a couple of bikinis I liked, but was struggling to find them in my size.

‘What do you think of these?’ asked Persephone. She had an armful of bikinis and flashed them at me, one by one.

‘Wow! I love them all! They’re gorgeous,’ I said. ‘They’ll look great on you.’

‘Not for me, silly,’ Persephone said, shaking her head. ‘I chose them for you.’

I checked the sizes. They were all my size. I had no idea how Persephone could guess my size and taste so perfectly. ‘You should be my personal stylist,’ I told her on the way to the changing room.