Some Kind of Wonderful (6 page)

Chapter 8

DESTINATION FUGGET ABOUT IT

T
he next thing I knew, someone was fastening a middle seatbelt around me and someone else was tilting my head back and positioning
a bottle of water to my lips.

"Cold,
so cold"
I whispered. I was in the back of one of the Range Rovers, and my friends were on either side of me.

"Here," Judith said. "Drink."

"Ladies," our driver said as he started the car. "You'll be staying in Bungalow Eight."

A blur of palm tree fronds began whizzing past our windows.

"Ooh," Meredith said. "Just like the club. How lucky! Flan, isn't that lucky?"

"Mmm," I think I said out loud.

I caught sight of a billboard for cave diving, one for parasailing, and one showing a huge open-air deck on a gorgeous cliff
overlooking the water. I couldn't see the beach yet, but I could smell it. On some level, I knew we were on the way to the
bungalow that we'd call home for the next week. But all I could focus on was the extreme embarrassment of the last five minutes
and the side order of a very strong and sudden case of nausea that I was dealing with.

"Sooner or later, she's going to have to speak," I heard Judith say over my head to Meredith.

"Do you think one of those guys was her ex-boyfriend?" Meredith whispered back.

"Worse," I managed to moan.

"Flan, you're alive!" Meredith said. "Wait—worse than an ex-boyfriend? What do you mean?"

"Ex-girlfriend," I said, taking the water bottle from Judith and resting it against my forehead.

Judith's eyes looked like they were about to bug out of her head. "You never told us you—"

"No, no," I said. "Not
that
kind of ex-girlfriend. It was Kennedy Pearson. A girl I used to be friends with at my old school. That is, before she turned
into my nemesis."

"Oh," Judith said. "You're right, that
is
worse." She looked over at Meredith. "Remember Jana Walsh?"

Meredith grimaced. "You say that as if I could forget Jana Walsh."

Judith turned back to me. "Jana Walsh was the other point in our triangle way back in the sixth grade. The three of us were
best friends all through elementary school."

"You've never mentioned anyone named Jana Walsh before," I said.

The girls nodded gravely.

"There's a reason for that. Remember the Tony Incident?"

"Of course," I said. Tony was a hot guy from M&J's old school. He was the reason we enacted the No Adam Rule in the first
place, because the girls had (supposedly) learned their lesson after both lusting after the same guy once before—with disastrous
results.

"Well," Judith said, "after Meredith and I decided that our friendship was more important than some lame video-game-playing,
prepubescent—"

"You mean after we totally freaked him out by waging a screaming fight over him in front of an audience?" Meredith interrupted
with a laugh. "Well, the point is, Flan, that after that—"

"Our
best friend,
Jana Walsh, stepped in and stole him right out from under us," Judith finished. Then, an embarrassed look crossed her face.
She froze and there was an awkward silence before she said, "Oh, but she was totally bitchy about it and neither of us ever
got over it. She wasn't half as mature and honest with us as you've been about Adam. Anyway, what I mean is, Meredith and
I totally know what it's like to have an ex-best friend who you never wanted to see again. Right, Mer?"

Meredith nodded and quickly changed the subject. "What'd this Kennedy girl do, anyway? Please don't tell me she tried to steal
your boyfriend."

"Worse," I said, feeling like a broken record. "She
succeeded
in stealing my
best
friend."

The 'diths nodded again. They put their arms around my shoulders.

"You're right," Judith said. "That is much, much worse."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Meredith asked.

It was hard to feel so shaken up and numb while looking out the windows as we drove. The stereo was playing Bob Marley on
low, and the windows were rolled down all the way so that the most fabulous breeze tossed our hair around. Everything outside
was just so lush and green and incredibly, incredibly beautiful that I couldn't help but be warm again.

"Nothing," I said, somehow managing to put on a braver face than I felt. "We're not going to let her bother us. We're going
to go through with all the things we said we'd do this week. We're going to— whoa!"

We had just turned into a circular driveway that opened up on a massive two-story white stucco house with a faux thatched
roof and a long wooden staircase down to the beach. This was no quaint little bungalow. This was the lap of luxury.

"'Whoa' is right," Meredith said. "This can't be for us?"

"Ladies," the driver said, stopping the car. "This is Bungalow Eight." He opened our car doors and began to carry our suitcases
into the house.

Meredith and Judith stood there, stunned for a minute, and then all three of us dashed for the door.

Inside, our pad was decked out in super elegant island decor. There were three bedrooms—each with an ocean view. The upstairs
living room had a giant wraparound deck with a hot tub and a row of hammocks, each shaded by different brightly colored, blossoming
hibiscus trees.

We claimed our rooms and began roaming around the property, calling out to one another about each fantastic discovery we made.

"The fridge is stocked with tropical fruit salad and Honest Tea!" Meredith gushed.

"And there's snorkeling gear in the pool shack!" Judith shouted.

"Hey, you guys," I called. "Come check this out."

On the kitchen table, I'd found a folder that must have been left for us by one of the members of the Zumbergs' extensive
vacation staff. Inside were a map of the island and a listing of each bungalow's phone number. My parents—and in fact all
of the adults— were staying in a line of hilltop cottages on the beach cove right up from us. That was at least two miles
away, so I knew that the parties on our beach would be pretty off the hook.

There was also a detailed social schedule of events for the entire week. It was broken down into different activities for
the kids and for the adults—and our schedule included a bonfire party down on the beach that night.

"Jackpot!" Meredith said. "What are you guys going to wear?"

Judith took the schedule from my hands. "Monday night is the bonfire. Tuesday night is a beach-side barbecue. There's an afternoon
snorkeling expedition. Today there's an Island Adventure Scavenger Hunt. Um, is this a vacation or a military schedule? It's
like every minute is already planned out." She flipped her hair anxiously. "You said it was going to be relaxing, Flan. I'm
already stressing. When will I have time to study?"

"Judith, we don't have to go to everything," I said. "We can pick and choose whatever we want. This schedule's just here to
give us options. Don't worry— there'll be plenty of free time. Usually people go to things the first night in order to make
friends, and then make their own plans after that."

"Personally," Meredith said, taking a sip of pomegranate Honest Tea, "I want to do everything." She pointed at the first group
activity this afternoon. "I mean, how many times in your life have you had the opportunity to go on an Island Adventure Scavenger
Hunt?"

"I know I'm only going to have this set of finals
once,
so I have to set aside a ton of time to study like crazy," Judith said.

"I think the secret is pacing ourselves," I said. "Pick and choose what we want, skip what we don't. That's the great thing
about vacation—we can do whatever we feel like doing."

I was glad that Meredith seemed so into it all. She dashed off to change into her bathing suit for the scavenger hunt, while
Judith hauled out her seven hundred-page math book. I felt that a more leisurely pace was in order, so I wandered out to the
deck and climbed into one of the hammocks in the shade.

"Why don't we reconvene here at seven o'clock to get ready for the bonfire tonight?" Meredith called on her way out the door.

I gave her the thumbs-up and leaned back in the hammock, listening to how different the sounds of the island were from the
sounds of New York. It was so relaxing out here, so peaceful. I couldn't help but close my eyes. . . .

I was walking down an unfamiliar hallway, but I seemed
to know not only exactly where I was going, but also every
single person I passed.

"Hey, Flan
—
love your outfit! Is that a new boatneck
top? You should always wear those!"

"Flan, you have to promise you'll run for class president
this year. You're the only one who can lead our
grade"

"Flan, my cousin, Zac Efron, is coming into town on
Friday, and I swore to him that you'd come out to dinner
with us. Is there any chance you're free?"

Of course, I suddenly realized. I was at Thoney, starting
classes at the beginning of second semester. Everything
felt so easy here, so natural. I was practically floating
down the hallway. I smiled at everyone, waved at everyone.

Flan for President? Why not?

Of course I'm free to hang with you and Cousin Zac.

I got to my locker, which didn't even have a
combination
—
it just sprang open when I stopped in
front of it. How wonderful! I could never remember my
combination at Stuy. I was about to take out my books
for my afternoon classes, when I made the mistake of
glancing in the mirror of my LockerMate.

Looking back at me was not my reflection at all. It was
the face of Kennedy Pearson.

"You think you can rule the school so easily, Flan?"
Her nasty voice practically spat at me. "Well, guess what?
You're wrong! Remember,
I can, too!"

I gasped in horror and slammed the locker shut.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up and check this out."

I shot up in the hammock. My heart was racing. I rubbed my eyes and noticed Meredith in the hammock next to mine. Something
hard landed on my stomach, and when I reached for it, my fingers found a necklace.

It was made of abalone shells and the weird wooden beads that Meredith had shown us last week at Alice's Tea Cup. But somehow,
the weird wooden beads didn't look so weird anymore. The necklace was slightly longer than a choker and was actually kind
of great.

"You made this?" I said, still a little out of it from my intense dream.

Meredith grinned and nodded. "I found the abalone shells in the scavenger hunt. And I met some of the absolute greatest people.
I can't wait to introduce you tonight. Everyone's going to this bonfire. Anyway, when I came home, I just knew the shells
would look great with my new beads. Check out how great Judith's looks."

Judith stepped forward and modeled the necklace she was wearing. It did look really cool. But I was still stuck on what Meredith
had said about the scavenger hunt. Exactly which absolute greatest people had she met?

"I don't know if it's the necklace that suits you so well," Meredith said to Judith, "or if you just look so much better without
that trig book weighing you down."

"Ha-ha, shut up," Judith said. "Let's put Flan's necklace on her."

I stood up and let the girls fasten the necklace. When I looked at it in the mirror, all I could think of was how grateful
I was to be awake, and that it was my own reflection I saw before me—not Kennedy Pearson's.

Chapter 9

OUT OF THE SHELL AND INTO THE FIRE

A
n
hour later, we were ready to party. Judith was wearing a jean skirt and a bright orange graphic T-shirt that said MEET ME
IN RIO. Mer had on a long red sarong that she'd wrapped herself in like an origami doll. And I was wearing a short cream-colored
tunic dress with a purple hibiscus flower in my hair. All three of us were sporting Meredith's new necklaces, and there were
no sensible shoes or boat-neck tops or mismatched patterns to be found.

We made our way toward the circle of tiki torches that outlined the bonfire below. I could hear the buzz of the party competing
with the sound of the waves washing up on the shore. The sun was setting, and a few stars were already popping out. I was
definitely in the mood for some fun, but I was still a little bit nervous about whom we'd find when we got there.

"Oh my God," Meredith breathed as we got close enough to see what people were wearing. "Everyone's so glamorous. From a purely
artistic perspective, this is
amazing."

She was right. It was definitely a posh-looking crew. The poncho girls had shed their cover-ups and were making do in Pucci
bikini tops and designer cutoffs. A group of kids were trying to have a hula hoop contest, but they kept tripping over their
feet and collapsing on top of each other in fits of laughter.

"They're not even doing it right," Judith huffed, flipping her blond hair over her shoulders. She still sounded stressed,
and I knew I needed to figure out a way to get her to relax and have some fun. But I was feeling pretty preoccupied myself,
scanning the party for Kennedy's dark, wavy hair.

"Um, I think it's because they've had a little bit of the island punch, Judith," I said distractedly.

Judith crossed her arms over her chest, looking slightly put out.

Meredith waved at a few kids as we walked into the thick of the crowd. "Hey, Paul," she said to a boy with white-blond hair.
He was the guy Judith had picked during
Would You Rather
at the airport.

"Hi, Rena," Mer said to a superskinny girl with big eyes and a splash of freckles across her nose. "You have to meet my friends,
Flan and Judith," she said. And then, turning to us, she explained, "We bonded on the scavenger hunt today."

"How's it going?" I said.

"Awesome," Paul said, sounding like a total surfer. "How huge is this bonfire?"

"Huge!" Judith agreed, and I was glad to see her smile.

The bonfire was so large that it was impossible to see the other side of it. But we could hear a lot of people laughing over
there, and it seemed like that was where the action was, so we kept walking around the circle.

When we reached the other side, I stopped short. It shouldn't have surprised me to see Kennedy Pearson holding court with
about fifteen of the most popular-looking kids on the beach, but I still wasn't prepared to find myself right in front of
her again so quickly.

"It's so loud here," Judith said, covering her ears. "How much longer do you guys want to stay?"

"Judith," I said, much more sharply than I'm sure I meant to. "We just
got
here! And we're on
vacation"

Judith blanched but didn't answer me. I must have said it more loudly than I realized because at that moment, a really hot
guy brushed past us with four drinks in his hands. He gave me a shocked look, like he couldn't believe anyone would be that
bitchy.

Ugh,
what was wrong with me? The judgmental hottie was right. I wasn't being myself, and I could tell Judith was pretty hurt.

"Look, Judith, I didn't mean—"

But before I had a chance to apologize, Kennedy Pearson appeared right in front of us like the wicked witch she was.

"Flan Flood, look at you. You've certainly grown
up,
haven't you?" she said.

"Hi, Kennedy." I rocked awkwardly on my heels and pulled on my shell necklace. I hated that she could still unsettle me so
much.

She looked Judith up and down.

"Where'd you get your friend?" she said. "The same place you got that outfit? The Barney's co-op sale?"

"Oh, no," a familiar voice said behind me. "Flan can only shop at the Big and Tall stores these days."

I spun around. Oh my God.
Meredith
said that? In front of Kennedy? I couldn't tell if she only meant it as a joke, but it definitely felt like an insult.

"I knew there was something I liked about you, Mer," Kennedy said. "Come over to our side of the fire. I want you to meet
some of my friends." She spun on her heel and was gone.

I grabbed Meredith's arm.

"I forgot to tell you," she said, looking sheepish. "I met Kennedy on the scavenger hunt this afternoon. I know you have a
beef with her, but I swear, she was so nice to me that I almost forgot about it. It seems like she's grown up a lot since
middle school. I promise—she's so cool now. She even told me what good friends you used to be and how bad she feels that you
two don't hang out anymore."

I opened my mouth to respond, but I was too stunned to speak. Meredith had just basically insulted me to my face, and now
she was BFF with Kennedy? What planet had I woken up on? There was no way I was buying the fact that Kennedy felt badly about
what happened between us. If there was one thing I knew for certain, it was that Kennedy could
not
be trusted.

I turned to Judith for support, but she was nowhere to be found. I felt terrible. I turned around to find her and apologize,
but Meredith took my hand.

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Meredith, you don't know Kennedy. She's evil."

"I really think she's changed," Meredith said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "She was super sweet today. And her parents
own this gallery in Chelsea— you know the one I love on 19th Street that I'm always unsuccessfully trying to drag you to?
And did you know that Ava Korner is her godmother? You never told me that! You know she's, like, my favorite artist ever.
Kennedy said she'd introduce me."

"Meredith, over here!" It was Kennedy, waving
my
friend over to
her
headquarters. I was having deja vu.

"Let's go," Meredith said. "Just for a little. If you're having a terrible time in five minutes, we can leave. Just give her
another chance, okay?"

But she didn't give me any time to argue. She was already halfway to Kennedy. I had no Judith and no choice but to follow
Meredith pathetically, like a lost puppy.

"Hey!" Kennedy said as we sat down in the middle of a crowd of cute guys. "TZ, this is Meredith. And that's her friend, Flan.
TZ has been wanting to meet you since I told him all about you this afternoon, Meredith."

TZ was none other than the judgmental hottie whom I'd already embarrassed myself in front of. As I looked at him more closely,
I realized that I knew him. I'd met him years before. He was Terrick Zumberg—of the Zumbergs who were behind this whole vacation.
He'd been a terror when he was a little kid, when he still went by Terrick, but apparently in the few years since I'd seen
him he'd bloomed into a full-fledged hunk.

"Hey," TZ said, giving Meredith a smile and a little head nod. "Love your necklace. This is Bruce," he said, pointing down
to a very frisky border collie that was trying to gnaw through a coconut.

And I could tell from the way TZ said those seven little words that he knew exactly how cute he was, that he was well aware
that everyone here was hanging out on his family's dime, and that there was no question that he could get any girl at this
party.

Normally, I hated that kind of guy, but there was something about TZ that was almost magnetic. And soon I noticed that I wasn't
the only one staring at him. A girl I knew from Miss Mallard's, Mattie Hendricks, was practically boring a hole in his head
with her eyes.

Mattie had been in my history class a few years ago and would be an eighth grader now. I'd always thought she was super sweet,
but a little bit on the dorky side. She'd been wearing the same side ponytail since before it was cool again.

"Hey, Mattie," I said to her.

It took her a second to pry her eyes off of TZ, but when she finally looked at me, her face lit up. "Flan! It's so good to
see you. I miss you!"

"Oh," I stammered, surprised by her excited tone. "It's good to see you, too."

"Remember when we did that diorama on the Pilgrims three years ago? That was awesome."

I smiled at her. "Yeah," I said. "That was fun."

"Is that your friend over there talking to Terrick Zumberg?"

I looked over to see who she was talking about, and was surprised to see TZ fingering Meredith's necklace.

"That's my friend Meredith?" It had come out sounding like a question.

"So are they dating or what?"

"No!" I said, a little too quickly. I didn't know why, but there was something about that question that made me almost . .
. jealous.

I needed to calm down.

I turned to Mattie. "Listen, I'm going to go grab a drink, okay? It was good to see you."

I waved to Mattie and was going to ask Meredith if she wanted to come with me to get some punch from the cooler on the other
side of the fire, but when I got there, Kennedy was monopolizing her.

"Oh my God," she said. "Is that necklace made from the shells we found on the beach? I knew you said you were going to do
something with them, but I didn't realize you could make such awesome jewelry."

"Well," Meredith said, clearly glowing, "I had a feeling they'd go well with these new beads I just ordered, but I had to
see them together to make sure."

"Wow," TZ said, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. "That's rad. Could you make me a necklace? You must be really creative."

Telling Meredith she was creative was like telling me,
Hey, Flan, you're even more laid back than your
sister and brother.
It was the compliment she most wanted to hear. And the thing was, it was true. She
was
creative. And normally I'd be psyched that someone was giving my friend such well-deserved props, but tonight, it made me
feel weird and possessive.

In so many ways I felt like Meredith had been my discovery. Like she was some submerged sea treasure I'd found on a scuba
diving trip and had brought to the surface. It wasn't that I didn't want anyone else to see how great she was, it was just
that . . . well . . . what
was
it?

And just when I thought things couldn't get any more confusing, I heard Meredith say coyly (and very uncharacteristically),
"Uh uh, it doesn't work that way. I can't just make a necklace on demand for anyone who asks."

"Not even for me?" TZ said, fake pouting. It was startling how he still looked sort of cute with his lower lip turned down.

Meredith looked to the sky, as if for inspiration. "It's just, I have to feel the
need
to make the necklace."

Too much! I needed some air. Luckily, no one was paying any attention to me, so I was able to steal away from the group and
get down to the beach. I just wanted to breathe for a few minutes so I could figure out what was making me feel so unsettled
about Meredith.

I collapsed on an empty sand bar and watched the waves foam across the shoreline. It was weird. I was practically witnessing
Meredith blossom into cool. It was something I'd wanted to happen for months—but the thing that I hated to admit was . . .
I always thought that I'd have more to do with it.

I'd tried to coax Meredith out of her shell a thousand times, but as it turned out, she didn't even need my help. In fact,
Meredith didn't need to come out of her shell at all; she just needed to make a necklace out of one. I couldn't understand
how she was suddenly a smash success at this party. I mean, she was great and all, but in more of a Stuyvesant-great kind
of way.

"Um, excuse me?" I looked up to see that a guy had approached me. I sat up straight and smiled at him. He was kind of cute.

"Yes?"

"You're, uh, I think you're sitting on my girlfriend's poncho." He pointed at the sand where I noticed I was sitting on a
woven navy poncho.

"Oh," I said. "Sorry." I handed it to him so he could return it to whichever poncho girl was his girlfriend.

When he started to walk away, I felt more alone than ever. What was I doing out here pouting by myself? I stood up and took
a few deep breaths before following the couple back toward the party. As I walked behind them, I, um, accidentally eavesdropped
on their conversation.

"We have to wait till the party dies down," the girl was saying. "Kennedy doesn't want a mass exodus. There's only room for
ten of us in the kayaks."

"When do you think that's going to be?" her boyfriend asked. "It's already almost midnight."

She shrugged. "Whenever TZ says the party's over, the party's over. It's always more fun when it's just the late-night crew
hanging out anyway."

"Totally. Remember last year with the—"

But I couldn't hear the rest of their story because they both exploded into laughter. It was the kind of laughter that felt
so good to do yourself—but felt so bad to hear from the outside.

Or maybe I was just primed to feel sorry for myself. I had never felt so uncool. I'd been so sure that I needed a vacation,
but who could call this a relaxing getaway? Definitely not me . . .