The Call of the Wild (19 page)

‘Um, Kimmi, I know where Marco is,’ I told Kimmi.

‘You’ve seen him?’ she said brightly. She obviously had no idea what I was about to tell her. I put my arm around her and led her away from the guys, making sure that she had her back to Marco. Annabel followed us. ‘You’re not really going to like what I’m about to tell you,’ I warned her gently.

The smile slipped from her face. ‘What do you mean?’

I gave her a hug and then took a deep breath. I hated having to tell her that the guy she’d been dreaming about was with someone else.

‘He’s with another girl,’ I said eventually.

‘What?’ Kimmi said quietly. Her face went pale, and tears welled in her eyes. I felt awful, like I was the one who’d betrayed her.

‘Oh, Kimmi,’ I said, squeezing her tight.

Annabel’s eyes were darting around the terrace. Then her head suddenly jerked towards the trees. ‘Oh my god,’ she mumbled, staring straight at Marco. ‘That dirtbag.’

Kimmi’s body stiffened and she spun around, following Annabel’s gaze. ‘Marco?’ she whispered.

‘Forget him,’ I said, trying to steer Kimmi away, but she seemed determined to see for herself. Marco, on the other hand, hadn’t even noticed he was the centre of attention.

‘It’s one of the Fairmount girls,’ Kimmi mumbled. ‘The one we saw at the rugby.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said, putting my arm around her. ‘Come on, let’s go inside. Forget about him. He doesn’t deserve you, Kimmi.’

Kimmi shook her head. ‘I just want to go home.’

‘Okay,’ I agreed, sighing inwardly. ‘Sure, we can call Annabel’s mum, we’ll see if she can pick us up early.’

Kimmi nodded. ‘Sorry, I know you were having fun. But I just can’t stay here with them.’

I turned to look at Saia. He was still behind us, with Ryan. I hated to leave him when we’d been getting on so well, but I had to take Kimmi home. I’d be seriously crushed, too, if I’d turned up and found Saia with another girl. I looked around for Annabel, but she was no longer beside me – she was marching towards Marco. What was she planning to do? Nothing she could say now was going to help Kimmi.

‘Annabel,’ I called after her.

She turned and waved to us. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’re gonna sort this out.’

Kimmi and I scurried after Annabel. It wasn’t until the three of us were standing right in front of Marco that he and the Fairmount girl finally looked up. Annabel fixed Marco with a killer stare. It was enough to scare me, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

‘Hey, neighbour,’ Marco said to Annabel, as if he was chatting to her over the fence.

‘Don’t
hey neighbour
me,’ Annabel replied sharply.

Marco looked indignant and got to his feet. The girl he was with shuffled out of the way. She seemed to sense that Annabel was not someone to be messed with.

‘You might remember Kimmi?’ Annabel went on.

‘You’ve been leading her on all week. And now you’re making out with some other girl. What’s that about?’

Marco frowned. ‘I wasn’t leading anyone on,’ Marco said, avoiding Kimmi’s gaze. ‘And don’t forget, I was the one who got you an invite. Westway girls don’t normally come anywhere near parties like this. You should be thanking me, not mouthing off at me. You owe me.’

I squirmed at the insult, and I could almost feel the steam coming out of Annabel’s ears.

‘Who do you think you are?’ Annabel growled. If I was Marco right now, I’d be worried.

Marco backed away, but Annabel took a step towards him. ‘You think you’re too good for us,’ she said angrily. ‘Well, I’ve got news for you,
neighbour
: my friend is way too good for
you
! So stay away from her.’

‘Whatever,’ Marco said, backing off.

I watched him leave, proud of the way Annabel had stood up for Kimmi. ‘Way to go, girlfriend!’ Even Kimmi managed a smile, though she still looked shaken.

‘What a loser,’ Annabel said, shaking her head.

I turned to face Marco’s friends, wondering what they’d made of the scene. Would they be mad at us for humiliating Marco? Ryan and Saia looked away, as if they were feeling uncomfortable. Were they embarrassed about us, or Marco? We stood awkwardly for a few moments, then Ryan grabbed Annabel’s hand. ‘You want to go inside?’

‘Good plan,’ Annabel said, grabbing Kimmi and dragging her along too.

I looked at Saia and he took my hand. I felt goose-bumps spring up along my arm as we followed the others inside. The party was really pumping now and before long we were all swept up by the throbbing beat. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Saia as we danced. The way his shirt matched my dress, it was almost like we were meant to be together. Every time he looked at me, I thought about kissing him. I wished I’d asked Annabel for some kissing advice, but it was too late now –  she was way too busy dancing with Ryan. Kimmi was on the other side of me. The guy in the black shirt had found his way over and was edging closer. She didn’t seem to mind so much now.

I turned back to Saia – his face was so close I could feel the heat from his body. My heart was thundering in my chest. Then the strobe lights suddenly stopped flashing. Everyone shrieked as the whole room went black. I knew this was it.

I leant towards Saia and closed my eyes. His lips met mine, like we’d been thinking the exact same thing. As we kissed, the entire world seemed to stand still. My mind soared to the ceiling and it felt like a thousand fizzy lollies were dancing on my lips.

My first kiss was nothing less than perfect.

‘Yeah, I think Marco’s gone home,’ I told Kimmi, praying she wouldn’t notice him behind me.

I glanced at Saia, hoping he would understand what I was doing. Thankfully, he nodded.

‘Wasn’t looking too good when we arrived,’ Saia said. ‘Got a pretty bad knock at the game today.’

I shot a grateful smile at Saia. He seemed to know I was trying to protect my friend.

Kimmi frowned. ‘But he’s not answering my texts or anything. Hope he’s okay.’

‘He’s fine,’ Ryan laughed. ‘No brain, no pain.’

‘Harsh,’ Annabel giggled. ‘But probably fair.’

‘Should we go back inside?’ I suggested, eager to get away before Annabel and Ryan said the wrong thing and ruined my plan.

Kimmi opened her mouth, but I grabbed her hand before she had a chance to reply and led her inside. With any luck, Marco and the Fairmount girl would stay outside and Kimmi would never find out what was happening. I’d break the news to her tomorrow. She’d be crushed, but at least she wouldn’t be humiliated in front of a hundred people.

Inside, the music was thumping and everyone was bobbing around in a big seething mass. The party was getting wild. Annabel wiggled her way into a gap in the crowd and soon we were all bouncing along to the beat. I watched Saia’s face as we danced, letting myself get swept along with his smile, and before long I was thinking about kissing him. I wished I’d asked Annabel for some advice on that, but she was way too busy with her arms around Ryan now. I turned to check on Kimmi, but she was no longer beside me. I glanced about, thinking she’d been swept off by the crowd, but I couldn’t see her anywhere. I spun round, feeling terrible. I was supposed to be looking out for her, but I’d forgotten her completely.

‘You seen Kimmi?’ I asked Saia.

He looked around and shook his head. ‘Do you want some help to find her?’

‘No, thanks,’ I said. If Kimmi was crying in the corner somewhere, I didn’t think she’d want a guy around to see her. ‘I’ll take Annabel. See you back here?’

Saia nodded and I gave him a little wave, then grabbed Annabel’s hand, and led her out through the crowd.

‘Hey,’ she said, when we reached the terrace. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Kimmi’s gone. We have to look for her.’

‘Ryan was just about to kiss me!’

‘Sorry, but I think Kimmi’s looking for Marco,’ I explained. ‘Problem is, he’s with another girl.’

‘Oh my god,’ Annabel gasped. ‘You saw him?’

I nodded. ‘I didn’t say anything, because I wanted to protect Kimmi.’ But then I realised something: I hadn’t only been thinking of Kimmi when I decided to lie about Marco. I’d been thinking of myself. I knew if Kimmi found out, she’d want to go home, and that would spoil things with Saia. I pulled out my phone to text her. ‘Oh, no,’ I sighed. ‘I’ve missed ten texts from her.’

I scrolled through them, feeling worse and worse. Just as I thought, she’d gone to look for Marco, and found him – under the tree with the Fairmount girl.

I can’t stay
, her last message said.
I’ve called Mum. She’s coming to pick me up.

‘What a dirtbag,’ Annabel growled, looking around for him.

I put my phone away and thought for a moment. I couldn’t bear the idea of Kimmi going home on her own, and there was still a chance we’d catch her before her mum arrived. ‘Quick, let’s see if she’s out the front.’

We raced down the driveway to the street. It was quiet, except for a dog barking. I spotted Kimmi slumped against the fence.

‘Kimmi!’ I called.

She turned and gave us a slow, sad wave as we ran towards her. ‘I saw Marco with another girl,’ she cried.

Annabel threw herself at Kimmi, giving her a massive hug. ‘What are you doing? You don’t have to leave just because Marco’s a loser.’

Kimmi shrugged. ‘Yeah, I do. But you stay. Have fun.’