The Call of the Wild (3 page)

‘You should tell Kimmi and Annabel about your trip to Borneo,’ I said to Jack, trying to shrug off Liam’s weirdness.

Liam had told me how they’d stayed in the jungle, rafted down remote rivers and even climbed the highest mountain in South-East Asia, where they’d seen huge carnivorous plants. It sounded amazing.

‘We’re actually meant to be sorting out the fund-raiser,’ Jack said.

‘Oh, yeah,’ I replied. ‘What’s that all about?’

‘We’re having an outdoor movie night on the school oval.
Movie Under the Stars.
We’re getting a big screen, and the whole school community’s invited.’

It’s going to be huge,’ Liam added. ‘We’re having food stalls and a raffle and everything. And all the money raised is going towards Bunga’s orangutan sanctuary.’

‘We’re in charge of the slushie stall,’ said Jack.

‘Ooh,’ Annabel said excitedly. ‘We should call it Slushies in Paradise. And we could give the slushies special names, like Borneo Sunset Orange, Rainforest Green, Blue Lagoon.’

‘Yeah.’ Kimmi nodded. ‘I could make a big banner and we could hang it from the front of the stall.’

‘Cool,’ I said proudly. It was great the way my friends were getting into the idea. They really were going to love the Wild Club after all. I hoped the guys liked their ideas, too.

‘Sounds great,’ Liam said. ‘But first we need to work out where we’re going to get the slushie machines. We haven’t sorted that yet.’

I thought for a minute. ‘Isn’t there a slushie place at the mall?’ I suggested. ‘They might be able to help.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Jack said. ‘Sloppy Slushie. I’m pretty sure they’ve helped at school events before.’

‘There’s an art shop in the mall, too,’ Kimmi added. ‘They might donate some paints for our banner.’

‘Some shops could donate prizes for the raffle as well,’ Annabel suggested. ‘We should all go this afternoon!’

Kimmi and Annabel made plans to meet at the mall with almost as much enthusiasm as they’d talked about the party. It was decided we’d meet at the water feature at 4.30 pm. Everyone seemed totally psyched about the slushie stall. But I felt a bit strange. I’d got to know Liam pretty well since I’d been in the Wild Club, but we’d never done anything outside of school before. For some reason, the idea of hanging out with him at the mall was giving me butterflies.

The bell rang and Polly shouted, ‘We’ve got more posters for
Movie Under the Stars
here!’ She tapped her hand on a pile at the front of the room. ‘Put them up everywhere. We need to get the message out. Thanks, guys!’

As I watched Liam strolling towards the door, I tried to work out why I was feeling so nervous about seeing him that afternoon. It was strange. I’d never felt like that about him before.

‘Hey, daydreamer,’ Kimmi said, grabbing my hand. ‘We need to get some posters before they all go. We can put them up at the mall this afternoon.’

‘Yeah, right, the mall. We should do that.’

Annabel glanced at me. ‘How long were you going to keep those guys a secret?’

I frowned. ‘What do you mean? I’ve told you about them before.’

Kimmi shook her head as she picked up a bunch of posters. ‘You only told us about Jacqueline.’

‘Huh?’ I said. ‘I’ve told you about Jack and Liam loads of times.’

Annabel laughed. ‘You must have said
Jack
’
n Liam
like one word. We thought you were saying Jacqueline.’

I grabbed a pile of posters and handed a stack to Annabel. ‘So, what do you think of my good friend Jacqueline?’ I asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Not too shabby at all,’ Annabel said.

Kimmi nodded
.
‘
Indeed
. The movie night should be heaps of fun.’

And that’s when I noticed it. I stopped walking and stared at the posters in my hand. ‘Has anyone noticed the date for the movie night?’

‘Oh no,’ Kimmi sighed, reading the poster. ‘I thought it was, like, a month away.’

‘It’s the same night as Ryan Baker’s party!’ Annabel groaned.

I stared at the poster, hoping it would somehow change if I looked at it hard enough. There had to be something we could do. ‘Do you think Ryan might change the date for his party?’

Annabel shook her head. ‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘So which one will we go to?’ I asked.

Annabel stared at me. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well,’ I began. ‘On one hand, the party will be epic. But on the other –’

‘Phoebs,’ Kimmi interrupted me. ‘The party is going to be the best night ever. It’s all planned.’

‘But what about Slushies in Paradise?’ I asked.

Annabel frowned. ‘Since when is making slushies more fun than going to a party and having a sleepover with your besties?’

‘I just think …’ But I couldn’t quite work out what I thought. The party sounded fun, but I was really only going to keep Annabel and Kimmi company. Would a party with a bunch of guys I didn’t know be more fun than making slushies with Liam and Jack?

‘What about the thing at the mall this afternoon? We promised Liam –’

‘Oh, I get it now,’ Annabel interrupted. ‘This isn’t about the movie night, is it?’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, confused. ‘What else could it be about?’

Annabel gave me a sly smile. ‘Liam.’

‘It’s about saving orangutans,’ I insisted.

‘I don’t know,’ said Kimmi. ‘Liam couldn’t take his eyes off you in that meeting. I think he’s got a thing for you. And maybe you’ve got a thing for him too.’

‘No way,’ I said, laughing. ‘Liam and me? That would never happen. We’re just friends.’

‘He’s pretty cute,’ said Annabel.

I shook my head vigorously. ‘We’re friends. That’s it. And he’s in the year above. We’re hardly going to be cosying up under the stars at the movie night.’

But even as I said it, I could feel myself blushing at the thought.

‘So, you’re coming to the party, then?’ Kimmi asked.

I shrugged. My head was spinning. I had no idea what to do.

If I went to the party, I’d let down the Wild Club, and poor Bunga. But if I went to the movie night, I’d be letting down my friends. What should I do?

‘You’re right,’ I finally said to Kimmi and Annabel as we arrived at the mall. It had taken me all afternoon to work out what to do, but I’d made the decision now. ‘I’ll go to the party. I feel bad, but it’s not like I’ve got a contract with the Wild Club.’

‘Exactly!’ said Annabel. ‘And the party is going to be amazing!’

‘We can still help get everything ready and set up the slushie stall,’ said Kimmi. ‘We just won’t be there to serve slushies on the actual night.’

‘Ooh, let’s look in here for accessories for the party,’ said Annabel. ‘It’ll only take a minute.’

By the time we got to the water feature, we were half an hour late.

‘Sorry we’re late,’ I said.

Jack shrugged. ‘It’s cool.’

Liam smiled, but he looked tense. He was drumming his fingers on a stack of movie-night posters, obviously keen to get on with our mission. I felt guilty that we’d kept them waiting, and I felt even worse that we wouldn’t be helping on the slushie stall anymore. I bit my lip, trying to work out how to tell the guys we’d be going to the party instead of the movie night. Liam kept fixing me with an intense look that didn’t make it easy.

Annabel didn’t seem to notice. ‘How delicious is this?’ She waved the new clutch she’d just bought at Kimmi and me, looking pleased with herself. ‘I even got a discount.’

Liam rolled his eyes and groaned.

‘You don’t like it?’ Annabel said, suddenly noticing Liam’s expression.

‘I thought we were here to sort out things for the slushie stall,’ he said.

‘Totes,’ Annabel said, putting her bag away. ‘I’m ready. And I happen to be a great negotiator. I think you’ll be pretty impressed with my skills.’

I cringed. Annabel could talk her way into pretty much anything, but she was sounding a bit on the arrogant side.

‘Excellent,’ Liam said. He tucked his posters under his arm. ‘Let’s get started then.’

‘Before we go,’ I took a deep breath, ‘there’s something we need to tell you.’

I looked from Liam to Jack, and then glanced at Annabel, hoping she might take over, but she looked away.

‘What’s up?’ Liam asked.

‘Well,’ I hesitated. ‘We can’t actually help at the slushie stall after all.’

‘You’re quitting the Wild Club?’ Jack frowned.

‘We’re not quitting,’ I said quickly. ‘We just can’t go to the movie night.’

Liam scowled. ‘What are you doing here, then?’

‘We still want to help,’ Kimmi said.

‘We’ll put up posters and get donations and stuff,’ I added. ‘We just can’t make it next Saturday.’

‘Even though that’s the actual night of the fundraiser,’ Liam said, frowning.

I nodded.

‘Oh, that makes perfect sense, then,’ he said sarcastically.

I felt awful. Liam was taking this really badly.

‘Why can’t you make the movie night?’ Jack asked.

‘A double booking,’ Annabel sighed. ‘We’re already committed to a party.’

‘A party?’ Liam looked horrified.

I groaned to myself. This was just getting worse. I suddenly felt completely unreliable, putting a party before my Wild Club responsibilities.

‘Not just any party. It’s Ryan Baker’s party,’ Annabel went on.

Liam and Jack looked at each other and shrugged. Clearly they had no idea who Ryan Baker was or that he lived in a harbour-side mansion.

‘He goes to Highgrove,’ Kimmi explained. But that just made things worse.

Liam glared at me. ‘So, you’re going to a party with a bunch of losers from Highgrove instead of coming to the movie night.’

‘Well, it’s not quite like that,’ I said.

‘Yeah,’ Annabel interrupted. ‘Highgrove guys aren’t losers. They’re actually very cute and very charming.’

Liam scoffed.

‘And we were invited to the party before we found out about the movie night,’ Annabel went on. ‘Sorry if that doesn’t work for you.’

‘Whatever,’ Liam said. ‘Let’s get started. Jack and I will go up to Sloppy Slushie and see if they can help. And you three can … ’ he shrugged.

‘We’ll put up posters,’ I said brightly, even though I was hurt by Liam’s tone. ‘And we’ll get some paints and things for the banner. Meet you back here in an hour, okay?’