The Call of the Wild
Table of Contents
Phoebe Goes to Ryan Baker’s Party
Phoebe Goes to The Wild Club Movie Night
Phoebe Pre Tends Nothing is Wrong
Phoebe Goes Back to the Slushie Stall
I could tell as soon as I boarded the bus that the news was big. Very big. I pushed my way down the aisle towards my friends, buzzing with excitement. Kimmi and Annabel were practically dancing in their seats.
‘We’re in, we’re in!’ Annabel sang as I approached.
I dumped my bag on the floor and slid into the seat beside Annabel. ‘No way!’
‘Yes way,’ she said, smiling. ‘We’re on the guest list.’
I stared at Annabel, hardly able to believe my ears. We’d talked about nothing else for the past week, but I’d never really believed that she could pull it off. Until now.
‘Ryan Baker’s party!’ Kimmi said, drumming her hands on my seat. ‘Pretty cool, hey, Phoebs?’
I grinned at her. ‘Too cool.’ Apparently, Ryan Baker lived in some kind of mansion right on the harbour. His party would be out of this world. It wasn’t the sort of thing Westway girls normally got invited to, but Annabel’s neighbour, Marco, went to Highgrove with Ryan, and he’d got us on the guest list.
‘Ryan Baker.’ Annabel sighed and gazed out the window. ‘At last we meet.’
Annabel had been dreaming about Ryan since the start of the year. She’d seen him getting out of his mum’s Porsche at Marco’s house and had been hooked ever since. She said icicles practically dripped off him, he was that cool. So far she’d just drooled over him from a distance. She followed him on Instagram and stuff, but she’d never got close enough to talk to him. The party would be her big chance.
‘So, Marco came through after all,’ I said. ‘I thought you said he was being tricky?’
‘Yep, good ol’ Marco,’ Annabel replied. Her face suddenly got serious. ‘But there is a catch.’
I frowned. ‘What’s that?’
‘He wants us to go over to his house every weekend for the next year. Tidy his room, wash his dirty socks and –’ Annabel paused for dramatic effect. ‘– clean the dirt from under his toenails.’
‘No!’ Kimmi yelped and covered her ears. She had a major thing for Annabel’s neighbour. ‘Marco is divinely lovely. He doesn’t have dirty toenails.’
‘Jokes!’ Annabel grinned. ‘I’ll probably just have to tell him a million times what a swag king he is for getting us into the party. But it’ll be worth it!’
‘For sure,’ I said, but I was feeling a bit nervous. Now that we were actually invited, I was having second thoughts. While Annabel was off with Ryan and Kimmi was with Marco, who would I hang out with? ‘You guys aren’t going to leave me all alone while you chase after Ryan and Marco, are you?’
‘Of course not.’ Annabel squeezed my arm. ‘We need you there. And Marco’s got heaps of cute friends he can introduce you to.’
‘Yeah, what about that guy you mentioned,’ Kimmi asked Annabel. ‘What was his name?’
‘Yes! Saia.’ Annabel enthused. ‘I’ve already told him about you, Phoebs. You’ll love him.’
‘What?’ My jaw fell open. ‘What did you say to him?’
‘Nothing. Well, just that you’re amazing, and single,’ Annabel said. ‘I mean, I know your heart belongs to Bunga the orangutan, but Saia’s pretty gorgeous, you know, for an actual … guy.’
Kimmi and Annabel giggled. They loved teasing me about how I seemed more interested in animals than guys. I was in the school Wild Club and Bunga was an orphaned orangutan that we sponsored. But he
was
incredibly cute, and I’d rather hang out with an orangutan than most of the boys in our year.
I laughed along with them. ‘Who are these
cute guy creatures
you speak of?’
‘You’ll see,’ Kimmi said. ‘And you’re going to be very pleased you discovered them.’
‘So, the countdown begins.’ Annabel rubbed her hands together. ‘Eight days till the party!’
I took a deep breath and stared down the aisle, wondering what Saia was like. I hoped I’d like him. I’d never really had a serious crush on anyone before, but Annabel and Kimmi were always talking about their latest obsessions. It would be nice to join in.
Was Saia tall and strong, or short and stocky? Was he loud and funny, or quiet and serious? A little tingle ran up my neck at the thought of finding out.
By the time we got to school, our excitement levels were off the scale. We’d decided to meet at Kimmi’s place before the party to get ready. Afterwards, we’d stay at Annabel’s, seeing as she lived the closest to Ryan’s.
‘We can stay up all night!’ Annabel said, banging her locker shut.
‘For sure,’ Kimmi agreed. ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep anyway, after hanging out with Marco.’
‘As opposed to hanging out in the tree in my backyard, blowing kisses at him?’ Annabel teased.
Kimmi gave Annabel a playful slap on the arm. ‘I’ve only done that once.’
I laughed. I’d seen her do it at least ten times. She really was crazy about Marco. The last time she’d done it, Marco had actually waved back. Maybe at Ryan’s party, they would finally hook up!
‘It’s going to be amazing,’ Annabel said, looking at her phone. ‘And guess who just posted an
exclusive
event page?’
I peered over Annabel’s shoulder. There it was, the ‘Ryan Baker Party’ page. And there we were, on the guest list. I had to check twice just to make sure. Annabel stroked Ryan’s profile picture and then hit the join button.
Kimmi and I pulled out our phones and accepted our invitations as well. Now it was official. I scrolled through the guest list until I found Saia. I clicked on his profile to check out his picture. He looked back at me with lovely brown eyes and a great big smile. He was seriously cute.
‘He’s hot, right?’ Kimmi said, peering at the picture on my screen.
‘Yeah, he’s not bad,’ Annabel said, checking out Saia. ‘But look how gorgeous Ryan is.’ She sighed, scrolling through pictures on her phone. ‘I can’t wait for the party.’
‘So,’ I said, nudging Annabel. ‘Do you think you’ll get with him?’
Annabel smiled coyly and kissed a picture of Ryan posing on the beach.
Kimmi winked at Annabel. ‘How about for real?’
Annabel paused for a moment, and then nodded. We all squealed.
Then a message popped up on my phone.
Saia Natane wants to be your friend.
‘Annabel, look at this!’
She grabbed my phone. ‘Oh my god! Accept, accept!’ she said, pressing accept.
‘Annabel!’ I shrieked, snatching my phone back.
‘Girls!’ came a loud voice from the end of the corridor. ‘I’m sure you have classes to get to.’ Miss Treemore glared at us. ‘I expect more from a year representative, Phoebe.’
‘Yes, Miss Treemore,’ I said, shoving my phone away. There were distinct disadvantages to having a leadership position.
I grabbed my science books from my locker and we headed off to class, chattering as quietly as possible about what we might wear to the party. Kimmi had just bought a new black crop top. She showed me a photo.
‘Wow! You’ll look so cute in that,’ I said.
I showed Kimmi a picture of one of the outfits that I was considering for the party – a little satin green top with black shorts. ‘What do you think?’ I asked.
Kimmi smiled. ‘You’d look good in anything.’
‘Really?’ I wasn’t sure about the top. My little sister Lulu had told me to buy it the last time I went shopping with her and Mum.
‘Let me have a look,’ Annabel said. She grabbed my phone and inspected the picture. ‘
Oh
,’ she began. ‘No offence, but you look a bit like a frog. A cute one, obviously.’
I took my phone back, feeling slightly offended. I’ve got a soft spot for amphibians, especially frogs. But I didn’t want to look like one.
Kimmi smiled. ‘She’s just waiting for her prince to come along and turn her into a princess.’
‘I think it’s meant to be the other way around,’ I said. I deleted the photo. ‘That’s what I get for taking fashion advice from a four-year-old.’
Kimmi gave my shoulder a squeeze. ‘Keep your little sister away from your clothes.’
‘I know!’ cried Annabel, as if she’d just made some incredible scientific breakthrough. ‘How about you borrow my pink top with the low back? That would really work with those shorts.’
‘Really? You don’t mind?’ I asked.
Annabel was beaming. ‘Of course not.’
I felt excited, just thinking about it. Everything Annabel owned totally rocked. This was all working out perfectly. I just needed to sort out some accessories. And I had all weekend to shop for those!