by Judi Curtin
She stopped talking – probably because I’d grabbed her arm and was squeezing it tightly.
‘Hey, that hurts,’ she said. ‘Why are you …?’
Instead of answering, I used my free hand to point along the road.
‘Oh,’ said Alice. ‘Now I get it.’
The meanest girl in the world was walking towards us. I walked slower and slower, but even so, we were soon face to face with her.
‘Hi, Megan. Hi Alice,’ she said.
‘Hi, Melissa,’ we both replied.
I’ve known Melissa since we were in primary school together, and I’ve always been a bit afraid of her. When we all started secondary school, and she decided to go away to boarding school, I felt like she’d given me a huge present. She comes home most weekends, though, and I always seem to bump in to her. Sometimes I think it’s like she’s stalking me or something.
Once Melissa had a moment of weakness and told me that she hated boarding school, but mostly she just brags about the fancy swimming pool and the fancy riding stables and the fancy chefs who cook fancy food for the students. When she gets tired of bragging, she usually starts to pick on me. She always gives me a hard time about my mum’s weird environmental ideas. Last time we met, she’d mocked me because I was wearing the scarf Mum had knitted for my thirteenth birthday. (I admit the scarf is fairly gross, but that’s not really the point.)
‘So what’s happening around here these days?’ asked Melissa now. ‘All boring stuff, I suppose.’
‘I’m just walking Megan home after Jamie’s birthday party,’ said Alice.
‘Oh,’ said Melissa with a big fake smile. ‘Poor Megan, I guess you never get asked to proper parties so you just go to little kids ones.’
‘Megan was helping to organise the party,’ said Alice. ‘And she was really good.’
Alice was trying to help me, but I knew she was wasting her time.
‘How nice,’ said Melissa in a sick, sweet voice. ‘Let me guess, Megan. Did you knit a birthday cake and crochet a pizza and make a jug of yummy nettle juice to wash it all down?’
I wanted to say something smart back, but when Melissa’s around, it’s like my brain goes into slow motion. I opened my mouth and no words came out. As usual, Alice came to my rescue.
‘That doesn’t even make sense, Melissa,’ she said. ‘I know you’re always kind of dumb, but I see you’re making a special effort today. We’re honoured, aren’t we, Megan?’
I giggled.
‘Totally,’ I said.
Melissa’s mouth went all wrinkly, like she’d just sucked a super-sour lemon. She loves saying mean stuff to me, but she doesn’t much like it when people do the same to her.
‘You’re so immature, you two,’ she said, and then she tossed her golden curls and marched off, with the heels of her fancy boots making loud clicky-clacky sounds on the footpath.
‘Thanks for that, Al,’ I said.
She smiled at me. ‘No worries. As long as I’m around, Melissa will never get away with being mean to you.’
‘Thanks,’ I said again.
She was being nice, but her words scared me a bit. Alice isn’t super-glued to my side, and I wondered if I’d ever be brave enough to stand up to Melissa on my own.
* * *
An hour later, I was lying on my bed reading when the doorbell rang. From the hall, I could hear my friend, Grace, fighting off Mum’s efforts to give her a glass of carrot juice and a sugar-free cookie. Then I heard her explaining to my little sister Rosie why she couldn’t go into her bedroom and play dressing-up. Finally she arrived in my room.
‘Hey, Megan, I’ve got brilliant news,’ she said. ‘Mum and Dad have decided to book a last-minute Easter trip to our villa in Lanzarote.’
‘That’s so cool,’ I said. ‘You’re really lucky. Alice and I were saying how nice it would be to go away for the holidays.’
‘I haven’t told you the best news yet,’ said Grace. ‘Mum and Dad said I can bring two friends … and …’
She stopped talking while she took off her jacket and threw herself onto the end of my bed.
I hardly dared to hope. Grace has heaps of friends, so what were the chances of her choosing me?
‘… and,’ she continued when she was comfortable. ‘Louise is going to stay with her cousins for Easter and Kellie is going to pony camp, so even if I asked them, they wouldn’t be able to come.’
I let myself feel the tiniest bit excited.
‘And I called over to Alice’s place a few minutes ago,’ she continued. ‘And she’s allowed to come and I was kind of wondering if …’
I sat up straight.
Was Grace going to say what I hoped she was going to say?
Was this going to turn into the best Easter holidays ever?
Grace was lying there, twiddling her hair, like what she had to say wasn’t really all that important. I felt like shaking her, but decided that wasn’t a good plan. Finally she finished her sentence. ‘… if you’d like to come too?’
‘OMG,’ I squealed, as I threw myself on top of her. ‘I’d so love to come. It would be totally amazing. It would be the best thing ever. It would be …’
I stopped and stood up slowly. It was never going to happen. Flights to Lanzarote were bound to be expensive, and Mum was saving up for a new greenhouse.
‘There’s a half-price flight sale on at the moment,’ said Grace, like she could read my mind.
My hopes rose again before she ruined things with her next words. ‘The sale ends at midnight tonight.’
My mum would never make up her mind that quickly. First she’d have to contact the FBI to make sure no one in Grace’s family had ever, ever done anything wrong. Then she’d have to do a big research project on the quality of the organic vegetables in Lanzarote. Then she’d have to worry about crime and sunburn and food poisoning and insect bites. It was hopeless.
Once again Grace read my mind. ‘Why don’t you ask your mum and dad now?’
‘Yeah, why not?’ I said.
Might as well get it over with, so when they say no, Grace can go ahead and ask someone else.
Grace followed me into the kitchen where Mum and Dad were sitting at the table drinking some gross-smelling herbal tea.
‘Grace has invited me to go to Lanzarote with her family next week,’ I said quickly. ‘Can I go? Please? Please? There’s a flight sale, so it won’t even be expensive, and I’ve saved some of my Confirmation money, so I could pay half if you want. Please Mum and Dad, please can I go?’
As usual, Dad didn’t answer. He just looked at Mum and waited to see what she had to say.
As usual, that was a lot.
‘That’s very kind of you and your family, Grace,’ she said. ‘But Donal and I have a lot to think about before we say yes or no. It’s all a bit of a rush, and I’m not sure we’ll have time to make an informed decision.’
I put my head down. I should have known I was wasting my time. The holiday would be over, and Grace and Alice’s suntans would be faded by the time my mum finished her investigations.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ I said. ‘I know it’s not going to happen. I shouldn’t even have asked.’
Mum didn’t say anything else. She stared at me and I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking.
‘Come on, Grace,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
Grace followed me back to my room. ‘Your mum didn’t actually say no,’ she said. ‘Maybe you should give her a chance to think about it.’
I shook my head. ‘You don’t know her like I do. I’m sorry, Grace, but maybe you’d better start thinking about who else you could ask to go to Lanzarote with you. What about one of the girls from your class? Or maybe …’
Tears came to my eyes and I couldn’t finish. Why did I have to be stuck with the weirdest, fussiest mum in the history of the universe?
It just wasn’t fair.
Chapter Five
A few minutes later the doorbell rang again. I didn’t know wha
t to say when I saw Veronica and Alice standing on the doorstep. Alice was grinning like a crazy person. Veronica was all neat and tidy and back to her old, scary self.
‘Hello, Megan,’ said Veronica. ‘I wonder if I could speak to your parents for a moment?’
I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, but still I felt nervous.
Why was Veronica here?
What was she going to say?
‘Er … I guess so,’ I said. ‘Come on in.’
Veronica followed me towards the kitchen. Grace appeared from my room, and she stood in the hall with Alice, whispering and giggling. I guessed they were talking about all the cool things they were going to do in Lanzarote.
Suddenly I felt jealous.
Was my Easter going to be totally ruined?
Were my two friends going to go to Lanzarote and have an amazing time, while I was stuck at home doing boring stuff, as usual?
‘Veronica!’ said Mum. She jumped up from the table, as she tried to fix her wild hair. ‘So nice to see you. Would you like a cup of yarrow tea?’
‘Thank you, Sheila, but no,’ said Veronica. ‘This is just a quick visit. I came to tell you and Donal what a great help Megan was this afternoon. She organised Jamie’s party and thanks to her it turned out to be a huge success. She’s a great girl, and an absolute credit to you both.’
‘Well, I––’ began Mum, but Veronica didn’t let her finish. Maybe the fact that Mum was walking towards the kettle, and waving a yarrow tea-bag in the air, was making her nervous.
‘Anyway, that was all I had to say,’ said Veronica quickly, as she went back into the hall. ‘Thanks again for your help, Megan. Come along, Alice.’
Alice winked madly at me and grabbed Grace’s arm. ‘Megan has a lot to discuss with her mum and dad,’ she said. ‘Why don’t we wait for her outside?’
I watched as Mum closed the front door behind Veronica, Grace and Alice.
What on earth was that all about?
Mum came back into the kitchen and hugged me. ‘Well done, Megan,’ she said. ‘It was nice of you to help Veronica. That poor woman can hardly control her own little boy, much less a whole room full of lively children. I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn’t been there. Someone might have been killed.’
She was exaggerating a bit, but I didn’t care – because I suddenly understood what was going on.
‘Er, Mum, about Lanzarote? You never exactly gave me a final answer.’
Mum looked at Dad, and he looked at her, and I looked at them both, and suddenly a miracle happened.
Mum smiled. ‘I’m very impressed with what Veronica had to say about you, Megan,’ she said. ‘You’ve been unusually mature and sensible lately, and maybe we should let you go away with Grace and her family. What do you think, Donal?’
Dad smiled too, and I started to feel all breathless and excited.
‘So I can go?’ I asked. ‘I can really go?’
Mum didn’t answer, and I knew that was a good result.
I raced over and hugged them both, and Mum nearly spilled her yarrow tea, and Dad dropped his sugar-free cookie, and Domino raced over and ate it, and Rosie came running in to see what all the fuss was about.
And I thought I was going to die from happiness.
* * *
Half an hour later, I went outside and found Grace and Alice sitting on the garden wall, waiting for me. I walked slowly towards them.
‘Your mum’s visit wasn’t an accident, was it, Alice?’ I said. ‘You told her to come and say those nice things to Mum and Dad, didn’t you?’
She grinned. ‘Sort of.’
‘Come on, Megan,’ said Grace. ‘Don’t keep us in suspense. Did it work?’
‘Totally,’ I said. ‘I’m going to Lanzarote! My mum has phoned your mum already, Grace, and she’s booked the flight and everything, and it’s all sorted, and I’m going. I’m really, really, really going!’
Grace and Alice got down from the wall, and we hugged and laughed and jumped up and down, and everything was perfect.
Chapter Six
Five days later, Grace, Alice and I were sitting in the back of a shiny white minibus. In the seat in front of us were Grace’s parents, Lorna and Eddie, and her big brother Gavin. Everyone except Gavin was chatting and laughing. All through the journey he’d been staring at his phone and looking like he was going to burst into tears. I felt sorry for him, and wondered why he was so sad.
Already, we’d passed tons of beaches, a volcano, a camel farm and all kinds of cool stuff. The others might have been tired of me saying ‘Omigod!’ over and over again, but I couldn’t help it. This was the best place ever.
Soon we stopped at a huge red gate. There was a big sign on the pillar – Sunset Beach Villas.
‘Here we are,’ said Lorna, turning back and smiling at us. ‘Home, sweet home.’
‘Omigod,’ I whispered. Everyone except Gavin laughed, and even he smiled a bit.
The minibus driver, José, leaned out through the minibus window and typed a code into a panel at the side of the gate. A second later, the gate swung open and we drove through, following a wide, curvy road. I stared out the window, all buzzy with excitement, as we passed rows of shiny white villas, and a kiddies playground and a few really fancy-looking restaurants.
‘There’s the communal pool,’ said Grace, pointing at the biggest swimming pool I’d ever seen. ‘And the crazy golf course is just down there past the trees. We go to the communal pool sometimes, but most days we just hang out at our own pool.’
At last I was speechless. I couldn’t even say ‘Omigod’ any more. This had to be the best place in the whole wide world.
We went past the pool, and through some trees. Then José drove down a narrow road, up a hill, and past more trees.
‘Where are we going?’ wailed Alice. ‘I liked that place. Why are we leaving already?’
Eddie turned around and laughed. ‘Our house is just up here,’ he said. ‘It’s all on its own. It’s nice and private and far from all the action.’
‘Boring,’ said Grace, rolling her eyes.
‘We like it that way,’ said Eddie. ‘But if it’s not exciting enough for you girls, you can go to the communal pool or the crazy golf whenever you want. In fact, as long as you stay within the complex, you can safely go pretty much wherever you like.’
By now, we were pulling up outside a huge white villa. Everyone climbed out of the minibus. José helped to unload the bags and then he drove away.
We stood on the terrace and looked around. The air was warm and there was a smell of flowers and sea and holidays. In front of us, the swimming pool was all cool and sparkly.
‘It’s that time again,’ said Lorna, smiling at us.
‘What time?’ asked Alice.
Instead of answering, Grace smiled too. ‘Put your phones on the table,’ she said.
I didn’t like where this was going. Were Grace’s parents going to take our phones from us? Even though I had hardly any credit, and I was only supposed to use my phone to talk to Mum and Dad every night, I didn’t like the idea of being parted from it.
‘But …’ began Alice.
‘Just do it,’ said Grace. ‘It’s tradition. We do this every time we have new visitors to our house.’
It sounded kind of weird, but I guessed if I didn’t go along with Grace’s family’s tradition, I might never be asked to go on holidays with them again. I soooo didn’t like the idea of that, so I copied everyone else. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and put it on the table. Lorna took off her expensive-looking jacket, and put it over a chair. Eddie and Gavin took off their watches.
‘Now take off your shoes and stand at the edge of the pool,’ said Grace. ‘Over here, next to me.’
At last I thought I could see where this was going. We had our clothes on, but no one seemed to care. This was all mad and crazy and fun.
‘One, two…..’ said Eddie.
As he said ‘three’ everyone jumped
in to the pool. I hesitated for a second, but Grace grabbed me and pulled me in with her. I just had time to take a breath before the beautiful cool water wrapped itself around me. We all came to the surface together, and everyone was splashing and laughing, even Gavin.
‘Welcome to Lanzarote,’ said Lorna.
I wiped the water from my face. ‘Omigod,’ I said. ‘I totally love this place. Omigod.’
* * *
‘Come on,’ said Grace when we’d dried off a bit. ‘I want to show you our room. We’ve got the best one, right at the top of the house.’
We followed her into a cool marble hall, and up two flights of polished wooden stairs.
‘Ta-da,’ said Grace as she flung the bedroom door open.
‘Wow!’ said Alice and I together.
It was the most amazing room I’d ever been in. It was like something out of a movie. Every surface was white and shiny. There were three beds, all covered with snowy white sheets. The huge windows were open and floaty white curtains fluttered in the breeze.
‘There’s even a balcony,’ said Alice, stepping through the doorway. ‘If Romeo shows up, I’m totally ready.’
I followed her onto the balcony and leaned on the railings. Far away, over the trees, I could see the sea sparkling in the sunshine. The balcony was huge and there was a big swinging couch at one end. I threw myself onto the couch, and closed my eyes. I thought that maybe I’d be very happy to spend the entire holiday lying there, swaying gently in the breeze.
Alice had gone back inside though, and a second later I heard a loud screech.
‘OMG, Megan. Come here. Quickly.’
I jumped up and ran inside, afraid that something terrible had happened.
‘What is it, Alice?’ I asked. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘OMG,’ she said again. ‘Have you ever seen a bathroom as big as this?’
* * *
When Alice and I had finished admiring everything, the three of us unpacked. Then we lay on the beds and looked at the ceiling fan circling slowly over our heads.
