Ready! Set! Hawaii!

by Annie Bryant

  “I don’t think there are any wild parrots on Hawaii,” Avery mentioned thoughtfully. “Parrots mostly come from the Pacific Islands, Africa, and South America, right?”

  “That’s right,” Mr. Ramsey affirmed. “But they’ve had problems with feral parrots on one of these islands. I found an article all about it in my reading before we left. The authorities actually wanted to shoot the birds so they wouldn’t disrupt the local ecosystem too much!”

  “No!” Isabel looked horrified. “Qué terrible! What does a feral parrot look like?”

  “‘Feral’ means tame pets that got let loose,” Charlotte explained. She was the resident Word Nerd of the BSG. She just loved collecting words and their meanings.

  The picture had made it to Katani, who studied it carefully. “Isabel, I knew you could draw, but this is really good. I mean, really good.”

  Maeve agreed. “I bet you guys could do an entire book!”

  Before they could discuss feral parrots or their book plans further, the lights in the dining room began to dim. A voice came over the PA system. “Ladies and gentlemen, we invite you to turn your eyes to the dance floor to witness a traditional Hawaiian dance, known more famously as the hula.”

  A quartet of waiters cleared away the captain’s table to reveal a square parquet dance floor. A trio of barefoot young women dressed in long, white dresses with festive leis made of flowers and green leaves entered. They were accompanied by a small band of musicians. As the band started to play, the women started to dance, swaying their hips to the rhythm.

  “Aren’t they wonderful?” Maeve whispered. “I would like to try that sometime.”

  Isabel was also mesmerized by how the dancers moved. She had taken ballet for years, until a knee injury forced her to stop. But the hula was different. The way the women swayed their hips caused their white dresses to ripple like water. She flipped to a new page in her sketchpad and tried to capture it in her drawing…which was tough because sketches didn’t move! Instead, she spent extra time on the rings of delicate flowers and leaves that were strung around the dancers’ necks.

  Meanwhile, Charlotte was busy capturing her impressions of the traditional Hawaiian dance in writing. She had traveled all around the world and had seen the dances from all sorts of cultures, but nothing as hypnotic as the hula. Arms outstretched as if welcoming us to get up and join the dance, she jotted down.

  The music came to a halt, and the room erupted in applause. The dancers took their bows, but the lights stayed low. A voice came over the loudspeaker again. “The dancers now invite you to please take the stage and learn the hula!”

  The young women beckoned the audience to come join them on the dance floor, but everyone just looked around nervously. No one wanted to be the first!

  Maeve leaped to her feet. She was never one to turn down an opportunity to go up on stage. “C’mon, guys, don’t you want to go?”

  Katani refused. “I’ve got two left feet!”

  Maeve looked at Charlotte and Isabel, who had their heads bent down over their work. “Avery? Mr. Ramsey?”

  Mr. Ramsey shook his head, still looking pale. “I already feel like I’m swaying.”

  Avery shook her head. “I think I’m gonna stick to snorkeling and surfing this trip. Besides, you’ve seen me dance!” It was true. Avery’s dance moves were legendary…and not in a good way! If she went up there, one of the dancers might end up with a black eye.

  “Okay, I tried!” Maeve jumped up and strode confidently to the dance floor. The audience applauded, and Maeve bowed, flashing her signature smile.

  The trio of dancers showed Maeve some basic moves, and with her dance training, Maeve caught on quickly. Soon the group of four was moving as one. It didn’t take long for a couple other women to abandon their tables and join the dancers. One woman who looked like she had to be more than eighty even got up on stage and joined the fun!

  “Our dancers will now go into the audience and select partners,” announced the voice over the loudspeaker. The girls watched as Maeve made a beeline to a table across the room. She returned to the dance floor with the tall, brown-haired boy. He had a petrified expression on his face.

  “Shocker!” Avery exclaimed. Charlotte and Isabel laughed, but Katani just looked nervous. “Katani, what’s up?” asked Avery.

  “The dancers! They’re coming this way!” Katani whispered.

  Avery turned to see two of the pro hula dancers approaching their table. She and Katani slid down in their seats, while Isabel and Charlotte bent over their respective notebooks.

  “The coast is clear,” Mr. Ramsey announced as the dancers passed them by.

  “Ha!” said Avery. “I wonder what suckers they found.”

  Avery turned to see what poor audience member the dancers had selected to come up on stage. She could see the tops of their heads all the way in the back of the room. They were coming back now, right toward their table, and had someone in tow.

  As the dancers got closer, Avery jumped out of her seat, spilling her fruit smoothie all over the table! The pineapple garnish popped off the glass and landed on Katani’s lap. Charlotte and Isabel gathered their papers up quickly, while Katani dabbed at her skirt with a napkin.

  “Avery!” Katani exclaimed. “What the—?”

  “NO WAY!” Avery yelled.

  CHAPTER

  3

  Shipwrecking a Cruise

  Avery! Are you okay?” Charlotte asked.

  Avery was on top of her chair, frantically waving down a man who was walking behind the hula dancers. He wore a Hawaiian-print shirt with a black tie that had a picture of a surfer on it, but the thing that really stood out was his enormous straw hat adorned with a lei.

  Avery jumped off her chair and ran toward him.

  “DAD!”

  Avery couldn’t believe it! A million thoughts raced through her mind as she ran and leaped at her dad, attaching herself like a monkey to his tall frame. What’s Dad doing here? He lives in Colorado. How is this even possible? Did he bring his surfing gear? This is so totally coolio!

  “Ave! What’s up, snurfette?” He laughed and gave her a huge hug. “Long time no see, huh?” His hula dancer looked shocked at the loss of her partner, but quickly picked someone else.

  Avery didn’t even notice the hula madness taking over the room as the stage got more and more crowded. She jumped down and dragged her dad over to the table to meet her friends.

  “I bet these are the Beacon Street Girls?” Avery’s dad asked.

  Avery nodded and pointed everyone out, talking a mile a minute. “That’s Charlotte, Isabel, Katani, Charlotte’s dad, Mr. Ramsey, and hey, here’s Maeve.”

  Maeve had rushed back to the table when she saw Avery jumping like a lunatic on her chair. She knew something exciting was happening, and she didn’t want to miss a single minute of it! “Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Madden,” Maeve chirped.

  “Likewise!” He turned back to Avery. “So I wanted to surprise you. Surprised?” he asked.

  “Totally!” Avery gushed. “And that’s pretty major. It’s way difficult to keep a secret from me!”

  “There was this time…,” Mr. Madden remembered, pulling up an empty seat from the next table over and sitting down backward with his arms crossed over the chair back. “Ave must’ve been about six and Christmas was right around the corner. She was always snooping out her presents, but Bif and I went all spy school and hid them where we knew she’d never find them.”

  “I spent all of December looking for them, anyway. And I always found them!” Avery exclaimed proudly.

  “But they weren’t your presents, they were decoy presents.” Mr. Madden burst out laughing. “Every year, Bif and I would adopt a family from the homeless shelter. But we knew little Miss Snoop was going to search for her presents, so we made sure she could totally find those.”

  “I spent all of December writing Santa a letter a day asking for a bike and a soccer ball ’cause I thought all I was getting from
my parents were books, pajamas, and toothpaste!” Avery erupted in a fit of giggles.

  “I see where Avery gets her wicked sense of humor from,” Isabel said to Mr. Madden. Isabel may have only moved to Brookline at the beginning of the school year, but she’d already picked up on the East Coast slang.

  Avery smiled. She just couldn’t believe it! She was beyond psyched at the idea that she’d get to spend the next seven days with her best friends and her dad. Normally she only got to see her dad during the holidays and summer vacations since he ran a ski and snowboarding shop in Telluride, Colorado.

  “Okay, Ave, I have one more surprise up my sleeve,” her dad said.

  Avery inspected his sleeves—it was part of their old joke together. “I don’t see anything.”

  “This one is major. Shreddy?” That was secret snowboarder code for “ready.”

  “Way shreddy!” Avery shouted, wondering, What could be more major than Dad showing up? Does he have a special surfboard for me? Mr. Madden ran a ski and snowboard shop called ATS, which was named for Avery and her brothers, Tim and Scott. Avery didn’t think he sold stuff for summer sports, but you never knew. An all-new ATS surfing line would be a majorly cool surprise!

  Mr. Madden waved over at his table, motioning for someone to join them. Avery craned her neck to see who it was; she couldn’t see over the crowd of people standing up to watch the dancers on stage.

  Suddenly, a tall girl with blond hair tied in orange and pink ribbons was standing right in front of her.

  Kazie! Crazie Kazie!

  “Surprise!” Kazie screamed. “Like, it’s me! Totally crazy, huh!”

  “Yeah. Crazy,” Avery mumbled, suddenly crestfallen. “Can’t believe you’re here.” That meant the person standing behind Kazie was—

  “Avery, it’s so good to see you,” Andie said, kissing Avery’s cheek. “I wanted to tell you, but your dad thought it would be much more fun as a secret.”

  Avery couldn’t believe it! It was like catching air on your snowboard, only to crash-land moments later. Andie, her dad’s girlfriend, was okay, but her daughter Kazie? There’s a reason she’s called Crazie Kazie! Avery thought miserably. When she was around, Avery was always on high alert. Kazie turned everything into a competition, even when Avery just wanted to kick back and have fun.

  There was an uncomfortable moment while everyone looked at one another, not sure of what to say. Avery turned and wiped Andie’s kiss off her cheek, half hoping her dad’s girlfriend would notice, half trying to look on the bright side.

  Avery had been to Hawaii surfing with her dad and brothers before, and those were some of the best memories of her life…but Andie and Kazie were never involved. I barely know them! Avery thought. This trip was supposed to be for me and the BSG. She’d even told her dad in a dozen excited e-mails about the trip that she was psyched to be heading out to Hawaii on her own! Now that was completely ruined.

  Thankfully, Katani was her business-as-usual self and took complete control of the situation, introducing the rest of the girls and Mr. Ramsey to Kazie and Andie.

  Maeve thought there wasn’t anything more romantic than a surprise. While she could see that Mr. Madden’s surprise made Avery uncomfortable, she thought it was incredibly cute the way he and Andie held hands and kept sneaking glances at each other!

  “So what brings you to Hawaii, Mr. Madden?” Maeve asked.

  “Yeah, who’s watching the shop?” Avery asked.

  “We had such a rockin’ ski and snowboard season that I just closed up shop for the week. I thought I’d continue rockin’ it out here with you, Ave! When you said you were off to Hawaii, I knew that’s where Kazie, Andie and I should go. We can all just totally chill! Together!”

  “Together. Great,” Avery stated sarcastically. She wanted to sound enthusiastic, but she was just sooo not prepared for this sudden change of plans!

  “Of course, only if Charlotte’s dad gives the A-okay.” Mr. Madden looked toward Mr. Ramsey. “Although you’re lookin’ a little less than a-okay, dude.”

  “I’m actually relieved that you’re here,” Mr. Ramsey said. “I haven’t been feeling well.”

  Avery was still in shock. I can’t believe Mom didn’t call to warn me! Unless…Avery dug her cell phone out of her pants pocket and looked at it. The message waiting light winked red. While everyone was chatting politely, Avery called her voice mail.

  “Avery, it’s Mom. Listen, I just got a call from your dad, who wanted to surprise you…” Avery swallowed hard. She could only hear about every third word over the noise in the dining room. “Andie…Kazie…sorry…” She ended with “I love you” and suddenly Avery realized she was listening to static. Someone punched her in the arm.

  It was Kazie. “Awesome surprise, huh?”

  “Yeah. Awesome.” Avery rubbed her arm where Kazie had punched her. If only she had taken the opportunity to check her messages before she had come to dinner! Then, she’d…well, then what?

  Sometimes before a soccer game, Avery would get bad news. Like when she discovered the awesome power forward who everyone thought was sick suddenly got better, or that her mom wasn’t going to make it in time from work to cheer her along on the sidelines. So when she was hit with some unexpected news, she just took a deep breath and headed out onto the field, giving it everything she had, and not letting anyone notice that she was operating at anything less than Avery Koh Madden’s absolute best.

  So that’s the deal. She was stuck with Crazy Kazie for a seven-day cruise, and that wasn’t going to change. She was just going to take a deep breath and give it everything she had, even if that meant being nice to Kazie. The same Kazie who was going on a mile a minute about ATS’s new snowboard designs for next season. Did that girl ever stop talking?

  “Kazie, Katani is a fashion designer,” Avery blurted out. “She’s the one with the Kgirl fashion line I told you about in Colorado.”

  “No way!” Kazie yelled. She ran over to Katani, made her stand up, and then stood back to back with her. “I bet you design your own clothes ’cause you’re tall like me!”

  While Katani didn’t totally know what to make of Kazie, she couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm. It cut right through Katani’s cool demeanor.

  “Actually, that’s one of the reasons I got into fashion design. Since I’m taller than everyone else, sometimes I have to alter my clothes to make them fit right,” she told Kazie.

  Charlotte sized up the situation. Avery looked worse than before as she sat slumped in her chair with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

  Maeve knew what she did to deal with difficult situations: dance. Maybe that would help.

  “It’s back to the dance floor. Ave, want to join me?” she asked.

  Avery shook her head. Maeve shrugged. I tried! She headed back to the dance floor to see if she could find that cute boy again—and get his name this time.

  Charlotte and Isabel huddled around Avery, who was looking more miserable by the minute.

  “Are you okay?” whispered Charlotte as her dad chatted with Mr. Madden and Andie.

  “Can you believe it? An entire week with Kazie!” Avery groaned.

  “It’ll be okay, really,” Isabel promised. “There’s so much to do on this boat, maybe you won’t have to spend much time with her at all. Then you’ll get used to her being here.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I mean, Kazie might not even like surfing.” Avery brightened.

  Across the table, Katani and Kazie were deep in conversation. Do they really have that much to talk about? Avery wondered.

  “I don’t know, though. Crazie Kazie needs way more than an hour to get used to! Remember what I told you about her monster cat Farkle? He totally terrorized Marty the whole time I was in Colorado. And Kazie thought it was funny.”

  Isabel and Charlotte shared a look. Avery was usually so happy-go-lucky. She didn’t let anything get to her; she just laughed things off. They had never seen her like this!

  “Okay, s
o Kazie may be here,” Charlotte told her friend, “but we’re still here too. And we’re your best friends. We should be having the time of our lives on this cruise!”

  Avery knew they were right, but there was still a little voice in the deep recesses of her brain that whispered, Why does Kazie have to crash my vacation?

  “Oh hey, y’all!” A familiar Southern drawl rang out from the crowd. It was Kara-Lee. “I was wondering what all the commotion was, and here I find my almost-roommates having a little gathering.”

  Charlotte introduced Kara-Lee to her father, Mr. Madden, and Andie. “Dad, this is Kara-Lee. She’s the one who came to our cabin by mistake. Kara-Lee, this is Avery’s dad, Mr. Madden, and Andie, um…?”

  “I’m Ms. Walker.” Andie shook hands with Kara-Lee. “How nice that there are so many kids my daughter’s age on this cruise!”

  “A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Kara-Lee said politely.

  “You found your way back to your cabin?” Mr. Ramsey asked weakly.

  “I did. Thank you for asking! There are parts of this ship that look entirely the same; it’s easy for a gal to get turned around.”

  She went over to Kazie. “I don’t believe we’ve met, but I know the beautiful Ms. Walker must be your mama! I can see the resemblance. I’m Kara-Lee.” She shook Kazie’s hand. “I just love the way you’ve matched your ribbons to your outfit. And, Katani, I do believe the fabric flowers your friend Isabel is wearing must be your signature touch!”

  Katani felt herself blush. It was always a thrill to have someone recognize her handiwork. “You’d be right!”

  “I do believe the three of us might make this cruise’s best-dressed list,” Kara-Lee declared.

  “The three of them?” Isabel mouthed to Charlotte, noting that Kara-Lee had left out half the table!

  Charlotte watched as Katani, Crazie Kazie, and Kara-Lee all chatted excitedly. “She’s just being friendly,” she whispered.

  “Does Katani have to be so friendly back?” Avery muttered.

  Sometimes Katani could give people the cold shoulder, like on Charlotte’s first day at Abigail Adams Junior High, when she’d managed to zip a tablecloth into her pants.