by Julie Fison
‘You look fine,’ said Mia.
‘I look like I just walked out of a Survivor episode!’ I told her. ‘What about my hair?’ Even without looking I knew it was not cute-messy like Persephone’s. It felt like a bird’s nest.
‘It’s not as bad as Mia’s,’ Izzy said, matter-of-factly.
‘Hey,’ Mia frowned. ‘What’s wrong with my hair?’ She ran her fingers through it and groaned as a blob of jellyfish fell out. ‘Oh. Gross.’
I gave my hair a shake in case I was also transporting jellyfish. Some seaweed dropped onto the sand. ‘No way,’ I said. ‘I can’t meet them looking like this.’
Izzy shrugged. ‘If we bail now, I’m not coming back.’
Mia gave me a nudge. ‘Go on, Kitty. Be brave. You always look cute, even with seaweed in your hair,’ she said kindly. ‘But I think you’ll have to come clean on the camping. You don’t look like you’ve just walked out of a luxury resort.’
I glanced over at the three good-looking people sitting outside Shake Shifter. Could I really face Persephone, Jordan and Rio looking like I’d survived a shipwreck? Would that be brave or just stupid? If I didn’t, I might miss my chance with Rio. Should I go and talk to Rio and Persephone, or should I go back to the camping ground and forget about them until school started again?
The view from Persephone’s holiday apartment was even more amazing than I could have imagined. From the balcony in her bedroom I felt like I could see everyone on the beach – every guy showing off his abs and every girl showing off her tan. We had front-row seats to everything that was happening at Paradise Point without even leaving the apartment. Of course, we would be leaving the apartment, just as soon as Persephone had decided on her bikini. She had ten to choose from.
I, on the other hand, had packed two, and had discovered right after I arrived that one didn’t actually fit anymore, so that left me with an embarrassingly small number of choices. My blue bikini was it. I had liked it when I packed it, but now, beside Persephone’s selection, it looked hopelessly last season.
While Persephone tried on her sixth bikini, I took in the view, trying to spot a celebrity. There had to be one out there. Paradise Point was a magnet for them. My eyes roamed the busy beach, from the point all the way to the headland at the other end of the bay.
‘Why’s the beach so packed here, and then, past that headland, there’s no-one?’ I asked.
‘That’s a national park,’ Persephone called. ‘You can’t see it from here, but there’s a camping ground called The Lost World on the other side of the headland.’
Hearing the word ‘camping’ immediately made me feel guilty. I’d called Mia yesterday afternoon and told her I’d sprained my ankle and wasn’t able to go with them. It was a complete lie, but I thought it was the only thing to do. I’d agonised over it for a bit. It wasn’t like I made a habit of dropping my friends when I got a better offer. But I’d been really stressed about camping, and Persephone had provided me with a perfect excuse not to go. Of course, I couldn’t tell Izzy and Mia that. I decided it was kinder just to lie and make sure I kept off Facebook, Instagram and everywhere else, so Izzy and Mia didn’t find out the truth.
‘How do I look?’ Persephone asked, doing a twirl in a cute floral bikini.
‘Amazing,’ I said, completely truthfully.
‘What about from behind?’
‘The same – perfect.’ I would have lied if I had to, but I didn’t need to. Persephone really was perfect.
She frowned. ‘What about my fat butt?’
‘Who says you’ve got a fat butt?’
Persephone waved her thumb at her brother’s bedroom. George was the male version of Persephone: smooth skin, great hair and a perfect body. He was actually impossibly gorgeous. But he totally knew it.
‘So you’re going to take the word of your dumb brother over mine?’
Persephone grinned. ‘All right, let’s go. Should we head straight to the beach or check out the shops first?’
‘Well, I could do with a new bikini,’ I said.
She clapped her hands. ‘Great! Shopping it is!’
Persephone led the way.
‘It’s a little pricey,’ she said as we walked down the beachfront, ‘but totally worth it. This shop has what everyone else at school will be wearing next season.’
I followed her inside a tiny busy shop, full of colour, music and a lot of very pretty girls who looked just like Persephone.
‘It’s not normally this packed,’ she said.
And then we saw why. The sign above the cash register read: 50% off beachwear.
‘Cool!’ I said, and headed straight for the racks. I decided to work methodically, from one end of the shop to the other. A few minutes later, I had found a couple of bikinis I liked, but was struggling to find them in my size.
‘What do you think of these?’ asked Persephone. She had an armful of bikinis and flashed them at me, one by one.
‘Wow! I love them all! They’re gorgeous,’ I said. ‘They’ll look great on you.’
‘Not for me, silly,’ Persephone said, shaking her head. ‘I chose them for you.’
I checked the sizes. They were all my size. I had no idea how Persephone could guess my size and taste so perfectly. ‘You should be my personal stylist,’ I told her on the way to the changing room.
The queue for the changing room was halfway out of the shop. ‘There’s no way I’m waiting in that queue,’ I said. ‘Let’s come back when it’s quieter.’
‘But there’ll be nothing left,’ Persephone said.
I looked around at the way girls were grabbing things off the racks. Persephone was right. I had to act now. I groaned and joined the mega queue.
‘You’d look cute in any of these,’ Persephone said, pulling a purple bikini top from the pile in my arms and holding it up against me. ‘You know, I have a pretty good eye for sizes. These will fit.’
‘Okay,’ I said. Anything to get out of that queue. ‘But which ones should I get? I love them all.’
‘Get two, then,’ Persephone said with a cheeky grin. ‘They’re half price.’
‘I forgot about that,’ I said. ‘Thank you, personal stylist!’ I looked through the bikinis again, but still couldn’t make a choice.
‘I’ll get them all,’ I announced and headed straight to the register. I quickly added up the prices in my head. I knew my holiday allowance wouldn’t quite cover the whole lot, but if I dipped into the ‘emergencies only’ money, which Mum had tucked into my purse, I could afford everything.
‘Five bikinis?’ Persephone said, raising her eyebrows. ‘My mum would totally freak if I came home with that many from one shopping trip.’
I shrugged. ‘Mum gave me some spending money, so I might as well spend it. And everything’s on sale, so I’m basically saving money.’
‘I guess, if you have enough money for all of them,’ Persephone said with a shrug.
‘I’ll have to dip into my “emergencies only” stash,’ I explained. ‘But carrying around money for emergencies is basically just asking for some kind of accident. Right?’
I was surprised how serious Persephone looked. ‘But what if you have an actual emergency?’
In that moment, I couldn’t think of any emergency that was worse than being at Paradise Point without a choice of bikinis. Surely Mum would understand that!
But I did feel a little guilty when I came out of the shop with a bagful of new bikinis. I’d blown my holiday allowance and put a large hole in my emergencies-only fund. But at least now I was ready for Paradise Point!
‘So what do you think of Paradise Point?’ Persephone asked as we spread our towels on the white sand.
‘I love it. Who wouldn’t?’
‘Tori,’ Persephone replied. ‘She thinks it’s boring.’
I didn’t say anything. It made me feel uncomfortable to hear Tori’s name thrown into the conversation. Ever since we’d arrived in Paradise Point, I’d secretly been wondering why Perseph
one had invited me and not her best friend, Tori. But now I knew why Tori wasn’t here.
‘Why does she think it’s boring?’ I asked.
Persephone shrugged. ‘That’s just Tori. It’s just what she’s like.’
I didn’t really know what to say to that. ‘Let’s go for I swim,’ I suggested.
We waded out into the sea, squealing as the cold waves hit our legs. Suddenly, I realised I didn’t know the correct protocol for swimming with one of the cool girls. I imagined that Persephone might want to keep her hair dry and perfect.
But she surprised me by diving underwater. I dived under, too. We splashed around in the shallows, getting warm, and then swam way out beyond the small breakers. The water was surprisingly calm and still that far out.
I was quickly realising that Persephone was a bit of a fish in the water, just like Mia and Izzy. Well, maybe not quite as good as them. She took a breath and dived underwater. I ducked under, too, and peered at her blurry face, her hair swishing all over it. She made a noise and some bubbles, but I had no clue what she was on about.
‘So what did I say?’ she said, when we came up for air.
‘Ah,’ I said. ‘No idea.’
‘Don’t you know Mermaid Speak?’ Persephone said, feigning surprise. ‘The key to it is talking slowly and deliberately, and listening with your eyes and your heart, not just your ears. Let’s go again and see if you know what I’m saying. It’s a rhyme.’ She ducked under the water again, and I followed.
‘OOo ooo ah ee ah ow ow ooo,’ I said, when we both came up.
Persephone giggled. ‘But it’s so easy. How come you didn’t get it?’ she teased. ‘I said: Roses are red, violets are blue, Rio is cute and so are you!’
‘Aw, sweet,’ I said, smiling. ‘All right, my turn! It’s a limerick. And you’re in it.’ I dived underwater. I bubbled away through the first two lines before I had to come up for air.
Persephone popped up and recited exactly what I’d said. ‘There once was a girl called Persephone, who liked to eat lots of sesame.’
‘No way!’ I said. ‘How did you get that?’
‘C’mon, Kitty,’ she said. ‘There’s not a lot that rhymes with Persephone.’
‘True,’ I said, and ducked underwater to finish the limerick. It was quite long and took me several goes.
Persephone asked me to repeat the last line a few times. When she finally came up from under the water, she said the limerick almost word for word. ‘There once was a girl called Persephone, who liked to eat lots of sesame. Along Jordan came, who could say her name, and together they lived ever after so happily.’
I couldn’t believe it. ‘How did you get so good at doing that?’
‘Years of practice with my cousin,’ Persephone said, ‘She’s deaf. She has to listen with her heart and her eyes.’
‘So is she really good at lip-reading underwater?’ I asked.
‘The best. Maybe she’s a mermaid,’ Persephone giggled and splashed me. ‘Come on. Race you to shore!’
When we got back to our towels, there was a text waiting for Persephone. She read it aloud.
Hey P. Are you and Kitty at the beach yet? Rio and I are here. When do you want to meet up? J xx
‘Oh, and there are two kisses. How cute!’ she said, holding the phone to her chest. ‘So, what do you think? You want to find the guys now?’
‘What, like, right now?’ I asked. I felt a buzz of excitement at the thought of seeing Rio. It soon turned to panic, though, when I remembered what had happened last time I saw him. I’d never be ready to face Rio after the Snow White knickers incident.
‘Uh-huh. Right now,’ Persephone replied.
‘But I won’t know what to do,’ I blurted out. ‘I won’t have anything to say.’
Persephone frowned. ‘Of course you will. Don’t be such a worrywart!’
I shook my head. ‘But I’m not like you. I can’t just talk to guys. My tongue will stop working or something. I’m just not cool like you are.’
‘Well, you look pretty cool to me,’ Persephone said smiling. ‘And you act it, too.’
I smiled, coyly. ‘Really? You think so?’
Persephone nodded. ‘Totes. You rock. You’re just a bit shy, that’s all.’
Was it really possible that I was cool? I looked down at my new bikini. It was definitely cool! Maybe with my new bikini, and Persephone with me, I could face Rio.
‘All right, let’s meet them. But maybe not right now,’ I said. ‘Can we meet them later?’
Persephone smiled. ‘Of course, silly.’ She texted Jordan back with a time and a place to meet later that afternoon.
‘So what’s the story with you and Jordan?’ I asked.
‘No story yet,’ Persephone said, giving me a cheeky grin. ‘But I’m pretty sure there’ll be one by the end of the holidays.’
‘How long have you known him?’
‘I met him about five minutes before you did.’
‘What?’ I said. ‘You met him at the bridge-building session?’
‘Uh-huh,’ she said, lying back on her towel.
I found that hard to believe. She and Jordan had seemed so comfortable working together in class that I assumed they’d known each other forever.
‘How do you do that?’ I asked. ‘Talk to cute guys without getting nervous?’
Persephone felt around for her sunglasses and put them on. ‘I’ve got an older brother. That probably makes it easier for me to talk to guys. Practise on George if you like.’
I laughed. ‘I’d prefer to start practising on a teddy bear. No offence, but George is kind of arrogant,’ I said before I could stop myself.
Persephone just laughed. ‘Kind of! His head’s so big he has to duck to get through doorways.’
‘I guess it’s all part of the territory when you’re a chick magnet.’
Persephone lifted her sunglasses and eyed me suspiciously.
‘I don’t mean that I think he’s a chick magnet,’ I said quickly. ‘I mean he obviously thinks he is. You know what I mean.’
Persephone nodded, but I could feel a bit of tension in the air.
‘Anyway, enough about George,’ I said. ‘I want to talk about Rio. Do you think he likes me?’
Persephone’s face relaxed again. ‘Of course! Who wouldn’t?’
I shrugged.
‘Hey, stop over-thinking everything. You look super cute in your new bikini,’ Persephone said, poking me with her toe. ‘Don’t look now, but there are a couple of guys over there who can’t take their eyes off you.’
She sat up and pointed down the beach at a couple of boys kicking a ball to each other.
‘But they’re about ten years old,’ I complained.
Persephone cracked up laughing. ‘So fussy!’ she said. ‘But seriously, just be yourself and Rio will definitely like you.’
‘Sure,’ I said. But that was easier to say than do.
‘So what do you …’ Persephone trailed off.
I followed her gaze to two guys near the headland, coming out of the surf. Not the ten-year-olds. These guys were definitely older. Rio and Jordan? I suddenly felt butterflies in my tummy.
‘Is that who I think it is?’ she asked. ‘C’mon, let’s get a closer look.’
‘Really? Do we have to?’ I asked, but Persephone pulled me to my feet.
‘I think it is. I think it is,’ she muttered as we got closer.
But I was more convinced that it wasn’t. ‘It’s not Rio and Jordan. Unless they’ve grown their hair.’
‘No,’ said Persephone, ‘not them. It’s …’ She glanced around to make sure no-one was listening. ‘The Lads.’
‘No way!’ I squealed.
Persephone put her finger to her lips. ‘Shh! You’ll let the whole beach know. If we’re quiet we can keep them all to ourselves.’
‘What? We’re going to talk to them?’
Persephone smiled. ‘No. Grab your phone. I have a plan.’
I shook my head
in disbelief. No way.
My heart was pounding like crazy as we walked towards the two guys. Now we could see them properly, there was no mistaking Kes and Pit. Those cute faces, those cool haircuts – who else could they be but The Lads? They were standing right there in front of me, drying themselves off with their towels.
Kes, with his blue eyes and long hair, was the one all the girls loved. But Pit was the one I liked. His smile could melt solid rock. He was probably going to burn a hole right through me if he looked in my direction.
I had never expected to see The Lads at Paradise Point. Maybe a half-famous chef or perhaps a few reality-TV stars, but not these guys. Not The Lads! This really was beyond amazing.
‘Let me do the talking,’ Persephone whispered as we approached. ‘And remember, play it cool.’
That was about the hardest thing she could have asked me to do. My legs had gone to jelly and my tongue felt numb. I hoped Persephone would do the talking, because I had no idea what might come out of my mouth if I opened it.
I loved The Lads so much. I had every song that they’d ever recorded and knew all their lyrics. Before Rio came on the scene, I’d kissed my poster of Pit so many times I’d worn a hole in it. I’d even decided where Pit and I would get married. We’d have a Pacific Island wedding. I’d arrive for the ceremony in a dugout canoe, there’d be frangipani flowers sprinkled across the lagoon and my chiffon dress would ripple in the breeze while Pit waited in a white tux on the shore.
These days, it was Rio I dreamed of in the white tux. But, as I looked at Pit, I was totally in awe. I drifted towards the two guys in a trance. I was in such a daze that I didn’t notice Persephone had stopped walking until I bumped into her.
‘Wow! Did you see that?’ Persephone said, pointing out into the sea. ‘Look out there. I definitely saw something.’
I frowned. What could she see that was more interesting than Kes and Pit? The only possibility was Blake and Curt, the other half of the band. Had she spotted them surfing?
