Read Online The Call of the Wild by Julie Fison - Free Book Online
Authors: Julie Fison
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Lulu’s reach. ‘First we’re going to help clean up.’
She frowned. ‘First we’re going to make a sand mermaid!’
She bolted off across the beach, in the opposite direction from the clean-up volunteers. I watched her go. ‘I knew this would happen,’ I mumbled.
‘It’s cool,’ Liam said, peeling off his gloves and tossing them in a nearby bin. ‘There’s hardly any rubbish left anyway. We should help your sister.’
I shrugged. ‘You think?’
Liam nodded. ‘Just don’t tell my mum. She said if I did four hours down here she’d help me buy a new skateboard. But you know, four hours building sand mermaids is like community service, isn’t it?’
‘Sure,’ I laughed. ‘You actually deserve a medal for hanging out with my sister.’
We walked across the sand to join Lulu and got started on the mermaid. Normally I got bored, making sandcastles with Lulu. But it was a lot more fun with Liam. He put up with all Lulu’s silly requests for mermaid scales and special fins. He even laughed when she ‘accidentally’ flung a whole handful of sand on his head.
‘Sisters, eh?’ he laughed, shaking the sand out of his floppy blonde hair. ‘Mine are even bossier.’
As Lulu went off to find shells to decorate the mermaid, Liam told me more about his family. His sisters sounded funny, and his parents seemed really cool. They studied coral reefs, and his whole family were vegetarians.
‘I’m trying to be a vegetarian, too,’ I told Liam. ‘But Mum keeps sneaking meat into my meals, thinking I won’t notice. I wish I had your parents.’
‘No you don’t, they’re completely nuts,’ said Liam. ‘I think it’s because they spend all their time with their heads underwater, looking at coral. All that water has to do something to your brain.’
‘Maybe it’s good for you,’ I suggested, starting to dig a tunnel underneath the mermaid.
‘Let’s hope you’re right, because I spend almost every holiday with my head underwater, too. We go scuba diving a lot.’
‘Sounds amazing. What’s the best thing you’ve seen diving?’
‘Sharks are cool,’ said Liam thoughtfully. ‘I can identify over a hundred different species.’
I shivered. ‘You swim with sharks?’
Liam nodded, tunnelling under the mermaid from the other side. ‘Sometimes. Not great whites, if I can avoid them.’
‘Sounds like you have exciting holidays.’
Liam nodded. ‘Always.’
As Liam told me about a trip to a turtle-nesting site on the Great Barrier Reef, I pushed my hand into the tunnel under the mermaid to collect another handful of sand and touched something. When it wriggled, I realised it was Liam’s fingers.
‘Oh, sorry,’ I said.
As I jerked my hand away, my whole arm tingled. I looked at Liam. His eyes had gone all intense, like he was shocked or something. He stared at me for a moment without saying anything, then looked away. He flicked the hair from his face and smoothed out the mermaid’s tail.
And that’s when I noticed the colour of his eyes. Like, really noticed them. I’d always known they were blue, but I saw for the first time that they were exactly the same as the aquamarine in my mum’s engagement ring – a vibrant blue, like they’d been chipped from a precious stone. They were gorgeous. And they matched the rest of him perfectly. Liam was clever, interesting and caring – a totally gorgeous person all round. I realised that even though I liked him as a friend, there might be more to it.
‘That is the best mermaid ever,’ Lulu said, returning with her shell collection and interrupting my thoughts. She carefully placed her decorations around the mermaid’s waist and then clapped her hands. ‘Now we can have the brownies!’
‘Okay,’ I said, wiping my sandy hands on my top. I unwrapped the brownies, noticing that my hands were trembling slightly after our unexpected encounter in the mermaid tunnel. I just hoped Liam didn’t notice.
‘Mmm,’ Lulu purred, closing her
She frowned. ‘First we’re going to make a sand mermaid!’
She bolted off across the beach, in the opposite direction from the clean-up volunteers. I watched her go. ‘I knew this would happen,’ I mumbled.
‘It’s cool,’ Liam said, peeling off his gloves and tossing them in a nearby bin. ‘There’s hardly any rubbish left anyway. We should help your sister.’
I shrugged. ‘You think?’
Liam nodded. ‘Just don’t tell my mum. She said if I did four hours down here she’d help me buy a new skateboard. But you know, four hours building sand mermaids is like community service, isn’t it?’
‘Sure,’ I laughed. ‘You actually deserve a medal for hanging out with my sister.’
We walked across the sand to join Lulu and got started on the mermaid. Normally I got bored, making sandcastles with Lulu. But it was a lot more fun with Liam. He put up with all Lulu’s silly requests for mermaid scales and special fins. He even laughed when she ‘accidentally’ flung a whole handful of sand on his head.
‘Sisters, eh?’ he laughed, shaking the sand out of his floppy blonde hair. ‘Mine are even bossier.’
As Lulu went off to find shells to decorate the mermaid, Liam told me more about his family. His sisters sounded funny, and his parents seemed really cool. They studied coral reefs, and his whole family were vegetarians.
‘I’m trying to be a vegetarian, too,’ I told Liam. ‘But Mum keeps sneaking meat into my meals, thinking I won’t notice. I wish I had your parents.’
‘No you don’t, they’re completely nuts,’ said Liam. ‘I think it’s because they spend all their time with their heads underwater, looking at coral. All that water has to do something to your brain.’
‘Maybe it’s good for you,’ I suggested, starting to dig a tunnel underneath the mermaid.
‘Let’s hope you’re right, because I spend almost every holiday with my head underwater, too. We go scuba diving a lot.’
‘Sounds amazing. What’s the best thing you’ve seen diving?’
‘Sharks are cool,’ said Liam thoughtfully. ‘I can identify over a hundred different species.’
I shivered. ‘You swim with sharks?’
Liam nodded, tunnelling under the mermaid from the other side. ‘Sometimes. Not great whites, if I can avoid them.’
‘Sounds like you have exciting holidays.’
Liam nodded. ‘Always.’
As Liam told me about a trip to a turtle-nesting site on the Great Barrier Reef, I pushed my hand into the tunnel under the mermaid to collect another handful of sand and touched something. When it wriggled, I realised it was Liam’s fingers.
‘Oh, sorry,’ I said.
As I jerked my hand away, my whole arm tingled. I looked at Liam. His eyes had gone all intense, like he was shocked or something. He stared at me for a moment without saying anything, then looked away. He flicked the hair from his face and smoothed out the mermaid’s tail.
And that’s when I noticed the colour of his eyes. Like, really noticed them. I’d always known they were blue, but I saw for the first time that they were exactly the same as the aquamarine in my mum’s engagement ring – a vibrant blue, like they’d been chipped from a precious stone. They were gorgeous. And they matched the rest of him perfectly. Liam was clever, interesting and caring – a totally gorgeous person all round. I realised that even though I liked him as a friend, there might be more to it.
‘That is the best mermaid ever,’ Lulu said, returning with her shell collection and interrupting my thoughts. She carefully placed her decorations around the mermaid’s waist and then clapped her hands. ‘Now we can have the brownies!’
‘Okay,’ I said, wiping my sandy hands on my top. I unwrapped the brownies, noticing that my hands were trembling slightly after our unexpected encounter in the mermaid tunnel. I just hoped Liam didn’t notice.
‘Mmm,’ Lulu purred, closing her
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