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‘I feel sorry for those Fairmount girls,’ she said. ‘They can cheer all they want, but the cutest guys on that team are already taken.’

    I lay on my stomach on Kimmi’s kitchen floor, touching up a section of sunset. Kimmi put the finishing touches on a baby orangutan that peered through the palm fronds at the other end of the ‘Slushies in Paradise’ banner.
    Finally, she took a deep breath and jumped to her feet. ‘Finished!’
    I put my brush in a jug of water and stood up beside her, admiring the sign. ‘It’s amazing!’ It looked like a professional artist had done it. ‘ You’re amazing!’
    ‘So are you!’
    ‘I didn’t do anything. But thank you. Liam is going to be so impressed.’
    Kimmi frowned.
    ‘Not that it’s all about impressing Liam,’ I added quickly. ‘But you know how grumpy he got about us going to the party.’
    ‘He got grumpy about you going to the party,’ Kimmi said. ‘With a bunch of cute Highgrove guys. Are you sure there’s nothing going on that you haven’t told me about?’
    I shook my head. ‘Of course not. Liam and I are friends. He’s great. He’s passionate about the same things I am. That’s it. And besides, he’s in the grade above.’
    ‘So you say. But there’s no law against dating older guys, you know.’
    ‘We’re just friends,’ I said.
    Kimmi raised her eyebrows. ‘So, if he asked you out – to the movies or something – you’d say no?’
    ‘Well, no. I’d say yes,’ I replied. ‘Because we’re friends.’ And then I thought about it more. Sure, I’d gone weak at the knees when I first saw him, but then I’d got to know him. He really got me. He understood what was going on in my head – sometimes better than my friends. I liked hanging out with him in the Wild Club, and of course I’d be happy to see more of him outside school. I liked spending time with him.
    ‘What about if Saia asked you to the movies?’ Kimmi asked playfully.
    ‘I think the answer would be yes to that one, too,’ I said, smiling. A shiver ran down my spine just thinking about Saia’s beautiful smile.
    ‘You’ve got goosebumps!’ Kimmi shrieked.
    I laughed, trying to stroke down the hairs on my arms. ‘That happens every time I think about him. I just melt when he smiles at me.’
    ‘So you definitely like him more than Liam?’
    I frowned, trying to work it out. ‘It’s totally different. I get a warm, fuzzy, calm feeling when I think of Liam. And with Saia my insides start bouncing up and down. I’m excited to see him tonight, but …’
    ‘You’re still worried you’re too different?’ Kimmi asked.
    ‘What if I get to the party and I really have nothing to say to him?’
    Kimmi nudged me. ‘You know what they say: opposites attract. And if you run out of things to talk about, you can just dance. Or kiss him!’
    I laughed. ‘Is that your plan?’
    ‘Totes,’ Kimmi said, smiling.
    I glanced at the kitchen clock. Annabel would be here any minute to help us with our hair and make-up. She was the closest Kimmi and I were going to get to a stylist. But we were meant to take the banner to the school before she got here. We were running really late. I touched the corner of the banner. It felt almost dry.
    ‘Annabel’s going to freak when she finds us still covered in paint,’ Kimmi said, touching her hair. It was flecked with orange and she had green smudges across her forehead.
    ‘How about you have a shower while I take the banner to school?’ I suggested. ‘Then I’ll get changed when I get back.’
    Kimmi nodded and headed to her room while I carefully rolled up the banner. I couldn’t wait to see the guys’ expressions when they saw it. But just as I called my mum to ask for a lift, the doorbell rang. I opened the front door to find Annabel in her brand-new white dress, her hair bouncing around her shoulders like she’d just walked off the red carpet.
    ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Ryan is going to pass out when he sees