‘Oh, look, we’re nearly at The Lost World,’ Persephone said, pointing to the far end of the headland. ‘I didn’t realise we’d walked so far.’

It certainly felt like we’d walked a long way. I sat down on a boulder to take a break. My legs were killing me from jumping over crevices, but we’d been so busy talking I hadn’t noticed the pain until now. ‘I’m dying.’

Persephone slumped down beside me. ‘Me, too. All that scheming sure takes it out of a girl.’

I smiled. We’d been hatching our revenge plot since Kes and Pit left us on the beach. We’d posted the details of their holiday apartment on one of their fan pages. Pretty soon there’d be a swarm of screaming girls descending on them. No chance of a quiet holiday, then!

We’d also come up with a shortlist of fun things to do with Rio and Jordan over the holidays. We decided on a stand-up paddleboard lesson, water-skiing on the lake, trying out the new sushi-train restaurant and visiting every ice-cream shop on the beachfront. There were seven to get through – one for every day of our holiday!

‘I’m so glad you came,’ Persephone said. ‘It’s only the first day, and already it’s the best holiday ever. Well, aside from Kes throwing my phone in the sand.’

‘But it was Kes! From The Lads!’ I said. ‘That’s still pretty amazing.’

‘Kitty, did you see the photos of his armpit? Trust me, those guys are total douchebags.’

She was totally right. I was still acting like a groupie. Famous or not, Kes and Pit had acted like complete idiots. But it didn’t stop me feeling disappointed that they had turned out to be so lame.

‘Losers,’ I hissed angrily.

‘Totes. Major losers. But I’m glad we got to find that out,’ Persephone said, laughing. ‘It’s cool hanging out with you. When I come to Paradise Point with Tori we hardly leave the apartment. You think I take ages to get ready. She takes forever.’

I felt uneasy hearing this. Persephone would probably feel guilty later about dissing her best friend.

‘With Tori, it’s practically lunchtime by the time we get to the beach,’ she continued, ‘if we even get to the beach at all.’

‘Tori doesn’t like the beach?’

Persephone shrugged. ‘She used to. She used to be a laugh, as well. She’s witty. And she’s really clever. But, now, she just takes everything so seriously. The way she looks, the way other people look. And if she likes a guy, wow, that’s like a military operation for her. She is all about planning, detail and precision.’

I made a face. ‘Sounds scary.’

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Persephone added quickly, ‘she’s seriously cool. Her mum’s some big company boss. Tori’s been everywhere and done everything. But, man, she knows how to play the popularity game – favours, put-downs, even lies.’

I didn’t really know what to say to all this. ‘So, where is she now?’ I asked.

Persephone studied her hands. ‘At home.’

‘She didn’t want to come to Paradise Point?’

‘I didn’t ask her,’ Persephone said.

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Because she’d be bored?’

Persephone was silent for a moment. ‘This is probably going to sound really bad, but I’m just a bit sick of her. I’m tired of stressing about what I’m wearing all the time. And Tori’s got a major crush on my brother. I try to laugh it off, but it gets annoying after a while.’ Persephone paused and looked at me. ‘I just wanted to spend time with someone fun for a change. Does that make me selfish?’

I laughed. ‘No. It makes you normal.’

I watched the sea for a bit, processing the idea that Persephone preferred to hang out with me rather than Tori. Tori was so glossy and perfect. I was just average and not perfect at all, but Persephone thought that made me fun. I’d never thought of myself like that before.

It seemed like the right time for my own confession. ‘I was meant to go camping with Mia and Izzy, but I decided to come here with you because I’d prefer eating ice-cream and swimming at the beach to eating burnt sausages and digging my own toilet. Does that make me selfish?’

Persephone smiled. ‘No. It actually sounds pretty normal to me.’

‘I really like Izzy and Mia. They’re amazing and really great friends. But sometimes I feel …’ I paused, searching for the right words, ‘a bit out of place. They’re so similar to each other, and that makes me feel different.’

Persephone nodded. ‘I totally get that. Everyone in my group just wants to be like Tori. I seem to be the only one who wants to be a whole separate person. I’m actually a bit sick of all of them. It’s much more fun hanging out with you.’ Persephone looked at me, expectantly, like she was waiting for me to say something meaningful.

But I wasn’t quite sure what to tell her. Surely she doesn’t want to know that other people think her friends are stuck-up? And then something came to me.

‘Why don’t you forget about Tori, and hang out with us?’

I could tell by the way Persephone’s face lit up that I’d said the right thing. ‘Really? You think I could?’ Then her face dropped. ‘But I don’t play water polo.’

‘That’ll make two of us,’ I said, grinning.

Persephone’s face brightened into a big relieved smile. ‘Do you think Izzy and Mia will like me?’

I gave her a hug. ‘Of course they will.’

It was settled. Persephone would join our group when we got back to school. I’d just need a bit of time to work on Izzy and Mia to change their minds about her being stuck-up. Once Izzy had an idea in her head she was very determined to stick to it. Her determination made her great at sport, but it also meant she was a bit on the inflexible side. I was confident, though. When they got to know Persephone, they’d see she wasn’t like Tori and the rest of her group. Persephone was very cool, but she was also really fun.

‘Thanks, Kitty,’ Persephone said. ‘You’re a real friend.’

I got to my feet and pulled Persephone up. ‘Should we head back?’

She nodded. Then something behind me caught her eye. I turned to see two girls coming towards us. For a moment, I thought it was Mia and Izzy. But, of course, it couldn’t be. They were camping in some fly-blown, remote corner of the country, digging their own toilets and fighting off snakes and leeches.

Then the two girls waved. My heart sank. It was Mia and Izzy!

My brain started spinning. I was trying to remember exactly what I’d told them, searching for my excuse for not going camping. Oh, man! I told them I’d sprained my ankle.

‘Hey. What a surprise seeing you two here,’ Izzy said, stopping in front of us. Izzy was not smiling.

I knew I was in big trouble.

‘How’s that sprained ankle, Kitty?’ she asked. ‘I’m surprised you made it over all those rocks with an injury like that.’

Mia, Izzy and Persephone all stared at me. I knew everyone was waiting for my answer. I had about five seconds to work out what to say.

Should I just tell the truth? Or should I try to get away with the lie about my ankle?