I WAS A TEENAGE OUTSIDER (AND I LIKED IT)

I did get grounded when we got home. But that was fair. I deserved it. I did ruin the trip, after all.

I’ve been talking to Ellie online. She mentioned she might make a trip to Hills Village before too long. “And I’m working on something cool. Keep your eye on your mailbox, okay?” she added.

I tried to get her to say more, but she wouldn’t. Nothing much had changed for her in Shark’s Bay.

“We were always the Outsiders,” she said. “That’s the way I like it.”

That’s a good way of looking at things. I’m kind of an outsider in Hills Village. The thing is, before I met Ellie and the rest of the Outsiders, I always saw that as a negative. Maybe I’ve been looking at things the wrong way. Instead of trying to fit in with everyone else, maybe I’d be better off not fitting in and liking it.

I’ve started to get more interested in filmmaking, too. I even started working on some storyboards for my own movie. A horror movie, of course.

Best of all, I’ve realized that I learned something important on the trip. It was something my mom said in between telling me how grounded I was. She said that bravery comes in many forms and she thought I was brave for producing art.

“At least you’re trying,” she said. “You might be scared of sharks and snakes and imaginary drop bears, but who isn’t?”

She stopped short of actually saying she approved of me letting an animatronic zombie bunyip loose on Shark’s Bay, but let’s be honest—that was never going to happen.

Being back home felt good. On the upside, it was great to see Grandma Dotty and Junior and Flip. On the downside, I was back under the same roof as Georgia.

There was one especially great thing about being back in Hills Village. As my feet slid between the sheets, I was pretty sure that there wouldn’t be any snakes.