Chapter 7: Kristy
Dear Karen,
I know that I will beat this card to Stonybrook, but I still had to send it. Australia is so much fun, we went to the beach today. In fact, I'm actually at the beach right now. If this were a letter, I'd mail you some sand. Maybe when I graduate from high school we can all come here on a family trip. Be nice to your little brother and sister.
Love,
Kristy.
Even though we would be leaving tomorrow morning, I still picked out three postcards and mailed them to Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle. Kids love getting mail. Actually, I think everyone likes getting mail. Well, fun mail. No one really likes to go to the mail box and find a phone bill with their name on it.
Of course, I couldn't exactly tell Karen everything that was going on in Australia. She is only nine. I am SO mad at Sam (notice the capital letters?). He completely ruined my vacation to the Great Outback.
Before we left, I researched things to do in Sydney. There is so much to do here. Soccer games, hiking, trips to the outback right outside the city... I couldn't wait. Then we got here and had very little time to actually see the city before Mr. McGill made us all go home. Because of my loser brother Sam. I hope Mom and Watson ground him forever.
To be fair, I guess it isn't completely his fault. As my stepfather Watson would say "It takes two to tango." According to Shannon, a tango is a type of dance. I don't know if they were actually dancing, but clearly, Mr McGill didn't want to see his daughter in such a compromising situation. With my brother. The mental picture alone is enough to make me shudder.
My thoughts were interrupted by Dawn shouting my name.
"Do you want to go find something to eat? We've been here for hours and I'm starving."
I agreed, and we set off down the beach. Stacey's dad and Shannon were deep in conversation on a beach blanket, so he barely noticed us when we said we were going to find a restaurant. I was a little disturbed, but figured they were discussing something to do with tax laws or the opera or something that I know nothing about. Honestly, I've barely seen Shannon this trip and wonder what is going on with her. I mentioned this to Dawn, who didn't seem all that phased by it.
"Shannon always did seem older then most of us. Maybe it is because of her family. I'm sure she's not really interested in Stacey's dad. I mean, thats so weird. He's clearly old enough to be her father. She's probably just looking for a father figure because her dad isn't around that much."
Sometimes, Dawn is so smart. Too bad her swollen tongue made that very difficult to understand. Fortunately for me, I had become used to the new "Dawn Speak."
Finally, we reached the street and hailed a cab. I thought it was pretty cool that I could put my fingers in my mouth and whistle. Dawn looked rather embarrassed about it. I asked the cab to find us somewhere to eat, and we ended up at a rather shady looking place. It was one of those trailers that sell cotton candy at the Fireman's Festival every year, but instead of junk food, they sold grilled shrimp. It was delicious. Dawn complained the whole time about eating shellfish, but I think she actually really liked it.
Back at the hotel, we met up with the rest of our group. I glared at Sam. Why wasn't anyone else pissed at him? Mr McGill announced that we would be leaving in the morning "Bright and Early."
That's when I caught sight of Mallory. She still looked a little dazed and confused, but she was actually smiling. I followed her gaze across the lobby and saw a very attractive guy, probably in his early 20s. She started to get up, but then a crowd of preteen girls flooded the lobby, and then he was gone. I smiled at her. I'm very happy she's finally got some confidence to speak to boys, but I hope she doesn't get the wrong idea. He was much to old for her, and I confided these feeling to Dawn and Shannon on the way up. Both of them glared at me. I don't know what that was about, but I let it go.