All About the Hype Read Free Page B

here. ‘Can we go straight to Peter Pan, please?’ I ask our guide with a
smile.
    ‘Sure.’ She doesn’t move, though, her smile frozen on her face as she looks from Mickey and Walt to Johnny and Meg and back again.
    I wonder what she’s waiting for. Are we supposed to show the statue more respect or something?
    And then Johnny’s and Meg’s faces light up at the sight of something behind me. I turn round to see a cart being drawn by a real horse, and then, from behind it, Libby, Natalie, Lou
and Em emerge! I almost die on the spot as my British friends run, laughing, towards me. And the boys follow: Dougie, Aaron, Chris and – no way – is that
Tom
? I stare at him in
shock, and then I spy Stu with who I
think
are Libby’s and Tom’s mums, but my eyes are so full of tears, it’s hard to tell.
    My friends engulf me and there is so much screaming going on that it almost bursts my eardrums. Eventually I make it to Stu and I’m pretty sure he’s crying as we hug. I can’t
believe almost everyone I care about is here. And was I dreaming? Did I really see Tom?
    I break away from my stepdad and look around for him and, sure enough, my recently ex-boyfriend is standing awkwardly beside his mate, Chris.
    He meets my eyes and gives me a small smile and then Natalie is accosting me.
    Natalie is a relatively new friend, as are Em, Dougie and Aaron. I started to hang out with them earlier last year when I went through a particularly rough patch. They’re older than me
– they all go to college now – and Stu wrote them off as a bad influence with their drinking, smoking and late-night partying. I think he now understands that they helped me in their
own way, even if he didn’t approve of their methods.
    ‘Get a look at Em, would you?’ Natalie whispers in my ear.
    Em’s eyes are bulging out of her head as she stares at my dad. Johnny pretends not to notice. Em’s his biggest fan. I watch Johnny greet my geeky stepdad with a backslap-mini-hug,
but Stu can’t quite carry the gesture off with the same swag, bless him.
    ‘How did you all get here?’ I ask.
    ‘Your dad flew us over,’ Libby tells me. My oldest friend’s grin is nearly splitting her face in half.
    ‘Business Class!’ Dougie interjects, pumping the air with his fist.
    ‘He’s paying for this whole trip,’ Libby adds. ‘My mum and Tom’s mum came as chaperones.’
    I lock eyes with Tom. I want to pull him aside for a proper talk, but it’s too hard with everyone around.
    ‘Hi,’ I say.
    ‘Hey,’ he replies quietly.
    This is so awkward
…
    Chris comes to our rescue, wrapping his arm round Tom’s neck. ‘So where are we going first?’
    ‘Barney wants to go on the Peter Pan ride,’ I tell them.
    ‘It’s your day, Jessie,’ Meg says firmly. ‘You choose.’
    ‘Let’s go on Peter Pan,’ I decide, smiling with affection at my little bro.
    ‘We can always split up later,’ Johnny chips in. ‘He won’t be able to go on Space Mountain, but
I
can’t wait!’
    He looks even more like Barney than usual.
    I soon find out that my dad got in touch with Stu to arrange this whole thing. They weren’t sure my friends would be able to make it at such short notice, but apparently every single one
of them jumped at the chance. Everyone except Tom, who Lou tells me took some persuading.
    ‘We knew you’d want him here,’ she says, as she, Libby, Natalie and I board the log ride at Splash Mountain. Em is in the log ahead, staring manically at the back of my
dad’s head. ‘I hope I was right?’ Lou checks worriedly.
    ‘Absolutely. I emailed him a couple of days ago asking if we could stay friends. I’m so glad he’s here, even if he doesn’t look too happy about it.’
    ‘You should talk to him, reassure him,’ Lou says. She was the new girl at school last term and she goes out with Chris, so I’m sure she knows the inside scoop about his best
mate.
    ‘I will as soon as I get a chance,’ I vow.
    My opportunity comes