Viva Alice! Read Online Free

Eddie, and her big brother Gavin. Everyone except Gavin was chatting and laughing. All through the journey he’d been staring at his phone and looking like he was going to burst into tears. I felt sorry for him, and wondered why he was so sad.
    Already, we’d passed tons of beaches, a volcano, a camel farm and all kinds of cool stuff. The others might have been tired of me saying ‘Omigod!’ over and over again, but I couldn’t help it. This was the best place ever.
    Soon we stopped at a huge red gate. There was a big sign on the pillar –
Sunset Beach Villas.
    ‘Here we are,’ said Lorna, turning back and smiling at us. ‘Home, sweet home.’
    ‘Omigod,’ I whispered. Everyone except Gavin laughed, and even he smiled a bit.
    The minibus driver, José, leaned out through the minibus window and typed a code into a panel at the side of the gate. A second later, the gate swung open and we drove through, following a wide, curvy road. I stared out the window, all buzzy with excitement, as we passed rows of shiny white villas, and a kiddies playground and a few really fancy-looking restaurants.
    ‘There’s the communal pool,’ said Grace, pointing at the biggest swimming pool I’d ever seen. ‘And the crazy golf course is just down there past the trees. We go to the communal pool sometimes, but most days we just hang out at our own pool.’
    At last I was speechless. I couldn’t even say‘Omigod’ any more. This had to be the best place in the whole wide world.
    We went past the pool, and through some trees. Then José drove down a narrow road, up a hill, and past more trees.
    ‘Where are we going?’ wailed Alice. ‘I liked that place. Why are we leaving already?’
    Eddie turned around and laughed. ‘Our house is just up here,’ he said. ‘It’s all on its own. It’s nice and private and far from all the action.’
    ‘Boring,’ said Grace, rolling her eyes.
    ‘We like it that way,’ said Eddie. ‘But if it’s not exciting enough for you girls, you can go to the communal pool or the crazy golf whenever you want. In fact, as long as you stay within the complex, you can safely go pretty much wherever you like.’
    By now, we were pulling up outside a huge white villa. Everyone climbed out of the minibus. José helped to unload the bags and then he drove away.
    We stood on the terrace and looked around.The air was warm and there was a smell of flowers and sea and holidays. In front of us, the swimming pool was all cool and sparkly.
    ‘It’s that time again,’ said Lorna, smiling at us.
    ‘What time?’ asked Alice.
    Instead of answering, Grace smiled too. ‘Put your phones on the table,’ she said.
    I didn’t like where this was going. Were Grace’s parents going to take our phones from us? Even though I had hardly any credit, and I was only supposed to use my phone to talk to Mum and Dad every night, I didn’t like the idea of being parted from it.
    ‘But …’ began Alice.
    ‘Just do it,’ said Grace. ‘It’s tradition. We do this every time we have new visitors to our house.’
    It sounded kind of weird, but I guessed if I didn’t go along with Grace’s family’s tradition, I might never be asked to go on holidays with them again. I soooo didn’t like the idea of that, so I copied everyone else. I pulled my phoneout of my pocket and put it on the table. Lorna took off her expensive-looking jacket, and put it over a chair. Eddie and Gavin took off their watches.
    ‘Now take off your shoes and stand at the edge of the pool,’ said Grace. ‘Over here, next to me.’
    At last I thought I could see where this was going. We had our clothes on, but no one seemed to care. This was all mad and crazy and fun.
    ‘One, two…..’ said Eddie.
    As he said ‘three’ everyone jumped in to the pool. I hesitated for a second, but Grace grabbed me and pulled me in with her. I just had time to take a breath before the beautiful cool water wrapped itself around me. We all came to the surface