A Very Malibu Vacay, page 1
The ZEE FILES™
A Very
Malibu
Vacay
BY TINA WELLS
with Stephanie Smith
Illustrated by Sharifa Patrick
For Eric, Arthur, Jeanette, and Wendy. —S.S.
© 2021 by Tina Wells
Written with Stephanie Smith
Illustrated by Sharifa Patrick
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
Icon credits: surprised by xander from the Noun Project; grimacing by Martin from the Noun Project; Cosmic_Design / shutterstock.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wells, Tina, 1980- author. | Patrick, Sharifa, illustrator.
Title: A very Malibu vacay / Tina Wells ; illustrated by Sharifa Patrick.
Description: Berkeley : West Margin Press, [2022] | Series: The Zee files ; book 4 | Audience: Ages 9-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: The Carmichaels are back in California for winter break and Zee cannot wait to see the old Brookdale crew, but despite the familiar sights and friendly faces, everything feels a little different.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022000583 (print) | LCCN 2022000584 (ebook) | ISBN 9781513209463 (hardback) | ISBN 9781513135038 (ebook)
Subjects: CYAC: Friendship--Fiction. | Vacation--Fiction. | California--Fiction. | LCGFT: Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.W46846 Ve 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.W46846 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000583
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022000584
Printed in China
25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
Published by West Margin Press®
WestMarginPress.com
WEST MARGIN PRESS
Publishing Director: Jennifer Newens
Marketing Manager: Alice Wertheimer
Project Specialist: Micaela Clark
Editor: Olivia Ngai
Design & Production: Rachel Lopez Metzger
1
READY TO GO
This is our last breakfast in London!” Mackenzie “Zee” Blue Carmichael squealed as she skipped into the kitchen. The night before, Zee had arrived back home in Notting Hill from The Hollows Creative Arts Academy, the private boarding school in the Cotswolds where she had just finished her first semester.
“Last breakfast, Zee?” Mr. Carmichael asked her.
“Well, not the last one ever, Dad,” Zee said. “But for, like, a very long time!”
“Three weeks, Zee. We’ll be gone for about three weeks. I hope you didn’t pack up your entire room. We just moved in a few months ago.”
The Carmichaels—Zee and her mom, dad, and twin siblings Phoebe and Connor—had finally settled into their new home after moving to London from California in the fall for Mr. Carmichael’s new job. But for the winter holiday break they were heading back to California, where Zee would see her friends from her old school, Brookdale Academy, and be able to visit her favorite places to eat, play, and be merry.
Zee couldn’t wait to get to Malibu, where Mrs. Carmichael rented a house for their vacation. Zee had already made plans for a sleepover or two with her best friend Chloe Lawrence-Johnson, who still went to Brookdale. Even better, Zee’s other Brookdale BFF Ally Stern, who now lived in Paris, was also returning to California. Ally’s family had moved to Paris a few years ago when her dad took a job at the Financial Times. But recently her parents separated, and this year Ally was spending the holidays with her mom in California. With all three friends finally back together, Zee had big plans for a fun-filled reunion in Malibu.
“What time is our flight?” Zee asked, sitting down at the kitchen table and excitedly digging into her eggs and toast.
“Not until later this afternoon,” Mr. Carmichael said as his phone rang. “But if we’re ready to go by noon, we should make good time.”
Mr. Carmichael stood up to take the call in the other room, leaving Zee to eat breakfast and daydream about her winter break plans. She turned to her mother at the counter. “While we’re home, let’s do all of the holiday things! We can do a bunch of shopping and see all of the holiday decorations, and we can get cookies and those crazy-good hot chocolates from the mall, and watch all of the Christmas movies and parades! And then we can take the twins to go see Santa!” Zee declared. “I’m so excited to get back home. Oh, and Chloe! She has to come visit. Like, soon. Like, immediately! And then Ally is supposed to come and see me! This is going to be the best. Holiday. EVER!”
“Yes indeed,” Mrs. Carmichael said. “And I have big plans too! I’m going to be vlogging the entire vacation, from day to night. I have to keep creating content, you know.” Mrs. Carmichael had recently become a social media influencer, thanks to her Instagram @twobycarmichael. She’d earned more than 15,000 followers from posting photos of her life as a mom of young twins, and the number of likes on her content have been even greater since documenting the family’s move to London. Apparently, people liked seeing pictures of fashionable moms with their kids at places like Buckingham Palace and Harrod’s.
“And of course, we have to bake cookies, and take photos of the twins in matching holiday outfits, and decorate the house,” Mrs. Carmichael added. “I may need more than one tree. And… ooh, a party. We should have a party. We need. To have. A party!”
Zee rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. Can’t we just hang at the beach and have some chill time that won’t be all over Instagram? she thought. Though she liked that her mother was in a festive mood and that she was savvy at social media, Zee was annoyed at how her mother has become so obsessed with how things looked in pictures. Back in Brookdale, Mrs. Carmichael was more into gardening and crafts. Now she barely got her hands dirty.
Zee looked at her mother. “Yeah, could be fun. But Mom, do you think you’ll be able to handle all that?”
“Of course! Between having Camilla and you to help, we’ll be fine! And don’t forget, your brother Adam is going to meet us in Malibu a few days after we arrive.” Camilla was the twins’ nanny and had been taking care of them while Zee was at The Hollows.
“Cool, a full house once again,” Zee said. But what about these parties she’s talking about? Am I ever going to have a moment alone with my own mother? Or my friends?
Zee took her phone out and texted Ally, excited to touch base with her friend before she hopped on her flight.
Zee
Ally!!! Ally in Cali! Could there be anything better?!
A few moments went by before Ally responded.
Ally
Hi! My aunt’s picking me up at the airport tonight. I’ll be at her place for most of the time.
Zee
So when can you come to the house?
Ally
I hope soon!
Zee
OK, well, we will be there the entire time and I will have your bed ready, hahahaha!!
Ally
Yes! Best holiday ever! Or at least better than last year!
Zee
Yes! Where’s your mom, BTW?
Ally
She’s already in Cali. She’ll be at my aunt’s house, I assume.
Zee
OK!!! Can’t wait to seeeee you…
Zee got up from the kitchen table and went to her room to pack the last of her things. She had spent very little time in her own bedroom in her London house after enrolling at The Hollows, since she lived at the boarding school full-time. But Notting Hill was starting to feel more like home. And her room now had something to make it even more comforting, a valued piece that had recently arrived in the mail after many months—her treasured acoustic guitar. The movers had forgotten to put it in the truck when the Carmichaels left California, so they had mailed it off to London months ago. But thanks to cargo shipping, it had taken forever to get to Notting Hill.
Zee smiled when she spotted the guitar waiting for her in the corner of the room, sitting upright on its stand. “There you are!” she exclaimed. “Come to mama!”
She played a few chords on the instrument, humming along to the song she’d recently written for The Hollows Creative Arts Festival where Zee had performed a solo. She couldn’t wait to bring the guitar back to campus and jam on it in her dorm room. Her roommate, Jameela Chopra, was usually at ballet practice after school anyway, so Zee thought she could squeeze in some guitar playing while Jameela was out.
Zee thought about how she wanted to create new songs with her pal Jasper Chapman, who produced music and was her best guy friend at The Hollows. And she thought about the guy who had helped her put together the melody for the song she had performed, and with whom she had a brief but complex relationship with: Archie Saint John, a handsome and talented guitarist and fellow year nine student. He had taken a quick liking to Zee, and the two became fast friends and eventually boyfriend and girlfriend, which meant they had hung out together. A lot. Archie had liked hanging around Zee so much, too much, that she quickly felt smothered and broke things off with him. They were just friends now. And that’s a good place for us to be, Zee thought to herself.
For now, it was time to head to California, back to her old stomping grounds and far from Archie Saint John. She put the guitar back down on its stand and finished packing up the last of her things.
• • •
Zee
&
Tossing her phone on her bed, Zee shoved a few more T-shirts into her suitcase. She packed a pair of sandals and another pair of flip flops, and paused. Then she added yet another pair of sandals and zipped up the oversized suitcase. “That should do it,” she said to herself.
Zee dragged her suitcase down to the front door. Mrs. Carmichael was running around the house getting together the last of her things while Camilla got the twins dressed for the plane ride. “The twins have the most luggage of all of us, it seems,” said Zee, eyeing their two car seats, two strollers, and two carry-on bags full of clothes, snacks, and toys stacked by the door.
“I’ll load up the car,” Mr. Carmichael said, and began stuffing the family’s luggage into a black SUV. Mr. Carmichael made several trips while Mrs. Carmichael seemed to add a small bag, snack, or jacket to the pile of goods each time he returned to the house to grab another handful.
Finally, after thirty minutes of packing up the car, the family was ready to go a few minutes before noon. Mr. Carmichael began to pull the car away from the house while in the backseat Zee fished in her backpack for her headphones, phone, and lip gloss. “WAAIIITTT!” she cried out.
“What, dear?” Mrs. Carmichael asked.
“I forgot something!” Zee cried. “Really important!”
“We can’t bring your guitar, Zee,” Mr. Carmichael said. “We’re already over our baggage weight limit as it is.”
“No, more important! I need to go back inside.”
Zee hopped out of the backseat, and her mother followed to unlock the door and let her daughter back inside the house. “Zee, hurry up, we don’t want to be late!” Mrs. Carmichael said.
Zee ran up the stairs to her bedroom on the third floor. She checked her nightstand next to her bed. Not there. Then she looked in her backpack, rifling through the books, notebooks, and pens she had brought home from school. Not there either. She plopped down on her bean bag. I need to find it before I go, she thought.
She looked around her room, her eyes panning from the bed to the closet, then to the window on the opposite side of the room and her desk. She looked at the shelf above her desk. Nope, not there, or there, or there.
She let out a frustrated exhale. What could I have done with it? she thought. Zee walked toward her desk…
“There it is!” she exclaimed. “How did it get down there?”
“It” was a brand-new journal, like the one that Zee used to keep all her thoughts, worries, fears, and emotional observances. Since transferring to The Hollows, Zee has been struggling with anxiety and has been regularly seeing the school therapist, Dr. Emma Banks. Dr. Banks had recommended journaling for Zee to help keep track of her feelings. Zee’s journal was now a safe haven for her thoughts, the ones that she was too nervous to express out loud or simply didn’t want anyone else to know. Zee thought something similar would be the perfect gift for Ally, who wrote for her school literary journal and always seemed to have deep thoughts.
Zee stuffed the colorful book under her arm and turned quickly back out of the room. She bounded down the stairs, where her mother was waiting by the banister. “Did you get what you needed?” Mrs. Carmichael asked.
“Yes,” Zee said, relieved. “Oh wait, where’s my passport?”
“I have that,” Mrs. Carmichael said. “And Phoebe’s and Connor’s. And your father’s. Now let’s go before we miss our flight.”
Zee and her mother hurried back to the car, quickly jumped into their seats, and rode to the airport. Zee smiled as she watched the sights and sounds of Notting Hill whiz by. As new and interesting as London was, she was excited to switch out her view of old buildings and snow with palm trees and sunshine for the next three weeks in Malibu.
2
L.A. BOUND
After three hours at Heathrow Airport, which included stopping in various shops to buy candy, magazines, and extra bottles of water, the Carmichaels loaded onto their flight. Zee settled into her seat next to her mother and grabbed her headphones. She was ready to throw a blanket over herself and watch a few cheesy plane movies, read some magazines, and catch a nap somewhere in between during the eleven-hour flight.
Before the plane took off, Zee got a text from Chloe.
Chloe
Weather is grand! Text when you land. Can’t wait to see you. Neither can Landon and Kathi, haha!
Zee raised her eyebrows. Chloe had mentioned two of the people at Brookdale Academy that she felt most hesitant about seeing. Landon Beck was her friend who became something more and then became something weird. Was it a crush? Was it more? Zee still couldn’t describe it. Whatever it was, Zee and Landon felt the same way for exactly three minutes, but Zee’s feelings faded quickly while Landon’s feelings lingered. Zee ended up leaving Brookdale without really saying goodbye and had been wondering if that was the right thing to do ever since.
Kathi Barney was another story. Kathi and Zee were frenemies at Brookdale. Kathi was the sort of girl who smiled at your face when she wanted something, then talked about you behind your back. She was always looking for attention—from teachers to friends (Zee’s friends, in particular)—and desperately wanted to sing the lead in Zee’s Brookdale band, The Beans. But Zee was the stronger performer, so Kathi was relegated to singing backup. Zee had not planned on seeing Kathi much during her time in Malibu, which would be a relief. But if Landon wanted to pay me a visit, I wouldn’t mind, Zee thought to herself.
• • •
The plane leveled off at 30,000 feet, and the flight attendants began serving snacks and passing out headphones to passengers. Mrs. Carmichael was busy tending to the twins as they squirmed in their seats. Camilla read a book to Connor while Mrs. Carmichael fed Phoebe.
“Zee,” Mr. Carmichael called. “They have Home Alone on the media system.” It was one of Zee’s favorite holiday films. Zee smiled and started to flip through the menu items on the screen in front of her.
About an hour into the movie, Zee drifted off into another world, a place she had been before. It was Brookdale, her old neighborhood, with its tree-lined streets and tidy houses, and kids riding their bikes and rollerblading toward her old school, Brookdale Academy. Zee was sitting in her mom’s old Prius, headed to the school. She was excited to be on campus again.
Mrs. Carmichael pulled up in front of the school. But something was off. There were no students outside. No teachers. It looked like there was no school today.
“You’re sure it’s not a holiday?” Zee asked.
“I’m sure, Zee! It’s Brookdale. Go on, go see your friends!” Mrs. Carmichael said.
Zee raised an eyebrow at her mother, then slowly opened the car door and got out.
Hesitantly, Zee walked toward the school building but heard no one. “Have a good day at school,” Mrs. Carmichael called behind her. Zee looked over her shoulder and saw her mother was already driving off.
Where is everyone? Zee thought to herself.
Zee looked at her watch. Oh. My. Lanta! It was already 10 a.m. Why hadn’t Mom told me I was two hours late for school? She made it sound like everything was going to be awesome. Zee raced to the front door and yanked hard on the door handle. It was locked. “Hello?!” Zee called, trying to get someone’s attention.
She could see a few students in the hallway just past the entrance, walking too fast to notice a flustered Zee at the door. Zee rattled the door handle, trying to signal to someone to let her inside, but no one came. Zee cupped her two hands around her face and pushed her head against the glass, peering down the empty school hallway. She was an alumna, for crying out loud, a proud former student! Her picture was on the wall of the library along with the other Beans band members. Why wouldn’t anyone let her in?
Finally, a student walking by saw Zee knocking on the door. He didn’t recognize her, but he walked closer to get a better look. It was Landon, Zee’s former crush. He looked confused, then started laughing and pointing at her. Then he called a friend over, and the friend laughed and pointed too. Another boy came over, then a girl Zee didn’t recognize, then another. Soon, there were ten kids laughing and pointing at her.
“Why won’t you let me in?” Zee asked. “I just want to come back inside!”
