Ocean Pearl (13 page)

Ace had her mobile out. Her thumb pressed up and
down as she searched for something. She shook her
head and muttered.

'You okay?' I asked.

'Jules hasn't answered any of my texts,' Ace
grumbled. 'He must be training.'

I opened my mouth to say something nice when
Georgie went, 'Jules is home. I just got a message from
him.'

Even Micki stopped what she was doing.

'You got a text from Jules?' Ace spat out each word
like she'd bitten a sour plum. 'Excuse me?'

'Relax! We're just going for a surf tomorrow
morning,' Georgie answered with a 'Duh, that's what I
do every day' tone in her voice. 'If you read the
timetable you'd see that we don't have anything scheduled
till after breakfast.'

'I have read the timetable!' Ace snapped. 'I just
assumed we'd all –' Ace paused. About now, her pink
cheeks were matching her nail polish. 'We'd all go for a
fun surf together. It might be the last time, before the
news girls get here. 'Cause then it's just going to be
contest after contest.'

'You can do that with Micki and Kia. Jules and I surf
down the other end of the beach.'

Ace shot me a look that said, 'See what I mean?'

'Think I'll brush my teeth,' I said.

'Kia?' called Georgie. 'What about the discussion we
were supposedly having tonight?'

'Um. Er, I, um.' I ran the dry toothbrush across my
teeth. 'Well, Georgie, er . . .'

'You said the four of us were going to have a big
talk.'

Ace's words were so quiet they would've slipped
under the carpet if the room hadn't fallen even quieter:
'I don't think Micki's talking these days.'

'What did you say?' Georgie was walking towards
Ace. 'That you don't think Micki's what?'

'I heard what Ace said,' Micki spoke. 'But Ace, I can
talk, I just don't really want to talk to you.'

Ace's forehead looked like it would cave in. 'What's
that supposed to mean?'

This was terrible. It wasn't what I'd planned. It was
all wrong.

The four of us were meant to take our doonas off the
bed and make a campsite on the floor like we used to.
Then one at a time, we'd have a go at saying what we
were upset about.

'You read Micki's diary,' Georgie spat. 'That's where
you got your info about Micki going to live with Kia.'

'What? What? What are you talking about, Georgie?'

'Don't lie, Ace. Just admit it.'

'Micki?' Ace's hands were reaching out to her.
'Micki?'

'I know you did, Ace,' Micki said. 'It only makes it
worse if you deny it.'

'Do you know how Micki knew?' Georgie whispered
but it felt like a shriek. 'Do you?'

Ace looked terrified.

'You left a bunch of long blonde hairs in the pages.'

Ace squealed and ran into the bathroom.

'She took it to the beach,' I told Ace.

Ace didn't even have time to close Georgie's drawer.
She'd been so busy rummaging through it that she
hadn't heard me come out of the bathroom.

'I think I have a right to read the texts from my
boyfriend, don't you?' Ace asked.

'I thought texts were private,' I answered.

'Micki, I'm sorry.' Ace sat on the floor between my
and Georgie's bed. 'I really, really am. Like I said last
night, the only way I can explain it is . . . is I always
think we know everything about each other.'

'Well, we don't.'

'I'm sorry. I will never do anything like that again.'

But she just had. Only this time to Georgie.

There were Aces all over the place. I could think of at
least two just in my year at school. When they were
born they had more than the usual ten fingers and ten
toes. They had luck too.

That didn't mean I thought I wasn't lucky. I'd been
to enough family group programs where the kids
I'd played with had ended up being fostered out, or
worse.

But what I'd learnt was that there were different
types of luck.

People with Ace's kind of luck knew about foster care
and parenting programs only from
A Current Affair
or
the headlines of a newspaper. I'm sure they saw
people like me and Dad as being contaminated –
nothing like them.

That was why I'd never tell Ace about Dad. Ace'd be
nice about it. She'd say 'That's awful' and maybe even
squeeze out a tear. She'd mean it too. But she'd end up
looking at me like I was a bit of leftover takeaway. That
mouthful of hamburger with the soggy lettuce sticking
out of it – that was how she'd see me.

What Ace didn't know about people like me was
that we were still proud. It was important to me that
wherever I went I could hold my head high. No friendship
was worth that compromise.

Meeting Ace in January and then actually becoming
friends with her was almost like a crush becoming real.
Before that, I'd spent hours in the library reading
magazines. So I'd seen the pictures of her and read
interviews and stories. Courtney McFarlane, the Ocean
Pearl girl, Tim Parker's girlfriend, model, surfer. Wow,
she was everything you could ever dream of being.

We'd spent three weeks together. Twenty-four/seven
for three whole weeks. We became friends. In fact, we
became more than friends. We became sisters, Starfish
Sisters. At least, that's what I'd believed.

But girls like Ace were fickle. You had to offer them
something in return for their friendship, whether it
was drama and fun, a shoulder to cry on, someone to
make them look prettier, slimmer, better dressed.
Someone like me couldn't be there just for the ride.
That wasn't the way it worked with Ace.

I would not let my story become Ace's entertainment.

I wasn't defined by the fact that my dad was a drug
addict. I was my own person with my own life
and dreams. Someone like Ace wasn't going to psych
me out.

Megan's boards were still stacked up in the shed. Jake
told us they were being sent back on the plane next
week. The green stripy one was a beauty. It'd been
custom-made by Dorian Mannix, who was one of the
best shapers in Australia. It would've cost a bomb.

Still, it wasn't as nice as mine. Nothing could beat
my pink designer fins. The day I paid my board off
with the five hundred dollars I'd won last camp definitely
rated as one of the top ten days in my life.

Georgie was standing in the doorway of the shed,
wet and shivering.

'You look like a goanna your lips are so blue,' I said,
chucking her my towel.

'I walked back along the road,' Georgie told me. 'It's
twice as far but I didn't feel like dealing with Ace.'

'She didn't have a surf,' I replied. 'She went to the
gym.'

'Bummer! Now I'll die from pneumonia for nothing.
Absolutely nothing.' Georgie buried her face in my
towel and groaned. 'Why am I such an idiot, Micki?'

'Why? What happened?'

'He didn't show,' she said. 'Jules didn't show. I
waited and waited and waited. Then I thought "stuff
him" and I went for a surf on my own. At least this time
I didn't have to carry my other board and wetsuit all
the way there and back. That was the only thing that
stopped me from totally flipping out.'

'Did?' – I almost didn't want to ask this – 'did you
give him one of your boards and wetsuits?'

'Just to borrow.'

'Cut.' I whistled.

'Yep, cut, big time,' Georgie answered. 'And isn't Ace
going to love it!'

Georgie was right. It was a double blow 'cause Ace'd
be gloating when she found out Jules had stood her up.

'There must be a reason Jules didn't turn up.'

'Yes, Micki,' Georgie spat. 'And that reason is that
he's Ace's boyfriend and not mine. Therefore, I don't
rate!'

'Georgie? Do you . . .?'

The way Georgie's big eyes blinked as she looked at
me gave me my answer.

'I won't say anything. If I was Jules I'd much rather
go out with you,' I said.

Georgie hugged me. This strong girl wrapped her
arms around me yet I could sense that she wanted to
melt and disappear into the floor.

'As if Jules'd ever go for me,' she moaned. 'He only
likes me as a friend. Like all the guys I know. Georgie,
everyone's friend but never anyone's girlfriend! The
stupid thing is, I thought that maybe, maybe there was
just a teeny weeny thing between us. You know what I
mean?' Georgie groaned and slumped into my arms a
bit more. I staggered a little but I managed to hold her
up. 'Now I've got to deal with Ace. Urggghhhhh!
Someone kill me!'

If Ace was gloating at breakfast then she was quadruple
gloating after breakfast. Andy Wallace, the Ocean Pearl
man himself, had made a surprise visit to camp.

Kia had walked into the dining room pointing at
something behind her and gulping at the air.

'What?' Georgie and I'd asked.

'Georgie! Andy Wallace is out there,' she gasped.
'He's here to watch us surf.'

Now I was gulping at the air. 'What?'

But all Georgie did was grunt. 'Big deal.'

Ace and Andy Wallace were walking down to the
beach arm in arm towards us. The nice side of Micki
reminded me that Ace was the one and only Ocean
Pearl girl and that was probably the way a sponsor and
his star walked together, like on the red carpet at the
Logies.

The not-so-nice side of me, the side that was having
trouble forgiving Ace, thought she was being a total
poser and doing it mostly to rub it in Georgie's face.

I took a deep breath in and blew it out. I'd thought
the competition between Georgie and Megan had been
tough. Whoa! Georgie and Ace were in a whole different
league. Each minute, the stakes were getting higher
and higher.

Ace was strutting around like she was winning the
war but she didn't know that Andy Wallace was interested
in Georgie. Only Kia and I did.

What would happen if Andy Wallace and Jules were
both interested in Georgie? I took another breath in. I
knew I was imagining it but I could feel the sand under
my feet rumbling.

While Jake gave us the spiel on how Andy was here
to see us surf, I had a staring competition with the
ground. My nerves were making it difficult for me to
even lift my head.

I risked one tiny peep and saw Andy Wallace
looking at Georgie while Ace stood by him, resting her
elbow on his shoulder, thinking it was all about her.

It was Andy's turn to speak. His squeaky voice
didn't suit his broad shoulders and big hands. I glanced
at Kia to see if she'd noticed but she was too busy
rocking back and forth on the soles of her feet. I don't
know why she was worried. Kia already had a sponsor.

'It's great to finally meet you all,' Andy said and
then did the unthinkable. He nodded and smiled at me
like we had some secret. I went back to emergency
sand-staring. 'And let me add that it's a wonderful
surprise to have our number one girl here. It's all good.
As Jake told you, I'm the OP regional manager. I look
after what's called the Australasian market. Ocean Pearl
is looking to expand its product range, so that means
we're also looking for new faces.'

Ace's smile seemed to crack at the corners. But Andy
kept going. 'OP is after girls who are dynamic, confident
and present well in and out of the surf.' Ace's
smile recovered. 'The all-round healthy, Aussie surfer
girl who'll be a good role model, that's an OP girl.'
Andy turned to Jake. 'That's all from me. Let's see some
surfing.'

We seemed to paddle out in couples. Georgie and
me in front. Kia and Ace just behind. The tide was low
but a solid left was breaking way out the back in the
deep water. That's what we were heading to.

'He's probably here to see you surf,' I quietly said to
Georgie.

Georgie shook her head and made a grunting
sound. I wasn't sure if it meant 'I'm too nervous to talk'
'cause that's how I'd be feeling if I was her.

'You'll be fine,' I offered.

'Nothing'll happen. It never does. I truly don't mean
to sound like a brat, Micki. I'm just – just still feeling
really flat about Jules not turning up this morning. Flat
and humiliated. Ace is loving it too. I seriously can't
stand that girl.'

'Did Jules message to say why he didn't show?'

'I haven't checked my phone. I've purposely been
keeping away from it, 'cause there'll be nothing there.'
Georgie sighed. 'Why am I always the rejected one?'

Georgie's calculations were sure different to mine.
Some cute guy not interested in you versus a huge
sponsor very interested in you was an equation that to
me equalled, fantastic. Not rejection.

Naturally no one expected Ace to be nervous about
Andy Wallace watching her and Kia looked like she'd
got over her mute attack from an hour ago too. But
then things were sweet. They both had sponsors.

They were chatting and laughing away. Now and
then a word floated across before the rest of the
sentence was sucked up by the waves.

Did I want to hear it though? Would it be Ace telling
Kia how much she thought I'd overreacted to her
reading my diary?

Georgie must've channelled my thought. 'It sure
looks like Ace has recovered from last night,' she
scoffed. 'I still can't get over Kia wanting me to bash
down the bathroom door!'

'That would've been interesting.'

'Oh, Miss Micki, it always ends up being about Ace,
doesn't it?'

Last night, Ace locked herself away in the
bathroom and howled. Kia had sat outside trying to
coax her into talking or coming out. But she wouldn't
do either.

'I can't believe you told them, Georgie,' Ace had
finally said through the blubbering tears. 'You promised
me. You know how hard it is for me to protect my
privacy. I'm like public property.'

I felt the skin on my face tighten. If Ace was so
conscious of her own privacy then why hadn't she
been conscious of mine? She was a joke. The only
problem was, she couldn't see it and she never would.

'What's she on about?' Kia whispered to us, then
loudly said, 'Talk to us, Ace. What's wrong, sweetie?'

'Don't pretend you don't know!' Ace howled.

Kia looked at me. I shrugged. I didn't have a clue
what this thing was that Georgie was meant to have
told us.

'Have you told Jake or Carla or Shyan? 'Cause if
they've said anything to – to –'

'Shut up, Ace!' Georgie shouted. 'I haven't told
anyone. Not a soul.'

No talking, at least on Ace's side of the door. On our
side Kia was mouthing, 'What – is – Ace – on – about?'

'You may as well tell them now,' Ace squeaked. 'Go
on. They just about know anyway.'

'Ace's hair's been falling out,' Georgie told us, rolling
her eyes and shaking her head. 'She didn't want
anyone to know because of OP and stuff.'

Kia's hand flew over her mouth and stayed there for
about five minutes.

What did I do?

I went to bed.

There were Aces all over the place. The biggest thing
in their world was themselves.

Last night, Ace's first tear-choked words that drifted
under the door weren't, 'Micki, I am so sorry for
reading your diary.' They weren't even, 'Georgie, you
know I love Jules. How could you make an arrangement
behind my back?'

No. Last night, Ace's first words had been about Ace.