Ocean Pearl (16 page)

Georgie and I both made it through to the second
round, which was due to start at 11.05 am. But at eleven
am the siren blew for the heat to begin. And where
were Georgie and I? We were still at the check-in table
waiting to get our rashies from the beach marshals.

Georgie went off! She totally lost it. It was wrong. It
was unfair. The contestants should be disqualified and
the heat rescheduled. She said all kinds of stuff and the
officials took every word seriously. A beach marshal
even went and found one of the contest coordinators
and they did exactly what Georgie said. They called the
surfers in and rescheduled the heat.

I still have this snapshot in my head, of Georgie in
her green wetsuit and two pigtails, throwing her arms
around as she complained and a group of grown-ups
standing in a little circle, listening. If I'd done that, they
would've gone, 'What's this kid going on about?', or
not even heard me at all.

It was different with Georgie. She was strong. She
could have that kind of effect and that's what I was
afraid of.

'Kia.' Shyan beckoned me into the rec room. 'I'm
glad you're back. You're just in time.'

The girls were all writing on small white cards.
Shyan's treasure box was sitting on the table with its lid
open, waiting to swallow up our hopes and dreams.

Ace was sitting next to Laura, staring at the ceiling
and chewing her pen. She didn't have a clue that a part
of her hopes and dreams had just been stolen by
someone she trusted. It took a lot of self-control not to
go up and hug her.

'Kia, put down your three goals for this camp,'
Shyan instructed me. 'The three things you want to
achieve. It doesn't matter how big or small they are.'

Steph put up her hand. 'Shyan, do they all have to
be about surfing?'

'No. They're your goals, Steph. So they're whatever
you want them to be,' Shyan explained. 'But remember,
on the last night you'll get to read them again. So I
guess they have to be relevant to the next five days.'

Micki was already slipping her card into an
envelope. She came up to the table and dropped it in
the treasure box. 'How's Georgie?'

'I think she's just feeling the pressure,' I whispered
to Micki. 'It all got too much.'

I had decided that was the excuse I was going to
give for Georgie. Or was that a lie too? Who knew?

Georgie had taken lies and promises into a whole
new territory. Liking, let alone stealing, someone else's
boyfriend had to be the worst offence you could
commit and I – the keeper of that secret, the promoter
of those lies – had become part of it too.

The white card sat between my fingers. The first two
goals were easy to figure.

1. I make the National Team.

2. Micki, Georgie and Ace also make the team.

Maybe mine were more like dreams and not goals.
Too bad, that's what I wanted to achieve. Anything else
would be making up what I thought I was meant to
write. Besides, you didn't have to read them out on the
last night; that bit was optional.

My pen circled around the number three. I didn't
want to waste my last goal on anything to do with my
periods, like making it through the rest of the week
without a big, red disaster.

What I wanted to put for number three was that the
Georgie and Jules thing would fizzle into nothing, plus
Georgie would take back her stupid Starfish Sisters
resignation and go back to being normal.

But I couldn't exactly write that. I mean, I could but I
was too scared. Instead I settled for:

3. The Starfish Sisters stay strong and stick together.

Because that was the same.

Kia's shriek just about shattered the window next to my
bed. I covered my mouth and looked over at Georgie,
whose face was screwed up like a bit of paper from the
garbage bin.

'It always hurts the first time,' Georgie said to me.
'After that it's okay.'

'Please, even that's too much information,' I replied.

I didn't have my periods and as far as I was
concerned, they could take as long as they liked. Me
and blood were not compatible.

Kia and Ace emerged from the bathroom. Ace had
been giving instructions to Kia through the shower
door. That arrangement took about an hour to negotiate
'cause poor Kia was so embarrassed. But it was like
Ace couldn't get it. She kept saying, 'We're all girls, Kia,
we're all the same.'

Was she wrong there!

'That wasn't so bad, was it?' Georgie asked a white-looking
Kia, who'd just shuffled out of the bathroom.

'She went well,' answered Ace.

Kia's face squirmed. 'When do I have to do that
again?'

'Probably after breakfast,' Ace answered. 'You can't
leave tampons in for more than a few hours or you can
get sick.'

'I know. I know.' Kia gulped. 'So, this is what having
your periods is like. Great! To think I was wanting
them. It's strange the things we want.'

I didn't have the foggiest what that was meant to
mean. But Kia shot Georgie a look and the skin on
Georgie's face began to burn.

'What's the day like?' I said, pulling back the blind.
A shard of golden light was sticking through a grey sky
and an icy breeze rattled through the gaps around the
window sill.

A Swiss ball class was the first activity of the
morning. That'd have us hot and sweating and begging
for the fans to be turned on. From then on the rest of
the time was surfing, surfing, surfing as they were
trying us out in different team combinations.

The thing to look forward to would be the long hot
shower at the end of the day. I loved feeling my toes
defrost and uncurl like I was transforming from a fish
back to a human.

When I was little, Dad used to say that he found me
in the sea and that Mum used to be a mermaid. For
years I'd thought that was why I had such long hair. I
realise now that Dad probably just forgot to have it cut
or didn't want to spend the money.

Every time I thought like that I wanted to slap
myself across the face. He tried to be a good dad. I
know he did. He just couldn't help himself. And now
he was all alone.

'What's wrong, Micki?' Georgie asked.

'Huh?'

'You just did a really loud sigh.'

'Did I?'

'You okay?' Georgie mouthed.

I nodded. I'd make sure that didn't happen again.
Sometimes Miss Micki could get a bit too comfortable
here.

Ace was still fussing around Kia. She was fully into
the big sister role. 'I'm on breakfast clean-up. So if you
want me to wait in the bathroom again, I can.'

'I'll be fine,' Kia murmured in a voice that said – I so
don't believe that. 'I'm just scared I won't get it in far
enough.'

This was making my skin crawl.

Kia walked around the room like a robot. 'I can sort
of feel it,' she said.

'But it doesn't feel like it's about to drop out?' said
Ace.

'Pleeeease!' I squealed, slapping my hands over my
ears. 'Can you have this conversation somewhere else?
I'm not up to this.'

'Yet,' Kia reminded me.

'Micki, this'll be you one day,' Ace added.

Talk to the hand,
I wanted to say.
You'll be the last
person I'll be coming to for advice.

'I've already been through these things,' Ace started,
'boobs, periods – '

'Bras,' Kia added.

'Hairs, hooking up –'

'Getting drunk?' asked Kia.

'Once, when I was fourteen, and I spewed my guts
out. What else is there?'

'Brazilian?' Kia said, grinning.

'Don't leave home without one,' Ace laughed.

Georgie wasn't playing the game. She was lying in
bed with the doona over her head.

'We haven't said drugs,' Ace continued. She wasn't
aware of the atmosphere she'd suddenly brought into
the room like an unwanted guest. 'But it's obvious I'll
never take them. Some of Tim's friends were such
druggies.' I kept my head down, concentrating on tying
the laces of my trainers. 'They were . . .' Ace's hands
were pulling at her top like she could barely even talk
about it. 'The most disgusting . . .' That was the problem
hanging around with Ace. With just one or two words,
she could have Miss Micki running for cover.

'Tell me – tell me about these interviews, Ace,' Kia
interrupted. 'I, um, missed that bit last night.'

Kia had rescued me. I'm not sure I could've rescued
myself. Whenever the D word came up unexpectedly
like that, I wanted to disappear. It wasn't that I couldn't
handle the conversation; it was easy to get through
that. I'd just stop listening. But what I couldn't control
was my body and the way I looked. Suddenly my
hands felt like they were gigantic and I didn't know
what to do with them. My face would go red and my
bottom lip would sag like it was being dragged to the
soles of my feet. That stressed me out more than the
words.

To be fair, it wasn't Ace's fault, but everything she
was saying had my stomach turning. 'After breakfast
we meet the National Selection Panel. They'll crap on a
bit about what they expect from us, blah blah. It'll be
dead boring. Then today and tomorrow, each of us has
to go in front of Don Chambers, who's the national
head coach, plus the rest of the panel. They'll ask us
questions like what can we bring to the team, why we
think we should be selected, stuff like that.' Ace finally
remembered to breathe. 'I'm the last interview today.
Georgie, you're first, aren't you?'

'Yeah,' Georgie's muffled voice answered from
underneath the doona.

'If you think about it,' Kia said, 'they're pretty much
asking us to boast about ourselves.'

'Kia, that's exactly what I was about to say,' Ace
replied. 'Girls,' she announced. I found myself sitting
up straight. 'We have to sell ourselves. We have to
really make out like the team needs us. That's the way
to get picked.'

'Embarrassing,' I said.
'But you've got to do it, Micki,' Ace answered. 'Jules
told me about the interview he had back in Canada
when he was going for the scholarship here. His coach
pretty much trained him for the questions. He had to
say things like he was the greatest baseball player ever
and that one day he'd be captain of the Canadian team.
That his pitching record –'

'When did Jules tell you that?' Kia asked.

'I can't remember.'

'But do you mean last night or –'

'I'd better get dressed.' Georgie suddenly jumped
out of bed and scooped a bundle of clothes off the floor.

'Jules told me that ages ago,' Ace continued, her eyes
following Georgie to the bathroom. 'He reckoned that
interview was almost as important as the selectors
watching him play. If we want to stay together then
you can't be shy in there. Micki? Kia? It's you two I'm
worried about.'

Last night as I was falling asleep I'd rehearsed the
answers I was going to give.
I believe I should be selected
for the team because I want this opportunity more than any of
the other girls here. I would not take this opportunity for
granted. The honour of representing my country and being
part of a team makes me want to succeed even more than if I
was competing for myself.

Yes, in a perfect – I'm talking a completely perfect –
world, it'd be fantastic if the four of us were picked. But
as Ace hadn't realised yet, the world was not perfect –
and it wasn't my job to point that out to her.

In reality, if Ace or I didn't make the team then we'd
probably never see each other again except at the odd
surfing contest. That was fine with me. Some people
are so different that their paths were never really
destined to cross in the first place.

To be truthful, a piece, just a little piece, of my heart
had forgiven her. Ace had opened my diary without
even thinking about what she may find in there. But
Ace never thought about anything except Ace. That's
because she probably never had to. I had learnt to keep
my distance. Or rather, I should say that Miss Micki had
decided to keep her distance, 'cause Miss Micki trusted
too easily.

'We can't be late. The selection process starts in' –
Ace checked the time – 'two and a half minutes! Come
on!'

'Georgie?' Kia called, knocking on the bathroom
door. 'Hurry up.'

'I'll see you up there,' she answered. 'Don't wait
for me.'

'Are you sure?' Ace checked. ' 'Cause we can if you
want us to.'

'Don't. I'll see you up there.'

'Do you think Georgie will be okay? Maybe she's
being sick?' Ace whispered. 'She started cracking with
the pressure last camp. But she got it together.'

'Maybe she just needs to get today out of the way,'
I suggested.

Carla's speech – 'This selection process is more than
just a day's contest on Friday. It's twenty-four hours a
day for the next five days' – had me feeling like I
wanted to vomit too.

Last night, I'd wished I had a clock I could set, so
that the ringing alarm could warn me that the contest
had begun.

'Maybe I should have a psych-up chat with
Georgie. I could give her some strategies to handle the
pressure,' Ace said. 'That's what I did in January and it
worked.'

Kia was shaking her head. 'I wouldn't. I'd – I'd just
leave her.'

'Do you reckon?'

'Yeah.' Kia's head was still bobbing up and down.
'Definitely.'

*

As we filed out of the rec room after meeting the selection
panel, Kia whispered to me, 'How sucking-up
were those questions Laura kept asking?'

'Did you notice that every time she asked a question
she'd quickly glance over at Georgie?'

'I did,' replied Kia. 'I reckon Laura got a bit of a
shock when she saw Georgie surfing yesterday. She
probably thinks she's a bit of hot stuff from Sydney.'

'She's good though,' I said. 'She was able to hold Ace
off yesterday.'

'That Don Chambers was dead boring.'

We had just met the National Selection Panel one by
one. I'd always imagined the word 'panel' to be just
that. A word. But they were people, with two legs and
arms and voices.

In some ways, meeting them had made me more
nervous but in another way it'd made me feel better.
The man with the beard, the chief executive officer,
who kept trying to pick his nose when he thought no
one was watching, could not be that scary.

Jake waved and called me over to where he was
standing with Andy Wallace.

'Micki, your interview's scheduled for this afternoon,
isn't it?' he asked.

'Straight after lunch.'

'Good. Andy wants to have a chat with you.'

'Now?'

'Is now okay with you, Micki?' Andy asked in his
squeaky chipmunk voice. 'You see, I have to catch a
plane in an hour or so.'

'Now's fine.' As if I was going to argue with Andy
Wallace, Mr Ocean Pearl himself.

'Great,' he said.' Let's go and chat.'

Starting in my feet and creeping up my ankles was
the tiniest, tiniest bit of hope. Was Andy Wallace about
to offer me some sponsorship? Maybe OP wanted to be
my surfboard sponsor? Getting a sponsorship deal, any
sort of sponsorship deal, was what I'd put last night as
my number two goal. Number one was being selected
for the national team and three was getting more
competitive with my paddling. I knew our goals didn't
have to just be about surfing – but I'm not sure Shyan
brought enough blank cards with her.

My fingers twisted over into a cross and I followed
Andy and Jake into Carla's office.
Please, please, please,
the voice in my head whispered.

We sat around the desk. I was psyching myself not
to look at Jake 'cause I had a feeling he was smiling. If I
looked up and saw that he wasn't, then that tiny piece
of hope would slide all the way back down to my feet.

I concentrated on my breathing. That's what Kia
would tell me to do.

'Hey, Miss Micki!' Jake said. 'You look like you're
about to get into trouble. Chill. It's all good.'

I peered up. Jake was smiling.

'I've been really impressed with you, Micki,' Andy
Wallace told me. 'You've got spirit and guts. A big heart
– and that's what Ocean Pearl is looking for.'

I swallowed.

'As I said before,' Andy explained, 'I have to catch a
plane in a couple of hours. Unfortunately I won't have
as much time here as I'd planned. So this is not exactly
the way I would normally do things.'

I nodded. Or at least made an attempt to but my
neck was not co-operating.

'Ocean Pearl would like to offer you sponsorship.'

'Really?'

'Full sponsorship.'

I slapped my hands over my mouth 'cause that was
the only way to stop myself from bursting into tears.

'Micki, we'd actually like you to be the new Ocean
Pearl girl.'

'What?' I almost skyrocketed out of my chair. 'I – I –
isn't Ace the Ocean Pearl girl?'

'Ace will still be fully sponsored by us. So you don't
need to worry about her. She's aware that we're injecting
a whole new vibe into the brand. That's why we
want a new face. And we want it to be you, Micki.'

'I – I can't believe it.'

The shock had gobbled down the tears and I think
it'd taken my voice with it.

I would never, ever have had the guts to dream of
anything this amazing. This sort of thing didn't happen
to me.

'Happy?' Jake gave my shoulder a squeeze. 'Hey,
you're shaking, Micki.'

My hands, my back, my knees, my legs were
jumping up and down. It was like each little part of my
body was partying for me.