Ocean Pearl (19 page)

. . . Kia didn't say anything back. So I felt kinda
awkward and just left. Since then, Kia's been in a
funny mood so it's not really the right time to bring it
up again. But I will. So on. At least I got to say
that I think Ocean Pearl's got the wrong girl coz if,
or rather when, I get the guts to tell Andy Wallace
I can't do it then maybe Kia won't be totally shocked.
Coz I know the others will.

But how can I be the Ocean Pearl girl?? I can't
have some reporter following me while I take Dad to
the clinic, to social security and IMAGINE if it's the
one day the 'department' makes their surprise visit to our
place to check Dad's looking after me okay????????
I can't I can't I can't. I am ALL WRONG!!

Here at camp Andy Wallace met Miss Micki but
what kind of an idiot was I even playing at being Miss
Micki!!!!!!!!!!!! Miss Micki was a joke, she didn't exist
in my normal life, and now everybody will know.

I've thought about talking to Jake. He knows about
Dad and he's pretty easy to talk to. But then
whenever I think about what I'd say it sounds so
stupid and basically it's just a dumb idea. Miss Micki was
okay at the first camp but now she's a walking disaster!

A lazy rumbling of thunder that'd been growling in
the distance was creeping closer, which meant soon
the girls would wake up. Besides, it was almost
five am.

Maybe OP will agree to be a regular sponsor?? Or will
they dump me completely when they find out who I really
am??????? Anyway betta go. No offence, but talking
to you isn't helping!

Mx

I tiptoed back to bed and snuggled under the doona. I
would give myself another twenty four-hours before
I told whoever I was meant to tell that I couldn't be the
OP girl.

By the time the storm arrived at the Starfish
Bungalow, it was a raging, psychotic monster that
wanted everyone to know how bad it felt.

Crack! The thunder almost lifted the roof.

'Aaaaaggghhhh!'

The lightning flashed, illuminating the figure of Kia
running across the room and diving into bed with me.

'That storm is right on top of us!' Kia squealed.

'Yay, no early morning surf,' Georgie mumbled as
she shuffled towards the bathroom.

The thunder roared again and Georgie broke into
a jog.

'You know what I reckon thunder sounds like?'
Kia said.

'What?'

'It sounds like there's a man in the sky with this
humungous axe and he's smashing up pianos, one
after the other, and there are mammoth pieces of wood
flying everywhere.'

'Cool,' Ace said. 'What about lightning?'

'Dunno,' answered Kia.

'Lightning reminds me of the paparazzi,' Ace told
us. 'Like the camera flashes going off in your face. Tim
and I went to a few television things together. It's so
much fun; the photographers call out – "Tim! Tim!" –
and then there's this frenzy and a million cameras start
clicking away. It's the best feeling.'

'Wow,' Kia crooned. 'Why didn't they call out your
name?'

'Sometimes they did,' Ace answered. 'But this was in
the very beginning of Tim's and my relationship and
I'd only just become the Ocean Pearl girl.'

Maybe I should tell them today.

The rain had grown from being a constant patter to
now sounding like a tiptruck was pouring a load of
sand onto the tin roof. When it rained like this it made
me feel that it would rain forever.

'Lucky you got my album yesterday, hey, Georgie?'
Ace said.

'Lucky.'

'I still can't believe Jules didn't like it. Tim collected
just about every picture of me. He was always showing
them to his mates.'

'Obviously Jules isn't like Tim,' Georgie replied.

'That's for sure,' Ace answered. 'Tim wouldn't have
dumped me like that.'

'What are you talking about?' Georgie snapped.
'Tim dumped you via a text message. At least Jules did
it to your face.'

'I'm talking about the reasons, Georgie. At least Tim
had a decent excuse.'

'I don't remember you feeling like that at the time.'
Georgie turned over on her side and pulled the pillow
over her head. 'I'm going back to sleep.'

'Me too,' Kia said, going back to her own bed. 'Goodnight,
everyone.'

'You won't be able to sleep for long,' Ace told us.
'They'll still make us get up at six-twenty and do some
activity. As if they're going to let us stay in bed just
'cause it's raining.'

'Three and a half days and counting,' Georgie
moaned from under her pillow.

It was answered with a big long sigh from Ace.
'Don't say that, Georgie. You've been so, so grumpy
lately. I don't see that you've got any reason to be.' Ace
cleared her throat. 'I – I mean not anymore. We're over
that. Aren't we?' Ace glanced my way.

I tried to smile but it felt lopsided.

'I'm not grumpy,' Georgie groaned. 'What do I have
to be grumpy about? Hey? Everything's good, Micki's
got a sponsor, the interviews are finished, the –'

'Can you be quiet please!' Kia snapped. 'I would like
to get a bit more sleep.'

Georgie had given me a rib-crushing bear hug when
I told her about OP. She'd meant it too. But Ace was
right. Georgie had been grumpy and maybe a tiny
weeny bit of it was 'cause she was the only one out of
us who didn't have a sponsor. But I don't think it was
the only reason.

Not that I knew what the other reason was, but like
with the Megan situation, I had a theory. As with my
Megan theory, I didn't have any actual facts – just
feelings and bits that I'd heard or seen.

The first thing that had got me wondering was the
morning Georgie turned up in the board shed after
Jules had been a no show at the beach. She was understandably
pissed off and embarrassed, but more than
that, she was gutted. It'd even made her admit to
me that she thought there may've been a spark
between them. But then she'd shut up about it and
suddenly her reason for being upset was that Ace
would be gloating and loving it.

Georgie was hiding behind that excuse. She felt
rotten 'cause Jules stood her up and if he'd liked her
the way she thought he did, then he wouldn't have.
That had to be the real reason.

Yesterday, my theory earnt a big tick. Georgie had
arranged to meet Jules in the free time after arvo tea.
The reason was to get Ace's photo album back from
him.

Luckily for Georgie, Ace didn't see her tiptoeing out
almost an hour earlier than planned.

I did. I was looking for Kia 'cause Jake told me he'd
let her go for an afternoon surf and he wanted me to
check that she'd remembered about her interview.

Georgie snuck out through the back tennis court
gate unaware that anyone had seen her. Her hair was
in a cute little high ponytail. But when she turned up to
the bungalow with the photo album in her hand, her
hair was back to its normal messy self.

So what had happened with her and Jules? That's
where my theory ran into a brick wall. If there was
something going on between Jules and Georgie then
wouldn't Georgie be in a good mood? Or had she been
gutsy enough to say something to Jules and he'd totally
rejected her?

I was no Dr Phil when it came to relationships.
When Oliver Hobson asked me to the year six end-of-school
dance, I ran away and hid in the cleaner's
cupboard. But I still backed my theory that Georgie's
mood swings were to do with her and Jules and not
just about her lack of sponsorship.

The entire morning, Georgie slammed doors, gave one-word
answers, sat down the other end of the table and
totally avoided any eye contact. She reminded me of the
boys in my year as she prowled around with her hands
permanently stuck in her coat pockets and an invisible
sign on her forehead that said 'Don't come near me'.

But there was no escaping her 'cause the weather
was so bad the beach was closed. All of us were stuck
inside watching surfing reruns on the DVD while the
rain pelted against the windows of the rec room.

Jake and Don Chambers, who was still hanging
around, were getting us to view and then comment on
our wave selection yesterday. Everything was going
fine until Jake asked Georgie how confident she'd felt
about hanging back in the first heat.

'Zena was paddling for her third wave while you'd
just got up on your second,' he said. 'Was your confidence
intact the whole time, Georgie? I know your
selection worked out for your team but did you feel a
bit panicked that maybe you weren't going to get the
wave you were hoping for?'

'I don't know.'

'You must have some idea, Georgie.'

Georgie was sitting behind me so I didn't exactly
hear what she muttered to herself before finishing her
answer. But I did make out the word 'sponsor'. After
that, I just couldn't sit still. Maybe my theory was a
dud. Maybe Georgie's grumpiness was one hundred
per cent 'cause she'd thought OP were going to offer
her sponsorship. I mean, why else would Andy have
called her at home?

'Have it,' I wished I could say. 'You're the right girl.
The newspaper could spend all day every day with you
and never discover a bad thing.'

Now I had no choice. I had to speak to Jake. Too bad
what he'd think of me. There were things I needed to
know. I had to ask, otherwise it'd start psyching me out
and I couldn't afford that. Stuff OP, there were still the
national team selections and I had to – just had to
make them.

When it was time for lunch, I loitered around the rec
room pretending I was reading the noticeboard.

'What is it, Miss Micki?' Jake asked, quietly closing
the door behind us. He could read me. 'You were
starting to look distracted by the end of that – or am I
just totally boring?'

'Both,' I joked.

'Ha ha.' Jake grinned. 'Seriously, what is it? It's not
your dad, is it?'

'No. No, he's fine,' I replied, sticking my hands
behind my back and concentrating on making my
bottom lip stay upright. 'I, um, call him most nights.
You know, see how he's going and stuff.'

'So what is it, Micki? I feel like you've been quiet for
a couple of days now.'

'I need to ask you something.' I swallowed. 'About
the sponsor thing?'

'Yeah, you haven't said much about it. Is it Ace? Is
she giving you a hard time?'

'No. Not at all.' I took a deep breath. Say the easy
bits first. That's what my counsellor Rosie always told
me. 'Why didn't Andy Wallace offer Georgie OP sponsorship?'

'Ahhh,' Jake murmured. 'Has Georgie said something?'

'Not really,' I answered. 'She's not talking about it or
anything and she's been pumped for me but I just
don't get why the best surfer here hasn't – '

'Sponsors want you to be more than just a good
athlete, Micki. Your attitude is really important too.
Georgie's surfing really well but during this second
week she's become totally disconnected. Unfortunately,
Andy Wallace saw that. OP can't afford to
sponsor a girl who's not going to come up with the
goods or who's going to be –'

'I can't be the Ocean Pearl girl.'

The words shot out like my mouth was a self-firing
cannon. No warning. Just a loud noise then silence.

'I – can't – be – the – Ocean – Pearl – girl.' I said it
again.

'What do you mean, Miss Mi– '

'See, I'm not Miss Micki! That's the whole problem.
I'm a girl with a – with a father that needs to be
reminded to change his top and what day of the week
it is and – and I live in a tiny house and sometimes
there's not even enough money to – to –'

Jake put his arms around me. But I hadn't finished.
There was still more to tell him. I had to make sure I
said every single little bit. So he would know – he
would know that Andy Wallace had made a terrible,
terrible mistake.

But Jake wouldn't let me go. His hands gripped
tighter across my back and he started to go, 'Shhh.
Shhh, Micki. You are the Ocean Pearl girl. You are the
perfect Ocean Pearl girl. Do you know why they
named the brand Ocean Pearl?'

'No.'

'A pearl is an accident of the natural world. It's the
thing that's made when an oyster has to protect itself
from bad stuff. That's why when you crack open some
oysters there's a precious and beautiful thing inside.'
Jake's voice was soft. 'You are an Ocean Pearl girl,
Micki. That's what Andy Wallace said to me.'

And in a second my shoulders slumped against him
and I started to cry.

Jake and I sat on the rec room floor. I talked about
my dad and he talked about his. I told Jake how bad I
felt about leaving Dad but that I knew it was the best
thing. Jake agreed. He explained that when there are
things we can't change, we just have to figure out a
way to work around them.

The more we talked, the calmer I felt and the further
my limbs sank into the carpet.

'Micki,' Jake said, 'Andy will make sure you never
have to do anything you're not comfortable with.'

'But all those magazine stories about Ace – won't
they want to –'

'Ace looks for it. That's why you see her in so many
magazines.' Jake told me. 'That's not what being the
Ocean Pearl girl is about.'

'So, what is the Ocean Pearl girl then?'

'The Ocean Pearl girl is a girl you look up to. Not
because she's pretty or has a good figure or gets in magazines
– but because she shows you that no matter how
tough things can get, you don't give up, you stay true to
yourself and what you want to be. The OP girl shows
other girls that you can be anything you want to be.'

'So – so, they're not going to follow me around with
a camera and make me public property?'

'No!' Jake actually laughed, not that I could see the
joke. 'Do you know the only thing Ocean Pearl will
expect you to be?'

I gulped. 'What?'

'Yourself.'

When Laura wasn't around, the other girls were keen
to chat and visit our bungalow.