Starfish Sisters (5 page)

Friday 5 January, 11.06 pm: Day one

Hellooooooooooo Diary!!

I'm here at surf camp! At last. As you know I
was beginning to think the day would never come.

So today . . . today hasn't been exaaaactly as I
imagined. Most of it has been perfect and that'z what
I'm going to tell you about.

I rubbed my neck, feeling the mark where my diary had
been sticking into me while I was lying in bed waiting
for the others to fall asleep. This morning when Georgie
arrived at the bungalow I'd managed to slip my diary
inside my pillowcase without anyone noticing – namely
Kia. If she'd seen that I kept a diary she would've
thought I was an even bigger baby than she already did.

From the second I met her it was obvious she didn't
like me. Then hearing them after lunch just confirmed it.

But no! I wasn't going to write any of that stuff in
my diary. My diary was going to be positive and happy,
so that when I was at home I could read it and
remember what a good time surf camp had been. I
needed that.

Yet now I was feeling confused about what I was
even doing here. Was it because I was a good surfer and
that I was promising and had a 'big future' ahead of
me, like Reg said the talent scouts told him? Or had he
made it up? Was I really here because he felt sorry for
me, because, as he'd told Kia, I'd 'been through a lot'?

I felt horrible. That seemed to be my speciality:
feeling horrible yet managing to smile the whole time.
Was that the big future I had ahead of me? Pretending?
I'd had enough training.

No!

Slowly, I took a deep breath in. I liked it when my
chest rose and filled with air. It made me feel strong.
And then when I breathed out it was like I could feel all
the bad thoughts leaving my body.

Rosie, one of the counsellors from the family rehab
support group back home, taught me that in a kid's
session. She called it 'blowing out the black stuff '.

So that's what I did. I blew out the 'black stuff ' and
went back to writing the 'good stuff'.

Okay, so here are some detailzzzzz . . .

I'm in the Starfish Bungalow. It's soooo nice. The
whole camp is like a Bali resort. There are 4 of us in
the Starfish Bungalow.

Kia, who needs no introduction, doesn't seem that
interested in me even though we've known about each
other forever. But like I said, I'm NOT going to write
about those bits. Maybe it'll get better with her but
I'm not keeping up my hopes.

Georgie, Kia's best friend, is also in here. She's
really nice. It got a bit awkward tonight when Kia
was being unfriendly and Georgie had a go at her. Stop,
stop, stop, stop – gooooooooood stuff only!!

Kia had pushed Georgie's and her bed together and it
looked like she'd moved Ace's a bit closer too. So I
was sin-binned over the other side of the room. I was
feeling like the fish part of 'starfish', and they were the
stars. Now I understood it was all part of Kia's plan.

But tonight Georgie was so nice to me. Kia was acting
like a total desperate, squealing and jumping around
every time Ace got a message from her boyfriend. She
was acting like her and Ace were instant best friends and
that made me feel like even more of a reject.

Georgie came over and sat at the end of my bed.
'Sorry,' she whispered to me. 'Kia can get a bit excitable
and she looooves Tim Parker.' She rolled her eyes. 'It's
going to be a long three weeks.'

Of course I smiled, pretending none of it bothered
me and hoping that Georgie had come over because
she wanted to, not because she felt sorry for me. We
chatted and chatted, especially about the grading
session, which I was totally and completely stoked
about and which was probably the only thing that got
me through overhearing Kia and Reg's conversation.

I needed to record that bit in words so that I would
never ever forget how good it felt.

THIS BIT IS GOOD. NO THIS BIT IS

AMAAAAAAAAZING . . . I got graded in the SAME
GROUP as Courtney McFarlane (or Ace as everyone
calls her, except me coz I'm too scared to). I
nearly died when they read out my name.

Courtney McFarlane, yes THE Courtney McFarlane!!!
She is in our room to o. OMG, I nearly died when I
heard she was coming to camp AND allocated to the
same bungalow. When she walked in, we all stopped and
stared coz she is soooo pretty. I've only said about
3 words to her – SCARY!

I'm gonna start at the beginning . . .

LUNCHTIME: I found out the grading session was
with the girls from our bungalows. I full-on started
freaking out about surfing with Ace let alone being
graded with her. So, I to ok a walk in the garden to
calm my nerves but that turned out to be a dumb idea!

But when I feel bad and down, that's often when
I surf my best coz it gives me something to focus on,
takes me outta my head. Anyway it must've worked
coz I got graded into the SAME GROUP as ACE! I
was so supa supa supa x 100000000000 stoked. All
of us Starfish girls got put in the same group so I
guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other.

AFTER LUNCH BUT BEFORE THE GRADING: We had
the 'meet the staff' session.

Carla's the director. She calls herself the camp
mum. She used to be a sports mistress at a private
girls school in Sydney but she doesn't seem strict or
snobby. She's pretty nice.

There are 3 surfing coaches. Shyan, Taylor and
Jake. Shyan's from Hawaii. She's coaching the T2's.
Taylor was in the women's WQS in 2004 and 2005 but
had to retire coz she got injured surfing Cloudbreak.
She's taking the T3's. We're the T1's but our
instructor Jake reckons he's just gonna call us the
Starfish Sisters!

Jake's supa nice. He was teasing Kia about being a
wooz and wearing a steamer in the middle of summer.
So Georgie told him how they made bikinis and how Kia
was meant to be modelling them but chickened out. So
then Jake started saying he was going to have a
compulsory bikini surfing session, but then Georgie
started freaking out coz she calls her legs tree
trunks and then Ace, who had been wearing a rash
vest and boardies, disappeared then returned wearing
the tiniest bikini that her boyfriend gave her from
Brazil. The bottoms were almost like a G-string. I
promise. Then Jake said that she had to get changed
coz if someone from OP turned up and she wasn't
wearing one of their cossies he'd get into trouble. I
heard Ace whisper to Kia, 'He's just worried he's gonna
get a stiffy.' Yuck! That's so off!

Tomorrow we're having a video analysis of the
grading session. Georgie was on dinner prep duty when
Megan, one of the older girls from Tasmania, told us
'Jake might seem nice but they say he's harsh when it
comes to the video analysis.' Ace said, 'He'll slam
Georgie's performance coz I don't know how she got
graded into the same group as me.' (Actually tonight
Georgie told me that. She said, 'I am shocked I got
graded with Ace.')

I thought that was a pretty slack thing of Ace to
say coz it was day one and everyone was nervous. Kia
started to say, 'She wasn't that bad,' and I was glad
she was gonna stick up for Georgie, but then Kia said,
'Honestly, that was almost good compared to the way
she's been surfing lately. I think she's stopped
challenging herself.' Megan said, 'Well, what's she doing
here then?' They stopped just as Georgie turned up at
the table with her dinner. She didn't hear. I don't think.
She didn't act like she did.

After dinner we watched the 'Teahupoo Diary', which
had the most awesome tow-out sessions on it. They
are so gutsy. I'd die to do it but I'd be so scared.
Taylor surfed at Teahupoo. She said you could be sitting
in a boat, safe as anything while watching a 10 foot
barrel just a few metres away. She said it's so slack
they've taken the women's comp away from there. I
agree.

My yawns were starting. Big, wide airless growls were
creeping up my throat. I'd had to wait till 11.15 pm
before it was safe to sneak into the bathroom with my
diary.

Ace was in there forever. I'd been fighting the heavy
eyelids when at two minutes to eleven the door of the
bathroom finally opened. I'd counted nine footsteps as
she made her way across the room to bed. The sheets
shuffled and flapped a bit as she got comfortable. And
I'm almost sure I heard her whisper something like,
'Why does he have to say that stuff?'

At seven minutes past eleven, Ace's breath began to
slow and even out. I knew from listening to Dad at
night that this was the sound you made as you drifted
off to sleep. At home, it was my signal that it was safe
for me to fall asleep too. And here in the Starfish
Bungalow, it meant that at last it was safe to creep into
the bathroom and open the first white page of my
new diary.

AFTER THE VIDEO SESSION: The last thing we did
before we went back to our bungalows was write
down 3 things we want to achieve at camp. Shyan said
it didn't matter if they were big or small things, but
they had to be things we really wanted. We then had
to seal them in an envelope and Shyan locked them
away in a box. We're going to get them back on the
last night.

This is what I put.

1. I want to get physically stronger so I can handle
the bigger waves.

2. I want to master pulling in on my backhand coz I
know that's what lets my surfing down.

3. Make the Australian Junior Team Training Camp.

I thought about putting down a 4th one, but I
chickened out coz I didn't know if they'd make us read
them out on the last night. I'd die of embarrassment
if Kia knew that one of the things I wanted from
this camp was to become friends with her.

Good night Micki,

Love Mickixx

By breakfast-time, they had already made us run two
lengths of the beach plus do a thirty-minute pool
session. I was less fit than I'd thought. My breakfast
plate was looking a bit like Georgie's but I was starving.

I figured a big brekkie would get me through the
rest of the day. Besides, Tim wasn't around to count
the carbs and remind me that I needed lean muscle, not
padding.

Carla and her clipboard came around to our table.
'So, Ace and Micki, you're on the lunch roster, which
means you'll have to come in from the free-surf session
at about twelve-fifteen.'

'Sure,' Micki squeaked.

I was actually planning on a bit of 'free sunbaking'
then. If the rays were shining, I might have to 'accidentally'
forget what Carla just told me. It's not as if Micki
would report me. She'd only managed about ten words
since her introduction speech.

Micki was not the pick to do kitchen duty with.
Chatting was the only way to make the chores go
quickly and somehow I couldn't see that happening
with her. Perhaps I could have a word with Carla about
swapping. She'd been sucking up since I'd arrived.

'Twelve-fifteen okay with you, Ace?' Carla asked.

I nodded. It was best not to say anything – then I
wasn't really committing.

'Oh, Ace, I wanted to check up if you ate bread.'
Carla looked down at my plate. 'Your breakfast tells
me you do, even though your diet form says you
don't.'

Was Carla having a go at me?

'I don't usually eat bread,' I told her.

'Well, they worked you hard, I'm not surprised
you're hungry,' said Carla. 'The nutritionist will give
his first talk this afternoon and he'll tell you that the
bread here has a low GI and is very important in your
diet.'

I don't think Carla was talking about four slices at a
time, but Georgie certainly looked pleased with what
she'd just heard.

'Maybe I'll have another piece,' Georgie said,
grinning.

Kia must've looked at her 'cause Georgie got up
from the table and spat, 'I was joking, Kia.' She was a
bit oversensitive. If I was Georgie, I'd be grateful to
have a friend like Kia who cared enough to be honest.

Georgie and Micki left the table and went out to the
verandah.

'Don't worry about Georgie,' I said to Kia. 'She
probably feels bad about herself.'

'I do, though.'

'Is she always this super-sensitive?'

'She has been lately,' Kia replied. 'I didn't get to
finish what I was saying at dinner. You know, when we
were talking about what Georgie was doing here?'

This was a story I wanted to hear. I'd heard of
Georgie Elwood Ross. A friend of Tim's, who was a
scout, was raving about her one day. He said she had
the potential to be a great surfer; that she was super-strong
and had a great style and it would only be a
matter of time before the sponsors were banging down
her doors.

I remembered because of what Tim said to me afterwards:
'Don't be threatened by her, babe.' He was
massaging my shoulders. 'You'll always be sponsored,
even if other chicks out there surf better than you.
You're gorgeous and that's what the media likes
even more.' But that wasn't exactly fair. OP wouldn't
sponsor me if I couldn't surf.

Last night, when we had to write the three things
we wanted to achieve, I wrote:

1. Get selected for the Junior Team Training Camp.
(That was a sure thing but I thought I'd better put
that in case my list was read out.)

2. Get a good tan. (Extreeeeeemely important.)

3. Win more world titles than Layne Beachley. (That
way people would realise I was a hot surfer too!)

So when I found out that the Georgie in my
bungalow, the girl I was about to be graded with, was
actually Georgie Elwood Ross, I got nervous like I
hadn't in ages. But the good thing about nerves was
that they made me perform better.

Talk about a waste. Georgie stuffed up every second
thing she tried.

There were three of us out there competing for
every wave, squeezing in as many turns as we could –
and Georgie, doing pretty much nothing. She probably
assumed she'd be so much better than us. Well, that
must've been a bit of a shock for her!

I grilled Kia. 'So tell us about Georgie.'

'She's just out there,' Kia said, pointing to the
verandah where Georgie was hanging around chatting.
'I'll tell you later.'

But I wanted to know about this Georgie girl now.

'Why don't we go up to the bungalow?' I suggested.
'We'll say we're brushing our teeth. You can tell me
about it up there. I want to check my messages anyway.'

'Did you get one this morning?' Kia was so loving
the fact that she was sharing a room with Tim Parker's
girlfriend. It was so obvious. She just about threw
herself on top of me every time I went near my phone.

'Tim was probably still crashed out.' I added with a
quick glance, 'He was having a party with Brent and
Rasta.'

'Brent Dunn and Rasta! Rasta Domenico?
The
Rasta
Domenico, world champion, number one – oh my God!'

Yep, she was loving it. The more excitable she got, the
more casual I became. I had to admit I was having fun.

'Have you . . . have you,' she panted, ' met those
guys before?'

'Yeeeaaah. They're our really good friends.'

Jake ruined my fun by intercepting our escape to the
bungalow.

'Girls?' He stepped out in front of us. 'The video
analysis session starts in ten minutes. And you're up
first, Ace.'

'We're just off to brush our teeth,' I told him.

Jake was quite cute although not my type. It seemed
like I was his, though, as I'm sure he was flirting with me.

'Don't be too long on those pearly whites.'

Yep, he definitely was.

We were now in the safety of our room. 'So,' I said, 'tell
me the whole story about Georgie.'

'They selected her for this camp, like, months ago,'
Kia began. 'She was surfing hot then. Everybody
thought so too. Scouts were coming from everywhere to
watch her. I know what they said about her 'cause my
dad just has to tell me everything. You know, how she
had a big future ahead of her and that she'd be sponsored
in no time and how she could probably handle –'

'Yeah, yeah.' I got the general idea. 'So tell me why –'

But Kia kept going on with a story I didn't want to
hear.

'Every day, I'd wait and wait for my dad to actually
say something to me about how I was going. Maybe
how I was surfing, or if any scouts had said anything
about me as well, 'cause, like, I surf with Georgie, so
they were going to see me too –'

She was on a rave. I didn't want to sit in on a family
therapy session with some girl I'd just met. She was
already a bit too chummy. I had to cut her off. Now.

'Don't you like it when your dad tells you stuff
about other people's success?'

'What did you just say?' Kia asked.

'I said, don't you like it when your dad tells you stuff
about other people? Like good stuff?'

I was playing with my phone. I had a message from
my dad.

'gey seetie. hope campz ftn. Miss u. cu son. Daxxx'

I started to laugh. Dad was hopeless at texting. He
said it was because his fingers were too fat.

'I don't think it's very funny.'

'Hey?' I looked up to find Kia almost standing over
me. She was rocking backwards and forwards on the
soles of her feet.

'That was really, really hurtful what you said.'

I couldn't tell if Kia looked like she was about to cry
or start screaming. But there was something going on
in that head.

'I'm sorry,' I carefully said. Oversensitive or what?
'I just meant –'

'I know what you meant, Ace.' Kia lay down on her
bed and began to stare at the ceiling. 'Georgie said
something to you, didn't she?'

'Georgie? I've hardly spoken to Georgie. I was
asking you stuff about her.'

I went and brushed my teeth. This was starting to
get weird. Through the bathroom mirror I could see Kia
still staring at the ceiling. Her face hadn't moved.

'Come on, Kia.' I tried to put on a jolly voice 'cause I
sure hadn't been out to upset her, just get some info.
'Brush your teeth. We'll be late for Jake. He might have
to smack us.' Not even that made her smile.

'I'm fine,' Kia replied.

'Let's go. Come on.' I stood at the door. Kia still
hadn't moved. Not even a millimetre.

'You go,' she said. 'I'll be there in a minute.'

I was just about to tell her I'd wait when I realised
maybe she needed to do a poo. I hated people being
around when I went. Especially when I was at a place I
wasn't used to.

I was right. Two seconds later, just as I began to walk
away, I heard the bathroom door inside the bungalow
close. Phew! For a minute I thought I'd caused some
psycho freak-show moment.

'Hurry up, Ace.' Jake sounded cross. 'We've started
with Georgie's session. Okay, Georgie, what did you
think about your –' Jake stopped and turned to me.
'Where's Kia? I told you we were starting in ten
minutes.' He frowned at his watch. 'That was almost
twenty minutes ago. If you read your booklet you'll see
that punctuality is one of our expectations.'

'Sorry, Jake.' I bit my lip. 'She's coming.'

A little smile slipped through his lips. He forgave me.

'Don't run late for me again, Ace. I expect punctuality
otherwise I'll think you're not taking this seriously.'
Then he winked. He was definitely flirting with me.
Did he really think he was any competition next to Tim
Parker?

'Now, where was I?' Jake frowned. 'Oh yeah,
Georgie, what did you think about your first trial?'

'Crap.' Georgie came straight out and said it. 'I
wasn't in the right spot, which stuffed my choice of
waves.'

'Let's look at wave selection,' Jake told us. 'As you all
know, if you don't get two high-scoring waves in that
twenty-minute period then you won't advance to the
next round in the competition. What could Georgie
have done to get herself in a better position?'

Megan's hand was up and waving. Maybe she was
the one I had to watch out for, not Georgie.

'I would've got out, run down the beach, paddled
back out with the rip to save time and energy, then
taken an inside position on that peak.'

'Absolutely,' Jake agreed. 'Coolina is the perfect
break to use that strategy.'

'Well, I would do that usually' – Georgie's face
resembled a beetroot – 'but a twenty-minute trial, I
mean, sometimes you don't do it the way you would in
a free-surfing session.'

'Exactly,' Jake said. 'With free surfing there's no
pressure, no time restriction. The conditions are totally
different to competing. You have to adapt. You have to
be able to come up with those strategies when under
pressure.'

'But my head goes all mushy.' Georgie looked
around at us. 'Doesn't anyone else get a bit overwhelmed
by the lack of time and the . . .'

Her voice wafted off as Kia slipped through the side
door and took a seat next to Megan. She'd changed into
jeans.

'Aren't you hot?' Megan asked.

'Kia,' Jake said. 'You've joined us.'

'Sorry.' Kia's voice sounded different, like quieter
and a bit squeaky. 'I feel unwell. I think I'm still fluey.'

'Do you want to go and see Carla?'

'No, I'll be okay, Jake. Thanks anyway. I'm warming
up now.'

I bet Kia just got her period. That's why she'd
suddenly had the big mood swing and gone weird
with me.