Ocean Pearl (15 page)

'Georgie? Where are you going?'

It was Kia.

My fingers curled around the wire of the fence.

'Georgie?'

Maybe I should forget it. Maybe Kia was giving me a
chance to turn back and avoid disaster. But I couldn't.

I kept my eyes on the gate. 'Kia, I just have to do
something.'

'What?'

'I can't tell you . . . at the moment.'

'Why not?'

'Kia, I've got to go,' I said. 'Promise you won't tell
anyone?'

'But what about our . . .?'

'Kia?'

'Okay, okay,' Kia answered. 'I won't tell a soul. Pinky
promise.'

I strolled through the gate and down the lane till I
was out of view. Then I ran.

Jules was sitting at a table outside the milk bar. His
hair was wet and he was wearing a green hoodie. The
brick dropped a bit lower in my guts. This time it
wasn't dread.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and very carefully
crossed the road. This was not the time to be hit by a car.

Jules waved and stood up when he saw me coming.
'Hi.'

'Hi.'

Sitting on the table were two massive family blocks
of chocolate. 'That's for you.' He pointed. 'When you
need a chocolate fix.'

So this was why I was here? For him to offer me
chocolate in return for forgiveness.

The gasp almost escaped from my mouth. Of course,
Ace had set this up. She had told Jules to do this. That's
what all the texting must've been about last night. Give
the fatty some chocolate, Jules, that'll stop her whining
about you not turning up.

I had been an idiot – again.

'You like chocolate, don't you, Georgie?'

'Hey?'

'Your face,' Jules said. 'You – you don't look that
pleased.'

I sat down and tore the entire wrapper off the family
block. It wasn't going to make any difference me sitting
here stuffing my face with his chocolate bribe. In fact, I
might even shove a couple of pieces up my nose. I bet
Jules had never seen any of his perfect girlfriends do
that before.

'You want some?' I asked, not even bothering to
close my mouth.

Jules snapped a couple of pieces off and began to
chew.

'What?' Jules was smiling at me. 'What's so funny?'

'You,' he said and laughed. 'You're funny. You're
good at laughing at yourself. More people should be
like that.'

'You've got to be able to laugh,' I said.

'I used to go out with this girl back home called
Larissa. She was really good at laughing at herself. She
broke my heart, badly. I was fourteen. She was my first
proper girlfriend.'

'That's probably why she broke your heart.'

'I don't think it would've mattered if she was my first
or tenth girlfriend,' Jules said. 'I just really, really liked her.'

Jules's finger was rubbing up and down the table.
Sometimes it'd come so close to my hand I could feel
the heat from his fingertip. Suddenly something had
changed between us and I probably had chocolate all
over my face 'cause I'd been shovelling it in.

'You're like Larissa,' Jules whispered.

I lifted my head. Jules was staring right into my face
the way I'd seen him do before.

'I can't stop thinking about you, Georgie.'

My eyes closed and I swallowed. Pushing up against
my hand now were all of Jules's fingers.

'Georgie?'

'Yeah?'

'Well?'

I lifted my hand and Jules lifted his. Our fingers
wrapped themselves around one another. He squeezed
my hand firmly and every molecule of my uncertainty
and guardedness and insecurity evaporated, just like
that.

'I'm going to break up with Ace,' Jules said. 'I'd been
thinking about it anyway. Then when I got that album
full of her modelling shots, gee, that just made the
decision all the easier. So, what I'm trying to say is that
I was already planning on it.' Jules groaned. 'This isn't
coming out right, is it? I know that Ace is one of your
best friends and I don't want you to feel like you've
broken us up.'

'Okay.'

'You know, I'd actually decided I didn't want a girlfriend
at all. Training and girlfriends – too hard. But –
but – would you want to be my girlfriend?'

'Would you want me to be your girlfriend?'

'Georgie, that's what I'm asking you.'

'D'oh!'

We started laughing. Our heads were touching and
our hands were still tangled together. How I wished I
hadn't opened my eyes, 'cause I saw my watch and it
said three pm.

'I've got to go,' I sighed. 'Back to boot camp.'

'This is going to kill me,' Jules moaned, sending a
thunderbolt up my spine and back again.

A little gasp escaped. 'I don't have to super hurry.'

'Yeah?'

'Today's free. I don't mean
free
free. I mean that the
selection process starts from tomorrow.'

'No!' Jules said, standing up and pulling me with
him. 'I'm not distracting you. You're not going to end
up like Ace in January and not make the team.'

'Do you blame yourself for that?'

'A bit,' Jules said.

Jules wrapped his arm around my waist and I
wrapped mine around his. Together we crossed the
road and slowly headed back towards camp. For a
novice such as myself, I was doing pretty well. It wasn't
strange or awkward. I mean, my feet weren't touching
the ground but apart from that it felt like I'd been going
out with Jules for years.

We talked about Megan getting chucked out and for
the first time someone actually asked me how it was
going to affect my surfing.

'I don't know,' I answered Jules. 'I feel pretty weird
about the Megan thing. It's kind of like I'm in total
shock about this girl that I looked up to cheating.
Cheating! I still can't believe I'm even saying that
word.'

Jules spoke the thought that'd been floating around
in my head: 'She obviously wasn't as confident as she
seemed.' He squeezed my hand. 'She must've felt
threatened.'

'Maybe. Doesn't make me feel any better.' There was
another thought floating around in my head. 'Jules,
was Larissa pretty?'

'That was a bit random. Where'd that come from?'

'But was she?'

'Yeah, she was.'

'As pretty as Ace?'

'Prettier.'

'Oh,' I squeaked.

'Hey?' Jules stopped. His hands touched my face.
Slowly his fingers ran across my cheek, over my lips
and stayed there. 'Why are you asking me these questions?'

I shrugged. Talking was just about impossible now
anyway.

'I can't stop thinking about you, Georgie. I'm talking
about all the time. Okay?'

'Okay,' I whispered.

'I haven't felt like this for a long, long time. You are –
divine.'

Just as I was about to faint, Jules picked me up and
kissed me.

A long, hard, hungry kiss.

My first.

'No!' The blood was smeared across the toilet paper.
'Georgie?' I called again. 'Georgie?' I couldn't move. I
couldn't get to the door. 'Georgie!' I yelled.

In a second Georgie was flying into the bathroom,
with Micki and Ace behind her.

'Kia?' Georgie was wrestling the paper out of my
hand. 'What have you – you . . .?'

'It's my period!' I yelled. 'That's where the blood's
from.'

'I thought it was –'

'I know,' I mumbled through my teeth while trying
to wrestle on my trackie pants and still keep some
dignity. 'But it's my period.'

Suddenly the other three got it. This was serious. We
were at surf camp. A very important surf camp.

'It's okay. It's okay,' Ace said. 'We can get through this.'

'How?'

'There are ways,' she said.

'What? Stick one of those things up me?' I yelped.
'No way! Won't it hurt?'

'Sweetie, you can't stick a pad in your wetsuit.' Ace
was speaking to me like I was about three. I wished I
was. Then I wouldn't be in the middle of this disaster.
'Not when you're in the water for like an hour at a time.
Okay?'

I looked at Georgie. She was half shaking, half
nodding her head. Micki was hiding on her bed. She
couldn't even stand talking about blood.

'Ace is right,' Georgie told me. 'The only way around
this is tampons.'

'Nooo.' I folded down onto the bathroom floor,
pulling my T-shirt over my knees. 'Can I use a pad
now?'

'Yeah, but I don't have any,' Georgie answered.

'Me neither,' Ace said.

'Don't look at me,' called Micki. 'I don't even have
boobs.'

'Come on.' Ace linked her arm through Georgie's.
'Let's go and ask the other girls.'

Georgie untangled herself from Ace and crossed her
arms. 'The office,' she said. 'Carla's office has all that
stuff. Or – or I could go down to the shops.'

Georgie was purposely not looking at me. I still
hadn't heard what she'd been up to or why she
suddenly had to break our pact of no secrets. Anyway,
that wasn't my problem now. I had a bigger problem. A
big, red one.

'Well, can someone do something?' I asked. 'I, I can't
even move.'

'Stick some loo paper in there for now and I'll go
down to the office,' Georgie offered.

'I'll go with you,' Ace said.

'No, I can go.' Georgie was stuffing her feet into her
ugg boots. 'You stay here with Kia.'

'Get some of the others too,' I heard Ace whisper.
'Carla might have those really mini slim tampons. 'Cause
I don't use them and you wouldn't either, would you?'

Georgie grabbed her coat and slammed the door
behind her.

'What did I say?' Ace stammered. 'Kia, did – did I say
something bad to Georgie just then? Micki?'

'She's just being weird,' I answered.

This was never going to work. The pad that was sitting
in my undies made it hard to walk with my legs
together, let alone try and jump up on a surfboard. I felt
like there were a hundred elastic bands stretching and
pulling away in my stomach. But apart from that I was
handling it well.

I had been waiting and waiting for my periods but
that didn't mean they had to surprise me this week.
Maybe they'd arrived because I'd become more
mature, in the head I mean. Everything starts in the
brain, so it would make sense.

I called Mum straight away. She got a bit teary that
she wasn't here with me but I told her not to worry,
that my Starfish Sisters would look after me.

It was Saturday night and we were having a karaoke
night in the rec room. We had to do duets. That was the
way Carla had organised it. It was like a getting-to-know-you game. It sounded daggy but it was turning
out to be heaps of fun.

Micki had to sing 'Oops I Did It Again' with Steph,
who seriously thought she had a good voice. Ace and
Laura did 'Turn Me Loose', which had everyone in
hysterics 'cause Laura kept doing these pelvic thrusts at
Ace. Georgie picked 'Greased Lightning' for her and
Zena 'cause she knew all the moves. Last was Jussie
and me with 'Suddenly I See'. I loved that song. It
reminded me of the fashion parade we'd done in this
room six months ago.

Then we were on to the second round. We cheered
Steph and Laura as they swung each other around to
'You're the One that I Want'.

The system was that Jake would pull the girls'
names out of a hat and then we'd choose the song from
the board.

'Okay,' Jake called. 'Ace and . . .' he dipped his hand
in again and pulled out a name. 'Georgie. Ace and
Georgie. This'll be good!'

'No more
Grease
please,' Laura begged.

Ace jumped up, laughing and clapping her hands.
'Hey, Georgie, let's do Vitamin C "Friends Forever"!'

But Georgie hadn't moved off the floor. Her face was
white.

Ace was up there, ready with the microphone.
'Georgie?' She beckoned. 'Come on. Hurry up.'

Now Georgie's face was red. Even redder than her
usual tomato face. I gave her a nudge. She pushed my
hand away.

'Georgie?' Ace's hands were sitting on her hips.
'You've gone purple!'

Georgie wrapped her arms around her head and
buried her face between her knees. 'I can't,' I heard
her say.

'What! She says she can't,' I called out. 'Are you
embarrassed, Georgie?'

'Come on.' Everyone was starting to yell now. Laura
was going, 'Don't be a chicken. Brrk brrk.'

'Chicken! Chicken!' We started clapping. 'Chicken!'

Ace and Jake were shouting the loudest. They'd
managed to grab Georgie's hands and were trying to
drag her to her feet. 'Come on. Don't be a spoilsport.
It's a game.' Ace was squealing and pulling at Georgie's
arm like it was the rope in tug of war. 'Come on!'

Suddenly Georgie was on her feet. She pushed Ace
away and elbowed her arm out of Jake's grip. She
grabbed her coat from off the table and ran.

There was total silence. This room that two minutes
ago had been pumping and swaying with girls singing
and laughing was dead quiet.

Now it was Ace who was bright red in the face.
'What is up with her?' she mouthed to me.

I shrugged.

It couldn't still be about Ace reading the diary, could
it? Micki wasn't going on about it so why should
Georgie? It wasn't Georgie's diary that Ace read, even
though from the way Georgie acted it seemed like it
sometimes.

It couldn't be Georgie's surfing that was bothering
her. It was never her surfing.

That's what it was! This mood swing was connected
to her sneaking out this afternoon. Why did I always
see it when it was too late?

I went over to Carla. 'I think I should go and see if
Georgie's okay.'

'Thanks, Kia,' Carla answered. 'That'd be great.'

'Should we . . . ?' Ace gestured to herself and Micki.

'No,' I replied. 'I'll go by myself. I know how to
handle her.'

I left the rec room, strode down the corridor and up
the walkway to the bungalow. I had just got my
periods. It was a raaaather big deal on its own, let alone
being at a camp where the national selections started
tomorrow. But that was okay. Action was called for.

Georgie was howling. She was face down on the bed,
holding on to her pillow and sobbing so hard the
springs of the bed quivered.

'Georgie?' I knelt on the floor next to her. 'Georgie,
what is it?'

I was almost too afraid to touch her. Never in the
whole ten years I'd known Georgie had I seen her like
this. Carefully, I reached out my hand and touched her
hair. 'Georgie? Talk to me. You're scaring me. What's
happened?'

Muffled words rose from the pillow.

'You're what?' I leant over her, trying to catch what
she was saying. 'You're horrible? Is that what you said?'

The springs of the mattress shook as Georgie
nodded her head.

'You're not horrible,' I said.

'Yes, I am!' Georgie bleated.

I walked around the other side of the bed where I
could see her face. 'What's happened? Talk to me.'

'I can't.'

'Why not?'

'Because I just can't.'

'Has something bad happened?'

'No and yes.'

That didn't give me any clues. 'This is about you
sneaking out this arvo, isn't it?'

Georgie didn't answer. She just lay there. Curled up
on the edge of the bed letting the tears stream down
her cheeks.

'Georgie, you know everything about me. You know
all my secrets. You know everything I hate about
myself. So – so why won't you tell me what's wrong?
You can trust me. I've had to trust you before and you
didn't let me down. Why is it different with me?'

'But what about the no secrets, no lies promise we
made that night?' she whispered. 'If I tell you, then that
means we'll have a secret and you'll have to tell lies,
Kia. So it's better that I don't. Besides, you don't want
to know, believe me.'

This was the first time I'd ever known Georgie to
have something to hide. She wasn't like me. She didn't
have secrets that she dreaded being discovered.

It was odd, as if she'd suddenly switched places
with someone else, a girl who looked and sounded just
like Georgie but wasn't. I wanted to reach over and pull
the mask off this impostor's face.

'Georgie, we can make this just between you and
me. You didn't tell the others about me cutting myself
again, even though it broke the pact between the
Starfish Sisters.'

'Quit the Starfish Sisters thing, Kia!' Georgie suddenly
snapped.

I snapped back: 'Why are you so anti the Starfish
Sisters?'

'Because we're over!' Georgie's lips looked like a
shrivelled-up sultana. Speaking the words 'Starfish
Sisters' had her looking like she'd swallowed poison.
'We don't exist anymore.'

'Why? 'Cause Ace read Micki's diary?'

'Yes!'

'But Micki's not going on about it.'

'That's because Micki's tough and she doesn't – she
doesn't show what she feels.'

'So? So what happens now?'

'I'm sorry, Kia,' Georgie offered before bursting into
tears again. 'Take this as my resignation. As from today
I'm no longer a Starfish Sister. You wouldn't want me
as one anyway.'

'Georgie, I don't understand what's happening. You
speak in some secret code and I'm not smart enough to
figure it out.' I plonked myself next to her. 'Please tell
me what it is. Let me keep a secret for you for a change.
Please?'

Georgie uncurled herself and wiggled her way up
the bed. She held out her hand, an invitation for me
to enter the unknown. I took her hand and she
squeezed it.

'Don't hate me, Kia.'

I shrugged. There were many times I'd thought I
hated Georgie. There were many times I'd wanted to.
But Georgie wasn't an easy person to hate.

'I went up the street to meet Jules,' Georgie said. 'He
asked me to meet him.'

'So that's where you went.'

'I had no idea what it was about, but . . .' Georgie's
big eyes looked up at me and they were smiling. 'Jules
likes me. He really likes me, and I really like him.'

'But . . . but . . . Ace?'

'He wanted to break up with her anyway.'

'Georgie, are you joking?'

'Noooo,' Georgie groaned. 'Do I look like I'm
joking?'

Something was wrong. My ears couldn't have been
sending the right message to my brain, or the other
way around, however it worked. The system was
currently faulty because I wasn't hearing this right.
'Georgie, are you . . . ?'

'Kia, I know what you're thinking. How could I do
this to Ace, she's my friend, she's – she's – '

'She's Jules's girlfriend.'

Georgie covered her face with her hands.

'Georgie? Georgie, I can't believe you'd do this. I – I
just don't get it. You and Jules? This – this is like a
million times worse than Ace reading Micki's diary.'

'Not – not necessarily,' Georgie stammered.

I didn't bother saying anything back to that. What
would Georgie know? She'd lost her mind.

'Is Jules going to dump Ace? Is that the story?' I
asked. 'While Ace is here trying to deal with all the
pressure of making the team? Is that what's going to
happen? 'Cause that's really, really unfair. I mean, did
you – did you think of that?'

'Jules has to go away for a baseball game.' A tiny
smile glittered on Georgie's face as she said the word
'Jules'. I wanted to slap her. 'Which is probably the best
thing,' she added.

I got off the bed and started to walk up and down
the room. 'This is bad. Really bad. Jules and you just
can't get together. Jules can't dump Ace when she's in
the middle of one of the most important things
she's ever –'

'You're right,' Georgie said, standing up too. 'You're
absolutely right, Kia. I'll tell Jules.'

'Are you going off to tell him now?'

'No,' she answered. 'I'm going to have a shower. I
feel like crap.'

'What will I tell the others? Everyone'll want to
know why you stormed out of karaoke.'

'Tell them – tell them that the song "Friends
Forever" makes me too sad.' Georgie marched into the
bathroom. 'Tell them anything,' she called behind her
before slamming the door shut.

Georgie was mad with me. But what had I done?
What did she expect me to say? 'Yeah, take Ace's
boyfriend, that's fine. Ace won't mind. It's great news.'
What I really, reeeally wanted to say to Georgie was,
'
How could you?'

I tapped on the bathroom door.

'Yeah?'

'I'm going back up to the rec room.'

'Okay.'

'No, it's not,' I whispered. Now I was the chicken, too
scared to say it out loud. 'It's not okay.' I walked out.

No karaoke singers were screeching through the
doors of the rec room. Georgie's tantrum had silenced
the entire building. That's the kind of effect a strong
girl like Georgie could have.

When we were thirteen, we'd competed in a huge
surf contest in Newcastle, near Sydney. We were like a
couple of little no ones from some town up the coast. At
least, that's how I'd felt.