Ocean Pearl (4 page)

'I swear, Micki, that's how she sounded.'

'Get to it, Ace,' Georgie groaned. 'What did Megan
say? "Did you know that . . ."'

'"That starfish have no brains,"' Ace finished.

'What!' the three of us yelped.

'Ace, are you taking the piss?' Georgie had jumped
onto Kia's bed with Ace. 'Megan said, "Starfish have no
brains."'

'That's what she said.'

'I assume she's referring to us?'

'I think you assume right, Georgie,' Ace replied.

Georgie gave Ace the finger. Ace gave it right back.
Although they were laughing, something told me there
was a situation going down between these two. Maybe
it was because Ace was also a big-wave surfer. Once
Megan had been her main rival too.

'How did she come to say that?' I had to ask, 'cause
Kia was too busy staring at Ace and shaking her head
and Georgie was on all fours looking like she was ready
to pounce.

Ace was busy picking her toes.

'Ace?' Georgie snapped her fingers in Ace's face.
'Answer Micki's question.'

'Megan asked me' – Ace continued to tug and pull at
her toes – 'was I sorry that I wasn't a Starfish Sister
anymore.'

'What a bitch!' Kia squealed. 'I never liked her. Ever!'

Now Georgie was on her stomach, almost slithering
up the bed towards Ace. 'And what did you say, Ace?'

'I didn't get a chance to say anything, Georgie.'
From where I was lying I could only see the back of
Georgie but I'd bet my new skinny-leg jeans that their
eyes were locked. 'Because then Megan said, "If I was
you, I'd be grateful. Didn't you know that starfish have
no brains?"'

Silence.

Georgie slid off the bed, turned off the light and
crawled back in next to Kia.

'Ace?'

No one answered Kia. Instead, we lay there in the
dark. But we'd done this before and it always ended up
being okay. Maybe we were just out of practice?

Kia and Micki were already downstairs having breakfast,
so maybe I did take advantage of them not being
around. But I just couldn't go another second without
telling Ace what I thought about her and her obsession
with her hair. Plus the fact that Ace'd seen and
spoken to Megan but had somehow forgotten to
mention it.

Perhaps part of it was leftover anger that she'd
stuffed up and wasn't coming to camp but I just
couldn't help it. I exploded.

I'd lost count how many times I'd done that with Kia.
Not that I could do it to her anymore, but Kia did have
the ability to drive me crazier than any other person
on earth. But now, for the first time ever, I had
just exploded at Ace and there was still the 'sorry' to
negotiate.

That is the hardest bit about telling someone what
you really think. It doesn't occur to you at the time. You
just take a big breath and it all spills out. This great long
trail of words you've always wanted to say but have
never had the guts to skyrockets out of your mouth and
lands splat on the other person's face.

Then afterwards, it could be a few minutes, it could
be weeks or months, you begin to think maybe you
shouldn't have said that. Maybe you should say sorry.
But the problem is you did mean it. You meant
every single word of it. So why should you have to
say sorry?

'Sorry' stops the drama. That's why. Sometimes it's
the only reason you say it.

Besides, I didn't want to be the one to ruin the
weekend.

The door to the bathroom clicked open. Ace's footsteps
padded across the floor and back to Kia's room.
Quickly, I busied myself with some bed-making.

Ace squeezed past as though I was made of air. She
rummaged through her bag, took out a pair of socks
and miraculously squeezed past me again on her way
out the door.

'Stop!' I heard myself say. 'Please.'

'Why?' Ace leant into the wall. The smiling face of
Layne Beachley peered out behind her. 'So you can
have another go at me?'

'Look, I'm sorry, Ace. Okay? Sorry.'

'Sorry that I'm a self centred-bitch and let you all
down? Or sorry that you've been a self-centred bitch
thinking how you're the only one keeping us all
together and how it's all up to you. Hey? Which one,
Georgie? Or was it sorry that you attacked me 'cause I
forgot some random conversation I had with a girl that
you have some hang-up with?'

I gulped. That was another downside to saying
sorry. It gave the other person a chance at a free punch
or two. Ace wasn't going to let me off that easily. I
should've thought of that.

'I mean' – I closed my eyes and tried to find the right
words – 'I'm sorry for everything I said. It was harsh.'

'It was.'

'I'm sorry,' I whispered. 'I think I'm just disappointed
that you're not going to be there, at camp.'

'I can't help it that you live in the same place as Kia
and that you go to the same school as her,' Ace said, her
fists clenched and tapping against the wall. 'I'd die to
have a really good friend at school but 'cause I'm away
so much either surfing or modelling, it's just never
happened. I mean, I have friends but I know most of
them think I'm a stuck-up bitch. They've never
bothered to get to know me, not properly like you
guys. So count yourself lucky to have Kia.'

'But it's not just 'cause of Kia,' I explained. 'That's
not what I meant.'

'Well, that's basically what you said half an hour
ago. That 'cause I'd stuffed up you'd be' – Ace put on a
super-bitchy voice – '"left at camp babysitting Kia."
They were your words, Georgie!'

They were. But I couldn't tell Ace what it'd felt like
to walk in on Kia a second time. How it wasn't so much
the blood or the hungry look on her face, but the fact
that she had done it in the bathroom at my house.

I lay down on the bed. Everything suddenly seemed
so messy.

'Anyway, Kia seems really good.' Ace still sounded
scratchy. 'You're probably overreacting.'

As Starfish Sisters, we'd made a pact that we were all
involved in Kia's stuff. That together we'd watch over
her. But what were we thinking? That was impossible.
Micki and Ace lived miles away.

Kia had dumped her problem on my doorstep and I
had kept it to myself. That's what made it really messy,
the fact that I'd promised Kia I wouldn't tell the others.
I too had broken the pact and I had nowhere to turn.

'I think it was just a stage Kia was going through
when we were at camp,' Ace continued. 'I did a bit of
research on the net. They say you grow out of it.'

'I don't know,' I mumbled back.

'Well, I'm telling you I do.'

'Whatever.'

'You might think I'm self-centred.' Ace was back on
her favourite topic, Ace. 'But actually, Georgie, it is
quite a big deal, your hair falling out. That's not something
you just grow out of.'

I sighed. 'Ace, I didn't say it wasn't a big deal.'

'No, but you said the only thing I care about is
people finding out about my hair.'

I'd also forgotten that saying sorry too soon could be a
mistake. Especially if the other person was the type who
remembered every single word you said, like Ace did.

'I meant that you're letting it get in the way of everything.'
I struggled to keep my voice calm. 'You're
sleeping in your hat and when you're awake you
spend the entire time paranoid that Kia or Micki or
some random reporter is going to knock it off. I don't
mean that rudely,' I said to her. 'Plus, if you weren't
thinking about your hair all the time then maybe
you would've remembered sooner to tell us what
Megan said.'

'Sorry my self-esteem comes before Megan.'

'You've got to admit, Ace, it's stopping you from just
chilling and enjoying these couple of days. I mean,
when are we going to get this chance again? I'm just
disappointed.'

'You're disappointed! You don't know what this is
like for me!'

'I'm not saying I do!'

Ace slid down onto the floor. 'It's killing me that you
three are going back there tomorrow and I'm going to
be left behind.'

'It's killing all of us, Ace.'

'You're even going to be five minutes away from
Jules,' she said. 'Not that I want to see him. Not when I
look like this.'

'I don't think Jules just likes you for your hair.'

'No, but I do!' Ace pushed her cap over her face.
'That's why I only put my modelling photos in the
album I made for him. The only pictures I have of him
and me when I'm not wearing a hat is from the weekend
after camp and my eyes are so red and swollen that I
look disgusting in every single one of them.'

'I'm sure you don't.'

'Okay, well, the ones I do look okay in, I didn't want
to use 'cause they'll remind him of that weekend and
how I didn't get picked for the training team and how
I'm a big, big loser!'

I collapsed onto the bed watching Ace let it rip. Part
of me wished her rage was more about her not being
with us and less about her stupid hair. But that was Ace
for you.

'Georgie, you're the only one I can talk to like this.'
Ace came and lay next to me. How I wished that some
magic wind would pick up this bed and blow us into
the Starfish Bungalow so we could start all over again.
'I can't say this stuff to anyone else. Georgie?'

'Yeah, I'm listening,' I told her.

'That weekend after camp when Jules came and
stayed at my place . . .'

'Yeah?'

'I wanted, like, really wanted, to sleep with him.'

'You mean . . .?'

'Yes, Georgie, I mean have sex.'

'Okay, and . . .?'

'Well, he said no.'

'He said no?'

Ace sighed.

'Whoa. Did – did he say why?'

'He made some lame excuse about my mum being
there and it not being the right time 'cause I was so
upset.'

'But, isn't that . . . nice?' I offered. 'Doesn't that mean
he cares about you?'

Again Ace sighed. She rolled over onto her side so
that her back was facing me.

'Ace?'

'Do you know what I think the real reason was?'

'What?'

'Jules didn't want to.' I heard her breath catch in her
throat. 'He didn't want to 'cause I didn't get selected for
the Australian training team.'

'No way!' I touched Ace's shoulder. 'That's dumb,
Ace.'

'No, it's not.' My hand felt her muscles stiffen.
'Think about it for a second 'cause that's all it takes to
work it out. Jules is a sportsman. Winners turn him on.'

'You're being stupid.'

'No offence, but how would you know?'

'Okay, so I don't actually know,' I answered. 'But I
can tell you I haven't exactly had the guys bashing
down the door since I was selected.'

'It's pretty weird for a guy not to want to do it. With
me, I mean,' she reminded me. 'It's not like I'm some
ugly, fat pig.'

Ace was no ugly, fat pig. But she was self-centred.
Sometimes it drove me bananas. Sometimes it made me
laugh and sometimes, like now, it split me in two.
Half of me wanted to give her a hug and the other half
wanted to kick her.

Ace and I went downstairs for breakfast and I swear
the minute we walked into the kitchen the chatting
at the table went dead quiet.

Micki, Kia and her parents lifted their heads and
gave an overly chirpy, 'Hiiii!'

They'd been sprung in the midst of some big deep
and meaningful. That was a certain.

'Yummmmeee,' I heard myself sing back with the
same impostor's tone. 'Can I smell Reg's pancakes?'

Ace murmured behind me, 'I don't eat pancakes.'

'Did you sleep well, girls?' Kia's mum asked us.

'Yes thanks, Bridget,' Ace answered. 'I scored Kia's
bed.'

'So I heard.'

'Pancakes, pancakes,' Reg said, rubbing his hands
together and heading for the stove. 'Kia and Micki,
you're up for seconds, aren't you?'

Seconds? The plate in front of Micki was still heaped
with pancakes.

'Well, I'm off to bed,' Bridget announced. 'My legs
are killing me. I'm too old for this night duty. Reggie,
when are you going to win lotto?'

'Tomorrow,' answered Reg.

Bridget gave me a wink. 'That's what he always
says, doesn't he, Georgie?'

I smiled back. I liked Bridget. She was almost like my
second mum.

When I was nine, Mum and Dad went on a holiday
to Hawaii. Two days after they left I woke up with
the worst case of chickenpox. You name the part of the
body, I had spots there. It was horrible.

Grandpa and Nanna had moved in to look after us
but they were so busy with my high-maintenance little
sisters that Bridget ended up having to nurse me.
Charlie wasn't even born in those days.

I have these pictures in my head of waking up and
seeing Bridget sitting by my bed; of her feeding me
salty chicken soup, dabbing cold pink lotion onto my
crusty spots and watching every episode of
Sabrina the
Teenage Witch
with me.

So that afternoon when I walked in to find Kia
cutting herself in our upstairs bathroom, one of the
things I thought was: would Bridget hate me?

Because straight away, I knew I had to tell.

And I did. I told Mum. Mum told Bridget. Bridget
confronted Kia. But the final one, the
big, huge, scary
one, never happened, because Kia never confronted
me, she just stopped speaking to me.

'Georgie?' Kia was laughing and nudging me.
'Georgie, for the tenth time, do you want maple syrup
or jam on your pancakes?'

'Huh?'

'Earth to Georgie, Earth to Georgie.' Behind me, Reg
was speaking like a robot or an idiot, depending on
which way you looked at it. 'We have contact. We have
contact.'

'Oh? Maple syrup, please,' I replied.

There's something different about walking into your
own bathroom to find your best friend in a sweaty
heap on the floor, one hand holding the flesh of her
thigh while the other hand dragged scissors across it.

One, it was in my house, and two, she had specifically
come here to do it.