by Kate McMahon
‘Hey, hi Jaspa.’ An unfamiliar face beckons her closer.
‘Sorry, do I know you?’ she asks, hesitating. He’s wearing a contest T-shirt, but she can’t recall seeing him at any of the competitions.
‘No, I don’t think we’ve officially met yet. I’m Duncan Riley, the event’s intern.’
Jaspa nods slowly. She remembers emailing Duncan a few weeks ago to register. ‘Oh, Duncan, nice to put a name to a face. Oops, I mean a face to …’
He cuts in with a laugh before she has time to correct herself. ‘You are unbelievable,’ he whispers.
Jaspa notices Carolyn hovering uncomfortably next to them. ‘Oh, sorry, Duncan this is Carolyn Fitzgerald.’
Carolyn offers a backwards nod hello but knows when she’s at risk of rolling in as a third wheel. ‘Yo, I’m gonna go skate, I’ll see you in a bit.’
‘No, no don’t g–’ Jaspa begins to protest, but Carolyn is already out of sight. She turns to face Duncan, offering an awkward smile and feeling a bit weird hanging out with this guy she’s known for less than five minutes.
‘Want to sit over there and chill? I’d love to get to know you,’ he suggests, pointing to the couch the girls have just vacated.
‘Umm, sure, why not?’ she says reluctantly, knowing she’ll once again have a front-on view of Cooper devouring the other girl. It might only be a butter knife, but it suddenly starts twisting and turning. How is she ever going to get a serious boyfriend if guys are going to be so confusing?
She spies Cooper looking at her out of the corner of his eye while he’s still locking lips with the brunette. Before Jaspa even has time to think about what she’s doing, she grabs the front of Duncan’s shirt and opens her mouth onto his. Focused solely on whether Cooper can see her, Jaspa rides out the passionless kiss like a mushy wave, going through the motions and making it look way better than it actually is. Duncan moves his mouth too fast, and his tongue is like a soaking-wet towel. If she doesn’t stop him soon, she’s scared he’ll swallow her whole face.
She pulls away and shakes her head. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t …’ Springing up from the sofa to run and find Carolyn, she literally bumps into Mel. The words blurt out like water busting from a dam. ‘Look, I love you. I’m really sorry I put you in that position, but I think everything turned out the way it should be and I really wish you weren’t angry at me because Tyler hates me and Cooper’s hooking up with a girl right in front of me and …’ Jaspa draws in an exhausted breath and wipes the wetness from her face.
‘Hey, hey, slow down.’ Mel places both hands on Jaspa’s shoulders and gives them a gentle shake. ‘Look, I know I’ve been a brat – I was just mega-peeved at you for giving Lisa that wave. Let’s put it behind us and celebrate instead.’ Mel draws Jaspa in for a hug, then pulls back. ‘And what the hell was that about Cooper?’
Jaspa sniffs and points towards the PDA.
‘Urgh, boys … they just suck ass,’ Mel says, putting on a brave face, even though her own eyes are glistening with emotion.
A look of confusion creeps onto Jaspa’s face. She’s been so concerned with her own woes, she didn’t stop to think about what Mel’s been doing for the last two hours. ‘Why, Mel, what happened to you? Where’s Kazumi?’
‘Well, we hung out and mucked around, but then I went to the bathroom, and when I came out I saw him walking off with some other chick.’
‘Oh my god, that’s awful! Come on, let’s get out of here.’ Jaspa swings her arm around Mel and they walk down the path to collect Carolyn.
‘I’m almost thinking we make a no-dudes pact when we’re on tour next year,’ Mel says.
‘Totally. I’m in if you are.’
Jaspa and Mel shake on what will absolutely be a broken promise.
#22
Two pieces of pumpkin seed bread pop out of the toaster. Jaspa collects them and immediately flings them onto the bench – they’re hotter than expected. After sucking her fingers for relief, she smears on some avocado and miso paste, then squeezes a dribble of juice from a fresh lemon, which sprays onto her clean uniform. ‘Urgh, I’m such a klutz,’ she mutters while wiping herself with a cloth, not noticing Mel walk through the front door waving something in her hand.
‘We’re front-page news!’ Mel holds up the local paper. A photo of the three of them sharing a wave spans the entire cover. In big bold font the headline reads: The Bikini Collective Slam Sexism!
‘Oh my gosh, bring it here, bring it here!’ Jaspa pleads, crunching into her breakfast.
Mel places the paper on the bench and opens it to the double-page feature, which includes an article based on the interview, plus the letter they wrote to Salt Action. Jaspa points to a feature quote splashed across the centre: ‘We believe female surfing is of interest to the entire surfing community, including guys.’
‘Wow, they’re your words, for the world to see!’ Jaspa hopes this will divert Mel’s attention from the obvious inclusion of – along with the beach photos that were taken by Sean – an extra one of Jaspa accepting her first-place trophy. Leaning back to rest on the bar stool, Jaspa admires an amazing image of Trudy Hardwick popping a huge grab-rail air. ‘Oh wow, I can’t believe they interviewed Trudy, too – this is massive!’ she squeals.
‘Read this part here for a bit of humble-pie eating,’ Mel says, pointing to the end of the article.
Jaspa reads a quote from the editor of Salt Action, claiming he will now make a more conscious effort to consider female surfing content when planning their issues. To the side is a panel with some comments from the Facebook feed, plus stats on how many shares it received. Jaspa looks up at Mel, wide-eyed.
‘I know, right,’ Mel says, swiping Jaspa’s last corner of toast. ‘Can you believe the post has reached eight thousand likes already?’
‘Mum, look, look!’ Jaspa ambushes Ellen as she walks into the kitchen.
‘Oh, what a wonderful photo, that’s amazing. I’m going to ask Josephine for a colour copy, I’d love to get it framed.’ Ellen hands the paper back to Jaspa. ‘You should take this to school just so they’re across the media you’re doing, although I’m sure they’ve already seen it. Do you need a lift?’
‘No …’ Jaspa starts to say, then looks out the window at the driveway. ‘Oh, maybe. I thought Tyler would take us as usual, but the car’s not there.’ Jaspa has barely seen Tyler since she won the contest, apart from at the party. She later heard he’d had a massive blow-up with Cooper, and they ended up scuffling into the DJ booth and getting booted out. He caught a ride home with one of his friends the next day, and came in late last night to grab the spare car.
‘Thanks for saving us from school bus torture, Mrs Ryder,’ Mel deadpans as they pull out of the driveway. Jaspa peers through the car window at the mess of ocean. A storm hit in the early hours, carrying a huge swell and a rugged easterly wind. After seeing the forecast, Jaspa had texted Mel suggesting they reward themselves for their weekend’s hard work with a sleep-in. Mel agreed, but insisted that first thing tomorrow they get back on the training program.
‘If you see Tyler can you ask him to call home, just to check in?’ Ellen asks as Jaspa gets out of the car.
‘Sure, Mum. But you know he probably won’t be at school today.’ Jaspa kisses her mum on the cheek through the window.
‘I know, honey. I’ll pick you girls up this afternoon. Enjoy all the glory you’ll get today.’
***
Jaspa waits at the side of the stage in the Institute’s assembly hall. The sound of 500 students all trying to talk over each other bounces off the walls. In a school housing top athletes of all persuasions, everything is a competition, even the desire to be heard. She spies Mel and Carolyn sitting in the front row as promised and waves, trying to get their attention. But they’re too engrossed in conversation to notice, and their laughter contributes to the building wall of sound.
Jaspa reaches back and runs a finger along the outline of her Bonds boylegs, checking that none of her school
uniform has crept into places it shouldn’t. Just as she gives herself the all-clear, she senses someone standing behind her. Whipping her head around, slightly startled, she finds herself face to face with Cooper. Her mouth drops open but no words come to mind, so she just stands there looking like a possum frozen in headlights.
Cooper smiles and melts the ice away, but although Jaspa’s not the best at people reading, she’s pretty sure there’s none of the flirtatious flavour he sprinkled her with at dinner the other night.
‘Hi, Jaspa. Hey, well done on the weekend, I hear you surfed really well.’ His head is angled down, but he peers at her from beneath his hair. Oh, goodness, how she wants to grab his school shirt and slide her lips into his parted mouth and just freeze there for a moment.
‘Thanks, I, umm, I hear you did, too,’ she stumbles. ‘I mean, I didn’t hear you surfed well but I’m assuming you did cos you won.’ The puzzled look on Jaspa’s face makes it clear that even she doesn’t know why she just said that. Geez, why couldn’t she just say she saw him surf, like a normal, fumble-free person would?
Jaspa is saved by Principal Mackerel, who calls their names and ushers them onto the stage. He announces their competition wins from the weekend, hands them each a bouquet of native flowers and encourages the students to give them a round of applause. Jaspa brings her bouquet up to her nose to avoid looking at the sea of people in front of her and breathes in its woody scent. These ceremonies are a regular fixture at the Institute, but Jaspa’s usually the one looking up at the recipient. The principal then goes on to congratulate the other students, Mel, Carolyn, Ryan Thompson and Vijay Kumar on qualifying for the World Junior Tour.
Mel blows Jaspa a kiss from her seat and Carolyn gives her two thumbs up. Jaspa smiles and wonders what it will be like a year from now, when they’ve been travelling the world as competitive surfers. As she swivels to exit the stage, a guy bellows from the back of the room, ‘Show us ya bikini collective!’ Spot fires of snickers ignite around the room, so Jaspa walks briskly towards the stairs.
Mel seizes the opportunity to douse the flames by leaning back in her chair, cupping her hands around her mouth and throwing her voice to the ceiling. ‘In your dreams, loser.’
‘Alright, alright, that’s enough,’ Mr Mackerel says over the eruption of laughter. ‘Assembly dismissed, time for your classes. And quietly.’
Jaspa meets Mel and Carolyn outside and they make their way along the cobblestone path towards C block for their surfing theory lesson.
‘I guess everyone read the paper, then,’ Jaspa says, stuffing the bouquet into her calico tote.
‘Don’t worry about it, it’s a good thing. That was just Troy Brody being a smartarse,’ Mel says, hopping onto each raised rock in the path the way you have to when jumping off Bonita Point. ‘He’s probably just jaded cos he’s pretty much lost every tennis match this year. He may even be booted.’
Cutting across the courtyard, the three of them are intercepted by Vera Lee and Susan Riley from the swimming team.
‘Well done on your letter to Salt Action, girls. That article in the paper is killer,’ says Vera, with her arms folded around her notebook.
Susan squints, shading her eyes from the sun with her forearm. Jaspa notices a band of muscle running from her elbow to her wrist like a taught rubber band. The swimmers train harder than almost anyone else at the school. Earlier, too. The thought of rising at five every morning seems as much of a chore to Jaspa as an end-of-year essay. Funnily, she sees getting up for a sunrise surf as totally different.
‘That bit you said about standing up for yourself, I so hear you,’ Susan adds. ‘The amount of times guys target me out there because they know they can scab waves off me …’
‘Well, remember, don’t let them hassle you,’ Mel cuts in, playfully pretending to box at the air. ‘Paddle strong and just go for it. If you make it, you make it, if you don’t, you don’t. No matter.’
‘Hey, you girls should come down to surf Bonita with us sometime,’ Jaspa offers. There’s nothing more fun than a massive girl surfing posse. In fact, what better way to give voice to their cause than with as many girls as possible? She tugs at Mel’s arm and whispers, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea.’
‘Oh goodie,’ Mel claps. ‘You’re finally going to agree to cut class and come shopping with me in Byron Bay?’
Jaspa rolls her eyes. ‘No, smarty. Come on, I’ll tell you.’ She says goodbye to Susan and Vera and links arms with Mel and Carolyn, guiding them to a patch of grass outside their classroom.
‘Okay, master plan, spill,’ Mel says, flopping on the ground and leaning her chin in her hand.
Jaspa taps on her phone screen and holds it in front of her. ‘Remember this thing that came out a few years ago, the Right 2 Be Me page?’
‘Oh yeah,’ Carolyn clicks her fingers and points. ‘Wasn’t that to rat out bullies?’
‘Kind of,’ Mel joins in, scrounging around the bottom of her bag for a mint. ‘It was more a safe space for those being bullied, to talk about their feels.’ She blows a piece of fluff off a Tic Tac then pops it in her mouth. ‘What’s that got to do with us?’
Jaspa puts down her phone and pulls her mane of hair over one shoulder. ‘Susan and Vera got me thinking – there must be heaps of surfer girls everywhere who could do with some support and encouragement.’ She pulls the newspaper out of her bag and throws it on the grass. ‘If we’re going to be a bikini collective, then surely the more …’
‘… the merrier!’ Springing to her knees, Mel cups Jaspa’s shoulders. ‘Oh my god, I love it! We can make it a closed group for chicks only.’
Jaspa coughs out a succession of laughs as Mel shakes her back and forth. ‘And when we’re travelling we can spread the word all over the world.’ Jaspa is loving the idea of making being a pro surfer mean something more than just point tallies.
‘No dudes?’ Carolyn asks, screwing up her nose. ‘Sounds snoring.’
‘Carolyn!’ Mel takes her hands off Jaspa and grabs Carolyn in a headlock. ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to get a smorgasbord of boy candy on the tour,’ she says, licking the side of Carolyn’s face.
‘Oh, you feral. Okay, okay, count me in.’ Carolyn wrenches Mel’s arm over her head and wipes her cheek with her uniform. ‘But don’t expect me to be a role model. I don’t look like you two.’
Jaspa frowns. ‘Carolyn, don’t say that. It’s not about that.’ She hates how society is so focused on looks. Carolyn inspires her in so many ways. Her independence. The way she can nail any sport she tries. Her relationships with guys, who seem to scramble over themselves to befriend her. And the way she steamrolls through life despite never being given the easy road. Jaspa squeezes Carolyn’s knee. ‘In fact, let’s make it the very opposite.’ Jaspa fishes out her notebook and holds her pencil in the air. ‘So, what else? What’s our vision?’
‘I agree, firstly it should be reassuring girls that it’s not all about being blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful,’ Mel says, pressing her index finger into the palm of her other hand to indicate a point, before backtracking. ‘Sorry, no offence, Jaspa!’
‘Well, that should be our first pact, then.’ Jaspa scribbles in her notebook. ‘Number one: we embrace everybody. Including blondes,’ Jaspa adds with a smirk, flicking Mel with her pencil.
‘Hey, that’s kinda cool. Like, ev-er-y bo-dy,’ Carolyn says, drawing out each syllable and slapping her hands from her bum down her thighs.
‘Do you like this?’ Mel asks, pointing to a photo of the three of them riding a wave, all flashing a peace sign. ‘Should we make this the profile shot?’
‘Oh, I love it,’ Jaspa gasps. ‘How did you get it?’
‘I just texted Sean and asked if he had any spares from our photo shoot. He also gave us a bunch of other images we can use of waves and sunsets.’
‘Can we pretty please add an inspirational quote to it?’ Jaspa pleads with her hands clasped in front of her face. ‘That one I love by Trudy Hardwick: “I�
�m not having fun because I’m the best, I’m the best because I’m having fun.” We could even change it every week.’
‘Alright, and we title the page The Bikini Collective?’ Mel asks, typing it into the template.
‘Yes!’ Jaspa claps.
‘Yeah, but what’s it mean? Will everyone else get it?’ Carolyn asks, scrunching up her nose.
Mel nods. ‘Hey, good point. So something under it, like: We’re female. We surf. Discuss.’
‘Or: Surf like a girl and own it,’ Carolyn clicks her fingers in the air.
Jaspa stares ahead and visualises herself riding a wave. Weaving up and down, smiling and laughing. What makes them different to guy surfers? That’s what they need to capture. Surfing grace? Eww, no, that’s too whimsical. Surfer girls? Too done. ‘Ooooh, I think I’ve got it!’ Jaspa leans on all fours and shuffles in to close up the circle. ‘What about: The Bikini Collective – a girl’s-eye view of surfing.’
#23
Tyler gently pulls at his eyelashes and a crust crumbles between his thumb and forefinger. It could be the result of salt build-up from the howling onshore wind. Or, more likely, the fact that he has spent the last hour head down, bawling.
A balloon of breath gets caught in his chest and a multitude of thoughts tussle inside his head. What is he going to do? The surfing tour isn’t just an entry in his life itinerary, it’s the only thing on the list. He certainly isn’t going to become his little sister’s tour gopher, like Cooper sarcastically suggested in retaliation moments after Tyler smacked him unprovoked in the face. What else, then? A dishpig at Subway? Go to uni for four years? And while he’s in Australia living out his lame-ass existence, doing nothing spectacular, his sister will be travelling the world. She’ll get sponsored, probably win some events, become the tour’s pin-up girl. The whole world is going to fall in love with her. There’s only so much bitterness Tyler’s stomach can handle before exploding.