Ocean Pearl

by J. C. Burke

'What?' Georgie huffed.

  'I know that's not a satisfying answer but I will say that what she was doing was potentially very damaging and dangerous to her health. And yes, it is classified as cheating.'

  'So, you are saying that Megan was taking drugs?' Georgie pressed.

  'I'm talking –' Carla paused. 'I'm talking about a combination of things.'

  My back sagged into the couch. Yep, I'd been right.

  'What – what will happen?' Kia asked.

  'That depends on her. But certainly for now her surfing career is over.'

  'What!' Georgie flopped back into the cushions. 'I can't believe it,' she kept muttering. 'This is – this girl was potentially going to be on a team with us.'

  'Georgie, we're bringing a counsellor in for you girls to talk to,' explained Carla. 'This is a big deal. We know that.'

  Jake peered through the blinds. Outside you could hear a car door slam. He excused himself and hurried out of the room.

  Carla continued, 'Today we'll try and refocus. We'll go over the process of the selection for the team. We've got four more girls arriving on the weekend. Okay? We're looking forward, not back. I don't want you girls to be thrown off by this.'

  'Yeah, right,' Georgie muttered.

  Jake snuck back in and nodded to Carla.

  Carla smiled and clapped her hands together. 'Hopefully, this'll help to get you back on track, girls!'

  The rec room door flew open and in walked Ace.

  ACE

  'Hiiiiiii!' It rushed up my throat and burst out of my mouth. 'Aaaagggghhhh! Can you believe it? I'm here!'

  The girls were so surprised they didn't even move. They were like statues pinned to the back of the couch, with their jaws wide open.

  Georgie made a noise. 'Wow,' I think she said. Or was it 'Whoa'?

  'I know! I know!' I laughed, jumping up and down like a puppy. 'How amazing is this!'

  'You've had your . . . hair cut.' Kia was pointing to her shoulders, which is where I'd had it chopped to.

  'Your hair's longer than mine now, Kia,' I said and smiled.

  'Yeah.'

  'Do you like it?'

  The girls kind of nodded and made another noise. They were shell-shocked!

  'You should see you three.' I pointed. 'I wish I had my camera!'

  'I think they've had as many surprises as they can take today,' Carla said, laughing and giving me a hug. 'It's lovely to have you back, Ace.'

  Shyan gave me a cuddle. We had always been tight. 'We need your energy around here, Ace,' she said to me. 'Love your hair. Super cute.'

  I sent Georgie a wink but she was looking at Micki and not at me.

  This whole fantastic thing that had me all of a sudden standing here in the rec room as part of the training team started because I'd decided to do something about my hair. I knew it did. It was more than a coincidence. It was spooky!

  I couldn't wait to get Georgie on my own so I could tell her the whole story.

  Yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, less than twenty-four hours ago, I was studying my bald patch in the mirror when I had 'a moment'. I don't know what else to call it.

  It was like this light suddenly flooded the bathroom and took possession of me.

  'Mum?' I called. 'Mum!'

  'What? What?' Mum flew into the bathroom.

  'Mum.' My voice sounded calm even though I could feel my whole body quivering. 'Mum, ring Daryl. It's time for me to cut this hair.'

  'Are you sure?'

  'Yep, I'm positive.'

  Now, this was the next spooky bit. Daryl, who was always booked up for weeks, had just had a cancellation. 'Doreen,' Daryl had told Mum. 'Tell Courtney to get up here pronto.'

  Two minutes later, I'd whipped off my school uniform, squeezed into my skinny-legs and stilettos and was running out the door. It's hard to explain but it felt so fantastic, like – like I'd been paralysed and suddenly someone was taking me to get a new pair of legs.

  'I've been waiting for this,' Daryl had said, kissing me on both cheeks. 'Come with me.'

  Daryl led me into the back room where he could inspect my bald patch without anyone seeing. Apart from Mum, Georgie and the doctor, my hairstylist was the only person who knew.

  'Mmm. It's a bit better.'

  'Yeah?'

  'If we trim to the shoulders, do some soft layering around the front,' Daryl explained, fluffing my hair over my face, 'then you can gather bits at the front and pin them at the top of your head, à la Nicole Kidman, and all your sins will be covered.'

  'Really?'

  'Come on.' I followed Daryl back into the salon. 'Time for me to wave my wand' – he sat me at the wash basin – 'and do my magic.'

  Like a bull fighter he shook the black plastic cloak over my front and soon the warm trickle of water was running past my ears.

  One of the old ladies with gold jewellery and lips that didn't move when she spoke gave us the evil eye. Daryl never washed hair; only the juniors did that. But I was one of his important clients. A 'VIP', he called me.

  My fingers'd clamped onto the sides of the chair as Daryl began to scrub my scalp.

  'Relax,' he'd whispered.

  'I'm starting afresh, Daryl,' I tried to whisper back but it was hard with my head jerking up and down. 'I've been moping around and now I'm sick of it.'

  My hair almost looked bouncy after my blow dry. Daryl had pinned the front bits on top of my head so I didn't even need my hat.

  I felt so great. So excited. Soooo happy. Almost like my old self, not counting a few hairs shorter.

  Mum and I decided to go out for dinner and celebrate.

  'Mum, I'm back,' I announced, once I'd got rid of the waiter who was hanging around trying to chat me up. 'I feel like finally I can face the world.'

  'It's the start of a new chapter,' Mum'd replied as she squeezed my hand.

  Now here's the really, really spooky bit.

  Thirty seconds, no twenty seconds, later Mum's mobile rang and it was Carla.

  'Can you believe it, Georgie? I finally accept the situation with my hair and I get the phone call to come here!' Georgie was holding open the door to the Starfish Bungalow. I dropped my bags in the doorway. 'I mean, is that spooky or what? It was obviously meant to be.'

  Georgie hadn't said a thing. But then I'd been talking so much she couldn't have got a word in if she'd tried.

  'It's like hiding under that hat was keeping me back.'

  'So, will you tell Jules and the others about your hair now?'

  'Are you crazy?'

  'I'm feeling a tad crazy at the moment,' Georgie muttered.

  'You've got to agree, the whole thing is more than a coincidence.'

  'Maybe the light that came into the bathroom was the sun.'

  'Georgie!' But Georgie wasn't laughing. 'What's wrong?'

  'Ace, I'm really happy for you about your hair and everything but we've had a pretty big twenty-four hours here.'

  'Okay.'

  When I'd arrived, Jake'd come out to warn me that the girls were a bit shaken. It would've been a bit boasty if I'd said, 'When they see me, Jake, everything will be better.' But that's what I'd thought. Instead, it was like walking into a family funeral and I was the adopted daughter everyone hated.

  It did not make sense. Megan being asked to leave was bad for her, but great for us. It's what we'd dreamt of.

  'The bungalow looks the same,' I said carefully.

  'Guess so.'

  I laughed – well, tried to. 'Hey, you pushed Megan's bed over there. Classic. I'll move it back.'

  Georgie shrugged. 'If you want.'

  I dragged my bags over to the wardrobe while Georgie stood there watching.

  No, Jake's description of them being 'shaken' was pathetic. Georgie wasn't shaken. She was beyond that. She was frozen.

  'Was it really bad with Megan?' I asked, starting to unpack my stuff.

  That was the way to do it. Get the girls to talk. I could help them get it off their chests. Then, when that was done, h
opefully by tonight or even this afternoon, everything would be back to normal.

  Carla would be fully grateful to me. I would get a big tick next to my name, which was what I wanted. I had promised myself I was going to be so good, so focused, on time to everything and not sneak out at night to meet Jules. That would be the hard one to keep.

  I could feel Georgie watching me. She still hadn't answered my question so I asked again. 'Was it bad with Megan?'

  'Yeah, it was bad,' she replied. 'Megan didn't even get to say goodbye. Not that she could've looked us in the eye.'

  'Do you know what happened?'

  'Not exactly,' answered Georgie, sliding down onto the floor next to her bed.

  'Did they tell you anything? Georgie?'

  'Huh?' Georgie was playing with her mobile. 'They didn't say much. Carla has sort of said but without actually saying it that it was drugs but – '

  'Drugs! Gross! And I'm sleeping in her bed.'

  'That's a bit . . . harsh.'

  'What, and cheating's not?'

  'We don't even know what drugs she was taking. I mean, some people can't help taking drugs. It's like a disease.'

  'Yeah right, Georgie.'

  'You're being pretty judgmental, Ace.'

  'What did I say?'

  Georgie stood up and put her phone in the drawer. Now at least she was smiling. So I assumed she was over whatever was making her act so weird.

  I put a pile of T-shirts on the bed 'cause I thought she was coming over to help me unpack, but instead she started walking towards the door.

  Georgie leant against the entrance with her arms crossed. 'You were being judgmental, Ace. You were making out that if you take drugs you must be dirty.'

  I'd seen Georgie stand all grumpy and frowning like this before. She was about to get her period. That's what it was. Even Kia said Georgie was a PMS witch and coming from Kia that was really something.

  'It is pretty off, Georgie. You must admit.'

  Georgie did the 'whatever' eyebrow lift. But I could still spot the smile hiding behind there.

  'Hey, wait till you see this.' The magazine I'd bought for Kia and Georgie was peeking out of my bag. 'This mag has got the best bikinis in it,' I said, holding it out to her.

  If Georgie wanted it she was going to have to come and get it.

  'It's French.' I held it up to show her the cover. 'You and Kia could easily copy the designs. I mean, who'd ever know?'

  Georgie didn't move, even though it was obvious the smile was trying to escape.

  'Loooook.' I opened the page I'd marked. 'Gorgeous, hey?' I said, pointing to the photo. 'That little bow in the middle of the top is what makes it.'

  Georgie did the eyebrow lift again. 'It's a bit skanky,' she said and walked out the door.

  The magazine fell to the floor with a clunk.

  'Skanky? Skanky!' I muttered to the empty bungalow. Now I'd caught the frozen disease. The only thing I could move was my lips. 'Skanky? Like since when has Georgie been some style queen?'

  I could handle the girls being 'shaken', even though that was a gross understatement. I could handle walking into the rec room and not one of my supposed best friends getting up to hug me. I could handle sleeping in the same bed as a drug addict – just. But I could not handle Georgie, the beefcake, giving me advice about style and fashion.

  Suddenly my movement returned and I was shoving bras and undies and jeans and jumpers into the drawers.

  Had Georgie suddenly forgotten that for the last six months she had asked my fashion advice – not Kia's and certainly not Micki's – every time she went to a party or a dance or wherever she went in her one-camera, one-newspaper little town?

  I slammed the drawers shut and pushed my bags off the bed.

  'Skanky!' I called out again.

  I got out my phone and texted Jules. He'd make me feel better.

  'Here. Can't believe it. Georgie in a fouler. Hardly speaking to me. Miss you. Xxxx'

  It took amazing self control not to add 'Let's meet up – now.' But I was here to be a good girl.

  Besides, Jules'd say, 'I've got to train.' That seemed to be all he was interested in at the moment. Baseball, baseball, baseball.

  At least, it had been in the last week or so. Even the day Jules got the photo album, he'd sent me some lame message like, 'Got training. Running late. Talk lata. Dig album.'

  Dig album? Surely my effort deserved more than two words. How about another two like 'thank you'?

  Jules and I did speak later. Or rather, he spoke and I listened. He was on a total whinge fest about how I'd never gone surfing with him. How I kept promising but then never did anything about it. The only way to shut him up was to promise I'd get Georgie to take him for one.

  Lucky Georgie didn't have PMS then, or she would've bitten my head off and said something like, 'I'm not here to do your dirty work.'

  GEORGIE

  I shut the door and ran out of the bungalow. I couldn't walk or I'd scream.

  The problem was that there were so many things to scream about I couldn't decide which one to scream about first!

  What the hell was Ace doing here? And what the hell were we going to do about her being here?

  At the end of the walkway, I leant over the railing and did my first scream. Of course, I didn't let the sound come out. Instead, I stretched my lips as wide as they could go and forced out the air until I felt the punch inside my tummy.

  Then there was Megan. What was that about? What exactly had she done? Yeah, she'd been rude; she'd been aggro; she'd been a pain; she'd been a total idiot pulling the shark stunt – but what had she actually done to get herself chucked out of here?

  It had to be something really bad. But drugs?

  Megan was an elite sportswoman. She trained hard. She commanded respect and fear because she was so good. Megan was the one to beat and she knew it too. We pushed each other to the wire. Our battle'd start the second our boards hit the water – even before that. On land we played psych-out games with each other. To me, she always had the edge, always. But she'd been cheating. She needed drugs, or whatever it was, to make her good – to give her that edge. And I needed her. I needed Megan to make me good.

  I leant over the railing and released another silent scream into the air. But then I dangled over the edge that extra second, savouring the smile that could now break free.

  The grin I'd been trying to hide from Ace was now stretching the hell out of my cheeks.

  Jules'd sent me another text. The second one since last night. The exact same words: 'Lets go surfin dude.'

  But Ace was here and Jules knew that.

  So wouldn't that mean that Jules'd want to surf with her?

  I opened my mouth for another silent scream but the only thing that came out was a gigantic long sigh.

  Micki and Kia were lying on the grass next to the tennis courts. The strange thing was that they actually looked like sisters. Not pathetic Starfish Sisters – real sisters. They were both lying on their backs with their hands folded over their foreheads and one leg crossed over the other.

  'Hey,' I said, collapsing onto the grass next to them. 'Good hiding spot.'

  'Thanks for going to the bungalow with her,' said Micki.

  'Did I have a choice?'

  The three of us groaned and simultaneously rolled onto our stomachs.

  'What are we going to do, girls?' I asked.

  'I don't know,' Kia said. 'But Micki's freaking out.'

  'I'm not freaking out. I'm just not . . . comfortable,' Micki explained. 'It's been a really tough few days and I was just starting to feel okay – good, actually – and then she turns up. Please, Georgie, please don't say anything to Ace.'

  'I'll try,' I answered. 'But it's going to be hard.'

  'Please?'

  'The good news is that she definitely doesn't know about your dad,' I said.

  Micki sat up. 'How do you know?'

  'I just do,' I replied.

  'Yeah, but how?'
r />   What an idiot I was! I should've thought before I opened my fat mouth. This was a really big deal for Micki. If it was happening to me I'd be paranoid too.

  'It's a hunch. You know, a feeling,' I offered.

  'So you don't know for sure?'

  'She didn't tell me. It's like I said, just a feeling. But – but I definitely think Ace would've said something to me. Don't you, Kia?'

  The more I tried to dig myself out of the hole the deeper I was falling into it.

  If Ace was so disgusted at the idea of sleeping in the same bed as a drug addict, even though the sheets had been changed, then my hunch was that she'd be equally disgusted sleeping in the same room as a drug addict's daughter. But I was not prepared to share that hunch with Micki.

  'So, Ace didn't say anything?'

  'No, Micki. I swear.'

  'Georgie's probably right, Micki,' Kia said. 'She's got a good instinct with people.'

  'I do?' It was just one surprise after another today. 'Micki, did Kia just give me a compliment?'

  Micki was laughing. I'd always loved watching Micki's face when she laughed. Her eyes sparkled so much it was almost like you could see stars inside them. Now I knew the truth about Micki, I loved watching her laugh even more because I desperately wanted her to be happy.

  'You two are odd,' she said.

  'Correction,' Kia said to Micki. 'I used to be odd.'

  'How did you two start talking to each other again?' In one breath, Micki blew down the brick wall that'd been sitting between me and Kia. 'You don't mind me asking that, do you?'

  Kia's mouth was wide open but nothing was coming out. That was okay. It'd caught me off guard too.

  'Well,' I said, 'it probably had something to do with the fact that I needed a lift down to Sydney.'

  'No, it was before that,' Kia said.

  'Really?' Georgie frowned.

  Kia sat up. Something told me we were going to hear a story, Kia style. So I got comfy; I wanted to hear it. This was a first, Kia actually talking openly about our no-speaky period. I was impressed.

  'Well, we were in Health.'

  I had no idea where this was going.

  'It was about three months after Georgie, you know, found me.' Kia swallowed but she didn't stop. 'Of course, we'd always sit on opposite sides of the room. But we'd check each other out every now and then.'