by J. C. Burke
'Would we?'
Kia answered with a punch to my arm.
'Anyway, our teacher was doing this slide show and the song "Friends Forever" started playing and without even thinking what I was doing I looked over at Georgie and Georgie was looking me.'
'Um . . .?'
'You remember.' Again Kia gave me a playful punch. ''Cause when I realised that you were looking at me too, I smiled.'
I'd probably thought Kia had snarled. It'd been really, really hard being in the same room as Kia. There'd been days when I could've reached out and touched the hate that was burning off her skin.
None of our other friends knew what had happened. Some rumour got spun about us having a big spat at a surfing contest. Part of the story was that I'd punched Kia in the face to stuff up her Seahorse Girl interview. They thought that was the reason Kia didn't come back to school that week.
Of course, I denied punching her. But I didn't correct the other stuff and neither did Kia. We weren't talking, yet we were in a conspiracy together.
For almost three months, every night before I fell asleep and every morning when I woke up, I'd say to myself, 'You did the right thing. You had to tell.'
'I feel like I could sleep for a thousand years.' Micki yawned, stretching out and putting her head on my lap. 'If Ace wasn't here I'd almost say that things were close to perfect.'
My fingertips ran along Micki's scalp. Her eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes. My hands moved along her neck and shoulders and slowly I felt the weight of her body melt into my palms.
Who looked after Micki? Poor Micki. But she would hate me calling her that. That's probably why my chest ached that little bit more.
Surf camp had been nothing like what I'd expected. In fact, camp had only delivered the unexpected.
I felt like I'd been put in a washing machine. I'd come out and now I didn't know if my arm was where my leg should be, if my nose was on my elbow and my elbow was on my nose. Everything was topsy-turvy, upside down and back to front.
The counsellor arrived. It wasn't compulsory to see her but Carla 'advised' that discussing the 'Megan situation' with a professional who wasn't connected with surfing or the camp would be helpful.
What would be helpful, I wanted to say, would be discussing it with a real person who'd actually trained their butt off only to discover that their opponent had been cheating to get the results they'd been chasing.
As far as I was concerned, that was the only 'professional' worth talking to. Someone who could understand how I felt now that my rival, the one who gave me aggro and made me hungry, had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Micki volunteered her services to the counsellor.
'You don't have to,' I said to her.
'Maybe I want to.'
Obviously Ace didn't need to see the counsellor. She was peaking. Megan's downfall was Ace's victory.
So Ace went for a surf with Jake. Even the way she'd said, 'Jake wants to see how my surfing's going' annoyed the crap out of me.
'No, Ace, he needs to see how your surfing's going,' I'd said back.
Bitchy? Yeah. But not every guy was after her.
'Do you feel like a surf?' Kia asked me.
'Not with her out there. Do you?'
'No. How about a game of tennis?'
'Nah. I always beat you.'
'Do you want to go up to the bungalow?'
'Nothing else to do,' I said and sighed. 'I wish we had some chocolate.'
'Me too.'
'Do you reckon Carla would let us get some?'
'What? Go down the street?'
'Yeah.'
'She's feeling guilty,' said Kia, smirking.
'She is.'
I looked at Kia and we gave each other a wicked smile.
It felt strange walking out the gates and into the real world. Surf camp was so intense that you forgot about this other life form pumping away out there. People, cars, shops, houses, fights over parking spaces, cute boys – well, there was one particular cute boy I hadn't forgotten.
Kia and I sat on the steps outside the milk bar and stuffed our faces with chocolate.
'Remember when we came up here in January to buy Micki's birthday card?' Kia said.
I nodded. My mouth was too full to talk.
'You're okay about what she told you, aren't you?'
'You mean about her dad?' I answered through a chocolate dribble. 'Of course I am. I just feel really bad for Micki. It's good she's going to live with you.'
'It means she'll be living near you too.'
'And going to the same school,' I added.
'Do you think Micki and Ace will sort it out?'
'I really don't know,' I answered, unwrapping the second block of chocky we were meant to be taking back for the others. 'I've got my own stuff with Ace.'
'Yeah. You're pretty mad.'
'Aren't you?'
'I think I'm more sad than mad. You know, Starfish Sisters, all that stuff.'
'Come on, Kia! If we were really Starfish Sisters then Ace wouldn't have read Micki's diary. Or at least she would've confessed to it. I'm sorry to be the one to say it but the Starfish Sisters are crap.'
'I don't think we're crap,' Kia answered, pulling Ace's Kelly Slater cap over her face. 'We're just going through a tough time.'
'Yeah, right.'
For a while we sat there. Not eating, not talking, while the world rushed about its usual business. I was watching it as if I was an alien because at the moment this world did not feel connected to mine.
I couldn't agree with Kia. Not even to keep her happy. Ace destroyed the Starfish Sisters. But she destroyed them last camp while she was busy prancing around and not focusing on the selections.
'What are you thinking about?' Kia asked me.
I shrugged. 'What are you thinking about?'
'I was thinking that I've never really said thank you.' Kia wrapped her sticky chocolate fingers around my hand. 'Thanks, Georgie.' Kia kissed my cheek. 'You're a good friend. You're loyal and trustworthy. I've got to tell you, I'm impressed you didn't say anything to Ace.'
Kia made me smile. She was trying so hard. But then Kia tried hard at everything she did and maybe that was part of the problem.
'Why?' The one word I'd been wanting to say popped out of my mouth.
'Why?'
'Yeah. Why at my place?' I curled my fingers back around hers. I wanted Kia to know that I wasn't asking out of anger. There was still a part of me that was scared that if she got hurt she'd do it again. 'I'd just like to understand, that's all.'
'Why in your bathroom?'
I nodded.
'I've asked myself that so many times,' she answered. 'I think it's 'cause I wanted help but I was too scared to ask for it myself.'
'Okay.'
'You've always been stronger than me, Georgie. You've got your life in order. You always have.'
'It doesn't always feel like that.'
'It looks like that.'
'Mum told me that your dad cried.'
'That was the worst bit,' Kia whispered. 'That's when I knew I had to get it together and stop having all these crazy thoughts.'
'Do you think you'll do it again?'
Like the sky had the answer, Kia looked up to it, a little frown the same as her dad's crinkled across her forehead. 'I don't think so. No. No, I won't.'
KIA
There is nothing more embarrassing than waving at someone you think is waving to you, then realising they're actually waving to the person behind you.
But I was certain that the tall guy in the sunnies and baseball cap was waving at us, like we were his besties.
'Georgie?' Georgie was preoccupied with trying to make the chocolate wrapper look like it had more in it. 'Georgie, that's not Jules, is it?'
Georgie's head shot up. 'Jules? Where?'
'It is him.' Jules was walking towards us.
'Hey.'
'Hey,' we said back.
'What are you doing out
of prison?'
'Chocolate fix,' answered Georgie, running her arm across her mouth. 'You know how it is.'
'Sounds like some weird stuff 's been going on.'
'Did you talk to Ace?'
'For a second, last night. She said the girl from Tasmania had been booted out and she was coming up. Then she texted me today to say she'd arrived.' I had not borrowed Harry Potter's invisibility cloak but Jules was having a conversation with one person. 'So, when are we going surfing again? Come on, Georgie, I'm dying.'
'I don't know when I'll be able to. They're turning up the pressure.'
'Hey!' Finally Jules spotted me. 'Ace's Kelly Slater cap! How come she lets you wear it?'
I pointed to Jules's cap. 'My dad used to go for the Gold Coast Cougars.'
'Yeah?'
'He goes for the Atlanta Braves now.'
Jules laughed. His teeth were so white they had to glow in the dark. 'That's a different league.'
'I think he likes that they're called the Braves,' I answered. 'Who do you go for?'
'Toronto Blue Jays, my home-town team. Georgie, your buddy knows her baseball.'
For once, Georgie didn't have a comeback line.
'I'll let you girls get back to the fortress. I'll text you, Georgie. Okay?'
But Georgie was almost across the road. I was zigzagging around the cars to keep up with her.
'Have you got credit?' he called out to her.
She gave him the thumbs up.
'Good.' Jules was pretty much yelling now. 'So text back this time.'
'Georgie? Georgie?' It was three of my steps to every one of hers. 'Has Jules been texting you?'
'Twice. Okay? They both said the same thing! "Let's go surfing dude." It's not like he's trying to crack on.'
'I know that!'
'He's with Ace, remember.' Georgie was out of breath. She was puffing as she spoke. 'So how come you know so much about baseball?'
'I don't.'
'You sounded like you did.'
'Why don't you want to go surfing with Jules again?'
'I didn't say I didn't want to.'
'I could tell.' Now I was almost jogging. 'I'm not a total idiot.'
'I didn't say you were!'
'Is your period due, Georgie?'
'No!'
'Just checking.'
Did Georgie like Jules? It was possible. But surely she didn't think Jules liked her? No way.
Georgie had never hooked up – well, once, but that didn't count, it was just some loser who grabbed her for five seconds at a party – and I still didn't have my periods. Our joke had always been that Georgie would end up as one of those creeps in late-night chat rooms and I'd never be able to have children. Sometimes we'd plan how we'd help each other. I'd get the guy and she could have the babies. That was a win-win solution.
'Georgie, you don't have the hots for Jules, do you? I mean, you're only human, but –'
'Kia! I do not have the hots for Jules. Get real. He's Ace's boyfriend.'
She had the hots for Jules.
*
Tomorrow was the last day the four of us, the Starfish Sisters, would be alone. By Saturday lunchtime there'd be another four girls here. I had just come to the realisation that it was only me who could bring us together. For starters, I was the only one really speaking to Ace, so already I was the middleman.
Reading Micki's diary was a low thing to do but to be honest I felt sorry for Ace. Everyone was against her and if anyone knew what that felt like, it was me.
Ace'd burst into the rec room squealing and jumping around so excited to see us and what did we do? Nothing. We sat there looking at her like she was some killer germ from Africa. Me included. But Ace was the last person I'd expected to see.
At least then we had the excuse that we'd just found out about Megan. Now that excuse was starting to look weak.
Georgie almost hated Ace. At least, she was acting like she did. Plus it looked like Georgie had the hots for her boyfriend.
Ace didn't know that but she sure knew Georgie wasn't happy to see her.
After lunch, Ace'd cornered me outside the rec room.
'Quick! Come in, Kia,' she said beckoning, then closed the door behind us.
'What's happened?' I pretended.
'What's happened?' Ace echoed. 'You tell me. What the hell is up with Georgie? She is being a total bitch!'
'She's a bit spun out about Megan.' I kept my eye on the door or rather the door handle. My life would not be worth living if Georgie busted me in here with Ace. What a waste that would be. Georgie and I were totally cruising now. 'I'm sure she'll settle down.'
Boy, that was a stupid thing to say.
'Does she have PMS 'cause that's the only thing I can think of.'
'No.'
Ace's eyes opened wide, like they were ready to pop out of her head.
Now I wanted to take the truth back and put a lie in its place. 'I asked her this morning.'
'So she's being a bitch to you too?'
'Just a bit snappy,' I replied, squeezing behind the whiteboard so I couldn't be spotted through the window. 'And she's probably a bit tired. Today might seem easy but they've been pushing us hard. I think we're all feeling it.'
'Maybe that's what's wrong with Micki,' Ace whined. 'I don't think Micki's said more than two words to me. That's pretty rude, you must admit.'
I could feel myself rocking back and forth on the soles of my feet, which had never been a good sign. Just chill, I told myself. Ace isn't attacking you. She's just – she's just asking lots of questions. Ace is a big girl. She might be very, very famous but she can look after herself.
'We should probably get back,' I suggested.
Ace stepped in front of the door. 'So it's not that heads have got a bit big while I've been away?' she asked. 'This is my third time at camp, remember. They do start pushing the "you're elite, you're super wonderful" line.'
'There's been none of that,' I replied. 'I promise.'
'I just – I just had this idea that me turning up was going to be the best thing ever. The four of us together again. You know, the Starfish Sisters are back.' Ace's bottom lip was quivering. 'I feel like Megan being chucked out was meant to be. This is like our total dream – but – but it's not feeling like that. At least not with the others. You're the only one who's being normal. At least I can rely on you.'
'It'll be okay,' I said, coming out from behind the whiteboard to give Ace a hug. 'It's just been a big day – a big few days.'
It was hard being 'normal'. Suddenly I'd become the girl that got on with everyone. It actually made me feel like a piece of ham wedged between two slices of bread. One slice being Micki and Georgie. They wouldn't mind sharing – they were so tight.
The other slice being Ace.
Also, being the normal one meant I had to fix the situation. It was up to me to bring the Starfish Sisters back together. Action – that's what was needed.
I just had to pick the right time and the right setting.
Night-time in the Starfish bungalow was where we used to do our sisterhood business. So, we'd do it like that again. Tonight!
It was a delicate operation, so it was important to tell each girl that tonight there would be a discussion. That way, no one could say 'I'm tired' or 'I have a headache' or invent another random excuse.
The tricky part was finding the exact moment to tell each girl.
Georgie and I were hosing down our boards. She'd just had the most awesome session in the surf and she knew it. Jake had been out on his board filming. He was cheering her on and keeping her pumped. She'd obviously impressed Jake big time. He'd all but handed her the Australian Junior Female Surfing Team rash vest.
Understandably, Georgie was amped. 'My hands were glued to the rails and I'm thinking: don't let go. It was so fast and I'm thinking: I'm on it. I'm on it.'
'It was a perfect wave,' I said. 'I didn't think you had it at first.'
'Me neither.' Georgie laughed. 'I was paddling
my guts out.'
'It looked good from the beach. If it was me I'd have scored you a nine.'
'Noooo! Really?'
'Hmm, maybe an eight-point-five.'
'Can't wait to see the video tonight,' Georgie replied.
'About tonight,' I said, seizing the moment when Georgie was on such a high. 'I'm going to chair a meeting between the four of us in the bungalow.'
'You're going to what?'
'The four of us are going to talk it all through tonight.'
'Have you run this by Micki?'
'Yeah.' I hadn't but I was about to. 'It's just you and Ace I have to tell.'
'And Micki's cool about it?'
I nodded.
Georgie was half frowning, half smirking. The possibility of what that meant immediately gave me a tummy ache.
'So, Kia, when's this "talk" happening?'
'Later tonight. Like we used to have them.'
'When we were the Starfish Sisters?'
'Don't be sarcastic.'
'I can't promise I won't say everything that's on my mind.'
'That's fine.' I smiled while my stomach ache tripled.
Next stop was Micki. At least she wouldn't give me the hairy grilling Georgie did.
The thing was, I had to find her first.
Micki had been in a Swiss ball session. After that she was on dinner prep.
I put my board away. Made some excuse to Georgie. Then, breaking the golden rule of not walking through the main building in a dripping wetsuit, I jogged off in search of Micki.
I found her outside the dining room talking on the public phone. She waved and mouthed, 'Wait.'
'Okay,' I mouthed back as I took the chair next to her and began to plan how I'd open the discussion.
Micki probably wasn't ready to tell Ace about her dad. That was a good thing. Especially after Georgie told me how Ace freaked out over sleeping in the same bed as Megan. So maybe all Micki needed to do was tell Ace she knew that she'd snooped in her diary and leave it at that.
'Okay, Dad,' Micki was saying. 'I'll call you in a couple of days. Hmm? No, today's Thursday, Dad.'
She rolled her eyes at me and smiled. I couldn't imagine having a father who wasn't sure what day it was. Dad organised my life for me.
'Yes, Davo. Okay. Love you.'
Micki put down the phone and sighed. 'He was good today.'