Ocean Pearl

by J. C. Burke

  So what had happened with her and Jules? That's where my theory ran into a brick wall. If there was something going on between Jules and Georgie then wouldn't Georgie be in a good mood? Or had she been gutsy enough to say something to Jules and he'd totally rejected her?

  I was no Dr Phil when it came to relationships. When Oliver Hobson asked me to the year six end-of-school dance, I ran away and hid in the cleaner's cupboard. But I still backed my theory that Georgie's mood swings were to do with her and Jules and not just about her lack of sponsorship.

  The entire morning, Georgie slammed doors, gave one-word answers, sat down the other end of the table and totally avoided any eye contact. She reminded me of the boys in my year as she prowled around with her hands permanently stuck in her coat pockets and an invisible sign on her forehead that said 'Don't come near me'.

  But there was no escaping her 'cause the weather was so bad the beach was closed. All of us were stuck inside watching surfing reruns on the DVD while the rain pelted against the windows of the rec room.

  Jake and Don Chambers, who was still hanging around, were getting us to view and then comment on our wave selection yesterday. Everything was going fine until Jake asked Georgie how confident she'd felt about hanging back in the first heat.

  'Zena was paddling for her third wave while you'd just got up on your second,' he said. 'Was your confidence intact the whole time, Georgie? I know your selection worked out for your team but did you feel a bit panicked that maybe you weren't going to get the wave you were hoping for?'

  'I don't know.'

  'You must have some idea, Georgie.'

  Georgie was sitting behind me so I didn't exactly hear what she muttered to herself before finishing her answer. But I did make out the word 'sponsor'. After that, I just couldn't sit still. Maybe my theory was a dud. Maybe Georgie's grumpiness was one hundred per cent 'cause she'd thought OP were going to offer her sponsorship. I mean, why else would Andy have called her at home?

  'Have it,' I wished I could say. 'You're the right girl. The newspaper could spend all day every day with you and never discover a bad thing.'

  Now I had no choice. I had to speak to Jake. Too bad what he'd think of me. There were things I needed to know. I had to ask, otherwise it'd start psyching me out and I couldn't afford that. Stuff OP, there were still the national team selections and I had to – just had to make them.

  When it was time for lunch, I loitered around the rec room pretending I was reading the noticeboard.

  'What is it, Miss Micki?' Jake asked, quietly closing the door behind us. He could read me. 'You were starting to look distracted by the end of that – or am I just totally boring?'

  'Both,' I joked.

  'Ha ha.' Jake grinned. 'Seriously, what is it? It's not your dad, is it?'

  'No. No, he's fine,' I replied, sticking my hands behind my back and concentrating on making my bottom lip stay upright. 'I, um, call him most nights. You know, see how he's going and stuff.'

  'So what is it, Micki? I feel like you've been quiet for a couple of days now.'

  'I need to ask you something.' I swallowed. 'About the sponsor thing?'

  'Yeah, you haven't said much about it. Is it Ace? Is she giving you a hard time?'

  'No. Not at all.' I took a deep breath. Say the easy bits first. That's what my counsellor Rosie always told me. 'Why didn't Andy Wallace offer Georgie OP sponsorship?'

  'Ahhh,' Jake murmured. 'Has Georgie said something?'

  'Not really,' I answered. 'She's not talking about it or anything and she's been pumped for me but I just don't get why the best surfer here hasn't – '

  'Sponsors want you to be more than just a good athlete, Micki. Your attitude is really important too. Georgie's surfing really well but during this second week she's become totally disconnected. Unfortunately, Andy Wallace saw that. OP can't afford to sponsor a girl who's not going to come up with the goods or who's going to be –'

  'I can't be the Ocean Pearl girl.'

  The words shot out like my mouth was a self-firing cannon. No warning. Just a loud noise then silence.

  'I – can't – be – the – Ocean – Pearl – girl.' I said it again.

  'What do you mean, Miss Mi– '

  'See, I'm not Miss Micki! That's the whole problem. I'm a girl with a – with a father that needs to be reminded to change his top and what day of the week it is and – and I live in a tiny house and sometimes there's not even enough money to – to –'

  Jake put his arms around me. But I hadn't finished. There was still more to tell him. I had to make sure I said every single little bit. So he would know – he would know that Andy Wallace had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

  But Jake wouldn't let me go. His hands gripped tighter across my back and he started to go, 'Shhh. Shhh, Micki. You are the Ocean Pearl girl. You are the perfect Ocean Pearl girl. Do you know why they named the brand Ocean Pearl?'

  'No.'

  'A pearl is an accident of the natural world. It's the thing that's made when an oyster has to protect itself from bad stuff. That's why when you crack open some oysters there's a precious and beautiful thing inside.' Jake's voice was soft. 'You are an Ocean Pearl girl, Micki. That's what Andy Wallace said to me.'

  And in a second my shoulders slumped against him and I started to cry.

  Jake and I sat on the rec room floor. I talked about my dad and he talked about his. I told Jake how bad I felt about leaving Dad but that I knew it was the best thing. Jake agreed. He explained that when there are things we can't change, we just have to figure out a way to work around them.

  The more we talked, the calmer I felt and the further my limbs sank into the carpet.

  'Micki,' Jake said, 'Andy will make sure you never have to do anything you're not comfortable with.'

  'But all those magazine stories about Ace – won't they want to –'

  'Ace looks for it. That's why you see her in so many magazines.' Jake told me. 'That's not what being the Ocean Pearl girl is about.'

  'So, what is the Ocean Pearl girl then?'

  'The Ocean Pearl girl is a girl you look up to. Not because she's pretty or has a good figure or gets in magazines – but because she shows you that no matter how tough things can get, you don't give up, you stay true to yourself and what you want to be. The OP girl shows other girls that you can be anything you want to be.'

  'So – so, they're not going to follow me around with a camera and make me public property?'

  'No!' Jake actually laughed, not that I could see the joke. 'Do you know the only thing Ocean Pearl will expect you to be?'

  I gulped. 'What?'

  'Yourself.'

  When Laura wasn't around, the other girls were keen to chat and visit our bungalow.

  Some of us had free time while the others had a team tactics session in the surf. So Kia invited Steph and Zena in to have a good perve at Ace's photo album while she wasn't around. Not that Ace would've objected.

  They were lying on the floor of the bungalow, flipping through the album, their 'ooooohs' and 'ahhhhhhs' and 'wowwwwws' bouncing off the ceiling. I was lying on my bed trying to catch up on last night's sleep. But after Steph's 'Oh my God, that is the best one ever!' squeal I decided to stop being boring and join the fan club.

  'Ace and I were talking about that bikini yesterday!' Steph gasped, just about poking her finger through the photograph. 'It's my total fave. It's named after the Ocean Pearl designer. I asked Ace if she reckons they'll name a bikini after her.'

  'What did she say?' Kia asked, pressing her foot against mine.

  'She said maybe.'

  'Did – did you know' – my stomach still couldn't handle OP and Ace at the same time – 'that Kia and Georgie make bikinis?'

  'We haven't done many lately,' Kia said. 'Hopefully we'll get back into it. I've done heaps of new designs.'

  'You should get Ace to organise you work experience at OP,' suggested Steph. 'How cool would that be?'

  'I mentioned that to Ace a fe
w months ago but she didn't think it was a goer.'

  'She didn't even ask?' Zena said. 'Slack.'

  Kia shrugged. 'It doesn't matter.'

  'If you want, I could sell your bikinis at the Mornington markets,' offered Zena. 'I've always wanted to have a stall there.'

  'Yeah, maybe,' Kia said, nodding.

  'One of my brothers makes these really cool T-shirts –'

  'Hey!' Kia said, sitting up to face Zena. 'That reminds me. What happened with your brother and Ace? You never got to tell us.'

  'Hmm,' Zena murmured, 'I kind of regretted opening my mouth about that. I was hoping no one'd remember.'

  'As if!' Steph squawked. 'Like, we're talking about Ace, not one of us. No offence.'

  'Please don't repeat it, 'cause it was ages ago. But Ace really played him. She was the biggest two-timer. My brother had a mental when he heard she was here.'

  'So he still hasn't got over her?' Steph grilled. 'Not meaning to be rude, Zena, but that's tradge 'cause Ace didn't exactly know straightaway who your brother was. She wasn't like, "Oh my God, I remember him!"'

  Would someone please shove a paper bag in Steph's mouth? You didn't have to be a genius to work out that Zena felt bad for her brother. Ace must've gobbled him up then spat him out just as quickly. I wasn't a guy and I'd never been out with Ace but I had an idea how Zena's brother probably felt.

  That was another thing swimming around in my head: Ace not being the Ocean Pearl girl and how she was going to feel when she found out. Would she hate me? Would she ever speak to me again? Would I suddenly become the girl who ruined her perfect life? Because that wasn't what I meant to do.

  ACE

  According to Laura, we were not going to be mixed into different surf teams anymore. She reckoned – not that she'd reveal her source, which probably meant she was making it up – that she knew they were going to select either her group or the Starfish Sisters for the Australian Junior Female Surfing Team.

  Kia almost jumped on top of me when I told the others. 'How would Laura know that? Hey? Where would she get that info from?'

  'She wouldn't say,' I answered, 'but she was acting like she knew.'

  'It's total crap,' Georgie said. 'Why would Jake have just wasted his time on a team tactics surf with me, Ace, Jussie and Laura if that was the case? It doesn't make sense.'

  'So why's she saying it?' Micki asked.

  'This is a contest, remember? It's a psych-out trick. Laura wants us to relax, get comfortable,' Georgie said, peeling off her sweaty T-shirt.

  Georgie was actually looking pretty good. She still had the shoulders of a bloke and her legs could hold up the Sydney Harbour Bridge but she didn't have an ounce of fat on her. Georgie had so many freckles on her face but for the first time I noticed how perfect the skin on her body was. I decided I'd tell her. That might help to swing her mood around to the Georgie I knew.

  Perhaps it'd even squeeze a bit of sympathy out of her. She'd said maybe five words about Jules and me breaking up. It did have me thinking that maybe she was a teensy bit happy he'd dumped me. Like, 'If I can't get a boyfriend then I don't want my friend to have one,' type of thing. Still, if she was happy about it then why wasn't she being nicer to me? It was a total mystery.

  Giving her a compliment might actually put a smile on her face.

  'Look at your muscles! They are bulging, Georgie! Wow, they're – '

  Georgie shot me a greasy that said, 'Drop dead or I'll do it for you.'

  Okaaaaay.

  'I really stink. I need a shower,' Georgie said, brushing past me. 'Do you think I've got time before dinner?'

  Micki checked her watch. 'Nearly ten minutes.'

  I waited till the shower was on until I said, 'What did I say? I was trying to be nice. What is up her bum?'

  'Don't worry about her,' Micki told me.

  'But I do!' I said. 'Kia, has Georgie said any more to you about cracking with the pressure here? I tried to ask her the day after the karaoke disaster but she bit my head off. So I decided I'm not going there again. If she wants to discuss ways to deal with it then she knows where I am. That's fair, don't you think?'

  'I agree with Micki,' Kia sighed. 'Stop beating yourself up over Georgie. Just leave her. We should be worrying about what Laura said. 'Cause if she's making up a story to try and get the advantage on us, then that sucks. But if she's not, and one of us has stuffed up, like in the interviews or something, then that's going to affect all of us.'

  'You're right!' I agreed, shoving my feet back into my shoes. 'I'm going to their bungalow right now. I'm going to ask Laura straight out.'

  'You'll get soaked,' Micki said. 'It's like a cyclone out there.'

  I pulled out Georgie's green coat from under her pile of sweaty gym clothes. 'I'll take this,' I said, doing a sniff check under the sleeves. 'I'll be back soon with information.'

  Sheets of rain whipped across the walkway. I patted my hair, checking the pins were in place, then pulled the hood of Georgie's coat over my head, zipped it to the neck, stuck my hands in the pockets and ran. I would find out what the hell was really going on.

  Raindrops the size of ping pong balls hit the pathway one after the other. Dodging them was like jumping over bullets. I felt like I was in a war movie, going in to battle the enemy, which in a way I was.

  The rain was so loud I didn't hear it ringing. But my fingers felt the vibration. One hand went to bang on the door of the Dolphin Bungalow while the other pulled Georgie's mobile out of her coat pocket.

  The name 'Jules' was lit up on the screen.

  'Hello?'

  'This rain's not going to stop, is it?' Jules's voice. So clear, like he was standing next to me. 'I'm being picked up at six am tomorrow. What are we going to do, Georgie? I've got to see you before I go. Agghhh,' he moaned. I'd heard that sound before. 'Georgie? Think of a way we can . . .'

  I looked down at the phone as I snapped it shut. The numbers said 00:16. Sixteen seconds to solve the mystery.

  Zena was standing at the doorway of the bungalow. 'Are you coming in?' Her voice sounded far, far away. 'Ace, are you okay?'

  But I couldn't speak because my throat was about to explode.

  My feet skidded and sloshed through the puddles as I tore my way back to the Starfish Bungalow. Who exactly was the enemy?

  I threw open the door. Micki and Kia looked up from the magazine they were reading. Georgie was crouched over on the floor furiously digging through her pile of dirty clothes.

  'I've got it!' I spat, bundling her coat into a ball and chucking it at her. It hit just as the explosion in my throat detonated. 'How could you!'

  I ran at Georgie. I beat my fists on her shoulders while shrapnel sprayed from my mouth. 'I hate you! I hate you! You were meant to be my friend.' Georgie stood there. She didn't move. 'You two-faced, lying, sneaking bitch. I'll never ever forgive you. Ever! Ever! Ever!' I grabbed her neck. I wanted Georgie to fight back. I wanted to feel something from her. Anything. 'What have you got to say for yourself? Hey?'

  'Ace! Ace?' Micki and Kia were on my back like a couple of leeches. 'Stop it! Stop!'

  I spun around to look at them. 'What? Are you her little minders? Are you? Are you? Do you know what she's been up to? Sneaking around with Jules, my boyfriend?'

  'They don't know anything about it!' Georgie shouted. 'They've got nothing to do with it.'

  Kia was crying. Micki was herding her away from us, whispering to her to 'breathe, breathe' like she was the one who had the problem.

  'Ace, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.' Georgie was trying to hold my shoulders but now I didn't want her to touch me. 'Please, please just let –'

  'Please what?' I shrieked, pushing her so hard she fell. 'Please keep being my friend? Please keep giving me fashion advice? Please let me keep saying that Courtney McFarlane is my friend!' Georgie was picking herself up off the floor. 'You've used me. You've – you've –' I saw my foot swing out to trip her but it froze as a voice thundered over mine.

  'What i
s going on?' Jake was standing by the open door. The faces of Jussie and Steph and Laura and Zena peeked out from behind him. 'Hey? What the hell is going on in here?'

  Georgie was still on the floor, breathing hard and fast. I was panting and the sweat had pasted my hair across my forehead. I stumbled towards Jake. 'Do you really want to know?' I spat. 'Really?'

  'We'll talk about it later, Ace,' Jake said, in a way that was so calm and controlled it made me want to tear my hair out and shove it down his throat. 'Now, girls, all of you get down to the dining room. We're having dinner. Then after dinner we're playing charades.'

  My tears didn't start until we played charades. Not that the game was to blame, even though Jussie picked the movie A Walk to Remember, which I only had to think of and my eyes'd start watering.

  It was a moment in charades that made me cry because suddenly I got what the karaoke thing had been about. At first it made me burst into tears because it hit me like a smack across the face. But then I kept crying because it just plain hurt.

  It was Georgie's turn to act out a movie, book, song, whatever. Of course, we were sitting about as far away from each other as possible. So it wasn't like I was looking at her. But then Jake said, 'Come on, Georgie. Up. It's your turn. We're all going to have a go.'

  That's when I saw Georgie was shaking her head, going, 'No. No. I don't want to.'

  She wouldn't budge, just like on the karaoke night when she'd been picked to get up and sing 'Friends Forever' with me.

  Jules and I were still together then.

  Quietly I sat there listening to Jake trying to coax Georgie off the couch while the tears bubbled out of my eyes. I didn't want to jump up and smack her again. I just wanted to sit there and cry.

  That was the other thing about the karaoke night. That night I wrote down my three goals. Three things I wanted to achieve by the end of the week.

  1. Be selected for the national team.

  2. Focus. Focus. Focus, coz that's the only way I'll make number 1.