Read Online Ocean Pearl by J.C. Burke - Free Book Online Page B

didn't care.
    The walking hormone disaster was coming towards
our table with a handful of serviettes. That made me
bawl even louder.
    Gently, he put them on the table.
    'Thanks.' I gulped, dabbing my eyes and nose with
one.
    He stood there, not moving except for his hands,
which were twisting his apron into a ball.
    Finally he spoke: 'I've – I've got a poster of you on
my bedroom wall. And one inside my cupboard too.'
    'Oh?'
    'You're prettier in real life.'
    'Oh?' I crossed my legs and sat straighter in the
chair. Good posture could make you look kilos lighter.

MICKI
    Two farewells in three days.
    All of us cried when we said goodbye to Ace. Especially
Ace. I didn't think she was going to let go of
Georgie.
    I had never been that good at crying. The problem
was that if I started then I mightn't be able to stop. If I
let everything bad get to me then I'd be the biggest crybaby
in the Southern Hemisphere and I didn't want to
be known for that. I wanted to be known for being the
greatest female surfer.
    In the last few days, though, my tear factory had
been working overtime. I'd broken my own record
twice. It was just a whole big mishmash of things I
couldn't get straight in my head. Once I got to camp
and hit the surf and spent time with Kia and Georgie,
then I was sure I'd start to feel better. What I really
wanted to know was whether I'd feel better enough
for Miss Micki to show her face. Yet thinking like that
made me feel bad. Wasn't there more important
stuff to hope for, like whether Dad would be okay
without me?
    For ages, Georgie'd been looking out the car
window not saying a thing. Actually, the only sound in
the back seat was me yawning.
    'I can't stop yawning,' I said to her.
    'It's 'cause you've been crying,' Georgie answered,
still staring at the endless blocks of vacant holiday apartments.
'Apparently, when you cry, your body makes this
stuff that makes you sleepy and sort of calm.'
    'Mmmm.' I closed my eyes.
    'Are you okay, Micki?' Reg asked from the driver's
seat. 'No crying when you say goodbye to me in an
hour's time.'
    'As if,' Kia scoffed. 'We'll be jumping for joy in an
hour's time.'
    'Will we?' Georgie sighed.
    'Hey, girls,' Reg said with a slap of the steering
wheel, 'you've got to remember how hard you've all
worked to get here. It's a shame, a real shame, that Ace
wasn't selected too. But you're in the big time now.
That's competitive sport. Ace'll be okay. She's got OP
sponsorship.' Reg grinned into the rear-vision mirror.
'That's if she lets Georgie share it with her.'
    'Huh?' Kia grunted, turning to face us in the back
seat. 'What's . . .?'
    The red rushing up Georgie's face almost had her
hair on fire.
    'Georgie?' I asked.
    Reg groaned. 'Have I just put my foot in it?'
    'Georgie?' Kia was almost leaning her entire body
into the back seat. 'Is that true? Oh my God, it obviously
is. Your face has turned into a tomato.'
    Georgie took a deep breath and seemed to hold it
there for a while. 'Errr,' she growled. 'Awkward.'
    'It's just us,' I said. 'You can tell.'
    'Your mum told me when we were packing up the
car,' Reg explained. 'Why the big secret?'
    'I wouldn't do anything – anything behind Ace's
back,' Georgie spoke quickly. 'I couldn't – couldn't live
with myself. That would just be – just be the worst
thing.'
    'Ace'll be right.'
    'Dad,' Kia chimed in, 'Ace is worried that OP aren't
going to extend her contract. She told us that herself.'
    'Her contract wouldn't be up for renewal for a
couple of years, would it?'
    'Try the end of this year, Dad.'
    'October actually,' Georgie said.
    I'm not sure if my tear-swollen eyes were playing
tricks on me, but I swear Georgie was sinking further
into the seat as if she was hoping it'd swallow her up.
    No wonder. This was not a good situation. Out of
the sponsorships to be offered, OP was the best –
except if it meant your best friend being dumped in
favour of you.
    Awkward! Georgie had said it.
    'So?' If Kia kept spinning around like that she was
going