Starfish Sisters (20 page)

'Wake up.'

Something about Georgie's voice made me open my
eyes and peer over the sheets.

'You should see the surf,' she said.

'Isn't it the middle of the night?' I croaked.

'It's past five-thirty. It's just really dark out there.'

I sat on the edge of the bed trying to psych myself to
move a little further.

'Micki? Kia?' Georgie called softly. 'Wake up.'

I crept across the floor to where the bungalow door
was wide open. I didn't even need to go outside to
figure what the surf was like. I could hear it like a
monster tossing and turning in its bed. It rumbled and
crashed as it pounded the sandbank. 'Whoa.'

'Come on,' Georgie beckoned to the others. 'Let's go
and check it out.'

Four girls almost screened by the seaspray and mist,
tiptoeing down to the surf, still in their pyjamas,
would've been a funny sight if anyone had walked by.
But no one did. It was so overcast and murky that the
dog walkers and runners were probably still in bed. But
then they didn't have the day ahead that we did.

'It's a gonna crunch our bones,' Georgie said in a
stupid voice.

'It's not that enormous,' Kia answered.

'That's 'cause the tide's low,' I told her. 'You wait till
it rises.'

'What time's that?' asked Micki.

'About three o'clock,' I answered.

Yesterday, I'd done my research. I'd read Taylor's
report on the surf conditions and tide. When there was
free time after lunch, Georgie and I'd watched two
training DVDs then gone for a run.

Georgie had said to me, 'Ace, there are less than two
days left, one and a half to be exact. That's only thirty-six
hours! Then you can see Jules as much as you like.
But now you've got to put him out of your boy-crazy
head and focus on Friday. Your surfing's back on track.
It's all going your way.'

Jules was out of my head. Well, not completely, that
wasn't possible. But I'd pushed him back as far as I could.

She was right too.
Focus
sat at the front of my brain.
If I tipped my head forward I could almost feel the
letters pressing against my forehead.
Focus
.

'Is it low tide now, Ace?' Kia asked.

'It hits rock bottom at eight am.'

'Whoa, check that out.' Georgie pointed to a massive
left that was breaking way out near the horizon, where
the water was deep. 'Massive.'

'We have a stretch and yoga class first,' said Micki.
You couldn't tell if it was a question or statement. She
sounded scared.

'We're going to need more than a stretch class
today,' Georgie warned.

'Stop it, Georgie!' Kia whined. 'You're freaking me
out.'

I gave Kia a hug even though Micki looked like she
was the one who needed it.

Me? I wasn't scared. I was itching to get out there
and do my stuff.

Yoga was cancelled and we were called into the dining
room.

'Good morning, girls,' Carla greeted us.

There were platters of fruit and the cereal was
already out on the serving table.

'What happened to yoga?' Megan shouted a little
too loudly for the morning.

'In a minute, Megan,' answered Carla.

Behind me, Georgie whispered, 'I reckon they're
going to start the contest now.'

My heart popped. Just a little. My nerves were still
intact.

Jake stepped forward. Yes, Georgie was right.

'Girls, the plan for the day has changed slightly,' he
said. 'We're going to have a light breakfast now,
followed by a bit of a talk, then the team contest will
start.'

Georgie nudged me. 'Told you.'

'The reason for this, as I'm sure you already know, is
because the tide is low,' explained Jake. 'There is going
to be a lot more water behind those waves once it gets
past lunch. I'm sure the beach will have to close then,'
he said. 'As it is now, the wind's onshore but it's light.'
Jake smiled. He looked okay when he was happy. 'This
is it, girls. Let's get the show on the road.'

Megan yelled, 'Yahooooooo!'

'Do you think we should ring our oldies?' Kia said, as
we watched one another's spoons go everywhere
except in mouths. 'Tell them that we're starting earlier,
'cause, like, isn't that the point of the parents coming?
To watch us?'

'I don't care,' I mumbled.

'Do you want to call your dad?' Georgie asked Kia.

Kia thought about it. For a while too.

'Tick, tock,' Georgie joked.

Kia blushed and made a fake-sounding giggle. 'No.'

'Sure?' checked Georgie.

Georgie was left with the burden of Kia, whereas
Micki and I would be hundreds of kilometres away.
I felt bad for Georgie because it was a big responsibility.
But to be honest, I was relieved it wasn't mine, and
Micki was too young to have that sort of burden.

Kia was still mid-thought that she was 'sure'.

'Yeah, absolutely,' she confirmed. 'I may even surf
better without him there.'

Last night, before we'd turned off the lights for the
very last time, we asked Kia if she thought she was
going to be okay. If she'd be able to stick to the pact we
made and not go anywhere near scissors.

'I'm really going to try,' she said to us.

And like last time, Micki added, 'Just do your best.
That's enough for us.'

I'd wanted to say, 'Actually, no Micki, that is not
enough for us. If Kia cuts through an artery this time
she won't be the only one in trouble!'

But I didn't, because I knew it wouldn't have
sounded right. Being older than Micki meant I'd had
more life experience so I understood this type of situation
better. Micki was only trying to be helpful.

'Hey, Micki?' Kia asked. 'Did you want Dad, my dad
that is, here to watch you compete? If you do I'll –'

'I'm fine,' Micki said, and smiled.

I couldn't resist giving Georgie a teeny weeny kick
under the table. Micki and Kia had come a long way.

'Scissors – paper – rock!'

Three of us did scissors but guess who didn't? Kia.

She wasn't first surfer for the team.

'Yes!' She punched the air. 'Thank you, God. I hate
going first.'

'Scissors – paper – rock!'

Micki held out her fist in a rock while Georgie's and
mine were flat for paper.

'Sorry!' we said to Micki.

'It's cool,' she replied, stretching from side to side.
'Doesn't matter if I'm in first, second, third or fourth,
I've still got to do it.'

'Can I not go last, though?' Kia begged.

'How does this order sound?' I suggested, 'Micki,
me, Kia, then Georgie.'

We were in agreement.

*

Shyan had to use the loudspeaker so we could hear
her over the pounding waves. 'Two minutes till the
siren,' she announced. 'First surfers get ready, please.'

We formed a circle with our arms linked over one
another's shoulders.

'Okay, Starfish Sisters, let's just concentrate on this
team event,' Georgie said. 'Once this is over, we're on
our own for the girl-against-girl comp.'

'Don't,' Kia moaned, 'you're making me sad.'

'Sshhh!' we sprayed.

'But this is the end of the Starfish Sisters.'

'No it's not!' Georgie barked. 'Focus!'

Sometimes Kia needed a wetsuit that zipped up
over her head!

The siren blasted and the green flag was waved. Micki
was off, running down the sand and into the water.

'Go Micki!' we yelled. 'Go Team Starfish!'

The paddling looked tough through the impact
zone. At least Micki was managing to keep underneath.
Tahlia wasn't so lucky. She was being held down and
thrown around like she was on a ride at Seaworld.

'Holy crap.' I grabbed on to Georgie's arm and Kia
grabbed on to the other. 'She looks so tiny out there.'

'She knows what she's doing,' Georgie said.

Megan and Micki made it out to the line-up first.
They sat there watching. Even in a competition, this
was a moment you had to take in. The waves were five
to six feet with the odd rogue set rolling in that must've
been near seven.

'Come on, Micki,' we shouted as one of those rogue
sets approached. We could hear it thundering. I felt the
tingles shooting up my legs. 'Go for it!'

Micki saw it too, looming from the horizon. Quickly
she spun around and started paddling. She wanted it.

As the wave jacked up, Micki got smaller as she
skidded down its face.

We were all eyes on her as she went in for a bottom
turn.

The wave barrelled, Micki pulled in, the section
opened up – but Micki didn't come out. She was still
somewhere inside.

Tighter, I twisted Georgie's arm as we waited for her
to be spat out, then bang, the wave shut down in a
chundering ball of foam.

Kia and I screamed.

'It's okay. It's okay,' Georgie kept saying.

But there was no Micki, anywhere.

Dead silence was all I heard. I didn't even hear
the sea. All I knew was the three of us, our hands
gripping onto one another's wrists, waiting for Micki
to appear.

Suddenly, half a beaten-up board sprang out of the
waves, followed by Micki. She grabbed it, swung it
under her body and began to paddle in on the white
wash.

We screamed, we shouted and hugged one another,
before realising the five-minute siren hadn't gone off
and now Micki didn't have a surfboard.

'She can take mine,' Kia screamed, grabbing her
board and running down to the shore to meet her.

Not even Jake, who wasn't meant to take sides,
could control himself. 'Go on, Micki!' he shouted,
running down the beach towards her. 'Go, girl! Get
back out there!'

There was no chat. Kia ran in knee-deep, handed over
her board and Micki started paddling back out.

Taylor waved the yellow flag. Five minutes left till
the tag.

It was almost my time.

Georgie and I met eyes.

'Okay?' she said.

'Yep.'

The paddling required every muscle I could muster.
I followed the rip and managed to stay underneath
when it mattered. The whole time I talked to myself.

'You can do this, Ace. Stay calm. It's all good. You've
done it a thousand times before. It's all good.'

Maybe from experience, I knew twenty minutes was
all I had. It was now or never. This beach'd be closed in
a couple of hours. There'd be no 'girl-to-girl' contest.
This was it all rolled into one.

'No time for regrets, Ace,' I told myself. 'You can't
get your time back now. Don't look back, look forward.
You want this and only you can get it.'

I saw it coming before it saw me. I wanted that
wave. I was going to take it and destroy it.

Go!
My head screamed.

I spun around and started paddling. The chase
was on.

I skidded down the face and went in for a series of
quick, clean turns ending with a gliding floater on the
inside section.

'Woooo!' I celebrated. That would've been an eight,
thank you.

Now I was hungry, starving for more.

The next set was approaching like a tower and its
speed and power was amazing.

I charged, drove off the bottom, hooked up under
the lip, then ducked into the barrel, spat out and pulled
in again. Aaagghh!

Kia was ready and waiting.

'Oh my God!' she screamed as I paddled in. 'You
were awesome, Ace. Awesome!'

Georgie came running down and almost threw
herself on top of me.

'You did it!' she shouted. I was half-laughing, half-crying.
My heart was still charging even though my
legs felt like jelly. 'You smashed them all off the face of
the planet!'

'Did you see me get barrelled?'

'Are you barrel-prone or what?' Georgie grabbed
my face and held it tightly. 'I think you did it, Ace. You
should've heard Jake cheering when you shot out
of it.'

Kia stuffed up trying to take off on one of the bigger
sets. But she was back on and back out there.

'Come on, Kia, choose wisely.' Georgie and I were
pacing the sand, which was what we tended to do
when Kia was out there. 'That's my girl,' Georgie
coaxed. 'Paddle! Paddle!'

Like Micki, Kia looked so small out there, but also
like Micki, Kia was strong.

Snap! Snap! She blitzed a series of quick backhand
snaps, skated across a section, then started again. Kia
was dominating.

'Go Starfish Sister!' Micki and I screamed.

Georgie had gone down to the water to stretch. I left
her to it. She was in the zone. I'd guess at this very
moment she was giving herself a big Georgie 'team' talk.

'It's getting bumpy out there,' I said to Micki. 'The
wind's picking up.'

'Georgie's got the power,' Micki answered.

The siren blew. Heat three was over.

As soon as Kia was off the board Micki hugged her.
They both fell, screaming and laughing, into the white
wash.

I'm not even sure Georgie saw them. She was on the
job. That's all that was in her sights.

'Get 'em, Georgie!' Kia shouted, while Georgie's
strong arms dug through the water.

'That was unbelievable.' Kia was pumped. Her eyes
were almost wider than her smile. 'At first I thought
Jaime was smashing me but then I got that wave. Did
you see it? Did you see it?'

'You were unreeeeal!' Micki hooted. 'Jaime had to
play catch up.'

'Your board, Micki,' Kia said, 'what are we going to
do about your board?'

Kia shot me a look and mouthed 'fashion parade'?
But it was too late to organise it now.

Anyway, Micki didn't seem too upset about her
board. All she could do was laugh.

The swell was picking up. The freak seven-foot sets
that had been rolling in every fifteen or so minutes
were becoming more frequent.

Georgie picked off a medium-size-set wave,
although you wouldn't normally call six foot medium.

Like a rubber band stretching, the wave grew as
Georgie got smaller and smaller, skating down its
leering face.