Ocean Pearl by J.C. Burke Read Free Book Online

disappointed! You don't know what this is
like for me!'
    'I'm not saying I do!'
    Ace slid down onto the floor. 'It's killing me that you
three are going back there tomorrow and I'm going to
be left behind.'
    'It's killing all of us, Ace.'
    'You're even going to be five minutes away from
Jules,' she said. 'Not that I want to see him. Not when I
look like this.'
    'I don't think Jules just likes you for your hair.'
    'No, but I do!' Ace pushed her cap over her face.
'That's why I only put my modelling photos in the
album I made for him. The only pictures I have of him
and me when I'm not wearing a hat is from the weekend
after camp and my eyes are so red and swollen that I
look disgusting in every single one of them.'
    'I'm sure you don't.'
    'Okay, well, the ones I do look okay in, I didn't want
to use 'cause they'll remind him of that weekend and
how I didn't get picked for the training team and how
I'm a big, big loser!'
    I collapsed onto the bed watching Ace let it rip. Part
of me wished her rage was more about her not being
with us and less about her stupid hair. But that was Ace
for you.
    'Georgie, you're the only one I can talk to like this.'
Ace came and lay next to me. How I wished that some
magic wind would pick up this bed and blow us into
the Starfish Bungalow so we could start all over again.
'I can't say this stuff to anyone else. Georgie?'
    'Yeah, I'm listening,' I told her.
    'That weekend after camp when Jules came and
stayed at my place . . .'
    'Yeah?'
    'I wanted, like, really wanted, to sleep with him.'
    'You mean . . .?'
    'Yes, Georgie, I mean have sex.'
    'Okay, and . . .?'
    'Well, he said no.'
    'He said no?'
    Ace sighed.
    'Whoa. Did – did he say why?'
    'He made some lame excuse about my mum being
there and it not being the right time 'cause I was so
upset.'
    'But, isn't that . . . nice?' I offered. 'Doesn't that mean
he cares about you?'
    Again Ace sighed. She rolled over onto her side so
that her back was facing me.
    'Ace?'
    'Do you know what I think the real reason was?'
    'What?'
    'Jules didn't want to.' I heard her breath catch in her
throat. 'He didn't want to 'cause I didn't get selected for
the Australian training team.'
    'No way!' I touched Ace's shoulder. 'That's dumb,
Ace.'
    'No, it's not.' My hand felt her muscles stiffen.
'Think about it for a second 'cause that's all it takes to
work it out. Jules is a sportsman. Winners turn him on.'
    'You're being stupid.'
    'No offence, but how would you know?'
    'Okay, so I don't actually know,' I answered. 'But I
can tell you I haven't exactly had the guys bashing
down the door since I was selected.'
    'It's pretty weird for a guy not to want to do it. With
me, I mean,' she reminded me. 'It's not like I'm some
ugly, fat pig.'
    Ace was no ugly, fat pig. But she was self-centred.
Sometimes it drove me bananas. Sometimes it made me
laugh and sometimes, like now, it split me in two.
Half of me wanted to give her a hug and the other half
wanted to kick her.
    Ace and I went downstairs for breakfast and I swear
the minute we walked into the kitchen the chatting
at the table went dead quiet.
    Micki, Kia and her parents lifted their heads and
gave an overly chirpy, 'Hiiii!'
    They'd been sprung in the midst of some big deep
and meaningful. That was a certain.
    'Yummmmeee,' I heard myself sing back with the
same impostor's tone. 'Can I smell Reg's pancakes?'
    Ace murmured behind me, 'I don't eat pancakes.'
    'Did you sleep well, girls?' Kia's mum asked us.
    'Yes thanks, Bridget,' Ace answered. 'I scored Kia's
bed.'
    'So I heard.'
    'Pancakes, pancakes,' Reg said, rubbing his hands
together and heading for the stove. 'Kia and Micki,
you're up for seconds, aren't you?'
    Seconds? The plate in front of Micki was still heaped
with pancakes.
    'Well, I'm off to bed,' Bridget announced. 'My legs
are killing me. I'm too old for this night duty. Reggie,
when are you going to win lotto?'
    'Tomorrow,' answered Reg.
    Bridget gave me a wink. 'That's what he always
says, doesn't he,