wasn't speaking to me
before the relay, there was absolutely no doubt now. In
fact, she couldn't even look at me.
We weren't trying to rub it in over lunch but Jaime,
Micki, Ace and I were so pumped about the relay and
our team score that it was all we could talk about.
Without a word, Kia stood up and took her plate to
another table.
'She's a bad sport, that girl,' Jaime whispered. 'I
haven't told anyone but I remember her from a contest
down south. She was totally spewing, I mean like
screaming and yelling at her father 'cause she didn't
make the finals. As soon as I saw her dad at the meet
and greet I remembered who she was.'
'She didn't used to be a bad sport,' I said, trying to
work out if that was actually right. But to be truthful, I
wasn't sure.
'She's probably just super-competitive,' Jaime
shrugged. 'But you're her best friend, maybe you
should have a word to her about it 'cause she'll get a
bad name.'
'Actually, that's true,' Ace told us. 'All the guys hate
Chad Parsons from the US because he is such a bad
sport. Tim reckons he saw him put his fist through a
wall when he didn't win at Pipeline last year.'
'Wow,' Micki and Jaime echoed. 'Chad Parsons!'
'Don't you just love his accent?' Ace leant across and
giggled. 'I love a guy with an accent.'
'It must be totally awesome having Tim Parker as a
boyfriend,' Jaime said, sighing. 'Getting to hear about
what goes on behind the scenes and stuff.'
I noticed Ace squirm around in her seat a bit. Maybe
it was weird people always asking questions about
your boyfriend and prying into your personal life;
opening a magazine and seeing yourself in a bikini (I'd
hate that!). Like, what about Kia having kittens every
time a text from Tim arrived? It'd get to you after a
while. I knew it would with me and I'd come to realise
that Ace wasn't that unlike me (except for the long legs,
etc., etc., etc.). She was really just a regular girl.
'I guess I don't really think about Tim like that. I
mean, maybe I did in the very beginning.' Ace blushed
a hot pink and her bottom lip quivered. 'I guess I just
fell in love with him. He was like my first proper
boyfriend.'
'You're making it sound like you've broken up,'
Jaime tisked. 'Which will never happen, because you
two are like the perfect couple.'
'No more talk about Tim,' I said to Jaime. Was I the
only one who detected the wobbly lip? 'Ace is missing
him, badly.'
That night – after a yoga class that Ace started crying in;
a beach run during which Kia told me I was a bitch
because I knocked shoulders with her; a water aerobics
session where Micki almost drowned she was laughing
so much; then dinner, where Brian came out into the
dining room and basically told us we were all useless in
the kitchen – we were called up for an evaluation of the
surf relay.
By that time, the relay felt about a million years ago
and as my mum would probably say, we were all a bit
too 'tired and emotional' to be pulled apart by the
coaches. We already knew that our team had won
because we were given our overall team score at the end.
But now we were to get our individual scores and talk
about how we felt being in a team affected our surfing.
I wasn't nervous 'cause I knew I'd surfed well –
really well, probably the best in at least six months.
Maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out.
Megan was first in the room and first with her hand
up. 'I'd like to say that I felt really, really constrained
having to use Kia's choice of take-off zone.' There was a
definite tremble in Megan's voice. 'And because of her,
my surfing was crap and I scored poorly and now
that's on the record.'
From where I was sitting I could see Kia's fingers
twisting around and around her wrists. 'Psycho
moment to my three o'clock, in about one minute flat,'
I felt like announcing.
'Kia, what do you think about Megan's comments?'
Carla asked.
'Dunno.' Kia shrugged.
'You have the right to reply,' Carla told her. 'Megan
shouldn't really blame you for her poor
before the relay, there was absolutely no doubt now. In
fact, she couldn't even look at me.
We weren't trying to rub it in over lunch but Jaime,
Micki, Ace and I were so pumped about the relay and
our team score that it was all we could talk about.
Without a word, Kia stood up and took her plate to
another table.
'She's a bad sport, that girl,' Jaime whispered. 'I
haven't told anyone but I remember her from a contest
down south. She was totally spewing, I mean like
screaming and yelling at her father 'cause she didn't
make the finals. As soon as I saw her dad at the meet
and greet I remembered who she was.'
'She didn't used to be a bad sport,' I said, trying to
work out if that was actually right. But to be truthful, I
wasn't sure.
'She's probably just super-competitive,' Jaime
shrugged. 'But you're her best friend, maybe you
should have a word to her about it 'cause she'll get a
bad name.'
'Actually, that's true,' Ace told us. 'All the guys hate
Chad Parsons from the US because he is such a bad
sport. Tim reckons he saw him put his fist through a
wall when he didn't win at Pipeline last year.'
'Wow,' Micki and Jaime echoed. 'Chad Parsons!'
'Don't you just love his accent?' Ace leant across and
giggled. 'I love a guy with an accent.'
'It must be totally awesome having Tim Parker as a
boyfriend,' Jaime said, sighing. 'Getting to hear about
what goes on behind the scenes and stuff.'
I noticed Ace squirm around in her seat a bit. Maybe
it was weird people always asking questions about
your boyfriend and prying into your personal life;
opening a magazine and seeing yourself in a bikini (I'd
hate that!). Like, what about Kia having kittens every
time a text from Tim arrived? It'd get to you after a
while. I knew it would with me and I'd come to realise
that Ace wasn't that unlike me (except for the long legs,
etc., etc., etc.). She was really just a regular girl.
'I guess I don't really think about Tim like that. I
mean, maybe I did in the very beginning.' Ace blushed
a hot pink and her bottom lip quivered. 'I guess I just
fell in love with him. He was like my first proper
boyfriend.'
'You're making it sound like you've broken up,'
Jaime tisked. 'Which will never happen, because you
two are like the perfect couple.'
'No more talk about Tim,' I said to Jaime. Was I the
only one who detected the wobbly lip? 'Ace is missing
him, badly.'
That night – after a yoga class that Ace started crying in;
a beach run during which Kia told me I was a bitch
because I knocked shoulders with her; a water aerobics
session where Micki almost drowned she was laughing
so much; then dinner, where Brian came out into the
dining room and basically told us we were all useless in
the kitchen – we were called up for an evaluation of the
surf relay.
By that time, the relay felt about a million years ago
and as my mum would probably say, we were all a bit
too 'tired and emotional' to be pulled apart by the
coaches. We already knew that our team had won
because we were given our overall team score at the end.
But now we were to get our individual scores and talk
about how we felt being in a team affected our surfing.
I wasn't nervous 'cause I knew I'd surfed well –
really well, probably the best in at least six months.
Maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out.
Megan was first in the room and first with her hand
up. 'I'd like to say that I felt really, really constrained
having to use Kia's choice of take-off zone.' There was a
definite tremble in Megan's voice. 'And because of her,
my surfing was crap and I scored poorly and now
that's on the record.'
From where I was sitting I could see Kia's fingers
twisting around and around her wrists. 'Psycho
moment to my three o'clock, in about one minute flat,'
I felt like announcing.
'Kia, what do you think about Megan's comments?'
Carla asked.
'Dunno.' Kia shrugged.
'You have the right to reply,' Carla told her. 'Megan
shouldn't really blame you for her poor
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