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my
chest, igniting my heart so that it began pounding
faster than I could keep up with. I forced myself to
swallow. It wasn't that what Dad had said was bad; it
was that I hadn't seen it coming. And that was my job
with Dad – to see things before they hit.
    'It's the right thing, darlin',' he said again. ''Tis.'
    That's why saying goodbye to Dad was tough.
    'Ace, are you going to sleep in your hat?' Kia asked.
    'I figure this is the only way I'll ever go to bed with
Kelly Slater!'
    'That means Kelly Slater's slept in my bed!'
    'You mean Kelly Slater's signature,' Georgie said
and yawned. 'Somehow I don't think that counts.'
    Ace's fingers ran across the peak of her cap.
'Georgie, I'd like you to know he has touched this hat
with his very own hands.'
    'Chuck it over,' Kia said and beckoned. 'Let us have a
sniff.'
    'You're disgusting, Kia!' I said, laughing.
    'No I'm not!' Kia's arm was stretched out, waiting
for the catch.
    'Hey!' Suddenly Ace sat up and clapped her hands.
'I can't believe I forgot this. Oh my God, this is major.'
    Now the three of us were sitting up too. 'What?
What?'
    'Guess who I saw!'
    Ace always had awesome stories about meeting
celebrities and going to these super-glamorous OP
parties where magazines and newspapers took her
photo.
    Even last week when I was waiting for Dad in the
clinic I opened up a Gold Coast newspaper and there
was a headline staring at me. 'Twenty-four hours with
the Ocean Pearl Girl'. Exept for telling us when Ace
went to the toilet, it detailed every tiny thing she did in
her day. 'I understand being the face of Ocean Pearl
makes me public property, that's just part of the job,'
it'd said. Above was a photo of Ace and her mum
cooking dinner in their kitchen. I'd wondered if Ace
usually wore that much make-up when she was at
home. Knowing Ace she probably did. She was the
ultimate OP girl.
    'So, come on,' Ace said and clapped. 'Guess who
I saw!'
    'You have to give us a clue,' Kia demanded.
    'Boy or girl?' I called.
    'Girl.'
    'What does her name begin with?' I asked.
    'M.'
    'M?' we repeated.
    'I know!' Kia shot her hand up. 'Madonna!'
    'As if!' Georgie sniggered, which made Kia pull a
face and mutter, 'Well, sorry.'
    'Okay,' Ace said, rubbing her hands together. She
was loving this but then so was I. It was the sort of
thing I'd imagined happening this weekend and I was
good at these games. 'I'll give you her initials, okay.
M – D – R.'
    'M – D – R? M – D – R?' I stared at the Layne
Beachley posters on Kia's wall. The only thing I could
think of was 'medical doctor'.
    'I know!' Georgie bashed the mattress with her fist.
'I've got it!' she shouted. 'God, Ace, I cannot believe
you only just remembered.'
    'Who? Who is it?' Kia and I begged.
    'Would it happen to be Megan de Raile?'
    'Megan de Raile it is,' answered Ace. 'Or rather, I
should say' – Ace spoke in a deep voice – 'Megan de
Raile.'
    'How could you forget that?' spat Georgie. 'She's the
enemy!'
    'How is the lovely Megan?' Kia asked.
    'Big!' Again, Ace spoke in a deep voice: 'Really – big.'
    'Like fat?' Georgie said.
    'Sorry, Georgie. I'm talking buff,' Ace explained. 'I'm
talking really, really buff. Her upper body is like a
bloke's. Honestly, it's bigger than yours. I am not
joking.'
    'Gee, thanks,' Georgie muttered.
    'She must be surfing and training her bum off,' I
said, having visions of Megan resembling the Incredible
Hulk. 'She scares me, that girl.'
    'Well, she'll totally freak you out now, Micki. I could
not stop staring at her.'
    'Did you speak to Megan?' asked Georgie. 'Come on,
you guys must've said something to each other?'
Georgie was out of bed and pacing around us. I didn't
care how buff Megan was, she just scared me full stop.
She was so up-front and in your face. But Megan was
Georgie's main competition because they were both
awesome big-wave surfers. 'I can't believe you forgot to
tell me this, Ace. When did you see her?'
    'Oh, I can't remember, Georgie. May? April?' Ace
shrugged. 'Anyway,