Starfish Sisters Read Online Free Page B

trying to say?'
    'Tim's a lot older than you, sweetheart.'
    'It doesn't bother him that I'm younger.'
    'No, I'm sure it doesn't.'
    'What's that meant to mean?' I snapped. 'Anyway,
it's not like he's ten years older. He's six years older. So
what?'
    'I still think he's too old for you.'
    'We weren't thinking about age when we fell in love.'
    Mum did one of her famous sighs.
    'Well, we weren't.'
    'There are so many nice boys your own age,' Mum
said. 'What about Charlie, that boy we see on the circuit
sometimes?'
    'Charlie Sweeney!' Yuck. My mother had no taste.
Except when she met my dad. 'Mum, he's a little grom.
I think my taste is just a little bit more sophisticated
than that, thanks.'
    Coolina, twenty kilometres, the next sign read. I got
out my make-up bag and put a bit more foundation,
bronzer and lip gloss on. I was into the natural look.
There was nothing more tacky than girls who caked
it on.
    'Courtney?'
    'Yeah?'
    'You always said you'd tell me . . .' I knew where
Mum was going with this and as far as I was concerned
it was nowhere. 'You'd tell me if you, if you were
thinking about having sex. I personally think you're far
too young to be thinking about it. But that said, I know
it happens and the important thing is safe sex and
being really sure that it's what you want to do.'
    'Yes, Mum.' I was not going to have this conversation
with her – ever.
    'I mean, that's the most important thing: you being
comfortable and ready.'
    I fiddled with the radio.
    'Not just doing it because you think you have to. I
mean, I know what boys can be like.'
    I turned up the volume.
    'They can be very persuasive if they're trying to get
you into bed.'
    'That's enough, Mum!'
    I stared out at a red tractor that seemed marooned in
a mass of sugarcane plants. I craned my neck watching
it gradually disappear into a tiny red dot. What would
Mum know about me? Just because I was her daughter
didn't mean we shared the same ideas. She just didn't
realise that. But that's the way it was. And that's the
way it always would be.
    'So,' Mum was still rabbiting on, 'I just wanted to say
that although I don't agree with it, I am there for you if
you want to talk. Okay?'
    'Yep.'
    'Look, Australian National Sports and Surf School,'
Mum said, pointing at the new sign. 'What did it used
to say?'
    'National Sports Camp, I think.' Two years ago I'd
done a camp here. Since then the centre had been
improved. Everyone I spoke to said now it was totally
amazing, like something out of Bali. The facilities were
supposedly to die for.
    'Are you excited?' Mum asked.
    'I'm just starting to feel excited now,' I said as we
drove through the entrance. 'Wow, how good does this
place look.'
    'Courtney, I'd be very surprised if you weren't
selected for the National Training Team.'
    My mother could be so stupid. She still needed
things spelt out for her and she was forty-seven! 'Mum,
the whole reason they've got me to come to the camp is
because they want to select me for the team. I'm not
talking about the training team, either. But you have to
follow the steps. You have to be selected for the training
team in order to be selected for the national team.'
    'Hmm, your modesty,' Mum laughed, getting out of
the car. 'You certainly don't get it from me.'
    'Let's not muck around with my boards,' I told her.
'Someone else can unload them. I think we should just
go straight in.'
    Mum checked the introduction notice. 'The rec
room,' she read. 'That's where the meet and greet is.'
    'Look, ask this man.' An old bloke was pushing a
trailer of surfboards towards the beach. 'Quickly, Mum,
ask him.'
    'Excuse me?' Mum almost whispered.
    'A bit louder,' I said. 'He's probably half deaf.'
    'Hello?' Mum called. 'Excuse me?'
    He stopped and started walking towards us.
    'Hello.' He smiled.
    'Hi.' Mum waved. 'My daughter and I have just
arrived. We had to drive down from Brisbane this
morning. The traffic getting out of the city was terrible.'
    'He doesn't need your life story, Mum. Just