Page 113 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘Thank you to my parents Brian and Josie who couldn’t be here tonight, and much love to my assistant manager, Nula, my ‘work mum’ who is looking radiant at our table this evening. But above all, I want to thank my aunt, Jean Small, for creating a wonderful retail environment, where people are more like family than customers. And of course, thank you to everyone in Merle Bay for taking me to their hearts and for their continued support after my beloved Aunt Jean passed away.

‘There’s a saying that a good bra is like a good friend: it will lift you up, support you and always stay close to your heart. At Auntie Small’s we hope you’ll find—’ Katie halted, aware of a commotion at Barney’s table. ‘Both,’ she finished, uncertainly.

Below her Barney’s voice was raised. People were showing each other their phone screens and muttering to each other. Applause rippled around the room but gradually, whatever was happening at the Gazette’s table seemed to be spreading across the rest of the audience. With a sixth sense of impending doom, Katie’s legs started to quake.

Barney appeared below her, leaning on the edge of the dias. ‘Katie, you need to leave the stage.’

She stepped forward and bent down towards him. ‘What’s happening?’

He rubbed his neck. ‘Someone’s posted a picture of you. On Twitter.’

‘Oh no.’ She felt sick. ‘Is it, am I … naked?’

He nodded grimly. ‘The caption says patron saint of perky boobs reveals all.’

The room had erupted now, and everyone was on their phones. To the side of her, Paul Sullivan was doing his best to take back control, but no one was listening.

‘It’s not what it looks like,’ she said, her voice shaky with shock.

Barney turned away from her to seek out Amber. Ned was looking after her and had his arm around her shoulders.

Katie was torn between diving off the stage and locking herself in the toilet and trying to explain the whole story to Barney.

‘Katie!’ Robyn and Grace joined Barney below her and elbowed him to one side.

‘What am I going to do?’ Katie cried. ‘Everyone knows, everyone is looking at their phones. She’s posted the picture on Twitter. She must have had digital copies.’

Robyn grabbed her hand. ‘Breathe. Breathe with me.’ She blew out noisy breaths and Katie joined in.

‘Listen,’ Grace said urgently. ‘This is your time to come out of the shadows, Katie. Remember what you said the other day? The photos only have power over you if you let them.’

She nodded, still dazed.

‘You have no reason to be ashamed,’ Robyn insisted. ‘You were a child. But now you’re a strong independent woman, yes?’

‘Yes,’ said Katie, gathering strength from them. ‘Yes, I bloody am. Thanks, girls. Pass me some water please, I’m going back up there.’

Robyn grabbed a glass of water off their table and once Katie had had a drink she marched back to the podium where Paul Sullivan was still trying to speak to a nonresponsive audience.

‘May I?’ she said.

‘Sure, maybe they’ll listen to you.’ He stood aside looking relieved and waved his arm in a be-my-guest sort of way.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Katie announced. ‘Patron Saint of Perky Boobs speaking again.’

The effect of her words was instant, and a velvety silence fell across the room.

‘Thank you. I want to tell you a story about a hard-working teenager, daughter of working-class people. The first in her family ever to apply to university. A girl who worried so much about the financial burden on her parents of going to university that she innocently took up the opportunity to do some modelling. It was a scam. A scam which resulted in naked photographs being circulated around her school. A scam which cost her all her savings, her place at university and her future career as a lawyer.’

She paused. Everyone in the room was staring at her. Terrifying. But for once she didn’t want to hide away, she wanted to speak up. Not just for herself but for every woman who’d ever been made to feel ashamed of her body.

‘That girl is me. For years I’ve hidden myself away both physically and emotionally. I have been ashamed. Of my body, of what I deemed to be a failure to reach my goals. I have done everything in my power to forget about those photographs, put the past behind me and move on. But the scars will always be there.’ She took a shaky breath.

‘Recently I’ve made some new friends. We meet on the beach and we collect sea glass and without planning to, we have become each other’s confidantes and cheerleaders. Through these two I’ve learned to love myself again. I’ve learned that I have nothing to be ashamed of. Every body is beautiful. Every body. Mine and yours. Your body tells the story of your life. We love, we grow, we get ill, we lose loved ones, and our bodies are there recording every bump along the road. No one loves their body one hundred per cent; we can all find flaws if we look hard enough. So how about we look with different eyes: with unconditional love for ourselves? Nobody gets to old age unscathed. Your body is your own personal journal of your life. Wonderful, unpredictable, awe-inspiring life. So, own it, be proud of it, celebrate it. Because every body matters. Thank you.’

She walked from the podium towards the steps, emotion surging through her, her eyes awash with tears. She was vaguely aware of the applause, of the entire room giving her a standing ovation.

At the base of the steps, they were all there: Amber bouncing on the spot, Robyn and Grace in floods of tears, Nula covering her face with kisses telling her how proud she was, how proud Jean would have been. Katie could hardly breathe for joy and relief and the sheer elation at having faced her demons and made short work of them.