Beyond the Sea (4 page)

Annoyed, Peter spun to face his mother. “I wasn’t gallivanting. She offered to drive me home. We can still be friends.”

“What will the neighbors think, you coming home with a girl at this hour?”

“This hour? The sun hasn’t fully set yet! And I didn’t come home with anyone.” Annoyed, he shook his head and walked up to his room.

*

At half past one, Peter clicked ‘print’. Rubbing his eyes, he grabbed his backpack and hastily shoved the completed essay inside and collapsed into bed. The mere four and half hours of sleep flew by. After hitting the snooze button on his alarm three times, Peter lazily threw back the covers.

“Don’t forget, your father has a meeting after work today. Please go directly to the elementary school to pick up the twins,” Sue reminded, giving Peter a stern look.

“I won’t forget.” Peter grabbed his lunch and headed out the door.

Monday came and went just like any other day. He ignored the smug smiles from Janet, awkwardly turned down an invite to see a movie with a freshman girl he didn’t even know, and used picking up his siblings as an excuse to get out of drinking with Connor after school. A storm was coming in; he wanted to go out on the waves tonight.

As soon as his mother came home from the hospital where she worked as a part time CNA, he was off, his black Mustang convertible speeding toward the water. Despite the threat of wind and rain, the beach was more crowded than Peter expected. As he walked nearer to The Ridge, the number of swimmers dwindled. True, the water was studded with sharp, jagged rocks, but The Ridge seemed to come alive in the darkness and nobody, not even Peter, liked to be near it.

The clouds thickened and the sun set. It was almost pitch black by the time Peter called it quits for the night. The beach was deserted now. Peter stopped, closing his eyes and enjoying the lonely calm. A high pitched chortle startled him. It seemed to come from the water. He spun around.

Nothing. He could see nothing other than the jumping shadows of boulders and trees. The waves suddenly seemed too loud, masking any and all noise. Peter felt vulnerable. He tucked the surfboard under his arm and hightailed it to the parking lot.

In the security of the artificial light, Peter felt silly and stupid for feeling the unexpected panic. He couldn’t get the laugh out of his head. It sounded feminine, and was oddly alluring for coming from the shadows.
 
Several cars were still in the lot. All he heard was someone enjoying the sand and the water, just like he had.

*

“You’re late,” Peter’s father greeted him.

“Uh, sorry.” Peter brushed sand off his legs in the foyer. He didn’t have a set curfew, though randomly his parents decided to instill one.

“What were you doing?”

“Surfing.”

“And what about homework?”

“I’ll do it now.” Peter tried to walk past his father and failed.

“Peter, I know you’re getting close to graduating, so don’t blow it.”

“I—”

“Don’t even bother coming up with an excuse. I know you got a seventy-seven on your chemistry test last week.”

Peter shrugged. For not even cracking open his book, he thought a high C was pretty good.

“That’s a C. That’s average. My son is not average. You have to do better than that.”

“Ok,” he said shortly.

“Don’t ‘ok’ me. You
will
do better, or I’ll take the car away.”

“What?! You can’t! It’s mine; the title is in MY name!” Peter yelled, recalling long, hot days working the last two summers on a landscaping crew to save up for his car (luckily his grandparents paid the rest as an early graduation present).

“I pay the insurance on it,” his father said arrogantly.

“Dad, you can’t!” Peter repeated.

“I only will if you make me. Now go upstairs and study.”

“Fine,” Peter spat and stomped up the stairs. His stomach grumbled, but Peter decided to ignore it for now and wait until his parents were in bed to eat.

*

“My dad’s been on my ass all week,” Peter complained to Connor as he downed a beer Friday night.

“He’s a douche,” Connor agreed. He set an empty beer can down and squished it with his foot. “Think we got enough booze?” he asked, skeptically eyeing the bottles that littered the kitchen counter.

“Justin’s bringing a case,” Peter said casually, striding to the front door to peer outside. Connor’s parents went on weekend getaways almost every weekend, so, naturally, the boys threw parties at least twice a month. Peter looked away as soon as he saw Janet walking arm and arm with the guy she cheated on him with, Troy. “Bitch,” he swore.

“Let me guess, Janet.” Connor grinned, running a hand over his short, black hair.

“Did you even invite her?”

“Do I ever invite anyone? No need. Everyone wants to come!” Connor only half joked.

Within an hour, the house was packed. Music blasted, alcohol flowed, people danced. Peter was on the back porch deck with Amanda, a petite, brown haired cheerleader. They were standing close, with his hand on her waist and her hands on his abs when Justin Hoppner burst through the door.

“Skinny dipping in the ocean!” he screamed. Amanda was instantly up for it. Peter, Amanda, Connor and seven others stumbled their way to the shore. And after one chaotically drunken plan merged into another, the ten passed out on blankets, luckily laid tucked behind a jagged boulder.

Somewhere in the purple twilight of early morning, Peter woke. He was sprawled in between Amanda and her best friend, Courtney, both wearing nothing but their bras and underwear. He felt heavy and sick and desperately thirsty. Realizing no one had brought any water, he collapsed back down, clunking his head on an empty bottle of Bacardi. That’s when he heard it. The beautiful, bewitching voice that floated over the sand and water. Pushing Amanda’s arm from around him, he dizzily stood, stepping over Courtney but tripping over Connor.

Weak light twinkled over the relatively still ocean. He squinted his eyes and inspected the coast, gasping when he thought he saw a figure rise from an uneven rock and dive into the water. He waited for the person to resurface. Heart pounding, he held his breath. There is no way someone could be under water that long and still be alive. His first instinct was to save them. He rushed forward, only to trip over his own feet. Laughing as he rubbed sand from his eyes, he shook his head.
I’m still drunk,
he thought and lazily meandered back to his friends. There was no voice; it was a dream. There wasn’t a person on the rock; it was a bird or a seal or even a fish.

Even as the drunken hazy sleep crept back over him, Peter couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched.

*

The two had become inseparable in the months since Melia revealed who she was. It took Jamie a while to get used to the fact her new best friend was a supernatural creature. She took on the task of teaching Melia everything she needed to know about being a teenage girl. Texting, Facebook, and dating were all new to Melia. Jamie laughed as Melia learned, finding her awkwardness cute.

Melia seemed to fail miserably the first time she tried anything. The second time, however, she mastered it.

“We’re good at imitating,” she explained. “Once I see something, I know it.”

Jamie was happier than she’d ever been. For the first time in her life, she didn’t mind the whispers and the stares. They were jealous, she told herself. Jealous that I’m friends with the beautiful new girl. The popular crowd found it offensive that Melia rejected them. Jamie happily remembered the day Melia (loudly) turned down Janet’s request to sit by her at lunch. And, as much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself, Jamie felt better than everyone. For she knew a secret that few others knew.

Melia became a part of the Forester family. She joined Tae Bo with Jamie and her mother (and was freakishly good at it after three classes), frequently ate dinner at their house and spent at least one weekend night over with Jamie. Melia loved movies. Anything electronic captivated her. She didn’t understand the wirings or the concept of electricity. No matter how many times Jamie explained it, Melia stated, “I just don’t get it.”

Jamie felt welcome in the VanBurren home. Edward was much nicer than she expected a New York businessman to be. Maybe it was because his wife was a mermaid, Jamie suspected. She loved spending time in the huge house, having a personal chef to cook whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She liked sitting by the pool, sipping virgin daiquiris while watching the tanned, toned gardeners shovel, rake, and hoe. And she especially loved the theater room; the girls had movie night almost every Saturday. They would wake up Sunday mornings and play around on exercise equipment (in the exercise room Jamie also loved) before heading to the beach where Jamie, under Melia’s encouragement, read through spell books while Melia swam about in the ocean.

“Aren’t you afraid of sharks?” Jamie asked one Sunday afternoon.

Melia laughed. “Not at all. Sharks love merpeople. You would be surprised if you knew how many shark attacks were caused by sharks protecting us. They don’t like it when humans get too close.”

“But what about your dolphins?”

“Don’t humans have cats and dogs?” She laughed and threw a clump of seaweed at Jamie.

They spent New Year’s Eve on Time’s Square. They saw
Wicked
in Chicago, went shopping on Rodeo Drive, went to Disneyland and even the Painted Hills. But no matter what they did or what great adventure they conquered, Jamie could feel the empty hole in Melia’s heart.

She didn’t belong here. She missed home. Jamie was the best friend she’d ever had, and if she could swim all day and see Jamie at night, Melia would be a happy mergirl. But that wasn’t the case. She was forced to be around humans, forced to feel like an outsider, forced to be reminded of how much she didn’t know, of how much she didn’t fit in. She loved her mother, Jamie, Edward, and even Wolfy. Still, this world wasn’t hers, and it wasn’t enough.

*

“It is important. I don’t really know why, though.”

“And you get all fancy?”

“Yea, I think it would be fun. I wouldn’t know, I’ve never gone,” Jamie admitted.

“Why is it called ‘prom’?” Melia asked, examining a green ball gown on her computer screen.

“I have no idea. But I’m sure you’re gonna get asked.”

“Asked?”

“To prom.”

“And that’s good?” Melia looked worried.

Jamie laughed. “Yes. It means guys like you and think you’re hot.”

“But I’m weird. Janet called me Fish Girl before.”

She laughed again. “Yes. But I still think every male in our school would like to take you. Mostly because of the after party…”

“What happens after prom?”

“Sex, usually.”

“Oh. I hear that’s nice.”

Jamie burst into laughter again. “That’s another thing I wouldn’t know.”

“We should go dress shopping!” Melia exclaimed.

“We have three months; I think it’s too early.”

“Oh. Who will ask you?”

“Probably no one,” Jamie sighed.

“But you’re hot, too.”

“Thanks,” Jamie replied, giving Melia a ‘yeah, right’ stare.

Wolfy jumped off the bed and paced by the door, signaling he needed out.

“Well, it’s late. I should go.” Jamie stood and stretched. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She handed Melia the shell necklace. “See ya tomorrow.”

“Yay, school.” Melia smiled and walked Jamie to the door. She was alone yet again. Edward spent most of his time in New York, living in his penthouse in the city. Her mother was with him, as she always was. Melia was lonely here.

Wolfy bounded ahead through the sand. Melia stripped off her clothes and ran into the water. Merrows could see in the dark. And even though she was yards away from the shore, she could see an outline of a boy walking along the public beach. She plunged underwater and swam for a better look. It was Peter Anderson, the boy from her chemistry class. She moved closer and closer. He looked sad. She wanted to talk to him.

Just as she was about to transform back into human shape she remembered she had no clothes. Lana would have marched up to him naked, Melia thought, laughing at the thought. Peter snapped his attention south, looking for the source of the laughter. Melia dove back under the water and swam home.

*

Melia woke, drenched in a cold sweat at sunrise. Her dreams had put pictures to Jamie’s words. She felt bad for making Jamie try again and again, but she needed to know what happened to her sister.

Teeth…claws…she’s on sand not in the water…and something about an egg. I know it doesn’t make sense.

It was the part about the egg. It was familiar for some insanely odd reason. Melia just couldn’t place it. She turned over, kicking off the blankets, and hugged Wolfy. What could an egg have to do with Lana’s death? Melia smiled, remembering the times she and her sister collected gulls’ eggs to throw at Edward’s yacht. Was that it? Did something happen to her while she was scaling a cliff in search of gulls’ eggs? Did she discover someone—or something—hidden beneath the rocky surface?