Everblue (10 page)

Badge looked at me with pity in his eyes. “Man, you look shook. Why aren’t ya with yer pals doin’ the ri-ra?”

“Oh,” I scuffed my foot on the ground, my stomach sick, unsure what ri-ra meant. “I don’t know. They’re a little—”

“I know they be a bunch of quare hawks, but you need to be gettin’ yerself a bird.”

I began to realize, once Badge had a few drinks, his Irish slang came out indiscriminately. This time I didn’t dare ask what a quare hawk or a bird meant.

“Oye.” He shook his head and pounded his mug on the table. “Don’t be a Fecky the Ninth! A girl, lad! Or don’t ya be likin’ girls?”

Ash came to mind. Though I wouldn’t pursue a relationship with her considering my heritage, she’d been the first girl I’d ever noticed as being pretty. Back when we were kids, the three of us would sit for hours on the beach at Fannette Island, shooting the breeze. Even at fourteen, she’d talk about her passion for swimming, politics, and keeping Tahoe free from pollution. I’d hang on her every word, amazed at the depth of her understanding and confidence of what she wanted out of life.

I thought all girls would be like that until I met the other mermaids in Natatoria. They were flighty and only concerned with the latest girly trinket or palace gossip. Quite a disappointment.

“Yeah, of course I do. Geez, I’ve never heard them called
birds
before!”

“Aye,” Badge mumbled something indecipherable under his breath.

“We’re home,” I heard Sandy sing-song from the front door porthole.

I sighed, hoping Sandy would subtly explain Badger’s Irish humor to me. “We? Who ya brin’ with ya?” Badge snipped.

From behind the curtain, Sandy and the redheaded girl who distracted me yesterday stepped into the living space. I shot to my feet.

“Well, look who’s here,” Badge said, getting to his feet as well. “How’s my lil’ gingernut?”

“Uncle Badger,” she said playfully and walked forward to give him a hug.

“You be looking flah today.”

“Thank you,” the girl said gracefully, smoothing her skirt with her hands.

Badge whirled around, grabbed Sandy into an embrace, and leaned her backwards, planting a kiss on her lips. “Missed ya, love.”

I looked away and noticed the redhead girl move aside to keep from getting knocked over, cheeks flushed. Our eyes met for a second and she smiled sheepishly. Adrenaline zinged through my veins.

Sandy came up for air and righted herself. “I guess I should leave more often,” she said. “I didn’t know Fin would be keeping you company. Let me get everyone some treats.” She disappeared into the kitchen with a dripping wet bag in her hands.

Awkwardly I stood and waited for Badge to suggest something, watching the redhead girl look everywhere but at me.

“Well, sit yerselves down.” Badge led us to the couch and forced us to sit together by placing his meaty hands on our shoulders and pushing down. “Lily, this here is Fin. He be a sound lad, so you should get to know him. And Fin, you’d be right to mind yer manners with my niece.”

“Uh, hi,” I said and offered my hand.

She took it and smiled; her green eyes sparkled at me under thick black lashes. “Hello.”

My stomach did flip-flops when the soft skin of her hand brushed against mine.

“So, we were talkin’ about the courtin’ room in the palace and wondered what the kids were doin’ there. I was quizzin’ Fin on why he don’t attend.”

Lily scrunched up her face. “Oh, it’s ‘cause it’s so boring, Uncle. The girls stay on one side of the room and the boys, the other. With the chaperons floating about you can barely get close enough to talk without someone tapping you on the shoulder, making you stay six inches apart.”

In awe, I watched her lips move. The perfect pink crescents framed white straight teeth and produced a source of melodic eloquence I’d only experienced with Ash.

Badger slammed his cup down again, knocking me out of my daydream. “Janey Mack! Why do they all got their knickers in a bunch over kids talkin’? How they expectin’ folk to be attending the festival if they don’t let you at least mingle? If I were a chappy, ya all would be getting' promised tomorra’.”

“Uncle.” Lily rolled her eyes. “How anyone can think we’d just start making out because we were alone in the same room with a boy is absurd. We know the promise is a lifetime bond and, contrary to popular belief, mermaids do have self-control. Besides, have you seen the mermen? There definitely isn’t anyone there I really want to—” she looked down and blushed “—court.”

She flicked a glance at me. I swallowed hard, lost for words.

“Ya got a level head on yer shoulders like yer ma and aunt,” Badge interjected.

Lily smiled. “Thanks.” She perched her hands on her knees. “So, I don’t think I’ve even seen you at the palace. Are you visiting?”

“Uh.” My mouth became dry. “Yeah, I guess so. We—my family—spend most of our time in Tahoe, guarding the gate.”

“Oh?” Recognition flashed across her face. “That’s it. You must be Colin’s cousin. Right?”

I looked away, unsure if our relation would harm my chances of getting to know her further or not. “Yes?” I eventually croaked out. “Are you friends?”

“Yeah, actually. He’s always talking about taking over the gate and I haven’t seen him around lately, so—”

I ran my hand through my hair. “Yeah, he’s there now ‘cause my dad had to go on a mission for the King.”

“Oh, wow.” Lily’s eyes grew wide in understanding for a second. “I see.”

I looked away and Sandy came back in the room with a tray of cheese and crackers, along with fresh strawberries, grapes, and cut up wedges of apple with peanut butter. “Lily and I went into town today and picked up some fresh fruit.”

Badger grunted in approval.

“Oh, my gosh,” Lily suddenly exclaimed. “I can see now why you spend so much time on land, Fin. The town was amazing. People were everywhere. Girls and guys holding hands and kissing right in public, and Sandy made me wear a dress and shoes. Shoes! Can you believe it?” She propped her barefoot up on the table and giggled with pride. “Look. I’ve even got a blister!”

Badger laughed. “Only me niece would think a wound received on land is a badge of honor. Now this be a wound.” He pointed to a large scar on his thigh. Sandy punched him in the arm and gave him the evil eye, while sitting on the arm of his chair. “I was teasin’.” Badge rubbed his arm and tried to act hurt until Sandy wove her hands into his hair.

Lily swooned, oblivious to their incessant flirting, and continued. “And we ate homemade pizza which was amazing and chocolate ice cream. And the animals—I’ve heard about dogs, but never seen one in real life before. This little white fluffy one was so adorable. I wanted to take him home with me.”

“You’ve never been on land?” I asked, eyebrows knitted together.

“Well, we went once when I was younger, but not where people were around and definitely not to a—what did you call that, Auntie? A farm?”

“A farmers market,” Sandy corrected.

“Yes, with the farmers selling their fruits and vegetables in a park. I can’t wait to try an avocado and a tomato. But you say you live on land in Tahoe all the time? How do you get to do that?”

“Uh, we’ve got a pool in our basement.” I licked my lips, amazed at how naïve she was to the world above her. I guess if you always stayed in Natatoria, you wouldn’t know what life on land was like. “We also have a sailing business and take people on cruises around the lake.”

“You take humans on rides in your boat? No way!” Her eyes bulged from their sockets. “How did you get permission to do that?”

“Lily,” Sandy interrupted. “Remember, you have to keep our adventure a secret. We don’t want anyone to know that I go on land as often as I do.”

“Of course. But I can talk to Fin about it. Right?”

Sandy chuckled and curled up into a tighter ball on Badgers lap as he rubbed her shoulders. “Yes. Fin’s safe.”

Lily looked at me with a glimmer of wonder and touched her lips. “I wish I lived on land and my parents had a gate instead of sea bed cultivation. I can’t believe you get to be like a human every day.”

I shrugged. “It’s kinda cool, I guess. People, for the most part, are like us except they don’t promise for life and there’s crime and stuff. But, it’s not all that bad. One day I hope to guard the Tahoe gate myself. I like the vibe there.”

Lily sank back in her seat and curled her legs underneath her body. With a dreamy look, she bit her lip. “Wow. I wish I could live in a real house in a town like you and have a dog. Maybe one day.” She hit me with a look that zinged an electrical current down my torso and into my legs.

“Yeah,” I choked out, trying to sound like her suggestion didn’t affect me like it did. “I think you’d like it.”

Badger and Sandy, lost in each other’s eyes, hummed in agreement.

17

ASH

The time flew by faster than I expected, and the fact it was April 1
^st
and the day before my big meet and Senior Ball was no joke. Nightmares of being crowned Senior Ball queen in my underwear or trying to swim my race in JELL-O riddled my dreams.

I yawned at the cafeteria table, resting my chin against my palm while Georgia filled in the quiet with her random observations. Callahan, who’d become a regular at our table had a pre-game baseball meeting, putting a damper on my spirits. The way he’d blended right in as if he’d always been there and easily opened me up in our conversations left me awestruck. And again, we’d talked the night before until 1AM.

Georgia pushed the hair off her forehead with a freshly manicured fingernail. “So, I’m all set for tonight’s up-do practice. I picked up this amazing hair paste and I can’t wait to try it out.”

“Sounds good.” I sucked the last drop of milk from my carton but continued to make an obnoxious gurgling noise, remembering something Callahan said the night before—about wanting to have a son so he could teach him to snowboard.

Georgia reached over and stole the noisemaker from my hands. “Seriously, could you be any more blasé about this?”

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. “I’m not. I’m just thinking.”

The warning bell rang and she moaned. “All ready? Come on. Let’s go.”

I scuffed my feet slowly behind her, still lost in a multitude of worries and thoughts. Once the school day finally ended, I headed to my locker to deposit my books before practice. In one swift turn, I plowed right into Callahan.

“Hey,” he said, steadying me by my shoulders, holding me there. “Where’s the fire?”

“Oh, hi.” I looked up into his big brown eyes beneath the shadow of his STHS baseball hat. “Do you have a game today?”

My legs wobbled as he rubbed his warm hands further down my arms.

His eyes softened. “Yeah. Can you come?”

My lips curled up as I imagined myself in the stands, my presence his good luck charm. “Is it here?”

“It’s in Minden.”

“Oh.” I frowned. Swim practice would be at least an hour, then afterward Georgia expected me to do make-over night. Not to mention Minden was at least forty-five minutes away and I didn’t have a car. “Why couldn’t it be a home game?” I mumbled.

“You’ve got plans?” Disappointment darkened his face.

“Sort of. Sorry.”

“That’s too bad. Maybe next time.”

We stood extra close as the hall emptied out, everyone rushing off to get to his or her Friday night plans or the locker rooms. My eyes darted to his perfect lips and my heart took off in a gallop, wondering if he’d make a move.

“Callahan. We’re late. Let’s go!” someone called down the hall, breaking his concentration.

Darn it.

“I’ll call you tonight,” he said and pulled me into a hug, kissing the top of my head.

I breathed in his scent, tempted to stretch up and kiss his neck. Instead I ran my hand over his muscled chest on top of his jersey as he held me close. “Of course.”

He released me, was down the hall, and around the corner before I knew it. I leaned up against my locker to regain my composure. Maybe I could break plans with Georgia, beg mom for a ride, and catch the tail end of the game.

Tardy for practice, I ran across the pool deck and took a spot next to Georgia in the sea of body’s laying, eyes closed, on the cement wearing their street clothes. They were listening to coach run through a visualization exercise. Normally we had practice the day before a meet, but today for some reason Coach cancelled it.

 “Where were you?” Georgia whispered, jabbing me with her big toe.

“Sh-h-h.” I pushed her away and checked to make sure Coach didn’t see us talking.

I closed my eyes, already versed in the routine. We were supposed to be timing our race, but no matter how hard I tried, my thoughts reverted back to Saturday night. Twirling on the dimly lit dance floor and gazing up into the eyes of the one I adored to coax a kiss. Instead of brown eyes, blue ones, clear as a sunny day in Tahoe, looked back at me. Fin’s as he held me close.

A pang of dread hit my stomach. His family still hadn’t returned—each day making me crazy with worry. What could possibly have happened that they’d abandon their business? Another man with white hair and beard who frequented the building, told my mom Captain Jack’s was closed indefinitely. Was Tatchi and Fin never coming home?

I felt sick. And Colin, though breathtakingly gorgeous, the vibe I’d gotten from our two interactions made my internal warning bells sound off. I didn’t entirely trust myself around him to ask what happened.

Without them in my life I felt empty.

Startled at the sudden rustling of feet and backpacks scuffing across the pavement, I opened my eyes. I’d missed Coach Madsen’s dismissal.

“Good work, everyone,” she barked out. “I want each of you to eat a dinner loaded with carbs tonight and practice the visualization before you go to bed, early! I’ll see you all at eight o’clock sharp. Eat breakfast!”

Georgia stood over me with one hand clutching her gym bag and the other on her hip. “Come on, let’s go.”

I rose to my feet and grabbed my things in the process. She looped her arm within mine, pulling me toward the gym doors faster than I wanted to walk.

: : :

We arrived at her house and Georgia promptly whisked me upstairs to her room. The attached bathroom (that I totally drooled over) resembled a hair salon with oodles of products strewn across the counter. In her room, hair magazines were scattered across her bed and she plopped me down in front of them.

“Pick a style you like.”

I thumbed through a few pages, but the busyness of her room distracted me. Every inch of her walls contained a pin-up of either a hot movie star or boy band, half of which I’d never heard of. The rest of her childhood collections were stored on shelves that hung a foot below the ceiling: dusty birthday figurines, ballerinas in boxes and teddy bears galore.

I focused back on the pages and finally found a girl with hair similar to mine. Loose ringlets fell gracefully around the model’s shoulders with a few tendrils pulled up and piled on her head. “What about this one?”

Georgia turned from the mirror with a lipstick tube in hand. Her bright red lips parted into a smile. “That’s awesome. Let’s try it.”

She coaxed me into the bathroom, forcing me to sit on the porcelain throne.

“So,” she said while sucking on a lollypop, curling iron in hand. “Have you kissed him yet?”

“What?” I bit my lip as my cheeks heated up. Not only had I never been kissed, but the thought of finding some dark corner at school to make-out in made me nauseous. The last thing I wanted was Georgia to know the embarrassing truth about my lack of experience. “We haven’t really had the opportunity.”

“Seriously? Well, I’d be making the opportunity, girlfriend,” she said sexily. “And quick ’cause you don’t want to lose this fish. Besides, I hear he’s an
ah-maz-ing
kisser.”

The thought of him kissing other girls and knowing they’d bragged about it made my chest hurt. “Really? Who said that?” I asked, shifting in my seat.

“Just the talk. Hold still.”

I looked down at the magazine in my hands, desperate for something to get the conversation off of me. On the front was a picture of a familiar face, Zac Efron. She had a poster of him in her room. “He’s kinda cute.”

“Kinda?” She flapped her hand back and forth in front of her face. “He’s like the most gorgeous actor ever.”

I smiled. The bait worked. With each comment, I hummed and hawed as I felt her spray and press each piece of my hair carefully with a curling iron. But the whereabouts of Fin’s family consumed my thoughts. Sadness crept in as I hoped I worried for nothing and they’d come home—and soon.

“You hate it, don’t you?” Georgia chewed on her fingernail after handing me the mirror.

I came to my senses and looked at my reflection, shocked at what I saw. “Oh, wow.” I stood up and turned to the side, using the hand mirror to see the back. She’d perfectly replicated the hair style in the picture.

Georgia blew out a gust of air. “Whew. I was worried. You looked so sad.”

“No, sorry. I’m distracted, that’s all.”

She crinkled up her eyes and sighed. “Not the race again?”

“Well, yeah,” I lied.

She turned her finger in a circle to signal me to spin around and sit back down. “Don’t. It’s going to be fine. Stop thinking about it or you’ll psych yourself out.”

“I know.”

“Close your eyes,” she demanded, make-up brush in hand.

In rapt concentration, Georgia quietly painted a masterpiece on my face, letting out little “oohs” and “aahs” every once in a while. The sweep of the feathery brush and her warm breath eased my conflicted heart as she blew off the excess make-up. After what seemed like multitudes of brush strokes, she finally handed me the mirror. I expected to see myself completely vamped out, but the girl looking back at me was stunning.

“He’s gonna kiss you when he sees you,” Georgia cooed and danced out of the bathroom. “I’m starved. Ready for pizza?”

I turned away with a blush, inspecting the fake eyelashes. “Yeah, sure.”

With each mention of kissing, the butterflies already in my stomach started doing crazy aerial stunts. I hoped some food would make them knock it off for a while, but with the continued thoughts of Fin, they’d just start up again with a renewed vigor. Why I kept thinking about him and not Callahan stumped me. Maybe my feelings stemmed from me wanting to prove I was worthy of Fin’s attention. With one look, he’d have to finally realize I’d grown up into a beautiful young woman.

When Mom picked me up a little after nine, I expected her to rave about my make-over. Instead, I got a lecture about how girls my age were trying to grow up too quickly and make-up should enhance one’s natural beauty. Crushed, I remained silent the entire way home.

Without even saying hello, I strode past my family and went to my room, slamming the door. I threw myself on my bed and burst into tears.
Why did she have to ruin everything?
A soft knock interrupted my pity party.

“Can I come in?” Dad asked through the door.

I looked down at my pillow case. Charcoal smudges lined the fabric. “Um…” I jumped up and studied my reflection in the mirror over my dresser. Georgia’s handy work had turned into black trails down my cheeks. I did my best to wipe away the evidence.

“Yeah, Dad. Come in.”

He turned the knob and peaked around the door. “Everything okay?”

“I don’t know.” I sat on my bed and rubbed my toes into the carpet.

He joined me and put his arm over my shoulder. “More sister drama, Mom troubles, guy issues, or is it nerves about the meet tomorrow?”

I fidgeted with my newly painted nails. “Mom hurt my feelings.”

He grunted, partly in acknowledgement, partly in concern. “Does she know?”

“She should know.” I scoffed. “She insulted me in the car. Basically called me a tramp.”

“Is that what you thought I meant?” Mom asked, appearing from around the corner.

The waterworks started, leaving me humiliated. I hated to cry, but in front of my parents for something as stupid as too much make-up left me feeling wretched. “Sort of.”