The Mermaid's Mirror (7 page)

She had to go,
thought Lena.
They don't want to be seen.

Lena broke into a run. She needed to do something physical, something that would help her body catch up to the rapid beat of her heart.

When she got to the rocks, Lena stopped and put her hands on the rough stones, feeling the solid reality of them. Already, doubts were surfacing.

It was a woman.

Of course it was.

She was out for an early-mornings wim.

With no wetsuit?
argued Lena's practical mind.
And what about that tail?

There was no tail.

It was a trick of the light on the waves.

Lena nodded. She was always seeing things out in the water—that turned out to be nothing more than a random splash or a diving sea lion.

***

By the time Lena got home, she had convinced herself that she'd seen a woman swimming, not a mermaid.

She stepped into the dark house.
Everyone must still be asleep,
she thought.

"Surprise!" yelled Cole, running in from the living room.

Lena jumped.

"We were hiding," he explained. His eyes blazed like tiny twin gaslights. He threw his arms around Lena. "Happy birthday."

Her parents followed, embracing the two of them.

"Group hug," sang Cole.

"Thanks, guys," said Lena. "You're up so early!"

"That's the only way to surprise you," said her dad. "Mom set the alarm for six, but you were already gone. So we hunkered down in the living room to wait." He yawned.

"Dad fell back asleep," said Cole. He started to sing: "Haaappy birthday to yooou..."

Her parents joined in.

They were all gazing at her with such love that Lena found herself wanting to laugh and cry both. "Thanks, guys," she said when the song was finished.

"I'll start the pancakes," said her mom. She brushed back a strand of Lena's hair. "Did you have a nice birthday walk?"

Lena's smile faltered.
If that was a woman swimming, where did she go?

"Yes," she said. "Very nice."
She just swam away. It was a woman, and she swam out of view.

"Good," said her mom, and squeezed her. "Now ... brekkie!" She turned toward the refrigerator.

"Mom," said Cole. "Can we have bacon, too?" He trailed after her.

"I can't believe you're sixteen," said Lena's dad. He blinked a couple of times and turned away. Lena knew he was blinking back tears when he did that. He went back into the living room, saying, "I've got a present for you in here."

Lena followed. Her dad patted the sofa next to him, and Lena sat down. He handed her a small box. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

She smiled. "Thanks, Dad." Opening the box, Lena found a thin silver bracelet inside. She picked it up—t here was a dolphin charm dangling from the links.

She shivered.

"Dad?" asked Lena.

"Mmm-hmm."

I saw something in the water,
she thought.

He was looking at her now, so she had to say something. Without thinking, she asked, "Do the words 'blueberry moon' mean anything to you?"

Her dad paused. "As a matter of fact, they do."

"Really? I was thinking about them when I woke up this morning."

"You were?"

"Yes. This song kept going through my head:
'By the light ... of the silvery moon,'
but then it seemed like those weren't the right words."

He tried to smile. "It was a song Lucy made up for you when you were little."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"How did the song go?"

He glanced at the kitchen door, then sang softly,

"
By the light
of the blueberry moon
we sang this song
in Lena's room.
By the light...
"

Lena joined in:

"
...of the blueberry moon
we sang this song
in Lena's room.
"

They smiled at each other.

"Why was it a blueberry moon?" asked Lena.

"I don't know. I think it was just because you loved blueberries."

"Oh." Lena looked at her father. "Did she sing to me a lot?"

He nodded, looking wistful. "All the time." A crooked smile came over his lips. "Sometimes—if I was very good—she even sang to me."

Lena glanced at him quickly. Did he know about her singing to Kai?

But her dad's gaze was unfocused, and it was clear he had wandered off into old memories.

Lena felt a strange jealousy—she couldn't remember her mother—she had only fragmented impressions of being at the beach with her.

Hazy memories of her mother were suddenly replaced by the sharp image of a silver tail.

She's real,
thought Lena.
That mermaid was real. I did not imagine her. I need to see her again.
"Dad," she said.

"Yes, sweetie."

"It's my birthday," said Lena. "Please teach me to surf. It might be good for you! If we're in the water together, maybey ou'll—"

Her father stood up, leaving a cold spot next to her. "I'm sorry, Lena," he said. "I can't."

Lena stood up, too. "Okay." She headed for the stairs.

"Where are you going? Mom's making breakfast."

"I'll be down in a minute," she said.

In her room, she sat down on her bed, reaching for her phone.

Hundreds of waves beckoned from her walls. Lena reached up and trailed her fingers over the collage of oceans.

If I want to see the mermaid again,
she thought,
I have to go to Magic's. And the only way to get in the water at Magic's is on a surfboard.

She texted a message to Kai: Plz tell ani I'm ready for lessons.

***

Lena's birthday party that night was three hours of dedicated fun with friends. As she lay in bed that night, she tried to decide what her favorite part had been.

Was it Martha—who'd had a crush on her dad since fourth grade—belting out U2's "With or Without You" on karaoke, or was it Leslie and her boyfriend competing to see who could eat the most spicy tuna rolls? (Leslie, with fifteen.)

Pem's gift of an entire set of hardbound Jane Austen novels was pretty sweet, too. "What the heck," she had said. "I can't exactly ignore the fact that my name comes from
Pride and Prejudice.
"

No ... the best part was Kai's present—a plush toy otter holding a tiny pink box. When Lena opened the box, a pair of pearl earrings glimmered against a bed of pink satin.

"Pearls for my pearl," Kai had said, then turned dark red.

Lena lay in bed, thinking of that moment. She had kissed him then, right in front of her parents. Because a guy who would do that for you ... well, that must be love. She fingered the earnings already on her lobes and vowed never to take them off.

I'm so lucky,
she thought, and closed her eyes. But as sleep began to wash over the memories of her Sweet Sixteen party, the last sharp image in her mind was of a white-shouldered woman in the sea, staring right at her.

Lena's birthday present to herself was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

The school week seemed to creep and crawl and sometimes lie down for a nap. Lena knew she was driving Pem and Kai crazy with her thrilled nervous energy, but she couldn't help it.

The sight of the city bus chugging to the curb that Friday after school almost made her weep with joy. Lena's stop was before Pem's; as the bus came to her street, she hugged her. "See you after."

"Can't wait," said Pem, and waggled a "hang loose" hand-sign at her.

Lena was so wound up she ran all the way home, backpack slapping against the middle of her back. When she got in the house, she threw it off with a grunt.

No one was home yet; her mom was working on a charity golf tournament today, but she was due home at four, and Lena wanted to be long gone by then.

She took the stairs two at a time and went to her room. She put on her swimsuit, then shorts and a T-shirt. She grabbed her sandals and bounced back downstairs, heading for the garage.

Her wetsuit was hanging on the drying rack, as always. Wetsuits were a part of life for swimmers on the northern California coast—even if you didn't surf, you still had to wear a wetsuit in the frigid water. Lena could still remember her first one, when she was nine years old—it was the traditional black and gray, but her mom had used fabric paint to draw on bright silver stars.

Good thing Mom's not afraid of the ocean,
thought Lena. She'd been the one to teach Lena how to swim, and all about safety in the water.

Lena folded the suit into her duffel bag and zipped it up. She grabbed a banana from the kitchen, thinking,
Fuel. My body is going to be working hard.
Then she filled up a water bottle, stashed it in her duffel, and stood waiting impatiently for her phone to ring.

Finally, it did—the Kai ringtone. "We're almost there," he said.

"Okay, I'll meet you outside."

Lena stepped out on the front porch and locked the door. She headed down the driveway just as Ani's red Jeep rounded the corner.

Kai jumped out and put his arms around her. "You ready?" he murmured.

She hugged him back. "Very."

He kissed her gently once. Twice. When he went for a third time, Lena pulled away. "Surf now, kiss later," she said with a smile.

Two surfboards protruded from the back of the Jeep. Kai climbed into the back seat, and Lena climbed in the front. "Hi."

"Hi," said Ani. "Ready to score some surf?"

"I'm ready."

"Good. It's a perfect day."

"You're welcome," said Kai. "I ordered it special for my girl." He reached forward and put his hand on Lena's arm.

"Sit back, Midget," said Ani. "You're interfering with my concentration."

Kai glared, but sat back.

"Do you think I'll be able to stand up the very first day?" asked Lena.

"Sure. It's called a pop-up. And yes, we'll just keep at it until you get at least one ride. Let's drive south a couple of miles. The waves look a little tall today for a beginner."

Good,
thought Lena.
Maybe we won't see anyone we know.

Ani parked on a gravel strip by the side of the highway, and the three of them clambered out. Standing next to the Jeep, they stripped down to their swimsuits and pulled on their wetsuits.

"Need some help?" asked Kai, standing close to Lena. His hand slid down her back. He gazed at her, looking like he might kiss her again, so Lena shook her head. "I've got it," she said, zipping up the wetsuit.

"Kai, grab your board and go," said Ani. "I need Lena to focus, and since you lack that ability entirely ... please leave."

"You're wrong," said Kai, moving in for one last kiss. "My ability to focus on Lena is highly developed."

Lena pushed him away, laughing. He unhooked his board from the Jeep and headed down the path to the beach.

Ani unhooked the second board and led Lena to the beach.

Kai was kneeling next to his board when they reached him, applying wax. His board was bright blue with a black skull-and-crossbones on it. Ani tossed the green soft-top board next to him and put her hands on her hips, looking at Lena.

"I've heard you're a good swimmer," she said.

"I am."

"That's good. Because a surfer whose board has gotten away from her is just a swimmer, okay? You wear a leash for the board, but leashes can break. And surfing is hard work—you can get tired real fast out there in the water. In fact, I suggest you start doing pushups to build your upper-body strength, okay?"

"Okay."

"Great. Which foot are you?"

"What?"

"Which foot are you? Regular or goofy?"

"Um..."

"Don't you skateboard?"

"No."

"Really? I always thought every surfer was a skater, too."

Lena shrugged. She didn't care about rolling on concrete ... she wanted to be in the water.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," said Ani. She walked around Lena and stood behind her. "Just relax. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you. Do you trust me?"

"Sure." Lena stood still, waiting tensely.

A long moment passed, while they stood in silence. Lena tried to relax, listening to the lull of the surf, watching the perfectly formed waves roll onto the shore, one by one. Suddenly, Ani shoved her. Lena instinctively put out her right foot to keep herself from falling.

"Aha! A goofy-foot,"s aid Ani.

"A what?"

"I wanted to see which foot you put forward to catch yourself. You put your right foot out first, so your stance on the board will be right foot forward, otherwise known as goofy-foot. Left foot is regular."

"Left foot is...?"

"Regular. Sorry if I startled you. That's just the best way I know to find your stance."

"That's okay."

"Of course, if it ends up feeling wrong while you're surfing, then by all means try the other foot. It's not a perfect system." She smiled. "Now come sit down with me for a while."

Lena sat down on the board next to Ani.

Kai had finished waxing his board and now leaped on top of it, singing the chorus from "Greased Lightning."

Lena cracked up, watching him wiggle his hips and flap his knees open and closed.

Ani rolled her eyes. After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry to say, Midget, but you're no Danny Zuko."

"I know I'm not," said Kai. "I got the part of Kenickie."

"Then why are you learning 'Greased Lightning'?"

"Because we're doing the stage version of
Grease.
Kenickie gets to sing that song, not Danny."

"Oh. Well, that's great, but now I need you to shut up, okay?"

Kai sat down on his board, winking at Lena.

"We're just going to watch the shorebreak for a while, Lena," said Ani. "Every time you get ready to surf, before you get into the water you need to sit with the waves first, to see how they're breaking. Just sit and watch them for a few minutes. Are they breaking big or small? Are they coming one on top of the other, or are they spread out? And watch for a rip. Have you ever gotten caught in a rip tide?"