Her cheeks reddened. “I didn’t see you there. Honestly.” She wiped at his shirt more frantically, as if she could prevent it from staining if she rubbed hard enough.
“Oh, now I see your plan, and it’s far more devious than I thought.” Daniel smirked. “You were looking for an excuse to grope me.”
“I was not!” Harper instantly stopped touching him and took a step back.
“Good. Because you need to buy me dinner first.”
“I was only…” She gestured to his shirt and sighed. “I am sorry.”
“I’m covered in chocolate. Why don’t you apologize while we go get some napkins?” Daniel suggested.
Harper went with him over to a concession stand, where he grabbed a stack of napkins. Taking a handful from him, she walked to a drinking fountain, and Daniel followed her.
“I am sorry,” Harper repeated. She wet her napkins under the fountain as he wiped at his shirt.
“I didn’t actually mean for you to keep apologizing. I know it was an accident.”
“I know, but…” She shook her head. “I didn’t even properly thank you for helping out my sister, and then I attacked you with your own ice cream.”
“That’s true. You are a menace and must be stopped.”
“I know you’re teasing, but I feel bad.”
“No, I’m dead serious. I should report you for your abhorrent behavior,” Daniel said with a straight face, telling her the same thing she’d told him the day before.
“Now you’re making me feel worse.” Harper looked down at her shoes and balled up the wet napkins in her hands.
“That’s my plan,” Daniel said. “I like to guilt pretty girls into going out with me.”
“Smooth.” Harper narrowed her eyes at him, unsure if he was kidding or not.
“That’s what the ladies tell me.” He grinned at her, and his hazel eyes had a gleam to them.
“I’m sure they do,” she said skeptically.
“You do owe me an ice cream, you know.”
“Oh, right, of course.” She dug in her pocket for some money. “How much was that? I can give you the cash for it.”
“No, no.” He waved his hand, stopping her when she pulled out a few crumpled-up dollar bills. “I don’t want your money. I want you to have an ice cream with me.”
“I, uh…” Harper fumbled for a reason not to.
“I see how it is.” His eyes flashed with something that might’ve been hurt, but he lowered them before she could be sure. His smile disappeared, though, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.
“No, no, it’s not that I don’t want to,” Harper said quickly, and she was surprised to find that she meant it.
Between his being gracious in the face of her verbal assaults and helping out her sister, Daniel had begun to grow on her. And that was precisely why she couldn’t take him up on his offer.
Despite his charms, he still lived on a boat, and from the scruff on his chin, it looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days. He was immature and probably lazy, and she was leaving for school in a couple of months. She didn’t need to get mixed up with a slacker on a boat just because he was kinda funny and cute in a grungy sorta way.
“My friend is waiting for me, somewhere,” Harper continued to explain and gestured vaguely out at the crowd. Marcy was probably somewhere eating cheese curds. “I was following her when I bumped into you. She doesn’t even know where I’m at. So … I should go find her.”
“I understand.” Daniel nodded, and his smile had returned. “I’ll take an IOU, then.”
“An IOU?” She raised an eyebrow. “For ice cream?”
“Or any meal of equal value.” He squinted, thinking about what that would be. “Maybe a smoothie. Or a large coffee. But not like a full meal with fries and a salad.” He snapped his fingers as he thought of something. “Soup! A cup of soup would work, too.”
“So I owe you one food offering that’s equal to ice cream?” Harper asked.
“Yes. And the repayment can happen at your earliest convenience,” Daniel said. “Tomorrow or the next day or even next week. Whenever works for you.”
“Okay. That sounds like a … deal.”
“Good,” he said as she started walking away from him. “I’ll hold you to it. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I do,” Harper said, and part of her actually hoped he would.
She weaved her way through the picnic, and it didn’t take her long to find Marcy. She was sitting at a picnic table with Gemma and Alex, which would’ve been nice if Alex’s friend Luke Benfield hadn’t joined them.
Harper actually slowed down when she saw Luke. And not just because things were weird between them. Whenever Luke and Alex got together, they tended to go into computer-geek mode, talking only in tech terms that Harper didn’t understand.
“So when are you gonna make an honest woman out of Gemma here and win her a prize?” Marcy was asking Alex when Harper reached the table.
“Um…” Alex’s cheeks darkened a little at the question, and he rubbed his hands together nervously.
“I told him not to win me a prize,” Gemma cut in, rescuing him from embarrassment. “I’m a modern girl. I can win my own prizes.”
“You probably stand a better chance since you’re the athlete,” Marcy said, popping a cheese curd in her mouth. “Alex looks like he throws like a girl.”
Luke chuckled at that, as if he stood any chance of throwing better than Alex. He twisted the huge Green Lantern ring he wore on his finger and laughed so hard he snorted a little.
“Like you can talk, Marcy,” Harper said and sat down on the bench next to her, across from Luke. “I saw the way you tossed a beanbag. Alex could probably kick your butt.”
Gemma gave her a grateful smile for coming to Alex’s aid. Harper noticed that she’d put her hand on his leg, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
“Where were you, by the way?” Marcy looked over at Harper, unfazed by her comments. “You just disappeared.”
“I ran into someone I know.” Harper evaded the question and turned her attention to Gemma and Alex. “How is the picnic treating you guys?”
“Good,” Luke said. “Except I should’ve worn more sunscreen.” His pale skin seemed to reflect the light, and the red curls on his head were frizzing out. “I’m not used to this much sun.”
“Do you live in a dungeon, Luke?” Marcy asked. “I’m only asking since you’re skinny and pale, and it looks like your parents might keep you chained in a basement.”
“No.” Luke scowled, then pointed to the Canadian flag on her shirt. “I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice.”
“I’m not Canadian,” Marcy corrected him. “I’m just wearing this shirt to express my anti-patriotism.”
“You really are a charming girl, you know that, Marcy?” Alex said.
Marcy shrugged. “I do what I can.”
Since the park was filled with pretty much everybody in town, it had been buzzing with the sounds of talking and music. But somewhat abruptly, the area around the picnic tables seemed to grow quiet, as if everyone were speaking in hushed tones and whispers.
Harper looked around to see what had happened and instantly saw the reason for the silence. The crowd had parted, making way for Penn, Lexi, and Thea, who were heading straight for Harper and Gemma.
Penn wore a dress so low-cut her chest was all but popping out. When she stopped at the end of the picnic table, she put her hands on her hips and smiled down at them.
“How are you guys doing?” she asked, surveying the table.
“Great,” Luke said eagerly, oblivious to the tension that hung over them. “I’m, uh, I’m having a great time. You guys look great. I mean, you look like you’re having a great time.”
“Why, thank you.” Penn looked at him, licking her lips hungrily as she smiled.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” Lexi added.
She reached over and tugged one of his curls, pulling it like a spring so it w
ould bounce back. Luke looked down and giggled in way that was reminiscent of a schoolgirl.
“Is there something you want?” Gemma asked.
Harper noticed that when Penn’s dark eyes latched onto Gemma’s, her sister lifted her chin higher, as if defying her in her some way. Then Harper saw something that made her blood run cold—Penn’s eyes changed, shifting from near-black to an odd golden color, reminding Harper of a bird.
Her weird bird eyes stayed locked on Gemma, but Gemma’s expression didn’t change, as if she didn’t notice the startling shift in Penn’s eyes.
As suddenly as they changed, Penn’s eyes went back to their normal soulless color. Harper blinked and glanced around, but nobody else seemed to notice the change. They all just stared at Penn as if mesmerized, and Harper wondered if it’d just been her imagination.
“Nope.” Penn raised one of her shoulders, managing a seductive shrug. “I just wanted to stop and say hi. We don’t know many people here in town yet, and we’re always looking to make new friends.”
Thea didn’t look like she wanted to make new friends, though. She stood off to the side, a bit back from Penn and Lexi. She twirled her long red hair around her finger, and wouldn’t look at anyone at the table.
“You already have friends,” Harper said to Penn and nodded to Lexi and Thea.
“You can always have more, though, right?” Penn asked, and Lexi winked at Luke, making him giggle again. “And we could definitely use a friend like Gemma.”
Harper was about to ask Penn exactly what she meant by that, wondering what on earth they could possibly want with her little sister, but Marcy cut her off.
“Wait,” Marcy said through a mouthful of cheese curds. “Didn’t there used to be a fourth one?” She gulped down her food and stared up at them. “What did you guys do with her? Did you eat her? And then throw her up afterward, because obviously, you guys are bulimic.”
Penn shot her a glare so fierce it actually made Marcy cringe. She lowered her eyes and pulled her cheese curds closer to her, as if she thought that Penn might steal them from her.
“So have you guys been on the rides yet?” Harper asked, in an attempt to keep Penn from slaughtering Marcy. After that look, Harper thought it would be better if she kept the conversation banal instead of confronting Penn about her interest in Gemma.
Penn’s icy expression instantly melted, and her saccharine smile returned. Harper noticed that Penn’s teeth were unusually sharp. In fact, if Harper didn’t know better, she’d say that her incisors had actually grown and gotten more pointed than they had been a few seconds ago.
“No, we just got here,” Penn explained in her silky baby-talk. “We haven’t had a chance to check anything out yet.”
As she spoke, some of the unease Harper had been feeling when she noticed her smile vanished. Marcy even seemed to relax a bit and braved looking up at Penn again.
“I’d really love to win a teddy bear,” Lexi said, her voice going singsong as she spoke.
Both Alex and Luke looked at her, and Luke’s mouth fell open, like he was in awe.
Harper had her arms on the table in front of her, and she leaned forward. She couldn’t explain it, but she found herself hanging on her every word, as if Lexi were the most fascinating person she’d ever heard. Even the people around them seemed to move in closer, crowding around to get closer to Lexi.
“What do you think?” Lexi tilted her head and looked down at Luke. “Could you win me a teddy bear?”
“Yeah!” Luke shouted in excitement and got to his feet so quickly he nearly fell over the bench. “I mean, yes. I’d love to win you a bear.”
“Yay!” Lexi smiled and looped her arm through his.
People parted for them again as Lexi and Luke walked through the crowd toward the midway. Thea followed them, but Penn stayed behind, smiling down at the table. Alex stared after Lexi, watching until she disappeared in the crowd, and Gemma would’ve noticed, if she hadn’t been busy doing the same thing.
“Well, I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of the afternoon,” Penn said. It sounded as if Penn were speaking to everyone at the table, but she was only looking at Gemma. “I’ll see you around.”
“Have a fun time,” Alex mumbled, his words coming out a little dazed. Penn laughed, then turned and walked away.
“That was weird,” Harper said once Penn had left.
She shook her head, clearing away this fog she didn’t understand. It almost felt as if she’d been dreaming, like Penn had never even really been there.
“I do think they killed her.” Marcy narrowed her eyes and nodded to herself. “There’s just something about those girls I don’t trust.”
EIGHT
The Cove
As soon as the sun went down, Gemma hopped on her bike and rode out to the bay. She’d hadn’t been able to train at the pool with Coach Levi since Friday, and that made her especially anxious to get in the water. For the past couple of days she’d avoided going out late, as Harper wanted, so Gemma felt like she’d earned a night swim.
Even though she’d had a wonderful day at the picnic with Alex, she couldn’t wait to swim. Actually, the day was better than wonderful. It was … magical, in its own way.
They’d spent some of the afternoon hanging out with Harper and Marcy, and that had gone well—surprisingly, since Gemma wasn’t sure how Harper would react to her seeing Alex. Apparently Harper was mostly okay with it.
Eventually Alex and Gemma had gone off on their own again, and that was better. He did little things that made her heart flutter. He fumbled over his words when he tried to impress her, and he smiled at her in a way she’d never seen him smile before.
She thought she’d known him long enough to recognize all his smiles, but not this one. This one was small, almost like a smirk, but it went to his eyes.
When Alex dropped her off at home at eight, he walked her to the door. She knew Harper and her dad were inside, and he knew it, too, so she thought he wouldn’t kiss her. But he did. Not too long or too deeply, but there was something nice about that. The way he kissed her was almost respectful and careful.
Gemma had kissed only two boys before Alex, and one had been in the first grade during a game of Truth or Dare. Her only real kiss had been with her boyfriend of three weeks, and he’d kissed her with such ferocity she thought she’d have bruises on her face.
Alex’s kisses were the opposite of that. They were sweet and perfect and made her heart tingle whenever she thought of them.
She didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed before how amazing Alex was. If she’d only realized it sooner, there were months and months that they could’ve been together, time she could’ve spent stealing his wonderful kisses.
At the bay, she rode her bike down to the dock, the same way she always did, since it was the best place to park. When she passed Daniel’s boat, The Dirty Gull, she heard Led Zeppelin playing loudly.
If it’d been quiet, she might’ve stopped by to thank him again for helping her out yesterday, but she didn’t want to disturb him.
It had made her feel bad when Harper yelled at Daniel, and Gemma still didn’t understand what her sister had against him. Sure, Daniel seemed like a slacker. Just because he didn’t have his life together didn’t mean he wasn’t a really nice guy.
Whenever Gemma went down to bring her dad lunch, Daniel always said hi to her, and he’d once helped her put her chain back on when it slipped off her bike.
At the end of the dock, Gemma secured her bike and stripped down to her bathing suit. She jumped in the water and swam out in the bay.
More people were hanging out on the beach and in their boats than normal for this time of night, leftovers from the earlier celebration. She’d have to swim out farther, closer to the cove by the mouth of the ocean, to get away from them.
In a way, that was better. She needed to do a long-distance swim to make up for her days without serious training.
Once she was far enough out that she co
uldn’t hear the people on the beach anymore, she rolled onto her back and floated on the water, letting the gentle waves rock her. Gemma stared up at the night sky, marveling at the beauty of it. She completely understood why Alex loved the stars so much.
Harper didn’t like swimming as much as Gemma did, but Gemma doubted that anyone liked it as much as she did. The times Harper had gone swimming with her, she had gotten scared when Gemma would float like this. Harper was convinced that the tide would take her out and Gemma would be lost at sea forever.
Gemma had never really believed that would happen, but even if it did, the idea had never frightened her. In reality, being swept off in the ocean had actually been more of a dream of hers than a fear.
“Gemma.” Her name floated through the air, like a song.
At first she thought she was hearing things, maybe the sound of somebody’s stereo on the beach mixing with the crashing of the waves. But then she heard it again, only louder this time.
“Gemma.” Someone was singing her name.
Treading water, she looked around for the source of the voice, but it was pretty easy to spot. Gemma had been letting the current take her, and she hadn’t realized how close she’d gotten to the cove. It was only about twenty feet from her, and it glowed from a fire burning in its center.
Even though she hadn’t been paying much attention when she was swimming out here, she was sure the fire hadn’t been lit a few moments ago. And Penn, Lexi, and Thea definitely hadn’t been out there.
Gemma had seen enough of them lately, and if she’d had any inkling that they’d be here, she never would’ve come out this far and risked running into them.
Thea was crouched right next to the fire, her shadow looming behind her. Penn twirled around, dancing in a slow, graceful circle to music that only she could hear. And Lexi stood right at the edge of the shore, so close that the water was splashing up on her feet.
Lexi was the one calling her name, but she wasn’t just saying it. She sang it in a way that Gemma had never heard anyone sing before. It was beauty and magic. It sounded like how Alex’s kisses felt, only better.
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