by Dee J. Stone
Leah runs toward me with her surfboard in her arms. She stops a few feet away so she doesn’t get me wet. “Cass, did you see that? Man, I was on fire!”
I force out a smile. “You were amazing. You’ve gotten so good.”
“Thanks.” Her eyes scrutinize my face. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay watching me? I mean, I’m sure it hurts—”
I wave my hand. “It’s okay. I won’t lie and tell you I don’t miss surfing, but I’m just as happy watching you. I wouldn’t change what I have with Damarian for anything.”
She nods. “Yeah, what’s surfing compared to a freakin’ hot merboyfriend?” She giggles, then looks back at the ocean. “Mind if I ride some more waves?”
“Knock yourself out. And Leah,” I call as she dashes away. She turns around. “Kick some ass for me.”
She winks before running into the water.
It’s peaceful sitting here, watching the activity around me. An elderly married couple is nestled together under an umbrella, the wife’s head lying on her husband’s shoulder while his rests on top of hers. I smile at how happy they look. I hope Damarian and I will be as happy and in love as they appear to be when we reach their age.
A few feet away, twin girls are building sandcastles—it looks like they have some sort of competition going on. A few teenagers are lying on the sand, working on their tans. And of course there are the many people in the ocean, having a blast.
I miss Damarian like crazy. He’s only been gone for two days, but it feels like two years. I always tell myself that I’ll get used to his comings and goings, though I don’t think that’ll ever happen. We’re just too attached to one another. I know it’s healthy to be apart, which is why this is good for us. It makes being together so much more special.
My throat dries up when I’m hit with the memories of the night we said goodbye, to what happened to me in the ocean. How I was frozen in the water and was only able to move once that dolphin came. Whenever I think about it, goose bumps crawl all over my arms and legs. I’ve been a bit queasy these past few days because of it.
“Miss Cassie?”
I look to my left and see eight-year-old Timmy, my former student, trekking through the sand toward me, lugging his surfboard along. A guy who looks about sixteen follows him. My heart fills with warmth at the sight of Timmy. The last time I saw him—two weeks ago, before I left for the ocean—he was mourning his sister Kayla’s death. I fight back the tears of guilt pooling in my eyes. Kayla was attacked and killed by a tiger shark that belonged to one of the Emerald rebels, all because of me. Because I dared mate with Damarian and keep him from taking the throne.
As soon as Timmy reaches me, I throw my arms around him and snatch him in for the strongest hug I can muster and kiss the top of his head. “Too tight!” his muffled voice cries. “And hugging like this is ew.”
I reluctantly let go and hold him in front of me, checking him from top to bottom. “You look so good, Timmy! How are you?”
Although his face is flushed with joy at the sight of me, I see the sadness buried in his eyes. “I’m okay.” He looks at the guy. “This is my cousin. He’s going to surf with me.” Timmy raises his surfboard. “I didn’t quit.”
I ruffle his hair. “I’m so proud of you. I bet you’re a pro now.”
Giggling, he blushes. “No, I’m not that good.”
“I have full confidence that you will be one day. Just keep practicing.”
He beams. “Thanks, Miss Cassie.” His gaze drops to the towel that’s half-hanging off me and half on the sand. “Why aren’t you surfing?”
My heart drops. How do I explain to a little kid who looks up to me that I can no longer surf?
He chews on his bottom lip. “Is it because…” He lets out a heavy breath. “Because of what happened to…to Kayla?”
“Oh no, sweetie—”
“Because Kayla is in a better place now. She’s looking down at us and is happy when we surf. It really makes her happy, Miss Cassie. That’s why I’m going to be the greatest surfer in the world. Because she’d be proud of me.”
I envelop him in my arms, hugging him close and stroking the back of his head. “She’ll be very proud of you. She already is.” I lean back and look into his eyes. “And I’m extremely proud of you, Timmy. I know I just said that, but I really mean it. You’re a very strong little boy.”
He lowers his gaze and whispers, “Thanks.”
I wipe away a tear that’s sliding down my cheek. “Now go ahead and show me what you can do.”
“Okay!” He hoists his surfboard into his arms and sprints toward the ocean, followed by his cousin.
As I watch him pop onto his surfboard and fall over, Uncle Jim’s words spin around in my head. He mentioned a few times how he thinks I’m good with kids and that I should think about being a teacher. I have no idea if that’s what I want to do with my life. I don’t know anything right now, not with Damarian being away at sea and the rebels and all the human things we need to deal with. I have no room in my brain to even contemplate a career. I do need to find a job, though, as fast as possible. I can’t risk losing the house. It’s the only place Damarian can truly be safe.
Someone sits down near me. Jace. “Hey,” I say.
“Hey. You’re watching Leah surf?”
I nod, my eyes on the small figure sailing on a medium-sized wave. “Yep. You?”
“Yeah. Are you into surfing? I’ve never really tried it. Leah swears she’s going to get rid of my fear of the water.”
“Sorry you’re scared of the water.”
He shrugs. “It happened when I was a little kid. Almost drowning, I mean.”
I dig my fingers in the sand. “I almost drowned, too. I was lucky.” In more than just one way. Not only did I get to keep my life, I got to keep my savior, too.
Jace grins. “Me, too. I fell off the boat while fishing with my dad and grandpa. My dad dove in and saved me.”
It feels like I owe him my own story, but I can’t tell him a merman saved me. I won’t tell anyone, ever, other than the people who need to know. Bringing my eyes to Jace, I keep them there for a few seconds. Jace seems like a pretty nice guy, one Leah could settle down with. Will he one day know my secret, too?
Jace leans back on his elbows. “Is Damian okay? He looked pretty bad the other day.”
“Yeah, he’s great. He’s out of town for a few days.”
“My two favorite people in the world are here. Yay!”
I raise my head and find Leah standing there with her surfboard in her arms, a wide grin on her face, and salt water dripping down her body. I quickly reach for my towel and wrap it around myself.
She gets down on her knees and plants a kiss on Jace’s lips. They start nuzzling.
I get up. “I’ll see you later, Leah?”
“We’re having a Girls’ Night In, remember? I’ve got the perfect movie to watch. Seriously, you’ll love me.”
I laugh. “Okay. I’m going to try to look for a job. Catch you later.”
My words fall on deaf ears because the lovebirds are making out like there’s no tomorrow. I smile as I head for one of the shops on the beach.
***
“The number one romantic movie of the year!” Leah waves the DVD as soon as I open the door. I squeal as I grab it from her and read the back flap for the millionth time. I’ve seen this movie way too many times, but I can never get sick of it.
Mom almost crashes into us on her way out. “Have fun with your friends,” I tell her.
“Thanks.” She kisses the top of my head.
“Mom,” I groan.
“Hey, I leave for New York in a couple of days. I think I have the right to kiss you as often as I’d like.”
“Fine,” I grumble.
Before she closes the door after her, I say, “Mom, were you able to get hold of Dad? All I get is his voicemail.”
She sticks her head inside. “No, I haven’t heard from him.”
Hmm. It’s reall
y not like my dad to not return calls.
“Maybe he went on vacation,” Mom says.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
She glances at her watch. “Ooh. Gotta run, sweetie. We’ll talk later. Bye!”
As soon as the door shuts after Mom, Leah grabs my arm and pulls me into the living room. “I haven’t seen this movie in forever. Like days! All Jace and I have been watching lately are sci-fi movies. They’re so cool, but a girl needs her chick flicks now and then, don’t you think?”
“Oh, yes.”
She heads to the kitchen to microwave some popcorn while I pop in the DVD. We settle down on the couch and watch. Ten minutes in, Leah leans back and sighs. “Wow, I’ve missed romance movies. I really need to convince Jace to give them a shot. Men.” She rolls her eyes.
“How are things with Jace, Leah? He doesn’t think we’re insane, does he? With the way we ran off to the beach house when Damarian needed salt water.”
“Meh. He’s used to weird. All his friends are pretty weird. I mean, weird in a very good way. Like unique. Individuals.” Her face turns a little dark. “I don’t even know what he sees in me.” She takes a handful of popcorn and dumps it into her mouth. “I guess I wouldn’t be so surprised if he breaks up with me.”
I feel my jaw drop. I pause the movie. “Why would he break up with you? He’s crazy about you.”
She keeps her gaze on the TV screen. “I don’t know. I just feel…dumb when I’m with him. He doesn’t do anything to make me feel stupid or anything—he’s such a sweetie pie. But he’s into all these things like science and economics and stuff. Last night, we met with his friends and I felt like such an idiot. They were discussing a documentary they watched the other night. I have no idea what, but I was trying to participate. Whatever I said made me sound like such a fool. His friends looked at me like I was the most idiotic person to live. Jace was so nice and tried to include me, but I was such an embarrassment.” She munches on some more popcorn. “I’m just not like him. He’ll break up with me in time. We just won’t work out.”
I wrap my arm around her. “Don’t think like that. Jace loves you. He makes you happy. The fact that you guys have so many differences is a good thing. You can introduce each other to a whole new world. Who cares what his friends think? In time, they’ll learn to love you. Because you’re such a fun, cool, nice person. And very smart.”
She snorts and rolls her eyes. But then she squeezes me. “Thanks, Cass. I needed this. I know the differences between Jace and me could make our relationship stronger, but I felt so insecure last night. I don’t want to lose him. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. It’s freaking me out.”
“I know exactly how you feel. You guys can make it work, as long as you both want it. Things may be difficult, but that’s what makes everything worthwhile.”
She nods. “Words of wisdom from Cassie Price of the Sapphire clan. Who knew growing a tail would make you so old?”
“Old?” I grab a cushion and smash it into her.
“A cushion fight again?” She grabs another one and knocks it into me.
We go at each other until we can’t move our limbs. Huffing and puffing, Leah sits up on the couch. “When’s Damarian coming back?”
It takes me a few seconds to catch my breath. “I’m not sure.”
“How will you know?”
I point to my head. “Superpowers, remember?”
She raises her eyebrows. “Right. Your freaky-mermaid-sensy-thing. Do you feel him now?”
I close my eyes and reach him with my heart or soul or whatever. “Yeah. He seems really happy.”
“I wish I had some telepathy thing with Jace! It would definitely help me figure him out.”
I laugh. “Trust me, there’s still a lot of things I can’t figure out about Damarian. Men.” I roll my eyes.
Leah bursts into giggles. “Any luck with the job hunt?”
“Nope. So far, I haven’t found any shops on the beach who are hiring.” I rub my forehead. “I wish I could forget about this and just go to the merpeople colony with Damarian. But I need to stop living in my fantasy world. I need to get a job, and Damarian needs to figure out how to live as a human, and we need to deal with the rebel issue and then there’s telling my parents about me being a mermaid, and I’m going to start college soon and have no idea if I want to be a teacher.” I take a breath. “Too much on my plate.”
She pats my arm. “I feel you. But don’t worry, you and Damarian will figure everything out. You’ve been through so much together and will continue to go through a lot. If you’ve made it this far and are still together, I know you can get through anything.”
“I hope so.”
“What about a teaching assistant?” she asks. “That may be the perfect way to see if you’d want to be a teacher.”
I haven’t thought about that. That does seem like the smartest thing to do. If I don’t like being cooped up in a classroom full of kids, I can find something else to study. Though I have no idea what.
“Thanks, Leah. I’ll look into it.”
***
Voices. They creep up to me and enter my ears, whispering. They move further inside me, into my brain. Like maggots. I can’t understand what they’re saying, but they continue to grow louder. They’re like an army trying to take over me. My eyes snap open and I spring up in bed, clutching my chest as my heart pounds.
I’m in my room. It was only a dream.
I lie down and turn on my side, my hand hanging over the edge. It touches something cold and slimy. My eyes shoot open. A scaly hand touches me.
I shriek and jump to my feet on my bed. The floor of my room is no longer made of wood. It’s water—green, murky water. More of those scaly hands rise out of the water. They are a bluish, greenish, grayish color. “This is a dream,” I tell myself. “This has to be a dream.” I slap my cheeks. Wake up, wake up.
Two hands seize my feet and yank me. I’m thrown on my back, the air getting knocked out of me. I yell as the hands drag me off the bed and into the cold, dirty water.
I shoot up in bed, my heart rate speeding, my body drenched in sweat. I stumble to my feet on my bed and back up against the wall, my heart continuing to beat a hundred times a minute. I whimper, tears sliding down my cheeks. Light shines on me, the sun peeking out the window. It’s nine AM.
When I glance over the edge of my bed, I see that the floor is my wooden floor, not green, murky water. I hit the back of my head against the wall. “A dream.” Relief swallows me and I laugh like a lunatic.
I wipe my eyes as I start to calm down. Where did that dream come from? This has never happened to me before.
Chapter Nine
I wake up with nothing but that nightmare playing in my head. It was so…freaky, like something from a horror movie. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. I wish I had Damarian to hold me.
I miss him like crazy. His scent is absorbed into every part of my room, and his stuff lies all over the place. His khaki pants are flung over a chair, his flip-flops sit neatly next to mine, and his journal rests on the night table. I gather his shirt from the floor and bury my nose deep inside it, inhaling his ocean smell.
I push away my selfish thoughts. Damarian is with his family. The last they heard was that he rushed back to land with me. They must have been worried sick. I want him to spend as much time with them as possible.
But that dream…I shake it out of my system. It was just a dream. I need to forget about it and move on.
I make my way downstairs, my stomach rumbling so hard it’s like there’s a monster living in there. My legs bring me to the pantry, where I grab a can of sardines, open it, and tilt it toward my mouth. I sit down at the table while I munch and leaf through the paper for an assistant teacher position.
Mom walks into the kitchen, rubbing her head. She starts the coffee machine.
“Hangover?” I ask.
She moans. “It’s been a while since I went out with my friends.” Her gaze lan
ds on me. “Are you eating sardines? And for breakfast?”
I swallow. “Oh. Um, I had a craving.”
She rummages through the fridge. “Since when do you eat fish?”
“Turns out I love it,” I mutter. “Hey, Mom? What do you think of me applying for a teaching assistant job?”
She walks over and looks at the newspaper. “That’s a great idea. Any available jobs?”
I shake my head. “Maybe I’m too late.”
Mom plays with my hair. “You know my friend Vicky? She’s an assistant principal for an elementary school. Maybe I can talk to her.”
“Will you?” I’m nearly bouncing in my seat. “The more I think about it, the more I want to try it. I really think this could be the right job for me.” Maybe I can work only mornings or afternoons so I can be more available to Damarian, plus there is no overtime and I get the summers off. I don’t know what Damarian will do for a job, but I’m not thinking about that now.
Mom sits near me with her coffee mug. “I’ll speak to her later today.” She takes a few sips before putting her hand over mine. “I leave for New York tomorrow.”
I nod. I don’t know how I feel about it. Of course a part of me is sad because even though she’s been here for two weeks, we’ve only spent a few days together. But the other part of me is glad because Damarian and I need our privacy right now. Until we figure things out and I feel comfortable enough telling my mother that I’m a mermaid.
She rubs my hand. “Cass, are you okay?”
I blink. “Yeah. Just a little stressed.”
“Everything will be okay. I won’t let us lose the house. Okay?”
I nod.
“When is Damian returning?”
That’s a good question. I have no idea. I want him to spend as much time as he needs and wants in the ocean, which is why I’ve been making sure not to be too upset so that he wouldn’t sense it and rush back to land. But I feel very uneasy when we’re apart. It’s like we’re this strong badass couple when we’re together, with our crazy superpowers and everything. Alone…I don’t feel as strong.
“Cass, you seem distracted.”
I shake my head. “What?”
