Water and Blood

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “I think I have her convinced to date me,” Sam told him. Mark wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Man, you owe me big time. You get a girl that’s hot and available anytime you want.” Mark was only really a little jealous no matter how it sounded. He had tried several times to get Whitney to date him and she always turned him down. She was fair game for any siren until she said yes to one.

  Whitney came back out; the shirt was a little big, but she had it tied in a knot, showing off a little bit of her tanned hip. Sam walked over and plopped his arm around Whitney. She stared up at him and didn’t have her normally witty comeback since he had surprised her.

  “I was just telling Mark that you were about to say yes to dating me like I asked earlier, and he completely approves,” Sam told her, hoping she would get the drift of his statement and play along.

  “Mmm.” Whitney glanced at Mark and then slid her arm around Sam’s waist. “I didn’t know we needed his approval.”

  Mark laughed. “Whitney, you have the even number tables on the left side of the buffet tonight.”

  Whitney gave a mock salute before hurrying out the door and back into the restaurant.

  “You so owe me,” Mark commented as he passed Sam, following her out. “I’ve never had a blood bag that hot.”

  Finally alone, Sam let out his breath. He would have to explain it all to Whitney when they finally got the chance to be alone. It was the perfect cover. Sirens often took day human girlfriends when they didn’t want to find more people to feed on—easy food. No one would blink an eye at it. He hoped. There was the fact that he had never had a day human girlfriend, but there was a first time for everything. At least it was the best plan he could come up with. He would have unlimited alone time with Whitney, and no one, well no siren, would find it odd. And there was the part where he would get to pretend she was his girlfriend, even if she wasn’t. It was a win-win in his eyes.

  Whitney didn’t have time to sit around and listen to the guys talk more, but as she started her shift and took her first tables, she did hear Mark describe her as a blood bag. From what she could tell it wasn’t strange that Sam was dating her, but she couldn’t wait to get him alone and ask him what the heck that all meant. It wasn’t like he asked her to date him. He just said it without her opinion, and she had to play along for now. Sam gave her an exaggerated wave good-bye as he left her at work. Did he actually want to date her? She hadn’t got that feeling from him any time they had ever talked, so he must have just been a really good actor.

  She spent the evening focusing on not dropping any plates of food on the floor, and by the time she got home she was exhausted enough to just fall in bed and sleep all night. Before she knew it, she was back in school again, and she found herself sitting in class wondering where her weekend went. Okay, she knew where it went because she had spent most of the time with Sam learning about being a siren or in her bathtub trying to get her legs back. That made for a quick weekend.

  Making it through her Monday morning classes was torture. She really wanted to ask Sam what the heck was going on since she didn’t have the time to call him the night before, and there were no messages in the morning. And there was the fact as she walked the halls at school that it seemed Mark was so nicely sharing with everyone that they were dating. She still had no idea why Sam had told his friend that.

  “You know that even though you still owe him meals, it doesn’t mean you have to date him,” Tina said as Whitney joined her at lunch. Tina tossed her dark braid over her shoulder as she looked at Whitney, seeming genuinely concerned.

  “That isn’t it,” Whitney replied.

  “Ah huh,” Trudy added as she sat on the other side of Whitney. “Haven’t you seen how she looks at him? It was only time before he noticed also.”

  “Looks at him?” Whitney asked. She had been trying her best all year not to look at him.

  She was more than happy Sam wasn’t at lunch, so she didn’t have to figure out if she was supposed to do or even what it meant to be dating him. As his pretend girlfriend, was she supposed to sit at his lunch table or hold his hand in the hallway? She really had no clue. She kind of got the feeling from everyone around her she either had to fake break up or go along with it. Not a single person questioned Sam dating her.

  “You’ve been staring at him with puppy dog eyes for over a year now. Don’t worry. I heard a rumor that Mark was assigned as your swim instructor, and Sam told him he wanted to teach you instead,” Tina added, opening her bag lunch. “I think he’s been crushing on you just as much as you on him.”

  Whitney kept her eyes glued to her lunch. She really didn’t know what to say to that. Yeah, she thought Sam was cute, and maybe she had a little crush on him, but it wasn’t what everyone thought. They weren’t really dating. She was pretty sure that took two people to agree to and not just one making up their mind. And she was also pretty sure that Sam didn’t like her. But what she didn’t know was what his game was. Why was he telling people they were dating? She refused to let her heart beat a little faster at her friend’s comment. Sam wasn’t interested. Whitney was almost completely sure about that.

  As lunch finished up, she realized she wasn’t going to get an answer to her questions. Sam was a no-show, and all she saw when she looked over at the table was a very angry siren girl glaring at her. It seemed like there was one person who didn’t like the news.

  Whitney hurried off to class after lunch and was happy she had math. She couldn’t daydream in math class if she wanted to pass. It wasn’t that she found it hard, it was only if she didn’t pay attention as the teacher taught that she struggled. It was a good distraction from her weird day.

  The longest part of the day came when she had to spend three hours waiting to meet up with Sam. She was bursting with new questions and ready to give him a piece of her mind for deciding something like telling everyone they were dating without her. The eye wiggling and knowing looks Mark had given Sam the night before were mild compared to her day today. While it started out with whispers and people just talking, without Sam around all day, it turned into more than a few guys that would watch her as she passed. She had heard of feeling like a piece of meat, but she had the sense all the guys watching her were sirens. They were definitely thinking of her not as meat, but a source of blood. It got bad enough that by the time school ended, she was ready to find a place alone to sit and wait out the three hours.

  Without heading home, Whitney made it to her favorite beach spot. It was quiet since the waves weren’t rolling in enough to attract surfers, and the cloudy day meant that there were almost no beachgoers. In fact, if you asked her, it was perfect. She had the beach to herself.

  Whitney sat in the sand, far enough away to not get sprayed by any water as she watched the slow waves rock back and forth onto land. It was sad to think she couldn’t just wade ankle-deep through the water now with her new “condition”, as she wanted to call it. Sam made it sound like all you had to do was think feet, but when she tried in the shower in the morning, she got nowhere. She still had a fin. She wasn’t sure how long it might be, or even if she would ever be able to walk in water again.

  The sun peeked out a bit through some clouds before hiding again, and she enjoyed the brief warmth on her skin. It was strange to be a night human and enjoy the sun. Most of the night humans hid from it, but the mer didn’t seem to be one of those kinds. There was much more she needed to learn. As she sat and watched the soft flowing froth from the waves, she began making a mental list of more questions. Would she ever have enough time to learn it all? Would Sam stick around long enough for her to ask everything she was thinking? Life would have been much easier if she was still home with her family. It would have been easier also if she had been born a siren. But she wasn’t going to get either of those two options. Nope, her life had to be complicated.

  Rising, Whitney dusted herself off. She would make it back before she was to meet him, but better early than late. At least she was trying f
or that to be her new motto. It hadn’t caught on yet with her brain. She took one last look at the ocean before walking away. It was physically hard to leave it. She had loved sitting on the beach since she first arrived in Florida, but now it felt like an almost impossible pull that wanted her to stay right there and hop in the water. One more thing to talk to Sam about. She was piling more and more questions onto her plate as every moment passed. Hopefully, she would get more time to ask questions.

  Using all her strength to walk away, Whitney began her twenty-minute walk back to school. She was able to get lost again in her thoughts as she walked the well-worn pathway off the beach and to the sidewalks. But it was harder to think thoughts as she walked away and the song of the ocean called to her. Luckily Whitney was a stubborn person, and she wasn’t going to let the ocean win. She continued to walk and focus on her path to the school, not the place she was leaving.

  Whitney walked around to the back of the school and the outdoor pool. The first gate was locked, and she expected that, but since she had been taking lessons the second gate hadn’t been, and she continued over to it. Sure enough, Sam had the gate propped open with a shoe, like always.

  She made her way around the bleachers; yes, her school pool had bleachers. She thought it was crazy at first, but then she found out that they had a competitive swim team, and the pool was gifted by an anonymous donor. She had a feeling, judging by who used it the most, the donor had to be a siren, but that was just one more questions to ask. Thankfully, it was almost time for answers.

  Whitney walked down the hill and lost sight of the pool. Sam was still teaching his lesson, and she didn’t want to interrupt him. As she rounded the path that led back up to the opposite side of the pool from the school, she heard soft singing coming from it. IT was soft, but she heard it. She kept off the path and hid behind the open gate, keeping herself from full view of the pool, but she saw through the cracks of the peeling paint that Sam was in the water. Mesmerized, she watched him dip his head to the water and into what was more than likely a student. She turned away as she finally found herself staring at what seemed like a very private moment, and she couldn’t see beyond the top of his head.

  Whitney remained in her hiding spot and didn’t look to see which student was walking away. She didn’t want to know who he was feeding on. She turned and waited for the student to leave and heard Sam say goodbye to them. When she heard the door to the school open and close, she meant to move out of her hiding spot but froze in her tracks.

  The siren that had been staring daggers at Whitney all lunch, Amber, was walking up the pathway. Okay, it was more of a saunter than a walk. Considering she was wearing at least four-inch heels, Whitney was beyond shocked. No one walked around town in heels, at least not the teens. Whitney had changed out of her uniform when she left school, but like everyone else in their right mind when you know there’s a beach around every corner, and more than likely where you’ll end up, she was wearing sandals, a lot more practical. But then again, from the swaying of Amber’s hips, as she walked past Whitney in her hiding spot, Whitney had a feeling the heels were intentional.

  “Sammy,” Amber cooed as she walked up to the pool.

  Sam was already out of the water and drying off. He reached for his shirt to put back on, but Amber accidentally stepped on it and didn’t seem like she would be moving. Amber leaned down in her low-cut top to pick up Sam’s shirt for him. Sam watched her.

  “I’ve heard a really strange rumor today,” Amber continued.

  Sam shrugged like it was nothing to him.

  “That you went and asked a day human to be your girlfriend.” Amber now visibly pouted.

  Taking his shirt, Sam turned and put it back on. He turned back to Amber while sitting down to slip on his shoes and his back was to Whitney. She didn’t hear his response, but from the expression on Amber’s face, she wasn’t happy.

  “Mark said you are just having a bit of fun with her and wanted an easy feed, but you didn’t have to stoop to that level. I could have had at least a dozen more people sign up for swim lessons if you needed the blood. All I’d have to do is ask them. No one likes to tell me no.” Amber seemed to not like the news that had been spreading around the school, even if it was all made up. “If you need something else of a physical nature, I can take care of that.”

  Sam stood up as she talked, and Amber moved closer. She placed her arms up around his neck to hold him in place. Whitney felt a bit of anger beginning to boil in her. Yes, they were only pretend dating, but the siren didn’t know that. In fact, Amber was hitting on Sam while knowing completely well that he was dating. Wasn’t that just wrong? Who went around hitting on someone else’s boyfriend? Then again, was there something going on with Amber and Sam? Whitney wished she saw Sam’s face, but maybe not. What guy in their right mind wouldn’t mind a beautiful girl like Amber throwing herself at him? What if they were really dating and keeping it a secret? Whitney’s mind raced with questions that caused her anger to simmer into confusion.

  “You smell delicious,” Amber said as she leaned in near him.

  Whitney clenched her fists as she watched. Amber was just too close to Sam. Logically Whitney had no right to Sam, and she shouldn’t care what he did with whomever; it just felt like he was cheating on her. His hands rested on Amber’s hips as he said something back to her. She smiled as she pulled back from his ear.

  “Fine,” she replied, giving him a little pout that wasn’t a pout at all. “I’ll play this game, but only for the week. You know your parents have been talking to my parents. I’m pretty sure they’re arranging everything as we speak.”

  Sam said something else, and this time Amber gave a real pout.

  “You’re really not going?” she asked.

  Again, Whitney was left in the dark. The siren world was confusing enough; she didn’t have time to ask about the social and political aspects of what was going on. She had no clue what their parents talking meant. Just more questions to ask Sam, if she ever got time alone with him.

  Sam talked some more and then finally Amber pulled back from him, keeping her hands to herself. Whitney felt a bit better, like the anger she felt at Amber was lessening … well, only a little. The extremely beautiful siren was still standing there keeping Whitney from getting time with Sam.

  “Fine. I’ll leave. But just know that once you’re my mate, you won’t have a mistress like that day human.”

  Amber leaned forward and kissed Sam before pulling back and grinning, like she had won the best prize in the world. Slowly she sauntered away, not turning around, but obviously walking with the intention of being watched.

  Whitney stayed in her hiding place while Amber disappeared. Holding her breath, she counted to ten. It didn’t help. Here she thought Sam cared enough to teach her how to be a siren. He never once mentioned that he had a future mate. Whitney had been around night humans her whole life. She knew what a mate was. It was a person you bonded yourself to for life. She knew exactly what it meant, and it meant no matter how cute he was or how much attention he gave her, it would end the minute he was mated to Amber. He wouldn’t be able to hide things from her, and Whitney would be in danger. All the lessons would have to finish up in a week’s time, and she would be on her own, again.

  She let out her breath and tried counting once more, squeezing her eyes shut. She was stupid. Here she had just spent hours thinking about Sam and the world he brought her into. She thought about how her friends had teased her that he was always watching her. She had herself believing there was more between them than there really was. Yep, her life sucked. She went from being an outcast in the skinwalker night human world to now being one in the siren world. At least the skinwalkers never threatened to kill her for existing. Wasn’t the point of moving away to start all over? She felt like she was back to where she was her whole life—part of the night human world, but outside it at the same time.

  “Are you going to hide here all day?” Sam asked, and Whitney f
inally opened her eyes.

  “Um, no,” Whitney replied, trying to sound confused even though there was still a bit of anger and sadness all mixed inside of her. She walked around the fence and headed toward the pool bleachers to sit down.

  Looking into his beautiful brown eyes, she could admit it now, but it made no difference. She had been falling for him, but he already had someone else. Someone much better suited for him. A real siren, someone who wouldn’t be a problem, someone he wouldn’t have to keep hidden. She had thought that because she had met him years ago as a kid that maybe it was fate telling something to her, but that was a lie, too. It was just a coincidence.

  Sam grabbed her arm. Whitney froze when he touched her. He had touched her a hundred times while teaching her how to swim, and then again as he pulled her through the underwater maze to the beach cove they had visited over the past few days, but something now felt different. She felt a zing as the sharp tingles zapped up her arm. Sam must have felt it also, because the expression on his face was that of complete surprise.

  “More special powers?” Whitney asked as she took her arm back and rubbed the spot.

  “Something like that.” Grinning at her, Sam held out his hand for Whitney to take. She raised an eyebrow at him. What game was he playing now?

  “What, my girlfriend won’t hold my hand?” he gave a fake pout.

  “About that,” Whitney said.

  Sam’s eyes got wide. He quickly leaned close to whisper in her ear.

  “Play along with me, please. I’ll explain everything in five minutes once I get us alone and away from prying eyes and ears.”

  Whitney’s eyes shot open wide, and she lifted her head to look around. They were being watched? Good thing she hadn’t said anything that would give away she knew about the siren, and better that she hadn’t jumped in the pool and gone all fishy.