Everblue

by Brenda Pandos

  “I’m not an idiot, Colin. Don’t you have something you need to do?”

  “Like move in? Yup. Just waiting on Dad.”

  I smirked, wishing I could be there to witness his disappointment when he broke into my room and couldn’t find any of my stuff. But at the mention of our dads, I wondered what took mine so long. I wanted to at least talk to him before he left, see if I could come along.

  I leaned up against the rock face and flipped my tail, disturbing the sand. Having fins in the water was useful to travel quickly, but the bulky appendage left much to be desired for exerting dominance. Something about being unable to sit, legs open, left me feeling feminine.

  “You’re going to be Azor’s pet now,” Colin said.

  I looked away, ignoring his bait to argue.

  “He’ll do anything to get in good with the twin. He’s set his sights on Tatiana and he gets what he wants.”

  “My sister gets to choose who she wants to marry.”

  “Marry?” Colin belly laughed. “She’s gonna pick a human, huh? That’s gonna go over real well—”

  Crap. “Promise. Marry. Whatever. Weren’t you just in there? She gets to choose. Or has the King turned on its people and changed the law?”

  “Don’t get your barnacles in a bunch. I’m just saying.”

  He ran his hand under a rock and pulled out a crawfish. With his razor-sharp teeth, he ripped out a huge chunk of flesh from its tail. “Man, is this going to take all day?”

  I scrubbed my hand over my face. It was hard enough to find out my uncouth cousin would be messing up my room, but what kind of mission required so many details?

  Dad’s reputation obviously landed him the job. He was respected on the Council and among his peers, even though he lived outside of the walls, and was married and promised to a beta-mer.

  Where is he?

  “Thanks, Jack,” Azor said, exiting the tunnel first, while clapping my dad on the back. “I knew I could count on you. Go ahead and assemble your team.” He turned towards Colin with a slightly annoyed look. “Alaster is waiting for you.”

  “Awesome,” Colin said, tossing his half eaten crustacean into the current. “Bye, Cuz.” He shot me a mischievous look right before disappearing through the darkened Tahoe gate.

  “So?” I asked, expecting to hear he was putting me on his team.

  My father looked over my shoulder and raised his eyebrows at Azor. “Is that all?”

  “Yes—”

  “Then, I’d like a private word with my son. I’ll have him join you momentarily.”

  “Sure thing, Jack.” Azor formed his lips in a straight line. “Finley, meet me on the south side of the palace when you are finished.”

  “Yeah,” I said and watched Azor leave, thankful I didn’t have to follow his orders. Little did he know, I’d be leaving with my dad. “So what’s going on and when do we leave?”

  “Son—” Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ve had an incident and unfortunately, I can’t risk taking you.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I want to bring you—” Lines of concern pressed grooves into the skin around his eyes. “Just trust me this time. I need you here with the girls. Besides, how bad can it be working with Azor? He’ll help you improve your skills.”

  “Why can’t I come with you? I don’t understand.”

  “I—I’ll tell you why when I get back.”

  He pressed his hand on my shoulder, but his words didn’t convince me.

  “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know. Please, Fin. Trust me.” He ran his hand through his hair and grimaced.

  “Do we have to stay here? Can we go to the lake house instead?”

  Dad looked away. “Your mom isn’t allowed to be there without me. You know the rules.”

  The rules. Mermaids weren’t trusted outside of a merman’s protection. Their powers of seduction might get the better of them, causing loads of trouble and risk of exposure.

  “But Alaster is there and I’m almost eighteen.”

  “Maybe if you were, you could, but not this time.”

  I swallowed my pride and pretended the rejection didn’t hurt. He could take me if he really wanted.

  “Son, I need to go assemble my team. Thank you for understanding.”

  He grabbed me and hugged me hard. Then with a flick of his powerful red tail, Dad disappeared into the folds of the city. He had men to recruit and apparently my stupid birth date prevented me from making the cut—still a boy in his eyes. My chest ached with fury. I wanted to be anywhere but here, trapped in the center of the earth with idiots like Azor. Why wasn’t I born a couple of months sooner?

  Tatiana was right. My situation was a huge crap sandwich.

  5

  ASH

  No cup of coffee cleared out the morning cobwebs like a douse of 70 degree water at early morning swim practice. Though warmer water would have made the first lap a little more bearable, the pool slowly began to feel like bathwater once I got going.

  Bubbles of air escaped from my nose as I glided underwater. This quiet haven was where I could think in private, away from noise and distraction. I broke the surface and stretched my arm forward, propelling my body through the current one stroke at a time. Thirty five laps to go to finish my warm-up.

  After my last lap, I looked at the board—same old thing. Three miles worth of laps split into individual medleys and sprints. Piece of cake.

  “Psst,” Georgia, my closest girl friend at school whispered from the lane next to me. “You finished with your warm-up yet?”

  “Yeah,” I answered, and rinsed out my goggles.

  Her shoulders dropped. “Really? Already?”

  “Enough chit-chat! Let’s go ladies!” Coach Madsen barked.

  Georgia stuck out her tongue when Coach wasn’t watching and pushed off the wall with a splash.

  “You finished, Lanski?” Coach directed at me while twirling her whistle.

  “Yeah.” I sank into the corner of the wall to rest before the next set.

  “Nice job,” she said with a slight smile, then proceeded to yell at a pair of slackers a few lanes down from me.

  After practice, the locker room buzz was all about Senior Ball when it should have been about the big swim meet in two weeks. With a quick check of the clipboard, Meredith Hamusek, my nemesis from Squaw Valley Academy, and I were slated to race one another in the 100 yard butterfly—which left my stomach in a knot.

  The dance did, however, loom in the recesses of my mind, but my fantasies involved Fin as my date and no one else. Tatchi had pestered me about taking up Ryan’s invitation. He was cute, but I’d already told him “no.” She couldn’t know the real reason. But after what happened yesterday, maybe a date with someone else would be what Fin needed to finally make a move.

  Attached to my gym locker door was a picture of the three of us, hanging out at Fannette Island when we were thirteen—my only picture of Fin. They’d bet I couldn’t swim the entire distance, all of 500 feet. The freezing water cramped up my calf, but I did it without a whimper.

  With a quick brush of my finger over my lips, I touched his exquisite face. Why couldn’t he understand we needed to be together?

  While Holly, my locker neighbor, sauntered about in her pink bra and skimpy panties, bragging about the cost of her dress, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, slathered on my favorite honeysuckle lotion, and applied a little mascara. I just wanted to be on time to English.

  A quick exit into the hall accosted me with bigger drama than fancy dresses. A cluster of girls whispered in the corner, eyeing a red-eyed Brooke who had her own soirée surrounding her. What could the head cheerleader and girlfriend of Lake Tahoe High’s sexiest guy at school, Callahan, possibly be crying about? Then I heard—they’d broken up.

  Tatchi is going to love this one.

  I pressed my lips together to suppress a smile and ducked into the classroom. Mrs. Keifer had already written our assignment on th
e board—more chapters due from The Scarlet Letter. I pulled out my book and marked the pages. I could identify with Hester Prynne, but my chest felt branded with the scarlet S for shy.

  “So, Brooke huh?”

  I looked up to find Holly standing over me like a vulture, finally clothed.

  “I guess.” As if I cared about the dirty details. Tatchi on the other hand would be all over this.

  “Rumor has it Callahan’s got someone else on the radar to take to Senior Ball.” As she slid into the neighboring seat, her apple blossom scented lotion assaulted me.

  I smirked. The whole charade had to be a stunt. Why would the potential king and queen break up two weeks before Senior Ball? “Your point?”

  “Oh come off it. Like you don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  She sniggered. “I heard he’s got his eye on you. He knows you don’t have a date.”

  My gaze swung around to meet Holly’s devious look. “Brooke and Callahan will get back together before the dance. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t think so. It’s all you, girl. Stop playing like you don’t know. Did he ask you already?”

  Holly’s boldness overwhelmed me. Luckily she quieted down as more students filtered into the classroom. Georgia took the seat in front of me, out of breath.

  “What did I miss?” she swiveled around in her seat, her hair completely coiffed, grabbing my book to note the page. My guess was she forgot to wear her glasses again.

  “Nothing.” Yet.

  Then Callahan walked in, light brown hair flopped over his forehead like a surfer. He looked me right in the eye with his big chocolate eyes and nodded. My heart roller-coastered against my ribs. I looked away and pulled my book back from Georgia’s grasp, hiding behind it.

  Callahan? Me? This couldn’t be true?

  “What’s with you?” Georgia said, and turned to look.

  I knew she saw him. What girl didn’t lose all ability to speak coherently in the beguiling all-star pitcher’s presence? Callahan defined handsome in every girls’ internal dictionary and took a close second to Fin for me any day. But no one of his caliber ever paid attention to me—the geeky girls’ swim team captain. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him sit down a few rows over. So did Georgia. The thought he might possibly want to take me to Senior Ball made my stomach tremble. Holly always exaggerated. There was no way he’d ask me.

  Taking a deep breath, I refocused my attention on Mrs. Keifer after hearing the buzz of the second bell.

  “All right, let’s get started. I thought we’d read in class today—”

  The door opened, interrupting her talk, and Brooke sauntered in with swollen eyes. A pang of guilt wracked my chest, though I’d done nothing wrong. Her glare met mine anyway and my cheeks burned. I slouched down in my seat. Why couldn’t I have been home-schooled instead of Tatchi? Great. Today’s cover story featured me.

  “Nice of you to join us, Brooke. Holly, could you start reading chapter eight outloud?”

  The sound of shuffling pages filled the room like a delicate rainstorm falling on dried leaves. When Brooke found her seat somewhere behind me, a burst of hushed whispers followed. Cold stares prickled down the back of my neck while I tried to listen as Holly stumbled over her words. Could Callahan really like me? Did Brooke and her flock of friends already know, prepared to swoop down and ambush me later? I bit my lip and pushed away the notion as ridiculous.

  The next few periods zipped by and I’d managed to stay far away from the drama. But as I walked into the cafeteria with Georgia, I spotted Callahan’s brown head of hair right away. He sat off to the side with his friends, looking utterly gorgeous. My pulse jolted thinking about what Holly had said.

  “Nervous about Saturday?” Georgia asked after we found seats, a celery stick hanging from her mouth.

  A ball of dough from my peanut butter sandwich lodged in my throat as my gaze swept over to Callahan. I quickly sucked down a sip of Sprite. “No. Why?”

  “Did you not look at the board? You’re racing against Meredith Hamusek and she’s wicked fast. ”

  “Right.” The meet. I stuffed a corn chip in my mouth, embarrassed. Holly mentions Callahan once and my brain becomes total mush. “I guess we’ll have to see.”

  “You have to win. We need it for the championships but I hope we get out of there at noon. I have a hair appointment at two. Plus I need to get different shoes. Do you want to come shopping with me? I’m looking for something strappy but not too gaudy, you know? I’m so glad I got a little bit of color from working out in the pool, but I need to put bronzer on the tan lines, unless you want to help me? It’s lame you aren’t coming.”

  Her explosion of words blew me back into my chair. “Did you have a lot of caffeine today?”

  “Why? Am I talking too fast? My mom always says I do. I had a few cups of coffee and a diet Coke earlier. Why?”

  “Nothing. Go on.”

  “So, no one even asked you to go?”

  I contemplated lying, but told her the truth. “Ryan did.”

  Her jaw dropped. “And what happened?”

  “I said no.”

  “What? Why?” Georgia slammed her apparent second Diet Coke down, clanking it against the table with a splash.

  For once I’d knocked Georgia speechless. I marveled in the quiet for a moment as her eyes—lashes heavy with mascara—watched me in wonder. Coyly, I smiled back.

  “The guy I want to go with didn’t ask me, so I’m not going.” I shrugged and crunched on another chip.

  “Who?”

  “No one you know.”

  “Does he go here? ‘Cause I know everyone at this school.”

  “No, but it’s fine.” I shrugged, avoiding the confrontation.

  “Whatever,” she said with a huff and prattled on, completely oblivious to the fact people were strangely gawking at me.

  Sixth period came and went with more odd stares from my peers. At the bell, I went straight to the pool without stopping to drop my books off at my locker. Drama with my name was apparently underfoot and I had no wish to indulge it. Only a good workout would calm my nerves.

  I was the first at the pool for practice. A dash of talcum powder helped me slide on my swim cap. Swim blocks lined the wall, newly installed for the meet. I stepped onto the lane three block. Rough sandpaper secured my feet on the otherwise slippery metal as I laced my toes over the edge.

  In a week and two days, a crowd would fill the empty bleachers and Meredith would be standing to my right. I imagined the gun popping and leapt into the air. The bubbles rushed past my ears as I glided like a torpedo. One stroke . . . two . . . three . . . deep breath . . . flip-turn. My body flew up and over the water. I had to be untouchable—faster. I finished the set and pulled my head up to check the time. I did it. My best time ever.

  “Cannon ball,” Georgia screamed and careened into the water next to me, interrupting my imaginary win.

  As she surfaced, I pushed her head under.

  “Did you see?” She popped her head up further away, half of her smiling mouth under the water.

  “See what?”

  She laughed and splashed me. “You have to go to Senior Ball.”

  “What do you mean? No, I don’t.”

  She took a water-logged piece of paper out of her suit top. “Oh yes you do. Look.”

  I grabbed the dissolving pink filaments and stared. On it was a list of candidates to vote for Senior Ball royalty. My name, the third one listed, jumped out at me under the heading Senior Ball Queen.

  “Where’d you get this? Georgia? Georgia!”

  She just laughed and swam away from me. With tepid cheeks, I looked around at the other swimmers who’d started their warm-up, curious grins on their faces. Apparently, this wasn’t a joke and explained all the staring.

  6

  FIN

  Unsure where to go the next morning, I hung out by the palace—the place I was supposed to meet Azor the night before—and waited. S
tanding him up wasn’t the most brilliant plan, but I wasn’t thinking straight last night. A steady stream of females went inside while the mermen headed towards a sandy field behind the palace. I drifted in their direction, looking for a familiar face.

  The crystal ball shot sunlight into the city, making my tail ache to change back. Rarely did we spend the night in Natatoria, let alone the next day. Normally, we hung out in our retrofitted basement swimming pool with easy access to the lake through the hatch.

  Unused to being solidly underwater, I attributed Natatoria’s atmosphere to the claustrophobia that slowly started to choke me. But what I missed most was coffee, something impossible to brew, let alone drink down here. Plus the few pieces of fish I’d eaten for breakfast had already burned through me and I craved some substance like French toast or pancakes.

  If it wasn’t for Dad’s mission, I’d be on the deck of the Empress right now, sipping a good Sumatra and showing tourists the bay in full sunlight. Instead I was listening to some guy named Chauncey explain the rules for today’s hand-to-fin combat tournament. The only reason I paid attention was because the winner got a golden trophy cup filled with rubies—not a bad reward.

  When Chauncey finished his rhetoric, I floated among the group, trying to look like I fit in. Where was Azor?

  “Aye, son,” a redheaded merman with a thick Irish accent said. “You’d be Jack’s son, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said, unsure if that was a good thing.

  Without hesitation, he swam over and gave me a bear hug. “I’m Badger. Good to meet ya. You’ll be my partner today. How’s that?”

  “Okay.” I guess.

  I followed him over to the edge of the field. Memories of Dad talking to me about him vaguely came to mind.

  “What’s with you, lad?” Badger asked.

  I pressed my thumb against my temple, willing away my caffeine headache. “Don’t you ever crave something other than fish?”

  Badge threw his mane of hair back into the current and laughed. “Aye, lad. Every day. I’d love me a thick Guinness right about now and me mum’s fried shredded potato.”

  His full-bodied holler echoed over the field, which lightened my spirits. “That does sound good.”