Watergirl

by Juliann Whicker

  “I’m getting you a drink and your clothes,” he said, finally getting off the bed to pull on some pants beneath the towel. “Nothing with alcohol; I don’t do alcohol. Try not to freak out too much while I’m gone.”

  He left me alone, in his bed. Like I was going to stay there. I grabbed a shirt to pull over the ripped one, long sleeve, button-up, and then grabbed a pair of soft pants, probably for exercise with a drawstring that I could tighten. Apparently in spite of how it looked, my waist was way narrower than Sean’s. Small victories. I opened the window, shivering as the cold wind swirled into the room. Was I seriously going to sneak out of his room just so that I wouldn’t have to walk through the party after Brenda and Bernice had done their damage?

  I climbed out, eyeing the drop. I did it all the time, sneaking out of my house, but usually not in winter without shoes. Bare feet helped me grip the stone edging, and then it didn’t, but I landed into some evergreens, poky, but no broken bones. The fence was easy enough to scale, but the outside was twice as high as the inside. Very high defense. Maybe they were worried about being attacked by more fish people. I dropped down, feeling like a spy, also like an idiot because landing jolted feeling through my feet, feet that wouldn’t feel much after a few blocks. I sat down and made knots at the bottom of the way too long pants then I was ready to go.

  I’d gone four blocks when Sean’s car pulled up beside me. He drove along while I ignored him. He kept it up, driving right beside me without opening a window or anything. Finally I turned around with my arms crossed over his shirt. It was not a warm enough shirt. I could see his face, lit by the green of his radio, and could hear the pumping beat that came from his awesome stereo system.

  He didn’t move, didn’t do anything while I stood there shivering until I walked around the car and pulled open the passenger door. It wasn’t locked. I slid inside, embraced by marvelous warmth and music that sent a tingle up my spine. My clothes were neatly folded on the seat, my shoes and socks on the floor beneath them with my coat draped over the back. I closed the door behind me, sealing out the frigid air.

  He didn’t say anything, so I didn’t either. Instead I began unbuttoning the shirt I’d stolen. He put a hand out to stop me.

  “If you’re too warm, I can turn off the heater.”

  I glared at him then sighed instead. “Yeah. Don’t watch me change my clothes, not that you want to, since your kind find mine absolutely revolting. Go ahead. Look out your window.” I shrugged when he kept watching me and kept unbuttoning his shirt. I still had the ripped one underneath it. “Whatever. I think I ruined your pants. You’ll have to send me a bill, or just yell at me about it. Pants aren’t really for walking on, but your shoes were crazy big on me. Maybe I should have taken them anyway. Maybe if you had slippers. Why don’t you have slippers? Is it a gill thing? Do you sweat? Never mind. I’m not interested.”

  I slid the button up off my shoulders and felt the heater blow on my bare skin on my sides where the shirt was ripped. I ignored him as I took off his shirt and grabbed my bra, the hot pink one I’d brought in my coat pocket. I changed with my back to him so even if he was watching, which he probably wasn’t cuz I didn’t have gills, he wouldn’t see much. I struggled for a second with the clasp behind my back before it snapped together. Then I had my shirt on, and did the rest of my changing into underwear and jeans under cover of my parka.

  I turned to him, and he didn’t seem to have looked away, still watching me with nothing on his face that I could read.

  “Do you like it?”

  I blinked at him. “What?”

  He frowned. “Your pink bra. Your hideously garish underwear. Obviously I’m talking about that. The music. Do you like the music?”

  I glanced at the radio. I hadn’t paid as much attention to it as I had to not flashing more than absolutely necessary. “It’s brilliant. Is this what you were bribing me with the second time?”

  He nodded then turned up the volume. I leaned against the seat and let the beat press against my skin, like a touch, the notes and chords brilliantly wound together then winding through me. I couldn’t hear all the parts, there were too many, but never too much. When he turned it off, I blinked, halfway asleep.

  “You’re home.”

  “Oh. Thanks.” I got out, holding his door open as I stood looking back at him. “Do you want me to try and fix your pants?”

  He looked at me with more irritation than usual. “No. Happy New Year.”

  I frowned at him then stepped back as he reached over and pulled the door shut in my face before pulling out, leaving me in front of my sad little house.

  “Happy New Year,” I muttered to the glowing taillights before shaking my head, I went inside.

  Chapter 27

  It wasn’t midnight when I walked in. I paced around the kitchen until I couldn’t take it anymore. Sean had gills. There really was some kiss of madness that wasn’t just me being all cracked up. What if Cole had gills too? Crazy. The music kept going through my head, the music from his car, far stranger than the first stuff, but deeper too. I knew there was a monster but it didn’t seem to matter. Monsters, boys with gills, it was all good.

  I left the kitchen, the house, letting the screen door click closed behind me. I rode my bike through the freezing air with a bright moon to ring in the New Year with the monster in the lake.

  When I made it up to my rock, I stopped, feeling my heart sink. It wasn’t empty. Cole of all people sat there with a six pack of beer, singing something by Barry Manilow. It made me smile until he saw me and stood, nearly falling off the rock. He did not care what he put in his body.

  “Hey, Watergirl. Want a beer?”

  “Hey Quarterback. Where’s Sharky?” I sat down with a sigh as memories of him, me and the rock came back. We used to hang out there, back in the days when we hung out. I took the beer but didn’t open it.

  “She’s with Sean.”

  “Hm. I don’t think so.”

  “I mean,” he said, leaning against me with his shoulder. “You and Sean aren’t together, and neither am I and Sharky. We broke up. We’re finished. On New Year’s Eve.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, and I almost was. “You can find someone better.”

  He shook his head. “Yeah, maybe. Lots of fish in the sea, right? How about you? I heard you went on a date and broke the guy’s nose.” He nudged me again, heavily that time. He was very sloshed. Unfortunately, reminding me of fish in the sea while I sat on the rock looking out at the lake reminded me of the monster.

  “And monsters in the lake,” I said, searching the glistening dark water for signs of the creature. “It was a bloody nose. He tried to kiss me. You know what happens.”

  He nodded. “Did you kiss Sean?”

  I shook my head no. “Do you believe in monsters?”

  “Sometimes. Not usually though, because I lack imagination. It’s a good thing. Do you remember the nightmares I used to have? I told you about some of them; you probably forgot. Sean still likes you.”

  I groaned and put my head on my knees. I was ridiculously tempted to tell drunk Cole all about Sean and his gills. Instead I elbowed him.

  “You should go home while you’re still conscious. I hope you’re not driving because you’re wasted.”

  “You could drive me. Are you going to sing?” I stared at him, the only person I’d ever brought to the lake while I sang. “I’ll sit here and listen,” he said, leaning back on his elbows. He should have been cold in his jacket, but maybe the alcohol kept him warm.

  “I can’t…” but I could. I turned away from him, staring at the lake, at the pale reflection of the moon staring back at me. The song had threads of Sean’s music, but something else, misery, but something exulting at the same time. Was it the wonder of gills, of something magical touching my life even if it came in the package of too cold Sean?

  I didn’t know, it didn’t matter, nothing mattered but the music and the water where it stirred beneath me, rustling al
ong with my song until my breath came short and I felt Cole’s hand on my shoulder, surprisingly steady for how drunk he was.

  I blinked until my vision cleared then gave him a slight smile. He pulled me over until I had my head against his shoulder and his arm went around my waist, familiar but really wrong at the same time.

  I pulled away. He wasn’t my best friend any more. He wasn’t the person I went to when I needed to freak out. That was Sean. Why, I had no idea because he wasn’t exactly pleasant or even the same species, but it was how it was.

  “I’ve got to go.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, but he sounded disappointed.

  He moved to get up, tripped, and ended up sprawled on top of me. My head hit the ground with a thud.

  “You okay?” he asked in a wheezing whisper then started laughing. He couldn’t get off me while he was laughing, and I couldn’t get him off me because he was too heavy.

  “Cole, seriously, you smell like cheap beer. Will you please get off me?” He only laughed louder, howling like the drunk idiot he was. “Cole!” I said, elbowing him somewhere in his body, but it didn’t make a dent.

  Behind me I heard something that made me very cold and very still. The hissing I’d had multiple nightmares about came from the lake, close behind me. It couldn’t get me up on the rock though. The hissing came closer and closer while I felt my insides quiver with fear. I had to get Cole off of me. I twisted under him while I levered him up, ending up half on, half off him, just in time to see the claws scrabbling on the edge of the rock. Awesome. The bulbous head was next, black reflective eyes glittering at me until it came all the way up. It hissed, only slightly louder than the wind. It looked from me to Cole where he lay, still laughing, then made a move.

  I pulled us both back, off the rock and into the weeds, but not before tendrils of what looked like seaweed lashed out at Cole, ripping the beer from his hands and leaving a bloody weal down his arm.

  He finally saw the monster and with that, he was practically sober. The monster hesitated on the edge of the rock, over us while we backed away, tripping on uneven ground until we turned and ran, never looking back until we made it to the road, but even then, I didn’t argue when Cole grabbed my bike and threw it into the back of his truck.

  I grabbed his keys when he started for his door, and he climbed through, into the passenger side, while I put the truck in gear and peeled out, away from the lake and the monster.

  It hadn’t touched me but Cole held his hand to his arm where blood dripped down to his elbow.

  Its eyes had bothered me most. Something about them was so human. If there were people walking around with gills, monsters swimming around in lakes, what other crap was there that I couldn't see? It was a question I wasn’t ready to ask.

  I pulled up in front of Cole’s house then started out but he grabbed my shoulder.

  “I wasn’t drunk enough for us both to imagine that.”

  I took his hand off of me. “I am not talking about anything tonight. I’m going home.” I handed him his keys and slammed the door.

  Chapter 28

  I spent the next day sleeping, that and trying to write the music from the night before, Sean’s and the stuff I’d sung at the lake. I couldn’t focus on the monster, on what it meant. The next day at school Cole nodded at me but didn’t try to talk, which was fine because I still didn’t want to deal with it. If I did, then I’d have to talk to Oliver or Sean, Sean who might know something about monsters in lakes, and I couldn’t think about that.

  It was bad enough walking through the halls and hearing the echo, ‘slut’ as I went. I went on one date, and I was a slut. Nice. Okay. I was in Sean’s bed. I shook my head because that whole thing was beyond explanation. I didn’t even understand how all of that went down.

  At my locker, I stood there staring at the mess on the bottom, wondering if I’d actually left it that bad before break or if it had magically compounded. Flop put her arm around me.

  “How are you doing Gen? I don’t care what they say. I don’t believe a word of it.”

  I sighed. “Well, you were sort of there, you can’t not believe that I was in his bed.” I shuddered.

  “Yeah, but there was a reason for it, like you passed out or something. Probably hit your head at the bottom of the pool and he had to resuscitate you and then you went into shock so he had to get you warm. He was naked because… You have to help me out a little bit.”

  I grabbed her by the shoulders and stared into her beautiful, limpid grey blue eyes. “He asked me to dance, we danced then we went to his room and got naked. I’m a slut, what can I say?”

  She blinked at me then cocked her head to the side. “Huh. So, are you obsessed with him, or what?”

  I shook my head and stepped back from her. “You don’t mind if I’m a slut? Flop, you rock. No, I’m not obsessed. I mean, it’s Sean. What girl wouldn’t get naked with him if given the opportunity.”

  Her eyes widened. “So, you actually saw him naked? Did you pass out? What was it like? I mean, before Junie had to tell you that she’s together with Tuba? And how weird is that? But perfect because now we’re all dating people.”

  I crouched in front of my locker and began pulling out papers that I should have turned in months ago. I could throw them away. Nice. “It was weird. It was definitely something worth seeing.” I shook my head. “I didn’t even think about Oliver with all of that going on. So, that was good. I guess. Yeah, weird about Tuba, but I kind of saw it coming, at least I knew that he liked her.”

  “I had no clue. So, are you and Sean together for real this time?”

  I exhaled and opened my mouth to tell her no, absolutely not, but a CD case dropped on my pile of discards and I looked up to see Sean leaning against the locker beside mine, smiling at Flop. Smiling.

  “What did she say?” he asked her like I wasn’t right there.

  She blushed and edged away from him. “Um, I’ll see you guys later.”

  I glared at him while she took off. “You didn’t have to scare her away.”

  “I brought you the music. Did you tell her I bribed you with music? She would understand that better than whatever else you told her.”

  “Who gets naked for music?”

  “You, although you weren’t technically…”

  “Sean,” Bernice’s voice set my teeth on edge. I turned away from them, shoving everything back into my locker, except the CD, that I put into my bag.

  “I’m busy,” he said coldly to her then touched my hair.

  No. I was not playing this game again. I stood up, turned around and was going to tell her, him and the rest of the world that we weren’t together and wouldn’t ever be, then saw who was with Bernice. I stopped breathing.

  I didn’t do anything when Sean wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him while I stared at Oliver.

  “Come on Gen,” Sean said dragging my unresponsive body away from Bernice and Oliver. “We’re going to be late for class.”

  I couldn’t turn my head to stare at Oliver with the way Sean had me. I couldn’t do anything but let Sean tow me to class. I leaned against him, glad he could block out the rest of the world, glad he was immune to obsession. I wouldn’t have been able to resist Oliver, wouldn’t have been able to do anything, not without time to prepare, even then, Oliver with his glossy black hair, diamond green eyes and warm smile had completely blown me away. I had to see him again. I had to touch him and make sure he was real. I had to…

  I turned my face into Sean’s chest and listened to his heart pound. After a few minutes of that I tuned into the rest of the world and pulled away from him, realizing that I’d just had a very public display of affection with Sean. Awesome.

  “We’re not dating,” I told him as I took a step back and ran into the propped open door of my English class.

  “No. We’re not. If we were on a date, we wouldn’t be in separate classes. See you later, Gen,” he said, turning and walking off, leaving me wi
th a class full of stares to deal with as I stumbled to my chair. Oliver was back. I did not want Oliver back. Five seconds of my seeing Oliver and everything with Sean imploded.

  After first period I ran into Cole in the hallway. He stood in the middle of the hall, not moving while a stream of humanity trailed on either side of him.

  “Cole?” I said when he didn’t move or seem to notice me. I looked down and saw his books scattered around him while he held his arm, the one the monster had hurt. “Cole?” I ducked around him so I could see his face, but when he looked up at me, I didn’t feel any better. “Come on,” I said, dragging him into the choir room right across the hall since no one would be there at that hour. He stumbled but didn’t fall until I got him into a chair. I took a deep breath before I forced my shaky hands to roll up his sleeve. The sight of his swollen, red arm made me more nauseous than seeing Oliver had.

  Oliver. He knew medical stuff and might know more about this than normal, human doctors.

  “Cole, I’m going to go get help, okay?” His face was pale, and I could see traces of blue veins up his neck. It couldn’t be a good sign.

  I left the room, closing the door behind me. I ran through the halls to Oliver’s locker then stopped when I saw Bernice, not him. She saw me, and the way she looked at me stunned me. When had she started really hating me? I spun around and saw Sean walking away from me. How had I missed him?

  “Sean!” I raced after him then caught his hand in mine when he stopped.

  He turned to me with a smile. “Finally playing your part with conviction? That’s unexpected, Watergirl.”

  My part? Oh, as his girlfriend. I’d argue about that another time. I leaned up and took his face in my hands then whispered in his ear. “Cole’s bad. The lake creature got him the other night. He’s in the choir room. Oliver said he was good healing people, like you are with bikes. I don’t know if he just said that to check me for gills, but Cole needs something. What do I do? It’s swollen and he’s turning blue.”