Surface

by Jody Morse

  “Where do you go to school?” I asked Tyler, realizing, for the first time, that I didn’t even know.

  “I go to Laurel High,” Tyler replied. Laurel High was the private school on the other side of town. It was where most of the spoiled kids who came from really wealthy families went to school. When I stared back at him with wide eyes, he explained, “They’re better equipped to deal with epileptics, and they encourage service dogs. Do you know what Ocean Grove High said when my parents inquired about my service dog?”

  I shook my head.

  “They said they didn’t feel service dogs are necessary for someone with epilepsy. That seizure-alert dogs don’t actually exist,” Tyler laughed bitterly.

  “Wow,” I said, shaking my head. I felt bad for Tyler. Even now, while we were at the party, people were giving both of us funny looks because Bruno was with us—and most of them probably had no idea that Bruno was a service dog. If they had, I could only imagine the curious looks they would give him.

  As Tyler and I grabbed a blanket from the table and spread it on the sand behind Bryson’s house, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that someone was watching me, their eyes burning into the back of my head.

  Chapter 5

  I don’t know how I knew that someone was staring at me. Call it natural instinct or maybe paranoia combined with the feeling that something wasn’t right, but I just knew.

  The goose bumps had risen on my arms, and the hair on the back of my neck prickled up as I glanced around, trying to figure out who was staring at me. There were people sitting at a small bonfire behind us, but no one seemed to be looking in my direction. Carrie was still talking to the same group of girls and seemed to be deep in conversation . . . probably about boys. There were a few guys sitting on the rail of the porch, but none of them were looking our way.

  And that’s when I noticed the person who was standing on the Juliet balcony on the second floor of the house, looking in my direction. Dark shadows covered the person’s body and face and, almost as quickly as I noticed them, they disappeared back into the house. I wasn’t positive, but I was pretty sure that it had been a guy . . . or possibly a really tomboyish girl.

  For a second, I thought about whether or not I should try to find out who it was. There was that chance that they could be dangerous, but it would drive me nuts thinking about who it could have been. Besides, there were people inside Bryson’s house, so I seriously doubted that whoever it was would be able to harm me or anyone else without being seen.

  Deciding that if I wanted to find out who it was, I had to act quickly. Before the person could get away, I told Tyler, “I’ll be right back. I need to use the bathroom.”

  He glanced over at me and nodded, his grey eyes sparkling in the moonlight. I climbed up the porch steps and managed to get past the guys on the porch—without any of them saying a word to me—and slipped inside the back sliding glass door, which was already slid open because people had been in and out of the house all night. A group of girls eyed me strangely as I walked towards the staircase.

  Deciding that I didn’t need to explain where I was going, I gave them a small smile and climbed the stairs. I hoped that whoever had been on the balcony hadn’t already come downstairs in between the time I’d taken to walk from the beach to the house, but I doubted they had. I got the feeling that I would recognize whoever had been watching me. At least, I hoped. It would be really creepy if a total stranger had been staring at me.

  When I reached the second floor, I glanced around the empty hallway. There was a bedroom to the left, but I heard the sound of the bed hitting against the wall and immediately realized that a couple was having sex in there. I was certain that whoever had been watching me wasn’t in that room.

  As I stuck my head into the bathroom, I noticed a flash of red hair out of the corner of my eye, descending the staircase.

  I whirled around, fully expecting to see Scarlett staring back at me. But there was no one there.

  Knowing that I had to be imagining things, I composed myself. I was about to poke my head into the next room when I noticed a shadow hovering next to the door, which had been left open on a crack. The door slowly opened, and my heart froze inside my chest.

  A pair of intense blue eyes stared back at me.

  They belonged to the guy who had rudely whistled at me earlier that morning when I had tried to climb into the lifeguard chair that was rightfully mine . . . or so I thought. Thinking about it again caused a feeling of anger to wash over me, and I tried not to let it show on my face.

  “Hey, Chair Thirteen,” the guy said, flashing me a wide smile.

  Glancing inside the room, which appeared to be some sort of living room or family room, I noticed that there was a door open to the balcony. “Were you watching me from the balcony?” I asked. I glanced back at the guy, who stared at me intently. “You were watching me. Weren’t you?”

  The guy shrugged. “Possibly.”

  “Possibly? You creeped me out,” I protested.

  “It’s a free country,” the guy said, shrugging. “I can stare at who I want.” He paused, sitting down on one of the leather couches and looked up at me. “Besides, you should take it as flattery.”

  I scoffed. “Flattery? What’s so flattering about being watched?”

  “You caught my interest,” the guy replied, looking away from me. “That doesn’t happen too often.”

  “So, because you’re not normally attracted to girls, I should be flattered that you’re practically stalking me?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at him. “That makes perfect sense.”

  The guy laughed and his eyes flitted over at me, putting me at unease. “I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to girls . . . just that no one ever catches my interest. There’s a difference. I’m also not stalking you. You have a big ego for someone who claimed to be creeped out.”

  I gritted my teeth. “I don’t have a big ego . . . and I am creeped out, for your information!”

  When the guy just grinned at me, I added, “Ugh! You’re so annoying!” Trying to maintain my cool, despite the fact that this guy had pissed me off twice in the same day, I said, “I would prefer it if you didn’t stare at me from now on for no reason.”

  “Whatever you say,” the guy said, shrugging. Then he muttered, “It’s a free country.”

  Scoffing, I fled downstairs. I wasn’t about to give this guy the satisfaction. If he stared at me again, I was just going to have to ignore him. My dad had always said that if you ignored someone, they would stop bullying you. Maybe that worked for obnoxious guys, too.

  When I was back outside, I strolled over to Tyler, who was still sitting on the beach, staring at the ocean. As I sat down, Carrie hurried over to me with a cup of beer in hand. “Here, have more,” she said.

  *

  A few hours later, I was completely wasted. I was embarrassed that I had drank so much in front of Tyler, who had been staring at me the whole night. His face had a soft expression and his eyes still looked warm, but I felt as though I was making a fool out of myself. I wished I could be like him and not feel the need to party just because everyone else was doing it; it was something I would have to work on in the future.

  I hadn’t noticed the guy—whatever his name was—staring at me again. It made me glad because I didn’t want to get angry over it while I was with Tyler. It wasn’t really fair to him.

  After the party was over, which was sometime around two o’clock, Tyler offered to walk me home.

  Carrie raised an eyebrow at me. “You guys don’t just want a ride?”

  “No, that’s okay, I’m good to walk,” I said, struggling to stand on my feet and bursting into laughter. I turned and winked at Carrie. “We’re still getting to know each other, you know.”

  “Oh, summer love,” Carrie murmured, glancing at Tyler and then at me with a smile. “Walk safe. Don’t fall.”

  “Very funny,” I said, before turning to Tyler, who offered me his arm. His other hand held onto Bruno�
�s leash.

  “You’re such a gentleman,” I commented, hoping that I wasn’t slurring as much as I thought I was, as we walked out of the front yard and began the journey to my Gram’s house. I probably should have called Gram to let her know I was coming home late, but it was too late now. She probably had just assumed that I’d spent the night at Carrie’s and went to bed early.

  “Did you have a good time?” Tyler asked, glancing over at me.

  “Yeah, it was fun,” I replied. “Did you have a good time?”

  “Sure,” Tyler replied. “It was cool meeting Carrie. You learn a lot about a person from their friends.” He paused. “And their drinking habits.”

  “I never do this,” I insisted. “It’s like . . . the first time I’ve ever really gotten drunk. Well, this drunk.” When Tyler didn’t say anything in response, I let out a loud sigh and stopped walking. “Does this change the way you see me?”

  “Nope,” Tyler replied, shaking his head and turning to look at me. “I only wish I was able to drink with you. I feel like a stick in the mud.”

  I felt a pang of sympathy for him. “Sorry. I was being inconsiderate, I guess.”

  “It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” Tyler replied quietly.

  We walked mostly in silence for a few moments. The only sounds that I could hear were my flip flops slapping against the hard pavement, Bruno’s tail wagging as he padded along in front of us, and the loud roaring of the waves. I wrapped my arms around myself. Even through the thick June heat of Georgia, the ocean breeze made everything feel much colder.

  When we got to my Gram’s house, I said, “Thanks for walking me home.”

  “You’re more than welcome,” Tyler whispered, staring into my eyes.

  My heart fluttered, and I could feel the butterflies begin to swirl inside my stomach. Stepping on my tiptoes, I inched closer to him and tilted my chin.

  Tyler must have sensed that I was about to kiss him because he immediately pulled away from me and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Felicia. I can’t kiss you right now. I want our first kiss to be when you’re sober. I don’t want it to seem like I’m taking advantage of you.”

  I started to protest, but he threw his arms up in the air to halt what I was about to say. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? We can spend the day together,” Tyler said, smiling down at me. He was a good five inches taller than me, which made him the perfect height in my book.

  “Fine,” I said with a sigh. Even through my drunken stupor, I knew that I shouldn’t be mad at Tyler for being a good guy. It was just so frustrating that our first kiss had slipped away from us twice in one night. I really hoped that it wasn’t a bad sign.

  Tyler smiled at me. His smile extended to his grey eyes, which twinkled in the moonlight. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” I replied with a sigh.

  Tyler looked like he was about to walk away, but before he did, he leaned in and gave me a light kiss on the forehead. His touch was gentle, and his skin was warm against mine.

  Once I was inside the house, lying in my bed, I stared up at the ceiling. I envisioned what my first real kiss with Tyler was going to be like as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  In my dream, I was lying on a piano that was floating in the middle of the ocean. It was nighttime in my dream, and I could hear a song being sung from somewhere in the distance. It reminded me of the song that Scarlett had sung the night she had drowned, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.

  I tried to stand up to look over my shoulder to see if I saw Scarlett—or anyone, for that matter—but the piano wobbled with the unbalanced weight of my body. Too afraid to touch the water, I sat down cross-legged and my body moved with the piano as it was gently rocked over the calm waves.

  “Felicia,” a melodic voice called out, and I glanced around. I didn’t see anyone, and the voice was quickly replaced by the sound of a loud ringing. The ringing sounded so familiar and, even in my dream, I was able to recall that I had heard the same sound when I was at the lighthouse with Tyler. Where was it coming from?

  I heard the loud roar of a wave as it raced towards me, and within seconds, I was knocked off the piano and forced under the water. Holding my breath, I tried to swim against the force, but the water pushed against me. I had no choice other than to allow myself to be pushed along in the direction that the wave was moving.

  Opening my eyes under the water, I glanced up and saw the moon shining brightly through the foaming water that enveloped me.

  The wave tossed me, and I felt my knees being rubbed against the gritty grains of sand underneath me. As I glanced around, I realized that wherever I was, it looked nothing like Ocean Grove. In fact, the sounds of birds squawking and the scent of tropical flowers that filled my nostrils gave me the impression that I had been carried to some sort of tropical island. The sand was a pretty reddish color, a drastic difference from the white beaches of Georgia.

  The song that I heard while I was laying on the piano hadn’t stopped playing. If anything, it was louder now that I was on this beach.

  Standing up, I found that I was wearing a long, flowing emerald green dress. Even though I had just been in the water, the clingy material of the dress was completely dry. It was as though I hadn’t been in the water at all.

  Following the sound of the music, I began walking into what appeared to be a tropical jungle. A melody came from my lips and I began singing the words, even though I had no idea what they meant . . . and I wasn’t sure that I had heard them before, either.

  A girl with long blonde hair emerged from the forest and strolled over to me. “Felicia! You must sing! You have no other choice now,” she hissed at me.

  I couldn’t see the girl’s face, which was hidden in the shadows; all I could feel was her hand gripping my shoulder tightly and shaking it.

  I screamed, and everything turned black.

  *

  “Felicia? Felicia?” a familiar voice asked.

  I cracked one eye open and found myself staring back into Tyler’s grey eyes. He was kneeling over me on the ground. I fully expected to feel my soft sheets against my back, but I felt something cool and grainy instead. Sand. “Where are we?” I asked.

  “We’re at the lighthouse,” Tyler replied quietly. When I stared back at him questioningly, he went on. “I went back to my house after I walked you home, but about an hour later . . . I remembered that I left the lighthouse door unlocked. I would have just left it, but kids are always trying to get inside when no one’s around.”

  He ran a finger through my hair. “I guess it’s good that I came back or I wouldn’t have found you. Do you remember how you got here?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. Sitting up, I realized that I didn’t have a shirt on . . . and that Tyler had found me laying here in nothing more than a pink bra. I looked over at him helplessly. He seemed to understand why I felt uncomfortable, and he smiled at me before handing me the camisole that I had gone to sleep in. When I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly, he explained, “When I found you, you didn’t have a shirt on.”

  As I pulled the shirt over my head, I said, “This has to look really bad to you.”

  “No, I think you’re beautiful,” Tyler replied matter-of-factly.

  I blushed. That was the first time a guy had ever called me beautiful. “Thank you, but that’s not what I meant,” I said with an awkward laugh. “I meant it has to look really bad for you to find me here like this.” It was embarrassing enough for me . . . It had to make him feel at least the slightest bit awkward.

  “No, it doesn’t look bad,” Tyler replied, his eyes still locked on mine.

  “Oh, please. You go to a party with me . . . I get completely wasted, and then you find me lying outside on the beach without my clothes on.” I gulped, feeling my cheeks turn red in embarrassment. “You probably think I’m just a party girl . . . or a slut or something.”

  Tyler let out a loud laugh and reached for
my hand. “I don’t think you’re any of that. I promise.”

  “But how do you know? You barely know me yet,” I protested, pulling my hand away from him.

  I had been so worried about what Tyler thought about me that I completely overlooked the seriousness of the situation. How had I even gotten here? I could clearly remember falling asleep in my bedroom. People didn’t just wake up without their shirt on at the beach. It was too much for me to take in at the moment.

  How I had gotten here wasn’t the only thing I was confused about either. I should still be drunk, since it had only been an hour since we’d left the party. But I didn’t feel drunk . . . or even hungover. I’d definitely had more to drink than I normally did, but . . . I felt fine. Why had the alcohol worn off so quickly?

  And the dream . . . It had felt so real. It felt more like a memory than a dream. Did it actually happen?

  I glanced down at my outfit. I had on shorts and the camisole that I had just put back on. If the dream had really happened, I would be wearing the emerald green dress that I had worn in it. I felt dumb for even considering that I had been sitting on a piano in the middle of the ocean. But . . . if it didn’t happen, how had I gotten here? The dream was the only thing I could remember; I had no recollection whatsoever of walking from Gram’s house to the lighthouse.

  “You must have just sleepwalked,” Tyler said, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s not a crime, Felicia. I’m pretty sure that seizure boy can go out with sleepwalker girl. You don’t have to be so embarrassed about it. If anyone understands being different, it’s me.”

  “Don’t call yourself that . . .” I said gently, shaking my head. “I’ve never sleepwalked before, that I can remember.” Sighing, I tried to think of another possible explanation, but I couldn’t come up with anything. I was sure that no one had dragged me from my own bedroom at home, which was several blocks away, to the lighthouse. It wouldn’t have been possible. I was such a light sleeper that even the slightest movement would have woken me up. Although I should have woken myself up by sleepwalking, I was left with no other options to consider.